The Twilight Child

Chapters

How Not to Teleport
Where Not to Teleport
Pondering and Parties
The Welcome Wagon
The Slow Path
House Calls
Trixie Falsehoods
Muttering the Simple Solution
Flashback the First: Wandering Off
A Duel of Sorts
Family Outing
A Lazy Afternoon
Flashback the Second: Family
Poison of the Soul
To Where We've Never Been
Something Completely Different
Confrontation
Many Mares of Mystery
Many Mares of Mystery Part Two
Convoluted Conversations
The Five Day Prank War
Event Planning
The Birthday Party Everypony Should Have
Luna/Eclipse
Flashback the Fourth: Chaos
The Great Rainbow Brain Swap Part Two
On a Mission from Twilight
When Big Brothers Attack! Part One
When Big Brothers Attack! Part Two
Winter Start Up
Seasonal Entertainment
Thinking up the Chimney
Like a Soldier, to the Stage
Like a Soldier, to the Stage Part Two
Home for the Holidays
Flashback the Fifth: Learning
Holiday Aftermath
Shock to the System
Completely Dull and Uninteresting Week
Let That Be Your Last Roundup
Flashback the Sixth: Mistakes
Swindling Stupid Stallions Splendiferously
A Dash of Fiction
In Our Hearts and Hooves
Out of Hearts and Hooves
Flashback the Seventh: Whispers in the Dark
Cutie Mark Crusaders Daytrippers!
Mistakes of Friends
Quite Possibly
A Distinctly Average Paradox
Flashback the Eighth: Shining Sapphire
Flashback the Ninth: How It All Began
One Week
One More Week
Family Matters
Happy Birthday, Twilight Twinkle
Happy Birthday, Twilight Twinkle Part Two
Terrible as the Dawn
Nightmare's End
Revelations and Reunions
Three Little Words
Always and Completely
Celestia's Candid Conversation
All of a Flutter
The Daily Grind
You are Cordially Invited
Sacrifice of Angels
Off the Rails
Unstoppable Meets Immovable
The Wedding of Shining Armor and Princess Cadance
Time to Say Goodbye
Reunions
The More Things Change...
What You Leave Behind
The Start
The Welcome Wagon Part Two
Flashback the Third: Things Fall Apart
The Great Rainbow Brain Swap
Total Lack of Holiday Hi-Jinks
Cutie Mark Crusaders Daytrippers! Part Two
Mystery on the Brightly-Colored Train

How Not to Teleport

Twilight Twinkle opened her eyes, and was amazed to see sunlight. The spell had worked, she was outside and alive and... in mid-air.
At which point she fell, hitting something that felt like a tree-branch, before landing on something soft.

'Okay' she said to herself, 'The spell needs some minor adjustment. Perhaps accounting for alteration in elevation.' There was a strange wriggling sensation beneath her, and a strange squeaking noise. She'd landed on someone.

"Sorry" she said, taking care not to tread on whoever she'd landed on, "Not any good with teleporation spells, didn't realise I'd end up in mid-air." She slid her saddlebag off and started inspecting it. Everything was still there and still intact.

"Oh, no. It's entirely my fault. I should've been paying more attention to where I was going." Twinkle recognised the voice. She turned around. It was Fluttershy. Again.

"No, no! The fault is all mine, completely!" She said, ignoring the desire to flee. This was Fluttershy, she would never hurt someone. Deliberately. That she knew of.

"I really should've been paying more attention to the instructions, probably not been attempting dangerous magics indoors."
Fluttershy said nothing.

"Sorry about landing on you, ma'am." Twinkle added sheepishly.

"Well, I have somewhere else to be" the yellow pegasus whispered.

"Yeah, okay. Bye Fluttershy" Funnily enough, Fluttershy's reaction to this was to rush off. Once she was sure the pegasus was out of sight, Twinkle let her legs give out. After all that work, all that plotting and that ridiculous magical build-up with the bright light and the wind, all she'd done was teleport... she looked up. She was just outside the library.
"I only teleported a few hooves? COME ON!"

She sat there for a while. No doubt her mother was waiting for her to return so she could yell bloody murder at her. And her desperate escape attempt had failed. She was up the chocolate milk creak without a swizzle straw.
She sighed. There was no choice. She had to face the music. Putting her saddlebag back on, she walked around to the front door. And then she remembered she hadn't packed door keys for her one-way trip out to Dodge Junction. She sighed again, and knocked.

For several seconds nothing happened. She knocked again. Still nothing happened.
She lowered her horn to the lock. A brief flash passed between it and the door, and there was a sound of locks being undone. She nudged the door open, not noticing a sign proclaiming
'Back in one hour'
written on the front.
The front room seemed different, slightly. Perhaps it was the piles of books, or all those checklists that hadn't been there when she'd woken up.

"Twilight, you back already?" Said a voice from the kitchen. She braced herself. The door swung open...
And standing in the door frame was a small purple and green dragon, holding a small scroll.

"You forgot your..." he stared at Twinkle. She stared back.

"You aren't Twilight" the dragon eventually said. His expression shifted to mild irritation.

"Sorry, the door wasn't locked, so I just thought I'd come in."
The dragon stared at her.

"Oh no, you aren't are you?" he said, soundly slightly disgusted.

"Aren't what?"

"You are. I can tell."
She sighed.

"Yeah, you caught me. Where is she?" she hung her head, ready for what was about to come.

"Not another fangirl" the dragon fumed.
She looked at the dragon.

"Sorry, what?" He looked unsurprised at this.

"Every few weeks, it's the same thing. Some mare shows up, usually with purple fur and blue hair with dyed-in streaks, saying she's a great admirer of the legendary Twilight Sparkle and she wants to learn magic from her, and couldn't she just show her some magic, just to get an impression." He gave her another stare.

"You're the worst looking one yet. It's like you weren't even trying to look like her."
Twinkle tried to say something, say anything. All she managed was confused stuttering.

"I-I- I..." She coughed, and took a deep breath.
"I am not a fangirl" she declared. Then, after a few seconds she found herself angrily adding "and this is how my mane normally looks!"

"They always say that, too" the dragon smirked, as he picked two books off the floor and placed them back on the shelves.
"Then they say they haven't got anywhere to stay, and no money, and they've heard Twilight Sparkle has a spare bed." He sounded like he was reciting that one.

"Ignoring all the generous and friendly ponies in this town, no doubt."
The dragon nodded, and advanced towards her.

"And I'll tell you what I've told all of them: We don't need any hired help, and Twilight Sparkle doesn't take on apprentices. So go... away" Twinkle found herself sitting outside. She frowned, and knocked on the door. It opened.

"Didn't I just tell you to go away?" he tried to slam the door, but her hoof slammed into it. Using the moment she forced the dragon back with her magic.

"Listen, I'm not here looking for a job, or to impress anyone. I'm here to talk to Twilight Sparkle" she said, trying to sound as polite as possible. The dragon was pressing his weight against the door, and he seemed to have an unusual amount of strength for one so small.

"About what?"

"That's private."

"Quite convenient for you."
She shoved the door back.

"Listen small and scaly, if it were up to me I'd be anywhere but here, trying to muscle my way past dragon border guards. But I am here and I have to talk to Twilight Sparkle, alright?" she tried to get herself under control. She knew what happened when she got angry. The dragon paused.

"So, you aren't one of her fans, then?"

"I promise you" she smiled, hoping it would help.

"Pinkie Promise?"
She sighed.

"I am not one of Twilight Sparkle's fangirls, aficionados or devotees, sane or otherwise. I do just need to talk to her."
The dragon relaxed his hold on the door allowing her in.

"She's not in. She's out seeing a friend"
Twinkle twitched slightly.

"What?!"

"You didn't see the sign?" he said.
She groaned, and ignored the strange urge to bash her head against something.

"I shall wait here then, since I really do need to sit down."

"Y'know, I do know where she is, I could show you"
She gave him a cold stare.

"Or, y'know, you could just wait here, yeah, wait here, that's great."
She lay down on the floor.

"So what's your name?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm Spike." the name sounded familiar, but she couldn't remember from where.

"What's yours?" She froze. If this was one of mother's little mindgames, perhaps for now it would be an idea to err on the side of caution..

"I call myself... Midday Eclipse." The dragon didn't seem to notice her wince.

"Nice to meet you, Midday Eclipse" She winced again. The dragon seemed uncertain about something.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead" she said slowly.

"What is an eclipse?"

*****

Meanwhile, on the edge of the Everfree Forest, inside the house of one Fluttershy, six ponies had gathered. At the exact moment in time a small dragon was barring entrance to a mysterious unicorn, another unicorn was trying to talk to a known nervous wreck.

"Come on now, Fluttershy. We all agreed to these sessions. Even Rainbow Dash agreed to these sessions."

"I'm right here Twilight."

"I know we all agreed" soothed Fluttershy, "Because you said it was important we made sure that Discord had no inflicted any long term damage to our psychological make-up when he... well..."

"Took our brains t' pieces?"
Twilight Sparkle sighed. That had been what she said, and in truth, it seemed to be a wasted endeavour. All six of them seemed largely the same, with no major alterations to their day-to-day behaviour, although Rainbow Dash apparently took less naps than she used to. Fluttershy had shown an alarming recursion, taking to locking herself up since then, only going outside to feed her various animals, or attend picnics. This was disapointing, considering how much effort had been spent getting Fluttershy to socialise with others over the past year. Twilight noticed everypony else was staring at her. (Provided everypony meant Rarity and Appeljack, because Rainbow Dash was staring at the ceiling, and Pinkie wasn't staring at anything for more than a few seconds.)

"Well" Twilight said, "From what I can see, there hasn't actually been any noticable effect from Discord's actions." Pinkie cheered at that.

"So can we go yet?" asked Rainbow Dash, hovering by the ceiling.

"I don't know. Has Fluttershy proved she's not still under Discord's control?"

"But... all those things I did, like hitting you with a bucket, and what I did at the gala..."

Twilight tried not to remember that. She honestly hadn't though the timid pegasus could've caused a stampede or terrifying all those animals. She had speculated the other day if that was the result of Discord's influence seeping out from his statue. And true, Fluttershy had been hit hard by Discord. And many more ponies had been hit quite hard by Fluttershy. For such a shrinking violet, she was ludicrously strong. No doubt because she walked everywhere rather than flying. Everyone was staring at Twilight again. Fortunately Rainbow Dash spoke up.

"How many times do we have to say it wasn't you?" She said, exasperated (mostly from trying not to bump her head on the ceiling.)

"Rainbow Dash is right. And let's face it, none of us were ourselves after that... fiend got his claws into us"

"But..."

"C'mon now Fluttershy. Y' know yer just as sane as the rest of us."

"But the gala..."

"Fluttershy, you simply had a rather bad day and lost control. We all have moments like that, where we lose control of our faculties. Remember what happened with Pinkie Pie and Applejack's cousin?" Rarity said. Then she gasped. The whole room went silent. Even Angel, Fluttershy's pet demon in fuzzy rabbit form, looked shocked. Rainbow Dash dropped to the ground, Twilight and Fluttershy both looked nervous, Pinkie just looked confused, and Applejack looked furious.

"I though" the farmer said, her voice utterly calm, "We were never going to mention that ever again"

"We agreed not to mention a lot of things" Rarity shot back.

"Y'know, so long as we're not pretending that didn't happen ('cuz it so did happen)" Said Rainbow Dash, who was now hovering over Fluttershy, "You've got to admit you never did anything as bad as what Pinkie did that day."

"Week" muttered Twilight.

"Whatever."

"Well, I suppose that is true, but..." Fluttershy stopped when they all took a deep breath.

"Are you willing to admit you weren't responsible for Discord's heinous actions?" Twilight said, eagerly holding up her notepad.

"I... yes."
The others cheered.

"Can we go get some lunch now or something? I'm starved" Rainbow Dash said.

"Have we all proved we're all sane and can return to normal?"

"YES!"

"yes."

*****

Back at the library, the lilac coloured unicorn had begun pacing.

"Is she usually out this long?"

"Not for a Fluttershy visit, no." Said Spike, who was watching the strange mare browsing through the shelves. Eventually she picked out a small red and blue book, the spine of which proclaimed it to be
'The Foals' Guide to Myths and Legends'.

"Why exactly are books for kids next to adult reference material?" She pondered.

"That's something Twilight gets angry about, people taking books and stuffing them in any which way they can once they return them."
She set the book down on a small desk.

"Although" Spike said, "She might have gone to visit Zecora"

"Zecora?"

"She's a zebra who lives in the Everfree Forest, speaks all in rhyme. Or..." Spike's face went pale. "A cockatrice might have gotten her, or all of them, or she's been attacked by a manticore, or Celestia summoned her for some reason."

The newly renamed Midday stared at him.

"Wouldn't Celestia have to summon her through you?" Spike looked horrified. This didn't seem to have occured to him.

"What if she's found a way to get around that? What if Twilight doesn't need me any more?"

Midday ignored this baseless panic attack, flipping the book open and skimming through the pages.

"Here we are" she said, "Eclipses"

The page showed a crudely drawn pale-blue circle in front of a bright yellow circle. Whoever had made this book had included helpful arrows declare the circles to be 'The Moon' and 'The Sun'.

"A theo... theore..."

"Theoretical."

"Theoretical event where the moon comes between the sun and the world, blocking out its light." Spike looked up at her.
"Still doesn't make sense. And how did you get it for your Cutie Mark?"
She frowned.

"You know, I am honestly not sure. I wasn't awake for most of it."

"You got your Cutie Mark in your sleep?"

"No, I..." she sighed, "It's a long story and I don't want get into it." She pasued.

"Actually, it's not really anywhere near a long story. I just wanted to say 'it's a long story'. That and, 'our magic is just making it stronger!'"

"And how do you not know how you got your Cutie Mark?"

"Don't even start"
The two stood there, having managed to run out of things to talk about.

"What else is in here?" Spike asked, grabbing the book and skimming through the pages.

"Hey, look, Discord. What's he doing in a book on myths and legends?"

"Popping in to persecute perfectly peaceful ponies, perhaps." Midday growled. Spike suddenly felt an urgent desire to change the page.

"Hmm. Crystal ponies. Shiny, huh."

"Yeah" Midday sounded unenthused, looking out of the window. All there was were clouds.

"Cockatrice... hey... what's this?" He said, pointing at the page. She looked.

On the page were several pony-like forms. Each had dark grey skin with slightly blue segments on their backs. They had no manes, and greasy tails, their ears looked tattered, and their eyes were solid blobs of blue. Their legs seemed to be missing large chunks, and their horns were curved and sharp-looking, like a dagger.

"Change...lings? Never heard of them." Spike said. Suddenly the book slammed shut, flew over Spike's head, hurtled across the room before gently settling back into place on the shelf.

"Just a dumb book for kids." Midday muttered. There was an angry tone creeping into her voice. Spike started sniffing the air.

"Do you smell that? Smells like something burning?" He looked towards the kitchen.

"'scuse me a moment" he dashed off, leaving a confused Midday standing there.
How did this dragon not know about Changelings? Why did everything look different? Where was Vanilla?

"Oh no." she muttered. She quickly searched the room, hoping to find a newspaper, or a checklist or a calendar, something to calm her rising panic. Was she even in the library at all? Was she just drooling in a floor somewhere while Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy and Vanilla all had a good laugh at her?

She immediately dismissed that thought. No illusionary mindscape produced by Twilight Sparkle was ever, ever, EVER going to have books lying around unsorted.

A much worse possibility became apparent. The teleportation spell had worked. Oh, it had worked completely. Just not in the way she'd been expecting.

Spike re-entered the room.

"Well, whatever was making that smell, it's stopped. You okay?" he said, seeing the paniced unicorn.

"Spike, would you be a dear and kindly tell me what the date is?"
He did.

*****

Meanwhile, at the small resturaunt the six had agreed to go to (Eventually).

"Did you hear something?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Only my stomach exploding" groaned Twilight. She hadn't meant to eat three sandwiches on top of the four she'd already had, it was just a choice between sitting there watching Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash eat or having seconds. Also, she might have been a tiny bit hungry.

The six mares sat in silence, sure in the knowledge they were all as sane as could be and free of the influence of any chaos gods.

"Oh my, look at the time" Rarity said eventually, "I had best get back to work. I am quite behind schedule."

"Really? Doesn't sound like you to be behind anythin'" muttered Applejack. Rainbow Dash guffawed at that.

"Well, after the last few weeks and helping mothers make Nightmare Night costumes, I have a rather large amount of work to catch up on. And the constant visits from Sweetie Bell."

"Family trouble?" asked Rainbow Dash, fighting down a belch, mainly to avoid another lecture from Rarity on 'Manners' and 'Good Breeding'.

"Oh, no. I do love Sweetie Bell, but she can be... a distraction sometimes."

"Distraction?" Yelled Pinkie Pie, darting her head back and forth, "Where? Where?"

"Ah suppose ah'd better head home, got a lot t' do before winter starts for real."

"Oh." Said Twilight, "I'd forgotten with all this that I promised the mayor I'd arrange the Winter Start-Up"

"The what-now?" said Rainbow Dash.

"Well, since I had such success organising the Winter Wrap-Up, I asked the mayor why I didn't just get put in charge of bringing in the new winter. Although I have to arrange who's on the start-up teams, and what they'll all be doing, and that's on top of several projects I've already got going at the same time, so I'm going to be quite busy for the next few weeks."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

"Egghead."

"One day, Rainbow Dash, you are going to need me, and we'll see who the 'egghead' is then." The pegasus slowly stood up, and smiled at the librarian.

"You're always an egghead, Twilight." She laughed, rocketing off to her favourite cloud for a post-lunch nap before Twilight could respond, only fume.

"One day Rainbow Dash, you'll see the mistake of shunning learning. Oh yes, you will see." And with that, Twilight slowly walked off to pay the cheque, leaving Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie remaining.

"I guess I should go, as well" Fluttershy said to no-one in particular.

Twilight jogged back towards the library, her library, her mind teeming with ideas about how to organise the Winter Start-Up, as well as several new ways of arranging the shelves, and some research projects. She couldn't wait to tell Spike, who would be so excited, she could barely contain her high spirits.

It took Pinkie several minutes to realise she was the last one left. At which point she ate the leftovers, and then bounced away, singing something completely random that was mainly about kettles.

*****

"Cheat!" Eclipse yelled.

Spike sighed.

"Don't you think this game would work better with two people?"

"Do you see anyone else here? Besides, it's about the only card game I know how to play."

"There's probably a book in here somewhere about playing card games."

"If it doesn't involve playing them on moving vehicles, what use is it to me?" Midday said.

"What?"

"Nothing."

The two were sitting in the middle of the floor, partway through one of the most boring games Midday had ever been involved in since Twilight Sparkle had invented Flashcard Quickdraw.

There was a noise at the door. Midday felt a strange feeling creeping along her back, towards her horn.

"Oh no." she whispered.

The door opened, and Twilight stepped into the library.

"Twilight, hey! You're back!" Spike cheered, rushing over to her. Midday tried to fight down the magic.

"Everything go alright with Fluttershy?" Twilight looked at him.

"Better than I expected Spike, I..." She looked at Midday, a strange light was coming from her horn.

"Who's this?"

"Oh, I-" Midday said, before there was a small flash as she teleported out of the room, leaving Twilight and Spike just standing there, staring at where the lilac coloured unicorn had just been sitting.

"Was that a fangirl, Spike? Again?!"

Where Not to Teleport

Canterlot, the capital of Equestria, home of the Princesses of the day and the night, centre of Pony civilization for almost a thousand years. At last census it had fifteen donut shops, and absolutely no bakeries, which only added to the mystery of why the city smelt so much like cake. The locals could be considered friendly, or in the case of the rich just non-threatening, the hotels accommodating to anyone with the bits, and provided one liked cake, it smelt rather nice in the springtime. A common sight at all times were the city guard, having served diligently since the city was founded. Unicorn, pegasus or just earth pony, all served at the command of Celestia and (whenever she was awake or present) Luna.

Currently the majority of this city guard were in the front courtyard of Canterlot Castle, surrounding a containment field that was the signature technique of their captain, Shining Armor (Son of Night Light and Twilight Velvet, brother of Twilight Sparkle and to the crushing disappointment of many young mares, spoken for) and had been created the second they had noticed the abnormally powerful teleport flare. After the recent 'incident' with Discord, the guards had found themselves under serious scrutiny, since It had escaped from under their watch, and as a result were now quite eager to prove their dedication to duty.

Therefore, Midday Eclipse found herself (once her eyes adjusted to the bright light of teleporting, and suddenly being outside) contained in a magical barrier, beyond which she was surrounded on all sides by guardsponies wielding swords, spears, halberds and the occasional crossbow.

"Ah." She said to herself.

"Identify yourself" Barked the guard captain. She stared at him, trying not to smirk. She'd recognise those eyes in an instant. And the armor. She remembered him explaining highlights of his distinguished, if somewhat short, career as captain of the royal guard with only the occasional embellishment (Her seven year old self had been quite upset to learn her uncle had 'fibbed' about fighting off an invading army of ninjas, and had with some assistance from a certain aunt managed to dye his fur yellow as payback.)

"Sorry" She said, though a lot quieter than she'd been meaning to. Feeling this was lacking, she decided to add
"It was a bit of an accident."
Shining Armor seemed to hear her well enough, though.

"An accident?" He repeated, smirking a little, though he didn't look particularly amused.

"Well, yes." She said.

"I see." Midday found her eyes darting to the variety of weapons the guards still had pointed at her.

"You don't mind lowering the weapons, do you?" she said, punctuating her question with a meek giggle.

Shining Armor stared at her for a few seconds, then raised his forehoof. The guards lowered their weapons, though Midday knew they'd be back up again if she tried anything 'funny'. And probably pointing a lot closer than before.

"Anything else you'd like?" Shining Armor asked. The pegasus next to him smirked. Midday stared straight at him.

"Well" She mused, rubbing her hoof against her chin.

"Actually, yes, there is something."
There was a short pause.

"Yes?"
She braced herself. She prepared to say something she had never hoped to say, something she'd sworn never to say of her own free will, especially not to her own uncle.

"Take... me... to your leader." A few of the guards reacted to that. Some grimaced, some winced, one actually groaned.
Shining Armor, much to his credit, didn't even flinch.

*****

Celestia, the Princess of the Sun, Bringer of Harmony, Mother of all Civilisation (she wasn't quite sure where that one had come from), sat resplendent on her throne, calmly sipping her thirty-eighth cup of tea inbetween occasionally glancing at the morning report, hoping it would become slightly more interesting. After Nightmare Night she had to resort to the usual ways of not reading these dreary pieces of paperwork, which was all the more troubling since Nightmare Night had only been a few days ago. She actually had found herself re-re-re-reading Twilight's last Friendship Report last night. It had been quite strange reading about her own sister causing havoc in Ponyville (Luna dressing up as Nightmare Moon had been alarming. And she was going to have a chat with Pinkie Pie at some point. And also possibly schedule an unscheduled visit with Twilight to see the young mare's Star-Swirl the Beared costume. She'd even got the bells right, Luna had said. Perhaps Twilight needed a new project to keep herself busy.)

And now in the middle of her second breakfast tea-break some truly inconsiderate unicorn had managed to teleport into her front yard. This seemed serious enough to warrant her attention.

The doors opened, and Shining Armor marched in, followed by six of his guards surrounding one rather non-plussed looking lilac unicorn.

"Your majesty" Shining Armor saluted.

"Captain." She nodded.

"We found the intruder in the castle courtyard where it seems she managed to teleport herself despite the numerous wards and magical barriers designed to prevent such an occurance."

"I already said it was an accident" The lilac unicorn chimed. Celestia stared straight at the mare. There was something unusual about her, and something familiar as well.

"An accident?" the alicorn raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." The mare said, though she seemed unusually interested in the carpet.

"You are saying that you managed to teleport straight through the most fortified walls in Equestria, entirely by accient?" Celestia said, not raising her voice once.

"'s a nervous reaction." The lilac mare muttered. Shining Armor turned to stare at her.

"That's... that's..." he said, unable to find the words. Celestia sighed to herself.

"Captain Armor, relax before you sprain something valuable." She stood up, and walked down towards the mare.

"And you..." She pointed a hoof at the mare.

"She says her name is Midday Eclipse" Shining Armor informed her, his face completely straight.

Celestia, for her part, didn't seem to react at all. When one has faced a chaos god who believes sheep needed explosive ordnance to fight off timberwolves, and chose a pupil with an alarming fondess for practicing magic in rooms filled with antique rugs, one tends not to get surprised by anything.

"Well," she said, her voice eerily calm, "I'm confident this is not something Midday Eclipse here intends to repeat, is it?"

"No m'm." The unicorn muttered.

"And that even the most secure defense systems are nothing without dilligent reinforcment and well-led forces complimenting them." She added, turning to face Shining Armor, who didn't seem to acknowledge her remark.

"Especially not without well-trained and maintained ponies dilligently reinforcing them."
Shining Armor coughed. "Yes your highness, of course."

He felt slightly unsure about that, since the last time Celestia had given him a compliment it had been on Nightmare Night, just before he had that horrific encounter with the itching powder, which had been even more irritating because he'd been hoping for a quiet evening with Cadance.

"Now then" Celestia said, turning back to Midday, "I believe you wished to see me."

"Yes. I did." The mare said, before adding, "In private." Shining Armor suddenly coughed again.

"Your majesty, I strongly advise against that." He said.
Celestia stared at the mare, and the Cutie Mark of a moon covering up part of a sun visible on her flank.

"Captain Armor, your dilligence is noted. But please, do not let me keep your from your many duties elsewhere."
With barely hidden reluctance, the stallion saluted, and motioned to his men. As he reached the door he took the time to glare at Midday, before walking out.

"I'd prefer it if we were completely alone." Midday said. In the now empty room, with its incredibly high ceiling, her voice echoed.

"But we are." Celestia soothed.

"And what about those two behind me?" Midday said, motionining her head to her left and her right. There was a pause with the two mares staring straight at each other.
Celestia looked up and nodded. Midday tried not to look smug as she heard two sets of hooves leaving the room and closing the door behind them.

"Alone enough for you yet?" Celestia said, though not with any noticable amount of emotion.

"I'm fine now, Princess."
The two stood there for a moment. Or rather Midday stood. Celestia was sitting down and still managing to dwarf her. There was a pause.

"So, who are you, Midday Eclipse?" The mare didn't respond.

"You aren't one of Twilight's fangirls, are you?" Celestia smirked, though it disappeared once she saw the look on the mare's face.

"No. I am not one of Twilight Sparkle's crazed fans."

The mare sighed. "I am about to tell you something and you won't believe me."

"You'd be surprised what I can believe in."
Midday seemed to be contemplating something.

"My name is... the name my parents gave me is Twilight Twinkle."
In an instant, Celestia's wings spread, and there was a stern expression on her face.

"Twilight Twinkle has been deceased some ten years now. I remember Twilight was quite distraught at her beloved grandmother's passing" she said, her voice that eerie calm that signified her temper being far beyond annoyed.

"I am aware of that."

"So unless I am mistaken..."

"My mother is Twilight Sparkle" Midday said, cuttting Celestia off.
The mare stared at her.

"Time travel" the unicorn muttered sheepishly.

"Which is outright impossible, because there is only one time travel spell, which is kept in a secure wing of my personal library, and even then it can only be used for one minute and a half. Three if you push it." She leaned in towards the unicorn.

"And you are still here."
The mare looked at the floor, and her hooves.

"I... don't know what happened. Only that one morning I'm in my time, and by lunchtime I'm in the past."
Celestia stared at her.

"How far back do you think you've gone?" The mare frowned as she gave this some thought.

"Roughly... twenty-three years, with some generous rounding."

"And how exactly did this happen?" Celestia asked. Midday shrugged.

"I was trying to use an auto-teleport scroll. You know, the sort of scrolls used to tutor children." She started blushing.
"I can't teleport" she muttered. Celestia raised her eyebrow again.

"And what was that you just did getting into my courtyard?"
Midday sighed, rubbing the back of her head.

"It...When I get nervous, like really, really nervous sometimes, I teleport. I can't control it. I can't consciously teleport, I should have said."
Celestia stared at Midday.

"I was afraid of seeing mother." Eyebrow again.

"Because of things I had done... and also not done."

"Such as?"

The mare looked reluctant to speak, as if she was fighting some great battle with herself.
"I may have... skipped school."

For a few moments Celestia did nothing. Then she laughed.

"You are telling me... that you... are Twilight Sparkle's daughter" she said inbetween trying to catch her breath, "You. The daughter of the most studious unicorn I have met in my entire life... and you are telling me that you..." She chortled, "You skipped school?"
Midday waited for several minutes as she kept laughing.

"I'm immortal, and I've not heard anything like that before." Celestia said. Then she saw the look on Midday's face.

"First of all: I'm not as old as I look. And I didn't skip school. I stopped going. And by school I really mean university."

That stopped Celestia's laughing. She looked at the unicorn standing in front of her. True, she did look a little bit like Twilight Sparkle, in that she had four legs, a tail, a horn, and blue hair. But then there were the differences, like the two orange stripes instead of one pink stripe, the lilac fur instead of Twilight's purple, the burnt orange eyes. And the Cutie Mark. In all of Equestria only three beings she knew had ever seen an eclipse and were still around, one of whom was currently working as a pidgeon toilet in her gardens. The other was doubtless taking a nap somewhere instead of brushing up on modern syntax like she'd gently suggested after Nightmare Night. The last was herself, and she'd been somewhat distracted when that had happened.

"And the last time m-..." Midday paused, and smiled a blatantly false smile. "Twilight Sparkle and I had seen each other we had argued. Passionately. About a lot of things." she muttered.
"And some of them I couldn't take back" she added, at the barest whisper.

Celestia said nothing.

"Because mother felt the need to send me off to university at your 'School for Gifted Unicorns'. And they gladly let me in without taking an entrance test, because I didn't need it. I was the daughter of the famous Twilight Sparkle." Cynicism was dripping from her every word. She sighed. Her voice became quiet.

"I didn't enjoy it. I didn't hate it either, I just.... I don't enjoy studying the exact same way she does. And I don't think she ever understood that."

"That must have made things difficult." Celestia said

"Frequently. Some foals are too willing to be friends with the daughter of a ...." She trailed off, and stared at Celestia, though her eyes seemed to be focused more on her wings. "Of a celebrity. And too often they were incredibly willing." She sighed again.

"It wasn't all bad. I mean, there were a few nice ponies, and they tried to be friends with me. I just wasn't trying to be friends with them. And after a few months, I decided I wasn't really learning anything new, and I wasn't happy. So I packed all my stuff, walked out of my dorm all the way to the train station and hopped on the first train to Ponyville."
She stopped speaking and stared up at the ceiling.

"And then?" Celestia asked, tilting her head slightly. There was something about the young mare's expression, the way she kept shifting and shuffling and pausing, that suggested she wasn't being absolutely truthful.

"For a few days I decied to lay low, while trying to figure out something to do. Eventually I decided I'd head out to the frontiers, like Dodge Junction or Appleoosa. Somewhere where no-one would care who I was, or my mother was. Somewhere I could try and make my own way in life, free of my mother's influence. So I enlisted the help of a local madpony who calls herself the Doctor."

That one gave Celestia pause. "Wait. 'Herself'? He's a she in the future?" She couldn't stop herself. The idea of the stallion who had barged his way into Canterlot Castle and claimed, to her face no less, that he owned the place, the mad pony par-excellence becoming a she was.... not the weirdest thing she'd ever heard (Although after Discord's boomerang snowflake pillows, very little was truly strange). It wasn't even that surprising. He'd mentioned something once during one of their meetings that he could in theory one day change gender, she just thought he was saying that to get her paying attention.

"Yes" Midday said without stopping to pause, "Anyway, I asked her to translate some scrolls for me that I claimed Twilight had discovered, and..." She was blushing now.

"I figured if I modified the spell a bit I could get myself as far as Dodge or Appleoosa in one sitting."

"You 'modified' a spell scroll given to you by a openly self-aware madpony, and you thought you'd walk away unscathed? Where'd you get this suicidal overconfidence from?"

"From a mare who figured she could take on a rampaging possessed alicorn by herself."

"Ah. Yes. I see. Bit silly that question."

"And my experiment... didn't work. The spell went hayware. And I wound up teleporting back twenty-three years and all of a few feet. Only I didn't know that bit, so I figured I'd just head back inside and wait for Twilight to come yell at me and pack me off to Zebrica or something." She laughed a bit.

"And I met Spike, who is currently a baby. And eventually I figured out I was in the past. And when Twilight finally got back from visiting her friends, well... 'bloink'. And you know about the rest." She laughed some more.
"And of course the damn scroll was one-way, which means..."

"You're stuck here."

"I'm stuck. Here." She laughed a bit more.

"And I haven't spoken that much in quite a while. Actually my throat's getting kinda sore."

Celestia's horn glowed slightly as she summoned someone from the kitchen.

"You said you wanted to speak to me. I presume it wasn't just to exposit about all this."

Midday shrugged.

"I figured I might stay in Ponyville. That's where I did the spell so it's the best place to try it again."

"And you think it'll work for going forward?"

"P'rhaps. Got nothing else to do."

The door opened and a stallion came in carrying a drink on a tray. Celestia levitated it over towards Midday. The mare quickly gulped it down.

"Warm blackcurrent juice. Worked wonders with Twilight when she was young."

"It's purple." Midday deadpanned.

"Your point?"

"Nothing, nothing." The corner of the mare's mouth seemed to curve a bit. The room then went silent save for the noise of a mare drinking, followed swiftly by the satisfied sigh of a mare who had finished drinking.

"Anything else you would like?" Celestia asked. Midday considered this.

"An alibi." she said eventually.

"An alibi." Celestia repeated.

"In case anyone wonders about the suspicious looking mare suddenly in their midst. A mystery doesn't stay a mystery long in Ponyville."

"I'll have to take your word for that."
There was a cough from behind Midday. A young guard-stallion was standing in the doorway.

"Your majesty" he said, staring straight ahead.

"Ah, Lieutenant Redcoat, would you kindly show Ms. Eclipse here to her room?"
The guard, whose fur was in fact sea-green (a fact that had caused him a lot of childhood trauma) nodded.

*****

Meanwhile, back in Ponyville, inside the Golden Oaks library

"Hmm."

"Hmm? What does 'hmm' mean, Twilight?"

"It was a teleportation spell. A highly overpowered one."

"How overpowered?" The dragon asked. Twilight shot him a Look.

"Train of though, Spike. Train of thought."

"Sorry."
She turned back to the outline of where the mare had teleported.

"I'm not sure how far you could go with a teleport as powerful as this, but if my estimates are right..." she said, turning to the chalkboard she'd covered with complex mathematical equations (along with a poor sketch of what she had dubbed the 'scene of the crime').

"If my estimates are right, the exact definition of how far your could go with this spell would be 'too far'" She said, frowning at the equations, as if she expected them to spring to life and help her make sense of this conundrum.

"So, it is a teleportation spell? Not a ghost, or an illusionist, or Trixie in a disguise, or Discord again?" asked Spike, hopefully, from atop the small pile of books he'd arranged into a makeshift chair. Twilight turned to him and frowned.

"Well..." She rubbed her hoof against her chin, "It might not be a good idea to rule those out just yet Spike. We have no idea how Discord escaped his prison in the first place. For all we know he might have been faking his defeat."

"Faking being turned back into stone? Can you actually do that?" Spike asked nervously, glancing around the room as he said so.

"We cannot rule it out" Twilight repeated. Spike sighed. They'd been going at this for several minutes now, with Twilight going over the area the mysterious Midday Eclipse had vanished with a fine-toothed comb. And if she had one available, Spike was certain she'd be using a powerful electron microscope. Whatever an electron microscope actually was. Twilight had even, over his concerns, gone through the mare's bag, finding only a tooth-brust, a recently cleaned towel, a sponge and some toothpaste. She had turned the saddlebags upside down, hoping to find something of note. There was nothing. The clasps were those of a regular store bag, not the expensive sort done in the shape of their owner's cutie mark.
And all this after several more minutes of Twilight corroborating Spike's claim that this 'Midday Eclipse' (an obvious pseudonym, she had proclaimed) was not some crazed fangirl come to 'help out' again. Twilight's serious investigation down that route had determined only, in her view, that Spike did not believe he had let a crazed fangirl into the library.

"We must triple-check our findings!" Twilight declared, "Only then shall we be able to determine the mystery of this... mystery pony."

"Maybe she just left something somewhere and went to fetch it?" Speak said weakly. True, it wasn't much of an argument, but he was spending of the few days left before winter kicked in for real sitting inside collating data. Then Twilight said the words Spike had been dreading.

"No, no. That can't be it. There must be a deeper reason than that. We shall work all through the day if we have to!"

"Do we have to?"

"We must, Spike. This is the truth we are looking for here!" She paused, and her expression grew worried.

"What if Princess Celestia sent her here to see if I'm keeping up with my studies?" Her eyes started darting about. She ran up to Spike, leaning right into his face.

"What if she thinks that after the Smarty-Pants incident, and everypony else being told they could send letters that I've been...." She took a deep breath, "SLACKING OFF?!"
Spike stared at her.

"Have you?"
She blinked, and her panic vanished in an instant.

"Um.... No." she said, with only a tiny bit of smug certitude.

"Then it's nothing to worry about, right?" Spike began to feel optimistic. Maybe she'd relax, and he wouldn't have to spend the day working.

"You're right. I'm just being silly. Silly old Twilight." She giggled, though she didn't sound entirely convinced.

"So..." Spike said, "Shall we go get something to eat?"

"No, Spike. I'm not really hungry." She smiled again, "But I am going to need someone to help me with a game of Flashcard Quickdraw in a while." She grinned giddily. Spike waited until she put the blackboard down in the basement for his expression to change to one of despair. Then someone knocked on the front door.

Spike walked over and opened it. Pinkie came in. There was a terrifying look in her eyes. She looked serious, almost like she was hunting for something.

"Hello, Pinkie?" Spike said nervously. Pinkie walked over to him and started sniffing him. Spike briefly wondered if she was about to try and eat him.

"Nope." She said, sounding confused and disappointed.

"Nope... what?"
She gave a frustrated sigh.

"At lunch my Pinkie-Sense started telling me a new pony was in town, but I was all full, and with the girls so I had to wait a bit before looking for them. But now I'm not full and I've looked all over Ponyville and I can't find this new pony."

"Maybe your Pinkie-Sense just... made a mistake."
Pinkie sat down and contemplated this.

"I don't think so." she said slowly, a worrying sign on its own "My Pinkie-Sense never gets it wrong."

"Oh, hey Pinkie Pie" Said Twilight, standing by the door to the basement, carrying a box which Spike recognised with dread.

"Hey Twilight" Said Pinkie, who walked over to Twilight and started sniffing her as well.

"Um... Pinkie?"

"She's looking for a new pony that can't be found" Said Spike.

"Well, I haven't seen anyone new in town today" Said Twilight.
Pinkie looked confused.

"What if my Pinkie-sense has stopped working? I'll never know when a flowerpot's about to fall on my head again."
Twilight placed a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder.

"Don't you worry Pinkie, I'm sure you'll find this new pony, sooner or later."

"Thanks Twilight" the earth pony said, her high-spirits rekindled, "Now I gotta go turn a welcome-to-Ponyville-party into a not-yet-a-welcome-to-Ponyville-Party" And at that she rushed out of the door before Twilight could ask Pinkie to join her and Spike in Flashcard Quickdraw.

Not soon after, as Spike and Twilight began a three hour long gaming session of Flashcard Quickdraw, he wondered whether Pinkie had been sensing Midday Eclipse. But these thoughts were quickly driven from Spike's mind by the sheer excitement only three hours of staring at flashcards could bring.

*****

Midday Eclipse 'oohed' and 'ahhed'.

"Nice room" she smiled, looking at the window opening onto a view of Canterlot that would probably have looked more impressive if it weren't rather cloudy outside. There was a four-poster double-sized bed, and a small table just across from it.

"Never been imprisoned in a room like this before" She said, jumping up and down on the bed in an experimental fashion, before rushing into the bathroom.

"Oooh, shower curtain" she exclaimed.

The guardpony, Glossy Redcoat, simply sighed. He had joined the guard for the uniform, to impress attractive mares, make his parents proud, the usual reasons a young stallion joined a city guard. Not to hear a madmare do horrific things to innocent shower curtains.

"You aren't imprisoned" he said, wondering whether he was required to add 'ma'am' or 'miss' to that statement. He probably wasn't. To his surprise the mare laughed.

"Sure I'm not. I mean, there aren't any bars or anything, but..." She walked over to the window, opened it and leaned out.
"The walls outside are impossible to scale, and way too high for me to make a rope out of bedsheets if I felt suitably mad, and I'm almost entirely certain this room is located just in the right place to coincide with the patrol routes of several guards." She laughed some more, jumping on to the bed.

"And besides, where would I run to? Canterlot? With no money, no contacts, relatives or associates I could reach? Not every prison needs bars." She said. Then she seemed to consider something.

"Hey, do I get room service?"
This was definitely not something his drill instructor had mentioned. Glossy was going to complain about this to the boss the next chance he got, even if it got him reassigned to Blueblood-guarding.

Pondering and Parties

Several sweet scents wafter lazily through the air, no doubt because a certain unicorn had demanded they do something about the usual smell, and if one were of an empathic nature they would feel the warmth and togetherness and love that permeated the area. It was a very lovely evening, far too lovely to spend inside. And that suited the hosts of this particular party just fine.

Twilight Twinkle (the second) wasn't paying attention to this. She was far more interested in fiddling with a napkin. Her aunt was making some incredibly moving speech about love and inner strength and harmony and love. Twinkle could hear someone (no doubt Aunt Dash or Sonic Boom, or both) making retching noises. It wasn't the greatest speech, truth be told. But everyone listened (provided the definition of everyone no longer involved Rainbow Dash or her former pupil) to what Aunt Cadence said. She decided to listen.

"Blather, blather, love, Shining Armor, love, triumphed over evil, blather, speech." Ah. Still saying nothing important. Twinkle zoned out again.
Eventually her speech finished, and then... Oh. Apparently it was Uncle Armor's turn. Twinkle went back to fiddling with the napkin.

After her uncle finished, and then mother got her own speech, everyone was allowed to move about. Twinkle slid off her chair and wandered over to the buffet, completely ignoring all the rather delicious looking food-stuffs and heading for the desserts. As she was walking she saw the mayor of Ponyville talking with the current head of the royal guard, the two apparently recounting some escapade involving both of them nearly being eaten, while the captain's husband chowed down on several pies nearby. She also saw a large amount of pink by the band. Clearly the Pies felt the need to lead all the guests in dancing. She stopped when she saw what appeared to be Princess Luna joining in. She hadn't seen Luna earlier. Ignoring her suspicions about what seemed like the mare's sudden arrival, she continued on to the buffet. Then she saw... mother and ms. Lulamoon talking. As she detoured to avoid getting noticed by the two mares she saw Ms. Lulamoon holding a drink, though it appeared to be shaking a bit. Surely she wasn't drunk already. Unfortunately it was then that Twinkle found herself bumping into someone. Someone rather large, and scaly, and light purple...

"Twinkie?"

"Impy!" she smiled. Unicorn and not-quite-a-dragon hugged.

"You used to be taller." The unicorn laughed.

"You used to be smaller." The two laughed at their customary greeting.

"Well, you're finally catching up on me." the quillin noted. Then she looked over Twinkle's shoulder.

"Oh, hello there Twilight Twinkle." Came the voice of her 'sister in-law'.

"Hey, Rarity." The little unicorn smiled, trying not to laugh at what the older unicorn had chosen to wear that night.

"I must say, you seem to be growing at a tremendous rate."

"Hey, I said pretty much the same thing." Impossibility laughed.

"And might I add that you have a superb taste in dress-ware?" At that, Twinkle's smile vanished.

"My mom made me wear this." She said, her voice leaden. Rarity bit her lip.

"Well... it looks nice on you anyway, dear." Unicorn and quillin stood there, hoping something would distract from the akward silence.

"Hey, mom, look! Miss Pie's starting the Pony Polka." Impy cried, "Gotta stop her before there's a fire!" she whispered to Twinkle. With that quillin and mother rushed off to stop Pinkie singing what was in fact the 'Care' song. Finally free from anything blocking her path, Twinkle rushed towards the buffet. She looked up and down the table. Sitting at the head of the table was... cake. Delicious cake.

"Guess I'm not the only one admiring Pinkie Pie's contribution to this party" Twinkle turned to see Celestia levitating a rather large slice of cake.
Twinkle said something through a mouthful of cake. Celestia, to her credit, didn't even blink.

"I noticed someone looked bored during the speeches. To be fair, I've never liked them either. Short and sweet, more time for celebrating. And cake, of course." she smiled, nodding to the cake.

"Speaking of sweet, have you seen who's singing right now?"
Twinkle looked, aided by Celestia using the slice of cake as a pointer. Singing away to a rather 'suggestive' song at the mic was...

"Is that Sweet Bell?"

"Yes, it is."

"How come she's here?"

"Well, she was about your age when Cadence and Shining Armor got married." Something the little filly couldn't recongise flashed across Celestia's face. "She was a flower girl at the fake wedding." It looked a bit like Celestia was trying not to think about something.

"She and Sonic Boom used to be friends. Back when she called herself Scootaloo."

"Really?" said Twinkle, who was paying more attention to the cake than the princess.

"Her and Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, they were inseperable." Twinkle's good mood evaporated insantly. She turned to see... her mother.
'Terrific' she said to herself.

"Sometimes they were a bit more literally inseperable than anyone would have liked, as I recall." Celestia smiled, "What was it they called themselves? Cutie Mark..."

"Cutie Mark Crusaders." Twilight Sparkle smiled warmly, "Oh, they used to get themselves into the worst sorts of trouble."

"I remember reading about some of those. They got incredibly strange sometimes."

Twilight Twinkle quitely slipped away from the two mares, her desire to mingle and chat now non-existant. She walked across the grounds back to to where she'd been sitting. She was surprised to see someone sitting there.

"Wisp?" The golden-brown pony just glanced up at her. From the looks of it the colt hadn't moved since the speeches.

"You okay?" She asked. He looked at her, his bright blue eyes utterly impassive.

"Just feeling a bit full." He grumbled. And then Twinkle said the worst possible thing she could say.

"I suppose you would." She said, too quickly to stop herself. She yelped.

"Sorry! Damn, damn, sorry!" Were it not that she was at a party, and only ten years old, she'd have said worse.

"It's okay, Twilight. I know you didn't mean it." He smiled gently. Then as soon as it appeared, it was gone. His eyes seemed to be scanning the crowd. The lull in the conversation allowed her to hear Pinkie discussing an incident with an exploding cupcake.

"I didn't think you'd show up to this thing." She muttered. Wisp wasn't exactly the most social pony who ever existed.
"Princess Cadance herself invited me."

"She did?!" She slumped onto the ground.

"My mom just told me the other night."
The two young ponies sat there for a time.

"I notice... certain ponies aren't here." Twinkle said, cautiously.

"She's... otherwise occupied."

"Shame. She's probably helping open a shopping mall or something." She muttered, nudging a fork slightly.
Wisp said nothing.

"We could dance." She offered after a while. He didn't reply.

"Actually, I'm not much of a dancer. Four left hooves." She smiled weakly.

"Can't sing much either." She added when the colt proved unforthcoming.

"Well, I'm just going... see if there's... anypony to talk to." she said, sliding off the chair.

"You going to be okay?"

"Don't worry about me, Twilight Twinkle. I'll be fine." He sighed. She smiled, which got a slight smirk out of him.
She turned, bumping into a pony.

"Sorry, didn't see you there" she muttered. Then she saw the blue fur. And then she looked up to see a stallion with orange eyes smiling at her.

"Dad?" she said. Then her smile collapsed.

"But... if you're here..." Realisation sunk in, and the music stopped. The sounds of partying stopped. All she could hear was distant birdsong.

"This is a dream."

*****

To her credit, she didn't leap upright. Instead, she jolted sideways and fell off the bed, taking a lot of the cover with her.
For a second she wondered when she'd gone to sleep. She remembered wandering around the castle, always escorted by a guard, doing some light reading in the library, grabbing some food from the kitchens, and then.... Well, she must have found something to do. She lay there for a while, thinking of her aunt and uncle's wedding aniversary.
She remembered not being happy about having to wear a dress, though not because her mother had told her to.
She remembered the awkward conversation with Whisper Wind, though not because of any emnity with.... 'her', more because the young stallion had been nervous around her aunt and uncle.
There had been a strange conversation with Princess Luna, joking about with Rainbow Dash, and that chat with Cadance.
"Best aunt in the history of aunts" she said to herself. She looked at the curtains. She opened them. The view would probably have been more impressive if she weren't upside-down and it wasn't still dark. And raining. She glanced over to the clock on the bedside table.

"Five in the morning." She sighed.
She suddenly felt like going for a walk.

*****

Slipping past the guard in front of her door in fact turned out to be easy. The poor young stallion had clearly not felt enervated by standing in front of a door for several hours, and fallen asleep. Standing up.

"What the heck is Shiny teaching you guys?" Midday smirked as she walked past him.
She set out with no given destination in mind, though she took care to avoid going near the throne room. Every now and then she wandered past a guard on patrol, none of whom seemed that bothered to see a young mare wandering the castle before sunrise. Strangely enough, even though there was barely any light, it was still easy enough to see. Although it was remarkably chilly, although that might have had something to do with it being the beginning of winter.
Midday was actually enjoying it a bit. Perhaps because for the first time in quite a while she had nowhere to be and nothing to do. And the complete absence of noise was... oddly relaxing.

"Nice and quiet." She said, stopping by a window to look at Canterlot again.
Then she found herself thinking of Wisp.
She suddenly felt like going back to sleep.

Returning to her room proved easy enough, once she figured out what floor of the castle she'd been on, where she found the guard still standing to an approximation of rapt attention, and gently snoring. She strongly resisted a strange urge to get a marker pen and draw over his face.

*****

Fluttershy found herself woken by a strange cacophony of noises coming from outside which she instantly recognised as alarmed chickens. Blearily she rushed down the stairs, completely missing the floor on the way without realising it. She hurtled towards the chicken-coop...
and politely knocked on the roof.

"Is everyone okay in there?" she said. There was an assortment of disoriented clucks. She looked inside.
"Don't mind me, just go back to sleep, nothing to..." then she saw something that horrified her to the bottom of her soul.
There, just next to Edith and Edna's coops was... an empty nest.

"Where's Edwina?" she asked. More confused clucks. Fluttershy rushed back outside, and began desperately looking for any sign of where Edwina had gone.

There were none.

She screamed.

Inside her house, Angel the probably demonic rabbit put some ear muffs on. It was going to be a long day.

*****

Midday awoke to the sound of someone knocking on the door.

"Hold on." she said, trying to remove herself from the tangle of bedsheets she'd made. After a Hurricanian effort, she suceeded. More or less. She opened the door to find Shining Armor, and the young guard assigned to her door (looking rather sheepish).

An envelope floated towards her. She took it with her own magic, and Shining Armor took off without a word.

"Thanks." she said as she closed the door.

She wandered back over to the bed and opened the envelope. Inside were falsified details of one Midday Eclipse, minor servant working for Their Majesties government, who had according to the file done something rather heinous on Nightmare Night which had eventually required the attention of Princess Celestia herself, who had declared the young pony... she put the paper down when she saw the age it gave her.

"Twenty-three? TWENTY-THREE?!!" She then proceeded to return to reading the piece of paper.

Celestia, in her infinite wisdom, had declared the young pony be placed on paid vacation for an 'indefinite' period of time. In Ponyville, of course.

She stared at the paper, re-reading it for a time, until she saw an attachment. Which was a letter from the Princess herself.

"As requested, one falsified identity and history, along with records should any pony attempt to investigate.
Twilight Sparkle has been informed about your arrival in Ponyville, so you needn't worry about where to stay.
However, I feel compelled to warn you now:
If you are a trickster, or a con-artist attempting to use Twilight Sparkle for some sordid purpose, you should understand I would feel strongly motivated to act in her defense.
H.R.H Princess Celestia, Canterlot Castle, Canterlot, Equestria.
P.S. Enjoy your time in Ponyville."

She set the letter down. She wasn't which thing to be more alarmed by, that Celestia wrote in italics, or that bit about time.

She looked over to the clock again. It proclaimed the time to be that of nine in the morning. Feeling oddly willing to skip breakfast, she rushed out of the room.

Then she rushed back into to tidy up the bed and documents.

Fortunately it wasn't that far between the castle and the train station. She did feel a bit nervous any time she saw a guard, and they seemed somewhat suspicious of her, but fortunately not of them seemed troubled. And even better, a train was waiting. She quickly zoomed into the nearest carriage.

She was surprised to see that the train had beds, and not chairs as she was used to. She briefly wondered if she was on the wrong train, but then dismissed these thoughts.

A mint green unicorn sat on the bunk next to hers.

"Hi." the unicorn said.

"Hey." Midday wasn't looking at her.

"You alright? You look kinda jittery." Well, Midday said to herself, might as well test her acting abilities.

"Just on vacation, is all. I thought it would never come." She turned to smile at the stranger. It was only because of remarkable training she didn't just let her jaw drop.

It was Lyra. As in Lyra. As in THE Lyra. She tried not to stare.

"Excuse me, but you are Lyra, right? Lyra Heartstrings?"
The unicorn blinked.

"Yeah, I am. Why?"

"I am a huge fan of your stuff, your music. It's awesome."
Lyra just blinked.

"That's nice, always nice to meet a fan."

"Thanks."

"Because, you know, I just play a lyre. Most ponies can't hear me over the whole orchestra playing."
Midday laughed nervously.

"Well, I... have good hearing."
Lyra just smirked.

"Clearly."
At that point, they heard the sound of a whistle, and the train started moving

"So what are you going to Ponyville for?"

"Going back to see my girlfriend."

"Your girlfriend lives in Ponyville and you work in Canterlot? Bit of a commute, isn't it?"

"Worth the cost of travel. I owe Cady a massive amount for that." Midday nearly jumped.

"Wait... by Cady, do you mean Cadance?"

"Perhaps. Which Cadance are we talking about?" Lyra smirked.

"Tall, pink, purple, wings" Midday said, making an odd chicken shape at 'wings'.

"Oh, yeah, that's her all right."

"How come you owe her?"
Lyra leaned in, beckoning with her hoof.

"She's the one who told me to get together with Bon-Bon. She said: "It doesn't matter how far apart you are, your love will keep you together."" The two mares stared at each other for a second before giggling.

"She was always saying things like that." Midday simply nodded.

"And she was completely right. If I didn't have Bon-Bon..." she sighed, "My life would be really boring."

*****

Back in Celestia's private throne room, a storm was brewing.

"Luna, calm down." Celestia sighed, as the dark blue alicorn paced about the room, minature storm clouds following behind her.

"We still don't understand it. A young mare manages to breach the defenses of this castle, a feat you claim only Discord has accomplished. This mare demands to talk to you, and you AGREE. You followed up to this by listening to her spin some... complete fabrication about being the child of Twilight Sparkle, your own pupil no less!" She glanced at the rain-clouds dripping water everywhere. She jabbed them with her hoof, causing them to disappear with a comical 'puff'. She turned back to Celestia, who was going over what appeared to be some form of tax report and paying Luna absolutely no heed.

"Claiming to be from some twenty years hence, having accidentaly used a time travel spell, and you ask for no verification, and then, THEN you allow her to stay in this castle for the night! And then you let her travel to Ponyville, to inflict who-knows-what sort of chaos!"

"Inside voice, Luna."

"Sorry." Luna stared at her older sister, still calmly reading the report, occasionaly stopping to drink from her early morning tea. Remembering what her sister had told her of Discord's last rampage, she frowned.

"You have sent someone to watch her, didn't you?" she said, realization dawning.

"Oh, yes." Celestia said, turning the page of her report.

Author's Note

Rrgh. This one took forever to write, and I'm still not satisfied with the opening chunk.
(sigh) Have to go back and fix at some point, methinks.

The Welcome Wagon

Midday spent much of the rest of the train journey staring out of the window, looking out at the rapidly moving countryside. As the train pulled in to Ponyville, she stared at all the the differences she could spot, all those houses that weren't there.

"First time in Ponyville, right?" Lyra asked. She turned, and tried to look confused.

"Well, yeah." Lyra laughed at that.
"It's nowhere near as dull as it looks at first glance."

"I didn't say it looked dull."

"No-one ever says Ponyville is dull."

The train slowly ground to a halt, a sharp jerk at the last step. As Midday stepped off, she saw Lyra scanning the platform for somepony. She seemed disappointed. She also saw a pink blur shaking down newcomers, and suddenly felt an acute attack of shyness. Since no-one was looking at her, she cast an invisibility spell over herself, and started walking into town.

"Thanks muchly, Ms. Lulamoon." She said.

It was only a few minutes walk from the station to the library, but for some reason walking towards it began to feel like walking through soup. Every step seemed to take ages, and she felt her heartbeat going like a cannon. She stopped walking, dispelling the invisibility (shocking an earth pony who happened to be digging up some plants). For a few moments, she sat there, trying to calm herself. Eventually she felt suitably becalmed, and continued onward, leaving the confused earth pony to her flowerbed once more (until her girlfriend jumped her a short time later).

She reached the library, which was still there the day before. She lifted a hoof to knock. She paused. She lowered her hoof. She raised it again. She lowered it again.

Why did she feel so nervous? This wasn't her Twilight Sparkle, not exactly at any rate. This was just Twilight Sparkle, personal student of Princess Celestia, Element of Magic, child of Night Light and Twilight Velvet, and aside from being the most powerful magic-wielder alive, a regular unicorn.

Then she saw the problem. This wasn't her Twilight Sparkle. How could she speak to her, how could she speak to a pony who had never done her harm, never met her, who had never done her any form of wrong or slight. This was not the pony she placed all the annoyance and anger she felt at the world at the hooves of, she was just a unicorn.

She lifted her hoof, and knocked the door gently.

It was actually kind of cold outside, and she only realised this a few microseconds after noticing no-one had replied.
She waited.
She waited.

The door opened. A rather bleary-eyed Spike stood there, his eyes went wide when he saw her.

"Midday Eclipse?" He said. She tried to keep smiling, and ignore the name she'd chosen.

"Hey, Spike. Hello, sorry to have up and vanished like that. Just remembered I'd forgotten something back in Canterlot and by the time I found it, I'd missed the last train."

Dragon and pony stood there, for a short time.

She sighed. "No, sorry. That's a lie. I was just startled by Twilight Sparkle."

"Okay then." he said, sounding somewhat uncertain.

She walked inside, and the first thing she noticed was the way the chalkboard. With the complicated mathematical equations covering it, along with a crudely drawn image of a pony mid-teleport. She could hear a faint muttering noise, which seemed to be coming from upstairs.

"You aren't going to teleport away this time, are you?" the dragon said.

"I shouldn't think so." She said, hesitantly. The dragon seemed to accept this.

"Twilight!" he bellowed, "Somepony here to see you!"

The muttering stopped. There was a brief silence, then the sound of hoofsteps. The door at the top of the stairs opened, followed by a rather weary-looking unicorn walking slowly down the steps.

"Yes?" Twilight Sparkle said, looking like she was fighting a heroic attempt to stay awake.

Midday froze up. She just stared. Twilight turned to Spike, who shrugged. Then, the small dragon seemed to convulse. With a slight belching sound (and a slight whiff of sulphur) a scroll materialised from a plume of green flame.

"Oh." Twilight said slowly, "A letter from the Princess." She opened it, and read. Every few seconds she'd take a glance at Midday, who had suddenly wondered when she last looked at her hooves.

"I see..." Twilight said eventually. She rolled the small scroll up and and placed it gently on a small table next to the wall. She extended a shaky hoof.

"Pleased to meet you, Miss Eclipse." That seemed to bring Midday out of her shut-down, and she extended a hoof, smiling in an unnerving fashion.

"Please, call me Midday. Or Eclipse. Just not 'miss'." She leaned in and whispered, "It makes me feel old."

"Well, I'll try."

The purple unicorn turned to Spike.

"Why don't you show her around the... library, Spike. I'm going to make myself some coffee."
She then turned to the kitchen, Spike was just about to open his mouth when she spoke up again.

"Spike? Might wanna put the blackboard back down in the basement"

*****

"Okay." Said Spike, a few minutes later.

"You are in the Golden Oaks library, a famed landmark of Ponyville that has been here since... time immemoral."

"That's immemorial."

"Thanks.... This building is used as a repository for books, which can be taken out by any pony who wishes to read th-" Midday smiled.

"Spike? I do know what a library is for."

"Oh. Okay then."
He walked over to a small door, and opened it.

"In here is the spare library room, which I have been told is occasionaly used as a... nookie corner." He looked up at Midday.

"What is a nookie corner?"
Midday considered her options, that she had been raised from childhood to believe honesty was the best policy, and the inherant issues of lying to minors. She looked down at the dragon.

"Good question." She said.
Spike led her up the stairs.

"This is the bedroom, where Twilight Sparkle studies, revises, organises her schedule, and on occasion, sleeps." There seemed to be a hint of irritation in his voice at the last bit.
Spike led her back down the stairs, and into the small kitchen.

"This is the kitchen." He beamed, "Where meals are usually prepared by me. At the moment, it's mostly just sandwiches, after what happened to the stove."
Twilight, who was currently staring at a kettle, turned to glower at him.

"That wasn't my fault! It was a design flaw with the stove!" She turned back to the kettle.
Midday and Spike looked at each other, their expressions that of mirrored disbelief.

"Twilight, should I show her the basement?" Twilight's expression shifted to a mixture of confusion, irritation and concern.

"If she's staying in Ponyville... I think it would be best. Yes."

*****

The basement was well lit, although it filled with strange machinery emitting a variety of beeps and boops, along with a blackboard next to a pile of folding chairs in a corner.

"This... well, is the basement." Spike said.

"It's where Twilight keeps all her old notes, and... that." he said, pointing a claw at the strange machinery.

"That?"

"I don't know what it does. I just came down here one day and found Pinkie Pie stuck in it." Midday tried to look like she didn't understand what he said.

"She's a local pony, kinda weird but really fun. You'll know when you see her."

"Let me guess... she's pink?" Spike looked alarmed.

"How did you know?" The weird bit was that he wasn't being sarcastic. He really did seem shocked. Midday wandered over to the machine, and the strange helmet like think that looked remarkably (to her, at least) like a collander. Something about it looked amazingly familiar. Then she heard another noise.

She turned her head to see a small alcove under the stairs. On a small pedastal, underneath a glass dome was a bottle containing a dark brown liquid. She looked at it. It made an ominous bubbling noise. She stared. There was something weird about it, something almost... alluring and-

"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Spike yelled. She stared at him, and then back. She'd wandered over to it without even noticing.

"Don't." The dragon repeated. Fear was all over his face. She took several steps back.

"What is that?"

"We... we aren't allowed to speak of it." He whispered.

"Spike? Spike? What's going on down there?" Came Twilight's voice. There was a noise, and then the flash of Twilight teleporting. She appeared at the top of the stairs. She looked down, and looked alarmed.

"Spike, are you... tell me you didn't!"

"No!"
She teleported again, glowering at Spike, before glancing to the... whatever it was in the bottle.

"Spike! I thought I told you to put a warning notice on this thing"

"I did." He stared at the completely unadorned dome. His eyes trailed towards the floor.

"It... fell off."
Six eyes glanced at a fallen yellow piece of paper.

"A post-it note, Spike? Really?"

"You used up all the paper that week writing apology letters. I guess I just... sort'a forgot to replace the note"
Twilight sighed.

"At least someone has." She said ruefully. Midday just stood there, feeling like a third wheel.

"Uh, excuse me, but... what is... that?" Twilight looked at her.

"We don't speak of it. Not ever."

"Why not?"

"Don't. Ask. Not ever." Twilight said, in a kind but firm voice.

"There are things ponies aren't meant to know."
The three stood there.

"Well, I'm awake now" Twilight said, mostly to herself "So I might as well get back to studying."

Then someone knocked at the door. Twilight groaned in irritation. The knocking continued.

Twilight teleported upstairs, leaving Spike and Midday to walk back upstairs. As they did they heard raised voices.

"EdwinasgonemissingandIdontknowheresheisandIlookedeverywhereanditsbeenoverfourhoursandIdontknowwhattodohelpmehelpmehelpme!" Said Fluttershy.
Twilight embraced the pegasus.

"Okay, Fluttershy, just take a deep breath, and tell me what's gone wrong."

Fluttershy recounted how she had been woken up by the sound of her chickens in distress, how one had gone missing, how she'd tried to determine where this chicken (that she called Edwina) had gone only for her efforts to be hampered by the lack of light, how she'd been unable to sleep, much less focus with her worry, and how she hadn't wanted to bother Twilight so early in the day, but she was incredibly desperate, and such forth.

Twilight sat, writing down what Fluttershy recounted to her.

"Okay, so you tried to figure out where she went, but it was too dark. Have you tried searching since the sun came up?"

"Yes, yes, but I can't find anything, and I'm worried she might have run into the Everfree forest again."
Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"This Edwina, she's the same on that had the encounter with the cockatrice?"

"Yes." Fluttershy nervously pawed the ground, then something crossed her mind.

"What if the cockatrice came back to get revenge on her?"
Twilight looked uncertain about that.

"So, you came to me because...?"

"Oh, well, I thought (if you weren't busy) that you might be able to help find Edwina, unless you don't have the time."

Midday found herself examining the bookshelves. There were a lot of spare dictionaries.

There was a strange noise from behind her. Fluttershy was trying not to stare at her.

"Oh, yes. Fluttershy, this is Midday Eclipse. She's been sent to Ponyville on indefinite leave. Midday, Fluttershy."

"Hello again." She smiled, "Sorry about yesterday."
Fluttershy mumbled something.

"She said 'don't worry about it'." Spike translated.

Twilight turned to Spike.

"Won't be gone long Spike, just going to find out where 'Edwina' has gone. You know what to do if something happens."

"Yeah." Spike said.

Twilight and Fluttershy walked out of the door.

"Well, what now?" Midday asked.

"Do you want to see the rest of Ponyville?"

Midday looked around the library. She had to find a way back to her own time, true, but... the future wasn't exactly going anywhere. And she'd read these sorts of things when she was little, where the hero had just gone somewhere, and they got distracted, and then put off leaving and it always ended in disaster. But... on the other hoof...
"Alright."

*****

"Well, where do you want to go first? There's a whole city, or we could find someone who actually does tours of Ponyville, get them to show us around." Midday looked at the sight, the slightly harsh winter sunlight making it just a bit difficult to see clearly. She wondered if this was a deliberate action of the Ponyville weather team.

"I mean, there's places like the town hall, or perhaps Sugarcube Corner, which is a good place to meet ponies... unless... do you like parties?"

"Depends on the size, I guess." She murmured.

"Why don't we just wander around the town, get a feel for the place." Spike looked strangely okay with this.

"Alright."
The two wandered briefly down the streets, until they heard a variety of loud noises. Rainbow after-images filled the sky, followed by a certain dramatic pegasus landed in front of them.

"-And on all four! Hooves! Yes! Morning Spike, Tw-... Hey, you aren't Twilight." The rainbow maned pegasus fixed her with a suspicious glare.

"Morning Rainbow Dash, this is Midday Eclipse, she's just arrived in town." Rainbow suddenly pulled back, and smiled.

"Hey there, I'm Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in all of Equestria (except the Wonderbolts). But you've probably heard of me, right? Did you like my newest set of moves? Be honest, it was awesome."
Midday blinked, trying to catch up with the multi-coloured mare.

"Hello, Rainbow Dash. I'm sorry to say this, but I didn't see most of it. I didn't even know what was going on until you landed in front of us." Rainbow Dash looked almost like she was about to burst out crying. Then she seemed to shrug it off.

"Another egghead. Great." She looked at Spike.

"Is she-"

"No. I am not one of Twilight Sparkle's crazy fangirls."

"Where is Twilight anyway?"

"Oh, Fluttershy's having a problem with her chickens, so Twilight went to help her." A brief look on Rainbow Dash's face made clear how she felt about not being asked, much less asked first.

"Oh. Okay. Well, I have work I need to do. So I'm just going to... go work." She said, before rocketing off into the air, leaving Spike and Midday standing there.

"That was bizarre. Is she always like that?"

"It depends. If she thought you were Twilight, she probably hoped to show off some new trick she'd dreamt up. You see, Rainbow Dash-"

"Wants to join the Wonderbolts?"

Spike's jaw hung open. "How did you..."

"Educated guess."
The two continued on walking through Ponyville, until Spike suddenly stopped. Midday looked at him.

"What? What's wrong?" Spike said nothing, only pointing across the street.
A bright pink pony was wandering around the street, staring at lampposts and walls as if they were hiding something.

"Morning, Pinkie Pie." Spike said. She looked at him, confusion readily apparent on her face.

"Spike, you've gotta help me. I haven't found the new pony and if I can't find the new pony how am I going to throw a welcome-to-Ponyville party for them so they know they're welcome in Ponyville?" She wailed. There was a slight pause as her eyes drifted towards Midday. Then back to Spike. Then back to Midday.

"Twilight, did something happen to you last night?" she giggled, "'Cuz you look really silly."
Spike whispered into Pinkie's ear what was going on.

"So... where's Twilight?"

"With Fluttershy."
Pinkie pulled an abacus out of.... nowhere, and moved a few of the beads about, before making a slightly impressed 'hmm'. Then she looked at Midday and smiled.
"Hi!" She beamed.

"Hello."

"Welcome to Ponyville!" Pinkie cheered. Behind her, cannons that Midday hadn't noticed fired confetti, streamers descended from nowhere and a banner unfurled declaring Pinkie's message to the world.

"Thanks." She said, only to see that Pinkie had disappeared. She turned to Spike.

"What should I do now?" She said, concerned.

"Don't bother running." Was his reply. She looked about. She knew it wouldn't work, she knew Pinkie would probably set up a party-shaped ambush wherever she went. She knew it, she knew, she knew it.
She ran anyway. She was good at running.

*****

"Well?" Asked Fluttershy from outside, for the fifteenth time. Twilight simply frowned.

"Nothing yet." Actually, this wasn't true. She had set up a complicated spell designed specifically tell her if anything was wrong. And she had found something abnormal. There was a truly bizarre energy signature in the coop belonging to the chicken Edwina, but she couldn't tell what it was. She levitated her notebook, taking down the measurements she could get on it. She walked back out to find Fluttershy, several irritated chickens along with one generally sour-tempered rabbit standing there.

"Well?" Fluttershy asked again.

"I'm not sure. There is an anomalous energy signature, but until I run some checks, I won't be able to tell what it is. Sorry."

Fluttershy lowered her head. Then she heard the approaching noise that sounded exactly like...

"Fluttershy! I came as soon as I heard!" Rainbow Dash yelped, having crash-landed on one of Fluttershy's potted plants.

"Ah... sorry." she said, brushing the dirt off her hoof.

"Heard what?"

"About your chickens. Spike told me."

"It's not as bad as it sounds." Fluttershy said, "Edwina's just gone missing, but I... I'm sure she'll be fine."

"Oh." Said Rainbow Dash.

"But I really appreciate your concern for Edwina."

"Yeah, well..." Rainbow said, not quite sure how to respond to that without breaking her nonchalant facade, before she saw Twilight.

"Hey."

"Morning, Rainbow Dash."

"Do you really have somepony staying over at your place?" The bright blue pegasus smirked.

"Yeah. She just showed up not even an hour ago, and I got this letter from Celestia saying she'd been sent to Ponyville and needed somewhere to stay. Truth be told, I'm not sure what to make of it. I'm already losing precious ground on my studies, and I was hoping to get something done on early Equestrian hi-" Rainbow Dash chose that moment to let out a yawn. She at least had the presence of mind to look embarrased about it.

"-story." Twilight finished.

They all heard a strange noise in the air. It turned out to be Pinkie, bouncing her way toward them. And she was singing.

"uh-oh." muttered Rainbow Dash.

The Slow Path

"Mom?"

"Hmm? Wut..?

"Mom."

"Yes, my little filly?"

"Do you... love me?"

"Of course I do. Why would you say that?"

"..."

"What is it, sweetie?"

"The other kids at school. They said..."

"What did they say?"

"They said... they said... they said I'm a failure, because I'm not like you."

"What?"

"They said I'd never be any good, because I don't have-"

*****

Midday screamed. By reflex, she kicked and discovered that she'd fallen out of the bed.

Only it wasn't her bed. It was the spare bed, the spare bed of Twilight Sparkle of twenty-three years ago.

Adding to her horror was the fact that she couldn't remember falling asleep or even how she'd made it back to the library.
She struggled to catch her breath. Just a memory.

"Just a memory" she said between ragged bursts of breath.

She'd been at a party organised by Pinkie to welcome her to Ponyville. She remembered that part, and humiliating Rainbow Dash when the pegasus had tried to prank her. She remembered joking around, and... dancing. Which explained her slightly sore legs. And then she... she must have had something to drink.

"Pinkie..." she groaned. Then she noticed the view from the window. Daylight. It was morning. She got on her somewhat shaky legs, and looked for a clock. She saw the time.

"Breakfast" she muttered. She'd try and find something to eat, then see about leaving.

She wandered down the stairs, and into the kitchen. Spike was polishing a gemstone.

"Morning, Spike" she said.

"Whoa, someone didn't get enough sleep" Spike said, once he looked up.

"Felt like too much on my end." She looked through the cupboards, producing some cereal. She sat down, opened the fridge and brought out some milk.

"So... Rainbow Dash" she said once she'd finished eating.

"I'd be careful if I were you." Spike laughed.

"I did humiliate her a bit, didn't I?" she sighed. Spike nodded.

"Probably going to pay for it in some subtle fashion."

Spike looked a bit concerned. "Rainbow Dash... isn't really subtle."

Midday groaned.

"Spike, I need advice." The dragon stared at her. No-one had ever asked him for advice. Ever.

"Uh, sure. Wh-what do you need?" He said, trying to make himself look taller.

"Is there any way of making peace with Rainbow Dash?"
Spike's hope of being useful instantly went down in flames. He deflated.

"No. I don't think there is."

"Thought not." Midday buried her face in her fore-legs. Spike hesitated.

"Although..." Midday raised her head again, displaying an equally raised eyebrow.

"I'm listening."

"I suppose if you found someone Rainbow Dash likes less, she'd be too focused on them to go after you." He smiled, hopefully, while at the same time trying to think of ways to convince Rainbow Dash to accept an apology. His mind could only imagine Rainbow Dash standing triumphant over Midday's body in a rainstorm, roaring at the heavens.
Midday just looked at Spike.

"Thanks anyway." She sighed. She sloped off of the chair and walked back into the main room. Then she noticed something. There was a faint noise coming from the side room. She walked over to the door and gently opened it.
She smirked at the sight of Twilight, curled up on the floor next to a pile of books and a notepad with numerous equations on it. Midday walked over to the sleeping form of Twilight.

"Someone needs to stop working late." She smirked. She focused, trying to lift Twilight as slowly as possible.

"You're a growing filly who needs her sleep."

Once Twilight was safely placed on her bed, she walked back downstairs. She stood there. She'd been in past-Equestria all of two days and had managed to get into trouble at least four times.

"If I stay here much longer, I'll probably make something blow up." She muttered. Then she looked around the room. Everything looked the same, all the usual things books on the shelves, the lists (including one that was framed), and the comfy chair...

"When did that chair get here?"
She walked into the kitchen.

"Spike?"

"Yeah?"

"Was that comfy chair in here yesterday?" The dragon stared at it.

"I don't think so." She looked down at him and frowned.

"Well, you just... stay here, and I'll... examine it." She walked over to the chair. She sniffed it. She scanned it for magic or curses or possible chaos energies. There was nothing. By all accounts it was a regular chair. She poked it with a hoof. It felt fuzzy. She rotated it, and lifted the cushion.

"Ah."
She found herself staring at three whoopee cushions that had been placed under the cushion, along with a note. She examined it.

"'No-one humiliates Rainbow Dash and lives to tell the tale, ha ha ha'" She turned to look at Spike, who seemed abnormally interested in the floorboards, then back at the note. She'd actually written laughter. The first sign of an unhealthy mind.

"Nice try, Rainbow Dash." She smiled. Now, if it had mentioned upsetting Fluttershy, she'd actually have been worried. She picked the cushions up with her magic and handed them to Spike.

"You just go put those somewhere that impressionable hooves can't reach." Spike nodded and walked off. She stared at the chair. It was a nice looking chair. And where had Rainbow Dash acquired a chair like that in Ponyville after... whenever she'd left the party?

"No, no, I'm just going. Not staying, just going." She wandered over to the bookshelves. In order to get home she'd need to remember what she did. And to do that, she'd need a memory potion, and to make that... she need a book on potion-making. She flipped through the pages.

"Love poison, love potion, love potion antidote, burn heals... Memory potion. There you are." She looked at the needed components.

"Right, let's go get these ingredients." She said.

She rushed over to the door, and gently opened it. She paused. Something smelt off. She focused into her horn. Behind her an outline of a pony formed, then she added color, and eyes, and fur and a tail and a mane and the cutie mark of an eclipse. She privately thanked her tutor for teaching her those illusion generating spells. The duplicate moved out of the front door. Midday's suspicions were confirmed when a bucketful of water fell right through it, followed by a bucket.

"What the-?" Cried Rainbow Dash as her intended prank victim hopped over the empty bucket and ran out of sight.

*****

Three hours later, Midday returned carrying a bag containing the necessary ingredients for her memory spell. Spike and Twilight were waiting.

"Hey Twilight, nice to see you up and about." She smiled.

"Good morning Midday" She said, perusing her way through the book Ditzy Doo had delivered yesterday.

"Hey." She noticed Spike making suspicious glances at the bag.

"What's in there?" He asked.

"Oh, several boring things for a completely meaningless project I decided to undertake just because I could."
Amazingly, Spike believed this.

"Anyway, I'll be in the basement." She smiled.

*****

"Alright, you base ingredients, let's get some chemistry going." She smiled.

She stared at the beakers and varied objects that needed to be mixed, then combined into one potion. She began the mixing process, and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Fortunately she'd had the foresight to buy a newspaper.

*****

Thirty minutes later, she stared at the small beaker, still bubbling and frothing.

It was a bit regrettable that she had never payed much attention in chemistry. It had never occured to her that she'd need it at the time.

She found herself trembling with anticipation. She could figure out what she'd done wrong, she could learn her mistake and how to correct it. She could go home, and dismiss the insanity of the last two days.

And return to the insanity she'd been trying to get away from. She frowned, and weighed her options.

Perhaps mother would only have her thrown into a dungeon. Or yell at her, then ground her forever.

She lifted the beaker with her magic, though her control of her magical field seemed a bit off.

"Just nerves" She frowned. She lifted the beaker closer, and closer, the strange purple liquid began to move...

"Hey, Midday... what are you doing?" Came Twilight Sparkle's voice. She jumped...

And the entirety of the potion went down her throat.

"But it's Nightmare Night!"

"Sounds like a name from a fairy tale"

"They are beautiful."

"Get evil aunty Lulu!"

"YOU STOLE HIM FROM ME!"

"Oh, I can't kill you. But then, I don't kill ponies. What fun would that be?"

"You are not my daughter. You are a thing. I created you and I shouldn't have"

"I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU!"

"Are you even trying, Miss Twinkle? Perhaps Trixie would be better off teaching donkeys"

"You are not wearing a tuxedo to the Gala!"

"Please don't do this, cousin. We can talk about this."

"No, no, you use their weight against them."

"Don't worry, Twinkle. I'll always be here for you."

"Take me to your leader."

"But that's a poor excuse. I was a coward."

"Why don't I have wings, mom?"

She watched as the almost empty beaker hit the floor and shattered, spreading little droplets of memory potion onto the ground.

She collapsed onto her knees, watching as the liquid evaporated. It hadn't worked.

"It didn't work" she whispered.

She felt like crying until the world flooded, she felt like screaming until she rendered herself deaf. For the briefest of brief moments she considered just making the world burn, and maybe take herself with it.

But she didn't. She was Twilight Twinkle. She was the daughter of Twilight Sparkle, and that meant she would not cry, she would not scream, or get angry or whine and complain about how one little failure.

She would find a way home, or she would make a way home. She would find a way. She would find a way.
And tell Twilight to stop shaking her. It was getting somewhat annoying, and she was already feeling irritated.

"Are you okay?" the purple unicorn asked again. Midday turned to look at the mare, and smiled a very unnerving smile, as she found herself thinking, against her own will, of the last time she'd spoken with her mother.

"I'll be fine. With time."

*****

Dear Princess Celestia

......

My brilliant plan to remember the spell I used failed.

It looks like I'm stuck here, for now.

I'll try and stay out of trouble. But I can't promise anything.

I mean, I've already crushed one pony, and antagonised another.

Yours in good physical health, Midday Eclipse.

P.S: Do you know how to get this time period's Rainbow Dash to accept an apology?

P.P.S: I might need an allowance, just in case...

House Calls

The setting sun and its last rays glinted off of every surface, making everything in sight dazzle like a vast abundance of diamonds. It also made it insanely difficult to see, but it was no less beautiful.

"Quite a sight, huh?"

"Yes." Wisp said, his usual withdrawn nature evidently removed at the amazing sight of the sun setting over the Crystal Empire. The unicorn and her friend sat there on the palace balcony, just looking at everything.

"Aren't you glad you came along?"

"Yes. The sights, the sounds, the view. It's all so breathtaking. Everywhere I look I see more radiant beauty." The golden-furred pony said. She smirked at her friend's inability to control his usually deeply hidden emotions. Behind her she could hear the sound of somepony trying to sneak up on her.

"Well, don't look behind you then," She smirked, "Because there's nothing beautiful there."

"Ouch." Came the voice of her cousin. Whisper Wind turned his head, and his expression turned into one of shock.

A light pink filly stood there, her wings folding gently as she set down. She looked near indistinguishable from her mother, aside from her fittingly sapphire blue mane tinged with just a few hints of violet. And the glasses, which she had evidently forgotten to remove. Her name was Shining Sapphire.

"Hey, Sapphy." the two mares embraced.

"Guess you finally got out of those books?"

"Father said I had to get some fresh air." She turned to see Wisp.

"And who's your friend?"

"I'm... Whisper Wind." He said, in an amazingly quiet voice that sounded not entirely unlike his mother. He even bowed. That was a shock.

"Charmed." She was blushing. Princess of a whole kingdom and she blushed when one colt bowed to her.

*****

Midday Eclipse blinked, and yelped. She was back in the library, and her m-... Twilight Sparkle was starting at her.

"Are you sure you're okay?" the purple unicorn asked. Midday looked at her, rubbing the side of her head.

"I just need to lie down a moment." She said, weakly. 'If SOMEPONY hadn't barged in when I was about to drink a damned memory potion I wouldn't be having flashbacks' she said to herself. Hopefully they'd wear off quickly.

She rolled up the letter she'd just written and tossed it to Spike. The dragon breathed, and a small green burst of flame transported the letter to Princess Celestia.

Midday slouched down in the chair.

"What was that downstairs anyway?" Twilight asked.

"A memory potion. I was hoping I could use it to remember what it was that got me stuck in this situation so I could begin to figure out how to fix it. Unfortunately you spooked me and... well... I probably should have been a lot more careful."
She turned to Twilight.

"Oh, by the way, those notes on Fluttershy's chicken, I think I know what they meant." Lights lit up in Twilight's eyes.

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's an exothermic reaction. The chicken exploded." There was an awkward pause.

"Exploded?" Spike whispered, his eyes darting to Twilight.

"Chickens... don't explode." Twilight Sparkle scoffed.

"This one did. And I'm pretty sure if you fed them rice they would."
Twilight looked at the notes. She wandered into the side room, slamming the door on the way.

Midday let out a slight moan, and curled up into a ball.

"Are you alright?" Spike asked.

"No."

There was a pause, as Spike thought of how to continue.
"Do you feel like explaining it?"

"I just experienced every horrible memory in my entire life. And every other memory on top of that."
There was a slight sniff.
"So thanks for the concern, Spike, but... I don't really feel like talking right now."

Before Spike could say anything further Twilight burst back into the room. There was concern in her eyes, alongside a rapidly vanishing trace of irritation.

"Come on Spike, we'd better go break the news to Fluttershy."
She walked towards the door. Spike turned back to Midday.

"Are you... going to be alright?" he asked.

"I'll live." She sighed. She heard hoofsteps and the sound of the door closing.

*****

After a few minutes of lying there feeling wretched, and trying not to remember anything (Especially anything related to Shining Sapphire or Wisp) she heard the door opening.

"Oh, sorry, is this a bad time, because I could... come back later?" She looked up to see a dull brown earth pony stallion looking around the room. Something about him looked eerily familiar, and yet not, and she had the strangest feeling that he didn't belong, and there was an odd look in his eyes. Just looking at him, one would get the impression that he was holding back a small flood's worth of tears.

"No, no. I'm just feeling wretched. How can I help?" she said, dragging herself onto her hooves.

"Oh, I just came to poke around, have a look. Haven't been in a library in a while, I like libraries. Libraries are good."

"Right. And you are?"

"Oh, just call me the Doctor."
She blinked. Had she heard that right? She had heard that right, okay. Good, she wasn't

"You're in love with her? Her of all ponies? I introduced you!"

... still having flashbacks.

"Sorry? Didn't catch that." The stallion said.

"Is there some..." she paused, she could feel her mind slipping back into the memories again.
"REASON, is there some reason you're here?" She said, ignoring the feeling of sunburn on her back, or His laughter in her ears.

"Are you sure you're alright?" The stallion asked, moving toward her.

"Y-Yes!" she strained. She felt two hooves on the side of her head, and something strange.

"Okay, miss, what's your name?"

"Midday. It's Midday Eclipse."

"Very unusual name that. Okay, Miss Eclipse, just relax for a moment."

"Bit difficult right now." She grimmaced.

"I know" he said, she looked into his eyes. Now that she got a good look at them, there was something in them, metaphorically speaking, like he had seen far more and far worse than his youthful frame implied.

"Ah. A bit of an accident with a memory potion. Good, good."

"Good?!"

"Easily fixed" he said, "Trust me. I'm the Doctor, here to help."

"Not 'less you can alter time, teleport me off this rock." He seemed to find that funny. The world started swimming, and...

*****

She woke up. She was lying on her back, the strange stallion looking at a strange object which looked like it had been pieced together from several other objects she couldn't recognise.

"How... How long was I out?"

"Only a few seconds, don't worry." She got to her hoofs, and looked at this 'Doctor'. He was smiling, and there was a barely subtle undercurrent of smugness to it.

"You'll be fine, but I'd take it a bit easy if I were you. Let your mind rest for a while as your memory engrams sort themselves out."

Numerous questions buzzed through her much clearer mind now.

"Who are you?"
He produced, seemingly from nowhere, a small piece of paper, which was even more impressive since he didn't have a horn. She looked at it.

"This says your name is Time-Turner." She frowned.

"And that you're from... that's not a real place. I'd know if it was." She looked at him again. A brief, but very recognisable, flicker of pain flashed across his face.

"Also, what did just you do?"

"Oh, that. Just helped your mind block out the memories forcing their way into your conciousness. Don't worry, didn't rummage around in there." He grinned. He had a lot of teeth.

"And what in the name of somepony else's sanity is that?" she pointed a hoof at the 'object'. He looked at it.

"This? Just my timey-wimey detector. Goes 'ding' when there's stuff."

"Stuff?"
"Stuff." He said, a noticable amount of smugness creeping in again, as if she wouldn't understand him if his explanation went in depth.

Midday felt her anger growing. Today was already clawing its way up the Worst Day Alive list and some idiot-haired goon with a questionable accent treating her like an eight year old was not helping.

"What manner of stuff?"

"Oh, a bit of temporal displacement, bit technical."

"People being moved from one time to another against their consent." He stared at her, as if he hadn't been expecting her to say that. To be fair, she hadn't exactly had a chance to wow strangers with her intellect while she was suffering random flashbacks.
"It also... has a tendency to cook chickens. At fifty paces. Whether I want it to or not."

"Cook chickens." That sounded familiar. A terrifying possibility presented itself.

"Uh, presuming these chickens were more than fifty paces away, what would happen?"

"I shouldn't like to think."

Suddenly there was an echo of somepony screaming 'no' at the top of her lungs.

*****

Spike turned to Twilight.
"I THINK THAT WENT RATHER WELL!" he yelled over Fluttershy's inconsolable weeping.

*****

"I think that was an owner of chickens right now." Midday deadpanned. 'Time Turner' turned slightly pale.

"Well, I've got to go... I've really got to go. Really should go." He said, backing towards the door. She opened it for him, and watched as he galloped away.

She closed the door, and took several deep breaths. Then her mind began to question what had just happened.

So, would at some point that stallion have a child or.... or... she wasn't entirely sure what to make of the second explanation, though she noted that he had the exact same Cutie Mark as she had, and she was fairly certain the chances of that were astronomical.

Then she looked at the comfy chair, sitting there, minding its own business where Rainbow Dash had left it.

'Perhaps tomorrow I should set up a Rainbow Dash distraction' she told herself.

Right now though, she was going to relax.

*****

Two hours later, Twilight and Spike returned to find the library exactly as they left it. Save for two things.

The first was the relaxing classical music, and the second was Midday, sitting in a reclining chair, not moving and looking mildly relaxed.

"Looks like someone's had a busy day" Laughed Spike.

"How'd things go with Fluttershy?" Midday asked, stetching and yawning.
Twilight and Spike just stared at her.

"Oh dear."
Twilight walked past her into the kitchen. Midday sighed.

"Feeling better?" Spike asked.

"A tad. I'm not randomly remembering everything that's ever happened to me. Just gotta relax, the Doctor said."

"Oh." Spike seemed to consider this. "That's good, right?"

"Yeah. And I'm on paid vacation, right?" She smiled. Spike smiled back, before rushing into the kitchen to stop Twilight damaging anything. True, she had nearly unlimited magical potential, but she couldn't cook for squat.

As she heard the door close, Midday let her smile vanish. She'd just experienced every memory in her entire life, every last second, her successes, failures, guilts and private joys... and she'd forgotten something important.

"I am Twilight Twinkle" She repeated to herself, for the fourth time, "Daughter of Twilight Sparkle, and.... and..."
Why couldn't she remember? She knew his name. She had a father, she knew that.
Even if no-one else remembered.
She frowned. It was another problem to solve. Perhaps if she made a list, and worked her way down...

Author's Note

Ech. Writing Doctor Whooves based on Ten would be a bit easier if it hadn't been years since I've watched any of Ten's episodes.
Perhaps.

Trixie Falsehoods

"Are you absolutely sure about this?"

"Tia, no distractions please. The last thing we need is to recieve a letter from Twilight Sparkle asking why her guest exploded in the night."

"Sorry. Want me to leave?"

"No. Just.... don't move."

"Can I scratch my nose?"

*****

Twilight Twinkle relaxed, enjoying the lazy afternoon breeze, watching the occasional butterfly waft past. She closed her eyes as she felt the sunlight on her face, listening to the sounds of birds singing in nearby trees.

"You know what? This is a perfect day" She smiled.

"You don't say" She turned to look at Wisp.

"Nothing around to spoil it." She looked up into the sky, the clouds drifting by.

"Nothing to do but be with ponies I care about." She added, nuzzling the young stallion.
Then she felt something. There was the subtlest shift in temperature. She looked up. Standing there was a dark blue alicorn, staring impassively at her.

Wisp suddenly shimmered, and vanished. The wind started to pick up.

"Get out." She hissed.

Suddenly Luna found herself being thrown back.

*****

"Luna? What happened?"

"She took... exception to my presence," The princess of the night winced. She placed a hoof against her head.

"I had no time to verify her claims."

"It was worth a try." Celestia sighed. It was well into the small hours of the morning now, as the two mares sat in the otherwise empty throne-room.

"There were sensations. Suggestions," There was a pause, "She is not well."

"Thank you, Luna. I really needed that before I went to bed." Celestia yawned.

"And there is something that troubles me. And I can see it in you as well."

"I can't imagine what you mean, sister"

"If she is the child of Twilight Sparkle, and she is from the future..." Luna said, leaving the last part unsaid.

"Good night, Luna." Though she couldn't see it, Luna knew her sister was worrying about it as well.

*****

Midday Eclipse lay there. She could hear Spike's gentle rumbling, and muttering about ice cream. She could hear Twilight reciting something, though what she was saying was indistinct.

"Thanks for waking me up, Aunty Lulu." She muttered. She rolled about, hoping to get comfy and fall asleep again.
Eventually she was rewarded with sleep. It was a big day and she'd need to be in top form.

*****

The sound of laughter and birdsong woke her up again. She eventually got out of the bed. She'd made it through a whole weekend in past-Ponyville, and arrived safely at Monday.

"Huzzah" She sighed. She sniffed the air. A truly bizarre smell was coming from downstairs. After a quick brushing of teeth, she slunk down the stairs.

"What is that smell?" She asked. What she found was Twilight alternating between cooking something on the stove and looking at a propped-up book called 'Cooking Breakfast the Easy Way'.

"Porridge." Twilight frowned. Midday could only raise an eyebrow.

"Spike not up yet?"

"He said he was asleep. I keep telling him to set his alarm-clock and he keeps forgetting." The way she said that without a hint of sarcasm was more terrifying than the fact that she was cooking. Midday decided to cast some fire-proofing charms, just in case. Then she decided to go for cereal, rather than risk spending another day recovering from ingesting dangerous substances.

"So, what are you going to get up to today, Twily?" She froze when she said that.

"Well, I'd have to check my schedule, but I think I'll be doing some reading today. I'm getting dangerously behind and it's throwing everything into disarray." Midday breathed a silent breath of relief. She hadn't noticed.

"I thought I might just have a walk-about." That was more or less the truth.
Twilight frowned at the porridge.

"I don't understand this," She fumed, "I've followed the instructions precisely."

Midday did briefly consider making some joke about following instructions. Then she remembered reading something about Twilight having to learn about following instructions. That had been a good one.
Except for the flugelhorn. Oh, the horror that was the flugelhorn.

"You didn't expect to get it just right the first time, did you?"
Twilight groaned, and took the porridge off the stove. She instead picked out one of the boxes of cereal. Mare and mare sat, masticating in relative quiet.
Then Twilight broke it.

"Midday, can I ask you a question?"

"Is it about my Cutie Mark?"

"No."

"My hair?"

"No."

"... ask away then."

"What exactly was with that teleport stunt you did?" And there is was. Twilight the scientist was back. Only interested in facts and data and theorems, not... No, no. This wasn't her Twilight, it wouldn't be fair to blame her.

"It's been like that since I first used magic. I've never been able to teleport on my own desires. My limits are... well, I'm not sure on that. But the one you saw yesterday got me as far as Canterlot." Twilight said nothing, so she decided to go further.

"And it's always been a nervous reaction. And only sometimes at that. Not always."

Twilight's brow furrowed.
"But that makes no sense! That's not how teleporting works at all!" She slammed her hoof on the table for extra measure.

"I know. I've been poked and prodded and examined by some of the finest doctors my family could afford. I've had shrinks go through my head, trying to uncover some hidden trauma that would explain my inability to teleport. I even had a rather... 'bombastic' tutor attempt, repeatedly, to teach me how to 'port. With absolutely no success." She sighed.

"And that's hardly the most improbable part of my life."

"What is?" Twilight gasped. Midday stared at her.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you" she said. Twilight didn't press the matter.

*****

Ten minutes later, Midday proceeded to the center of Ponyville. She stood there, thinking. She still had a chance to turn back, or she could find Rainbow Dash and try and get her to listen.
She sat down and began to concentrate. Hopefully nothing would distra-

"Hi!" She opened her eyes to see a small disarmingly cute greyish-purple unicorn filly staring straight at her, her strikingly yellow eyes full of curiosity. Midday recognised this one. It was Dinky Doo. Which probably meant-

"Dinky, don't bother that poor young lady" Yup, there was Ditzy, just a bit behind her.

"Oh, it's alright." Midday smiled, "She wasn't being a bother. Just be glad I hadn't started casting."

"Why? What would have happened?" Said Ditzy, who was beginning to slip from dedicated worker to protective mother mode.

"Oh, your daughter would have been turned from a unicorn into a small piece of confectionary. Quite possibly made of bran."
Dinky's already rather wide smile grew further.

"You mean I'd be a-"

"I most certainly do not." Midday said quickly, though she did feel quite rotten for saying it.

"I wish I could do magic." Dinky said quietly, "But I don't have any yet." Midday looked down at the little unicorn, who couldn't have been more than eight or nine. Something deep down inside her started moving.

"Well, Dinky, I'm sure when you do finally start getting it, you'll be brilliant."

"You mean that?"

"I know it. And may I be subjected to a pie in the face thrown at considerable strength should I be wrong."
Ditzy looked down at her watch.

"Uh-oh."

"What?" Said Dinky.

"If somepony doesn't hurry up, she'll be late for school" She was half-smirking and half-scowling. No doubt if Pinkie were there she'd be calling it a scmirk. Or a smrowl.

"And I might not be able to buy a certain mailpony helper any certain somethings from Sugarcube Corner"
Dinky leapt in the air, and shot off as soon as her hooves touched ground, her mother rushing after her, though clearly pretending to be slower than her daughter. Midday watched as mother and daughter raced towards the schoolhouse. For a brief while she sat there, not thinking about anything, most certainly not how mother had never been like that with her.

Eventually she reminded herself why she was sitting around in the middle of Ponyville. She closed her eyes and began concentrating. The spell wouldn't actually have done anything sinister if it had been interrupted, just given anyone within a few feet an odd case of synesthesia for a few moments rather than turn them into a muffin.

"I know who I'm looking for" she said.
"I know who I'm looking for."
"I know who I'm looking for." She focused on the name, on the words, on the desire to find the pony that belonged to it.

She opened her eyes. Every sound was muted, and every object blurred. Ponies walked past, seemingly oblivious. She turned her head towards Canterlot, and she was above the city. She could see one bright light seemingly burning through walls and stone, but it felt soft and inviting. That was Celestia. Another, smaller and harsh and pale, that was Luna. Another, which felt... warm, and tender, like wrapping oneself in joy and never letting go. That was Aunt Cadance. She'd recognise her anywhere. There was another, not too far from her. Love and devotion and selflessness, which was Shining Armor. Evidently he was thinking about her. She brought herself back to Ponyville, trying not to look at the library, where she could feel the raw magic pouring out of Twilight, which naturally looked purple, and which tasted like a good picnic on a summer afternoon, like a hug in a rainstorm after a nasty argument. In other words, like friendship.

But that wasn't what she was looking for. She felt slightly weird. She'd used this spell before, yes, and it hadn't been one hundred percent effective.

No, no, she wasn't going to give up. This was her spell. She'd made it, it was hers and hers alone. Then she got a ping.
As every unicorn knew, magic was dependant on the mindset of the user. The drive to enforce one's will on the world was essential, but so were other factors, and it was common knowledge that positive emotions helped greatly. Friendship was magic, after all.

Then she had it. She could feel it. Just what she was looking for, right on the doorstep on Ponyville. Irritation and anger and egotism and cynicism, tinged with sadness and fear.

She smiled.

"Hello, Trixie."

*****

It was a two-hour walk to where Trixie had been, from what she could tell from her little detection spell. By now she was out in the rocky bits between Ponyville and everywhere else. She took another swig from the water bottle she had brought along, hanging from a piece of string from her neck. It wasn't actually that warm for the last day of October, but it was a long way, and she hadn't walked anywhere near as much as this since... No. She wasn't going to remember. She was moving ahead.

And she was almost there. She could hear, just barely, a raised voice echoing around the otherwise empty plains.
She could understand being in a foul mood. Here she was, stuck over two decades in the past, with a brain running on fumes (caffeine fumes, no less), walking around without any winter clothing on (she was probably going to regret that tomorrow) just so she could try and create a temporal paradox, just to stop Rainbow Dash throwing water balloons at her.

She found herself remembering a five-hour long lecture from her mother on what Star-Swirl (the bearded) had written on the nature time travel, with a good hour devoted to paradoxes. Her twelve year old self had started yelling 'enough' five minutes in, sworn never to touch a time-travel spell, and came up with a truly apt summary of time travel.
Time-travel was complicated, and should be avoided.

"Way to go, Twinkie."

Of course, now that she was older she had to admit one thing: Watching her mother nearly fry her own brain trying to explain how cause didn't necessarily follow effect had almost been worth the whole lecture.

She was vaguely aware of the shouting becoming more distinct, as she approached a broken, beaten up old wagon which had been (barely) painted blue, with poorly drawn stars and moons on it. The owner, a blue unicorn wearing a rather fetching purple hat and cape she could now make out, and she appeared to be... ranting and cussing at a wheel. She only heard the last few words of this rant.

"AND WE HAVE NO! MORE! NEED OF YOU!" The unicorn was saying, punctuating each word by slamming the poor wheel into the ground.

"THEREFORE, THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE HEREBY SWEARS OFF THE UNTRUSTWORTHY ABOMINATION THAT IS THE WHEEL! BEGONE TO THE DEPTHS OF TARTARUS THAT AWAIT ALL YOUR KIND, OH FREAK OF SCIENCE!" And with that rather colorful remark, she lifted it and tossed it away. Midday sidestepped to avoid it.

She coughed politely.

"Problem with your... wagon?" She said, eyeing the rather crudely designed vehicle as if it were about to collapse. The weary looking Trixie glanced at her, apparently sizing her up.

"Stupid thing broke off in a ditch" She muttered, pointing at the protruding axel where the wheel had snapped off.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie attempted to fix it and proved... more complicated than I had assumed. I found myself pushed beyond my breaking point by this."

"Is that the reason for the whole 'banished' to Tartarus thing?" Midday asked, raising an eyebrow for good measure.

"Being humiliated and laughed at wherever one goes is one thing. Being ruined by a group of ignorant foals is another. Being let down by one's transportation is entirely beyond that." She glowered at Midday.

"Why is Trixie explaining herself to you?"

Midday shrugged.
"I just have one of those faces, people can't help explaining things to me." Trixie just glowered some more. Then she turned back to the broken axel and sighed.

"What a fitting end to the career of the great and powerful Trixie. Ruined by the ignorant masses of Ponyville, cast out into the cold to scrounge off the pity of others, forced to buy poorly constructed mobile lodgings from disreputable salesmen." She kicked the axel, and from the brief look on her face, it hurt.
"Now Trixie finds herself a target of mockery by random madmares in the middle of nowhere."

Midday looked around. She could see Canterlot in the distance. That automatically disqualified where they where as 'nowhere' in her books.

"We're only a few miles from Ponyville" she said, calmly. Trixie shot her an irritated look.
"But I think you know that"

"Bravo. It thinks but it does not know. It does not see what lies ahead when sun has faded and moon is dead."
Midday smirked.

"Know what I think?"

"No" Trixie said, making it clear she didn't care either. And she didn't care that Trixie didn't care.

"I think..." It was almost fun ignoring her again. Like learning to ride a scooter.

"I think you keep coming back to Ponyville because you're trying to muster up the courage to confront the pony you consider responsible for ruining your life. But you can't. So you keep running."

Trixie almost smirked.

"Nearly right. Only it was ponies. Plural."

Midday knelt next to her.

"How about I fetch the wheel, fix up your wagon. Or try to, at any rate. How about that?"

Trixie's only response was to wave a hoof at her. Taking this as acceptance, she walked back to the wheel, lying by the side of the road.

"The nemesis of the great and powerful Trixie. Please to meet you" She chortled.

****

"So, was I right about why you're near Ponyville?"

Trixie simply nodded. Her hat slid off her head at that. Trixie made no attempt to restore it.

"Every few weeks since my humiliation, I have returned to Ponyville, intent on setting the record straight with that arrogant child and her moronic friends." Midday winced at the venom in Trixie's words.

"But I cannot. I am not... Trixie is not strong enough." She spat those last words. Midday stared at her.

"You know, there's only one way this grudge of yours against Twilight Sparkle will go." Trixie laughed. It sounded hollow.

"Do tell"

"Desire for revenge will consume you. You'll become poisoned with anger and hatred, and do something dangerous, and drastic, and stupid." Now came the hard part. She had to lie.

"It will taint you forever. You will go from being a joke to the sort of being parents tell their children to watch out for at night. You'll sacrifice everything you ever worked for in the name of revenge, and it won't be nearly worth it. You'll just be an echo, a shell of what you are now." Trixie fixed her eyes on Midday, and when she spoke it was low and cold.

"Please. That's such pathetic moralistic garbage. You sound like a child repeating what she's just been told. Why should I not deserve revenge? Do I not have the right to repay myself for indignities heaped upon me? All I would need is a chance."

Midday tried to let her sympathy show. How could this be the same Trixie she'd known? The one who taught her all those spells, admittedly after she'd persecuted the mare into teaching her, how could that mare and this pony-shaped pile of rage be the same?

"A chance is what you'd get. But by the time you get it, you wouldn't be you. Is a chance for revenge on Twilight really worth your soul? Worth becoming a nightmare? I've been where you've been Trixie, I know what it feels like. Believe me, it would not be worth it." Trixie seemed to shuffle.

"Leave me alone." She whispered.

"I'm trying to help you."

"Leave."

"Just let me he-"

"LEAVE!" Midday flinched. She sighed.

"Very well, Ms. Lulamoon, be that way. Throw away everything you ever wanted and worked for in the name of meaningless revenge." She placed her hat on her head and turned.

"Hope it's worth it." And with that she walked away, on the long road back to Ponyville. After a few moments she started galloping.

*****

Trixie sat by the side of the road, staring at the wagon. It wasn't the one she'd built at home, back in Neigh Orleans with her own magic. It smelt unusual, and creaked, and was dingy and cramped and uncomfortable and she really hadn't liked the way those two salesstallions had smiled when she bought it with what little money she had scrounged together. The mare's words stuck in her mind.

"Stupid girl" she muttered. She'd probably been put up to do that, or paid. Probably Princess Celestia. A word from Twilight Sparkle in her ear, or some such. Or Luna. Apparently the princess of the night loved Hickville, and the bearer of the Element of Magic. Then Trixie noticed something.

Where was her hat?

She looked around.

"That... two-faced thieving rat!" she leapt to her hooves, new energy fuelling her every movement, her weariness forgotten.

"THIEF! NO ONE STEALS FROM THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE AND LIVES TO TELL ABOUT IT! DO YOU HEAR ME?! NO-ONE!!"

And no-one heard her screaming either. She stood there for a moment, hearing the echoes of her words fade. A smile flickered across her face. Her enemy wished her to give chase. She could do that. She lifted her foreleg...
and then turned to look at the wagon. She frowned. There was nothing in there of any worth to Trixie. She turned back towards Ponyville, and set off at full gallop.

Muttering the Simple Solution

Midday tried not to laugh as she walked back into town, a few people staring at her new hat. She did feel rotten about having stolen in, from Trixie, but it was...
Actually it wasn't in a good cause. But if her actions caused Trixie to apologise and not go on a magical rampage, that was good, right? And it would perhaps distract Rainbow Dash from any thought of revenge on her.

As she approached the library, her legs began to feel more and more leaden. She walked in. No-one was home. That was probably alright, she felt like having a lie down. Midday placed Trixie's hat on a chair.

"Might wanna get a hatrack." She felt a serious need to sit down. After all, she'd only need to wait for Trixie to show up. As
long as she didn't fall asleep, she'd be fine.

Five minutes passed.

Ten. Fifteen.

"Where is she?" she muttered. She stood up, and was rewarded by her legs screaming out in pain.

After a few more minutes Twilight and Spike returned.

"Well, as far as town meetings go, that wasn't too bad."

"Yeah, got a few good naps in." The little dragon laughed. Then Twilight saw the hat.

"Spike, does that hat look familiar?"

"Actually... Yeah." There was a fierce knocking on the door.

"Twilight, Twilight? You in there?" It was Rainbow Dash. She sounded panicked. Or was it just concerned? Probably the second. The door opened, Rainbow evidently not bothering to wait for a response.

"Twilight? Twilight?!" She bellowed.

"Right here" said Twilight, from all of three feet away from Rainbow Dash.

"We've... got a situation."

*****

The three ponies (and one dragon) walked to the outskirts of town, where a group of ponies had surrounded Trixie. Some of them were gawking, some glowering, and more than a few seemed fit to weigh in with their own opinion.

"What's going on here?" Twilight asked. Several dozen ponies responded at once.

"-Brought Ursa Minor-"

"My child has nightmares!"

"Terrifying!"

"Arrest her!"

"Criminal!"

"Banish her!"

"-Compensation!-"

Midday looked at Twilight, who wasn't sure what to do. She looked back at Trixie, who looked on the verge of running. She felt something, something familiar. Guilt. She took a deep breath.

"ENOUGH!" Almost everyone instantly cowered. Midday breathed out, and for a second looked lessened and younger and incredibly tired.

"Don't like shouting." She whispered. Then she stood up straight again.

"Now then, someone intelligent and responsible talk with this pony, and by that I mean Twilight Sparkle. Anyone who is here to blame or complain or attack this pony, go home or just away and do something productive." Trixie, for her part, looked annoyed and terrified.

"Okay, I'll talk with her" Twilight said. Nopony looked surprised. The crowd dispersed and Twilight walked over to Trixie.

"Hello, Trixie."

"Twilight Sparkle." The blue unicorn hissed.

"What are you doing here?" Rainbow Dash butted in. Trixie muttered something.

"She wants her hat back." Rainbow and Twilight turned to look.
"I may have stolen it to lure her back into Ponyville." She said. Trixie lunged, only to find herself floating in the grasp of Midday's magic.

"You attack me? When the mare you so desperately want to confront is right there?"

The showmare's eyes darted from Midday to Rainbow Dash to Twilight for several seconds.
"Hat first" Trixie growled.

*****

Trixie's reaction to getting her hat back was... unusual.

"It's okay, it's okay," She whispered to it, "Mommy's here, mommy's here." Twilight, Rainbow and Spike all exchanged nervous glances at the sight of a grown unicorn caressing a hat.

"Now then..." Trixie said, "Twilight Sparkle, you ruined my life!"

"Seriously? Pretty sure you managed to do most of the ruining yourself." Rainbow Dash muttered.

"Don't forget Snips and Snails." Spike pipped in.

"And the Ursa Minor."

"You drove me out of town!"

"You ran." Rainbow scoffed.

"Made me a laughingstock."

"Did we?" Said Rainbow.

"YES!"

"And you heckled her." Midday added.

"You keep out of this." Trixie hissed.

"Shutting up."

"Would it help if I said I was sorry?" Twilight said.

"HOW CAN YO-.... wait, what?"

"I'm sorry. For the part I played in ruining your life."

"Pretty sure she'd ruined it herself Twilight."

"I agree." Midday was a bit surprised at herself for saying that.

"It... it might help." Trixie looked somewhat embarrased.

"Trixie, after that incident with the Ursa Minor... how long has it been since you've performed a show?"

"Months" She spat. "Long, long months."

"Well, why don't you stay here, in Ponyville. Just until you can get back on your feet?"

"Stay?" Said Trixie.

"Here? In Ponyville?" Rainbow Dash exclamined. She rushed over to Twilight.

"What are you doing, egghead?"

"I did help ruin her life Rainbow. It's only fair I help fix it." Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight like she'd just said roads made out of soap were a good idea.

Trixie for her part looked unimpressed.
"Trixie would rather not stay here in this..." Her eyes scanned the library, "Town."

Midday stood up.
"Fine. You go back on the road in your cheap little wagon you bought for a few bits that falls apart every time a pebble hits it. Trixie, this pony is offering you a place to stay, a chance to rebuild your life. Are you honest to Luna going to turn your back on that, try and scratch a living out of rocks again, just because your pride can't stand admitting you need help?"
There was a pause.

"Yes" Trixie said. Midday frowned.

"Trixie would turn her back on that offer out of pride. But... I suppose this town is a step-up from a rock farm."

"Well, I suppose that settles that. Spike, take a letter." Twilight smiled.
Trixie turned to Midday, who shrugged.

"Dear Princess Celestia..."

"What exactly are you doing?"

Twilight Sparkled stared blankly at Midday, like she'd just asked what oxygen was for.
"I'm sending a letter to the princess, to let her know I've learn a lesson about friendship."

"You what now?"

"Today, I have learnt-"

"Oh, she's kidding, right?" Trixie muttered.

"Evidently not."

"HEY!" barked Rainbow Dash, "Shut up and let the mare write."

"I think you mean dictate. Spike's the one doing the writing."

"Will you girls let me write?"

"Sorry."

Midday chose not to listen, instead she wandered into the kitchen to make herself something to eat. She wandered back in just as Twilight was finishing.

"- Rather than dragging a situation out longer than is necessary. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."
Once Spike had sent the letter, the four of them sat there.

"So... what do we do now?" Midday asked.

"PARTY!" Came an all-too familiar voice from out of nowhere.

"Has she been listening the whole time?" asked Spike.

*****

Midday chose not to party, instead going to lie down. She was feeling annoyed.

'That was incredibly stupid, and shouldn't have worked. Honestly, stealing a hat. That was the best I could come up with? I'm amazed Trixie didn't try and level the town to get to me.' she rolled off the bed.

She looked out of the window at Ponyville. She looked further, towards Canterlot. She had changed what had been, altered Trixie's life. Would anypony notice? Would things be thrown into disarray? Would she remain long enough to see the damage? She looked around the room.

"Alright, no more altering time on purpose." She said. Then she noticed something. A cupboard, with the door slightly open. She walked over to it, and opened it. Inside was... a costume. A Nightmare Night costume. She recognised it, all too well.

"Star-Swirl" She hissed.

She suddenly felt a desire to attend the party.

*****

Inside Sugarcube Corner everypony was partying, even Trixie. They were dancing and cheering and generally ignoring the small mob that had yelled at Trixie. She'd apologised, and everything was probably alright for now.

Midday snuck her way in. Or at least tried to.

"Hey, Midday. I wondered if you were coming to this party. A party isn't a party until everypony is there, and everypony is happy!" beamed Pinkie.

"Hey" she said. Pinkie's smile flickered.

"Are you alright? you don't look very happy."

"Just got a lot of things of my mind Pinkie." She tried smiling, "But right now, I just want to relax and try and be happy!"

Happy in this case seemed to involve heading towards the food-table rather than dancing. There she saw a familiar face.

"Lyra?"

"Oh, it's... mumur... something-ty, right?"

"Midday Eclipse, as you well know."

"Do I?" The mint-green mare asked, a sly smile on her face.

"I'm fairly certain I mentioned my name."

"Well, it's nice to see you. How are you finding Ponyville?"

"It's... not what I expected." Lyra giggled at that.

"You have no idea how often I hear that." She paused, then added "Actually, I don't hear that very much."

"If you don't mind, what are you doing with your front legs?" They were bent at odd angles, and being used to hold quite a lot of candy.

"Oh, well, I just like... using my legs like this. BB says I shouldn't, that I eat too much. Especially at parties. But she knows I can't eat during work or practice. I'd make a mess everywhere And I forget to eat."

"She really does." Came the voice of a cream-coloured earth pony, who siddled up to Lyra, glimpsing briefly at the mass of sugary goods the unicorn was holding.

"I thought you weren't coming, BB."

"I changed my mind. Probably out of fear of my little Lyra surrounded on all sides by strange ponies." Lyra gave her a Look. The mare frowned.

"Okay, I heard Pinkie was serving drink at this one."

"Not till later" Sang Pinkie, emerging from the punch bowl.

"Yeah," said Lyra, laughing at Midday's startled face, "She does that a lot."

"I was thinking more of the hygene issue." She turned back to Lyra. "And you haven't introduced your friend."

"I'm Bon-Bon" The mare said, "Her girlfriend." And what followed was a display of politeness that would have probably made Rarity sweat.

"Pleased to meet you."

"Likewise"

"So what do you do for a living, anyway?" Lyra asked.

"I am a part-time accountant. Currently on paid vacation."

"What for?"

"Sorry?"

"Oh, how rude of me." Bon-Bon 'smiled', "I meant for how long"

"Indefinitely."

"Oh, well, it was nice seeing you again" Lyra said, hoping to stop anyone from doing anything.

"Always a pleasure." Midday smiled.

As she turned to walk away, she heard Bon-Bon and Lyra talking.
"You talked to a stranger on a train? Oh Lyra, you toy with my delicate little heart."

"Is that all I do with you, sweetie?"

Midday suddenly wished she knew how to erase her own memories. She was probably going to need it.

'Darn flirterers' she muttered.

Then Trixie jumped on her. She seemed oddly cheerful.

"Heey, it's you. Again. Hello. Did I actually get your name?"

"I'm pretty sure you didn't." She wondered briefly on whether repeated use of her false name would make her like it. Perhaps not, she decided.

"Well, I am Midday Eclipse, and you are?"

"Trixie Lulamoon, at your service." The mare smiled. She suddenly have a vision of being pulled underwater and chewed to pieces by a giant cartilagenous fish. And a slight whiff of something.

"Have you been drinking, already? It's not even after three in the afternoon yet."

"Trixie wasn't going to this thing sober." The mare smiled, "And I'm not quite drunk yet." She frowned, and leaned in. Midday really wished she hadn't.

"Used up the last of Trixie's stuff to do it. Hidden away in my hat" She giggled. It was a rather odd giggle. And at that she walked off, swaying very slightly as she did.

Midday saw Pinkie watching the whole party, scanning for anypony not having a good time.

"Hey, Pinkie!" She called.

"Hiya" she said, then went back to watching.

"You alright, you look kinda distracted." As far as opening conversations with Pinkie went, that hadn't been the best.

"Actually, my Pinkie Sense has been just weird all afternoon. I've never felt it being like this before, not even that time with... the Doozy."

"The... Doozy?" Pinkie turned to look at her. Her mane seemed to droop slightly. Then it sprang back up.

"I'm sure it'll be fine, everything will work out in the end." And then Pinkie hopped away.

*****

A few hours later, Twilight was going to bed. With everypony out partying, she had managed to get her schedule for the next month in order, and find some new information about Commander Hurricane. And some strange mentions of a city in the furthest north, beyond where any pony had historically set foot. She would probably have to ask Celestia about that one, because there was no way such a thing could be true.

Her attempt to slumber was ruined by a crashing noise from downstairs.

"Watch it" That sounded like Midday

"Non, you watch it." And that sounded like Trixie. Although... was that Prench she was speaking in?

"You aren't 'xactly a genius yerself, Lulamoon."

More Prench. Then hoofsteps. The lights came on. Midday wandered over to the spare bed, as did Trixie. The two mares stared at each other. Twilight just watched, her mind wracked with alarm and amusement.

"What are you doing?"

"No, what are you doing?"

"No, what are you doing?!"

There was a small pause.

"I'm gonna bed." Midday slurred.

"So am I"

"This is my bed. I sleep here."

"And Lulamoon is your guest, so she sleeps here."

"I'mma guest as well."

"Go sleep on the couch then"

"There is no couch!" She watched as the two mares started flailing at each other. Were they drunk?

"There is only one way to settle this." Midday hissed.

"I agree."

"We shall have a duel. A magic duel."

"YE-ooh, that's a better idea."

"What were you going to do?"

"Lure you down to the abandoned mine. But your idea was better."

Twilight just facehoofed. How drunk were they?

"So we are agreed?"

"Yes. A duel, at first light."

"Indeed!"

"Right after we get some sleep."

"Of course."

Twilight really, really, really, really hoped this wasn't going to be a regular occurance.

*****

Somewhere else, in the main console room of the most wonderous vehicle ever made, various things flashed, and beeped. A hoof clumsily ran across the console.

"What the-?"

The pony identifed as the Doctor stared at the screen.

"Unidentified temporal incursion? Where?"

He watched as the location appeared on the screen, narrowing further and further...

"What?"

He flicked a switch, and the engines began to hum and strain.

Back to Ponyville it was, it seemed.

Author's Note

Urgh... not happy with myself for writing the first half of this.

Flashback the First: Wandering Off

Twilight Twinkle, aged seven
"Oh, come on Whisper. It's totally safe."

"I don't think it is." The colt said, making sure to keep a good distance. Unlike his friend, he wasn't the sort for exploring, or excitement thank you very much. Staying safe, and not gallivanting about the place attacking sacks of potatoes or going to slay dragons (though fortunately not real dragons. Even Twilight Twinkle wasn't that mad) was his favourtie past-time.

The little blue filly scoffed. "It's just a forest. What could possibly be bad about a forest?"

"Oh, lots. Cockatricies, feral manticores, bull dragons, poison joke, black mercy. Wait'll you're sitting pretty with some virus caught from some bug trying to suck your blood. Flash fire might start, cook you to the bone. That place is chaos and trouble and dark and silent." Twinkle paused at her friend's rather... poetic little speech (no doubt recounted from his mother, or one of the Apples). Then laughed.

"Chicken. I'm going in." She clucked and laughed. And then ran right in.

Whisper Wind watched. He had promised his friend he wouldn't run and tell his mother. He had promised. Though that did leave the young pony a lot of leeway.

*****

"Honestly Fluttershy, I can't imagine where she gets it from. I was never like that, her father's not anything like it." Twilight Sparkle sighed. Her friend simply looked at her, gently sipping on the midly warm tea.

"Maybe it's something to do with school. Or she feels the need to prove something. I don't know why, she's only seven years old." She sighed again, willing herself to relax in the chair. It was a really comfy chair. Somehow Fluttershy always seemed to have the most comfy chairs of any place she visisted. Fluttershy had probably gotten them by asking very nicely. Or having Apple Bloom make them.

"I could talk to Cheerilee, and see if there's anything she knows about this."

"Oh, how is she anyway? It's been a while since I visisted Sweet Apple Acres. Little Macintosh must be... how old now?"
"I think... about nine by now. I'm not sure. I haven't really had the time to visit people as much." Fluttershy sighed.
"There's always some disaster, or crisis or piece of paper that needs signed. Sometimes I wonder why I even took this job."

"Nice chair, cosy office, good pay for Whisper Wind, and no heavy lifting?"

"No heavy lifting?" Fluttershy laughed, "I wish."

Twilight looked at the clock, and her ears drooped as she saw the time.
"Oh, darn. We've been chatting so long, I'm going to be late."

"We had so much to talk about." Fluttershy smiled.

"I suppose we did. And it was nice." Twilight frowned. It had been nice, and quiet, and there had been no interruptions.

"Which probably means..." There was a knock on the door.

"Um... ma'am?" A silver-haired mare stuck her head around the door.

"Yes?" Both Twilight and Fluttershy said at once. They both looked sheepishly at one another, then apologised.

"Mayor Fluttershy, your son is here to see you. He says it's urgent."

"Send him in." The mare opened the door a bit, and in rushed Whisper Wind, wings flapping, and eyes wide. He looked out of breath. Probably because he was, in fact, out of breath.

"Mom... Everfree... ran in..." he gestured between gasps.

"Twinkle?" Twilight Sparkle asked. Suddenly the colt juddered, eyes slowly turning towards the alicorn looking down at him, and then almost immediately away

He gulped. "Yes, m'm."

Twilight Sparkle just sighed.
"Every time..."

*****

Twilight Twinkle was beginning to have first thoughts about running into the Everfree. True, she had been told it was full of danger and giant monsters that thought tiny fillies were actually walking snack-food, but being here... it was quiet.
Oh, not quiet in the sense that there was no noise. It was a different quiet. Everywhere she'd gone there was this slight hum of background magic, permeating everything. Here... nothing. It felt like something terrible had happened here once.
A quiet of the mind. And it was beginning to bother her.

Then a tiny voice in her mind spoke up. She was Twilight Twinkle, child of Twilight Sparkle child of Twilight Velvet. She said she was gonna explore the creepy forest, and she was gonna explore. And there was sunlight still showing the way for now. Although it was beginning to sink, making everything a weird red/orange color.
She kept going. What was the worst that would happen?

*****

"I'm sorry." Whisper Wind said again. Twilight Sparkle said nothing. She knew he meant it, and wasn't angry.

"Alright, assuming the size of the Everfree Forest, Twinkle's average speed while walking... Whether or not anything attacks her..."

"Poor things." Fluttershy said.

"If it weren't my daughter in there, I almost feel sorry for them."

*****

A manticore found itself confused, which was a new experience for the creature. A tiny little snack had wandered into its area of the forest, and being a manticore, it had tried to eat the snack. Normally this sort of thing ended with a damp crunchy squeak and one happy manticore.
So... how exactly had it wound up in a tree?

Twilight Twinkle carried on walking, determined not to let manticores get in the way of her exploring. She wondered if her mother had felt like this, when she had travelled to stop Nightmare Moon.

But then, her mom had been older than her. And had five friends with her.
She stopped.
"Uh-oh."

*****

"Anything?" Fluttershy asked.

"No. It's like she's figured out how to hide herself. Or the forest is doing it for her. Probably because of the low magic level of this place." Twilight looked around. The idea of flying to look for her had been suggested, but the trees were too packed together to find Twinkle. Fortunately most of the animals in the forest knew to stay away from them, and those that didn't... well, if Twilight couldn't send them packing, Fluttershy would.

"Did anypony hear that?" said Whisper, sniffing the air.

"I, uh, didn't hear anything." said Fluttershy.

"What did you hear?"
The colt pointed a hoof, and his wings flapped.

"That way." He said.

*****

Twinkle sat in a convenient clearing, trying to figure out which was she was going and how to get back to Ponyville. It wasn't very light now, but not dark enough for there to be stars for her to make her way by. So she decided to wait for whoever Whisper had fetched, absentmindedly poking the dirt with a stick.
"Never get to have adventures." She muttered.

*****

"Well?" asked Twilight. Whisper shrugged.

"I... don't know. Sorry." Apologising for something he had no control over. This kid was Fluttershy's alright.
Twilight looked around. The dry ground and her daughter's lack of mass meant there were no tracks to follow. She stared at a bunch of trees. And stared. And stared.

She set out at random.

"Twilight?" Fluttershy exclaimed, quickly following after her.

*****

Twinkle sat, trying to cast some magic. Any magic. Even a snowflake would have been something.

"C'mon" She said, tapping her horn. She was rewarded with a slight jolt.

"Oh come on!" She yelled. She was seven, and she could barely use even the tiniest sliver of magic. Her, the daughter of Twilight Sparkle. Sure, she could lift heavy objects, but beyond that she had barely anything in the way of good magic.

"Element of Magic my butt." She frowned, glowering at the Cutie Mark gracing her flank.

There was a crashing and cracking from in front of her. Something was coming towards her. She got to her legs and prepared. Whatever came through the undergrowth, she would stand her ground.

Unless it was a dragon, or something. She was brave, sure, but not stupid. Even her mom couldn't fight a dragon. At least, as far as she knew. And she was pretty sure Spike didn't count.
To her relief, it was not a dragon. Just a rather irritated looking mother.

"Mom!" She cried, rushing over to her.

"Twinkie!" Twinkle stopped, and looked up at her mother.

"What did I say about running off?" The purple mare said sternly.

"... don't do it?" Twinkle said.
Her mother sighed.

"It's a good thing Whisper didn't listen to you. What have I said time and time again about wandering about on your own?"

"I'm sorry. I won't do it again." Her mother laughed.

"C'mon. Let's get going." Twinkle scampered after her.

"What a way to start a holiday." Twilight Sparkle laughed.

The filly's eyes went wide.
"We're going on holiday? Where?"

"Oh, it's a secret." Twilight Sparkle said, slyly. Twilight Twinkle rushed in front of her.
"Tell me! Tellmetellmetellme!" She squeaked.

"It wouldn't be much of a secret then, would it?"

*****

Fluttershy and Whisper Wind watched the Twilights walking towards the library.
"I'm sorry mom."

"For what?" The yellow pegasus said, confused by her son's remark.

"You said I wasn't supposed to use my... abilities."

Fluttershy smiled warmly. "Oh, no. I said don't show them off. I didn't say anything about using them to help a friend."

"Oh. But you said Princess Twilight would..."

"Don't worry, honey. She understands. I made sure she'd understand." Whisper Wind went quiet. His mother was the bearer of the Element of Kindness, but the way she'd said that was more than a bit scary.

*****

"Can you tell me yet?" Twilight Twinkle asked.

"No." They were walking towards the train station. Things clicked in Twinkle's mind. Her smile faded.

"We're not going back to Canterlot, are we?" Twilight Sparkle just laughed.

"No. Bit further."

Twilight didn't even have to look to know Twinkle was pouting.

"Why can't you just tell me?" She whined.

"Because it's a surprise, and a treat. That's why."

"And how come we're taking a train. Can't you just teleport us there?"

"Not... really. And who'd bring all our bags?"

"Oh yeah." The little filly scampered ahead. She was shaking with excitement. Then something clicked. She gasped.
"We're going to see Uncle Armor and Auntie Cadance?"

Twilight Sparkle said nothing.
"YES! YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES!" And she continued like that until they were on the train, gaining them a few stares from passers-by. Twilight Sparkle laughed, and wondered for the umpteenth time since in seven years whether she'd been like this for her parents, or P-... Celestia.

*****

Twilight Twinkle didn't get much sleep. It was like Heart's Warming Eve... only with less theatre. Or any at all. She spent much of the night wondering what the Crystal Empire would be like, before eventually her drowsiness finally caught up with her.
When she woke up she saw snow covering everything.

She rushed over to her mother and began nudging and jabbing her.
"Mom! Mom! Mom! Wake up mom! Mom!" There was a slight grunt and a waved hoof from the purple princess.

"slpin'" She muttered.

"But we're almost there mom! Mom! Wake up!" Eventually her pestering bore fruit.

The train eventually pulled into a solitary station. Twilight Twinkle rushed about the platform, trying to get in a look at everything.

"Doesn't look like much." She huffed. She could feel the cold through the coat her mother had eventually gotten her to wear, along with a tiny woolly hat covering her head.

"That's because we aren't there yet." Twilight Sparkle laughed.
"Oh."

Twilight Sparkle lifted the child onto her back.
"I can walk." She asserted.

"Through snow of several inches?"
Twinkle paused, her little face scrunching up with thought.

"Maybe." Her mother laughed.

The two walked for a short distance, and then... it was like a curtain was pulled away, revealling vast plains of green, and beyond a grand city that shone and glittered in the sun, with a vast tower at the centre, a shining needle that seemed to stretch into the heavens.

"Behold the Crystal Empire." Her mother said.
As the mare walked into the city, a question occured to the filly.

"Mom?"

"Yes, my little pony?"

"Why's it called an empire when there's only one city?"

"It's a long story."

"Uh-huh." There were a few seconds as the filly waited for her mother to continue.
Twilight Sparkle sighed and shook her head.

"Well, a long time ago..." She began.

"Do the voice! C'mon, it's ancient history. Big it up a bit!"

"All right, fine." She coughed.
"Long ago, far before the Fall of Luna, there was a city, unlike any other in the world. While ponies in the rest of the world were unhappy and froze at the hoofs of the Windigos, here ponies remained prosperous, and peaceful.
The Empire of the Crystal Ponies, united in peace and tranquility and love. The crystal ponies spread across the northern tundra, the warm of their joy removing the snow, and allowing them to build towns and roads, all the while maintaining unity in their hearts.
But time passed. The rulers of this great empire grew proud. The wisdom of the ancients was forsaken. Kings made tombs more splendid than the tombs of the living and counted the names of their ancestors more dearer than those of their sons. Their childless lords sat in aging halls asking questions of the stars, or in high cold towers"
"Very high towers" The little unicorn smiled, pointing at the Crystal Palace.
"In high cold towers asking questions of distant stars. And their empire shrank, their cities fell never to be seen again as the cold returned more bitter than before. And so the empire fell. And with no more kings, the rule of this city fell to lesser ponies. And you probably know a bit of what happened next."

"Nuh-uh." The filly shrugged.

"What are they teaching you in school then?"

"Stuff I already knew. And useless stuff like math. When am I gonna need math?" Twilight Sparkle simply smiled at that. She'd let time show Twinkle when she would need math.

"Tell me the rest!" The filly said, sliding off her mother's backside, bouncing as her hooves hit the ground.

"Maybe later. Probably best not to recount it around ponies who were there for some of it." Twilight Sparkle said as they walked past houses and stores occupied by the crystalline ponies of the city.

"Don't stare dear." She said, as her daughter craned her head to keep looking at the locals.

*****

"Presenting their royal majesties, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and His Grace Shining Armor."

There was a polite cough.
"Apologies. Princess Cadance."

"Thank you."

"Sorry your highness. Your majesty. Ma'am. Miss. Cadance."

"Calm down, Clear Voice. You'll hurt yourself."

"Yes ma'am."
Cadance and Twilight bowed. And then, of course the customary greeting.

"And who's this?" Cadance smiled.

"Hi." said Twinkle, who had come down with a very sudden case of shyness. Also possibly embarrassment from seeing her mother waving her behind about.

"You must be Twilight Twinkle. I've heard a lot about you."
There was a tiny squeak.

"Twinkle." Twilight Sparkle smirked, nudging the little unicorn.

"Hello, Aunt Cadance."

"You must be... how old by now? Seven, eight?"

"Seven." She squeaked again. Cadance simply smiled warmly.

"Gosh. Seven and you've already got a Cutie Mark. You must be really clever."
Twinkle smiled.

"I guess you're probably a bit hungry after that long train ride."

"Yeah." The unicorn said. True, there had been snacks on the way, most of which had been eaten by her, but an actual meal would be better.

"Well, how about you and your mom get settled in, and we'll see about getting some lunch."

*****

Twinkle's first act upon seeing her room was to test the bed.
"Twinkle, it's a bed, not a trampoline."

"But mom! It's both, see?" She said, bouncing higher and higher. Then Twilight Sparkle's horn glowed.

"Bed. Not trampoline." She smirked, before letting the filly drop back onto the mattress.

"Now Twinkle, while we're here, there's something I need to tell you."

"Don't wander off?" The little filly deadpanned.

"I mean it this time. Really don't wander off."

"I won't."

"Good to know."

Five minutes later, once she was sure her mother wasn't looking, she went exploring.
"Not wandering off" She smirked.

*****

"Does she do this often?" Cadance asked as she rushed after Twilight through the palace.

"Only every single time." Twilight sighed.

"Why, exactly?"

"Something about adventures and excitement. Apparently she's convinced she's a fantasy hero. I can't imagine why."

"Maybe because she's the daughter of a princess, and the aunt of a princess and wants to be like her mom, fighting chaos gods and invading armies and saving the day."

"Do you ever have this trouble with Sapphire?"

"Never. She barely ever stops studying. I really hope one day she'll meet a nice boy and stop reading so often." Twilight stopped dead and turned to her sister in-law, her mouth agape.

"What's wrong with reading?"

"Nothing. But she reads a bit too much, if you understand my meaning. Even you went outside once in a while."

*****

Twilight Twinkle wasn't lost, not by the accurate definition of the word. True, she didn't know exactly where she was, or where she was going, but she knew she was in the Crystal Palace. Also long as she kept walking she'd probably find somewhere to be.

She heard a noise. Well, a noise probably meant someone. She looked around the corridor. She wondered what to do.

Shining Sapphire sighed, and leaned back in her chair, enjoying the peace and quiet of reading in her own private library, turned bedroom. A few minutes ago, she'd though she'd heard a strange repetitive tapping noise. Almost like hooves.
She looked around, the noise had stopped, and she couldn't see anything.
So she was leaning back in her chair, and then she looked up and saw the clock. Almost lunchtime. But she didn't feel hungry. She gave this some thought.

"Maybe a few minutes more studying," she said to herself, "Then I can go eat."

Then she heard the noise of hooves again. She turned her head to the open doorway. She got out of the chair and wandered over to it, brushing a loose lock of sapphire blue hair out of the way.

"Hello?" She called. No response. She shrugged, and wandered back to the chair. She sat down. There was a scrabbling noise.

"Hi." Came a tiny voice. She looked up. A small royal blue face was staring straight at her with curiousity-filled burnt orange eyes, which belonged to a unicorn who was small enough to be perched on the head of the chair without falling off She yelped, and leapt out of the chair.

"What'cha reading?" The filly said, jumping onto the table where Shining Sapphire's books were lying open. She looked at them.

"Looks complicated. ... tri...gon... metry? Sounds boring." She giggled, closing the book before staring at Shining Sapphire.
"I'm Twilight Twinkle." She paused.

"Hello?"

There was the sound of hoofsteps. And voices.
"You didn't see me." The little filly said, before scrambling under the table.

Shining Sapphire returned to her desk and tried to look like she was reading.

"Shining Sapphire?" She turned to see her mother in the doorway, Aunt Twilight standing behind her.
"Yes, mother?"

"Have you seen a little blue unicorn filly around? She has blue hair with orange streaks? Incredibly hyperactive?"
She placed a hoof on one of her books.

"... No." She said. Twilight Sparkle walked into the room, she seemed to be looking for something.

"Twinkle? Are you in here?" There was no response.

"You've got till the count of three to come out, or I will be cross." Still no response.

"One... two... two and a quarter... two and a half..." She sighed.

"Fine, no dessert."

"NOOOOOOOOOO! .... fudge." Shining Sapphire giggled as the small blue unicorn appeared from under the table.

"Did you just fib, Shining Sapphire?" Cadance said, trying to look stern.

"Er... perhaps. A bit." Cadance just shook her head, though to those who knew her there were clear signs she was trying not to grin.

"Come on, you two. Lunch."

"But... mom... studying!" The light pink alicorn said, holding up a book.

"Lunch." Her mother repeated, in the exact sort of tone that told the filly there was no room for discussion.

"What did I tell you about wandering off?" Twilight Sparkle said to her daughter, who looked almost offended at the accusation.

"I was exploring. Totally different!"

Twilight Sparkle sighed.
"Why do I bother?"

Author's Note

All good stories deserve some embellishment.
Especially when telling it to impressionable children who are prone to not listening.

A Duel of Sorts

In the darkness there was comfort. In darkness, there was peace. In darkness, there was strength. Darkness was her ally. But there was that annoying beeping noise which had been going for the last while and it was getting to be a bit much. Blindly she smashed her hoof against the bedside table, hoping to find whatever was causing it. Eventually she was rewarded by the satisfying click of an alarm clock turning off. Normal sleep could be resumed.

"Aren't you going to get up?" Came a voice from the cold outside. It was an illusion, a temptation designed to lure her away from the fluffy soft bed and the joy of being cosy. She gave it no heed. There was a polite cough.

"Midday?" However this thing from beyond the curtain of the duvet knew her name, it mattered not. She slept when she wished and none dared resist.

Something started nudging her. This felt annoyingly familiar. One of the hazards of living with somepony like Twilight Sparkle was that she didn't seem to understand the difference between 'asleep' and 'awake'.

"Get up." She said. Deciding not to drag this conflict out, she shuffled slightly. Her eyes opened, rewarded by the blinding light of a new morning.

"What time is it?" Midday slurred.

"Ten o'clock." Twilight Sparkle said, as if it were a death sentence. Midday tried to get out of bed, only to find her restive state had caused her to wrap the entire bed-cover around herself. Which probably explained why she'd felt so warm.
She looked across the room of the small sleeping bag Trixie had managed to find during the night. She couldn't remember much of what had happened, but she was sure there had been an argument.

Suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her head.
"Had I been drinking?" She muttered. Twilight looked a bit uncertain.

"You did seem a bit... inebriated last night."
"Feels like I've been drinking." She wandered towards the door. Breakfast awaited.

*****

It was halfway through breakfast that Trixie finally appeared, disheveled and... nowhere near coherent.
"Guurrrugggfff cffee" She muttered.

"Coffee?" Twilight asked. There was a grunt that was probably 'yes'.
After Trixie downed a full pot of coffee, she briefly slumped over the table. Then she looked up at Midday.

"You." She groaned.
"Good morning, as some might say."

"You said we'd duel today."
"I did?" Had she? She couldn't have done something that mad. Then she gave it some thought.

"You did." Twilight said.
"Fine, at noon. Gives us time to prepare."

"Excellent." Trixie beamed, before going on to down another round of coffee.

*****

The two chose to hold their duel in one of the scenic meadows outside of town. Midday had wandered up to it early, mainly because she had gotten bored with pacing around the library. She was sitting, staring at the view when she heard a commotion behind her. Trixie was leading a small crowd of ponies towards.

She was making a show of it. Well, if that was what Trixie wished, then she'd be happy to provide.
"Trixie, could you explain the whole... crowdiness?" The blue mare simply smiled.

"Trixie simply promised them a unique and exciting event, fun for all the family."
"Nothin' like a little mare-on-mare action" Said one pegasus, a cheeky grin on her face. She was the only one who found that funny.

"Prepare, Midday Eclipse, for your humiliation shall come at noon!" Trixie hollered.

They stood there.

Time passed. Slowly.

"Noon approacheth..." Trixie muttered.

The minutes slowed to a crawl. Passing second by second by second.

"OH FOR THE LOVE OF-! What time is it?"
"Just gone quarter past eleven." Someone said. Trixie frowned and turned to Midday.

"Shall we just go now?"
"Fine."

"Who wishes to go first?"
"You can go first Trixie." Midday made sure to smile innocently, trying not to laugh. The showmare looked uncertain.

"Well, if you so desire." She coughed.
"PREPARE YOURSELF! FOR YOU FACE THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!"

Midday made a fake yawn.
"I'm dying of old age here..."

Trixie focused, a small piece of magic first. She focused on Midday, and fired. There was a burst of colored smoke, and when it cleared, Midday was changed.

Her fur was now orange with green and purple polka dots. In an instant the whole crowd was laughing. She simply smiled. Her horn glowed every-so-slightly, and the colors seemed to melt away, leaving only the familiar dyed-in lilac color.

"My turn." She smiled. She closed her eyes and focused.
Before she had arrived, she'd made sure to set up potential weapons, just in case Trixie had decided to go for a different sort of magical duel. Fortunately, Trixie hadn't.

The crowd watched as a plant pot soared through the air, and beaned Trixie. She shook it off.
"Ha! Your pathetic attack is no match for me!" She said. Midday smiled. Another followed. Trixie looked annoyed.

"You dare strike Tr-" Another hit her.

"You dare st-" and another.

"You dare-" One more.
Then came a tablecloth, which Trixie struggled with for a few moments.

"Knock that off!" She yelled.

"Just about done." Midday smiled. Her last weapon was far larger and took a few seconds more to lift. Trixie's eyes went wide in horror as she saw what approached.

"Uh-oh." She whispered. There was a horrific crashing noise, as a grand piano slammed into Trixie, smashing into pieces on contact. From the wreckage, one of Trixie's hooves stuck out at a comedic angle. For a brief while the only noise anyone could hear was Rainbow Dash struggling not to explode with laughter.

"Huh." Someone in the crowd said. The crowd, sensing everything was over dispersed.
Midday walked over to the smashed piano, and focused, lifting the pieces into the air. Trixie glowered at her.

"That. Was cheating." She hissed.
"Was it? You didn't say what the rules were, viz a viz piano hurling."

"Tell me, is your plan simply to kill me? Because if so, I would like fair warning."

"Well, Trixie, maybe next time don't challenge me to a duel before putting down rules."

She sighed.
"Look, Trixie, your best spells are just illusions and trickery, you weren't ever going to win this fight Me? I'm ludicrously powerful. I didn't cheat, I just... sped things up a bit."

Trixie made no response.
"We could just keep fighting until one of us is dead."

"There's an idea."
"Or we could act like moderately sensible beings and not challenge each other to fights, especially not in front of crowds."

"Not enjoying that one so much."
Midday sighed.

"You can't handle defeat, can you?"
"Can so," Trixie yelled.

"Evidently not."
Trixie fumed.

"That's it. Trixie quits. I shall forever give up on my dream of being a successful magician and do... children's birthday parties" She said with disgust.
"No need to go that far."

"If it means I don't need to get pianos thrown at m-.... Actually, where did you get that piano from, anyway?"
"I have my ways."

"That answer is wholly unsatisfactory. Tell me!"
"Not gonna."

Trixie stared at her.
"How old are you?" she asked.

Midday paused. She turned towards the town.
"You know what? I'm hungry. Throwing pianos at ponies gives me an appetite. You want to get some brunch?"

Trixie paused.
"I might settle for brunch."

*****

"Hey, Twilight, did you hear about the duel between Midday and Trixie?"
"Hmm?" Twilight said, not looking up from her book.

"Rainbow Dash told Bon-Bon who told Lyra who Pinkie Pie that Midday threw a piano at Trixie. Won the whole fight in a second."
Twilight Sparkle put down the book and turned to Spike.

"Seriously? A piano? Who throws a piano?" She sighed, and went back to her book.
"I'm glad no-one in my family is that insane."

*****

Meanwhile, in Canterlot.
"Cadance, gimme back my helmet!" Shining Armor tried to take it back, but the pink alicorn maintained her grip on it.

"Not gonna happen Shiny" She giggled, jumping onto the sofa.
"Seriously, come on. I've gotta be back on patrol in ten minutes. If I'm late I'll get busted down to donut detail again."

"'Oh, look at me, I'm Shining Armor, I like playing soldiers more than taking five minutes of my time to tell my girlfriend how much I love her'" Cadance laughed, waving the helmet in the air..
"Not funny."

"It's a little bit funny. I definitely got your voice down. Oh, maybe I could be captain of the guard. Captain Cadance, nice ring to it. Better than that lazy-bones Shining Armor."
"Gimme!" He lunged, slamming into the sofa. All too late he realised his mistake.

"Gotcha!" Cadance laughed, pouncing on him. Despite her slender build, she was remarkably strong.
"Oh dear, looks like Shining Armor won't be able to report for duty. A serious case of hug deprivation, it seems." She leaned in closely.

"But I know how to cure it." She whispered. Shining Armor struggled to free himself from the cruel vice-like grip of his girlfriend. He didn't succeed. Though to an outsider, it would have looked amazingly like he wasn't really trying.
Shining Armor would later discover Celestia had given him the afternoon off without telling him anyway.

*****

Trixie and Midday sat outside, mainly because Trixie was unwilling to eat inside. The blue showmare had ordered what had probably been salad, while Midday chose what the menu had dubbed 'mystery soup'. Upon tasting it she had decided the only mystery surrounding it was why they'd bothered calling it a 'mystery'. It tasted distinctly pea-ish.

Trixie had upon the arrival of her salad chosen to cover it with a truly staggering amount of mayonaise and pepper.
"Trixie?"

"Yes?"
For a minute Midday had to fight down the urge to ask what she doing to the poor salad.

"Where exactly did you find all those ponies anyway?"
"Oh, a few members of the weather team, the odd store owner, like that nice young colt who works in the candy store."
Midday drew a blank.

"Cream-colored coat? Dark Blue mane with pink bit? Bit unusual for a boy, but still, his girlfriend seemed pleasant enough."
Midday realised who Trixie was speaking of, and briefly wondered if Trixie was just doing this to play with her mind, or whether she just refused to acknowledge that Bon-Bon was a mare in a relationship with another mare.

"Is that Pinkie Pie... always like that?"
"I'm fairly certain she is."

"She just seems a bit... off."
"I think that's just Pinkie Pie."

"I'm actually a bit afraid of even saying 'good morning' to her, in case she goes on some crazy spiel."
"What, something like 'what do you mean? Are you wishing me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I wish it to be or not, that you feel good this morning, or that is is a morning to be good on?'" Trixie stared in alarm.

"How did... what..."
"The voice? Yeah, that's a spell I'm fond of. Lets me change my voice to sound like anypony else's." She frowned, "Gets a bit tricky with some voices."

Trixie just nodded.
"So you were saying about Pinkie Pie?"

"Oh, yes. I was. It's just... she was chosen to bear one of those 'Elements of Harmony', correct?"
"Yes. I understand she represents Laughter."

"Seems a bit of an odd choice. For the pony, not the Element."
"Well, there were only six ponies present, and none of the others were seriously funny. If somepony other than Pinkie Pie had been there, perhaps they'd be laughter. Maybe if there hadn't been someone else there'd have been an Element such as inspiration, or I don't know... knowledge or hope or something..."

"That doesn't sound exactly right." Trixie said, inbetween a mouthful of salad.
"Heck, ask Twilight then." She drank some of the soup. "Or don't. You'll probably get a lecture on parrallel dimensions or M-theory or so on, or so forth." Trixie smirked.

"Doesn't she have a coltfriend or something?" Midday accidentaly took a deep breath mid-swallow.
"N-no. No. She doesn't. No boyfriend." She sputtered.

"You okay?" Trixie asked.
"Just mistimed my breathing."

"Surely she has a hobby or something?"
Midday blinked, her temporary breathing difficulty forgotten. She blinked again.

"Hobby?"

*****

"SPIKE! You misarranged the dictionaries!"

"Sorry."

"Sorry? Sorry? A-D is now next to H-L, and I can't even find E-G! Were you even paying attention to what you were doing?"

*****

"I don't think she has a hobby, exactly. She just studies. And studies. And studies. And occasionaly she reorganises the bookshelves."
"She doesn't even go dancing?"

"Ponyville... is not really a dancing sort of town." She said, trying not to laugh at the memories of her mother's attempts at dancing. Trixie looked confused.
"Not a... then what do they do-"

"For fun?"
"Trixie was going to say 'to ward off self-harm'."

There was a slight pause as Midday tried to think of regular Ponyville activities.
"They... talk."

Trixie made a noise of disgust.
"Go for picnics."

And a noise of disinterest.
"Wholesome athletic activities."

And another.
"Play chess."

Trixie stared in confusion
"Screw." Trixie paused. Her mouth twitched for several seconds. She giggled, before moving onto guffawing, and eventually on to full-blown laughter. She collapsed off of the chair, taking several seconds to stop laughing.

"So, this one-donkey town doesn't do anything fun?"
"Actually, I'm pretty sure there are two donkeys around. And there are the occasional sporting events, such as rodeos, or whatever those posters are advertising." Midday pointed a hoof towards a small board next to the cafe door, which was covered with a variety of posters.

Trixie walked over to the board. She looked at one which proclaimed

"Sisterhooves Social

For sisters ONLY

(We meant it. No brothers)

11-05, 1.05 pm"

Trixie walked back to the table and sat down again.
"I choose to not understand that poster."

The two mares sat there, quietly eating in the slightly chilling October air.
"I still haven't forgiven you, by the way," Trixie said.

"Pardon?"
"For humiliating me. Twice."

"Okay."
"I shall get my revenge on you. And you will not see it coming."

"I understand."
Trixie frowned.

"You cannot talk me out of it."
"Good to know."

Trixie sighed and said no more.

*****

Twilight Sparkle was calmly going over some notes when the two mares returned, neither speaking to the other.
"Hey Twilight." Midday said.

"Good afternoon."
"What are you up to?"

"Mostly going over some notes on ancient Equestrian history. I don't know why, but even since I found out no-one knows who Star-Swirl the Bearded is, I've been... I'm concerned about the fact that no-one seems to recognise him."
"You considered going to the school someday, telling all the little foals about him until their brains explode?" Twilight didn't seem to acknowledge that last bit of sarcasm.

"That's an idea..." she said, before rushing over to a small book and pawing through it.
"I mean, Star-Swirl is the one who trained Clover the Clever, one of the co-founders of Equestria. He's an important historical figure, he knew the Princesses, why does no-one know about him?" She roared.

"Maybe certain individuals carefully suppressed all knowledge of him out of fear anyone might do something stupid like emulate his stupid bearded face." Midday slowly slipped into muttering the last part.
"I didn't catch that last bit."

"Nothing."
Trixie had been watched this, and merely yawned.

"This is all gibberish to Trixie. She's going to take a nap. Good-day." She wandered over to the suspicious looking chair from the other day. Midday's eyes went wide in shock.
"No, Trixie, don't sit in that chair!" she yelled, but it was too late.

There was a horrible, horrible noise.

There was a terrible, terrible silence.

It was broken only by the distant sound of a cackling Rainbow Dash.

Trixie's eyes narrowed.
"Revenge..." she hissed.

Family Outing

Midday Eclipse, as she had now started to get accustomed to calling herself, awoke on the seventh day of her stay in Ponyville.

Her 'stay'. As if it was just a visit to a relative or a business trip or one of those times she'd gone along with her mother visiting faraway places. It had been a rather dull week. She'd spent much of it pouring through old books, hoping to find something, anything that would have told her what she'd done wrong. She had found nothing. As per her estimates, Trixie had managed to distract Rainbow Dash from attempting to prank her, though not entirely. Aside from that, the week had been rather dull, save for Twilight asking her to help out in a lecture to the school-children, which she had declined, and an incident involving Pinkie and baguettes. She had tried to stay away from all these weird past versions of ponies she knew, having to remind herself that they obviously weren't the same. Some of them were easier than others, though avoiding Twilight Sparkle was remarkably difficult, what with living in her house.

She slouched out of bed, as usual. Brushed her teeth, as usual. Had breakfast, as usual. Engaged in banal pleasantries with Twilight, as usual. Spike was sitting in the main room, occasionaly looking at the clock.
Yesterday, Rarity had burst into the library worried out of her mind over the location of her little sister. Evidently the two had been at each others' throats, leading Sweetie Bell to disappear, and it had only taken Rarity a while to notice. Spike had gallantly offered to assist Rarity in her attempts to locate the missing child, only to be politely turned down. Then Rarity had returned some hours later, claming Sweetie Belle had declared Applejack was her 'new sister' and would be taking part in a local event called the Sisterhooves Social, hosted at (surprise, surprise) Sweet Apple Acres.

Spike had promised to attend the social to give Rarity 'emotional support should she need it.'
"C'mon Twilight, it starts in two hours." He sighed. Twilight was buried in a small pile of books and scrolls and maps, though the reason for that Midday could not determine. And every time Spike mentioned the word 'sister' an unusual look kept flashing across Twilight Sparkle's face.

"We still have plenty of time" was the purple unicorn's response. Spike's reaction was to start pacing.
"Yeah, I know, but... I was hoping to talk to Rarity before it began..." he frowned when Twilight gave no reaction, "Forget it..."

And then Twilight said what Midday had been praying she wouldn't.
"Actually, I don't know... Midday, you aren't busy, right?"

And since she couldn't give a rational response to that, she'd been drafted for dragon escorting.

*****

On the way there Spike rushed ahead of her.
"Come on, Midday" Spike huffed, "You're going too slow."

"I don't wanna go." She muttered.
"I know. I heard you the first fifteen times. Why is that, anyway?"

She gave this some consideration.
"I... It's complicated" she eventually stated.

"You don't want to explain that?"
"No." She sighed, and then looked at Spike, "Sorry, that was rude, but... it's a personal reason."

"Okay then" Spike said, though he didn't sound convinced.
"And I'm not going slow anyway. You're rushing on ahead of me like you're on a sugar high or something." She laughed.

"I can't help it" Spike said, "It's just... can I tell you a secret?"
"Why do I get the feeling this secret involves Rarity?" Spike looked alarmed.

"Don't worry Spike, I won't tell a soul." She smiled gently at him, and he returned it.
The two continued onwards to Sweet Apple Arces. A clearing had been filled with tents and stands and a few pens with pigs in them. Spike leapt up onto Midday's head and started scanning the area.

"I don't... see Rarity" he said.
"Probably hiding from all the mud. 'Oh no, I might ruin my hooficure, how dreadful.'" Midday smirked. Spike simply fumed.

"She's not like that, y'know."
"Yeah, yeah. I know."

"Though you did get the voice right."
"Thanks."

Then Midday's attention was captured by a sight familiar to many ponyville. A large red stallion with orange hair and... well developed muscles, with a green apple for a Cutie Mark. Or Big McIntosh as most called him.
"Hey, watch where you're walking!" Spike said, "watchitwatchitwatchit!" She walked into a fence. Spike had managed to jump off beforehand.

"What was that?" Spike asked. Midday shook her head.
"Sorry, distracted by that pile of muscles." She waved a hoof in Macintosh's direction. That had never happened to her before. She had ne- practically never reacted like that to anypony, save one, and even then, never like that.

"Oh" A sly grin spread on Spike's face, or at least what the dragon presumed was sly "That's just Applejack's brother. I once heard Pinkie say 'everyone wants him'. I don't get that. What does it mean?" Conflicting traits came into contact inside the mare's mind. She knew Mr McIntosh, she'd met his son, even talked (as much as one did with Big McIntosh) with him on occasion. She turned to Spike and made a good effort of not looking confused.

"You'll understand when you're older. Now how about we go... sit down... or something." She tried not to focus on Big Macintosh. She also vowed there and then that if she started giggling like a school-filly she was gonna break something. Or perhaps somepony.

*****

The dragon and the unicorn sat on top of the stands, Spike still hoping to spot Rarity. So far he'd had no success, and was looking somewhat glum.
"I don't understand," he muttered, "She should be here." Midday simply nodded.

"I'm sure she's just lying in wait." She smirked. Spike didn't seem to notice the double meaning of that.
"But if Rarity wants to make it up to Sweetie Bell, why doesn't she just apologise?"

"I'm sure she did. But from the way Rarity was acting, it was probably a whole string of events that led to their fight. Numerous minor arguments all building on one another until finally, something snaps..." Spike stared at her.
"Do you have a sister or something?" She looked at him. There was no malice in the question.

"No. No, I don't. The closest I've got is a bigger brother. Although..." She trailed off.

The roar of flames, the noise of explosions, the screaming and the tears.
"I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU"

"No." she said quickly, "No sisters. Not actual biological ones, at least."
"What's he like? Your big brother?" She looked down at the little dragon.

"I... couldn't really say. I haven't seen him in a long time. I think he took my being born personally or something, like he was being replaced. I can guess why though. But apparently he's very sweet, very gentle. Not the biggest genius ever, but he has a good heart. I wish I knew him better." She whispered. Spike gently patted her, not sure how else to respond.

"Twilight's got a bigger brother. We... didn't really talk. I mean, I know him, he's a great guy but... we're not exactly best friends. Actually, sometimes I wish I had a brother or sister." She looked at the dragon, and was about to say something when there was a pained yelp from a stand near the track, where evidently the matriach of the Apple Family had injured herself in the eye while declaring the start of the race. Spike and Midday winced. Then Spike seemed to notice something on the track.

"Hey," Spike said, louder than he really needed to, "there's Rarity."
"Pardon?"

He pointed to an ambulatory pile of mud running alongside a small marshmallow which was probably Sweetie Belle.
"Look, down there. She may be wearing Applejack's hat, but I'd recognise that elegant figure anywhere." She stared at him.

"And the eyes as well" he added.
She shuffled a few inches away from the dragon, then continued watching the event. However, 'Applejack' and Sweetie Bell didn't win, only managing second place.

"That's a shame" she muttered.
"It's still impressive." Spike countered.
"Might as well get back to the library."

"I was going talk to them." Spike said.
"Okay, okay." She sighed. This was the moment she was dreading. Meeting her,

*****

"Oh, hi there. Y' must be Midday Eclipse." The farm pony stuck out a hoof.
"Ah'm Applejack." She reluctantly stuck out a hoof, trying not to glare at Applejack.

"An' ah'm Apple Bloom" said the little yellow filly next to her.
"I'm Sweetie Belle" The little walking marshmellow squeaked.

"Hello, nice to meet you Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle. And Applejack."
"Sorry it's taken so long t' meet, but ah've just been so busy all week, what with winter comin' up an' all."

"And the Social" beamed the small redhead standing next to her.
"Midday Eclipse. That's a pretty odd name, if ya don' mind mah sayin'" Applejack smiled.

"Beggars can't be choosers" She shrugged.
"If you'll excuse me, miss Applejack, I have someplace else to be."

"Nice meetin' ya." The farm said slowly.
"Spike, you comin'?" The dragon looked between Midday and Rarity.
"I... ah... I thought..." She nodded.
"Going to the spa, I understand. I'll just be heading back to the library. See you later."
"What was that all about?" Asked Applejack.

*****

Applejack. And she'd had to be polite to her. To Applejack. That arrogant wench. She sighed, trying to keep the anger down. She breathed in deeply.
"I said I would not get angry. I would not whine or complain." She knew this moment would come. But she had to keep true to what she'd said. Had to keep true. And she'd only been stuck in the past for a week.

Above her head, storm clouds were being pushed together.
She walked slowly, ignoring the beginning downpour. She didn't mind the rain. Under normal circumstances, she might have even enjoyed it.

*****

"Oh, hello." Said Twilight from her pile of books.
"Hey" she grunted. That got Twilight's attention.

"Something wrong?"
"Nothin'."

"Okay then."
"I'll be upstairs."

"Okay."
"Good conversation." She smirked.

She wandered upstairs, and stared at herself in the mirror, listening to the faint noise of the rain on the windows.
"Got any great ideas?" She laughed. She looked at the calendar. Her soul sank slightly.

Only a few weeks until her mother's birthday.
She stared out of the window. She felt a desire to go over her recent actions.

"Here I am, trapped in the past, I can't find a way back..." She looked over at a small book set she'd bought a few days ago, just in case she'd needed it. She sighed. She looked out of the window again.
She wandered back downstairs. Twilight was still reading. She sighed loudly.

"Something wrong, Twilight?"
"Yeah, its my birthday in a month, and..." She looked uncertain.

"I just miss my family. I mean, I've been seeing my brother less and less since I moved to Ponyville, and..."
"You've got Spike." Midday grunted.

"I suppose."
This was almost a bit too much for Midday. For a moment she considered ranting at Twilight. But only the briefest moment. She could see Twilight just staring, in the direction of Canterlot.

"Why not just go visit them? You have the option, right? Or you could just send a letter, or ask them to come visit you, see how you're getting on in Ponyville." Twilight Sparkle just stared.
"I suppose..."

At that point the door slammed open.
"Trixie has returned! Or is this a bad time?"

*****

Later on, once Spike got back from helping Rarity write a letter and Trixie had disappeared again (evidently to go party), Midday and Spike were sitting around, Twilight having gone upstairs to study 'in peace and quiet' as she had put it.
Midday sighed. She'd been looking through every book, hoping that like so many other ponies she'd find a spell that could help her buried in one of them. After several hours she'd had no luck.

"Something wrong?"
"Yeah. I just... thinking about things."

Spike merely grunted.
"You okay Spike?"

"Yeah, yeah. It's just my birthday in a few weeks."
"That's good, right?"

"I guess. It's just... every year I get the same gift from Twilight, and it's always a book. And it's always something boring that she's interested in. She's never asked me what I would like to get for my birthday."
"I know exactly how that feels" Midday said, looking toward the door to upstairs.

She looked back at the little dragon and gave a small smile.
"Maybe this year will be different. What about the girls? Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, that other one, aren't they going to give you any presents?" She could see the look of hope in his eyes

"I guess. And there's something else..." He leaned in and whispered.
"I've been saving up this really rare fire ruby. Over thirty carats." He smiled and rubbed his claws together.

"I bet it's gonna taste great." He then yawned.
"Oh, man. It's late. Twilight's probably gonna flip if I don't go to bed soon."

Midday went back to reading the book. She sighed. She saw Spike going to bed. Once he closed the door she sighed.
"Sweet dreams, big brother." She found herself yawning. She looked down at the book. Then she realised she'd been staring at the same page for over an hour.

"Maybe I should go to bed myself."

Author's Note

Whole lotta rewrites.
And I'm still not satisfied with it.

A Lazy Afternoon

Midday sat on a small bench, enjoying the only slightly cold air of her second sunday in the past. She occasionaly passed the time conjuring illusionary pidgeons and firing little bolts of lightning at them. This was hardly productive, but it was mildy diverting. And it was either that or help Trixie practice new forms of illusion magic, which hadn't sounded remotely appealing. She had given up searching through the books in the library, although that may have been helped by Twilight deciding to reorganise everything again.

She hadn't realised her eyes had closed until she heard the hushed whisperings and giggles.
"Huh. I think she's fallen asleep."

"On a bench?"
"That ain't gonna help her posture."

"Anyone got a pen?"
She woke up to see three inquisitive faces staring at her, one pegasus, one unicorn, one earth pony. It took her a few seconds, but she did recognise them.

"Hi." The orange and purple pegasus said, as innocently as could be managed with a pen in her mouth.
"What are you doing?" asked Sweetie Belle, staring at the pidgeon illusion.

"Staving off boredom. It was either this or read books for five hours straight again." She dispelled the pidgeon, inadvertantly breaking the heart of a pidgeon in a nearby tree, which had just been about to approach the good-looking new pidgeon.
"Five hours?" the pegasus asked.

The three fillies looked at each other.
"Yeah." Midday laughed, "My mother used to call it CIS."

"CIS?" The earth pony, whom she recognised as Apple Bloom, asked.
"Cripplingly Intense Study. So tedious, so dreary." She looked at the three fillies again.

"Now what's got you three out on a..." She looked at a few wisps of cloud streaking around the dull grey sky.
"... day like this one?"

"We're just bored, is all." Sweetie Belle said.
"And we figured we'd come and say hello, what with not gettin' a chance to say hi all week." Apple Bloom smiled.

"So this" the pegasus said
"Is a friendly" Apple Bloom continued
"Ponyville hello from" smiled Sweetie Belle.
"THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!" They cheered, shaking a few leaves off the nearby trees, followed by a small pyrotechnics burst from behind them. Midday leapt in shock.

"Sorry. Told you it was a bit too much, Scootaloo." Sweetie Belle said.
"You think? 'cuz it could've been bigger..."

"It's okay t' come back down, miss Eclipse" Apple Bloom said.
"Oh, no, I just got comfy in this tree. Why would I want to leave?" She dropped down from the tree and looked at the trio.

"How can you be bored, in Ponyville, home of Pinkie Pie?"
"We've not got anything else to do. Almost everywhere's shut today, so we can't go to the bowling alley." Scootaloo pouted.

"We keep trying different things, you see. We wanna get our Cutie Marks so we try anything we can think of, and... it doesn't really work that great."
"We keep ending up covered in tree sap."

"Or soot." Scootaloo muttered something under her breath.
"For the last time, Scoots, we ain't gonna be Cutie Mark Crusaders Pony Cannonballs!"

"We so could've."
"And that's before what happened when we tried to be Cutie Mark Crusaders Library Assistants."

"What happened?"
"Twilight forbid us from ever settin' hoof in the library again."

"What did you do, set fire to something?"
The three mares looked at each other.

"Sort'a."
"Sort'a'?' ... Was it something that shouldn't have been set on fire?"

"We kinda completely accidentaly set Spike on fire."
Midday couldn't even figure out a response to that.

"Y'see, there was a telescope and... well..." Scootaloo shuffled slightly.
Midday raised an eyebrow.

"Okay." She stood there.
"So, why do you want to get your Cutie Marks so badly?"

"Well... we're about the only ponies are school what don't have Cutie Marks." Apple Bloom said.
"And some rude, nasty little piece of work bullies you because of that?"

"How'd you know?" Scootaloo asked.
"Well, that looks like a rude, nasty little piece of work swaggering about over there." She nodded to over the other side of the park, where a small pink earth pony was in fact swaggering, as if walking through some throng of admirers. A silver-grey filly was walking closely behind her.

"I have a sudden urge to be elsewhere. Any of you girls care to join me?"
"Heck yeah." the trio said as one.

As they walked away, hoping the 'enemy' wouldn't notice them, Midday wondered what everypony else in town was doing their day.

*****

Trixie scanned the page again. She was Trixie Lulamoon, descendant of some of the most skilled stage magicians in Equestria, so why the heck was this spell giving her so much grief?
"Why won't you work?" She sighed.

*****

Rainbow Dash rolled in her sleep, thinking of a new plan involving water bombs and Trixie's hat, while dreaming of whole crowds chanting her name as she led the Wonderbolts in performing the famed Double Inside-Out Loop.
"So... awesome..." she smiled.

*****

Fluttershy sighed as she watched the birds circling overhead, heading for their winter nests.
"Would anyone like anything else?" The large bear sitting opposite her made a polite grunt, raising one of its front paws.

*****

Twilight Sparkle focused on the book. It vanished, and reappeared on the other side of the room.
"Yes! I can teleport other things! Spike, take a note of that."
"Huh, what, sorry?" Said Spike, still staring at his birthday present to himself.

*****

"C'mon everypony, get dancing! Less jigging, more swinging! Is this a party or are you waiting for a train? Pokey, Pokey! Watching the horn!"
"Sorry, Pinkie"

*****

"Fffffff...."
"Fun."

"Fffffffffffff"
"Fun, Aunt Luna. Come on, you can do it."

"Ffffffffffffffffffffffuh... I cannot. I simply cannot say it."
"But I though you said it on Nightmare Night."

"T'was different. I said it as FUN. You see? Completely different."
Cadance adjusted her tiara.

"Yes, I noticed. Regular 'fun' doesn't send me halfway across the room."
"I am sorry, niece."

"Well, the word 'fun' has been around for six hundred years, I'm certain you can learn it quicker than that. I mean, if I got Shining Armor to chew with his mouth closed, I can teach you to say a few words."
"This one seems un-teachable."

"We've only been trying for a few weeks. We haven't even gotten past 'f'. I hope 'relax' isn't going to give you as much trouble."
"That is not a word." Luna scoffed, "We would have heard of it."

*****

Two mares sat together in a quiet back-room, where they hadn't been doing anything at all dirty.
Actually, one of them had just been playing music. And cuddling the brains out of the other.

"Oh, gotta go. I should probably open the store again. I said I was only going to get coffee" One muttered.
"Mmm."

"Lyra, let go."
"Mmm-mm."

"I mean it."
"Don' wanna."

"Be a shame if something stopped me from going to Canterlot with you in a few weeks." Bon-Bon smirked.
"You're mean, sweetie."

"And you're so lazy."
"Am I? Am I really?" The mint green unicorn nuzzled against the back of Bon-Bon's neck.

"And you're evil, did I mention evil?"
"And here I though you only dated me for my flank."

*****

Rarity clinged to the rock-face, trying not to focus on the laughter of her nemesis.
"Ah, Rarity. What a shame for you, your life hanging by a thread. It would be such a tragedy if you were to fall." Generous Embrace laughed her annoying laugh.

"Soon, my domination of the Ponyville fashion scene shall be complete, and then my greatest plan yet shall unfold. And I'll be free of any meddlesome competition. Ciao, for now." The amber-furred unicorn laughed as she walked away, leaving Rarity still trying to maintain a grip on the mountain.

"What a ghastly waste of a sunday." She fumed.
"Next time, I'll just go to Pinkie's party."

*****

"Hee! Mommy bit her tongue again!"
"Dithn't."

Dinky Doo and Amethyst Sparkler giggled.
"Right, no muthins for anyone. Nod even me. And I mean id!"

She looked at the two fillies, and tried not to laugh at their shocked faces.
"We'll be good." Dinky squeaked.

*****

Shining Armor knew his enemy, knew it well. Shapeless and limitless, both without form and well-defined. Thank goodness it was slightly cold, or he'd probably be falling asleep quicker. Last time he'd fallen asleep on the job someone had drawn a fake goatee on his muzzle. And he was fairly certain he knew who it had been.

*****

"Uh, your Majesty? Sorry to bother you, but I have something for you to read"
There was snoring from under the door to the throne room.

"It's just that it's very urgent."
More snoring.
"I'll just... just leave it here." the aide muttered, nudging the paper under the door.

*****

Applejack stared at the sight before her. Her own brother, her own brother sleeping curled up under a tree, a small and very well-used looking donkey doll lying next to him. And it even had a quill and a notepad, if somepony wanted to pretend the doll was doing its homework.
"Why me? Why do I haf'ta be stuck with a head-case fer a brother?"

*****

"Ooh, 'the big book of siege warfare'. Tell me, girls, how fast do you think you can run?"
"Ah dunno. Pretty fast? Why?"

"Well, I think Diamond Tiara could be taken down a peg, don't you?"
"What do you need?"

"We're gonna need some water balloons. And construction equipment, and we'll meet up at the park in fifteen minutest"
"I though I said you three weren't allowed in here?" Twilight Sparkle said, taking advantage of the lull in the conversation.

"But we'-"
"They're with me." Midday saw Twilight's disapproving expression.

"Don't worry, I'm responsible. ... I can be responsible. I have been, on occasion. ... I should have some practice at it."
Twilight stared, amazed at how quickly Midday had backpedalled on herself.

"C'mon, CMC. Let's go prank somepony!"
It had taken a short while to convince the CMC that pranking somepony who was a 'jerk' was not so bad as just randomly pranking a stranger. Actually, Scootaloo had seemed all too eager to go along with it, now that Midday gave it some thought.

*****

"Nice day, isn't it DT?"
"Hmmph. Do you ever think anything you don't say, Silver Spoon?"

"Sorry, DT."
Although she wasn't going to admit Silver Spoon was right, it was an okay day for Diamond Tiara. Almost nopony had bothered her today.

Unfortunately for Diamond Tiara, her good mood was about to burst.

*****

The four bumped hooves in triumph when they heard the shriek of horror from Diamond Tiara.
"It worked!" They cheered. Then they heard the bellowing.

"Now, I think we should probably run."

Flashback the Second: Family

Twilight Twinkle, aged ten
She stared the present, eyeing it suspiciously. She wondered, oh how she wondered just what it could be. She gently took the wrapping paper off, revealing...

A book. Again.
"A Guide to Marine Life." The cover proclaimed. She sighed. Presumably mother had bought her the book because of all those times they'd gone to the beach. Or rather, father had taken her to the beach while her mother had stayed at home studying friendship, or magic.

"Thanks." She said, half-heartedly. Maybe she'd read it if they got snowed in. Her mother just beamed.
"You're welcome, Twinkie." She ignored the nickname, moving on to the next present, and the one after that. Only one of the presents had been from her mother, as it turned out. She wondered about that. What good was studying 'friendship' when it didn't teach you to buy more than one present, and always the same kind of present? Did she buy Aunt Dash a book every year? Auntie Pinkie?

And then the day began. Just because it was her birthday, didn't mean she got the day off school.

*****

Several hours later, and father and daughter were walking home through the streets of Canterlot, Twinkle's father going at a slower pace for his daughter's sake.
"Dad?" The filly said.

"Yeah?"
"..."

"Is something bothering you?" The little pony looked up at her father. He smiled gently.
"Did I do something wrong? How come mom barely talks to me anymore?"

"Your mother's just busy, Twinkie. You know that."
"Too busy to spend time with us?" Her father sighed. It wasn't fair for her, she was only a child.

"Just because she's not always with you, doesn't mean she isn't always in here." He said, pointing a hoof at her heart.
"I know that," she scowled, "it's just..."

He stopped her, and knelt down next to her.
"Twilight Twinkle, your mother loves you and your father loves you, and we will never not love you. You are our daughter, and we will protect you no matter what. And anyone who says otherwise is an idiot." She began to smile.

"You mean that?"
"Yeah."

She hugged him.
"Thanks dad."

He smiled back.
"Don't worry, Twinkle. I'll always be here for you."

"Promise?"
"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my-ouch. Stings."

He smiled as his daughter giggled at his deliberate self-injury.
"Now let's go get somepony something to eat before they collapse from starvation, because I know for a fact you didn't eat at school."

"Didn't need to" Twilight Twinkle said, ignoring the slight murmur from her stomach that said otherwise.

*****

"Wispy!" She smiled, embracing the pegasus, whose wings fluttered in shock as she did. He didn't exactly return the favor, but she could tell he didn't mind all the same.
"Hello, Twilight Twinkle."

"Good to see you again, even if you are a grouch." She laughed.
"Maybe I only seem like a grouch, as you put it, because you insist on running head-first into danger." Her smile vanished.

"Oh, and 'happy birthday'. I apologise for being unable to attend."
"It's okay Wispy. I know you don't like parties." He looked about.

"I don't... 'mind' parties. I do live in Ponyville, after all." He almost smirked at that, "It's just that I prefer smaller sociable events." The filly and the colt walked along the streets of Ponyville, their mothers behind chatting idly.
"How is school in Canterlot?" The golden-brown pegasus asked.

"It's... fine. It's fine." She said, staring at the stores they were walking past.
"You don't like it." The blue unicorn looked to see where her mother was. She siddled closer to Whisper Wind.

"It could be better. Mother argued I deserved to be skipped ahead a few grades, and they agreed."
"I thought you'd be happy."

"Yes, Wispy, I really enjoy learning about modern politics and geography and economics." She deadpanned. She sighed.
"They said I shouldn't bother trying to become an explorer because 'everything's been discovered' already. Bunch'a jerks. And they're all suck ups, trailing around my hoofs like I was..." She looked at Wisp.

"I don't like it." She said quietly. Then she stared at the pegasus again.
"Are you alright, Whispy?"

"Why do you ask?"
"Well, it's just... you look a bit pale."

His eyes flickered briefly. "I've been having trouble sleeping lately. Nothing serious."
"You'd tell me otherwise, right?"

He gave a put-upon sigh, "I already have one mother, Twilight Twinkle. I don't need two."
"You need to work on your sense of humour."

*****

Aged Twelve
They would joke about it later. They would recount it as nothing more than a comedic series of blunders, the 'camping trip from Tartarus' as Shining Sapphire called it. At the time, it wasn't really funny.

They had somehow managed to wander into timberwolf territory, and nearly gotten themselves killed. It was only because of Shining Sapphire's quick-thinking they'd managed to hold out long enough to come up with a stratagem. Which had been to rush past the wolves and hope the young alicorn could teleport. Just as she'd been about to, Whisper Wind had been grazed by a hefty claw to the side.

"WISP!" Twinkle and Sapphire yelled at once. He was lying on his side, not moving and breathing strangely. Both mares blasted the giant walking pile of wood and rushed over to him.
"Whatdowedo? What do we do?" The blue unicorn asked.

"Shut up, I don't know. I didn't read any books about this." Her cousin panicked. There was an odd humming noise building up. Twinkle looked at her horn. It was glowing, even though she wasn't trying to cast magic.
"What the?" she muttered. She could she the timberwolves returning, and they looked furious. The two fillies stood on either side of the wounded colt, not noticing the odd green tint to his wounds.

Twinkle looked at her horn, and the approaching timberwolf. She instantly placed a hoof on Shining Sapphire and Whisper. The hum built in intensity, and then there was a flash of light.

*****

Twinkle opened her eyes, she was in Ponyville, alongside Whisper and Sapphire. The sun was shining and everything smelt of apples. She turned to Whisper, whose eyes had closed and he was beginning to shake.
"SOMEPONY HELP!" She yelled.

*****

The waiting was the worst part. She wasn't sure of how long she'd been waiting, but after what felt like an eternity Fluttershy and her mother had arrived.
"Well" the doctor said to Fluttershy, "His wounds were unusual, possibly some variety of poison on the timber wolf's claws, but I think we've managed to heal the worst of it, and there shouldn't be any scarring. A few days rest and he should be out of her" Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief. Twinkle just sat a short distance away behind her mother. Sapphire was nowhere to be seen.

"Thank you, doctor." The medical stallion simply nodded, before walking down the hallway. Fluttershy turned to look at Twinkle before she went to check up on her son. Twinkle didn't meet her gaze.

*****

Twilight Sparkle walked down the streets of Ponyville, her daughter barely keeping up. Twilight Twinkle wondered what was going on. She knew she was in trouble, but why wasn't her mother saying anything, not even a 'I'm disappointed in you'. Eventually they reached the library, and the elder mare stopped. She turned to look at Twilight Twinkle, still saying nothing.
"Mom, are you going to say something?"

"Sit down." She said, motioning to a chair. The filly walked over to it and sat down.
"I... am disappointed in you. Very disappointed. What you did was irresponsible and foolish and almost got you, your cousin and your friend killed." She looked like she was about to say more. She sighed.

"But there is no punishment I could think of suitable for your actions, not after having to see your friend be so seriously injured. But you are grounded, young lady. And you can forget visiting your aunt and uncle again."
"'kay" the little unicorn said, barely audible. The purple alicorn looked at her, uncertainty in her eyes.

"There is something I should tell you about your friend, Whisper Wind. I was going to wait until you were older, but..." she paused for a few seconds, "He is not like most other ponies. Or any pony"
Twinkle looked up at her mother.

"What?"
She explained. Twilight Twinkle's eyes went wide.

*****

Whisper Wind lay on the hospital bed, staring at the walls. He could still feel an ache along his side, though fortunately he had no scarring. The only problem now was surviving the tedious boredom of the hospital. There was a knock on the door. He looked to see Twilight Twinkle standing there, looking incredibly ashamed.

"Hello." He said.
"Hi. Can I come in?" She said, staring at her hooves the whole while.

"Yes." The unicorn wandered over to his bed. She smiled slightly.
"You... feeling okay?"

"As well as can be expected." She looked nervous about something.
"Did you want something?" He asked.

"Well, I just wanted to see how you were doing." He looked at the earnest smile on her face. It flickered. She was a terrible liar.
"Wisp, I..." She leaned in. "I know." He stared at her, almost like her eyes were scanning him.

"About what?"
"I know." She repeated. And then it sank in.

"I see."
There was a brief pause. She looked at him, and a curious look passed across her face.

"Can I see?"
He blinked his bright blue eyes.

"I mean, if you don't feel comfy with doing it, I get it. I do."
There was a brief pause.

"If I do show you, do you promise not to be scared?"
She frowned and raised a hoof.

"I do solemnly swear not to be scared." He sighed.
"Okay then." He stood up straight, wincing slightly as he did, and relaxed. There was a faint noise like glass breaking, and he stood revealed. His golden-brown fur had been replaced by charcoal grey chitin, his hair utterly vanished, save for a stubby little tail. His wings were now different, more like those of a fly. From Twinkle's perspective of him standing in front of the window, the sun setting behind him, it was almost unbelievable.

"Um..." she said, staring at him, her jaw slightly open.
"This is me, Twilight Twinkle." She was staring at his forehead, and his eyes and he couldn't help but notice her staring at his wings.

"They're beautiful..." She said in hushed awe.
She hopped up onto the bed and raised a hoof towards one of the wings, the sunlight glinting off of them. Her hoof touched it, and it twitched slightly, buzzing.

She giggled.
"Are your wings ticklish?" She smiled.

"Perhaps" he said.
"Does it hurt, when you do it? What does it feel like? What do you eat?" She laughed, bouncing up and down.

"Actually, how do you eat, 'cuz you've got fangs right, and you don't need food, so what are you eating? What do emotions taste l-" in a desperate attempt to stop her, he jabbed a hoof in her mouth. It seemed to make his point clear. He focused, and returned to looking like a pegasus.
"Sorry" she said, smiling nervously.

"I'll tell you at some point." He smirked slightly, "When I've recovered" He could see the regret in her.
"Don't worry, Twinkle. I'm not holding a grudge, and I don't think Shining Sapphire has it in her, if she's anything like her mother."

"Thanks." The unicorn muttered, though she was annoyed by that. Then she looked at him.
"But I think I'm going to hold a grudge against myself though. It was my idea" She said.

"Shining Sapphire and I agreed to go along with you, though."
"Let me have my guilt." She smiled, briefly. Then she looked around the room.

"I should probably go. My... mother said I was grounded. But I'll try and visit at some point" She hopped off the bed and waved a hoof as she left. He simply have a very slight smile back. He sighed. And here his mother had been worried about him revealing his 'secret' to anypony. Of course, once he gave it some though he wondered if he should have been concerned about the twinge of envy he'd noticed in Twinkle.

*****

Much later, as Whisper Wind slept, hooves made their way across the floor. They silently made their way to Whisper Wind's bed, where he was resting, occasionaly twitching. A hoof ruffled his hair. He murmured something.
"Oh, it's only me dear. Only your mother." Soothed the voice. The hoof ran along to his side, and the dark green scars, now healing, from where the timberwolf had slashed him. The sleeping colt winced and there was a slight whimper.

"Hush my little one, you must be exhausted." In the darkness, two dark green orbs lit up the room. They revealed a face that most certainly was not Fluttershy. A mouth split into a wide smile, revealing a mouth with sharp fanged teeth. And the Changeling Queen began to sing. For the first few seconds it sounded like a lullaby, until it very quickly revealed itself to be anything but. The colt murmured something in his sleep, and she stopped. She looked down at him, her horn glowing slightly as she continued moving a hoof over his stomach. Then she continued onward with her song, more for herself at that point, her tone turning sadistically gleeful as she described revenge on one pony in specific: Shining Armor. When she finished, she sighed contentedly. Then, she chuckled to herself, stroking the sleeping child one last time.
"Sweet dreams, my little one."

Author's Note

So I was sitting, and I though "Oh, that Changeling Queen just isn't creepy enough. Can I make her worse?"
Well, I can try.

Poison of the Soul

Before the founding of Equestria, as every school-foal knows, there had been mighty kingdoms and empires formed of the three tribes of ponies. The earth ponies were farmers and craftsmen. The unicorns the artists and thinkers and politicians. The pegasi ruled from their cities in (and of) clouds. Each of the tribes had different value systems geared towards whatever was considered necessary for their kind to survive. When being made to study the prehistoric pegasi way of life, Twilight Twinkle had noticed the old legend of the box (or vase or whatever it was) that contained within it all the evil and sins and poisons, opened by an incredibly curious and foolish pony. Modern ponies who heard the tale assumed that the part about hope being in the box (or vase, or whatever) meant it had been put there as a counter-agent. Twilight Sparkle had set her young daughter straight in that respect. It was there because the ancient pegasi considered hope more dangerous than anything else in the world. No wonder. Hope made one spare deadly enemies in the belief they might reform, hope made soldiers break ranks to attempt foolish deeds, made the rational consider the impossible, and made those starving from uncontrolable hunger cross lines that should never be crossed.

Hope, the ancient pegasi had said, was a poison of the soul.

When she had been young, Twilight Twinkle hadn't been able to understand that idea. Now, at the beginning of her second week stuck in the past of Ponyville she was finding new appreciation for the old tale. For every time she found a spell book claiming to offer lost knowledge, she found none. Every time she opened one her heart began to race, hoping that this new book would offer some aid. It didn't.

On reflection she would realise this was because nopony would be insane to leave a book on time-travel spells just lying about in their public library. So she cracked open the hidden shelves, and found nothing, save one book listing the way to a pool capable of cloning herself, which she wisely decided to leave where she found it.

She sighed. She had considered every option, even visiting the local zebra Zecora, who had been unable to offer help. Or at least it sounded like she had been unable to help. She couldn't really tell through all the rhyming.

She lay back in the chair and sighed. It was slow going, especially given her resistance to reading, and the occasional interlude of Ponyville shenanigans getting in the way. Though Trixie and Rainbow Dash did seem to be distracting each other, which was something. The last thing she needed was another distra-

Midday looked around the room. She walked over to the front door and scanned outside. There were a few low-hanging clouds, but that was it. Perfectly nice normal day. She wandered back inside. Everything was good. Everything was fine. It was calm. A perfectly calm, ordinary sunday.

"Uh-oh." She sighed.

*****

"It's just a cutie mark"

"Or a lack of a cutie mark."

"That's not helping."

*****

Midday quickly tried to remember where everypony was. Since Twilight wasn't present that meant she was probably testing out a new spell, or visiting a friend. And it probably wasn't Fluttershy because the funeral for her exploded chicken had been the other day, and she remembered that because it had been raining. Pinkie Pie was probably throwing a party, or about to throw a party, or recovering from throwing a party. And if it was a weekend, Rarity was probably messing about with hats. Fluttershy would probably be doing... whatever Fluttershy did, and Rainbow Dash was probably trying to mess around with ink bombs.

Midday looked over to the small parcel she'd recieved the other morning, courtesy of Ditzy. She snorted.
"Nice try, Rainbow." Focusing her magic, she lifted up the parcel, and grabbed her saddlebag.

*****

She sniffed in the scent of Sugarcube Corner, which after having been in the library all week smelt amazing.
"Oh, good afternoon" Said Mrs Cake when she saw Midday enter, though there was some trepidation in her eyes. Midday wasn't sure why. It wasn't as if she and Pinkie had made that much mess. And most of it had cleaned up quickly anyway.

"Oh, hello" She said back, noticing the mare's suspicious look.
"Is... Pinkie here?"

"I dunno? Am I here? Who knows? Why don't you ask Pinkie?" The pouncing party pony smiled.
"Good afternoon, Pinkie." Midday said. At that, Pinkie's smile vanished, replaced by a look of profound despair.

"Why does everypony keep saying that? Why? Why? Enough of the philosophical brainteasers! I'm just a pastry chef!"

"I was just saying hello, Pinkie."
"Oh." Pinkie's hair seemed to suddenly inflate at that, and she smiled and waved a hoof, "Hi."

Midday smiled slightly. It was the kind of smile that made professional gamblers uneasy.
"I require your skills, pastry chef." A serious look came across Pinkie's face, and she beckoned towards the kitchen.

"This way then."
Midday followed the bouncing earth pony, briefly turning to Mrs Cake.

"Congratulations, by the way Mrs Cake."
The mare blinked in confusion.

"Thank you" she said, hesitantly.

****

A few minutes later, both mares were staring at six freshly baked blueberry muffins.
"Smell that?" Pinkie said.

"Smell what?"
"Do you smell that? Muffins, daughter." Her voice was alarmingly low.

"Nothing in the world smells like that. I love the smell of muffins in the morning. That wonderful smell, you know, that muffin-y smell. Smells like victory." Midday stared at Pinkie. Pinkie stared back, and then she smiled.
"Would you like these gift-wrapped?" Pinkie chimed.

*****

Ten minutes later, and Midday entered the Ponvyille Post Office which as is customary for most public services was almost abandoned. She walked up to the front desk and ringed a smell bell sitting there. For a while nothing happened. Then she heard a small tapping noise, like that of somepony trying to sneak about. She looked about the room, and sighed.

"Is there a Ditzy Doo here?" She rang the bell a few more times.
She had taken her eyes off of the desk, and that meant the minute she turned around someone would be staring her in the face. She turned around.

She found herself staring into two large golden eyes. She took a step back, mainly because it was difficult to stare down Dinky Doo at point-blank range.
"Hi." The tiny unicorn smiled.

"Hello. Are you Ditzy Doo?" She said, trying to look calm and collected. The unicorn giggled.
"Yup." She looked at the filly.

"What happened to your wings?"
"Fell off."

"And the horn?" Hoofs quickly covered the horn.
"What horn?"

"Look, Dinky, I am in a bit of a rush, so could you please find your mother?" The little filly pouted.
"Fine, fine." She hopped off and walked over to a door to the back room. A few seconds later a somewhat tired-looking Ditzy wandered through.

"Oh, hello." She said.
"Sorry I didn't hear you. I've been up to my wings in paperwork today and I must have zoned out a bit." She yawned.

"Now then, can I help you miss Eclipse?"
Midday smiled, focusing on the small package in her saddlebag and lifted it out.

"Package delivery." She smiled. And then lifted out the small box.
"Oh, and these are for you." Ditzy looked at the gift-wrapped box and sniffed it. In an instant Midday found herself being hugged by the pegasus.

"Thanks." She said when she pulled back.
"I may have missed lunch" she said.

"No problem, miss Doo."
"And this package, would I be right in assuming it's for Rainbow Dash?"

"A bit." A serious look overcame Ditzy's face.
"It is not the job of the Ponyville Post service to either accept bribes or take part in juvenile pranks."

"I know."
Ditzy looked at the package, and the muffins. Then back to the package, then back to the muffins. A strained look passed across her face, the only hint of a serious internal war.

"Just this once." She eventually sighed.

*****

Midday returned to the library, unencumbered and feeling malicious.
"Take that Rainbow Dash, sending me mail." She muttered.

She opened the door, finding Twilight and Spike had returned.
"Afternoon Twilight."

"Afternoon, Midday." The unicorn said, in-between making a small pile of books on diseases.
The lilac unicorn walked over to the bookshelf and removed one of the book of spells she'd been looking through.

"Anything interesting?"
"Oh, Apple Bloom seems upset because she doesn't have her Cutie Mark yet. Everypony keeps telling her she only needs to wait, and she never listens. I'm just glad nopony in my family has such poor attention to detail." She paused.

"Except maybe my brother. I don't know how he got to be in charge of the guard when he couldn't notice a problem until it was right in his face." Midday felt like she'd been kicked in the stomach.
"Are you alright?"

"Nothing, nothing. Just thinking... about family. That's all."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I should have been more careful about what I said." Midday tried to smile.

"Don't. We've already got one Fluttershy, we don't need two." She walked through into the secondary room, and placed the book down, and just collapsed.
She'd already interfered with time once, just to stop Trixie's little vengeful rampage. And she'd vowed not to change anything else, but... Cadance. And Shining Armor. What if she was stuck in the past long enough to see that?

She looked at the book.
"No." She hissed. She knew they would be fine. They had warded off... it before, they could ward it off again. She started reading the book, much quicker than before.

*****

The day passed into night, and the night into morning. Easy sleep gave way to good moods and everything seemed normal. Midday sat, drinking a usual cup of coffee. Everything seemed fine and good. After all, what was the worst that could happen on a calm monday morning in November.

"Apple Bloom! You got your Cutie Mark!"

Nothing whatsoever, Midday told herself. She sighed, and got back to reading. She heard an overdone sigh, and saw Trixie walking down the stairs, looking amazingly dishevelled.
"Morning, Trixie."

There was a series in inarticulate grunts, some of which had a strange accent to them.
"Nopony 'likes' mondays, Trixie.."

"Oui, oui." The showpony sighed, and walked into the kitchen.
Midday took another sip of her coffee and went back to reading.

*****

Twilight had suggested going for a walk around the town, and rather than a few more hours of CIS Midday decided to join them. All the while she had this strange feeling, that something bizarre was about to happen.
But it was Ponyville, chaos capital of the world.

They had encountered Rarity on the way there, and were just casually wandering the streets when they saw the crowd. They were following Apple Bloom.

"Sweetie Belle?" Rarity exclaimed, "What's going on?"
The minature unicorn smiled.

"Apple Bloom's got her Cutie Mark" Sweetie Belle smiled. Midday's blood froze. She remembered hearing something once about Apple Bloom and 'borrowed' objects and then... then... what had happened then? Unfortunately her mind was filled with pointless spells on shaping pottery. She sighed. Everything would blow over, Apple Bloom would be fine. Though she did briefly feel a minor burst of pity for what Applejack was about to go through.

*****

Later, and Midday had finished the last book in the library. She put the book down. That was it. She had read every single possible book that could've helped, every possible tiny hint followed up on. There was nothing. She looked around. She considered asking Celestia for help. For a tiny, tiny, infinitesimal second she considered asking her mo-... asking Twilight Sparkle for help.

No, she'd just ask Celestia.

Tomorrow.

At the moment she had a strong desire to read about botany.

*****

"Three Cutie Marks?!"

"Help me!"

*****

Applejack had shown up at first light, almost smashing the door down in her alarm. Twilight had been a bit slow on waking up, but once she heard the words 'Apple Bloom' and 'danger', she'd practically flown downstairs. Midday had followed after, and saw the alarming sight of Apple Bloom tap-dancing, while at the same time playing with hula hoops and spinning plates.
"Three Cutie Marks. Three talents. I've never seen anything like it." She pondered, looking at the terrified tap-dancing filly.

"I was just reading something about unusual equinine illnesses, what was it?"
"Perplexing Pony Plagues?" Spike said, waving the book about. Midday wandered over as Twilight started running through the strangely disorganised book.

"Hay fever... the trots..." Which was also the name of the inhabitants of Trotland, who were quite resistant against attempts to change their country's name.
Twilight Sparkle gasped.

"Cutie Pox!"
Two farmponies and a dragon gasped, and repeated what she'd said.

"Cutie Pox. This puzzling pony plague afflicted a population of ponies back in the paleo-pony period."
Spike just laughed.

"Say that three times real fast."
Midday scanned the page.

"A problematic pandemic of potentially perilous proportions" Midday mused.
"Cut out the fancy talk! What's gonna happen to mah sister!" Applejack barked.

"Random Cutie Marks appeared all over the ponies bodies, causing them to perform all the talents that came with them," Twilight gasped.

"There was no known cure. The disease disappeared as soon as it arrived."
"But it doesn't say it was fatal." Midday said quietly. There was a small tinkling noise, and everypony looked to see a fourth Cutie Mark on Apple Bloom's flank.

"Sacrebleu! Plus de Marque de Cutie!" the filly gasped in horror.
"Qu'est-ce cest??! Je parle prancais!" she yelped.

"Mah sister's speakin' in fancy!" Applejack reared back.
"It's only Prench, it won't bite."

Applejack turned to glower at her.
"You ain't helpin'"

"You don't need my help." Midday pointed out.
"She's right. We need somepony who can mix up a cure, and fast!" Twilight declared.

"Tout de suite!"
"Why not ask Zecora?" Midday said, hoping to regain the seconds wasted bickering.

"Of course, Zecora! I was just thinking that!"
"Deprechez vous!"

Quickly Applejack, Twilight, Spike and Apple Bloom set off, with Midday following behind them 'just in case', but they didn't get far before Apple Bloom found herself bearing another Cutie Mark. And another, and another and another. And as this happened, Applejack and Twilight became increasingly terrified. A crowd gathered, watching with increasing trepidation. Spike on the other hand was happily chowing into a box of popcorn. Midday took it from him.

"She is cursed!" Cried one pony.
"Hexed!" Added another alarmed mare.

"Bewitched!" Said a third.
"No she's not." Spike sighed. The crowd sighed with relief. Midday prepared for Spike to say the utterly wrong thing.

"She just has some weird disease with no know cure called Cutie Pox."
The entire crowd screamed and disappeared. Midday turned to Spike.

"After this, we're gonna talk about ending our statements a sentence early."
And then, out of all fortune, Zecora arrived.

"I thought I had removed their fear, the last time I visited here. But doors are barred and shutters shut. Guess I should have stayed inside my hut," the zebra observed.
Midday zoned out as Twilight, Applejack and Zecora conversed, while she kept an eye on Apple Bloom who had begun writing complex mathematical equations on a blackboard, before moving on to weightlifting, to window-washing. Like everypony else in town, she was alarmed, but couldn't turn her head from it.

"Apple Bloom, what do you say? Did this flower just walk away?" Zecora frowned. Apple Bloom didn't respond.
"Guess that's a yes." Midday quipped. Zecora drew some seeds from the saddlebags she was carrying. Midday recognised those. Seeds of Truth. Evidently several hours reading on botany weren't wasted.

"With truth, they'll grow, and the cure is found."
"Come again?"

"Just say something true." Midday said. The seeds were placed into the ground. And then Apple Bloom started spinning. Midday, acting on reflex grabbed her with her magic, trying to hold the spinny filly still.
"Somepony hurry up and say something true!" She felt like she was being shoved sideways, and could feel the ground beginning to move beneath her hooves.

"Anypony!" Applejack yelled.
Nopony said anything. Midday felt like her horn was about to tear free of her head. Felt, not knew, because that was utterly impossible and could never happen, but holding a filly whose body was trying its darndest to spin spin was quite the strain.

"Yesterday I told Mr Cake I ate two corn cakes when I ate three!" Pinkie Pie yelled. Nothing happened. Pinkie squirmed where she was sitting.
"Okay six! I ate six corn cakes!" She sobbed. Still nothing happened.

"Make it stop! Make it stop!" She wailed. Midday wondered if her neck would snap or if her brain would just explode before somepony told an acceptable truth. Every few seconds she kept having to shift her weight, afraid that if she lifted a hoof she'd go flying.
"I can't stand it anymore!" Apple Bloom cried. She tearfully confessed her theft of some Heart's Desire from Zecora's hut the day before, and how she'd managed to make a potion to grant her a Cutie Mark. At that, the Truth in Bloom sprouted. Midday couldn't hold the spinning pony any longer and dropped her. At this, Apple Bloom quickly leapt at the plant. In an instant, the false Cutie Marks disappeared, and the redhead breathed a sigh of relief.

Midday just lay there, waiting for the banging noise in her head to go away. She stood up just as Apple Bloom was finishing 'her' letter to Princess Celestia.
Applejack smiled.

"Ah sure am proud of ya, sis. Seems you've learned the importance of patience."
Apple Bloom beamed, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo also smiling with her.

"Yup! All good things come to those who wait." Midday counted down from three.
"Well, ah've waited long enough" Apple Bloom announced at 'two'. Everypony watched as the Cutie Mark Crusaders rushed off into the forest to get their potion-making Cutie Marks.

"That didn't last long by any metric." Midday laughed, still checking her hoof to make sure it was all attached. Applejack looked at her.
"Midday?" the lilac unicorn's smile vanished.

"What?"
"Ah just wanted to say thanks, fer helping mah sister."

She waved a dismissive hoof.
"I didn't do anything Applejack. She'd have been cured even if I hadn't been here."

Applejack's expression changed to exasperation.
"Ah'm tryin' to thank ya, ya-"
"Isn't it a Tuesday?" Applejack's eyes went wide.

"Apple Bloom's got school!" she rushed off into the forest. Twilight walked over to her.
"There was no need to snap at her. Applejack was just trying to be nice."

"Don't yell at me, mom. It's only half past nine in the morning, and I've got a splitting headache." Twilight Sparkle laughed.
"I'm pretty sure I'm not your mother." she said. Midday blanched when she noticed what she'd said. She laughed nervously.

"Well, I did just have to hold onto a pony-turned-twister, I think I might have strained something" She tried to smile nervously.
"Oh, I think I've forgotten to do something today, look at the time, must dash." She said, before running away, leaving a rather confused Twilight Sparkle.

*****

A short while later, in the Everfree Forest, four hooves trampled through the undergrowth. Their owner scanned the area, looking for any clue of her target. She was so furious she was almost kicking herself.

Heart's Desire. Heart's Desire! And all this time she'd forgotten it. She found herself in a swampy clearing. She looked about the area, looking for the light purple coloured plant. She saw something that looked like it was purple. She wandered over, and found...

A whole clump of Heart's Desire. Midday Eclipse smirked, and then smiled. She began to giggle, which grew into a chuckle, and finally a full-blown bellowing laugh.
There was a reason the ancient pegasi labelled hope as dangerous. It could drive the most rational of ponies to unspeakable madness. It made the moral cross lines they would never cross otherwise.

Hope was dangerous.
Hope was a poison of the soul.
After she stopped laughing, she wondered if there was something she'd forgotten about.

*****

Rainbow Dash woke, and after checking herself in the mirror (and finding herself satisfactorily awesome, radical and cool) and having a light breakfast she went to check the mailbox. There was a large parcel that looked strangely familiar. Disregarding her suspicions, she opened it...

And recieved a face full of ink.

Author's Note

I don't plan on writing Zecora myself. I lack the capacity to write in rhyme.
(sigh)

To Where We've Never Been

Midday Eclipse smiled. Using the Heart's Desire she had managed to gather useful knowledge, and using what she had acquired, she had formed a solution, a means of returning to her own time. She smiled to herself. Of course, time was now a commodity she could not waste. She looked at the small book she'd bought over a week ago and never used. She considered something. She walked over to the table and lifted a quil and an inkwell over to herself.

Hello.
If you are reading this, and you are not me, then I have evidently suceeded in my attempt to breach the time barrier. Or killed myself in the attempt, that's a possibility I suppose.
Don't bother trying to contact my next-of-kin, because I don't have any. Well, I do, I suppose, they just don't know it.
Unless of course I don't suceed and don't go anywhere, in which case I'll just destroy this thing the minute I get back here.
General ambivalence, Midday Eclipse.

She paused, and wondered whether she should have sent Princess Celestia a letter informing her of her attempt to return home. She noticed she was still smiling. This was it. She was gonna go home.

She looked around the library, and remembered the first time she'd travelled through time and space, all of a few weeks ago, and what had happened directly after it had worked.

*****

Fifteen minutes later, on the outskirts of town, Midday found herself smirking. The Heart's Desire had managed to show her a way, a means of generating a portal through space-time that would (hopefully) return her back to just after she'd left, some twenty-three years ahead of the time she was in. She found her heart beating. Return home. It seemed so strange, so alarming. Maybe, she thought to herself, she should have told Twilight Sparkle about this, or Spike, or anypony. She focused. If she returned home and mother was angry with her, she was okay with it. She could handle it now. She focused her magic, focusing on the spell. She couldn't believe the Heart's Desire had shown her to a hidden alcove in the library she didn't know of, in which had been a book containing numerous weird spells, half of which had been utter madness. Dragon summoning indeed. What pony would be stupid enough to try that? Besides, Spike was a dragon, and he didn't need magic to be summonded. All that was required to summon him was to be polite.

An energy portal opened in front of her, a swirling vortex that seemed to go on into forever. That wasn't what she'd been expecting, but nonetheless, she charged into the unknown.

With a slight fizz, the portal shut behind her.

There was silence, saving for the distant sound of birds flying to their winter rests.

*****

"Hey, Spike?" Twilight Sparkle said, looking around the library nervously.

"Yeah?"

"Have you seen Midday anywhere?" The small dragon gave this some thought.

"I don't think so" he eventually said.

"I wonder where she could be." The purple unicorn frowned. Twilight hoped that she was okay. She found herself feeling unusually concerned for the somewhat abrasive and anti-social unicorn. She had assumed that the mare's behaviour was a result of being sent away from Canterlot, from her home and her friends (if she had any, a part of Twilight noted) but it seemed different than that, as if there was something else going on. But, she reasoned, Midday was a grown mare and she could look after herself, wherever she was.

*****

Hours passed. Nothing happened.

Several more hours passed, and still nothing happened, save for Rainbow Dash damaging a few trees during a high-speed turn. And then, almost at sundown, something did happen.

In the center of Ponyville, a strange static charge built up. Stray leaves and bits of paper that hadn't been there before began to swirl and toss in the air. Electricity arced everwhere, and then a massive energy portal emerged and then disappeared. And in its place was a unicorn, with royal blue fur, a blue mane with an orange streak going through it, and a Cutie Mark of an eclipse. She wasn't moving, though she was breathing.

Pinkie Pie was the first to notice, having been working in Sugarcube Corner she saw the flash of the portal appearing and disappearing and rushed outside to see what had happened, her Pinkie Sense going haywire all the while. She had rushed to get Twilight, and the two had quickly got the mare to Ponyville's hospital. Once there the doctors were quick to explain that the mare was just unconcious.

*****

Eyes blinked open to see a set of six mares staring straight at them. The eyes then opened a lot quicker.

The mare yelped, and immediately recoiled against the wall, before her eyes darted wildly around the room, and to the pale green robes on her person.

"Where am I?" She demaned, in a familiar voice. Pinkie smiled.
"It's Midday! She's okay! (ooh, that rhymes)" The mare stared at Pinkie like the pink one was speaking in Old Equish. Her burnt orange eyes darted to Twilight, and then to Applejack, then Fluttershy, then Rainbow Dash and finally Rarity.

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"So, ah... Midday dear, what did you do to your hair?"

"Pardon?" There was something fundamentally different about her voice. Some unidentifiable thing that was just... off about the whole thing.

"It's... blue" Fluttershy said, simply.

"It's always been blue" The mare said back.

"It was lilac the last time I saw you." Rarity replied.
The mare just blinked.

"Must have been a side-effect of the teleportation." She muttered.

"So... where have you been?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"Oh, well, I was just trying out a teleportation spell" she said, smiling slightly.

"Did it work?" asked Fluttershy.
"Evidently. Though it does seem to be a bit... problematic if it renders me unconcious every time I use it."

The six mares shared glances.
"I didn't know you teleported" Twilight said. The mare blinked, and for a second she looked completely alarmed.

"Oh, I dabble here and there." She smiled again.
"You never told us you could teleport." Pinkie frowned. Then she look concerned.

"Actually, you've never said anything about yourself. Not even said when your birthday is!" A look of horror flashed across Pinkie Pie's face, "How can I throw you a birthday party if I don't know when your birthday party is?" The blue mare simply stared at Pinkie Pie.

"My birthday is March the twentieth." Pinkie cheered at this, and rushed off.

"Well" Twilight said, "The doctors say they'd like to keep you here for the night, just under observation, if that's okay with you Midday." The mare smiled gently.

"It is quite alright, Twilight Sparkle." She looked past the mares, out into the hallway where an orderly was passing by.
"Is that a book cart? I wouldn't mind having something to read once you've left."

"You're an egghead?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
"How come you've been seeing through all my pranks if you're an egghead?" She said quietly. The mare simply stared at Rainbow Dash and smiled an innocent smile.

"Beginner's luck?"
Rainbow Dash fumed silently.

"What sort of book do you want?" Twilight Sparkle smiled.

"Oh, one of Equestrian history. I rather enjoy it, and if all else fails it might help me get to sleep." The six mares all shared a laugh at that.

"Well, I suppose we'll leave you to recuperate then" Rarity smiled, "But do be sure to let us know once you've recovered. I'm sure Pinkie Pie will no doubt wish to throw a celebratory party once you have."

"I'll make sure to do just that." The mare said. She watched as the six ponies left the room, with Rainbow Dash gently encouraging Pinkie not to keep stopping to wave goodybe, and closed the door behind them. Then her smile vanished, replaced by a concerned frown. She sat there for a few seconds, waiting until she was sure they were gone.

"Midday?" she said to herself. She looked around the room, before she looked at the history book. She slowly opened it, and cautiously looked at the table of contents.

*****

"Hey, did something seem up with her to you?" Rainbow Dash asked, as they left the hospital.
"She was smiling a lot" Rarity said, "Though that is hardly a crime"

"And there was something up with her voice." Fluttershy murmured.
"I'm sure she was just surprised from seeing all of us at once. She doesn't seem like the most sociable pony there is. And I haven't seen her getting any mail from Canterlot. I wonder if she even has any friends."

"She's an accountant Twilight" Rainbow Dash said. Twilight wisely decided not to ask what Rainbow Dash thought of the social skills of accountants.

The rainbow pegasus eyed the hospital. Something didn't seem right to her, and while she couldn't tell what, she knew that Midday Eclipse was the reason for it.

*****

The royal blue pony skimmed through the book, her expression getting evermore alarmed. At first, the book had made sense to her, events flowing as they should have, but then it seemed to change, and with each page it read more and more like some bizarre horror story. She tried to stop, but something about it just forced her to read on. After several minutes she managed to toss away the book, eyeing it carefully as if it were about to sprout fangs and wings and attack her.

She looked at the Cutie Mark on her flank and frowned.
She wasn't entirely sure where she was right now, but it wasn't where she'd been hoping to go. It was somewhere better. She could practically smell the love and tolerance dripping off of everything in this world. She looked out of the window, at the town of Ponyville now framed by the setting sun. It was very picturesque, at least to her mind.

"This is going to take some getting used to" The pony who had named herself 'Midnight Eclipse' smiled.

Author's Note

dun-dun-duuuuun.

Something Completely Different

Twilight Sparkle slept gently, dreaming of whatever strange things Twilight Sparkle dreamt of. Considering the average mindset of Twilight Sparkle, this probably involved an extremely long piece of paper and a bottomless supply of ink.
"Oh, of course I'll help you sign documents, Chancellor Cookie..." She murmured to herself.

Her peaceful dreams of aiding pre-historic documents were eventually broken by a series of rattling and hissing and loud crashing noises from downstairs, followed by an odd smell. Twilight Sparkle opened one of her eyes. Standing there was Midday Eclipse, right next to her bed. And she was... smiling. It was the sort of smile that made mothers stand in front of their children, the sort that sent animals running, the sort that made brave men sweat terror.

"Good morning!" She beamed. Twilight Sparkle just stared at her.
"How the-? What the-? When di-?" She sputtered. The royal blue unicorn just kept smiling. It didn't make Twilight feel at ease.

"Oh, there'll be time for sentences fragments later. But look!" She revealed a bowl of... something floating behind her, held in Midday's magic.
"Breakfast in bed" Twilight Sparkle looked to the unicorn.

"How did you get out of the hospital?" She asked.
"Oh, I just walked out. They said I was completely healthy and could go home right away." The unicorn levitated the bowl towards Twilight, who just waved a hoof at it.

"No, no, I don't eat breakfast in bed." The unicorn appeared undaunted.
"Just breakfast then" she said. The unicorn smiled and seemed to actually... skip away. Twilight stared at the odd scene and decided breakfast could wait. She quickly got up and went downstairs to find the unicorn handing a letter to Spike, who then delivered it to Princess Celestia.

"Morning, Twilight Sparkle" Midday chimed, "Did you sleep well, did you enjoy your breakfast?"
"Yes. Yes, I enjoyed it." Evidently the unicorn didn't notice the blatant lie, and she just kept on smiling.

"So, what are we going to do today?" She beamed. Twilight stared at her.
"Probably the same thing I do all the time" For an instant Midday blinked.

"Oh, of course. Silly me." She looked around the room.
"I think I'm going to go for a jog." She smiled, leaving before Twilight could stop her. She turned to look at Spike.

"Spike, I think I need to send a letter to the Princess"
"Why is she so cheerful?" Spike asked in concern, still staring toward the door.

"I don't know. But I think we'd better stop her before she does something... or anything."

*****

It wasn't exactly a jog, per se. Jogs tended not to involve bouncing. The smile that walked went all over town, spreading nauseating cheer everywhere. Every now and then she'd stop somepony and interrogate them on 'just how wonderful everything is', leading everyone who saw her to assume she'd either gone mad, or had taken something. The occasional bout of singing didn't help. Who actually sung out loud in the middle of the day?

Apparently, Midday Eclipse did. She bounced her way into Sugarcube Corner, bought a few cupcakes and then quickly bounced out again, leaving a rather shocked pair of Cakes staring after her.

She bounced her way towards the Carousel Boutique, where Rarity was 'talking' with a thin mare with grey fur and a somewhat smug smile. The fashionista was poised, as if about to leap at the grey mare and injure her. There was a tense atmosphere, as if a fight were about to break out.

"Oh, my Rarity. You actually have a customer." the grey mare smirked, in a voice that sounded neither feminine or masculine. Evidently Rarity planned to get some manner of retort in, but Midday struck first.

"Good morning, Rarity! Good morning, pony-whose-name-I-don't-know!" She said, hugging the stranger, then Rarity. She quickly bounced back out again, leaving Rarity and Generous Embrace standing there looking confused.
"Let us never speak of this again." Embrace said, nervously.

"Agreed." Rarity replied instantly. The two looked around the room, desperately looking for a distraction.
"Where were we?" Embrace whispered.

"Oh, you were insulting me, and I was about to reply with a scathing passive-aggresive retort."
"You were going to try"

And the epic battle of tauntery continued onward.

*****

Twilight Sparkle and Spike rushed out of the library, hoping to find where Midday had gone on her 'jog'. Fortunately they quickly found a trail of confused-looking ponies that it turned out had been forcibly hugged.
"What on earth could drive a pony to do such things?" Twilight Sparkle mused

"Did we check the basement?" Spike whispered. Twilight looked at Spike, and back to the shocked ponies.
"Go, go, go" She hissed, motioning back to the library. The dragon set off with remarkable speed.

*****

She continued onwards, moving through the farms next.
"Morning, Carrot Top!"

"Do I know you?"
She reached Sweet Apple Acres, taking a moment to get a sniff of the scent of apples that filled the place, and the picturesque rolling fields of green and brown and red.

"Morning, Big McIntosh!"

"Morning, Applejack! Ooh, nice hat!"
"... Mornin'?" Applejack said to the rapidly retreating blue shape, before checking to make sure her hat was still there.

*****

Rainbow Dash was in the middle of work when she saw the blue blurr heading her way.
"Morning Rainbow Dash!

"Morning Raindrops!"
"Morning Cloud Kicker!"

The three pegasi stared at each other.
"Okay..." Raindrops said, "We all saw that right?"

"I know I did" Cloud Kicker replied, still staring at the disappearing unicorn, wondering exactly how she'd managed to see them when they were standing on clouds. And how the mare had known her name.
"I've gotta go find Twilight." Rainbow Dash said, jumping into the sky and flying off.

Cloud Kicker turned to Raindrops.
"When was the last time Rainbow Dash actually did a full day's work?" The yellow and cyan mare shrugged.

"I'll bet you any money she'll just get distracted and take a nap."
Cloud Kicker rolled her eyes

"That's easy money" She laughed.

*****

Twilight rushed on, following the trail of alarmed ponies. By now she'd managed to reach Sweet Apple Acres.
"Twilight, what in the world's goin' on with Midday?" said Applejack.

"I have no idea. She just showed up, and she's unbelievably cheerful. I think she might have gotten into... it."
"Now, ya don't mean... it, do ya?"

"I really hope not. And I don't think she did." Twilight said, inbetween gasping for breath.
"Ah think I'm gonna tag along with ya. See what's going on."

"Just let me catch my breath."
"That girl was beamin' like Pinkie on a sugar-rush. Ah just hope she doesn't break anything."

*****

Midnight stopped to have a drink by the town fountain. She looked around the somewhat chilly November morning sky. She wondered if perhaps she wasn't overdoing it. Ponies had been given her odd looks. Maybe just because everything seemed so much nicer didn't mean it was an excuse to go overboard. She kept drinking.
"Someone looks a bit weary" said somepony. She looked up. A mint-green unicorn was smiling at her. She recognised that one. Lyra. Lyra Heartstrings.

"Just spent several minutes rushing about. And I'm not exactly used to the countryside." She smirked.
"Ever tried getting anywhere in Canterlot? You've got to run, or you'll be late forever. Heck, even my roommate in university had to run everywhere, and she had wings." The mint-green mare laughed.

"First day there I passed out just trying to get to the lunch-hall. When I came home for the holidays my girlfriend actually asked me why I'd been body-building"
Midnight just shook her head.

"Never really been fond of Canterlot, myself. All snobs and politicians. Not much space either. Not that I ever went outside, though. Except for lunch, and exercise."
Lyra sat next to her. Strangely she sat with her legs bent at a very unusual angle, which the other mare didn't even blink at.

"Yeah, everypony likes Ponyville. Just so long as you stay out of trouble, don't antagonise the wrong pony, watch out for falling pianos"
The dark blue mare blinked. "Pardon?"

"I don't know. Apparently Raindrops was helping to move some heavy furniture, and Ditzy came along and... well... things always seem to go horribly wrong whenever Ditzy appears. Not that I have anything against her, she's lovely. Just... really accident prone. But still really, really lovely. Can't stress that enough."
"Oh, good morning Lyra" Came the voice of Twilight Sparkle. The mare looked up.

"Hey, Twilight Sparkle." The purple unicorn turned to Midday.
"Could I talk to you for a moment? In private?"

"Okay. See you later, Lyra?"
"How long have you been waiting to say that?"

"Two and a half minutes." The royal blue unicorn smirked.

*****

Meanwhile, in Canterlot.
Luna was feeling confused and irritated, which was a natural reaction being woken up several hours early without any explanation.
"So, what is it you wished to speak to me about?" Luna asked. Her sister looked at her, and tossed over the scroll. Luna unfurled it and read.

"'Dear Princess Celestia
How are you?
I am fine. I just wished to write and say everything was okay.
Also: keep up the awesome work
Midday Eclipse'"

Luna rolled the scroll back up.
"What in the name of sanity did I just read?"

Celestia raised her eyebrows and lifted a second scroll.

""Dear Princess Celestia
Midday Eclipse disappeared yesterday, and has now reappeared and is acting incredibly... strange.
I was wondering if you might know about this.
Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.
P.S. from Spike: She's also in a really huggy mood.'"

Luna stared at her sister.
"Huggy?"

"I think something incredibly strange is going on in Ponyville today."
"You don't say."

*****

"So..." Midday Eclipse said slowly, after they'd returned to the library. "I'm being too cheerful?"
"Yes."

"And that's... bad?"
Twilight Sparkle and Applejack looked at each other.

"No, no. Well... also, yes. I mean, it's just a bit weird, you being this friendly."
"I see."

"Why were you being so cheerful anyway?" The mare looked at Applejack and Twilight, she shrugged.
"I just felt... I don't know, like I was free, and could do anything, you know? Just really enervated" she smiled awkwardly. "I'm sorry if I caused you any undue concern."
"I guess that settles that, then. No more nauseating cheerfulness?"

"Now, I can't promise that." Midday laughed.
"Ah... suppose that settles that then." Applejack smiled. At which point Rainbow Dash flew in through the window.

"Twilight! Have you seen Midday? She was acting all weird, so I checked around town and she's gone mad and started hugging everyone and asking them how their day was. Why are you staring at me like that?"
"Good question." Midday smirked. Rainbow Dash looked almost embarrased.

"It's alright, Rainbow Dash. It was just a case of high spirits."
"Oh." Rainbow Dash landed. She looked at Midday.

"Good to know then, I guess. Probably ought to get back to work. Nice seeing ya, Midday." She extended a hoof. Midday extended hers, somehow not noticing the devious smile on Rainbow Dash's face.

There was a sizziling noise as Midday recieved a small electric shock. Then there was silence. The royal blue unicorn stood there, just staring at Rainbow Dash. Applejack and Twilight took a few steps back. Then, the corner of Midday's mouth began to turn. She smiled. And then she laughed.

"I suppose I had that one coming to me, for letting my guard down" she said good-humouredly. Rainbow Dash laughed nervously.
"Well, if that's that, I'm gonna be heading back home. Twilight. Midday. Rainbow." She nodded. Rainbow Dash left, which meant there was only Twilight and Midday in the library.

"I'll fix that window, if you want." Midday said.
"Oh? Thanks."

*****

And so, the brief ten minute terror of the insanely cheerful pony ended, and life there returned to normality. Though 'Midday' Eclipse was by and large more cheerful than before. She aided Twilight with her studying, and delivering a lecture to the students at the school, utterly brushing off Diamond Tiara's bratty behaviour. She assisted Pinkie with some baking at Sugarcube Corner, after having to promise Mr and Mrs Cake she would not pretend the baguettes were swords 'this time'. She even walked into several obvious pranks from Rainbo Dash, laughing each one off. In fact, Twilight Sparkle felt like commenting on the utterly strange change in her behaviour.

"She's had an utterly strange change in her behaviour."
However, considering Midday seemed happy and unlikely to do anything dangerous, no-one decided to bother investigating.

Therefore this calm period only lasted all of two days.

*****

It was Friday, and back in Canterlot, in the royal guard barracks, the troops were sitting down to lunch when they first noticed an unusual group of events. A slight hum and something making the entire room shake, followed by a strange build-up of electricity. A large energy portal opened, and a unicorn shot out, hitting the table with some speed, scattering food everywhere. She bounced ever so-slightly and slid to a halt right at the edge of the table, scattering bowls and drinking glasses in her wake. The lilac mare stood up, shaking her head, dislodging some food that had gotten entangled in it.

"I don't suppose anyone could tell me where I am?" She murmured. The room seemed oddly indistinct to her eyes, and all she could see were gold and white-ish blobs around her, which were quickly solidifying into unhappy looking ponies.

"Oh, I can help there." Shining Armor said, as part of his lunch slid down his face. The mare formerly known as Twilight Twinkle looked unbelievably nervous, and said only one thing.

"Eep."

Confrontation

It was not the most beautiful of days, despite the weather pegasi trying their best. True, there were no clouds, but this just meant the winter sunlight got into everypony's eyes. Except of course Celestia, who seemed truly indifferent to the blinding glare, as she and Cadance shared a random walk through the castle, the younger mare currently recounting recent events for her.
"And Luna's making real progress. Her understanding of modern Equestrian is really coming along." A brief look of bemusement flashed across Cadance's face.

"Although she refuses to admit 'relax' is a real word. And I know she's doing it just to annoy me."
Celestia resisted the urge to smile at that. "Is it working?" she asked.

"No."
"Oh, well."

There was a brief silence.
"How are things between you and Shining Armor? If it's not too presumptious of your old aunt to ask?"

Cadance sighed. "Well... sometimes I wonder if he's actually going to propose. He's been putting it off for so long, and it makes me so... so..." Her face scrunched up, before she sighed again.
"Cross. It makes me cross." Celestia just sniggered. Cadance was legendary for being unable to hold a grudge againt anypony.

"Oh, don't you go laughing. I know you've been interfering now and then, giving him days off every now and then, to try and help."
"Have I now?" Celestia tried to look shocked. Cadance's expression showed how well that was working.

"Fine, fine, be that way, Disturber of the Peace. I'll just find someone else to officiate the wedding. When it comes." Celestia looked horrified.
"Oh, fine. I'll stay out of your business."

"I'd love to believe that."
Suddenly the Princess of the Sun stopped, her wings flaring up. Her brow furrowed.

"Do you hear that?" Celestia said. Cadance looked around. Aside from the distant sound from the city, there was nothing.
"No." She said. Celestia looked around.

"The guard mess hall" she said. She rushed off. Cadance galloped after her. The two rushed down the corridors and stairs until they reached the guard's barracks. Celestia landed, before scanning the area.
"Auntie? What is it?"

"An unusual presence. Some variety of spell I haven't seen in a long time..."
"And you're afraid to go barging into the mess hall, filled with all those rugged stallions that work for you?" Cadance smirked. Celestia looked at the playful expression on her niece's face. She was about to respond when the door to said mess hall shattered. A lilac, blue and orange shape smashed into the wall opposite, before rising unsteadily to its hooves.

"Big Lug, what have I said, time and time again about using the Kick?!" Came the voice of Shining Armor.
There was a slight rumble.

"Sorry, sir."
"Why are you lot standing around? Get her!"

Celestia and Cadance exchanged glances, before staring at the lilac unicorn waving a hoof at them. Then a wave of gold-armored ponies crashed into her. There was a massive amount of yelling. Celestia turned to Cadance. The pink and purple alicorn took a step forward, and coughed an incredibly small and polite cough.

In an instant the mass of legs and hooves disentangled and looked up. Several faces went pink. Even more went bright red, as numerous ponies, all well versed in the unflinching stoicism of the Royal Guard found themselves suffering from acute cases of embarrassment. There was a large amount of shuffling, and cluttering, and there were even a few muttered apologies and handing of mismatched helmets, followed by a well-organised line of guards, saluting, trying to regain their composure.
"Would you care to explain what just happened, captain?" Celestia asked, slowly, trying desperately not to be amused.

Shining Armor grimaced and stared down at his hooves.
"Well, your majesty... you see, I mean, that is to say..."

"I may have landed in the captain's lunch" said Midday Eclipse. Celestia stared at the mare. She tried to think of a response. She failed. She tried again.
"Shouldn't you be in Ponyville right now?" She eventually managed.

The mare glanced about.
"I... could explain it. In private."

"I certainly hope so" Celestia frowned. She turned, motioning for Midday to follow. Cadance just walked over to Shining Armor and started removing bits of his lunch from his hair.
"Stop it. Stop it stop it stop it" he whispered, "Not in front of my troops."

"Oh, don't be like that, Shiny. I barely get to see you working." There were a few snickers from behind him.
"I must say, I didn't realise it was anything like this. And who kicked that poor girl that hard?"

"that would be me, oh GRAND princess!" rumbled a large purple and green pegasus.
"Big Lug" Shining Armor sighed, "Don't you have somewhere else you could be?"

The pegasus stared at him.
"You're on patrol, private." The aptly-named pegasus nodded, and slowly flew off. Shining Armor looked at Cadance.

"C'mon, soldier. Let's see about getting you something to eat." She laughed.

*****

The walk to the throne room was utterly quiet, Midday trailing behind Princess Celestia all the way. Once they reached it, Celestia closed the doors as she made her way to her throne, and turned to the lilac unicorn.
"So, why exactly were you fighting the guard, and crashing into their mess hall?" She looked at Midday, and there seemed to be something off about her. She looked like she hadn't slept properly, and the ends of her mane and tail looked singed.

"And also, could you explain this letter I got from you two days ago?" She lifted the letter from the small bookcase she'd been keeping it, and floated it over towards Midday. The mare unfurled it and started reading.
"What the... hay?!" She muttered. She looked up at Celestia.

"I didn't write this."
"Then who did?"

*****

"So she's actually keeping the turtle?"
"Tortoise." Twilight Sparkle sighed.

"Does it really matter?" The pony claiming to be Midday Eclipse sighed, taking another sip of coffee.
"It does to me."

*****

"Good question. She seems a bit... energetic." Midday said, reading the note again. She looked up at Celestia.
"What do you know about her?"

Celestia stared at her.
"Oh come on, Celestia. I know you've got somepony keeping tabs on me." Celestia's eyes went wide.

"How di-... Oh, of course. Future."
"Future. Sure. Let's go with that" Midday smirked for a tiny second. "Now come on, what do you know?"

"Well, she just appeared in the middle of Ponyville three days ago."
Midday nodded slowly. "That'd be about right."

"Physically she's an exact match for you. Except... Her fur is a deep blue. Bordering on purple." Midday looked at her. Her horn flashed, and the lilac was replaced by a royal blue color.
"Like this?"

"Apparently."
Midday just nodded, and then dispelled the illusion, her fur returning to its previous colour.

"So, who is she?" Celestia asked, "Where did she come from? She's not your sister, is she?"
"Sister?" Midday exclaimed, before contemplating this. "No. Not in the strictest definition of the term. She showed up a few hours after I went through the portal, so she's probably from... where I went."

"Where you went?" Celestia raised another eyebrow at the sudden way the mare looked down nervously at her hooves.
"It's complicated."

"How long is this going to take?"
"It all started on tuesday. Apple Bloom, Applejack's little sister, had made this potion from Heart's Desire and managed to give herself Cutie Pox. You probably got some letter about that. Anyway, I figured Heart's Desire would help me get back to my own time..." She stopped, and looked slightly nervous. For a moment she looked a lot younger than her appearance suggested.

"So I went into the Everfree Forest, and gathered some Heart's Desire. I made a potion from it, and... well, it worked. I found a spell-book I hadn't noticed before and it had a spell, which apparenty could've taken me back to my own time."
"And it didn't work"

"It didn't work. It really didn't work."
"So what happened next?"

The lilac unicorn suddenly looked... alarmed, possibly even terrified. She looked down at her hooves.
"I'd rather not say." She muttered. Celestia frowned in concern.

"Why not?"
"I'd just really like some time to process what happened, is all." The mare said quickly.

"And to go back to Ponyville to confront this doppleganger?"
"Yes."

"This isn't going to result in any property damage, is it?"
Midday bit her lip. "I shouldn't think so."

Celestia looked down at the mare, as she suddenly seemed interested in the carpet.
"Are you okay?"

There were several long seconds as the mare gave this some thought.
"I'll live" was Midday's response.

*****

As Midday walked down the streets of Canterlot, she found herself wondering, for the umpteenth time in three days, why the spell hadn't worked. She tried to remain calm, but it was difficult. She remained in a contemplative fugue all the way to Ponyville. Then she realised. Somepony had walked into her life and nopony had felt alerted. Nopony had raised any alarms. Either this pony was a brilliant imitator, which based on the note wasn't true, or nopony cared.

Then she realised it was probably more because she'd barely socialised with anypony. She never had. She sat down in the street, thinking to herself.
How many friends had she made before the whole time-travel incident? There was Wisp, and she'd managed to utterly destroy that one. There was Sapphy, and she'd torpedoed that one as well. And then there was... was...

"Oh."
And she'd been trying to find a way to get home, not make friends. Not that she'd succeeded on those fronts. And the little attempt with Heart's Desire had done nothing. Or rather, nothing helpful or constructive.
She stood up. She walked towards the library, determined. She knew what she was going to do. She was going talk to her replacement.

*****

She knocked on the door. Nopony answered. She knocked again. Still, nopony answered. She sighed, and lowered her horn. There was a slight click as the unlocking spell worked its magic. She smiled, and gently nudged the door open.
There were the usual piles of books, and maps. Despite the fact that she'd only been gone for three days, it felt like she'd been gone a life-time. That's when she realised she felt like she'd come home. She laughed slightly.

"So darn clichéd." She muttered. Then she felt a slight rumble in her stomach. She rushed into the kitchen.

*****

"Honestly, I don't know why the mayor asked you to show up. They barely asked you any questions." Midnight laughed.
"I know. What's the point of asking for my expertise when they just ignore it?" Twilight Sparkle fumed.

"Well, they'll see the next time some big nasty thing smashes half the town. They'll see."
"Now what are the chances of that?" Twilight Sparkle sighed.

"Well, considering how the amount of accidents around town seem to have been going up this week... have you noticed that? Perfectly innocent buildings just falling apart on top of unsuspecting ponies. Madness. And it's probably just going to get worse."
Twilight Sparkle chuckled.

"That's a bit pessimistic, isn't it?"
Midnight simply took a step to the left, at which point a chunk of masonry slammed into where she'd been standing.

"You win this round" Twilight said, trying not to laugh.
The two reached the library, and Twilight opened the door.

"Hmm." She frowned, staring at the door.
"What?"

"This door was already unlocked. But I was sure I locked it before I left." She looked at Midnight, who shrugged, and then opened the door. What she saw shocked her.
Midday Eclipse was sitting in a chair eating a rather large amount of salad.

"Hi Twilight, hey stranger."
Twilight Sparkle looked from mare to mare.

"What? Two of you? That's... that's not..."
"'Scientifically possible'?" Midday suggested.

"... Yes. You" She declared, pointing a hoof at the lounging lilac unicorn, "Are not scientifically possible."
"I've heard that one before." Midday smirked.

"What are you doing here?" Midnight said, looking between Twilight and the near-identical stranger.
"Somepony explain what's going on!" Twilight yelped. Midday stared at Midnight. For a moment, neither said anything. The blue mare spoke first.

"Twilight, I think you know my... sister, Midday Eclipse." Twilight's panicked look vanished.
"Oh." She smiled. "Yes. That makes sense."

She turned to the blue mare and frowned.
"But then, what do I call you?"

The royal blue unicorn smiled.
"I am Midnight Eclipse. At your service."

"Makes sense."
Midday walked over to her doppelganger, smiling an unusual smile.

"Twilight, do you mind if I have a conversation with my sister in private?"
"No, no, not at all. I guess you two have a lot to catch up on?"

"A whole lifetime" Midday said quietly. She motioned for the royal blue unicorn to walk upstairs.

*****

"Okay... the room's been sound-proofed." The lilac one smiled, the glow of her horn dimming down. She whirled on her identical copy.
"Now then... sister? Where did that come from?"

Midnight shrugged.
"It worked. Thank goodness your Twilight Sparkle believed it."

"She's not 'my' Twilight Sparkle." The two mares stared at each other.
"So, what now?" Midnight asked. "Do we fight one another?"

Midday shook her head. "Why would we?"
Midnight frowned. "Is that not standard for this manner of meeting? A sustained misunderstanding."

"No. I really don't want to fight" Midday said, "We'd probably just level most the town in a stalemate or something. And besides, right now I'm not in the mood for doing anythong other than sitting down."
She walked over toward her bed and sat down on it. A few seconds passed before she looked at her doppelganger.

"Can we just go over general backstory?" Midday said.
The royal blue mare stared blankly. "Why?"

"I'd like proof that you're me."
Midnight considered this, and then shrugged. "Alright, then. Birth name, Twilight Twinkle. Born 20th March in Canterlot General hospital to Twilight Sparkle..." she trailed off.

"And?"
Midnight had a brief look of confusion on her face. Midday looked crestfallen.

"Oh."
"You too, huh?"

"Apparently so."
"Sorry."

"Likewise." Midnight smiled.
"Cutie Mark aged 5, on Nightmare Night."

"Ditto." They looked at each other.
"Your turn." Midnight smiled.

"Schooled at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns."
Midnight's expression shifted slightly, but she still nodded.

"Hated every second of it." Both mares gave a derisive snort.
"No entrance exam, not for the daughter of Twilight Sparkle."

"So, what is different? Where did our lifestories go off the mark? I mean, I've seen your universe and it's history and everything is wrong." Midnight frowned.
"What do you mean, 'wrong'?" Midday tilted her head.

"Well, the maps make no damn sense, and half the things your history books mention never occured, Ponyville's the wrong size, and I don't even want to know what Canterlot looks like." Midday opened her mouth to say something, and frowned.
"How did you end up in the past? I mean, I assume you were twenty-three years into the past like I was before the switchover."

There was a pause as Midnight's eyes shifted. "Yes. I was."
"Then how did you get there?"

Midnight stared at her counterpart.
"You... went back by accident, didn't you?"

Midday looked at the concerned expression on her counterpart.
"Yeah, so?" She looked at Midnight. Then her jaw dropped as she saw the look on the mare's face.

"On purpose? You time-travelled on PURPOSE?!"
"Yes."

Midday descended into inelegant sputters.
"Why? What in the world could have motivated that?"

Midnight frowned, and looked towards the window.
"I think perhaps there's something we're overlooking."

"Which is?"
Midnight scuffed a hoof against the ground, and looked out of the window.

"This universe. It's cheerful. I can pretty much feel the cheerfulness permeating everything. Hay, even the sunlight feels different. I may have gone a bit overboard with being cheerful, by the way, which I must confess was quite a shock on my end. Apparently ponies in this universe don't appreciate being hugged out of nowhere. Still, all easily fixed." She sighed, sounding slightly content, before frowning. "Indeed, too easily. If I had done something like that in my universe, I'd probably have ended up being taken to a psychiatrist. Here, they just grinned and accepted it."

She looked at her counterpart. "Not that I'm complaining, mind you. The only major problem I've found is Rainbow Dash. Why does she keep trying to play pranks of me?"
"Oh, I humiliated her with a jar of sprinloaded snakes." Midday said casually. She saw the confused look on Midnight's face.

"She was trying to trick me into opening them, and I managed to get her to open them and she took it poorly."
Midnight frowned. "She has an ego problem."

Midday shifted. "It's incredibly disappointing to see her act like this. She's supposed to be the bearer of the Element of Loyalty. She's supposed to be so much more than this, and right now she's just lazy, and brash, and loud, and she has all the brains of a... a... really moronic thing. I doubt she could inspire loyalty in a salad."

Midnight smirked at that. "Not good with spur of the moment things, I see."
"I'm a second away from kicking myself to death for not using a name as cool as 'Midnight Eclipse'. Anyway, you were saying about things we hadn't noticed."

Midnight sat down. "Well... we're both twenty-three years into the past relative to us, right?"
"Yes."

"And we both look like we're older than eighteen."
Midday glowered at her counterpart.

Midnight frowned, and rubbed her hoof against her muzzle.
"What's your relationship with Twilight Sparkle, if I may ask?"

"Bad."
Midnight raised an eyebrow.

"Verging on disaster-riffic."
"What did you do?" Midnight said.

"We may have exchanged rather heated words. The sort that can't be taken back." She looked down at the floor.
"My mother and I..." Midnight said, her expression shifting "We've never actually..."

"Never actually what?"
"Never actually spoken. I've never even met her." The very beginning of tears were beginning to form in Midnight's eyes.

"Actually, that's not true" she amended. "I have met her twice in my adult life. She had no idea who I was."
The dark blue mare paused for a moment, before continuing.

"I was raised by my grandparents, on my mother's side" the mare's expression shifted again, as if she were trying to contain something buried deep. "I say 'raised'" she muttered.
Midday walked over to her counterpart, and sat down next to her. For a few seconds she said nothing, then gently put a hoof around her other-self, who briefly twitched, then relaxed.

"I must admit, my mom? Not the greatest mother ever. I mean, she bought me the same thing every year for my birthday, barely took much interest in my studies. She was distant, and only really showed up when I got into trouble at school (which happened a lot). She barely told me she loved me, and I don't think she ever said she liked me, but... she did try, I guess. She did try."

She gave a sardonic smile. "Of course, if the worst had come to the worst, they'd have a bit of a problem taking me away from her. How do you tell a Princess how to raise her own child?" Midnight looked at Midday for a few seconds, in increasing alarm.
"Did you say... 'princess?"

"... yeah?"
"As in... horn and wings Princess? With a capital p, Princess? Like Princess Celestia Princess?"

Midday nodded. The mare's expression turned dark, and Midday could see the ends of her mane beginning to smoulder.
"You might want to take a step back."

*****

Twilight Sparkle occasionaly paused from her reading and studying to look at the clock.
"They've been talking a long time." She muttered. She had every few minutes considered going and asking whether everything was alright, but she usually reconsidered. For some reason, she felt better of with that choice.

*****

"Quite the pyrotechnics display" Midday stated. The fact that Midnight seemed surprised by her mane and tail bursting into flames helped.
"I'm not the only one. I can see the singed bits of your mane"

"Yeah, well, I had a bad experience with Heart's Desire."
"Is that why you transitioned between universes?"

"Yes. I found some Heart's Desire and I was going to use it to try and find a way home, and instead I wound up in your miserable universe."
"Hey! It is not miserable." Midnight paused and considered this, "Actually, it is somewhat dreary. I'll admit that. But then, compared to your universe I suppose anything would seem miserable." She said, on seeing Midday's expression.

"And I may have... gotten quite angry. Apparently the locals didn't like mares bursting into flame and screaming obscenities at the top of their lungs."
"I wouldn't think so."

"I think that batch of Heart's Desire was broken."
"Unless" Midnight said slowly, "Your 'heart's desire' wasn't to get home."

Midday blinked. And she blinked some more.
"Oh." She buried her face in her hoof. "Tell me it wasn't something clichéd, like 'I wanted to find myself'" She blinked in confusion.

"Hold on. If it was taking me to you, why are you here in this universe?"
Midnight smirked at that. "I was... practicing magic. A side project. And I found this unusual teleportation spell, walked through it, and I wound up here."

"Right." Midday nodded. There was something about the mare's story that didn't sound convincing. Like she'd been rehearsing it. The two mares sat in silence for a moment.
"Well, right now you are talking to yourself, so I think... it might have been you wanted to forgive yourself for something."

Midday paused. Her hoof lowered.
"Belgium."

"Language, dear" the dark blue mare chided.
"I suppose I probably do want the chance to apologise to myself." She said, wearily.

"What did you do?" Midnight frowned. Midday smiled a sad smile, and explained. Some twenty minutes of detailed and slightly rambling explanation later, and she was finished. The blue mare was just staring straight ahead at that point.
"That... yeah, that..." Midnight said, through clenched teeth, "That would explain it."

"No kidding." Midday bit her lip.
"I didn't exactly mean to cause any of it."

"I could tell."
"And you know the worst part, don't you?"

"I think I can guess."
"She'd forgive me. Heck, she probably did. And her mother." Her voice broke slightly on the next thing she said.

"And I don't deserve family like them."
Midnight looked at her, her expression hardening. "But they are what you've got. And you're the only Twilight Twinkle they've got. Yes, you screwed up. You screwed up bad, but that's not an excuse to start giving up. Now stop whinging about your lot in life, because no matter how hard it is or feels, I can assure you there is always somepony who's got it worse."

Midday smirked and look at her.
"You mean you." Midnight shrugged and nodded.

"Yes. I don't have a cousin, or a shapeshifting best friend. Or that weird roommate you told me about. Or a dragon step-brother. I do have an aunt, though, but I rarely see her." Midnight's eyes darted about, and it looked like she was about to say something else, before reconsidering, a dark look overcoming her face. "Apparently I look too like my mother for my uncle's tastes."

Midday just sniggered.
"You know, every since I came here ponies have kept asking me whether I was one of Twilight Sparkle's fangirls," for a moment, Midnight stared at her. Then the two ponies laughed.

"It's so annoying. One day I wish I could just say who I am, see the look on their faces." The two laughed for a while. When the laughter stopped, Midnight looked at Midday for a moment.

"I don't think I can forgive you, Twilight Twinkle or Midday Eclipse or whatever you feel most suits you. But that's because we're too different. If you are looking for forgiveness from yourself, I am not the pony to ask. Our lives are far too different for me to say I would react in the same fashion as you." She sighed, and looked out of the window, the lazy afternoon sun drifting across the sky.

"I wish I could stay here." she said, wistfully.
"You could, you know. I wouldn't mind."

Midnight sighed. "But what about my own universe? I have responsibilities there, just as you have yours here. I may not enjoy the path my life has gone down, but I cannot break my promises." for a moment, the mare's expression looked remorseful, with a small amount of aggravation. "Whether I like it or not, my destiny is there. My family is there. My place is there."
Midday shrugged, not feeling sure about how to react to the 'destiny' line. "I guess."

The royal blue unicorn turned, and smiled.
"Come on, I wanna see what it's like writing one of these 'friendship reports' before I go."

The two unicorns stood together.
"What did I miss while I was gone, by the way?"

"Oh, nothing much." Midnight said as the lilac unicorn removed the sound buffers.
"Rainbow Dash got a pet turtle."

"Oh, that'd be Tank. Not really her, though."
"Think it'll teach her patience?"

Midday considered this, considered Rainbow Dash in her time, and her usual behaviour.
"I honestly doubt it."

*****

Some time later, the two mares stood on the outskirts of Ponyville. The sun was slowly beginning to dip.
"Well" Midnight said.

"This is it." Midday smiled, a slight hint of sadness in her face. She focused her magic, preparing to summon up the portal.
"Wait!" Midnight yelled. Midday jumped, and the magic dissipated.

"What?"
"There's something I need to do first. Just wait here." Midnight's horn glowed briefly. There was a strange noise, and she vanished, leaving Midday standing on the dirt road with her jaw hanging open.

"No way. She can teleport?" She reared onto her hind legs, and bellowed at full force.
"AW, COME ON!"

*****

Meanwhile, in Canterlot. There was a small, cosy looking house, the size of which hid the true wealth of the family that owned it. Somepony knocked on the front door.
"Just a minute" Came a voice. The door opened. A middle aged mare with light violet hair stared at the beaming royal blue mare standing on her front doorstep.

"Twilight Velvet?" The mare smiled.
"Yes?" She said, before being warmly embraced. Before she could say anything, the mare walked past her and inside, and managed to get to her husband.

"You did a great job." The mare said, before bouncing out of the door and closing it gently behind her, leaving the confused Twilight Velvet and Night Light standing there.
"Honey, did she look like anyone we know?"

"Yes."
There was a slight pause.

"Do you think we should visit Twilight Sparkle someday? See how she's getting on in Ponyville?"
"Yes."

*****

Midnight was surprised to find Midday glowering when she returned.
"You can teleport?" The lilac mare hissed. The blue mare just looked surprised.

"You.. can't teleport?"
Midday shook her head.

"That's unusual."
"I can't figure out why. But I figure I'll get it eventually." The two mares stood there.

"I guess this is really time to go." Midnight said, quietly.
"Yeah."

Midday focused, allowing the portal to form. Midnight walked towards it, before stopping and turning back to Midday.
"Oh, Twinkle?"

"Yeah?"
"Just, y'know, if it's not too much bother, could you perhaps-?"

"Yes?"
"Just think of me, every now and then. Especially when you feel a bit down."

"Okay."
"And try and be a bit more cheerful. Take the time to get to know ponies, and get outside a bit more, because really, you 're starting to look like a slightly purple corpse." And at that the royal blue mare jumped into the trans-dimensional portal, laughing.

Midday stood there for a while. And then eventually turned back towards Ponyville.

*****

"Dear Princess Celestia
Today I learnt that just because a situation can seem hopeless, doesn't meant I shouldn't try
and make the most of it, or presume that I am the only pony with difficulties in life.
And that I should take the time to socialise more,
especially since it seems I'm going to be here a lot longer than I assumed.
A lot, lot longer.
Yours truly, Midday Eclipse (with some assistance from Midnight Eclipse)"

Princess Celestia stared at the letter, along with the quite larger package that had arrived with it explaining almost everything that had happened over the last four days.

She frowned. But, she said to herself, it wasn't as if she'd wanted to get much sleep tonight.

Author's Note

Yes, long chapter, all about talking.
The next chapter will have some fighting.
Provided there's room.

Many Mares of Mystery

Midday woke to the sound of birds singing, of the slight breeze of the early winter wind, the somewhat bothersome sound of workstallions working, and yawned. Perhaps she was trapped twenty-three years into the past relative to herself, and perhaps it was only two weeks or so until Twilight Sparkle's birthday, but nonetheless-
She paused. She rewound her internal monologue. Only two weeks?

"Ah."
She sat there for a moment, and decided not to let that bother her. She was going to make the most of her stay in Ponyville of the past, regardless of what happened. After brushing her teeth she made her way downstairs, where Twilight was sitting, as she always did.

"Good morning, Twilight. What are you getting up to today?"
"Nothing." The mare smiled back.

"Oh, that's nice, I-... Nothing?"
"Nothing. I'm on a study break." She smiled. Midday paused, and tried to wrap her head around such an idea as Twilight not studying. It was as strange as Applejack speaking with Recieved Pronunciation.

"A... study break?" She asked, slowly, trying to make sense of these foreign words.
"Yes. I am just going to relax, and take my mind off of looking at books or practicing spells."

Midday shook her head. This couldn't be right. Twilight Sparkle deliberately not wanting to study? It couldn't be.
"And besides, Heart's Warming Eve is coming up, and Celestia asked if the girls and I wouldn't mind performing the traditional play. And I agreed."

Midday smirked. She knew a mind like Twilight Sparkle's would not be able to resist trying to 'alter' the play to make it more accurate. There was a sigh.
"If only I could make it more historically accurate." And there it was.

"Why don't you?"
Twilight Sparkle stared at her like she'd just burnt a book.

"I couldn't do that! It's a tradition of the Equestrian holidays!"
"So's waking up with a bright orange plastic cone on your head. C'mon, you're Princess Celestia's student. Surely you have the authority to make it more accurate?"

"Well... I could, I suppose."
"And besides, if it isn't accurate, then it is... inaccurate. And we can't have that, can we?" That seemed to seal the deal.

"You're right!" Twilight Sparkle stood up, apparently trying to look dramatic (which didn't really work as the two mares were just about the same height).
"I shall write a letter to Princess Celestia asking if I can make the play more accurate!"

*****

"Nice day, isn't it?" Midday said. After writing the letter, Twilight had decided to go for a walk around the town, and had somehow managed to convince Midday to tag along.
"Yes, actually. It is a nice day." There were barely any clouds in the sky, and it was rather warm, despite being late in November. The only major concern Midday had was the occasional creaking sound, almost like... poorly built masonry. And the occasional oddly dressed pony, of which there seemed to be an increasing amount all of a sudden.

"Twilight?" Midday asked.
"Yes?"

"If I asked why there are ponies running around with poorly-fitting rainbow wigs and shirts bearing Rainbow Dash's face, would I like the answer?"
"That's probably just her fan-club."

"She has a fan-club? For what?"
"Well, there is the fact that she helped saved Equestria, twice. And she's the fastest flier in Equestria." Midday frowned.

"Isn't she also lazy, irresponsible, shallow, blunt, childish, and brash?"
Twilight's expression hardened, "She's also loyal, willing to risk her life for others."

"Twilight, that doesn't excuse the fact the she frequently puts off doing work she could easily do in seconds until the last minute, and appears utterly unconcerned about the feelings or considerations of others until they affect her." Midday looked around, and coughed.
"Not that I have any room to speak of in that area." She muttered quickly.

"She's a good friend, and dependable, and I couldn't think of anypony I'd rather have at my side in a crisis."
"Not even the best of the Royal Guard, or a Wonderbolt? Because I wouldn't mind one or all of them helping out in a crisis."

Twilight's expression changed, but their argument was halted by the distant sound of screaming.
"Did you hear that?" Midday said, her head alert.

"Yeah. Come on." Twilight rushed off in the direction of the screaming.
They rushed to a well, where several ponies (including Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie) were standing, staring at the well.

"What happened?" Twilight Sparkle asked.
"My daughter! She fell into the well."

Midday looked at it. It was quite a way down, especially for a filly. She heard a strange rippling noise, and wisely took a step back as a rainbow blur whooshed past. And then zoomed back out of the well. It was Rainbow Dash carrying a small filly covered in mud on her back. Midday couldn't help but notice several more ponies had shown up wearing those ridiculous wigs and shirts.

Rainbow Dash landed almost gracefully, and the filly hopped off. The crowd swarmed around Rainbow Dash, praising her. The pegasus actually looked embarrased by the attention.
"Wow." She said.

"What's with this crowd? Thanks, everypony. It was really no big deal."
Midday looked at Rainbow Dash's blushing from the small girl's praise. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe this past version of Rainbow Dash wasn't a raging egotist. Maybe all those pranks Rainbow Dash kept throwing at her were simply just good natured attempts at humour.

Perhaps.

*****

And then the cliff accident blew that out of the water. A mother had been walking with her newborn in a basket, and had been distracted right next to a very steep cliff. Needless to say, the moment she took her eyes off the carriage, it began to hurtle down towards a rather sudden cliff. And Rainbow Dash valiantly stepped in at the last minute to save the child. At which point she started waving to the crowd, before gasping in horror.
"Oh, no!" She shouted to the crowd standing at the bottom of the cliff. There were mumurs of concern.

"She's not cheering for everypony's favourite hero, Rainbow Dash!" The pegasus cheered. The crowd laughed a good-natured laugh.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Midday said to herself. And then several ponies with cameras arrived. Rainbow Dash began posing for them, each one more self-aggrandizing than the last.

"There just aren't enough words in the dictionary to describe Rainbow Dash!" cheered a voice that sounded distinctly liked Scootaloo. Midday just rolled her eyes.
"I can think of a few words." She heard Twilight mutter, as Rainbow Dash took to the sky to create a stylized vapor trail version of her Cutie Mark.

"An' I bet 'modest' is not one of them." Applejack added underneath the roar of the crowd. Midday turned to Twilight.
"I'm gonna go back to the library before I suffocate from all the ego Rainbow's handing out."

"Okay." Twilight said, not really paying attention. She was too busy watching Rainbow Dash.

*****

Midday returned to the library to find Trixie drinking a rather odd-smelling liquid.
"Hangover cure." The showmare croaked, upon noticing Midday's staring.

"Somepony been burning the candle at both ends?"
"A bit." There was a slight pause.

"Trixie may also have had a horrific nightmare."
"Ironic or just regular?" Trixie fixed Midday with a slight stare, though she seemed to have trouble maintaining it.

"Regular."
Midday pulled up a chair and sat next to her.

"Why don't you tell me?"
Trixie stared straigh ahead for a moment and sighed.

"I dreamt I was being chased around Ponyville by a pony in a concealing hood and cloak. And then I found myself in an abandoned courtyard, where dozens of ponies were standing around in a circle, wearing cloaks and muttering something."
"And then?"

"Then one of them stood up, and it turned out to be... Applejack, I think. And she started speaking in this really, really deep voice at me."
"So they knew you were there?"

"It was a dream. They don't have to make sense."
"And then Applejack said, in this really deep voice: Come, Trixie. It is time to keep your appointment with. The. Wicker. Pony." She said, briefly putting the hangover cure down and rubbing her head slightly. "Oh, shouldn't have done that" she mumbled. For a few seconds she rubbed her hooves against her temples.

"And then I woke up. And I had this horrific headache. Please tell Trixie there is currently no madness occuring outside."
Midday bit her lip. "Would you define everypony worshipping Rainbow Dash for saving children from wells madness?"

There was a pause, punctuated only by the sound of the clock ticking.
"Trixie's going back to bed."

Midday wondered whether it was worth mentioning it was almost lunchtime. She looked around, and decided she didn't feel up to the task of making a meal.
As she walked to find a good café or restaurant, she tried to not think about the Rainbow Dash of her time.

She was the Element of Loyalty, amateur writer, Wonderbolt, occasional leader of the Royal Guard itself (though she wasn't sure of how that one had happened), friend and mentor-for-hire. As the representative of loyalty, she could inspire and foster it in ponies, usually by being all-round selfless and heroic, and though there was the occasional moment of ego, after everything she'd done in her life she could get away with it.

This Rainbow Dash, Midday thought to herself, was an embarrassment. She had saved one filly from being stuck in a well, fair enough she gets some praise for that, then she saves a newborn from plummeting to an untimely end and she starts showing off. She wondered what the Rainbow Dash she knew would do if she met this Rainbow Dash.
"Probably pummel herself senseless." She mused. She allowed herself a slight smile.

*****

Unfortunately the search for lunch proved infuriating. Everywhere she went ponies were talking about Rainbow Dash, or gossiping about Rainbow Dash, or wearing those silly hats (which did look adorable, in a childish sort of way). Hungry and irritable she quickly walked back to the library, where she found Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy all talking to each other in a small circle.

"Afternoon" She said, walking right past them and into the kitchen. As she fixed herself a sandwich, she heard faint mutterings from the other room. She wandered back into the front room, calmly munching on her sandwich.
"Oh, hello" said Fluttershy. The other four turned to look at her.

"Afternoon." She replied. There was an odd mood in the room.
"You girls aren't up to something, are you?"

"No." Blurted Pinkie Pie. Midday raised an eyebrow.
"We're just... talking" Applejack said.

"You girls aren't concerned about Rainbow Dash and her current behaviour, would you?" The five mares looked at each other.
"Yes" they said.

"We just think that if she keeps on like this, somepony's going to get hurt." Twilight Sparkle said.
"It's okay to feel good about your accomplishments, but Rainbow Dash, she... she's gone too far."

Midday nodded. "I was there when she started posing for pictures."
"Oh, yeah." Twilight Sparkle said.

"So, what have you come up with?"
Fluttershy raised a hoof.

"I suggested asking her if she wouldn't mind being a bit more modest." Midday stared at Fluttershy, who stared at her hooves.
"So you haven't actually thought of anything yet?" There was a pause as the mares looked at one another.

"Not as such, no." Twilight sighed. Rarity looked around.
"I... had thought of something, but I was going to wait until everypony else had spoken." Rarity said. The others turned to her.

"Go ahead Rarity."
"Well" The mare blushed slightly, "I was thinking, what if we started performing heroics? Beat Rainbow Dash at her own game."

There was another pause.
"That sounds..." Applejack frowned.

"I think we could do it." Twilight said.
"I don't know." Fluttershy said, "What will Rainbow Dash do? She might get upset."

The six mares hummed.
"And of course there is another problem" Twilight said, "None of us are as fast as Rainbow Dash. We'd have to be aware of problems before they start, and have the skills to solve them."

"Hello?" Said Pinkie Pie, who actually looked indignant.
"Oh, yes. Of course. Sorry, Pinkie."

"And there's Fluttershy's point. Rainbow Dash is hardly the most... rational thinker around." Midday said, inbetween mouthfuls of sandwich.
"And we're forgetting something." She said quietly.

"There is?"
"If Ponyville knows whoever is doing these heroics, we'd be bugged incessantly, we'd never have the freedom of movement to actually help anyone, since they'd probably be bugging us for autographs or photos. Or we could be ignored, our motives dissected endlessly."

There was a moment of silence.
"She has a point." Twilight sighed.

"Although..." Rarity mused, "What if we wore a disguise?"
It was like a light had been turned on in a darkened room.

"Yes." Twilight said.
"A disguise? I don't know." Applejack mused.

"Actually, that would... yeah. Ponies can't bother you for autographs if they don't know who you are" Heads turned to Fluttershy. For a moment there was some slight confusion, but one by one they remembered Fluttershy's former modelling career, and realised she knew this from experience.

"Well then, a disguise, masking whoever performs these heroics." Rarity smiled. There was a noise from the stairs. They looked to the door to see a rather unsteady looking Trixie standing there. She said some garbled collection of words.
"Trixie, do you need something?"

More garbled words.
"Still got a headache." The blue showmare nodded. Midday rolled her eyes. Her horn glowed briefly, and a slight lance of mint-blue coloured energy shot from it, hitting Trixie directly in the forehead. In an instant the mare's eyes shot open, and she reared onto her hind legs (bashing her head on the ceiling.)

"Trixie feels like she could do anything! What was that?"
"Anti-headache spell. Also works on migranes. Can also cure mild brainwashing."

The blue showmare looked at the circle of mares.
"What are you six doing?"

*****

A short time later in Carousel Boutique, after Trixie had been reluctantly inducted into the little conspiracy, and the seven mares were standing around a mannequin as Rarity displayed the many varieties of fabric she had.
"So, purple and blue-ish black, then?" Rarity said.

"Purple goes well with everything." Trixie beamed.
"Glad we have established that one." Rarity sighed.

"Now then, what shall this costume look like?"
There was a pause.

"Well, she's going to need a hat, to hide her hair." Fluttershy said. Trixie nodded vigorously at that.
"And a cape, to hide your wings, Fluttershy." Twilight pointed out.

"Oh, yes. Of course." The pegasus said, sheepishly. She almost looked unenthused about the whole idea.
"A hat and a cape? Trixie senses something fishy about all this..."

"Why would there be fish in here? That's just silly, Trixie." Pinkie smiled, not noticing the glare from Trixie.
"Okay, so a cape, a hat... And it would need to conceal all visible features, something to see out of. Now, all we need is somepony to model it."

The room went silent, and almost instantaneously six ponies shuffled backwards.
"Girls," Rarity said in a weary tone, "I do need somepony to try it out, to see whether this costume could actually work or not."

"Well, it can't be me" Applejack said weakly, "Ah'd probably tear it the minute ah moved."
Fluttershy said nothing. At least, nothing audible.

"I'd rather not" Trixie muttered, pulling her hat over her eyes.
"I wouldn't be able to stay still long enough for you to make it. Or what if my Pinkie Sense goes off? Who knows what might happen?"

This left Twilight and Midday.
"Twilight? Midday?" Rarity smiled sweetly, the sort of smile usually used by cats about to do something to a priceless rug.

"Oh, I couldn't possibly..." Twilight blushed, "I mean, I couldn't... that is... I should probably go check on Spike!" She yelped, teleporting out of the room before anypony could stop her. Rarity fixed her eyes on Midday.
"No." She said.

"Please."
Midday winced, and desperately tried to fight down the dreaded P-word, "No."

"Can't somepony else do it?"
"No."

"Can't we wait for Twilight to come back?"
Rarity laughed.

"No."
"Do I have any say in this at all?"

"No"
Midday hung her head. Somepony placed a hoof on her shoulder.

"Come now, Midday dearest. It's for the greater good."
"(Trixie's heard that one before.)"

Midday sighed.
"Fine, fine. I'll do it." She said, wearily. Rarity beamed.

"Thank you." Midday looked up at her.
"Oh come now, you'll enjoy it." At those cursed words Midday felt a chill that went straight through skin and bone right down to her very soul.

And then she tried to run through the door. Amazingly, Pinkie managed to tackle her before she could take a step.
"You and your unnatural Pinkie Sense!" She hissed.

*****

To be fair on Rarity, it was hardly the most uncomfortable thing she ever endured, which probably went to dress-fitting when she was ten. It was rather long and unpleasant all the same. Of course, Fluttershy was helping out as well every now and then.
"There." Rarity said eventually.

"Let's see how it stands up to movement." She walked over to the floor-length mirror nearby.
"Not bad, if I don't say so myself." Rarity mused. Midday looked at it. She was not overly fond of purple, but it did look rather fetching. Although it didn't leave much to the imagination. She looked at the mask. With the bright blue eye-pieces, combined with it's colouration, it looked alarmingly familiar

"Now what?" She said.
"Perhaps you should put it through its paces." Rarity offered.

"Tomorrow." She said. Rarity looked outside. The sun was beginning to go down, although since it was winter this didn't mean as much.
"Very well." She sighed.

"I suppose disasters will have to wait for tomorrow."
"yay" Everypony turned to look at Fluttershy.

"I thought you'd gotten over your cheering problem?" Twilight said, trying not to laugh.
"I have. That wasn't me." Fluttershy said.

"Then wh-?" Rarity turned to see Midday carefully disrobing.
"What?" She said, defensively.

"How about we go get something to eat?" Offered Rarity.
"Good idea. Trixie feels like she could eat a whole block of cheese."

There was a loud yelp from Rarity, almost like she'd been kicked, and she rushed away into one of the changing booths.
"What was that?"

"Oh, it's... Rarity has a severe fear of cheese." Twilight said, quietly. Trixie just looked confused.
"She's never said why, we just take care not to mention it."

And that was that for conversation on Rarity's strange phobia. Once she removed herself from the changing booth they went to eat dinner, carefully discussing their plans to solve the Rainbow Dash problem.

*****

The next morning and Midday found herself rudely woken by Twilight.
"Can't I just sleep a few more hours?" she muttered.

"Come on. You said you'd demonstrate the costume today."
Midday sighed. She had.

"Just a minute then" she said, before trying to figure out which limb was supposed to be doing what.

*****

Some half an hour later, and Midday was calmly sitting on a rooftop. She didn't feel at all safe, mainly because of the sheer number of collapsing buildings there seemed to be of late. However, thanks to the ingenuity of Rarity and Fluttershy, she was at least slightly warm. She wasn't entirely sure why she was standing on the rooftop, but it felt like the sort of thing to do. She also wasn't entirely sure how she'd been convinced to have the first go at heroism. Vague recollections of statements to the effect of 'It has to be you, no-one else's is ready yet' or 'you have the most experience in it' came to mind. She sighed. Then she heard the scream. A hot air balloon was plumetting towards the ground, the poor pony inside (Cherry Berry, if Midday had her name right) was screaming for help. And nopony was doing anything. Midday stood up and gingerly walked along the rooftop. She could see Rainbow Dash a short distance away.

And she was still signing autographs.
Midday looked up again. The balloon was getting incredibly close to the ground. Rainbow Dash was still signing autographs. She glanced at poor Cherry Berry, who looked a bit down. Midday stood up.

"Guess it's time for me to make my entrance" She sighed. She took a few steps back, then noticed she had her invisibility spell still going. She let it fade, and cast another spell that boosted her jumping. She braced her, ignoring the fear she was feeling, she took a deep breath...

and she took flight.

Author's Note

Yeah, sorry. No fight. I decided to end on a cliffhanger, because... well, it seemed right.

Many Mares of Mystery Part Two

Midday leapt, the spell enhancing her leap aiding her flight. Only once she was in midair did she start panicking about what could go wrong. She got closer and grabbed Cherry Berry, leaping free of the basket. Using a complicated series of spells she managed to land without injuring the terrified would-be aviator. She was vaguely aware of the sound of the balloon crashing into a tree, having dragged Rainbow Dash down with it.

"Thank you, stranger." Cherry Berry said, looking incredibly unsteady on her hooves. Midday made a small nod, and then leapt away. She rushed away towards the edge of Ponyville, before casting a slight invisibility spell. Then she started breathing again. It took a few moments for her to get her breath back.

*****

"Well, I thought that went quite well." Twilight Sparkle smiled. There was an inarticulate grunt from Midday.
"You saved somepony without stopping to show off or brag, you were calm-"

"I really was not."
"You made quite the impression. You've been named the 'Mysterious Mare Do Well'!" Trixie beamed.

"Woo" Midday said, idly nudging a ball of yarn about, earning her a death glare from Opal.
"How did Rainbow Dash take the arrival of Ponyville's newest hero?" Rarity asked, checking the costume for signs of damage. Twilight gritted her teeth.

"She didn't look too happy."
"She could have saved whatsername before I'd even got there. Heck, I even waited to see if she would." Midday said. This caused a few nervous glances.

"Do you know what she did? She held off to sign autographs. What the hay was that all about? Was she afraid they'd disappear if she turned her head or something? Poor Cherry Berry was about to get renamed Gooey Stain" She sighed. There was a slight hum from Rarity.

"Well, there's no damage to the costume. Excellent. It can handle gravity defying leaps."
"Where did you learn that spell anyway?" Twilight Sparkle asked. Midday waved a hoof, which was the one nudging the ball of yarn, allowing Opal to reclaim her property.

"I learnt it when I was young, figured being able to leap long distances would be useful if I ever ended up in a dark catacomb or had to cross a broken bridge. What with just being a unicorn, and not being able to teleport."
Rarity seized upon the lull in conversation.

"Alright, this costume is okay. Now I can fetch the ones for Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Applejack." And at that Rarity walked over to the supplies cupboard.
"Me?" Fluttershy said. Rarity stared at her.

"Yes." she said calmly.
Fluttershy shuffled slightly.

"What is it, Fluttershy?" Applejack said.
"I just... well, do we really need to do this? Rainbow Dash's feelings might be hurt. Couldn't we just talk to her about her behaviour?"

Everypony in the room stared at her. Midday sighed an almost polite sigh.
"Fluttershy, I have a question for you. When, in the entire time you've know Rainbow Dash, has she ever, ever been willing to listen to somepony else, aside from you?"

"Well..." Fluttershy tried to remember.
"It might work this time?" she said, weakly.

"Bearing in mind the last few times she saved anypony it was either a group effort or she was distracted by other things." Twilight Sparkle said, "This is different from those times. Ponies are praising her non-stop, and she feels the need to play herself up. We're doing this so that she doesn't cause a disaster by putting her ego first."
"I suppose.."

"Fluttershy, I think I see what your problem is, that Rainbow Dash might be offended by our not trusting her, but-"
There was a sudden flash, and everypony looked to see Midday, standing upright, her fur now white, save the tips of her hooves, and her mane and tail were ablaze.

"She does not have the right to be offended!" Midday spat. "She put signing a piece of paper over trying to save somepony! She is lazy and crass and arrogant and she needs a kick in the flank before somepony gets hurt, or even killed because of her behaviour!" She took a deep breath, the flames dying down and her hair returned to normal, save some slight fraying and singes. She sat down, looking somewhat smaller than she should have. She stared at Fluttershy.

"I get that Rainbow Dash is your friend Fluttershy, but she's being utterly stupid. We have to do this, if only to save her from creating her own disaster. As we've been saying repeatedly for the last while."
"Okay, here are your costumes girls!" Said Rarity, emerging from the storage cupboard with several folded up piles (and four hats).

"Is something wrong?" She said upon seeing the conflicted looks on Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy's faces. She sniffed the air.
"Does someone smell anything burning?"

"That was fast." Pinkie Pie noted.
"Well, business has been slow lately, and if the original had been damaged we would've needed a replacement anyway. So I decided to make all four at once"

Pinkie started twitching.
"What is it, Pinkie?"

"I think..." Pinkie said as her tail started twitching back and forth like a metronome.
"Oh, runaway bus down a hill" She said. Everypony turned to Midday.

"No way." She said.
"What? Why not?" asked Twilight.

"Stopping a runaway bus is beyond me. I mean, I could use my magic to slow it, but if something went wrong?" She made a snapping noise, followed up with miming a bus falling down a cliff.
"I see."

"Sorry."
"I guess that means ah'm up." Applejack said.

"Wait" Said Midday, her horn flashed slighty, and a slight beam hit Applejack in the forehead.
"What in the-" Applejack said. Everypony else was staring at her. Her voice had changed significantly, though her usual drawl was still present.

"What did you do?" She demanded.
"It's a little voice alteration spell I had lying around. I mean, let's face it, Rainbow Dash would recognise your voice pretty quickly if you spoke. Just in case."

Twilight nodded at that.
"Wonder why I hadn't thought of that?" She mused.

"Do you have a voice-changing spell?" Pinkie asked.
"... no." Twilight said sheepishly.

*****

They were standing just out of sight from the hill. After a few minutes of waiting an out-of control bus careened past.
"There it goes, there it goes!" Pinkie yelped.

"'kay. Here goes." Applejack muttered.
"Remember, no showboating. Just stop the bus, then vanish." Midday said.

"Ah was listening."
"Good to know." Applejack turned to glower at her. Or at least it looked like she was glowering under the mask.

"What's that for?"
"Applejack, bus." Fluttershy whispered.

"Nothing." Midday said defensively.
"No, go on and tell me."

"Applejack..." Pinkie squeaked.
"You gonna stop that bus or what?"

Applejack's head turned to look at the bus, then back to Midday.
"We'll have words, later." She hissed. And she hurried off. The four mares watched as Applejack stuck her back legs out and stopped the bus before it hit the cliff.

"Shouldn't that hurt?" Midday winced.
"No, no, she can take it" Fluttershy said.

"Why isn't there a fence or something there? Or a barrier of some kind?"
"Good question." Twilight Sparkle said. They watched as Applejack leapt away.

"Actually" The purple unicorn said, "If we could find some building supplies we could make one right now."
"Well..." Midday said, all too aware that Pinkie and Fluttershy had already made themselves scarce.

"Maybe later? After we've stopped Rainbow Dash doing something foalish?"
"I suppose."

*****

They eventually found Pinkie Pie and Fluttersy back in the Carousel Boutique, with Applejack relaxing on a sofa talking to her back legs, although with the voice-altering spell still active she sounded more like she was doing a terrible impersonation of herself.
"Ponies seem a bit taken by Mare Do Well already." Fluttershy said.

"Really?" Twilight smiled.
"We saw a bunch of ponies wearing Mare Do Well shirts. I wanna Mare Do Well shirt. Oh, let's all get shirts." Pinkie bounced up and down. Twilight and Midday shared glances.

"Maybe later."
And then Pinkie's sense went off again.

"Collapsing construction site? uh-oh."
She looked around the room. Twilight shrugged.

"I guess that means me, then?" Pinkie quickly got into her own costume and disappeared out of the door.
"I think we need somewhere private to meet, just in case anypony wanders in on us." Twilight said.

"Why not use the library? Seems like as good a place as any to me" Midday said.
"And besides, everypony who lives there is in on this little collaboration. Except Spike."

"I suppose that makes sense." Twilight said.
"I'm still not really sure about this." Fluttershy muttered.

"And why do I have to wear a costume anyway?" She added.
More nervous glances were exchanged.

"Well, by now ponies have seen that Mare Do Well is strong and agile, and at some point the hat is probably gonna fall off and ponies will go 'Ah-hah, she is a unicorn'. But if it turns out Mare Do Well has wings, then ponies won't know what to think" Twilight said. A slight grin spread across her face.
"After all, only a princess has a horn and wings and strength, and they wouldn't be anywhere near regular pony size."

"Indeed. Most true. That is completely accurate and there is currently no chance of it being wrong." Midday said. There was a brief pause.
"I suppose that makes sense." Fluttershy said.

"You don't have to do any of the heroics yourself, Fluttershy." Midday said. She coughed before adding.
"Probably should've brought that up earlier, huh?"

"That would have been an idea" Twilight said into her hoof.

*****

A short time later, and Twilight and Midday were staring at the Ponyville dam, Fluttershy was sitting a short distance away, not looking at it..
"So, Pinkie's Pinkie Sense told her the dam was going to collapse?" Midday said. Twilight nodded.

"Doesn't make any sense to me. It looked perfectly fine."
"Rainbow Dash obviously disagrees" Twilight said, her voice altered by the magic spell.

"Oh my." Fluttershy said, as the multi-colored pegasus swooped down and leaned against the dam.
"What is she doing?" Twilight said. Midday bit her lip.

"Well, if Pinkie said the dam was about to collapse, and Rainbow Dash is leaning against it, then..." realisation kicked in.
"Oh, my." Twilight said, as the dam dramatically collapsed right before their eyes. Midday acted quickly, holding the water in. Twilight quickly pulled the cowl up and leapt down into the valley. Midday watched as Twilight gathered together all the fallen pieces of masonry and stone and brought them back together, somehow completely ignoring the face that they broke. Despite her own feelings on Twilight, despite knowing how powerful she was and would become, this still made her jaw drop.

"... wow" she said.
"I know" said Fluttershy, utterly killing the moment for her. She honestly couldn't even remember the last time she'd seen her m-... her Twilight do anything near that level of insanely complicated magic. To gather together all those objects, carry them, merge them all at the same time would require unbelievable levels of skill. Despite herself, she felt the very faintest trace of pride deep inside herself.

Midday noticed Rainbow Dash struggling out of the river far down below. She also noticed she was right by the edge of a massive drop, and took a step back. Twilight reappeared, and nudged Fluttershy.
"Your turn" She said, sounding barely winded. Fluttershy stared straight ahead.

"Pardon?" She looked at Twilight.
"Oh, yes. I forgot. Sorry." And after a few more rushed apologies she took off into the air.

"That was easier than I thought it was going to be." Twilight said, removing her cowl. Midday blinked.
"I mean, if I'd had to contain all that water, I'd probably have taken longer" She considered this, then pulled a small notebook and quill out of her hat and started writing away.

"Hmm. A few seconds difference." She muttered. Then she turned to Midday and smiled.
"That was some impressive barrier magic by the way."

"Yeah, well I had a good teacher" Midday shrugged.
"No... I mean I've only seen one pony with magic as impressive as that"

Midday desperately looked for something to distract Twilight with. Fluttershy provided the perfect excuse.
"Did you see how fast Fluttershy was flying? I though she was supposed to be slow?"

"Well, she's not always a slow flier. During the incident with Discord she was able to fly as fast as Rainbow Dash, whilst dragging a hot air balloon and two ponies behind her."
Midday was sure she hadn't heard that. Both in the sense that she'd never heard that part of the tale before, and that Twilight hadn't just said that.

"What?" Unfortunately if Twilight did actually explain how such an unusual event could make sense she didn't hear it, being far too distracted with trying to get her head around the concept in the first place. She remained in a confused state all the way back into town, and for several hours after.

*****

The next day, everypony met up in Sugarcube Corner, save Pinkie Pie who was working. In the kitchen of Sugarcube Corner. Curiously enough, Mr and Mrs Cake were absent completely.
"Gotta give credit to the girl" Applejack smiled, "That Mare Do Well sure can pull off some pretty heroic feats." Rainbow Dash was hovering around nearby, and her reaction spoke volumes.

"I must say" Twilight said from the table she and Fluttershy were sitting at, "I was impressed that she was able to hold all that water in place while fixing a dam at the same time. Something like that would take a lot of magical prowess." There was a low growl from Rainbow Dash.
"She really cares about everypony's safety." Fluttershy commented.

"And did you see her costume? It's to die for!" Rarity sighed, "If you ask me, she's a hero of fashion"
"Gag unto us with a spoon." Midday said, making sure nopony could hear her.

"An' she's modest and humble. She lets her actions speak for herself. Gotta admire that."
"Or maybe she's just letting everypony speak for her." Midday said, a bit louder than she'd meant. Rainbow Dash, reclining on one of the counters, had been about to say something. Instead she raised an eyebrow. In fact, she raised two.

"Are you alright, Midday?" asked Rarity. She shuffled. Was she really going to have to do this? Criticize her own actions?
"Well" She said, hesitantly, "You guys are going on about how brilliant she is. You're treating her like she's the second coming of Star-Swirl (the bearded) or something, even though she's only been around for all of one day."

"Thank you" said Rainbow Dash.
"I mean, yes, she does let her actions speak louder than her words, but..." She paused, "Why does she wear a mask? What's she got to hide?" Fluttershy and Twilight exchanged glances.

"Yeah." Rainbow Dash said in agreement.
"To protect whoever-she-is and her friends from being bothered by the media or anything?"

Midday snorted derisively.
"What, like Spike?" She said, nodding towards the small dragon, who was standing there wearing a rather out-of-place hat and trenchcoat and carrying a notepad. Fluttershy jumped slightly.

"Sorry, Spike. I didn't know you were there" she said, blushing profusely.
"It's okay." The dragon said.

"Yeah, why is everypony saying she's a hero? What's she done that's so great?" Rainbow Dash said, hopping over to Midday.
"Other than save several construction workers." Midday said, just barely containing a grin.

Rainbow Dash's ears twitched, "Yeah"
"And fixed that dam."

"Okay." Rainbow Dash was frowning.
"And stopped that bus from falling off a cliff. (Somepony should really put a barrier up there.)"

"And that."
"And saved Cherry Berry from being squished."

"Whose side are you on?" Rainbow Dash yelled.
Midday just smirked at her. "Side? Oh, Rainbow Dash, I'm not entirely on anyone's side."

The rainbow coloured pegasus groaned.
"Anyway, I don't think think she's that great."

Spike was scribbling furiously.
"'She's... great...'" He repeated.

"I didn't say that!" Rainbow Dash said.
"Sounds like somepony's jealous." Twilight Sparkle smirked.

"Who, me? Rainbow Dash scoffed.
"Rainbow Dash is jealous..." Spike transcribed. Midday briefly considered confiscating Spike's writing implements.

"Don't write that, Spike!" The others laughed at her, seemingly oblivious to Rainbow Dash's rising irritation and discomfort. Midday quickly slunk to the back of the room.
"Fine!" Rainbow Dash shouted, "Laugh all you want, but I'll be the one laughing when I prove to you that I'm just as good- No, that I'm a better hero than Mare Do Well!" And with that, Rainbow Dash flew out the window.

There was a moment of silence. Fluttershy was the only one who looked concerned.
"I think, and baring in mind this is just an opinion, we overdid it." Midday sighed. Everypony turned to look at her.

"What are you talkin' about? You were needlin' her the same as the rest of us." Applejack said. Midday swivelled on the spot and glared at her.
"Yeah, okay. I wasn't laughing at a longtime friend who's in obvious discomfort. (Not that I'd expect you to understand squat about that, Applejack.) And I wasn't doing it for the sake of it. You guys were bragging."

"We were not bragging" Fluttershy said. Midday paused.
"Okay, you were all bragging except for Fluttershy."

"I was paying you a compliment." Twilight said, upset.
"I didn't ask you to." Spike, suddenly being the most sensible being in the room, slowly edged out of the door.

"I hope Rainbow Dash doesn't do anything foolish." Fluttershy said, hoping to change the topic of conversation.
"Nah, most of the disasters have dried up now." Said Pinkie, bouncing into the room from the kitchen. "My Pinkie Sense has been utterly quiet since the dam burst." She frowned, and paused.

"Except for somepony having a problem with a jar lid."
"Your Pinkie Sense warns you about jammed lids?"

"Yuh-huh."
"What a truly versatile thing it is." There was a sudden interuption of none other than Trixie bursting into the room.

"You won't believe it!" she exclaimed, "The mayor has agreed to throw a thank-you parade for Mare Do Well!" She seemed abnormally cheery.
"You like parades then?" Fluttershy said from under the table (Certainly not having hid there in the asumption that Trixie was in fact a soul-eater in a Trixie costume, or from shock, but simply because she liked being under tables).

"Trixie is from Neigh Orleans. I like parades because I can mock how inferior they are to the ones back home." She smiled a slight grin.
"Yer jokin', right?"

"A bit." Trixie said.
"Ah'd go back t' being a magician if I were you." Trixie and Applejack glowered at each other.

"Well, if some two birth defects hadn't brought an ursa minor right to my doorstep..." Trixie hissed. Midday meanwhile slipped out to get some fresh air.
She rushed to a small corner and sighed. Showing Rainbow Dash the error of her ways she could deal with, helping to humiliate her, not so much. The fact that Rainbow Dash would probably be rather indiscriminate in her revenge wasn't comforting. She decided to walk it off, and talk to Rainbow Dash the first chance she got. She sighed again. Once again, her near-inability to form grudges had striked.

She found a group of ponies setting up banners and streamers and balloons. She saw Lyra talking with Bon-Bon a short distance away, a small harp hovering near the mint-green unicorn.
"Hey" Midday cried. The two turned to look.

"Oh, hello again." Lyra smiled.
"Hey" was all Bon-Bon said.

"What's up with the little stand here?"
"Oh, this? Ponyville's throwing a parade in appreciation of Mare Do Well." Lyra smiled.

"But it's only been all of one day"
"It is a bit weird, isn't it? But she is quite impressive." Bon-Bon said. Midday had a vague recollection of seeing Bon-Bon wearing one of those silly rainbow wigs the other day, though she decided not to comment on it.

"And I've been hired to do some music for it. I've never had to write a composition for a super-hero before. I keep wondering what mindset I should have."
"I keep wondering why she's doing all this." Bon-Bon mused, "I think maybe her beloved uncle was killed by a burgler she could have stopped."

Midday glanced about.
"I... really don't think so."

"Or perhaps her parents were murdered by a mugger on leaving the theatre, on Heart's Warming Eve no less!"
"Incredibly unlikely. Bordering on outright impossible."

Bon-Bon frowned.
"I've got to admit, that doesn't make sense, sweetie." Lyra said, "I mean, wouldn't we have heard if something like that had happened?

Bon-Bon mused on this.
"I guess... Alright..." she pondered options for a second.

"Mother killed in mysterious circumstances, making her vow to try fight crime to spare others the pain of losing their loved ones?"
Midday frowned. "Why would she need some angsty backstory to want to help people? Did you ever consider that maybe, just maybe, she's doing the whole heroics thing because it's the right thing to do?"

Bon-Bon looked at Midday as if she'd suggested replacing Celestia with a giant weasel dressed up to look like a turtle.
"That's just weird." The earth pony said. There was a slight thrum from Lyra's harp.

"Ooh, I think I've got an idea, sweetie." She beamed.
"Let's hear it, then." Bon-Bon said, instantly forgetting Midday, who simply walked on. She continued walking and due to the design of Ponyville streets found herself back in front of Sugarcube Corner.

"Darn." She sighed. Coincidentally enough, Twilight Sparkle emerged from the doors.
"Oh, never mind." She said, beckoning Midday to enter.

"Well, look who came back." Trixie smirked.
"Midday, there's something we'd like to ask you." Twilight said.

"You want me to attend the parade for Mare Do Well" she said.
"We want you to-... Yes, actually." Twilight glanced to the others, then to Midday, "How did you know?"

"Because I was being a jerk, you figured this would be the best way to get at me. Besides, it's my turn."
Twilight looked about.

"And you're thinking of luring Rainbow Dash to somewhere isolated and spilling the beans." Twilight looked almost dumbfounded.
"How did you know?"

Midday shrugged.
"Seems the sort of thing you'd do. You're the forgiving type, so I figured you'd want to bury the hatchet with Rainbow Dash."

"Did you get banished to this town for being too smart for your own good?" Trixie said from the corner.
"Sort of. But not really."

*****

So Midday found herself waiting near the parade (which was oddly not moving) waiting for her cue to appear. She listened to Lyra's rather... catchy fanfare, and had to fight down the urge to jump on top of someone. She looked at the crowd.
Was that Scootaloo? What was Scootaloo doing at the parade? And then she saw Rainbow Dash, not actually lurking at all in the crowd. The mayor started speaking, and that was her cue...

The crowd cheered. It was actually somewhat weird to think ponies were cheering because of her. Nopony had ever cheered because of her before. She smiled. And then Rainbow Dash leapt into the air. What was she saying?
"The Mysterious Mare Do Well, huh?"

"Afternoon" she said. Unfortunately it sounded a lot deeper and gravelly than it should have. She coughed.
"Sorry, throat bug, let me try that again. Good afternoon, Rainbow Dash." She said, in that strange jovial voice. The pegasus was having none of it.

"So what're you hiding? Let's see how mysterious you are without that mask!" She reached forward. Midday just sighed.
"If only it were that easy, but you see, Rainbow Dash... I'm not here" And with that her magical energy duplicated shimmered and vanished. Rainbow Dash waved a hoof through the air.

"Where'd she go?" Someone in the crowd said.
Scootaloo suddenly yelled out, "Look, over there, on the roof."

Midday froze, and saw Rainbow Dash glaring straight at her.
"Thanks for that, Scootaloo." She muttered to herself. She tried to start moving again, but something solid and rainbow-y slammed into her, knocking her off the rooftops and clean into the air. She didn't land easy, though she did notice a rather suspiciously placed pile of hay right next to where she landed. Rainbow Dash slammed into the ground in front of her.

"Alright, I've got you now!"
"I don't suppose there's a chance we could talk this out like civilised mares, could we?" Midday asked, trying to get to her hooves.

"No."
Midday sighed. "I really don't want to fight you." She hoped Rainbow Dash would accept that.

"Don't care." Rainbow Dash said, reaching for her cowl. There was a slight jolt as the protective charms kicked in, sending Rainbow jumping back. Midday took a careful step back. Rainbow stepped forward, and then...
then the second layer of the charms kicked in, zapping Rainbow Dash again. She collapsed to the ground.

"Sorry, Rainbow Dash. I probably should've warned you about that." Then something alarming happened. Rainbow Dash got unsteadily to her feet. And she looked furious. Midday began to regret the defensive charms. Especially after being tackled by a furious mare capable of going at ludicrous speeds.
"Who are you?" Rainbow Dash yelled as they rocketed into the sky. Down below Midday could see several ponies rushing about, some of whom were wearing Mare Do Well costumes.

"Why are you trying to ruin my life?" Midday, if she had been on the ground, would have done a double-take.
"Ruin your life? What in Equestria are you on about?" Rainbow Dash started going faster.

"You keep making me look bad, keep stealing my saves from me, and now everypony likes you more than me and they forgot me completely!" She yelled. Midday felt pity for the pegasus, right up until the word 'stealing'.
"You mean solving disasters you couldn't?"

"I would have. I could have caught that balloon with seconds to spare." Midday blinked. She'd actually forgotten about that, and the autographs.
"Thank you." She said, her voice deathly cold (though the fact that it was mid-winter and they were almost two miles in the air helped.

"For what?!" Said Rainbow Dash.
"I was having trouble finding motivation to fight you." Midday hissed. She headbutted Rainbow Dash, who let go of her. She started plummeting to the ground.

"Not your greatest plan ever" She said to herself. Fortunately Rainbow Dash slammed into her again. The two mares tussled in the skies over Ponyville.
"I'm the only hero Ponyville needs! You're just trying to hog all the attention!"

Midday kicked wildly.
"What? That's the most idiotic thing I've heard you say!" She felt her leg connect with part of Rainbow.

"You're supposed to be the Element of Loyalty, and you throw childish tantrums when somepony does a job you wouldn't?"
"I was getting around to them!"

"Before or after Cherry Berry went 'splat'?"
"I had time to spare!"

"You could have done it in the first place! What's next, are you going to try and kick the crap out of me because ponies appreciated someone cleaning up the mess you made of the dam?"
Rainbow Dash stopped. Unfortunately this meant Midday slipped over her head.

"That... that wasn't my fault." She said hesitantly.
"Oh? It looked like you leaned on a crack when you could have just reported it. And what would you have done next? Stopped the flood? Rebuilt the dam? Do you even know how to mix cement?"

"I'd... have figured something out."
"And the constant stopping to yell your catchphrase?"

"It was to let ponies know who saved them."
"Because there are so many blue-coated, rainbow-maned pegasi around?"

She walked up to Rainbow Dash.
"None of this was an attempt to make you feel bad, it was just to stop your ego going overboard. You see-"

"FOUND THEM!" Came a familiar cry. It was Pinkie Pie, followed by the others. Pinkie, Applejack and Twilight were all wearing their costumes.
"What?" Rainbow Dash said, before turning to look at Midday.

"Which means you must be..."
Midday sighed, dispelled the voice-altering spell and removed her cowl.

"Ta-dah." She said, dryly. Rainbow Dash looked confused, and hurt.
"You were all in on this?"

"It was a team effort, actually" Midday said.
"Yeah. We all played Mare Do Well at different times." Twilight smiled.

"I stopped that bus with these babies" Applejack smiled, nodding at her back legs, "Bucks McGillicuddy and Kicks McGee"
"You named your legs?" Midday said to herself.

"And I saved those construction workers with my Pinkie Sense!" Pinkie smiled.
"Midday and I used our magic to fix the dam." Twilight said.

"Well, Twilight did the fixing. I just stopped most of the water getting out."
"Oh, and I did the flyby afterwards" said Fluttershy.

"I made the costumes of course" Rarity said, "Fabulous, if I do say so myself." There was a cough. Rarity's smile didn't alter.
"With some design imput from Trixie, of course. And Fluttershy helped a bit with the intial design."

"But... why?"
"I can explain that!" Midday said. She frowned. "Actually, there is too much. Let me sum up."

And she did.
"Well" Rainbow Dash said once everything had been summed-up, "I guess I was bragging a little."

Everypony stared at her.
"A lot?" she tried. Applejack nodded.

"That's more like it."
"But you could've just said something to me."

"Well, we thought you might not listen." Fluttershy said.
Rainbow Dash considered this. "Yeah, I probably wouldn't have. But you could've tried. You're my friends, right? I'd have listened. Eventually."

"But talking to you wouldn't have gotten us a parade." Pinkie smiled. Something clicked. Midday bit her lip.
"Shouldn't we, uh, you know, be getting back to that?"

"We probably should. They spent so much time setting it up" said Rarity.
"I helped." Pinkie beamed.

The group walked back to Ponyville.
"We could celebrate Rainbow Dash and Mare Do Well, Ponyville's twin heroes!" Pinkie said.

Rainbow Dash started walking towards town. She turned to Midday.
"What's your stake in all this, anyway? You barely know me."

Midday gave this some thought.
"You remind me of somepony. Somepony who I used to know. You have so much potential and you waste it. You could be brilliant, but you seem content to lounge about. You could be so much better than you are now." She said.

"What does that mean?" Rainbow laughed. Midday just shook her head.
"Hey, with all that throwing about you did, be glad I can make any sense at all. Now are you coming to this parade or not?"

"Race ya!" Rainbow Dash said, zooming off into the distance. Midday shook her head, and followed after.

*****

As it turned out, the ponies of Ponyville had no problem celebrating for two ponies (the fine details about Mare Do Well were carefully brushed aside). And with the strange string of disasters in Ponyville seemingly gone, life returned to a semblance of normality.
As normal as Ponyville got, anyway.

*****

Many hours later
Rarity was aware of a strange tapping noise. She slowly lifted the sleeping mask from her face, and was greeted with darkness. Somepony had woken her in the middle of the night, and clearly wished to be removed from existance, and she felt happy to oblige them. She gently walked over to the window, avoiding cat toys on the way and opened it. She prepared to yell bloody murder at whoever was out there...

only to see Rainbow Dash, looking quite beaten up and miserable. Instantly Rarity rushed down to her front door and unlocked it.
"What is it, Rainbow Dash?" She said.

There was some inarticulate slurring from Rainbow Dash. Rarity sniffed, and immediately regretted it. Rainbow Dash was positively marinated.
"You're drunk." She said.

"On'ly a lttle..." Rainbow slurred.
"I c'n't fly like this, can't get wings to work. Don' drink and fly." She smiled, though naturally the effect was incredibly unnerving.

"So I came here..."
"Why have you been drinking?" Rarity said, wondering if the pegasus could even remember.

"Ev'ryone hates me. Even Scoota... Scootal hates me."
"That's not true." Rarity said gently.

"Feels like it. All cuz of that..." Rainbow muttered something distinctly unladylike.
"Don' trust her. She humilated me... 'll get her back. Need your help."

"Of course" Rarity said.
"Nopony likes me." The pegasus muttered again.

"Now, Rainbow, don't talk like that. You just lie down, and we'll talk this over in the morning."
"C'nt trust Fluzzershy evr..." The rainbow-maned mare said, her eyes drooping shut. Rarity quickly summoned her so-called 'fainting sofa' and gently moved Rainbow Dash towards it. She fell asleep and began snoring a rather adorable snore immediately. Rarity quickly placed a cushion under Rainbow's head and placed a blanket over her. In the morning, she told herself, she'd have a talk with Rainbow Dash. Then she yawned. Nothing bad could happen until then.

*****

Fluttershy slowly walked up the stairs to her bedroom. All her animal friends were asleep, and after a long and bizarre day she was quite content to go to sleep. Nice, restful sleep.
She crawled into bed, carefully pausing before she turned the light off to make sure she'd not forgotten everything.

All was quiet. She turned the light off and lay down, ready to sleep.
Then the noise started. A strange, pained groaning noise from outside. After a few seconds it stopped. Then there was a loud crash, and the sound of breaking wood.

Quickly, Fluttershy rushed out of her room, down the stairs and out the back door of her cottage, to find...
A rather strange blue box lying sideways where her shed had been. Through her drooping eyelids she could see a door open on one side.

"Sorry!" Came an odd voice. An earth pony stallion stuck his head out of it. He had a fantastic chin.
"Had a bit of bother trying to land the old thing. Lot of temporal feedback. Not sure what's going on with that. Looked like a really nasty paradox, or a set of paradoxes... paradoxes, paradices, either way it's all bad timey-things."

Fluttershy wasn't sure what to make of this.
"Anyway, hello slightly sleeping looking pony" He smiled. Then his face turned deadly serious.

"I'm here to prevent the end of your world."

Author's Note

Ugh, this took forever to write, what with low attention span, and disease, and old friends popping up out of the blue, and laziness, and... ugh...
Wasn't supposed to be this long, either.

Convoluted Conversations

Rainbow Dash slowly opened one eye, and regretted it. Her head exploded in pain, feeling like it was trying to rip itself apart. There was a horrific humming noise, and a sound like somepony smashing something with a hammer nearby. Plus, everywhere she looked everything was purple or pink. It took a few seconds for her to recognise the inside of Rarity's house, then she gathered that she had a nasty hangover, which explained the pain, and why everything felt so wrong, and the odd humming noise, which sounded more and more like... she gingerly moved a fration. Sitting on her stomach was a small ball of fluff looking at Rainbow Dash with a look of utter disdain. The slow thundershocks had stopped. Rainbow Dash could hear the beginning of Rarity muttering.
"-homeless shelter, very amusing I don't think."

"-isit to Canterlot, we'll see who's washed up then!"
And if Rarity was muttering angry that noise was probably just her making tea. Rainbow Dash tried to get to her hooves, not easy when she was weighed down by a stubborn cat or the very warm blanket Rarity had placed over her. After a few moments struggling, Rainbow Dash got to her hooves.

And then fell over.
"Opal! What are you up to n- Oh, Rainbow Dash, you're awake?" Rarity said, upon seeing the crumpled pile of wings and legs Rainbow Dash had become.

The pegasus tried to speak, only for a series of inarticulate grunts to come out of her mouth.
"Oh, my." Rarity said, before rushing back into the kitchen. A few moments later she returned with a strange flash and a small spoon. She poured out the contents of the flash onto the spoon and motioned it towards Rainbow Dash's mouth. With great difficulty the pegasus managed to drink it. The difficulty came from the fact that it tasted like the drink equivalent of getting hit over the head with a sack of bricks.

"What is that?" Rainbow Dash demanded once she could speak again.
"An anti-hangover cure. I apologise for the taste, Rainbow Dash, but I don't have much experience with hangovers. Except when I've had far too much wine."

Rainbow Dash unsteadily got to her feet.
"Thanks anyway." She shuffled her feet.

"I didn't... do anything stupid last night did I?"
"I honestly wouldn't know. You appeared at my doorstep quite inebriated. You couldn't even fly."

"I couldn't?"
"You seemed upset." Rainbow Dash hung her head.

"Yeah, I think I remember why I'd been drinking." She muttered.
"Do you wish to talk about it?"

Rainbow Dash shrugged.
"Nah. I'm cool." There was a moment of silence. Rainbow Dash flapped her wings.

"Very well then." Rarity said, before turning and heading towards her kitchen.
"If you'll excuse me, I currently have a serious need to relax."

"Problem with one of your dresses?" Rainbow Dash smirked.
"No." Was all Rarity said in response.

"You sure?" Rainbow Dash said. Rarity turned to look at Rainbow Dash. In an instant she cracked.
"Oh, it's that ghastly Embrace. She wandered in here to gloat at me, and she... she suggested I turn my store into a homeless shelter. I'm so fed up of her ghastly behaviour, her smug laugh, her gloating!" She sighed. Her horn glowed and a kettle and a tiny cup appeared next to her, at which point Rarity began drinking.

Rainbow Dash frowned. "Was this because I was here?"
"Only a bit."

"Y'know, if you want some help dealing with her-" Rarity waved a hoof at her.
"No, Rainbow Dash. This is an entirely private matter between us. Besides, she wouldn't dare raise a hoof against me directly right now. Not until after my visit to Canterlot next week, at any rate."

"Gotcha." Rainbow Dash looked around the room.
"Well, this was fun but I'm gonna head out before I end up wearing a frilly dress. Thanks for letting me sleep here."

"Of course" Rarity said, ignoring the 'frilly dress' remark.

*****

Fluttershy rushed through the steets, hooves pounding along the ground.
"Must find Twilight!"

*****

"So, what are you up to today, Twilight?" Midday asked.
"Oh, I'm just going over some of my notes. I was thinking of working on teleportation today."

"Same as always."
"Well, it's either that or go through my notes on Star Swirl the Bearded again, and that's incredibly stressful."
Midday instantly lost all interest in the conversation.

"Do tell."
"Well" Twilight said, her inability to notice sarcasm going strong, "The problem is that when one is studying Star-Swirl the Bearded one must be prepared to diseminate rumour and fiction, a difficult notion since (obviously) there are no living witnesses to most of his exploits, many of which have doubtless been lost to time."

"Not listening."
"And of course there is his unusually long life-span, dating from pre-Heart Warming times to the arrival of the Princesses."

"Don't care."
"And he played a part in the developement of so many important ponies in history. It's actually somewhat strange. Did he know the ponies he talked to would be important?"

"WHO CARES?!" Midday snapped.
"He was a manipulator, and a braggart, and a coward. Oh, yes he never carried weapons, but he didn't need to! He turned everypony around him into weapons. And he always moved around, didn't you notice? And trouble always followed him. Never made attachments, never cared about the devestation he brought and always running, never looking back. Acting without consideration for the damage he brought to so many lives."

There was a moment of awkward silence.
"Guessing you don't like him?" Twilight said.

Midday sat down, her eyes focused on a floorboard so intensely it was a wonder the thing didn't burst into flames.
"My mother went on about him any chance she got. 'Oh, he did this, and that, and all of those and he was so wonderful and helped so many'. After a while I began to wonder whether he was that brilliant. So I checked. He had a tendency to disappear just as situations became heated, and never stuck around to help with the messes he made. How heroic."

"He saw beyond race, in a time when the world was torn apart by divides."
"He saw only tools to be used and disposed of. Funny how he was never documented as talking to the elderly. Seems the old stallion preferred the companionship of the young"

"He was a teacher, he saw potential and nourished it. He was there when they needed him through their entire life."
"True. Every pony he taught became a genius or brilliant and utterly indifferent. Princess Platinum, Clover the Clever, Luna, Celestia. The four most prominent names I can think of. Each one of them either a skilled manipulator or prominent and powerful and totally detached from the average pony. Well, except Clover the Clever. And Luna's not detached by choice."

"Celestia's not a manipulator." Twilight said, her voice stern and sure. Midday just gave Twilight a Look.
"We're not all her beloved student" was all the lilac unicorn said. There was a moment of silence in the library, when Fluttershy burst in. She yelled something at an unbelievably fast rate.

"What?" Said Twilight. Fluttershy repeated herself, still ridiculously fast.
"There's a pony at my house going on about the end of the world" The pegasus said.

*****

"Did I say the end of the world? Sorry, bit distracted, what with having crashed and everything."
"Oh, so the world... isn't going to end?" Twilight said to the smiling pony in front of her. She was trying not to stare at his chin. It was an impressive chin.

"Well, there was a lot of strange temporal energy building up, a nasty paradox of some sort. But no, your world is in no immediate danger."
There was a sigh from Fluttershy.

"Then... why are you here?" Twilight asked.
The earth pony pondered for a second.

"Imagine... a sweater, nice sweater, well-made, won't fall apart that quickly, but it gets caught on a nail, or something and it starts to unravel."
"Okay."

"Now, imagine all of time, everything that ever was and will be. Every moment and second and burnt cupcake and stubbed toe and every moment you wished could have been different."
Twilight nodded slowly, "... Right."

"So, you're saying time is like a damaged sweater?"
He stared at her. "No. But if it helps, yes. (but it isn't)"

"So what is time like?" Twinkle asked, "A huge non-linear mess of nonsense?"
"A bit."

"So, what is the danger of this paradox?" Twilight asked, "Will it do anything serious?"
"Shouldn't think so. Nothing spectacularly bad, like time falling to pieces. Just the odd random change in personality or voice here and there, but they probably won't be permanent. Unless you hit a fixed point."

"Fixed point?" asked Twilight.
"A point in space and time that cannot be changed, or otherwise..." He trailed off.

"Yes?"
"Bad things would happen."

"You sound like you're speaking from experience." Midday said.
"Only once or twice. I don't make a habit of breaking them."

"Well," Twilight smiled "I think that solves everything here, if there's no problem." And she left, Midday slowly following after. Though after a few seconds she slunk away to talk to the strange stallion. She found him in Fluttershy's garden staring at the strange, and familiar looking, blue box.
"Excuse me" She said. He turned to look at her.

"Yes?"
"You say you're called 'the Doctor', right?"

"I did."
"So, are you the same individual who stopped me from going insane?"

"Same pony." She stared at him. He had the exact same brown fur, same dark brown mane and tail, same hourglass cutie mark, but he was slightly different in proportions.
"So... how'd that happen?" For a moment he looked miserable, as if recalling something soul-shattering.

"Long story. Bad day, bad things happened." He said, quietly.
"So, what, you can change your appearance? Do you do it at will? Or is it a last-move sort of thing?" He simply smiled at her. Strangely enough he looked rather similar to a teacher she'd seen once who'd declared math to be 'the most boring thing ever', which had been the wrong thing to say in a math class to an impressionable youth.

"What was your name again?"
"Midday. Midday Eclipse." She shuffled slightly. And here she'd been hoping she'd have gotten used to that name by now.

"Right, Midday Eclipse." He smiled.
"Want to see something impressive?"

"Always." He winked, and rushed into the box. There was a deep thumping noise, followed by a loud straining noise. After a few seconds the door opened and he rushed out again, huge plumes of smoke following.
"Right, okay. That wasn't supposed to happen." He said. He looked concerned.

"The paradox is too strong, she can't take off." Midday strained. Half of what this pony said made almost no sense, and the rest of it made absolutely no sense whatsoever. Although from his panicked tone she gathered one thing.
"You're trapped here."

"Yes." He gulped, "I'm trapped. Again."
"Welcome to every moment of my life" Midday said dryly. The stallion proved unresponsive, and after a while she left him to his own devices, whatever they were.

*****

Rarity was torn. She had a choice between what she would take to Canterlot, and there was only so much she could choose.
"Oh" she wailed, "Opal, why is this so difficult? Why must I be so torn?" Opal made no response, simply licking her front paw.

"I suppose..." She murmured. There was a knock on the door. Rainbow Dash then burst through.
"Rarity!" She yelled. The pegasus landed calmly, giving suspicious glances at the hat boxes and folded sweaters surrounding her.

"I remembered!" She said.
"Remember what, Rainbow Dash?" Rarity said, paying more attention to which sweater would be more fitting for a mid-tuesday afternoon stroll than Rainbow Dash.

"What I came here for last night!" Rainbow Dash said. She motioned for Rarity to come closer. The unicorn did.
"It's Midday. I don't trust her."

Rarity stared at Rainbow Dash.
"Really?"

"Hear me out. She shows up out of nowhere, she really looks like Twilight Sparkle, and whatever was going on with her going all blue made her look even more like Twilight Sparkle."
"Rainbow, really? Remember when you thought Twilight was a spy? Remember how that turned out?" The pegasus looked chastened.

"Yeah, yeah. I remember how that turned out. But I'm serious. I think we need to keep an eye on her. I mean, she's an accountant, right? So how come she's been sent here?"
Rarity paused.

"That doesn't make much sense, now that you mention it. I had just assumed Celestia had sent her here to study friendship, the same as Twilight. That is a bit troubling. Perhaps I could ask Celestia when I visit Canterlot."
Rainbow Dash smiled just a fraction.

"Thanks. Who knows what she's really up to?"

*****

"And of course we previously discussed, Star Swirl also was also know for-"
As Twilight Sparkle continued on her long-winded discussion of the contributions of Star Swirl (the bearded) to Equestria and its history, Midday cursed her inability to teleport. And her deeply hidden fondess for detailed explanations.

Author's Note

Sorry if this chapter feels disjointed. Wasn't really gettin' the 'feels' for it.
I blame the lack of bow-ties.
(Sorry about the fake out. But remember, Rule 1.)

The Five Day Prank War

To Celestia
Just so we are absolutely clear, I did start this whole mess. But I feel that Rainbow Dash provoked me.
...
She decided that I was untrustworthy and needed watching after the whole 'dress up as a superhero' thing and, well... being Rainbow Dash she lacks the subtlety to really accomplish this. So she took to making what I think she though was veiled comments about me every time we were in the same place. That was not what set me off.
It was more that she compared me to Twilight Sparkle. At which point, I vowed revenge.

~~~~~

Four days ago
"What did you say?" Midday Eclipse said, her voice slowly and incredibly easy to pick out. The air in the room went cold. Everypony stopped what they were doing.

"I said 'You'll never be as good at magic as Twilight Sparkle'." Rainbow Dash said, smugly. She seemed unaware of the intense look on the lilac unicorn's face. And the slight smell of something burning. Behind her, the Cakes hurriedly hid their stocks, lest a food fight break out.

Rainbow Dash probably continued, saying something more and digging a small graveyard's worth of grave, explaining how Twilight Sparkle was better than her. Eventually she stopped, looking quite alarmed at what was happening with Midday's face. She was 'smiling'. It was the sort of smile that usually involved remorseless bits of metal and tears.
Her horn glowed ever-so-slightly. There was a slight whistling noise, and a small splat. The previous silence was now outshone by its bigger, more pervasive brother, as bits of pie crust slowly fell off of Rainbow Dash's face. A look of concentrated fury was on her face.

"That's it." She said. She took a deep breath, everypony in Sugarcube Corner braced themselves.
"PINKIE!"
"Yuh-huh?"

"I'm declaring a prank war." At that, a mare sitting near the door (Daisy, or Lilly. Nopony was sure which) who had been trembling until then screamed out loud "RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!" and then immediately fled the room, and as it turned out the entirety of Ponyville. She wasn't seen for several weeks.
Pinkie, and everypony else in the room, ignored her.

"One, two, three, four. I declare a prank war!" Pinkie said, before blowing a whistle she hadn't been carrying a second before. Rainbow Dash laughed, and rushed out of the room. Midday stood there for a moment, as she tried to determine what exactly had just happened, before she walked over to Pinkie.

"Pinkie, am I right in understanding that in this war, anything goes?" The pink mare looked uncertain, a truly rare event.
"Almost anything. So long as it doesn't directly hurt anypony, you can do it."

"Excellent" she smiled.

~~~~~

And that's pretty much how it began. Or how the Glorious Five Day Prank War of Righteousness, as Pinkie calls it, began. (She said it was something about 'market appeal'.)
The first day the pranks were somewhat lowbrow, you know: tainting foodstuffs so they gave you bowel conditions or moving Rainbow Dash's nap clouds about so they were right over construction sites, that sort of thing.
But I do not fight fair.

The chime ringed, and Pinkie rushed to meet the customer. It was Midday, who looked tired, sticky, and alarmingly cheerful.
"Pinkie" she said immediately, cutting off the pastry chef's introduction, "I require your help in acquiring certain items."

"Okay."
"I will require: A hot air balloon, hair dye, plumbers, with stealth training if possible, and plumbing equipment. Once you have acquired these items, meet me back here."
Pinkie looked at the mare, and the syrupy clumps in her hair.

"Okie-dokie-loky" she smiled, bouncing away.

*****

The plumbers had been a bit uncertain about the whole venture, and had to be assured they wouldn't plummet to their deaths the minute they set hoof on the clouds that made up Rainbow Dash's home. Complications had arose when it turned out the speedsters' home didn't possess conventional plumbing equipment, but Pinkie Pie was a master of persuasion.

The only true problem had been accomplishing their goal before Rainbow Dash returned, but the plumbers were highly skilled, and finished with hours to spare. Especially after persuasion from Pinkie.
Midday went to sleep that night, assured that the next morning would be something to remember.

*****

Twilight Sparkle regarded herself as a rational mare, who tried to do rational things, live a rational life and wherever possible wear rational clothing. This conflicted with the fact that she had woken up to find Midday smiling and being polite and helpful.
"Good morning, Twilight. Hope you are well." She was smiling again. Twilight immediately checked the entire library.

"What did you do?" She asked once she was done, still taking cautious glances around the room.
"Do?" Midday said as innocently as she could manage.

"I haven't done anything. It's only nine in the morning. How could I have done anything at nine in the morning?" She handed Twilight a fresh cup of coffee. Twilight took it, hestiantly, and drank.
Then she noticed Midday was staring at the clock.

"What did you do?" she asked once more.
Midday said nothing, and simply walked over to the desk and starting writing something.

After a while Twilight decided she probably hadn't done anything.
Then, at half past ten there was a massive scream, that shattered the windows.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Twilight said. Midday made a strange expression that was half-frown, half-smirk.
"That," she said, "was Rainbow Dash looking in the mirror." And at that Midday activated her invisibility spell.

A few seconds afterward Rainbow Dash flew in through the window, displacing several shards of glass.
"Where is SHE?!"

Twilight stared at Rainbow Dash. She looked perfectly fine, except for one tiny difference.
She was bright pink, from head to tail.

For a moment, Twilight Sparkle's brain faltered, and a strange piece of music began to play in her mind.
"What... happened?" she eventually managed to get out.

"I don't know. I went to sleep, I woke up and when I went to check my awesomeness in the mirror... I was pink!" She made it sound like a death sentence. Twilight wondered if the Wonderbolts were about to get a mention.
"I can't get rid of it" she said, "I'll be a laughing-stock!" She gasped in horror as something worse than that came to mind.

"The Wonderbolts will never let me join them if I look like this!" She wailed and sobbed. After a few seconds she stood up, her eyes now set with a fierce determination.
"When I find her, I will destroy her" she hissed.

"Who?"
"MIDDAY BUCKING ECLIPSE!" she roared.

"Why exactly would she turn your hair pink?"
"It's a prank-war." Now Twilight understood. Rainbow Dash sighed.

"Well, I might as well try and look for her elsewhere. Pinkie Pie might know." She mused.
Twilight watched as Rainbow Dash soared away into the sky, before focusing her magic, causing the shards of glass to return to the window and merge back to a single pane. She looked around the room.

"How did you do that?" she asked.
"Oh, well. It was quite easy really" came Midday's voice from the door to the kitchen. Twilight watched as she slowly appeared, looking somewhat nervous.

"I got some plumbers to... alter her shower. Well, actually, I had Pinkie convince some plumbers to alter her shower."
Twilight tried to process that. It made no sense, so she decided to leave it for later.

"It's not permanent, is it?"
"No. No, shouldn't think so. It'll wear off after a few days." She shrugged. There was a moment of silence.

"So, prank war?" Twilight said.

~~~~~

Rainbow Dash did sort of lock herself indoors because of the whole 'dyed pink' thing. Probably not the best route to take, since I may possibly have asked the plumbers to set her toilet from 'flush' to 'stun'.
All's fair in love and prank wars.
So she managed to procure the services of the most dangerous disaster delivery vectors in Equestria.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS PRANKSTERS!!! YAY!"

~~~~~

... The less said of Day Two, the better.

"How in Equestria did they get all this tree sap in here?"

"Twilight, there is absolutely no point in asking that."

"(Trixie thought she'd seen the last of tree sap)"

~~~~~

Day three was slightly different.

The war quickly spread from the library. Midday found the plumbing had been filled with custard, much to Spike's horror when he attempted to take one of his truly ludicrously long bubble baths, though it did balance out the usual sulphuric smell he usually had. Twilight refused to get involved, despite the incident of the tree sap incident causing her to start muttering to herself for a while, though Midday brushed this off as Twilight's lack of inner monologue. As a result, Midday went on the offensive, sending Rainbow Dash a packet of sneezing powder disguised as an invitation to attend Wonderbolts Academy. Rainbow Dash responded by somehow managing to get Midday covered in fish-paste and letting cats into the library. And so it went. A few ponies wondered about taking sides, only for their friends to point out that Rainbow Dash was hardly the most sensible pony to prank. So they left it at that.

*****

And then came day four. Where Rainbow Dash managed to acquire a paint-ball cannon. Although she didn't use it until Midday cautiously stepped foot outside. There was a strange noise, and Midday looked up to see a rapidly approaching (and alarmingly large) ball headed towards her, with no time to react.

There was a large splash noise, followed by Rainbow Dash cackling from on high, interrupted only by a sneezing fit.
A few minutes later, and a quick exchange of bits with a certain bright pink salespony, Midday had a paint-ball cannon of her own, and for the next several hours paint barrages flew through the skies of Ponyville. It had stopped being a prank war and just descended into out-right madness.

~~~~~

... I think I might have gotten a bit caught up in all of it. The original aim of what we were doing had been forgotten, and it was just outright revenge that fueled our actions now. At least we weren't hurting anypony. Just making everything look like it had been attacked by a mad art student. As for how it ended... well... you know how Equestrian foreign policy revolves around benign intervention?

Day five, and Rainbow Dash and Midday had managed to disable each other's paintball cannons with well-aimed shots. The two mares glared at each other. Rainbow Dash rushed Midday, a primal scream on her lips. Midday braced herself, ready to unleash whatever magic she had to. Then, there was a mighty shout, and both Rainbow Dash and Midday found their ears being grasped by somepony's magic.

"NO! YOUR FIGHT IS OVER! FINISHED!" It was Rarity, and she looked furious. The two mares found themselves being dragged through the streets of Ponyville by the fashion designer like misbehaving foals (Which was more inaccurate than unfair), all the way to Rarity's store. She dragged the two paint-splattered mares to a room upstairs, which was surprisingly empty save for two tin tubs.

"Now then" Rarity said, her voice utterly calm, "You two shall wash all that paint off of yourselves, then you will apologise to one another and act LIKE GROWN MARES!" they flinched as her voice got increasingly higher.
"But..." Rainbow Dash said weakly, "It's not my bath-day." Rarity fixed a glare on Rainbow Dash that would have made a full-grown dragon feel nervous.

"Wash." Rarity spat.
"But..." Rainbow Dash repeated. Midday on the other hand had already grabbed a sponge and was scrubbing herself furiously.

~~~~~

I do actually wonder if this era's Rainbow Dash lacks survival instinct of some kind. Also, 'bath-day'? She doesn't wash regularly? Seriously? Does she have a list of 'tomcolt cliches' she has to get through each day?
Anyhow, that's how it ended. Not pranks nor ingenuity, we lay defeated by that which we were unprepared to face, by the humblest thing the Creator placed upon this world. Rarity and her fondness for colour-coordination.
(No, really, she explained that it was the paintballing that set her off. Apparently earth tones don't go with bright orange and blue.)
And since I'm supposed to have learnt something about friendship, despite being over eighteen, I have learnt that while you are allowed to get upset over a remark, you shouldn't go completely overboard in your reaction.
She who is sitting in a tin can, Midday Eclipse.

"I thought I was never gonna get all that pink out" sighed Rainbow Dash, looking at the restored sky-blue of her coat, and the multicoloured hue of her tail, which she was stroking in a somewhat alarming fashion.
"I dunno, it kinda suited you" Midday laughed, especially at the irritated look on Rainbow Dash's face.

"Say that again" the pegasus hissed. Midday was about to say something when she realised something. Whatever was getting rid of the paint had gotten rid of the hair dye used on Rainbow Dash, which meant... She lifted a hoof.
Sure enough, she could see the lilac beginning to almost melt away, faint tones of royal blue beginning to shine through.

'Darn', she said to herself. She'd started to like being lilac a bit. Now she was blue again, and there was nothing she could do, or felt like doing either, once she gave it some consideration.
"I didn't know you used hair dye" Rarity said, casually, staring at the mare's hoof.

"Why did you hide your natural colours? Was it to avoid being mistaken with your sister?"
Midday took a second to realise Rarity was talking about her other-dimensional doppleganger from the other week. She started thinking about that other universe, and just as quickly supressed those feelings.

"Sort of" she said. "But not really."
"Kinda suits you" Rainbow Dash smirked, apparently trying to taunt her.

"Alright Rainbow, there's only one way we can truly settle this once and for all."
"There is?" Rainbow Dash said.

"Yeah. We're gonna need Pinkie's help, though. And a massive table."
Rarity and Spike sighed.

"Not again"

Author's Note

There is a line in here said by Rarity that was basically the whole impetus for writing this entire thing.
Also: fridge logic demands I not have Midday sign off with 'yours' in her letter.

Event Planning

"I cannot believe you did that!" Twilight Sparkle sighed. Behind her the royal blue unicorn calling herself Midday Eclipse simply smiled.
"Believe all you want, it still happened." She said, calmly, shifting slightly on the chair she was sitting on, trying not to wince as she did. Twilight simply shook her head.

"And besides, I wasn't the only pony involved." She said, trying not to hear the horrific noises coming from the bathroom.
"But it was your idea!" Twilight sighed. Midday simply nodded.

"It was either that or me and Rainbow Dash fighting for real. Which one would you rather have?"
Twilight gave this some thought.

"I'd rather have peace and quiet. Even five minutes would do." She sighed.

*****

Three hours ago
The massive spread sat before them, set on the massive table on top of the medium-sized stage. Foodstuffs of various types lay there, the strong scents making the nose tingle and the mouth water.

"Can I talk anypony out of this foolishness?" The mayor sighed. Exactly why they'd chosen her to officiate the contest, Midday wasn't sure, but probably it was because she was the sanest pony they could find on such short notice. And of course once they'd involved Pinkie, she'd directed them to somepony more capable of cooking the precise foodstuffs they required, since she claimed as a pastry chef she was legally obliged to only cook pastries (and pastry accessories, she had added), and of course once she learnt about the contest she'd joined in, and from there Trixie had found out and barged her way into the whole thing, even offering the use of a stage, then deciding to make an event of the whole thing. And of course word of mouth had spread throughout the town, leading to the medium-sized small crowd watching them, a few ponies glowering at the mayor for trying to intervene.

"No!" Four ponies said at once. They were there for an eating contest, and they were gonna have an eating contest. And since Rainbow Dash had suggested making it 'interesting' they had chosen spicy foods, foods designed to drive ponies mad with thirst. Hence, Pinkie had produced a large pitcher of water for emergency breaks.
"Last chance." The mayor sighed.

"No? Okay then. On your marks, get s-"
"WAIT!" Midday recognised the voice. It was Scootaloo, who made an almost impressive leap towards the stage. Almost on account of the fact that she didn't make it, but her desperate clamber made up for it.

"I'm taking part as well!" She said. Four mares exchanged glances.
"You sure about this, squirt?" Rainbow Dash said, nervously. Scootaloo nodded vigorously.

"Alright then" Rainbow Dash said. A small seat was provided for the filly, and she hopped onto it.
"Giv'em trouble, Scootaloo!" said a small voice from the back of the crowd.

"Knock 'em dead!" Said another, which sounded amazingly like Applebloom.
"Alright, if there are no more inter-"

"Hold up" Trixie said. She calmly removed her cape and hat and vanished them, smiling slightly.
"Just in case anypony (Rainbow Dash) does a technicolour yawn" she smirked.

"Oh, I'm not gonna be the one throwing up" Rainbow Dash said.
"Bet you will."

"Can we eat now?" Pinkie sighed, "I feel like I've been sitting here for days!"
"It's only been ten minutes." Midday said, despite knowing full well the futility of logic in the face of Pinkie Pie.

"Right." Mayor Mare said, "On your marks"
Teeth grinded.

"Get set"
Stomachs were braced.

"CHOW!"
There was a flurry of horrific eating and chewing noises. There were appalled gasps from the crowd as pile after pile of curry and peppered foodstuffs and huge piles of chilli-powdered servings disappeared into the cavernous maws of the five ponies. One pony passed out from watching Rainbow Dash eating.

Amazingly, Pinkie was the first to go, although that may have been down to her truly heroic intake of curried soup (measuring several gallons worth). Midday was the next to bow out, a scant two minutes after Pinkie due to over-peppered rice. This left Trixie, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo.
Shockingly, Rainbow Dash went next, due to a dire need to use the toilet.

Midday honestly wasn't sure who won next, but from the sound of it, it might well have been Scootaloo of all ponies.
And so the Rainbow Dash-Midday Eclipse war ended, with no clear victor. Twilight Sparkle's reaction was one of utter horror and distaste, especially once she realised she was using the same toiletries as two of the competitors.

*****

Midday sighed. True, she wouldn't have minded winning the eating contest, but if she had, Rainbow Dash would probably have called for a rematch, and that wouldn't have done. She winced as her stomach groaned once more. Perhaps a highly destructive fight would have been safer. For everypony.

*****

The next morning, Midday was woken from her slumber by an alarming reminder. The reminder being that it was slightly under a week until Twilight's birthday. And she hadn't bought anything. That quickly shook her from her rest.
She quickly rushed downstairs, passing Twilight on the way.

"Going out." She said, hurriedly.
"Okay" Twilight said, going through her textbooks on teleportation.

She stood outside in the somewhat bracing winter air. She felt slightly unfair about what she was planning on doing, and also unsure about whether it was even safe for her to travel that far, mainly because she was still hesitant to be more than a few steps away from a toilet. And of course going where she was planning on going would potentially require meeting... her,

*****

It was somewhat strange, walking past the trees of Sweet Apple Acres, all bereft of their leaves. However, for what Midday was doing, it would at least make her intended target easier to find. She found herself remembering what her mother had told her of the founding of Ponyville, of how a family travelling across Equestria had been given a perfectly servicable amount of unspoiled hectares just sitting on the doorstep to Canterlot by Princess Celestia. From there they set up a farm, devoted to all the varied fruits of Malus Domestica, and how a few basic amenities had been set up, and from there temporary living space, then full-time living space, and then shops, and a hospital and stores and business and eventually a town hall, and eventually the gathered ponies stood and stared in wonder at the town they had created, and named it Ponyville.

When she'd first heard the tale, she'd wondered out loud whether the names Tim or Townsville had been taken. As it turned out, they had.
She also latered wondered why the Apple family, which was the size of a small army, needed hired help at all. To that she had reminded herself it was hardly the first time her mother had fudged the truth when telling her stories. She was still a bit bitter that her mother hadn't been telling the truth about the Crystal Empire.

She was snapped out of her reverie by a polite cough. She looked to see Big McIntosh staring at her. She smiled.
"Hello Mr. McIntosh" She said, in a tone that would have made lawyers slightly nervous.

"How are you this morning?" she said. The stallion looked about. Knowing him he was probably hoping somepony would show up to deal with the conversation instead.
Nopony showed up.

"Fine" he said, quickly and quietly. He was remarkably like Fluttershy in that regard. For a moment Midday wondered what would happen if the timid pegasus and Big Mcintosh were stuck in a room together.
'Something would probably break' she decided. 'Possibly somepony's brain.'

Now came the hard part.
"Mr. McIntosh, it has come to my attention that you are in possession of an item that is the property of one T. Sparkle." She saw the fear on his face, and also the tiniest spark of sadness. The farmer made no response.

"Would you please hand it over so that it may be returned to its original owner?"
He made no response, simply staring ahead. Midday had to admit she felt like she was kicking a puppy in asking him to give up the doll. This required desperate measures.

"That doll was a gift from her sister in-law when she was a filly." She could swear he looked like he was about to cry. Then he spoke.
"'kay"

He led Midday to a small hollowed out tree. He leaned in and produced the small, beaten-up doll.
"Here y' go" She took the small doll.

"Sorry" she said. She gave the farmpony a slight nod and quickly walked away before she gave Smarty Pants back. She looked down at the doll. One of the button eyes was hanging lose and she smelt incredibly apple-y.
"Better get Rarity to fi-..." She paused.

"Oh, right. Rarity's gone to Canterlot." She sighed. That meant she'd have to go visit somepony else instead.

*****

She knocked on the door to Fluttershy's house, carefully glancing around for bears or demonic lagomorphs. Seeing there were none she relaxed. She could hear a rhythmic clicking noise.
"Just a moment." Somepony from inside said. The clicking noise gradually stopped, and for a time nothing happened. Then the door opened, revealing Fluttershy... who was wearing tiny glasses.

"Oh, hello" she said. Midday smiled.
"Fluttershy, good. I have need of your skills." At this the pegasus looked confused.

"Skills? What sk-" Midday floated Smarty Pants in front of her.
"Don't suppose you could give her eye a fix?" She wasn't sure but it almost looked like Fluttershy was... she was! She was smirking. Fluttershy, of all ponies.

"I don't know. Couldn't you ask Rarity? She'd be much more qualified than me for something like this." Midday stared straight at her.
"Didn't you help design the Mare Do Well costume?" she asked. Fluttershy coughed.

"I did lend some assistance, but I only do it every now and then, I'm nowhere near as consistently good at that sort of thing as Rarity." She smiled a polite little smile. Midday's only response was to raise an eyebrow.
"It's just one little button eye, Fluttershy. I'm not asking you to design a wedding dress or something." Fluttershy looked at the doll for several seconds.

"Alright" she said, gently taking the doll in her mouth.
"Thanks." Midday said. Fluttershy walked inside, but didn't close the door.

"Aren't you coming in?" She said, through a mouth full of doll.
"Oh, alright." Midday smiled nervously. As she walked in she could have sworn she saw Angel and several mice moving a typewriter, a well-used and old-looking typewriter. As she watched the small animals disappear into a cupboard she pondered the question of where Fluttershy was getting her money. Either she was rich, or she had a secondary form of income, since she didn't appear to have a job and she was unlikely to be getting payment for looking after animals. She also couldn't help but notice a solitary Daring Do book sitting on a coffee table, which looks startlingly clean.

"Would you like something to drink while you wait?"
"No, no. No thanks." Midday said, her ruminatings on Fluttershy's income forgotten.

After a ten minute wait, Fluttershy returned with the doll.
"Here she is, good as new." She smiled.

"Where was she anyway, i-if you don't mind my asking?"
"We all have our secrets, Fluttershy. Best to let this one remain secret." She smirked, and winked. Fluttershy didn't seem to pick up on it. She took the doll.

"Thanks."

*****

She made sure Twilight wasn't watching when she returned to the library, quickly hiding Smarty Pants, before heading out again to Barnyard Bargains. Regret knawed away at her for doing what she'd done to McIntosh, so she perused the store for a replacement Smarty Pants. She found none. She sighed in defeat. And then she remembered Ponyville had no bookstores where a mare could look for birthday presents for anypony. Which meant perhaps a surreptitious trip to Canterlot before the week was out.

As she walked through the town back to the library, she found Pinkie bouncing around the streets.
"Hi Midday, how are you?" the mare squeaked.

"Oh, fine. Just looking around the stores for peculiarities." Pinkie nodded.
"Find anything fun?" she smiled.

"No luck yet. How's your day been?"
Pinkie looked around.

"Well, it's been all quiet becaue first Lyra went to Canterlot for a performance, and she took Bon-Bon with her, because those two are almost attached at the hip, then Ditzy Doo went for a private reason, and now Rarity! Everypony's going to Canterlot which means there won't be as many ponies at Twilight Sparkle's birthday party and that just won't do! What sort of birthday party doesn't have everypony's friend at it?!" Pinkie looked pained. Midday gently patted the party planner on the shoulder.

"I'm sure everything will work out for the best" She said. Pinkie stared straigh at her.
"Really?"

"Yes?" She said, nervously. Pinkie cheered. Then she stopped and frowned.
"Oh no" She said, her voice almost quiet.

"What is it?"
Pinkie smiled at her, though there was something wrong.

"There is a pony crying somewhere." She said, before rushing off into the distance. Midday quickly decided to make herself scarce before Pinkie Pie returned. She wondered if Rarity was having fun in the city of snobs and snarkers.

*****

"I thought it looked a little 'country'"

*****

Knowing Rarity, she probably was.
Midday returned to the library, having nothing better to do, and found Twilight going over a list. She was muttering something to herself, and occasionaly sighing.

"Something the matter?" Midday asked. Twilight looked up, and looked conflicted.
"I'm fine." She said, the transparency of her statement obvious.

"But?" Midday said. Twilight looked at her.
"Birthday parties are supposed to be spent with family, right?" Midday shrugged.

"I'm the wrong pony to ask about birthdays." Bitter memories danced at the edge of her mind.
"Most of mine were terrible." She added, flatly. Twilight looked sympathetic.

"That's awful." The purple mare said, before returning to her list.
She was not at all surprised at the fact that Twilight Sparkle, twenty-three years younger than she was used to, still had all the emotional understanding of a brick wall.

"Of course, I would like to see my brother again, although I don't know if he has any time off right now. Although..." She returned to her checklist, scrabbling away.
Midday wondered if she should've provided some assistance to Twilight's growing checklist, then decided better of it. She had a trip to Canterlot to plan.

"SPIKE!" Twilight yelled, "I'm going to need more parchment! And some graph paper!"

The Birthday Party Everypony Should Have

Two blissful and strangely quiet days passed, with nothing out of the ordinary happening whatsoever, save for Pinkie occasionaly making odd remarks about 'montages' for some reason. Unfortunately on the day before Twilight's birthday she decided to have her party in Canterlot, having even made complicated graphs detailing exactly how having a party with one's best friends was better than having a party with most of one's best friends.

Upon hearing the news, Midday quickly borrowed an overnight bag, making sure to gently place the recovered and restored Smarty Pants inside. As she and Twilight were leaving she noticed something.
"Spike, aren't you coming with us?" She saw the look on Twilight's face, the mare looked almost confused.

"But who'd look after the library?" Twilight asked. Midday's horn flashed, and a small sign saying 'sorry, we're closed' appeared.
"Oh yeah." Twilight said, sheepishly. Midday just rolled her eyes. She turned to Spike.

"You coming or not?" The little dragon quickly rushed past her, making an impressive leap onto Twilight's back. Midday closed the library door and locked it, placing the sign on the door and smiled.
"Alright. Let's go" she said.

The walk up to the train station was quiet. They found Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy all expectantly waiting on the platform.
"It's about time" Rainbow Dash declared.

"Twilight, are you exciting that we're going to Canterlot to visit Rarity and have your party there? I'm excited because I've never had to throw a party in Canterlot and it'll be all different and I couldn't decide what to bring so I just brought my party cannon!" Pinkie smiled, revealing said mobile decorating implement.
"And this bag of jelly babies." She said, lifting a small paper bag containing little bits of gelatine shaped like foals. For some reason, Fluttershy looked alarmed by them.

"How come she's coming along?" Rainbow Dash asked on seeing Midday.
"I simply have my own things to do in Canterlot, completely seperate things which do not involve you or your partying."

"I thought you said you were coming anyway?" Twilight asked, confused.
"I am. I just have have other things to do before that" she smiled. The six mares, and Spike, slowly walked towards the train doors when they heard something. They turned to see a rapidly approaching blue/purple shape. It was Trixie.

"Wait!" She said, as she skidded to a halt.
"I'm coming with you!" she said, once she caught her breath.

"You are?" Twilight asked, Trixie nodded.
"You didn't think Trixie would sit out a birthday party in Canterlot did you?"

"I was kinda hoping she would." Rainbow Dash muttered.
"I suppose you can join us, Trixie." Twilight said, hesitantly.

*****

Midday kept close to Twilight and Spike. The little dragon looked amazingly cheerful, not doubt because of excitement at seeing Rarity again after only a few days apart, while Twilight looked... uncertain. Nopony seemed to have noticed, all engaged in their own matters. This sounded familiar to Midday.
'The difference being nopony's going to stab her in the back this time' she found herself thinking.

She overheard Applejack talking with Fluttershy.
"-wuz thinking of buying Big McIntosh something. He's been in a funny mood since yesterday, and I can't figure out what's causing it."

Pinkie Pie was humming an annoyingly catchy tune which was apparently about being popular, Rainbow Dash was taking a brief nap and Trixie appeared to be shuffling cards.
"What are you up to, Trixie?" Twilight asked. The carriage went silent.

"I was just thinking of practicing my craft in Canterlot, is all." Trixie said.
"You're gonna perform magic tricks at a birthday party?" Rainbow Dash smirked.

"Pretty sure Twilight isn't sixteen" she added. Trixie ignored her.
"And if Trixie can impress the snobs of Canterlot, she can impress anypony."

"Snob?" Midday tried to look offended.
"I'm pretty sure Twilight, Spike and I aren't snobs." She said. Trixie did look a bit embarrased.

"Well, what Trixie meant to say was that... I..." Midday just chortled.
"You meant all the other snobs?"

"Yes. NO!" Trixie buried her face in her hoofs.
"Just throw me into a dungeon." She muttered.

"What? Throw the granddaughter of the Magnificent Lulamoon into a dungeon like a common goon? No chance."
"Wait, wait, wait!" Twilight said. Everypony stared at her.

"You're the granddaughter of THAT Lulamoon? The greatest illusionist in modern history?" Trixie looked up at her.
"Yes. Where did you think I got this cape from?"

"I thought you just made it out of whatever you could find" Rainbow Dash muttered, earning her a sharp jab in the ribs from Applejack.
"Also: Your name is Lulamoon?" Rainbow Dash said, a truly nasty grin on her face.

"Say another syllable and you'll spend the rest of your life with pig-tails!" Trixie hissed. Rainbow Dash said nothing, just grinning.

*****

The train slowly pulled into the station, and the seven mares disembarked.
"You know, I've never been to Canterlot before." Trixie whispered.

"Oh, there's so much to see. The library, the museum, the royal library" Twilight beamed. Any further elaboration was cut off when Trixie held up a hoof.
"I wasn't asking for a guided tour." Though there was the tiniest hint of a smile on her face.

"So, we're staying at the castle, right?" Midday said.
"Of course" Twilight said. Pinkie cheered at that.

The seven of them (and Spike) walked up to the castle, and all the while Pinkie was humming the same annoying tune.
"Pinkie?" Applejack said.

"Yuh-huh?"
"Please, please, please stop hummin' that tune."

Pinkie pretended to zip her mouth shut.
"So, what's the plan?" Rainbow Dash asked. Twilight smiled, revealing a checklist.

"Shouldn't have asked that, should I?" the sky blue pegasus sighed.
"Step one: go to Canterlot (done), Step two: ask Celestia if we can stay in castle, Step three: Greet Rarity, Step four: Set up birthday party, Step five: have birthday party." She rolled the checklist back up. Midday raised an eyebrow.
"Succinct" said she.

*****

Step two went easily enough. Upon being shown to the guest quarters, Midday slipped away from the rest of the group, down into the city. Finding the nearest bank proved simple, but from there she had to find a children's toy store. That took a few minutes longer. Eventually she found one, a massive toy store with a sign on the front declaring it 'Toy Palace'. She had honestly been expecting cute backwards letters, or something along those lines. Regardless, she stepped into the strange and alien world, all the while trying not to remember the numerous books her mother had given her as presents for every birthday.

Searching the whole store took quite some time, especially since it was all unexplored territory for her, with the cheerful colours everywhere and strange plastic construction bricks and actions figures and whatever that yellow/black shape-changing toy was. Suddenly books every year didn't seem so bad.

"'First Best'?" she said, eyeing the name of the thing. Whoever came up with that obviously never paid attention in school.
Eventually she found the location of what she was looking for. The exact description for the aisle it was contained was eyesearing. Rainbow Dash would've taken one look at it and felt the need to belch or break wind just to feel less feminine.
It was pink. It was really, really, really pink. It went right all the way to Pink. The floors were pink, the shelving was pink, even the light fittings were... no, actually they weren't pink, just a dull off-white, mercifully. But Midday did briefly wonder if the pink was actually the Smooze's slightly campier cousin, laying in wait for little fillies looking for dolls
.
She also wondered if it had actually managed to get into her brain. She looked at the dolls, declaring on their cutesy boxes:
'Smarty Pants! Comes with Quill and Notepad!'

She looked around. There were several other dolls of similar nature, none of which came with a quill or notepad, although one had a racing helmet, another a familiar looking cannon. She felt incredibly uneasy about that.
Then she looked at the price.

"Fourteen champs? What in Discord's teeth..." She brought the small purse she had in her saddlebags. She'd been expecting it to be roughly ten champs, something sensible and rational.
She still purchased her insanely expensive soft toy, silently fuming to herself all the while.

"Fourteen champs."
Almost silently.

"Total rip-off."

*****

After her visit to the insane toy store, she then visited a bookstore. She was looking for the most boring, uninteresting, dry book on Equestrian history she could find.
That meant finding the one with a minimal amount of postulates on lesbian shennanigans in the ranks of the Pegasi armies.

After ten minutes of careful scrutiny she found one that seemed to suit her purposes.
For reasons she didn't really understand, she stopped by a clothes shop on the way back to the castle to buy a hat. And glasses.

It took ten minutes to reach the castle, five minutes at a jog to reach her room, three minutes to wrap up the book with paper 'borrowed' from Rarity's store, then place it in Twilight's room next to her saddlebags and then seven minutes to find where they were throwing Twilight's party. Or rather, half a minute to remember where it was, six and a half minutes following the occasional crashing noise and sound of party-cannons being fired.

*****

"I... have to go do the... thing... with the stuff... you know?"

*****

She braced herself. This was Twilight's birthday party. It meant behaving and being polite and restrained. She took a deep breath, and focused her magic, preparing to open the doors.
"BEHOLD, THE ETERNAL GLORY OF MIDDAY ECLIPSE!"

She looked at the surprised faces of the seven mares (and Spike). Well, Rarity didn't look so much surprised as thankful.
"Sorry" she said, "Was I interrupting anything important?"

"What in the name of sanity have you got on your head?" Rarity asked, pointed a hoof at the trilby sitting on her head.
"It's a hat" she said, trying to sound haughty.

"Well that won't do." Rarity said, advancing towards her menacingly.
"Wait!" Twilight declared, "Were you at that other party in the garden?"

Rarity looked nervous.
"Looks like we have ourselves a schedule conflict" Midday laughed.

"Yes, that's it! Scheduling conflict!" Rarity said quickly. "After all, I didn't know you would be arriving in Canterlot and throwing your party here so I might have been prepared to go to a completely seperate party. That makes sense, right?"
"Rarity..." Twilight said. Suddenly everyone in the room took a deep breath, save Trixie, who was just smirking.

"I'm surprised at you."
"Twilight, let me explain, I-"

"I hadn't realised you were such a sage businesspony." There was the distinctive sound of a drinking glass smashing on the floor.
"(Buck)."

"All those ponies look so posh!"
"That's because they are posh, Twilight." Miday said.

"I bet you could totally get some of them to buy your dresses." Twilight continued, ignoring Midday.
"Very smart."

Rarity looked taken aback. Midday just tried not to laugh at Twilight's near-endless capacity for forgiveness.
"I didn't want you to think I was being rude. That's why I didn't tell you." Rarity said.

Now it was Twilight's turn to look confused.
"Well you didn't have to do that. You should totally go over there and mingle."

"I though Rainbow Dash was the one who said 'totally'" Trixie remarked.
"Do not."

"Do so."
"So totally don't" Rainbow Dash said, in an oddly triumphant tone.

"Twilight, you really are the best friend a pony could ask for." Rarity said. She looked like she was about to burst into tears . She embraced Twilight. "I don't know why I ever thought you wouldn't understand."
"Understand what?"

Rarity quickly leaned back out, smiling broadly.
"Nothing." She turned to leave.

"See you girls later."
And then Rainbow Dash did the unthinkable.

"Hey" She called out to Rarity, "Wait up! We're your friends! I'm sure they won't mind if we check out the party too!" That sounded reasonable and well thought out. Had Rainbow Dash been replaced by a changeling? No, no Changeling would ever say 'check out'. Or what Rainbow Dash said next. An alarming look passed across her face.
"C'mon you guys! Let's show them how to party! Ponyville style!"

The strangest bit was that Fluttershy sounded excited about the suggestion. Midday watched as the six mares rushed through to the garden, leaving an utterly horrified Rarity standing there. She walked over to the fashionista.
"Sorry, Rarity."

"Aren't you going to join in?" Rarity said, her voice filled with terror.
"One step at a time." Midday sighed. She walked through into the garden, walking past the posh ponies paralysed with shock at the sight of antics ensuing, straight to the table with drinks, whereupon she absorbed several martinis. She glanced around to see Pinkie Pie demolishing a cake, Fluttershy being swarmed by birds and Rainbow Dash attempting to assassinate ponies with a croquet mallet. Then she saw it.

Twilight was trying to dance and not doing it at all well. But there was the look of utter joy on her face as she danced. Midday restrained the urge to explode with laughter at all the rich ponies slowly backing away from Twilight's random kicking and swaying. She briefly considered joining in, and looked down at the empty martini glass in her magic's hold. She was going to need more drink.

"Am I actually seeing this?" Said a familiar voice. She turned to see Lyra and Bon-Bon staring with alarm in the direction of Twilight.
"Oh, you most certainly are." She said, suppressing a giggle.

"What is she doing here? And also, what is she doing?" Bon-Bon asked, though she sounded like she wasn't actually listening.
"Well, it's her birthday party and she'll dance if she wants to" Midday said. Lyra stared at it.

"I only came to visit Tavi" she said, waving a hoof in what she apparently assumed was the direction of the orchestra. "And now I... I... I don't even know what I'm seeing."
"Well, you cannot blame Twilight for being unable to dance. She's the student of Princess Celestia, she did not have time to study grace and poise." Bon-Bon stared at Midday, and the glass she was still holding.

"Had a bit to drink already?" She said, her eyes slowly drawn back to Twilight.
"Only a slight amount" Unfortunately it only took a slight amount to get her to start using Recieved Pronounciation, and from there to start calling ponies things such as 'dear' or 'darling' with the 'r' turned into an extended 'h'. She looked at the glass and set it down, before shuffling away from it.

"And what's with that dress?" Bon-Bon asked.
"I know."

"Rarity made that dress." Midday said.
"Looks like she should've stopped halfway." Bon-Bon remarked. Midday paused. On the one hoof, she should probably have defended the honour of her mother and her sister in-law-a-bit, on the other hand... on the other hoof she was of the opinion that yellow didn't work for Twilight. And it did looked half-finished anyway. Then she turned to look at the two mares, and smiled.

"If you two will excuse me, I feel a sudden need to dance."
Several years before, her mother had made a serious effort at teaching her daughter to be more 'ladylike' for reasons Midday had never been able to determine. This had included the occasional dancing lesson, though the young filly had insisted loudly and at length that learning to dance was 'dumb'. She had changed her mind later on though. She tried not to think of Wisp, and instead focused on how not to dance. It was actually a bit harder than she'd assumed.

As she began not-dancing she noticed her hat was missing. Rarity had probably managed to acquire it back in the hall. That was thirty champs she wouldn't see soon. But the nerd-glasses remained.
As she was dancing, making sure to remain close to Twilight at all times, while at the same time out of the reach of her swaying hooves, she noticed a well-dressed pony wandering over to Twilight, a curious look on his face. She recognised him from somewhere, but she couldn't tell where.

"Excuse me" He said, in an impeccably polite tone, "Might I ask where you got your ensemble?"
Holy hay, it was Fancypants himself! Fancypants. The Fancypants! In the fur!

"Why yes, yes you may." Twilight responded. Midday could see Rarity over by the drinks table looking very alarmed.
"A very, very close friend of mine from Ponyville made it for me."

Midday heard the distinctive noise of a spit-take. Fancypants seemed impressed.
"Ponyville? You don't say?" Twilight smiled at this. Party-goes seemed to be quite interested in this conversation. Doubtless due to the presence of Fancypants.

"I do say" the mare responded. Midday could see Rarity begin to move towards the conversation.
"Fancypants! Come with me! I'd like to show you this-" She stalled. Midday raised an eyebrow. What had Rarity been up to?

"This thing, that's over there. On the other side of the room." Midday winced at the poor excuse.
"In a moment, my dear. This lovely filly from Ponyville."

"Canterlot" Midday stated.
"Oh, thank you. This lovely filly from Canterlot was just about to tell me who made her charming dress." Rarity looked like she was about to explode, and shower everypony in bits of her giant hat. How had she not noticed the giant hat yet? Did she think rich ponies wore giant hats? Midday was certainly rich, and the only time she'd worn a crown or tiara was on that nightmare night. Suspicious of her suddenly seeming obsession with the hat, Midday began wondering what had been in those drinks.

"That dress? Oh, come now, who cares, it's just a plain old-"
"Oh, don't be so modest" The surprisingly slow-on-the-uptake Twilight said. Midday considered that one. Considering this was a mare who's idea of making a point about untrustworthy brides was to storm a wedding rehersal and raise Tartarus, she wasn't sure why she was so surprised at this at all. Probably the drink.

"This dress you made is beautiful." There was a small symphony of gasps, and the odd percussion of shattering glasses.
"We all think so" Twilight said. Midday suddenly noticed the girls (and Spike) standing next to her.

"Don't drag me into this" she muttered, earning her a sharp nudge from Applejack. Had there not been a crowd, she'd have nudged back. Fancypants turned to Rarity.
"You know these ponies?"

The crowd muttered.
"She knows the personal student of Princess Celestia herself, yes." Midday said, "And she knows Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in all of Equestria, and the former superstar model Fluttershy, and the heir to the Magnificent Lulamoon, the Great and Powerful Trixie." The muttering changed in tone. Midday could feel more than a few eyes on her.

"Yes." Rarity said. "I do know them. They may not be as sophisticated as some of you Canterlot ponies."
"Certainly not." Midday said, beaming, and quite happy to ignore the fact that she was one of those 'Canterlot ponies'.

"But they are my best friends."
"OUI!" Everypony stared at Trixie. She blushed, and smiled nervously.

"And they are without a doubt the most important ponies I know."
A stallion laughed at this. He had tiny spectacles probably to make him look smarter and was wearing a sweater tied around his neck. In other words, like he had his head stuck up somepony else's behind.

"Important ponies? These ruffians?" He seemed to say the word like it was a euphemism for something far worse. The mare standing next to him laughed.
"Don't make us laugh."

They laughed.
"I for one find them charmingly rustic." Fancypants said. The crowd gasped again.
"And I think the dress you made for your friend is lovely" Clearly even Fancypants could make mistakes. A bitter blow to what remained of Midday's optimism, even boosted by several units of alcohol.

"I dare say every mare in Canterlot will be wanting one."
She watched as the two snobby ponies leaned in to Rarity. Fancypants turned to the fashionista.

"Now how about introducing me to your friends?"
"With pleasure!" Rarity smiled.

*****

An even bigger coup came a short few minutes later when the sun went down, and who should have arrived but..
"Princess Celestia!" Twilight said, rushing over to her.

"Hello Twilight" She said, before adding "Happy birthday."
The unicorn smiled at her. "I'm glad you made it."

"Wouldn't have missed it for the world." The princess smiled, and Twilight's smile actually managed to grow. Midday watched as the two hugged, and turned back to look at the party. Fluttershy had disappeared, quite possibly because of being outed as that Fluttershy, which Midday noted she would have to make up for at some point, Applejack was chatting with somepony who looked almost exactly like her next-door neighbour Carrot Top (or was it Golden Harvest, Midday wondered), Trixie was performing to a small crowd, her sentences now peppered with the occasional bit of prench, Pinkie Pie was handing out those weird jelly filly things to ponies, and Rainbow Dash was surrounded by a small crowd signing autographs.

She smiled. This was a good sort of party. Then she saw Twilight, looking slightly glum. She wandered over to her.
"What's the matter?" she asked.

"Oh, it's not anything, really." Twilight said, trying to look cheerful. Midday stared at her.
"You're thinking about something. You've got that face you have when you're thinking."

"I do?"
"Indeed. And would I be correct in assuming you are wondering as to the absence of your parents?" She looked as Twilight's face drooped.

"Ah. The absence of any family at all, save Spike of course." Twilight nodded. Midday looked about.
"You could always go see them." Twilight looked up at her.

"But..."
"I don't think anypony in the world would begrudge you going to see your parents on your birthday. Not even Princess Celestia." She paused. "Correction: Especially not Princess Celestia." She looked about. The solar diarch was currently eating her way through a rather large slice of cake as if it were the most common thing in the world. A few partygoers were staring in abject horror.

"I guess so." Twilight said.
"Of course, you don't have to go right now." Midday said. "You've only been here..." She looked about for a watch.

"Twenty minutes." Twilight said. The two mares sat there. And suddenly Midday found herself saying something foolish.
"Twilight, you were going to leave Spike in Ponyville, weren't you?" Twilight stared at her.

"He can take care of himself." She said. Midday felt unbidden anger rising in her.
"No, I mean you were going to leave him, in Ponyville, while you came here and danced and ate cake on your birthday." Twilight blinked.

"You were going to leave the baby dragon you hatched and helped raise in Ponyville, with no means of directly contacting you, while you came here and partied with your friends." She couldn't help herself. The look on Twilight's face indicated she hadn't really thought about it.

"In your little dress, eating cake and helping Rarity gain acclaim." Twilight blinked. She looked like she was about to cry.
"Sorry. Shouldn't have said that." Midday whispered, before slouching away.

She found Rarity and Spike chatting, near the cakes and Princess Celestia, who she could occasionaly see was glancing at her, no doubt having noticed Twilight's sudden emotional distress.
"-solutely wonderful, this city has re-enervated me! And I feel so inspired. Best of all, I haven't heard a peep out of Embrace in days. I could just stay here for another week." She sighed a sigh of contentment, not noticing the concerned look on Spike's face.

"Y-you could?" he yelped.
"Oh, yes. But then I'd miss my friends. If only the trains were quicker."

"Don't look at me" Celestia said from behind her, "I don't organise the train schedules."
That made Rarity and Spike laugh a bit.

"Hey" Midday said, feeling distinctly sober now, and wretched. The sheer awfulness of what she'd just done could only have been greater if she'd somehow made Fluttershy cry.
"Oh, hello." Rarity said.

"Hi" said Spike. She smiled, though she didn't feel cheerful.
"How's everypony doing?"

"I'm enjoying myself" Spike said, calmly taking a sip of what looked amazingly like orange juice.
"That's nice." She said. She looked about the party.

"I was about to go, I've got places to be. Spike, could you tell Twilight there's a present waiting for her in her room in the castle at some point? She might already know, but I don't think she's going to be sleeping there tonight and she might miss it."
"Okay." The small dragon said.

"Oh, where is she?" Rarity said, "She seems to have vanished."
"I'm sure she's just gone to the lavatory or something" Midday said in a barely half-hearted tone.

"Hey, everypony!" Said a beaming blue unicorn mage, "Guess what? Some ponies said they'd like to hire Lulamoon for parties? C'est bien, non?"
Rarity looked at the smiling, and slightly drunk, unicorn.

"Yes, that is great. It seems everything seems to have gone right for everypony tonight."
"Hi!" Said Pinkie, "Anypony want a jelly baby? I gave one to that grumpy unicorn in the velvet coat but he was 'bleargh' and stuffy and didn't like it"

"I'll have one, Pinkie Pie." Said Celestia, "If just to see if they still taste the same as I remember"
She took one, and chewed it.
"Still the same." She said calmly.

Rainbow Dash flew over.
"What a night. I've had to sign more autographs than I ever thought possible. Everypony here seems to love me" The pegasus laughed.

"That's good news" came the voice of Fluttershy from underneath the table.
"Fluttershy, have you been hiding from everypony?"

There was a long pause.
"Well, yes. They might have asked me for autographs again."

"I must say, that was a bit insensitive of you Midday." Rarity said, turning to where Midday was standing, only to find...
"Huh. She was here a second ago." Rainbow Dash said.

*****

Twilight walked through the streets, apparently not focusing on anything. Her path eventually brought her to a small, modest looking house, utterly unremarkable looking, or at least by Canterlot standards, at any rate. Its design did nothing to betray the identity of those who dwelt inside. She knocked on the door. After a few moments the door opened.
"Twilie?" She looked up at the smiling white and blue stallion standing in the doorway. In an instant most of her sadness disappeared.

"B.B.B.F.F!" She said, lunging at him in a warm embrace.
"Mom, dad! Twilight's here."

*****

Midday carefully walked through the castle, recounting where her room was and where Twilight's was. She opened the door to Twilight's room, and found the small present and the box with the sealed envelope on it. She lifted them, and activated the small invisibility spell.

*****

"Are you sure you don't want something to eat, dear?" Night Light asked.
"Yes, I'm sure." Twilight said. Her father made an effort at looking slighted.

"Sorry for trying to feed my daughter." He said. There were a few giggles.
"So, how have you been, sweetie?" Twilight Velvet asked.

"I'm fine, Spike and I are fine, we've just had an odd few weeks lately."
"Even more odd than that Pinkie Pie you keep telling us about?"

"Or getting a visitation from Princess Luna?" Shining Armor smiled.
"You did?" Night Light asked, startled. Shining Armor just nodded.

"Yeah. She snuck out of the city on Nightmare Night, Princess Celestia was really unhelpful about that, even when Big Lug threatened to arrest half the city because he thought somepony had foalnapped her."
"Big Lug, he's the giant purple and green one, right?" Twilight Velvet said.

"Yeah. Kicks like a... very solid thing" Shining Armor said upon seeing the warning glower of his parents. "But loyal, and he does what he's told. He's just a bit too enthusiastic about serving the Princesses sometimes."
"What's she like?" Twilight Velvet asked, "Princess Luna, that is."

"Well, she still hasn't gotten the hang of modern Equestria, kinda loud, but she's really nice once you get to know her."
"How come you haven't gotten to know her yet?" Night Light asked his son, who looked nervous.

"Well, she's got her own guard, so I don't meet her that much."
"Nice save."

"Thanks, dad."

*****

Midday calmly walked through the town, feeling slightly satisfied about having discarded the glasses. It still wasn't totally dark, in fact it was barely even late afternoon, it was just because it was winter. And the giant mountain right next to the city really didn't help. She cursed the rapid alteration twenty-three years had on the design of the city. Most of the usual buildings that could identify the way to the family home weren't there. However, she did recognise the streets, so that helped somewhat. She eventually found the house, set the presents down on the doorstep, knocked and quickly galloped around a corner.

"Hello?" She recognised that voice. Grandma Velvet. She activated her usual invisibility spell, watching as the mare looked down at the presents, made a small noise and lifted the presents indoors.

*****

"Twilight honey, you have presents." The four unicorns exchanged confused looks.
"That's odd. Nopony I know knows that I'm here. Unless..." She took the presents, and looked at the envelope. She opened it. Her expression shifted immediately. She gently placed the letter on a small table, and unwrapped the presents. The first one, that one that to everypony looked like an inexpertly wrapped-up book, turned out to be a book.

"The History of Pre-Warming Equestria." It proclaimed.
Twilight Sparkle's mouth ever so slightly curved. Shining Armor examined the note.

"'Dear Twilight, happy birthday
And surprise.
I figured you might enjoy this book, or at least find it useful for that project you're always working on.
And I figured you were probably missing your old friend, though she might smell a bit 'apple-y'.
All the best, Midday'"

He set the note down and sniffed at the second present. It did smell rather like apples.

Twilight set the book down and opened the second present, revealing...
"Smarty Pants!" She cried. She held the battered doll close.

"I'm never letting you go again" she said. Her parents and brother shared confused looks.
Twilight then proceeded to confuse them more by rushing to the front door and opening it, looking out into the darknening street. Nopony was there.

Despite this, Twilight still smiled.
"Apology accepted" she said, embracing her doll again, as if afraid to let it go.

*****

"Where'd you go? And where'd Twilight go?" Asked Pinkie, upon noticing the return of a certain royal blue mare to the party. Midday raised a hoof.
"Don't worry about Twilight, she's fine. Just getting reacquainted with an old friend."

"Quel?"
"Remember Smarty Pants?" The group went silent. They certainly remembered Smarty Pants. Trixie just stared in confusion.

"Ah remember finding Big McIntosh with it when he was takin' a nap." Applejack said. Then something occured to her. "So that's why he was moping yesterday. Ain't right, a grown stallion having a girl's doll."
"What if he bought it legally?" Midday smirked. Applejack gave this some thought.

"That'd be different, but still weird. Though it was kinda sweet seein' him cuddling it. Ah pity any kid he'd have."
"That's assuming he ever gets a marefriend." The farmpony trailed off into mutterings.

"Should we go see Twilight?" Fluttershy said, having emerged from the table some time ago, after some coaxing from Rainbow Dash, and perhaps some luring involving a slice of cake.
"No." Celestia said, "Let Twilight have some privacy on her birthday."

She gave this some thought. "At least for now, at any rate."
And that was that. Nopony dared argue against Celestia's word. So they decided to party for Twilight Sparkle, eventually resulting in more than a few of the Canterlot elite learning some strange new songs under the advanced tuition of Pinkie Pie. And Twilight's friends returned to their rooms feeling almost completely satisfied with the day's events. Spike kindly asked to share a room with Rarity, and the little dragon's wish was granted.

Midday however did not return to her room. She slipped out past the locked doors into the night. She had somepony she wanted to talk to.

*****

Luna sighed, carefully sipping the coffee she'd made. Made, she said to herself. She was quite proud of that. A whole year since she'd been de-nightmared and she knew how to make coffee, a feat worthy of song and legend. She looked around her observatory, all the careful notes and charts and the occasional book on modern grammar left by the well-meaning Cadance. She sat in the small throne of cushions she'd made for herself and relaxed. Then she felt something. A strange tingling in the back of her mind. In an instant she was on her hooves again.

"Who is there?" She said.
"Show yourself!" There was a flittering noise.

"Okay, okay. Calm down, your highness." She looked for the source of the voice, which belonged to a royal blue unicorn with a dark blue mane accented with two orange stripes sitting on the steps leading to her largest telescope.
"Hello, Luna." Midday Eclipse smiled.

Author's Note

Whether Smarty Pants is kinda magical is currently an unknown.
Although, she doesn't have hands... so how is she doing her homework?!
(Sorry if Trixie's french isn't acurate. Not a fluent speaker of french.)

Luna/Eclipse

Old Canterlot, long ago
"Sister, you don't have to do this. Surely we can talk."

"WE ARE DONE TALKING!" The dark alicorn screamed, her voice shattered the castle windows and sent guards flying. Then she lunged, dragging the diarch of the sun through the throne and the wall behind her. The two wrestled in mid-air, Celestia eventually managing to shove whatever her younger sister had become away from her.

"Is this because of what befell the Crystal Empire? We said we did not blame you for that, sister." There was an animal-like snarl from above her. Celestia looked up to see Lu- Nightmare Moon, hovering above her, smiling and incidentally revealing sharp fangs.
"And we do not blame thou for that, either" the dark mare whispered. A blast of cold ice hit Celestia. It stung, it burnt even. She quickly flapped her wings, in a vain attempt to dispell the pain. And then Nightmare Moon rammed into her again. The two smashed through the ceiling of the castle, right into the main chamber. Celestia quickly pulled herself to her hooves, only to find whatever Luna had become smiling still, her eyes changed and slitted like those of a cat.

"Perhaps, dear sister, if you were to... surrender, we would be more willing to see past your prior actions." The hideous mockery of her sister said. Celestia looked at the creature, straight in the eyes. She could see a tear.
"Forgive me" She whispered, before taking flight and racing through the castle, the twisted entity following after her, screaming at her. For all the raw power this 'Nightmare Moon' wielded, she was sorely lacking in control. Perhaps there was something she could do. Her path led her to the Eye of Harmony, as so many ponies kept calling it. An overly dramatic name, since it was what lay inside that mattered. On the pedastal sat the six Elements of Harmony themselves. Most ponies claimed they could feel the raw power radiating from them, which was just blatant lies. She landed in front of the elements, and tried to focus, tried to think of how it had been fighting Discord so long ago, how that had felt. There was a dramatic crash as whatever had taken Luna smashed through the door. It still had her sense of dramatics. That thought gave some small measure of solace to Celestia. There was something of her sister in there. As Nightmare Moon approached her, Celestia became aware that there was a low hum building in pitch.

"What are you doing?" It hissed. The hum grew. The gemstones began to float, and glow with an unearthly power.
"What are you doing?" It demanded. The Elements began to float around Celestia.

"No."
She stared down this creature, this shade in Luna-form.
"Forgive me, Luna."

"NO!" The light poured forth from the Elements, heading towards her.
"I HATE YOU!" It screamed as the light spread across her, binding her and then growing with intensity
.
"I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! IHATEYOUIHATEYOU!" There was a flash as bright as the sun's light, and then the dull thump of stone on stone. Celestia opened her eyes to find... nothing. No Luna, no creature in her skin, no scorch marks, no bits of feather or fur or hair, no trace of her sister. She looked at the Elements, utterly dead. She wasn't sure what to do now. She nudged one, it wobbled slightly and did nothing. The magic was gone. And so was her sister.

*****

Luna jerked away from her sleep, falling off the sofa she'd been sleeping on.
"Hellfire." She muttered darkly. It had all been a dream. And a highly inaccurate dream at that. She certainly didn't recall all that screaming about hate, or the fight itself being that short, from what little she could remember of it.

She looked around the small observatory. It wasn't even evening yet. Slowly she got to her feet. She shook herself, hoping to try and feel more like she was awake. She stood straight, letting the lazy evening light wash over her.
She sagged.

"Need caffeine" she muttered. She looked over at the small kitchenette. She opened the many, many cupboards, finding only a small and completely empty bag that once contained coffee beans. She sighed.
"Why is the coffee always gone?" She started yawning, and sloped towards the front door.

"Oh, yes. That would be why" she said, trying not to walk into anything.
It took her several precious minutes to work her way up to being half-way awake, as she walked across the small bridge to the palace she noted the sun going down. Coffee would have to wait, it seemed. Work came first.

*****

"So, Luna, what are you going to get up to this evening?"
"The same as I do every evening, sister. Why?"

"I was hoping you might attend Twilight Sparkle's birthday party, actually."
Luna stared at her sister.

"Is she not in Ponyville?"
"No, she decided to have her party here in Canterlot."

Luna froze.
"I have other things to do." She said instantly. She resisted the urge to slam her one of her hooves into her face. Clearly the absence of coffee was beginning to dull her mind.

Celestia's expression shifted to one of the faintest disappointment.
"Really? This isn't because of Pinkie Pie, is it?"

"Certainly not." She said, all too quickly. The corner of her sister's mouth curled slightly.
"If I banished her and threw her into a dungeon, would you try and show up at Twilight's party then?" Celestia smirked.

Luna pretended to contemplate this.
"I have heard good things of Shetland lately," she mused.

Celestia shook her head.
"And besides, me, at a birthday party?" Luna said. Celestia raised an eyebrow.

"Don't eyebrow me, sister."
"I was just impressed at how you're coming along. A few weeks ago you were still yelling every other sentence and sounded like a first year Griffon exchange student."

"Well, Cadance has been quite the help in that regard."
Her sister's grin began to grow.

"Although I hear you are having trouble with 'fun'" she said. It was Luna's turn to raise an eyebrow.
"I know how this goes" she said, looking about the corridor, which was completely empty of ponies, save the two princesses.

"I'll say something to the effect of it being falsehood on my part, at which point our niece shall appear and declare 'Ah-ha! We knew it, you were decieving us!' At which point we'll have to hide from her wrath, which will no doubt involve frilly dresses of some kind."
Celestia stared at her younger sister.

"You really think Cadance would do that?"
"YES!"

Luna coughed.
"Sorry. I just woke up and haven't been able to acquire any coffee yet."

"I think there's some in one of the kitchens."
"Thank you."

*****

There was. Which led to one poor kitchen scullion walking in on Luna singing an ode to coffee, which would have only been a bit embarrassing if Luna could've sung in something other than the Traditional Canterlot Voice. After a few muttered apologies she returned to her observatory, keeping her lyrical musings on the wonders of caffeine to herself. Then on the way there she tragically and mysteriously ran out of coffee. So she stopped at a nearby (and conveniently placed) coffee vendor, purchasing several gallons worth. The salespony sitting at the cash register briefly considered asking if such a large intake of caffeine was safe until visions of being banished and thrown into a dungeon came to mind, and decided to just smile and nod.

Of course since as an alicorn Luna was less susceptible to scalding hot water than the average pony, that caffeine vanished quickly. So she simply decided to just restock on some from the local store, thus confusing the Canterlot press when the Princess of the Night was seen purchasing coffee like an everyday pony. An everyday pony who spoke loud enough to make shelves fall over and was significantly taller than the national average, but an everyday pony nonetheless.

*****

After several agonising minutes, Luna's coffee was finally prepared. She looked around the cramped quarters she tended to reside in, hoping to see a useful mug. There was none.
She then uttered a colourful metaphor, and began the Mug Quest.

Half an hour later, and the quest ended as she found one lurking at the back of one of the many cupboards. Thus began the serving of Her Royal Highness's coffee, which took all of a few seconds.
Luna sighed and carefully sipped the coffee she had made. Made, she said to herself. She was quiet proud of that. A whole year since she'd been de-nightmared and she knew how to make coffee, a feat worthy of song and legend. She looked around the observatory, all the careful notes and charts and the occasional book on grammar left by the well-meaning Cadance. She sat in the small throne of cushions she'd made for herself and relaxed.

Then she felt something. A strange tingling in the back of her mind.
"Who's there?" She said.

"Show yourself!" There was a flittering noise.
"Okay, okay. Calm down, your highness." She looked for the source of the voice, which belonged to a royal blue unicorn with a dark blue mane accented with two orange stripes sitting on the steps leading to her largest telescope.

"Hello, Luna."
She paused for a moment.

"Who are you?" The royal blue mare frowned.
"I'm fairly certain you know, considering you've been rummaging around inside my dreams lately. But, if you need a reminder in your caffeine-addled state, I am Midday Eclipse."

Luna frowned. She did recognise the name, now that the caffeine had restored her mind to optimum functioning capacity.
"What is your real name?" she asked. The mare smiled at that.

"Twilight Twinkle."
Luna did not react.

"You are the one who claimed to be the time-lost daughter of Twilight Sparkle?" she asked calmly. The mare nodded.
"That's me."

Luna took another sip.
"Intriguing."

The mare's expression didn't change.
"You don't believe me."

"It is quite the improbable thing. How could I deny it? How would I go about disproving it?"
The mare smiled.

"You're right. I'd need some evidence, something only somepony from the future would know, or something nopony of this time knows."
She put a chin to her hoof, and hummed.

"Something like, say, the fate of the Defiler."
Luna stared at her for a few seconds.

"By which, of course, I mean Sombra." She then span around three times and did a strange jig.
"Sorry" she said sheepishly, "Apparently that helps keep him at bay, and since I don't want to risk his making an appearance..."

"He was defeated." Luna said, slowly. "Rest assured, I happened to be there when it happened."
"No, you kicked the everloving crap out of him and dropped a huge chunk of ice on him. Not the same as defeating the Despised."

She leaned in and looked at Luna.
"You know, when I was a kid I found testimony from a witness of that battle. Quite amazing, considering" her expression suddenly shifted to that of nervousness. The mare began staring at her hooves, "I always wanted to ask you about that."

"Pardon?"
"I just always though it was cool, you charging Sombra's Witch-King Parliment head-on, while Celestia fought the Shadowed One. Although I don't think a Princess should have know the words you apparently uttered."

Luna's eyes went wide. She did recall, through the haze of other memories that day making some choice utterances that her sister, had she known Luna had known of them, would have asked some serious questions about how she'd learnt of them. Those memories were quickly discarded, however.
"The Crystal Empire survived?" She said, unmistakable glee in her voice. Her wings flapped, sending several notes flying about the room.

"What happened with that anyhow? How come you two didn't notice what Sombra" she span and jigged, "Was up to?"
Luna looked embarrassed. Midday's eyes went wide, as she seemed to deduce what Luna was not saying.
"Oh" she said quietly. "That... yeah, that would probably explain your anger. And a couple other things" Midday said. Luna stared ahead into the distance. When she spoke, her voice was quiet, and distant.

"I didn't think it was true. It didn't sound true, and 'Tia believed me. And I kept thinking I destroyed them. One of them managed to escape his grasp and reach us and We did not believe him because it sounded so untrue. And 'Tia agreed with me." There was a slight sob. The small unicorn gently put a blanket around Luna.
"And then the depths of Sombra's crimes came to light, and I could only curse myself, and raged in my shame."

"And I'm guessing that destroyed your self-esteem."
"Yes."

"And probably helped fuel your guilt and anger, making you go all... Nightmare-y."
"Yes."

"I know a bit of what that feels like" the mare said. Luna's eyes narrowed.
"Do you? Do you really know what it is like? What being Nightmare Moon was like? Wanting to kill our only sister out of misplaced guilt?" she hissed. The mare just stared at her.

"Yes. You've been in here." She said, tapping the side of her head. She looked at Luna for a second, and then a puzzled expression overcame her face. "Haven't you seen what I did?"
"No." Now it was Luna's turn to look confused.

"Then I'll give you a sneak preview." She closed her eyes, and her horn glowed, and she seemed to grow, and shrink at the same time. Her legs became taller, and thin. Her horn became longer,and sharper, her ears more pronounced and her tail looked almost like a fillament, her coat darkened, the orange stripes in her mane turned bronze. Her eyelids opened, revealing cat-like eyes that glowed a wicked dark orange.
"Behold. Nightmare Eclipse" she declared, her voice sounded older and lower and somewhat huskier. She was about the same size as Luna now, at least in height.

"No wings though, as you may have noticed" she added. Luna's jaw dropped.
"How... how did..." The mare's horn glowed, and instantly the illusion vanished.

"History doesn't repeat, but it has been known to rhyme. My anger was focused solely on one pony, rather than many." She sighed.
"It is not something I would like to speak about."

"My sister told me of what you told her, you did not mention this." Luna whispered, still horrified.
"No. I didn't" the mare said quietly.

"You lied to her." Luna said, now firmly back in the there-and-now, and feeling incensed. Then the mare looked hesitant.
"I omitted."

"A lie of omission is still a lie."
"She didn't need to know."

There was a pause.
"It didn't last anywhere near as long with me as it did with you. I was only halfway done when..."

"When what?"
"I was fueled by grief and guilt, and some madness, rather than envy born of isolation. Mostly because it was all my fault to begin with. And I almost accomplished what I'd been trying to do. The shock managed to break me out of it. And the massive blast of concentrated love. That helped." Midday said, her voice leaden.

"There might also have been a bit of envys" she whispered.
"Of whom?" The mare looked straigh at Luna.

"I am from the future, Luna. And I know of what your sister has buried in a safe in another safe in a bunker inside another bunker guarded by giant sword wielding golems." Luna was startled, though another part of her noted that the mare hadn't actually answered her question at all.
"I see." she said, trying to sound calm. Then Midday looked alarmed.

"Gosh, I didn't think I was right. I was just being flippant."
Luna frowned. She connected the dots from the mare's constantly shifting dialogue.

"You are just a unicorn?"
"Yeah. And you think that means your sister's brilliant plan to give unlimited power to a mare who still hasn't learnt to control her inner monologue won't work." She made a derisive 'tut' noise.

"Trust me, it worked."
The two sat there for a moment, a nearby clock slowly ticking.

"So, your envy and guilt..."
"Yeah, same as you. I got a front-row seat to watch my entire being get used to kill somepony I cared about. Using my voice, my magic, my thoughts to try and kill my family."

"Yes. That was how it was for me." Luna's voice was quiet. "I tried, I tried to fight it and I couldn't. It used me to hurt and to kill and destroy." Tears were beginning to form in her eyes.
"I tried! I tried so hard! And I wasn't strong enough! Wasn't good enough! I should have been able to stop myself. I should!"

The mare moved over to her, and tried to embrace Luna, no easy feat considering the difference in size.
"And 'Tia forgave me in a heartbeat and I don't deserve it. I don't."

Tears began to fall from Luna's eyes.
"And I spent a thousand years not asleep or awake or feeling, just the blink of an eye and everything I knew had changed and what few friends I had were gone, and all I could do was find out how they had died." She sobbed.

"And I keep telling myself that 'Tia would not have fallen. She would have been strong and fought back and won where I could not." Midday bit her lip.
"And the only ponies I talk to on any regular basis are my sister, my niece, and Twilight Sparkle, and with her only through correspondence."

"I thought I saw some letters bearing your seal lying around the library. She's asking about Equestria back then, isn't she?"
Luna nodded. "Yes."

"And that's making you feel worse. Or at the very least not helping with the memories."
"Yes."

"I'm sorry" Midday said.
"Why exactly are we telling you this anyway?" Luna said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"I've just got that sort of face. Ponies never stop blurting things out to me."
"Star-Swirl used to say things like that."

"Bet he did."
The two mares sat there in the quiet, and dark. After a few seconds, Luna found herself smiling faintly.

"I do actually feel a bit better for telling somepony this. And, if you are right, that the Crystal Empire will return, that is something."
"Don't you ever do anything to cheer yourself up?" Midday asked.

"Well, sometimes I drink coffee. Move the stars around. Go for flights in the countryside. Pretend my grasp of modern Equestrian isn't as good as one might assume to bothe-" She paused and glanced about the room for anything that looked remotely like it could hide a bright pink alicorn.
"No, we shan't finish that sentence. Just in case."

"Do you sing?" Luna looked at Midday, who was now giving her an inquisitive look again.
"I... could sing. If I so desired" she shuffled slightly.

"But?" the mare asked. Luna coughed.
"I have not yet got the hang of singing in more... modern ways."

"You still sing in the TCV?" Midday smiled.
"Perhaps."

"Let's hear it then."
Luna shuffled. She was not used to anypony asking her to do anything, especially not with any enthusiasm, and definitely not the enthusiasm the mare in front of her was showing.

"Really?"
"Yeah, go on. What's Celestia gonna do, banish you and throw you into a dungeon in the place she's banished you to?"

Luna suddenly frowned. "Where in the world did that phrase come from? We have heard the castle staff speak of it often over the last few months, but where did it come from?"
"Fluttershy, I think. Or Twilight. And from there it probably spread via word-of-mouth like wildfire. Sounds like something Ms Overthinker would come up with."

"Yes, I have heard of her inclination towards overreaction." The unicorn jabbed her with a hoof.
"Hey! Stop distracting me by changing the subject and sing."

"Very well then. As you modern ponies say, 'you asked for it'."
She began to hum, and soon began to speak lyrics.

"Louder." Midday smiled, taking a step back.
She got louder.

"Louder!" She did, the dishes began to rattle.
"LOUDER!" She got louder. The whole room shook.

"BETTER!" Midday said. Unfortunately Luna misheard that and started singing louder still. After a few moments Midday joined in.

*****

"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" Shining Armor yelled, falling out of his bed, before rushing half-dressed out into the street, a barely conscious Twilight Sparkle soon following behind.

*****

Six ponies and one dragon spilled out into the hallway of Canterlot Castle, all looking confused (and in some cases, alarmed).
"What's going on?"

"What'n the wide world of apples?!"
"Is Canterlot under attack?"

"Is it the end of the world? Couldn't it come back later?"
"Sacre bleu, que c'est?!"

"Is it an earthquake? Or demons? Or earthquake demons?"
"No. Listen, girls" Rarity said, holding up a hoof, "That's... somepony singing!"

"What?! You call that 'singing'?"
"I admit it's a lot louder than I'd prefer, but yes. Certainly someone singing."

"Kids these days" Applejack muttered.

*****

After what felt like a few seconds, Luna stopped singing. As she did, she saw Midday staring at her, smiling broadly.
"There?" Midday said, utterly grateful to whoever it was that had made that sound-proofing charm. "Doesn't that feel better?"

"Yes. Although I believe I might need to get somepony to fix the door." Midday turned to look at the apparently stil-intact door and frowned.
"Looks fine to m-" Suddenly the door shattered inwards, and a large purple and green shape walked through what remained, a bleary-eyed Shining Armor following behind, with Twilight Sparkle behind him. The green and purple shape, which was in fact a large-build pegasus, came to a halt in front of Princess Luna and saluted.

"APOLOGIES, OH GRAND AND GLORIOUS LUNA, BUT WE ASSUMED YOU WERE IN DISTRESS!"
"Indoor voice, Big Lug. Please" Shining Armor said, in the manner of the long-suffering.

"Sorry" The guard rumbled.
"Why don't you go stand guard outside?" Shining Armor suggested. With a nod, the guard turned and lumbered back out of the doorway, as Shining Armor turned to look at Princess Luna.

"Your Highness" the guard captain bowed, "What exactly just happened?"
"I was singing" she said, with an amazingly straight face. Twilight Sparkle looked impressed.

"Was that singing in Old Equestrian?" she asked in awe.
"Yes, yes it was. Though it isn't usually that loud, I assure you."

"It sounded like somepony being knifed to death." The guard captain muttered, before suddenly realising he'd said that out loud.
"Well, singing was different back then." Twilight said, defensively, before he could say anything.

"You sang loud, proud, often, and with generous helpings of mead." Midday added. Luna place a hoof on the mare's shoulder and shook her head.
"Nay, child. Not helpings, nor your modern 'units'. We drank by the barrel."

"And here I was wondering why Celestia was considered the goody four-shoes" the royal blue unicorn smirked.
"You have stopped now, right?" Shining Armor asked, not insignificant amounts of hope in his voice. He'd been dreaming about a small house in the countryside with Cadance, and several foals, and felt quite sure he was never going to see that dream again.

"For now" Luna said.
"Well then" Shining Armor sighed, dreading how he was going to write up the report in the morning, "That's that then." At which point he turned and headed back to his bed, and dreams of marital bliss and no paperwork ever again.

Twilight spared a second to glance at Midday and Luna, before walking out of the door herself. Midday suddenly found herself feeling very weary.
"Well, this was... not how I was expecting today to go. And I should probably go get some rest. It's Spike's birthday next week, and if today," she looked at a clock, "Yesterday was any indication, it's gonna be hectic."

"Of course."
She turned back to Luna. "You still don't believe I'm her daughter?"

"We... might have changed our opinion. We were just wondering as to your alias." Midday suddenly felt cold, which in no way was helped by the draught caused by the shattered door.
"You are aware of the etymology of the word 'eclipse', I take it?" Luna said, a look of concern on her face.

"Painfully." She said, quietly. "Good night, Princess Luna."
"Good night, Twilight Twinkle" Luna said, gently.
At this, the mare's face suddenly turned a different shade of purple. Then she quickly ran out into the night, leaving the lunar diarch alone with her thoughts.

Author's Note

Yeah, Witch-King Parliment. You read that right. (Another reason for writing this whole thing was to get that on paper)

Flashback the Fourth: Chaos

Twilight Twinkle, aged fifteen (physically aged nineteen)
Growing up, Twilight Twinkle had heard all manner of stories, especially of all the fiends her mother had faced. Rampaging gods fueled by misplaced jealousy, disembodied evil overlords from ages gone by, emotion-eating shapeshifting armies, swarms of annoying clones, Twilight Sparkle had faced them all and survived and told tales about them all. And she had only told her daughter the tale of Discord once. Nightmare Moon had been defeated by harmony, the Changeling Queen and her army by Shining Armor and Cadance's love, Sombra by Spike falling off a building, but Discord... Discord wasn't in the same league. He wasn't a unicorn gone mad with greed, a princess who felt ignored, or a half-starved army of bugs. He just was. Everything about him looked wrong, his very actions, his ability to defy all normal laws.

And then Fluttershy had managed to instill some form of good in him, and everypony had just assumed that was that.
"Discord, what are you doing?!" Twilight Sparkle demanded. The deity looked at Twilight, and frowned. He pulled out a pair of glasses, and stared intensely at her.

"You look different" He said. He 'hmmd' and 'hahhed' and finally leaned back and snapped his fingers.
"Of course, a new hairstyle!" He said triumphantly.

"Nice wings, by the way" He added, casually.
"You didn't answer my question" Twilight said. Next to her, Twilight Twinkle was planning to make a break for it the first chance she got.

"Well, I got a bit bored of wandering around, so I thought I'd come back here, see the old gang, shake things up"
"You said you wouldn't use your magic for evil anymore!" The mismatched entity stared at Twilight. He put his arm behind his back and then returned it, only now it had a blue puppet wearing a crude purple felt hat and cape. He started speaking in a nowhere near accurate impersonation of Trixie.

"Well, kiddies, Discord is what Twixie calls a 'chaos entity', which means of course he is wandom, and unpwedictabwe." He said, slowly and carefully.
"Goodness, Trixie, you are so clever!" He said to the puppet, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Not as clever as you, oh glorious artist of chaos!"
He turned to look at Twilight, who was not smiling.

"Oh, why must you be so gloomy, gloomy, gloomy all the time? Why can't you be like Fluttershy. Only without the branches and roots and leaves."
Twilight Sparkle gasped in horror. "You turned Fluttershy into a tree?!"

"She said wanted to be a tree!" He said, defensively. "I just... helped her."
And at that Twinkle ran, ran as fast as she could. Strangely she didn't seem to be moving. She looked down and saw why. She was suddenly on a treadmill.

"And what's this?" Discord said, sliding into view in front of her. She tried not to look at him. She felt his claw examining her hair. Then she heard him gasp.
"Goodness me, Twilight Sparkle... you didn't." He laughed.

"You've been busy!" He sighed and threw his arms into the air.
"I turn my head for all of five minutes and you go making more ponies and sprouting wings everywhere. And you say I'm the crazy one?"

Twinkle finally noticed that right next to the treadmill was solid ground. She leapt and hit the ground running. She quickly reached the library and slammed the door shut. Then she realised she'd left her mother outside. Then there was a knock on the door. Unfortunately with the chaos gods appearing out of nowhere Twilight Twinkle's brain was not working at full pelt, so she turned and opened the door. Discord was standing there wearing a cheap-looking suit and carrying a clip-board, and next to him was... Discord, also standing there wearing a cheap-looking suit and carrying a clipboard.

"Hello," the first Discord said calmly, "We're doing a survey, and we wondered if you would be willing to ask a few questions. Are you currently satisfied with your current long-range chaos provider?"
She stared at the mind-breaking sight.

"Would you be interested in switching to Discordia for a month?"
There are some basic instincts that all beings, big and small have built in. The desire to survive, knowing that something glowing green probably isn't healthy, intense distrust of lawyers, was one of them and so it was that Twilight Twinkle, by complete reflex, slammed the door, and then bolted it shut for good measure. Then she crumpled to the floor.

She wasn't sure what to do. She was facing a being of unlimited power and unknowable intent and she had no idea what to do. She'd studied to face your standard, every-day monster like trolls, cockatrices, changelings, or really big green things with teeth, not a being that could turn your mind to rice pudding.
For a few moments she sat there, and then realised her mother would probably be in the middle of everything trying to find a solution, and that was probably the safest place to be. And besides, she had a whole slew of magic she could use against anything Discord creatred. What was the absolute worst he could really do?

She unbolted the door and opened it, and felt vaguely satisfied that Discord wasn't there anymore. She rushed out into the street, and then heard screaming. She stood there. Knowing Discord, it was almost certainly a trap, or something mind-breakingly bizarre, but if somepony was in trouble, then she had to help. She had to.
She set off towards the source of the screaming. She found something that proved without a shadow of a doubt that her mind had clearly already snapped.

A giant tree was apparently trying to eat the McIntoshes, but that wasn't the strange part. Giant walking, pony-eating trees seemed perfectly rational in the face of the Great and Powerful Trixie being turned into a sock puppet. It was the fact that this tree was made, from leaf to root, out of custard.
She wondered if she had any anti-dessert spells, before she decided some of her repertoire could probably repurposed. She leapt into the fray.

*****

It was a long, sticky, unpleasant fight, but eventually the custard tree was slain.
"Oh, thank you" Mrs McIntosh smiled, before she looked about.

"By the way, what's going on?" she asked, as she removed some custard from Lil' McIntosh.
"Discord" Twinkle stated.

"What should we do?" the older mare asked.
"I..." Twinkle paused for a second, "Help anypony you can and... try and find somewhere safe?" The obvious quibble with that last part remained unchallenged, so the farmponies nodded and quickly hurried away. Twinkle sighed, and tried to wipe a bit of congealed custard off her fur.

Randomly striking out wasn't going to find her mother. She had to think like her. Or think like her thinking like Discord. Or, alternatively she could try to find her father. She briefly wondered if he'd even noticed everything that was going on.

*****

"Stand still you stupid microscope!"
Apparently he hadn't, nor was he even concerned that the lab microscopes had grown crab legs and kept moving about. All he seemed to be doing was trying to swat it with a notepad. She quickly zapped it, and her father quickly seized the initiative to put rubber bands over the legs.

"Gotcha!" He yelled. Then he looked up.
"Hi, Twinkie" he said calmly, waving a hoof at her. Without thinking, she waved a hoof back.

She considered the various possible ways to go from there, including screaming, panicing, yelling or just being polite yet firm.
"You do realise this is Discord's doing, right?" she said slowly, checking in case his fur colour was muted in any way. It wasn't.

"I had assumed that. I was planning on waiting for your mother and her friends to do something amazing that would fix everything." He smiled nervously. She stared in shock.
"What? I'm a scientist, what am I gonna do, throw my notebooks at him? Make him recite pi to four thousand places?" Despite everything, despite the sheer insanity of everything that was happening, she laughed at that.

"Now come on, let's go find her" he declared, his voice serious and calm. She'd never seen him like this. But then, she thought, they barely ever talked anymore. She'd been so focused on patching things up with mother, and all that nonsense about aging herself and learning magic.
"Aren't I supposed to be the one dragging you into this mess?" she asked. He stopped and turned to look at her.

"I said I'd be there for you and your mother, and I meant it. Even if it means just standing and silently lending emotional support, even if there's nothing I can do to help, I'll still try." He smiled, and she could see something in his eyes. Their eyes were so alike, everypony said, only hers were a slightly darker shade of orange. And she could swear she saw... sadness? No, not sadness. Resignation.
"And I'll protect you. I know you aren't a foal anymore, physically or mentally, but you will always be my little girl. And I'll always be here for you." He said, pointing at her heart.

"Dad, where's this coming fr-" There was a mighty explosion, the roof above them was torn to shreds and the two unicorns were flung backwards. From outside there was the sound of distant yelling.
"I think the Royal Guard's here" Twinkle muttered.

*****

Rainbow Dash and Sonic Boom glowered at Discord.
"Ah, the redoubtable Rainbow Dash, how are you?"

"Drop dead!" The pegasus yelled. Discord took a step back.
"My my, such anger. It's not like I killed your turtle. Or tortoise." He suddenly drew a strange brick-like object out of nowhere and pressed a small button on its side.

"Note to self: Need more turtle soup."
"You touch him and you're deader than deader than dead!" Rainbow Dash roared.

"Oh, fine. Rabbit soup. Or chicken soup." He said, winking at Sonic Boom. The bright orange pegasus growled and rushed at him, only to suddenly stop, and then turn into a chicken, still wearing the mare's signature flight helmet. Discord made a small disappointed noise.
"I don't think I got the feet right. What do you think?"

Rainbow Dash quickly rushed in and kicked him in the face. He simply stared at her.
"Yes, that isn't going to work" He sighed.

"Where's Fluttershy, what'd you do to her?" Rainbow Dash spat. Pegasus and Draconequus stared each other down.
"Well, Fluttershy..." He tapped his chin, "Fluttershy is..." After a few seconds, he groaned in frustration.

"Darn. I already used up all my good tree puns." He lifted up the strange brick device again.
"Note to self: Replace script-writer at earliest convenience."

A blast of magic hit him in the side. He looked at the scorch mark. His eyes narrowed, and then he turned to look at the source of the blast, which happened to be Twilight Twinkle.
"YOU HURT ME!" He said, his words like cannon-fire. Rainbow Dash dropped to the ground, holding her ears. The chaos god turned in the direction the blast had come from.

"YOU INSIGNIFICANT SPECK!" He grabbed Twilight Twinkle and glowered at her, as she tried to prise his claws open, to no avail.
"Well, of course. The daughter of Princess Twilight Sparkle, child of Velvet, child of Twinkle, Princess everlasting." A cruel grin spread across his face.

"But you don't have a kingdom, and you aren't a princess, which makes you... well, nobody really, does it?"
The royal blue unicorn fixed him with a Glare. It was quite difficult, since just looking at him (or it) felt wrong.

"Go ahead and kill me then, if I mean so little!" she hissed.
Discord's eyes went wide in surprise and horror.

"Kill you? Kill you?" He placed his free paw (or possible a sudden third arm he didn't usually have, she couldn't tell from her vantage point) over his heart (or where his heart probably would have been, if he actually had one) as if suffering palpitations.
"Oh, I can't kill you, even if I wanted to" He said, his voice suddenly amazingly quiet, as he brought Twinkle closer to his face.

"But then, I don't kill ponies. What fun would that be?" He looked down, and somehow, Twinkle could tell he was looking at her father. There was the sound of a pony being grabbed.
"And look at that. I can injure two ponies with one stone. I can hurt you, and get revenge on Twilight Sparkle." Twinkle started trying to flex her way free.

"You leave him alone! Don't you hurt him!" she yelled.
Discord looked at her.

"Oh, please."
He flexed his paw, and her father... exploded. Or shattered. He just disintegrated into a million shards and blew away with the wind, with a sound like chimes.

Twinkle felt herself drop, vaguely, though it seemed to take minutes. As she hit the ground, there were distant, muted sounds of something happening, somepony saying something, brief bursts of sound. She saw some tiny glimmer of light settle gently upon the ground, and rushed over towards it. It felt like she was trying to move through a crowd constantly bumping into her. She saw the little shimmering fragments blink out and evaporate. She dug at the ground, as if somehow digging enough might reveal her father. After what felt like an eternity she felt a set of hooves around her, trying to drag her back. She strained and kicked and struggled, hoping to make the fight as difficult as possible for whoever was doing it. She felt, just barely, her hooves leaving the ground, the sensation of being in the air. She spat and raged and called whoever was lifting her hideous things. She watched as the town shrank into the distance, some still barely functioning part of her mind informing her she was moving in the direction of Canterlot. She continued calling the pony names until she was gently placed upon a small patch of grass. She was certain several ponies were restraining her, and then...
the world went white. And then dark.

*****

She awoke to the sound of medical equipment slowly working away. There was the muffled sound of birdsong.
"She's awake! Look, her eyes are moving!" that sounded like Rarity. She opened her eyes to see her mother's friends standing there, relief visible on their faces. For a split second, she actually wondered what they were all doing in the same room.

"You had us worried there for a while." Rainbow Dash smiled. Apparently nopony had told the pegasus she didn't have to wear her uniform to visit her friend's daughter.
"What... happened?" she slurred. She saw Fluttershy, who looked exactly like a pegasus, and not a tree.

"Well, you passed out, and then a lot of things happened, mostly weird stuff like giant kittens knocking over everything in Ponyville, but eventually we nailed Discord" Rainbow Dash said, accenting that last bit with a little hoof-pump.
Twilight Twinkle smiled, a genuine happy smile.

"That's great. Everything's back to normal?"
"Yuh-huh, we even threw a special everything's-back-to-normal party just to celebrate!" Pinkie Pie said, before ducking out of sight, and reappearing with a slice of cake. "Here you go!"

"That's great" Twinkle said, gently waving away the cake as she tried to stand up. She looked about the room.
"So, where's my dad? Is he all right?"

Nopony responded to that. In fact, their expressions changed ever-so-slight.
"He's... okay, right? It was just one of Discord's jokes, right?"

Nopony spoke.
"Well? Is somepony gonna say something?" She said, nervous.

"Kid... Discord hit you pretty hard" Rainbow Dash stated eventually.
"And you have been out for quite a while" Fluttershy added.

"Apparently disorientation is... not uncommon after something like this." Rarity chimed in.
Twinkle laughed the sort of laugh reserved for humourless occasions. The sort that preceeded raised voices.

"Where's my father?" she said, taking care to emphasise each word.
It was Pinkie who spoke first. Long would everypony involved wonder whether Pinkie was doing it just out of cluelessness, or to spare anypony else the burden of being the one to say it.

"But you don't have a father" She said, uncertainly.
Twilight Twinkle stared at Pinkie Pie, her expression icy cold.

*****

It wasn't a rampage. It wasn't. Rampages were the result of equicidal insanity, or Cutie Mark Failure. She was just stuck in one of Discord's little mindgames, and just needed to break whatever she needed to get out.
So it certainly wasn't a rampage, no matter what anypony might have said. Though she did at least make sure to take it outside, in case there was a slim chance that she was actually awake and actually hurting ponies. Not that she was actually hurting anypony, just moving them out of the way, though perhaps with a bit more force than was really necessary.

"Twilight Twinkle! What are you doing?" a voice boomed. There was a fluttering of wings. She looked up and saw one of the last things she wanted to see.
Her mother.

The mare landed in front of Twinkle and walked over toward her.
"What is it?" she asked, in her best mom-voice. Twinkle realised she was crying. She hadn't actually noticed, what with the grabbing whatever she could find and throwing it.

She tried to say something, but all that came out was inelegant sputters.

*****

As it turned out, nopony had heard of her father. Every picture of him was missing, every bit of work gone, his former co-workers just looked confused and asked if she had the right name. And worst of all was her mother's reaction. At first she'd simply sighed and tried to sound soothing, but after a while she started getting more and more stern, and each time Twinkle insisted harder, and each time she thought perhaps she'd convinced her mother of the truth, forgetting that it would take near-Hurricaniean effort to change Twilight Sparkle's mind. So each time her failure stung harder, and the arguments grew more and more heated.

And then the worst moment came, when her mother finally gave up.
"Twilight Twinkle, I think it is time you stopped lounging about the house coming up with foalish tales and went and did something with your life. You can't exactly lounge around doing nothing all day, after all. Therefore I have arranged for you to study at Princess Celestia's Institute for Higher Learning."

As it turned out, the institute had been only too willing to accept her. Heck, she hadn't even needed an entrance exam. Just like last time. So, for the few weeks until she was shipped off to a small, cramped little cupboard in the largest university in Canterlot, she decided to spend most of her time with Wisp. For a reason she couldn't quite understand, she liked being with him. She felt less angry at the world around him, more willing to be rational, more at peace. Wisp just seemed to make everything better.

"I feel like I'm going crazy" she said to him one day.
"I know I'm right, that my father existed, but everypony refuses to believe me. I just know it, and I don't know how to prove it." She looked into his eyes. Those deep, bright blue eyes. It was quite easy considering how close they were walking, although for some reason he had a problem walking in a straigh line.

"I believe you" he said, eventually. She smiled at that.
"I mean, I believe that you believe your father existed" she frowned at him.

"But then," he mused, "You aren't given to strange flights of fancy. Aside from when you thought it was a good idea to walk into the Everfree Forest on your own."
"Shut up" she said, though she was still smiling. And walking incredibly close. She couldn't help it. His fur felt incredibly like velvet. And he smelt really nice. Probably because his home was right next to the Everfree Forest, so whatever weird smell that place gave off was rubbing off onto him, or something along those lines. And he was taller than somepony at the age of fifteen should reasonably have been, although maybe that was just something to do with changeling biology, or he hadn't noticed his height yet.

They continued on their aimless walk through Ponyville, until they reached the train station, and suddenly Wisp stopped. He was staring at something, his eyes focused and his wings flared.
"You need to go" he said. She looked at him. She'd never seen him like this.

"Why?"
"Just go." She followed where his eyes were staring. Standing on the platform was a tall, dark blue unicorn with bright red hair framing her face, and her strange, cat-like yellow eyes. Twilight Twinkle did the mental calculation for what she could be, and her horn flashed. She wasn't going anywhere.

The mare walked over to them, and glanced at Twilight Twinkle the way a jogger looked at a piece of dog droppings. She then turned her gaze to Wisp.
"Hello, son."

Author's Note

Sorry for the Hobbit reference. It was either that or have someone sing Song of the Lonely Mountain.
I should probably modify the tags, huh?

The Great Rainbow Brain Swap Part Two

A short time ago...

Midday sat in Sugarcube Corner, an odd jaunty tune coming from a record player. Across from her Scootaloo was downing a seventh milkshake. Midday had drank all of one. Evidently Rainbow Dash's body had a smaller stomach, or the guilt of not having returned the pegasus's body was the reason she didn't feel hungry. It was when the minature pegasus was through her current milkshake something occured to Midday. She knew absolutely nothing about Scootaloo. She'd met the filly several times both in her own time and the one she was now stuck in, and had never learnt anything about her. She'd never even heard the filly describe anything about herself, nothing. Not so much as a vague hint. All she knew was that Scootaloo admired Rainbow Dash more than anypony she'd ever seen. That seemed to be the reason for her avid consumption of milkshakes, in an attempt to impress the pony she thought was Rainbow Dash.

Then something else occured to Midday. Mainly the fact that it was Monday.

"Hey, Scootaloo?"

"Yeah?" The filly said, now slurping down the last of the milkshake.

"Aren't you supposed to be in school?"
Scootaloo's eyes went wide and she grinned nervously.

"It's... a day off?" she said.

"Nice try."
Scootaloo sighed.

"I didn't feel like going" she muttered. Midday facehoofed. There were two ways she could go about this, being calm or yelling. And considering how her day was going, yelling did sound amazingly tempting. But it wasn't an idea to have Scootaloo chewed out by 'Rainbow Dash'.

"Why?" The filly scratched the back of her head.

"Well, we were gonna hang out. And besides, it's not like I'm learning anything important." She frowned. Midday didn't have to guess that the absence of a Cutie Mark probably wasn't helping.

"That's not really the point" Midday said, "By not learning you're depriving yourself of future benefits. What if you miss something that might actually be important in the future?" she considered questioning Scootaloo whether she wanted to end up like Rainbow Dash, then thought better of it.

"But it's boring, and I don't need a fancy education!"

"It's not about need, it's about potential. It's about learning your strengths and weaknesses and strengthening them and compensating for the rest, it's about discovering things about yourself you didn't realise and growing beyond yourself."
Scootaloo stared at her like she was mad.

"I guess" Scootaloo shrugged, apparently not concerned about her hero-figure's out-of-character burst. Her wings fluttered slightly. Suddenly she smiled.

"Hey, Rainbow, can you take me flying?"

Instantly Midday's mind was consumed with conflict. If something happened to Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash would probably kill her. Of course, since she was misusing the speedster's body Rainbow Dash was already likely to try and kill her, so she was probably going to be double dead.

'Double dead?' she thought to herself, 'where the hay did that come from?!' She looked down and saw Scootaloo was staring at her.

"Okay" she said, hesitantly.
Scootaloo beamed. It was one of those 'lights-up-the-room' smiles, one that also happened to be capable of inducing terror in almost everypony in Ponyville.

The two ponies paid for their milkshakes and walked outside. The air was slightly chilly, and there was a slight breeze.

"Nice day for a flight, huh?" Scootaloo said, standing next to Midday-in-Rainbow Dash.

"Bit chilly" she muttered. The two stood there. Scootaloo coughed. She looked down at the filly, who looked slightly impatient.

"Oh, right, yeah, sorry." She knelt down, allowing Scootaloo to hop on her back. She was surprisingly warm, similar to Celestia, now that she thought about it. But that was almost certainly an entire coincidence, especially since the tabloids had been claiming every pony from Mimic herself onward was her illegitimate love-child, even Twilight Sparkle. Hay, even she'd been labelled as one of Celestia's love-children (Which had led to her getting the Talk from her mother. In explicit biological detail which had made her swear off reproductive acts forever.)

"You aren't gonna wear like a helmet or, I dunno, a scarf or something?" She asked the filly.

"No, I'm cool like this" Scootaloo said, without any sense of irony or sarcasm. She braced herself, ready to take to the air. She gave 'her' wings an experimental flap.

And then there was an ear-splitting scream. She recognised it, more or less. Unfortunately she didn't notice the sound of a small pegasus falling off Rainbow Dash's backside.

"Me!" She declared.

"What was that?" asked Scootaloo, referring to the scream, not Midday-in-Rainbow Dashes body's declaration.

"Somepony in trouble" she said, beginning to walk towards it.

"Should we actually be moving towards the screaming?" Scootaloo asked.

"I thought you wanted to be a hero"

"Yeah... An alive hero, and when I'm a grown-up. Running towards loud screaming probably won't help with that."

Midday gave this some thought.

"You're with Rainbow Dash. What's the absolute worst that could happen? (Aside from huge slobbering purple things with tentacles. Lousy land-squids.)" She shook her head, trying to forget having to take part in an impromtu opera alongside her university roommate. Well, she had been trying to prevent an opera.

"I dunno. Exploding?" she stared at Scootaloo.

"Alright, you know when grown-ups say when everything's gonna be fine, and you think they're probably lying to make you feel better?"

"Yes!" Scootaloo rolled her eyes. Midday smiled.

"Everything's gonna be fine."

*****

The pegasi (well, pegasus and unicorn mind in a pegasus body) rushed towards the library, where the windows were shattered. Midday stopped and turned to Scootaloo.

"You absolutely sure you want to go in? You can wait here if you want, nopony'd blame you."

The filly looked quizzically at her.

"Wait, you convince me to join in, and now you're trying to make me wait outside?"

"That was a few moments ago, when I hadn't thought of things that might be dangerous for fillies. Like bookworms."

Midday found herself wondering where that came from.

"I'm not scared, I'm with Rainbow Dash, the toughest, greatest, fastest, awesomest pony around!" Scootaloo tried to make herself look bigger. It didn't really work, but she did get points for the effort, and for looking frankly adorable as she did.

"I'm just saying, whatever's in there might be a bit... weird." Scootaloo's face became impassive.

"Have you ever been covered in tree sap trying to operate a cannon?"

"... No."

"Or trying to feed a rabbit?"

"No."

"Or trying to make breakfast?"

Midday blinked, and stared at the filly for a few seconds.

"How'd that happen?"

"I really don't know" Scootaloo said, looking confused as she tried to remember those events.

"Anyway, I'm pretty sure whatever's going on won't be anywhere near as weird as that. And besides, you're here so you can take care of it."

She wouldn't admit it, but Midday felt terror. True, she was in a body that could take a lot of punishment, but Rainbow Dash was in her body, and there was no telling what damage she could do with it, and the vast magic at her disposal. But Spike, Trixie and Twilight were in there as well, and couldn't know about the sheer range of her magic.

She quickly pushed the door open, and did not see a reassuring sight. Books and furniture were floating around the room, and there was an odd hum. She quickly rushed past these obstacles and up the stairs, and paused at the door to the bedroom. Fear of a violent Rainbow Dash reaction flooded her mind. She quickly shook past those doubts and kicked the door open. She was rewarded by something incredibly heavy slamming into her, and she hit the wall.

"YOU!" A voice she determined was her own yelled. She looked up (at least she assumed it was up) to see an alarming sight. It was her body, only her hair was aflame, her horn glowing, and there was a truly alarming look in her eyes. This felt alarmingly familiar, but the only true thought going through her head was that she looked a bit... thin.

"Hey... Rainbow Dash" she said.

"Wait, what?" said a voice she recognised as Spike's. She looked around. The dragon was pinned to the ceiling by her body's magic, along with Twilight and Trixie. She sighed.

"Oh, come on Spike. It's simple enough to figure out. Rainbow Dash and I have had our minds swapped because somepony has lax safety standards!" She said, glowering at Twilight.

"Me?" Twilight asked, "What did I do?"
Rainbow Dash-in-Midday looked up at Twilight, and then to her own body.

"This is your fault?"

"No, it isn't!" Twilight said hurriedly.

"Oh come on Twilight, you read out everything you read while studying magic, sooner or later disaster's gonna strike!" Midday snapped.

"But I didn't. I wasn't studying magic last night, I was brushing up on early Equestrian history!"
Midday paused. Recollection hit her. The purple unicorn had been mentioning her study of the traditional Heart's Warming Eve play, having taken a break before she started getting angry at the long list of inaccurate moments. And as Midday could now recall, she hadn't been paying attention.

"Oh, yes. You were." Midday said sheepishly. Rainbow Dash in her body started looking from Twilight to Midday.

"So who did this?" She snapped.
There was a nervous cough. Suddenly the whole room went silent. All eyes turned to Trixie.

"Oh" Midday sighed.
.
The blue showmare laughed nervously.

"Really?!" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well" Trixie said, trying to look composed, "I said I would get revenge upon you for humiliating me"
Midday blinked. Then she remembered Trixie's words from a few weeks ago.

"Oh, right, the whole... piano thing. It's all coming back to me now."

"So why am I in her body, and why is she in mine?" Rainbow Dash in Midday's body asked tersely.
Everypony looked about awkwardly.

"You are wondering how she did it, right?" Midday asked.

"Yeah. Duh." Midday winced. Her body was being used to say 'duh'.

"Right, okay" She said, "Trixie, you are going to switch our minds back."

"So, how do I put everything down?" Rainbow Dash said.
And then something unexpected happened.

"What's going on?" asked Scootaloo.
Then she saw her horn glow, and her body popped out of the room. A second later, two unicorns and a dragon hit the floor.

"Well, that's one way to get down." Spike groaned. "That's gonna hurt all week."

"Did she just teleport?" Twilight asked.

"Yes." Midday in Rainbow Dash turned to Spike, "Spike, quickly, write a letter to Princess Celestia telling her to summon the Royal Guard to get my me... my body with Rainbow Dash in it." The dragon nodded.

"Trixie, you-" She turned to point at Trixie, only to see nothing. She was gone, and a window was open.
She sighed.

"Right, Trixie, run away. Because that's constructive." She turned to Twilight.

"Okay, you're going to help figure out the spell she used to switch minds."

"What's going on?!" Scootaloo yelled. Midday turned to Scootaloo.

"Well, it's quite easy to explain. I'm actually Midday Eclipse, my mind is in Rainbow Dash's body and Rainbow Dash's mind has gone and ran off in my body because I threw a piano at Trixie and she's holding a grudge. Any questions? No, good."
Scootaloo stood utterly in shock, her mouth opening and closing for a few seconds.

"What?!"

"Well, when I say 'run off' I mean teleported because of fear reflex. I do that sometimes."

"So where is she?" Twilight asked. Midday pondered this.

"Well, since the teleport is a automatic process, so... probably in Canterlot. Most likely. Unless she's fled to where she feels safe. Maybe I should go check Canterlot and see if Rainbow Dash-in-me is there."

"And what about me?" Scootaloo said. She looked and sounded utterly confused and lost, with a tiny amount of rising anger.

Midday stared at the pegasus. Considering Rainbow Dash's anger, Scootaloo would probably help keep her from doing anything dangerous. It occured to her that that was a downright cold-blooded statement, even if it was true.

"I suppose you could come with me. You were supposed to hang out with Rainbow Dash today."

"Yeah. I was!" Scootaloo said.

However, she still hopped onto Midday-in-Rainbow Dash's back, and the pegasus walked down the stairs, past the piles of books and out into the winter sun.

"Hold on. I'm gonna go pretty fast."

"Cool." Midday tried not to smirk at Scootaloo's utter lack of concern. Or was it just the sort of calm a pony reached once they got angry enough? She suddenly became a bit concerned about Scootaloo holding onto her via the neck, even if she was technically in the body of Scootaloo's idol.

She launched herself into the air, and started soaring towards Canterlot. She was vaguely certain Scootaloo was cheering as she rocketed through the air.

*****

Twilight watched as Midday-in-Rainbow Dash's body rocketed away. She frowned and turned to her books.

"Spike, we need to search every inch of the library to find out how Trixie accomplished this act."

"Got it."
Twilight quickly began searching through the books.

"This will probably take a while. I just hope nopony shows up" she said. At this, Spike stopped what he was doing and facepalmed.
The door opened.

"Twilight, I came as soon as I heard the screaming (and folded several shirts). What's the problem?" Twilight smiled a really unnerving smile at the newly arrived Rarity. To be fair, one of her best friends had swapped minds with her lodger because of her other lodger because of a grudge the second lodger seemed to have against the first lodger, who had been the pony who'd brought the second lodger to Ponyville, and worst of all, because of all this her books had been haphazardly scattered around the room, and it would take precious minutes of her schedule to re-arrange them.

"Nothing, Rarity" She said, her voice eerily calm. "But would you be a dear and help me?"

"Of course, I am ready to assist you with anything, just tell me what you require?"

Twilight's smile grew and she took a deep breath.
"GO AWAY!"

*****

Going as fast she go in a rented body, Midday reached Canterlot in twenty minutes. She landed just outside Canterlot Castle.

"Okay, it took her a few seconds to teleport, and bearing in mind the average response time of the guard, and Rainbow Dash's probably emotionally unbalanced state, and generally irrational mood, she probably hasn't gone far. All we need to do is find my body, and everything will. Be. Fine." She grinned the sort of grin usually reserved for the truly mad, or clowns.

"Really?"

"It will be" she said, her voice cold and stern.
She walked along into the courtyard. Suddenly several guards appeared, carrying weapons.

"State your business!" one barked.

"I'm here to see Princess Celestia" she said. The guards looked at each other.
"Proceed" they said in unison, and stood aside. She continued, Scootaloo following on behind her.

Strangely enough, the flightless filly didn't seem at all awed at being inside the home of the rulers of all Equestria, although after learning your idol and would-be mentor has been mindswapped and only having learnt this after spending twenty minutes talking with her, she probably didn't have much room for emotional reactions.

As the two walked through the castle, Scootaloo looked at Midday-in-Rainbow Dash.

"It's not fair" she muttered. Midday stopped, and turned to look at her.

"What isn't?"

Scootaloo looked up at her, a miserable look on her face.

"You were flying like it was completely natural" she mumbled, which she punctuated with a flitter of her wings.

"I can't even stay in the air for more than a few seconds." She added, quietly. Midday looked at the filly.

"Well, you are only ten-ish, right? Wings don't kick in until you're twelve."
Scootaloo just scoffed.

"The way my life goes, I'll probably never be able to fly. It's not fair. Even Fluttershy can fly, and she's afraid of her own damn shadow!"

"Language."

"Whatever." Midday placed a hoof on Scootaloo's shoulder.

"You'll get your wings one day, and when you do, I know you'll be brilliant." Scootaloo didn't look reassured.
"And if I am wrong then let me be struck down by a piano."

Apparently the image of her being concussed by a heavy musical instrument was funny to the little pegasus. She smiled, very slightly.

"Thanks." She muttered.

The two then continued on towards the throne room in silence, Scootaloo's mask of nonchalance slipping, and Midday saw the occasional smile when the filly thought she wasn't looking. Eventually they reached the massive doors that lead to the throne room of the princesses. Midday knocked upon the door.

Slowly, the doors opened, and she heard somepony calling out.

"Presenting Rainbow Miriam Dash, Bearer of the Element of Loyalty. And her Plus One."

"That's Scootaloo!"

Princess Celestia looked up from a large looking document.

"Rainbow Dash? What brings you to Canterlot?" The clearly surprised Princess of the Day asked.

"Midday Eclipse" she stated. It sounded even weirder saying her alias with somepony else's voice.

"What of her?" Midday felt her stomach drop. That was not what she'd wanted to hear.

"Isn't... she here?"
Celestia looked about.

"Why would she be here? Has something happened?"

Midday found herself scratching her head.

"It's... not actually complicated." Princess Celestia stared at her. Quickly, she explained, and some minutes later she was finished.

"I see." Celestia said. She stood up and descended from her throne.

"Did it not occur to you that while in your body, even if it still retains its own reflexes, she would teleport to somewhere she feels safest at, rather than somewhere you feel safe at?"
Midday blinked.

"You try thinking clearly when you can suddenly fly." She muttered. Celestia just smiled gently.

"I'm sure you'll be able to solve this... predicament you are in. I shall inform Twilight Sparkle. Don't let me keep you." She said, though not unkindly.

"Thanks anyway." Midday said. She turned.

"Good day, Midday Eclipse and Scootaloo."

"Right... back to Ponyville then." She muttered awkwardly.

"Got it" Scootaloo said, apparently imitating her gloomy mood.

Another thought occured to her on the way back to Ponyville. That though was that the embedded tabloid journalists that camped out around Canterlot Castle would no doubt enjoy the chance to weave fanciful nonsense about Rainbow Dash or Scootaloo being Celestia's daughter, or both at once, or crazier options.
'Element of Loyalty Taking Part in Bring Your Daughter to Work Day' sounded the most likely to her.

*****

Some twenty minutes later she landed in Ponyville, and Scootaloo hopped off.

"Now what?" she asked. Midday sighed.

"I guess... we find Rainbow Dash. Although we've been gone for about an hour, so maybe everypony else has found her, instead of just sitting around on their flanks."

They returned to the library, where they found Rarity, Twilight, Spike, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy all crowded around her body with Rainbow Dash's mind in it. She looked distraught. And her body looked alarmingly thin, and taller than usual. Though that was could just have been how she looked from Rainbow Dash's perspective.

"Oh, goody. You found my me." Midday deadpanned.

"Yes, she just suddenly appeared in front of my house fifty-five minutes ago" Fluttershy said.

"Good. Now can we just swap bodies back and put this insanity behind us before I start getting comfy with wings."
Everypony glowered at her.

"Okay, only two ponies in this room have reason or right to be angry at me."

"I'm not angry at you" Scootaloo said from behind her, "I'm just indifferent."

"I am angry" Rainbow Dash-in-Midday said.

"I didn't meant to say that." She said, sounding confused and alarmed.

"Or that."

"Oh good, my brain's still doing its job." Midday smirked.

Rainbow Dash blinked.
"Huh?"

"Hardwired honesty. Unless I'm acting, or telling jokes. Then I get away with it."
Twilight coughed, politely.

"I'm afraid to say this but... there has been a complication. I couldn't find the spell Trixie used to swap your minds. Or a book containing the spell Trixie used to swap your minds. Although I did find a small stash of tabloid papers."
Midday looked at Spike, who looked nervously.

"Those aren't mine!" He declared. "I was holding them for... Moondancer, and I never got a chance to return them. Yeah."

"Moving on!" Midday said, resisting the urge to shake her head, "Twilight, you don't need the spell."

"I don't?"
"You could just make one up." Twilight looked at her like she'd declared she was going to write a series of novels including sentient trees made of custard. Then she smiled a slightly smug smile.

"Magic doesn't work like that, Midday. At all. Believe me, I wish I could just invent spells whenever I like, but I cannot make them up whole cloth."
There was a polite cough from Spike.

"Haven't you made up spells before?"

"That was different" Twilight said, though she didn't sound convinced.

"Twilight, can I talk with you in private?" Midday said, using Rainbow Dash's mouth to smile unnervingly.

"I suppose."

"No!" Rarity declared, "You can talk about it in here, with us."

"It's really sappy."

"Let 'em" Rainbow-in-Midday's body said quickly.

"I'll be quick" Midday said, trying to sound reassuring.

She lead Twilight into the secondary library room. She sighed.

"Okay Twilight, you can switch us back, you and only you."

"How do you expect me to do that?"

"You are the Element of Magic, you wield all of its power, you can create magic just as easily as you channel it. A mind-switching spell should be childsplay for you!"

"I don't know. This sounds dangerous and complex. What if I accidentally merge you and Rainbow Dash into one?"
Midday stared at Twilight.

"You are the strongest, smartest magic wielder alive Twilight, you have no idea the power you wield. Why did you think Discord couldn't brainwash you directly? You can do this, Twilight Sparkle. Now damn you, you will try, or I swear to all that is holy I will haunt you till the end of time!"
Twilight just looked at her.

"I suppose I should at least try."

*****

Midday-in-Rainbow Dash and Rainbow Dash-in-Midday sat opposite from each other. Pinkie, Rarity, Spike, Fluttershy and Scootaloo sat in a sort-of circle around them, with Twilight in-between the two mares. She focused her horn.

"Here goes something" she said, hesitantly. She closed her eyes.

Her horn glowed, there was a hum that soon increased to a roar, and two beams of energy lanced out from Twilight's horn, hitting Rainbow and Midday straight in the forehead. There was a strange feeling, like Midday was being pulled out of her body. Her awareness seemed to slip from her, and the last sound she heard was Twilight yelling "I think it's working. I think it's working!"

*****

Her eyes opened blearily, to see Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy staring at her. She quickly lifted her hoof in front of her face.
A royal blue hoof hovered in front of her.

"Oh, good. I'm back in me, all's well with the world." She sighed.
There was a grunt from Rainbow Dash. Followed by a surprised yelp.

"What did you do to my hair?!" She yelled, advancing on Midday.

"I washed it" The unicorn deadpanned. There was a cough.

"With some help from Rarity." she quickly added, flashing a smile at Rarity, who just nodded in response. Rainbow Dash glanced from Midday to Rarity. She sagged.

"I'm gonna go have a nap. Nopony try and stop me." At which point she collapsed and started snoring. Scootaloo walked over to the prone form of her idol, and tried to put a cushion under her head.

"Okay," Midday said, "before we go any further, can we agree to never, ever, ever mention this insanity again?"

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" Pinkie said. Nopony else made the motions.

"Thank you, Pinkie." Midday sighed. She looked around the room. It was only lunchtime and she'd already had enough insanity for a whole day.

"I'm going to go find Trixie. Anypony care to join in?"

"Yes" said Twilight.

"But only to stop either of you doing anything foolish."
Midday stared at Twilight for a few seconds.

"Fair enough" she said.

*****

One quick magic-scan later, and she found Trixie sitting in the local cafe, staring at a bottle of bourbon that appeared essentially untouched. When she saw Twilight and Midday approaching she leapt to her hooves.

"Stay back, I have magic, and I'm willing to use it!" She yelled. Twilight and Midday exchanged glances.

"Yeah, okay" Midday said. Trixie looked confused.

"You... aren't angry?"

"I've had my brain swapped with Rainbow Dash, travelled to and from Canterlot on a wild goose chase and been glowered at by Fluttershy. I'm pretty much burnt out, and it's only one in the afternoon."
Trixie frowned.

Midday looked at her.
"How did you do the whole mind-swapping thing, anyhow?"

"Oh, I just found this spell lying about. I figured it would help with getting revenge on you for throwing a piano at me." Trixie shrugged, staring at the ground.

"So why in the world did I end up in Rainbow Dash, of all ponies?"
Trixie shrugged again.

"How should I know? I just cast a spell designed to inflict vengeance on you." She scuffed her hoof against the ground.

"I, ah, I probably should have checked what it did, first."
She sighed.

"However, we have not finished. I will have my vengeance against you for my humiliation" she stated, jabbing a hoof at Midday, who stared at Trixie for a second, then sighed.

"Okay, Trixie, I am too irritated to bother yelling, so let me be blunt. This is your only chance, you can either try and make up for the massive train-crash you made of your life, turn good and let go of your ego, or you can throw it all away in a chance to get vengeance on me."

Trixie pretended to give this some thought.
"The second option sounds good."

Midday looked Trixie straight in the eyes.

"Vengeance won't work. Let me break this down to a comparison of scale. You, Trixie Lulamoon, are from a family of illusionists and stage magicians. Me? I'm from one of the most powerful families in Equestria!"
There was a noise of disbelief from Twilight.

"So?" The showmare said. Midday leaned in toward the mare.

"You are a firecracker, Trixie. Me? I am the sun" She looked at the mixture of confusion and not-quite-awe of Trixie's face, and smiled.

"Now I'm going to go see if Rainbow Dash is going to try and kill me."

*****

She waited an hour for Rainbow Dash to wake up from her nap.

"Oh" The pegasus said upon opening her eyes and seeing Midday
"You."

"Afternoon, RD. How do you feel?"

"Like I've been used." She muttered.

"Sorry about that." Rainbow Dash just glowered at her. If she knew anything about Rainbow Dash, her pride was more damaged than anything else.

"Look, I'm guessing you don't want to hear this, but I will try and make things up to you at some point."

"Whatever." The mare said, getting to her hooves. She looked at Scootaloo.

"Sorry I didn't manage to hang out with you today, squirt. Gotta go." She said, before taking off. The orange pegasus turned to Midday.

"Miss Eclipse?" She said, not sounding angry, but more a form of calm that made Midday feel nervous.

"Yeah, Scootaloo?"

"Thanks, for... y'know, what you said in Canterlot." She muttered.

"Sorry for cheating you out of your day with Rainbow Dash." The pegasus looked up at her.
"It's alright. Least I got to see what flying's like" she said half-heartedly, before galloping out of the door.
Midday sat down in a comfy chair, and sagged. She levitated a piece of paper.

"Dear Celestia.

Today has been the day from Tartarus. From the looks of it,

all of Twilight's friends hate me, or at least blame me.

(Not that I blame them)

And I generally feel rubbish, and stressed, and tense and awful.

But on the plus side, I got to fly!

So... should I be careful what I wish for, even when I don't know I'm wishing for it?

And I shouldn't throw pianos at ponies to win duels?

Either way, this is not going to be a fun week at all.

Yours in good health,

Midday Eclipse"

PS: I got to fly!

She rolled it up, and went to find Spike. Two weeks until Heart's Warming Eve. The though of Twilight spending the next two weeks getting increasingly annoyed by the historical inaccuracies of the play would be mildy entertaining.

She also made a note to herself to do something nice for Rainbow Dash.

And after she found Spike, she was going to have a nice long bath.

*****

"Rainbow Dash, I've been thinking, and... well, perhaps you were right. There is something suspect about Midday Eclipse. Maybe we should keep an eye on her, if only to prevent something like this from happening again" Rarity said. Rainbow Dash just raised an eyebrow, but otherwise remained immobile on Rarity's sofa.

"Okay" the pegasus responded.

"But I must warn you, Rainbow Dash, I am not doing this to fuel any desire for revenge you may have."

Rainbow Dash raised her hooves in front of her.
"Hey, I said I'm not angry. Even though this was entirely her fault for annoying a spiteful magician."

"And of course that she ended up using your body, doing your job, and associating with Scootaloo with nopony being the wiser, all before you even woke up."

Rainbow Dash growled at her.

"Sorry" Rarity said.

"Like I said, I'm not angry. Even if she did do all those things with almost no commupance. And not because I was unwilling to damage my own frankly awesome body, or because she was sort of a victim in this as well. Who just got the better half of the deal."

"Quite" Rarity said, after a few seconds consideration, though she looked uncertain.

"Now that we've gotten all that out the way" Rainbow Dash said, a grin spreading across her lips
"Let's see what we can find."

Author's Note

Enjoy the cribbed shout-outs. Note that I will not specify Scoot's origins, in case the show reveals it (*snerk*) and contradicts my nonsense.
Edit: A bit tacked onto the end when I realised I hadn't really done RD much justice. Just assume she was terrified from not having her wings / speed for most of the chapter, because I was too lazy to just say so.

On a Mission from Twilight

If there was a problem with the esteemed and ancient House of Twilight (Formerly House of Starlight, formerly House of Shine, and formerly House of Sparklypoo at one misbegotten point best ignored) it was that its members were tenacious to a fault. Of course, there is never anything wrong with tenacity in itself, of course, but members of the House Twilight had a tendency to go just a bit too far.

The pony who once went by the name Twilight Twinkle had once heard a tale from her aunt about how His Grace Shining Armor had, despite being too ill to properly stand, tried to take Twilight Sparkle to the zoo like he had promised.
(It was apparently the result of this incident that led Grandpa Night Light and Grandma Velvet to hire Cadance as a foalsitter, at least until Shining Armor recovered, but the young alicorn had done so well they decided to hire her full-time, which her grandparents probably regarded as one of the most savy ideas any pony had ever made since somepony said 'Hey, what if I sold somepony these apples?!')

And so it was that Twilight Twinkle, under the alias of Midday Eclipse, disgraced minor adjutant to the accounting staff of Their Royal Majesties currently on 'paid vacation' and feeling utterly miserable, decided the only way to make amends for her misdeeds involving a hurled (and then destroyed) piano and a fallen showmare, was to make herself helpful.
If the universe had a method of expressing trepidation, it did not express itself.

So, once Midday removed herself from the bathtub she'd been practically marinating herself in, she vowed to be as helpful as was possible for a pony with most of the powers of a demigod.
Several fortune-tellers did feel a vague sense of dread, though they just blamed their lunches.

*****

Twilight Sparkle found herself woken from her dreams of flying through a massive library by an unusual sound. It sounded like something being scraped across a wooden floor. She opened her eyes to see Midday calmly dusting down her Nightmare Night costume.

"What are you doing?" She tried to say, only to find herself yawning mid-sentence. The royal blue unicorn turned to her and smiled.
"I just though I'd give... this a bit of a dusting down, be a bit helpful. Start earning my keep, as it were." She smiled all the way through that sentence, save for the brief pause where she made a split-second sideways glance at the costume.

"Well, I do appreciate that you want to be helpful, Midday, but really, there's no need. You're a guest here." She considered that. Technically she hadn't invited the unicorn to stay, just recieved a letter from Princess Celestia telling her to accept Midday's presence. Not that she would go against Princess Celestia's wishes. And Midday had managed to locate Smarty Pants. She made a note to ask how she'd done that.
The smile on Midday's face flickered for an instant.

"I know that, but it doesn't mean I can't be helpful." Twilight looked at the clock next to her. It was eight in the morning, and she did feel quite awake. Slowly she got out of bed.
When she came downstairs she saw a strange sight, Midday calmly reorganising the bookshelves.

"And you go there..." She muttered, she looked at one book floating in front of her face.
"Oh dear, you just don't belong there." Twilight gaped in horror at the scene. Her books were being moved! She quickly rushed over to Midday.

"What exactly are you doing?" The mare still smiled that smile.
"I just thought I'd reorganise the bookshelves, since they're in a mess." Twilight just tried to smile gently.

"Well, that's... really quite kind of you, but the reason they are in a... 'mess', is because I was waiting for Re-Shelving Day on Friday." Midday stared at Twilight.
"Oh, yes, of course. Sorry, forgot about that. Which is quite silly of me because it's on the monthly schedule."

Twilight looked at Midday.
"Look, if you want to be helpful, I'm sure there's somepony around town who needs some form of assistance, so why don't yo-"

"Oh, yes, that's a good idea. Go help others, okay! Bye!" Midday said, rushing out of the room quickly enough to leave an after-image. Twilight absent-mindedly decided to wave her hoof through it.

*****

Midday walked along the road, enjoying the bracing winter air. Well, not exactly enjoying. It was cold, but she ignored it. She wondered if there was somepony in need of help, anywhere.
There was a scream. She quickly set off.

"Oh, how could this have happened?" Rarity wailed from inside the building. Midday run up to the door, and calmly opened it.
"Rarity, what is it?" She declared. The unicorn looked at her, the very beginning of tears in her eyes.

"Oh, it's dreadful, simply dreadful." Her horn glowed and a small empty box floated in front of Midday's face.
"I have no more gems, which means I will have to go fetch more, and by the time I have done that..." She let out a sob.

"My inspiration will have vanished!" She leapt onto a small sofa and sobbed.
"Don't say that Rarity. If we act quickly we can fetch a bountiful supply of gems before you run out!" Rarity looked at Midday, confused.

"We?"
"Of course. Two horns are better than one." She said, smiling all the while.

"I suppose..." Rarity said, as Midday quickly set out of the door with a small wagon and a shovel.

*****

"So..." Rarity said as the two mares walked along, Midday carrying the shovel over her shoulder.
"Tell me a bit about yourself, Midday. I feel like we haven't really gotten to know each other lately" The unicorn looked at Rarity.

"I've not really got much to tell." She said.
"You must have some story or another, everypony has something to tell about themselves."

"What would you like to know?"
"Well, anything. Who you parents are, do you have any friends, what are your hobbies?"

Midday's currently ever-present smile seemed to briefly drop.
"No, no friends." She said, quietly. "Never got around to it."

"Oh, I'm sorry."
"Well, my mother always said 'You'll make plenty of friends, just be yourself.' You know, the usual parenty things they say"

"I see."
"Well, I did have a friend but..." Her smile briefly faded, then surged right back to life.

"But that's not important. Isn't it a nice day out?" she said, glancing around at the sky, and the occasional rock.
"Well..." Rarity said, ignoring the cold that seemed to go right through hair and fur. If she'd know it was that cold she would have brought a coat, or a cape. Or a coat and cape.

"So, did you have a special somepony back home, a... partner. A coltfriend?" For a moment, a look passed across Midday's face. Rarity had been expected either a warm smile or a look of disappointment. Instead it was neither. It was the look of somepony trying to remain calm.
"Are there any gems here?" Midday asked, her voice hollow.

Rarity focused her magic, her horn glowed and she could see a small clump of gemstones a few inches under the ground. Midday walked over to it and started digging. Once she dug far enough Rarity removed the gems. Then Midday wandered over to another group of gems, and dug, and so on, for some time. Eventually Rarity said that it was enough.
"That should be enough." She said. She looked at Midday, who looked back at her and smiled.

"I do have a sister in-law." Midday said.
"What's she like, if you don't mind my asking?"

"You'd like her. She loves fashion, high-culture, fine-dining, all that sort of thing. Very loving, very giving. We don't talk very often, probably because she's a lot older than me and usually tries to use me as a mannequin every time I visit." Rarity chortled at that.

"She's got a little sister, too. But... they don't get on. At all. Apparently something terrible happened between them, and... well, that was that."
Rarity felt for this unknown pony. She and Sweetie Belle fought on occasion, and there had been the incident only a few weeks ago where Sweetie Belle had declared her a 'un-sister' but they'd managed to solve that (even if she had required a full-body bath afterward. So much mud), but to deliberately never see you own sister ever again, such a concept was almost inconceivable.

"I'm sorry. Here I am trying to be helpful and I'm being all depressing and talking about ponies in misery." Midday said, her smile slowly returning.
Rarity just nodded, slightly alarmed at how quickly Midday's mood seemed to be shifting, and the two returned to the Carousel Boutique in silence after that. Every time Rarity looked away, she'd try and see if Midday was still smiling. And every time she thought she saw the smile drop, she looked back, only to see it return. She suddenly felt the need to move quickly.

*****

Pinkie sighed. It was tuesday lunchtime and pastry orders were pouring in. She needed help.
"Pinkie, hello!" Said a familiar voice. She looked up to see Midday Eclipse wearing a chefs' hat and apron.

"I thought you might have needed a bit of help today."
Pinkie smiled. "Actually, yes because there's a lot of ponies who keep asking for things and I'm only one pony because I can't clone myself and Ms Cake can't do any work right now on doctors orders and Mr Cake keeps checking to make sure she's okay and I do actually need help!" Midday nodded.

"Right, let's get to it!" She said.
It was hard, sweaty, tiring work, equal to that of the finest pastry chefs, the sort who strode across space-and-time, forging their icing from metals taken from cold stars, who cooked their works in furnaces that burnt like supernovae, making buns denser than the mightiest dark matter but that shone like dozen galaxies.

... Actually, it was nowhere nearly that dramatic. But it was sweaty and tiring rushing back and forth and checking on the various meals. To an outside observer the kitchen looked like it was host to a pair of hurricanes rushing back and forth, occasionaly producing the odd cupcake, muffin or loaf of bread, and unlike last time the two had worked together, nopony was pretending that their baguettes were swords (or making those truly bizarre humming noises they'd made).

"Well, that's everypony served and stuffed." Pinkie smiled.
"Hooray!" Said the collapsed tangle of legs Midday had turned into.

"Are you okay?" Pinkie asked, concerned for her assistant chef.
"I'll be fine, just give me a minute." The unicorn waved a hoof, which due to the way she was lying appeared to be jutting out of her stomach.

Pinkie momentarily seemed concerned. Then somepony entered and Pinkie had to answer her call of obligation.
Midday's horn glowed. A small light washed over her form and she shakily got to her hooves and set out the door.

*****

On her way back to the library, a strange sudden downpour started. 'Strange' because the rain seemed to be completely focused on her. She looked up. There was a raincloud right above her. After a few moments it stopped, and she saw Rainbow Dash stick her head over the edge.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't see you there." Rainbow Dash said. Midday looked at the pegasus, who looked like she was expecting her to get mad or try and fight her. Instead she just smiled brightly.
"That's okay Rainbow Dash." She said, and continued onwards. She barely heard Rainbow Dash's confused 'huh'.

*****

When she entered the library she found a familiar-looking brown earth pony stallion looking over the shelves.
"Can I help you?" She asked.

"No, no, I just came to investigate this library. Very nice, very cosy. And you've got a comfy chair. I like comfy chairs." He said. He looked slightly nervous about something. Perhaps he was just a mustang.
"Have you by chance got any books on temporal theory? Also, you seem to soaking wet." She looked about.

"Temporal theory. I think so... I'm sure I saw something on it in here. Or it's in the spare room. Mind if I ask why you need it?" The stallion shrugged.
"Thought it might be a laugh." She looked at him, smiling but sounding dead serious.

"Might be in the secondary room." She said, pointing towards the door, before going to sit down. He walked over to it and then, as he opened the door he suddenly gasped.
"Oh, look at you!"

"What? Is something the matter?"
He took a deep breath. Unfortunately, due to the rules of the healing spell she'd worked on herself, she was now unable to stand. She sighed, and levitated the cushion she was sitting on. Perhaps not the most sensible means of movement, but certainly interesting. She floated the cushion towards the door, where Time Turner or Doctor Whooves or whatever he called himself was staring, wide-eyed, at Twilight's Star-Swirl the Bearded costume.

"Look at you!" he repeated.
"You even have the bells" he said. He reached out a hoof to touch it, then lowered it. He spun arond to stare at Midday.

"Who made this?" He asked, sounding for all the world like somepony who'd seen their high-school crush after several years.
"Twilight Sparkle did. All by herself. Which is all the more impressive because Star-Swirl has never been depicted in any artwork. She was just working on accounts of his... dress." She wasn't trying to sound vindictive (despite it being Star-Swirl the Bearded), she just wasn't sure what to call it.

He was still staring at it, smiling like someone who'd seen an old photo of themself.
"I remember those days. A young man trying to act old and important. Being smug and rude and never listening to anyone else." He whispered. She stared at him.

'Great', she told herself, 'one of those sorts of ponies'.
There was something new in his eyes. Regret. And his smile had vanished.

"I said I'd come back one day." He turned to look at her.
"I knew I never would. I lied to her and said I'd be back when I knew it was goodbye. I knew it." He looked at the costume and seemed to get angry.

"Anway!" He clapped his hooves together, "Temporal theory. Need a bit of cheering up and I can't go anywhere so I might as well find something to do. That lovely pegasus with the eyes got a bit tetchy with me for painting her fence." He leaned in and whispered conspiratorially.
"Scariest thing in the universe, an angry mom. Or just a bus full of people." His tone went slightly dark at that last bit.

"Well, you just let me know if you need anything. I'm here to help." Midday said. He seemed to find that funny. He rushed out with the book. She let the chair set down again. Then the door opened again.
"Sorry to bother you, but... do you know where I can get a fez?"

*****

With her body mostly out of comission from helping Pinkie bake, Midday spent the rest of the day helping Twilight re-organise the shelves, once Twilight had devised an arrangement that suited her. The next morning, she set about helping more ponies, vowing not to overwork herself as much. The first part came when she found Trixie sitting downstairs.
"Good morning, Trixie, how are you?" The showmare leapt with shock.

"I'm fine... fine, yes, fine. Not doing anything." She said. She shuffled her hooves slightly.
"Okay then."

Trixie shuffled a bit more.
"Actually, Trixie wishes to apologise for her actions. It was wrong of me to use highly experimental magic on you for the sake of petty revenge."

"That's okay Trixie."
"If you say so. But... surely Trixie could make it up to you?" She actually sounded genuinely apologetic. Midday wondered if somepony had threatened her, the way she was saying these things.

"You really don't need to. Just don't zap me with any spells while I'm asleep." Trixie looked about the room.
"If it's not too much help, I was wondering if perhaps you would assist me with something."

"What?"
"Well, it... I was hoping you would help Trixie refine her act." Midday stared in surprise.

"Alright." She said, after some seconds of careful consideration.

*****

Trixe stood on a free-standing stage (which struck Midday as rather unusual, even for Ponyville), Midday sitting on the ground in front of the stage watching as Trixie generated illusions that looked slightly better than her usual forte of stick-figures. From the looks of it, Trixie had been practicing her magic at some point, which would have explained where she went when she kept disappearing.
"Well?" Trixie said once she'd finished. "What did you think of that?"

"It was... different."
Trixie frowned at that, and appeared to consider it.

"Different is something. I can live with different." She mused. She hopped off the stage.
"Can I tell you a secret?" She said, motioning for Midday to lean in closer.

"I... have never really had any friends." Midday tried not to make any sarcastic remark.
"It's just... I never really thought it would matter. I though one day I would be a success, that the name Trixie would be cheered on by every pony who saw my show, so I wouldn't need friends... and, well... it all went to Tartarus here." She sighed.

"And then you came along. And you did steal my grandfather's hat, which I am still upset about, but... you actually sounded interested in my getting a second chance. Which I suppose makes you the closest thing I have to a friend." She looked about.
"Well, you and that mailmare. The one with the eyes."

"Ditzy? Really?"
"I like her." Trixie said, slowly. "She's nice."

"How did you two meet?"
"I was... rehearsing and practicing my magic where I thought nopony would be around, and she must have seen me while doing her rounds and wondered what was going on and... we got to talking and she just so... nice, and cheerful and kind."
Midday smiled.

"Well, just to reassure you, I'm really not angry about the 'Great Rainbow Brain Swap', as Pinkie was calling it. Or rather, what you did to me because of it. What you did to Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof will take a while longer to forgive." Trixie looked nervous.

"Yes. Can I do anything about that?"
"Can you get her membership in the Wonderbolts?" Trixie shook her head.

"Then I'd just wait for the storm to pass." Midday said, "Rainbow Dash will probably forget by next week."
"It's Heart's Warming Eve next week, isn't it?"

"Two weeks, actually. And Twilight and the girls have been roped into helping Celestia perform it. I can't wait to see that." Midday smirked. Trixie grinned
"Really?"

"Yeah, Twilight's gonna go mad trying to make everything historically accurate." The two mares laughed at that.
"That'll be worth seeing just on the concept alone!" Trixie said.

"Now, then." She said, "Shall I give the rehearsal another go?"
After watching Trixie go over her revised show again, Midday set about being helpful elsewhere, and for the rest of the day, all was good. Aside from her attempting to look after Fluttershy's pets while she went to fetch supplies, but the less said of that, the better.

*****

The next morning, Twilight Sparkle woke up feeling refreshed and ready to study. She quickly got up and brushed her teeth and headed downstairs.
She found Midday asleep next to an empty cup, a stack of books and a small notepad and a nub of a quill sticking out of an inkwell.

"Somepony's been busy." She said. Suddenly Midday woke up, leaping to her feet and scaring Twilight.
"Oh, Twilight!" Midday said. She sounded unusually energetic.

"Good morning, what's the plan for today!" She said.
"Are you... alright?" Twilight asked. Midday nodded.

"I heard what you said last night about needing to study teleportation, and how you thought you didn't have enough time to study it in detail, so I stayed up all night studying it, and I took NOTES!" she said, brandishing the notebook, an unsteady gleam in her eyes.
"Did you spend all night doing this? How did you stay awake?" Twilight asked.

"Coffee!" Midday declared, her ears twitching violently. Further conversation was ruined by the door opening, and Spike walking down the stairs.
"Morning Twilight, morning Midday." He paused when he saw the frankly unstable looking unicorn.

"Morning?" Midday said. She looked at the clock on the wall.
"I FELL ASLEEP!!" She yelped, "I missed the train! And the next one's not going to be here for fifteen to twenty minutes!" she turned back toward Twilight, "I know because I checked the train schedules last night before I decided to stay up all night helping you revise your notes!" She said, sounding slightly smug. There was an eerily familiar nature to her behaviour.

"What do you need the train for?" Spike asked hesitantly.
"I was going to go to Canterlot, so that I could do something for Rainbow Dash to make up for swapping minds with her!" She said, gritting her teeth and rubbing her forelegs over each other. She was jittering slightly.

"How much coffee did you have?" Twilight asked, noting the fact that the cup was completely dry.
"NOT ENOUGH!" Midday said, the windows shaking.

"Don't you think you might want to calm down? I'm sure Spike and I could go to Canterlot and fetch whatever it is. In fact, you don't really need to get Rainbow Dash anything."
That was not the right thing to say. Midday stared at Twilight, which considering her unbalanced, sleep-deprived behaviour was not pleasant. Also, her breath smelt unbearably like coffee.

"Don't. Need. To?" She whispered.
"Don't. Need. To?" She repeated, leaning in further toward Twilight with each word.

"Yes." Twilight Sparkle said. Spike buried his face in his claws. It was going to be one of those days.

*****

Everyone in Ponyville heard the agitated scream. Instantly, several ponies rushed outside to find the source of the disturbance, and found Twilight Sparkle wrestling with what appeared to be Midday Eclipse, albeit badly dishevelled and massively sleep deprived and screaming up a storm.
"Get off me!" She yelled, her horn flaring as she tried to focus her magic on the struggling unicorn being dragged along behind her.

"No!" Twilight said, "You are not in any fit condition to be going anywhere!" Midday strained and apparently broke free of Twilight's hold on her and began running. Twilight's horn glowed, and there was a flash of light, and Midday appeared in front of Twilight. She quickly turned around and started running again. Twilight teleported her back. She tried running again. Twilight teleported her again. Then, when Midday tried to run again, Twilight teleported in front of her.

"Stalemate!" Twilight declared. Midday stared at her, and her horn glowed. There was a rumbling noise, and Twilight looked up to see ominous grey-purple clouds forming above her. She tried to move, just as a massive lightning bolt hit her. Midday seized the opportunity and started running past her. Something slammed into her.
"Stop this at once" Rarity said. Midday just shook her off. Rarity grabbed her. For such an elegant pony, she proved remarkably strong.

"Leggo me! I said I was gonna help, AN' I MEAN IT!" Midday yelled, slurring half the words she was saying in her sleep-deprived state.
"I really don't think so" Rarity said. Midday focused her somewhat bloodshot eyes on her.

"Rarity" She said, in a sing-song voice, "I know your secret. I know how to make you go to sleep!"
"That's fascinating, Midday. Perhaps we should all be getting some sleep."

"Let go of me, Rarity. I have to help."
"Help who?" She said.

"Everypony. Anyone who asks. Gotta help, gotta help, or there's no point. I said I was going to be helpful and I meant it."
"You won't be much help to anypony half-insensible. Can't you just wait for a while?"

Midday shook her head. Rarity sighed, and her horn started glowing.
"I am sorry, but you've left me no choi-"

"EDAM!"
It was not the fact that she had yelled the name of a type of cheese out loud that was weird, but it was the fact that Rarity collapsed, then proceeded to curl up into a ball that truly sold the scene as bizarre, after which the royal blue unicorn rushed away towards Ponyville's train station, though some claimed she had muttered something under her breath that sounded like the word 'sorry', albeit highly slurred.

Spike, having watched the whole ordeal, quickly wrote down a letter to Princess Celestia.

*****

The reason for Midday's sorry mental state was that when she had promised to take notes of teleporting for Twilight, she had forgotten how long the book on teleportation actually was (With several pages devoted to warning about the dangers of teleporting blind, with friends, while drunk or an hour after eating). So she had started drinking coffee just to stay awake, and the sleepier she became, the more unfocused her thoughts, until eventually she just collapsed.
This had also resulted in her notes eventually descending into outright, poorly-written gibberish, as it turned out.

*****

"Rarity, you okay?" Twilight's voice said, drawing Rarity out of her self-imposed withdrawal.
"Oh, that's... really embarrasing." She said. Fortunately Twilight taken her indoors and placed her on the comfy chair, so there was no crowd of gawkers. The purple unicorn frowned.

"I thought you were seeing a psychiatrist about your... phobia."
"Well, that hit a... snag. It turned out that psychiatrist was in my arch-nemesis Embrace's employ and... things devolved quickly from there."

"Is there anything you need right now?"
"A strong pot of tea would be quite welcome." Rarity sighed.

"And perhaps an explanation of why exactly you were wrestling with your lodger."

*****

Midday felt the gentle rocking, and the clattering noise of train-wheels moving, and opened her eyes, which stung. For a moment, she had a blissful lack of recollection as to what she had done during the night. Then she remembered.
"I pulled a Smarty Pants." She said. Fortunately the carriage she was in was empty, though she did briefly wonder if she'd played some part in that. She looked out of the window. The train was almost at Canterlot. Knowing Twilight, the Royal Guard was probably waiting for her at the station there. She sighed. What was left of the caffeine in her system was probably beginning to fade, but she did remember what she had promised to do for Rainbow Dash. After that, she would stop her ludicrously overzealous attempts at helping ponies without being asked. She was amazed that her efforts managed to slip out of control after only one day, and wondered if perhaps she'd made other declarations on her coffee high, possibly pertaining to world domination.

And it was nice to know the family madness was alive in her. For a given value of 'nice'.
The train soon slowly came to a halt in the station, and she could see the distinctive golden armor of the royal guard.

She stepped out onto the platform, and was met by the (slightly nervous) brandishing of remoreless pieces of metal, and their wielders.
"Miss Midden Eclipse" The pony who looked like the guard commander said.

"Midday." She said.
"Midday Eclipse, we would ask that you please get back onto the train."

"Or what?" She said. He looked nervous.
"Or... we will be required to make you board the train." He didn't sound at all convinced of his ability to do so. She looked at the guards. There were several of them, and only one of her, and they looked nervous.
"Will you, now?" she said.

If there was a problem with her family, it was that when they promised to do something, they went to lengths that made Pinkie Promises look like the agreement of a cheap lawyer. Destroy an evil war-lord on my own? Sure. Stare down a rampaging moon-god? Easy. Save a wedding from an awful bride? What do you want played at your reception? and so on. And she had promised to apologise to Rainbow Dash for her part in the brain swap, and while she was loathe to admit it, she was her mother's daughter, she was of the House Twilight (Formerly House Starlight, formerly House Shining, and during the reign of bonkers great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandma Sparklingshine, House Sparklypoo) and like Tartarus if she was going to break her promise just to make a bunch of guards feel slightly less uneasy.

"Yes." The commander said. "We will."
"Er..." One guard said, "How?"

"What?"
"Well, sarge" The guard, who by the looks of him was one of those overly-clever sorts who'd either get promoted really quickly to Blueblood guarding, or just sent to watch the Griffin embassy, "The thing is, there's about eight of us, right, and we're the guard, if yer get what I mean, and there's one of her." He shot Midday a nervous glance.

"An' she's smiling."
"Am I?" She said, making sure to make her grin wider.

The sergeant looked irritated.
"Look you bunch of skirts, there's one of us, and only one of her. What's she gonna do?"

"Steal our weapons and start leapin' around on the table?"
"Swing from the chandeliers?" Said another. Paranoia clearly did odd things to a guard.

"Do they actually do that?!" Said a particularly young-looking guard, whose helmet didn't fit yet.
"For the love of- Look, we are well-trained members of the royal guard, and she is clearly sleep-deprived and in no condition to fight off eight guards, and even if she wasn't sleep-deprived, she would still be in no condition to fight us."

'Wow!' Midday thought to herself. This guy was either a brilliant liar, or his parents needed a good kicking for their poor child-rearing skills.
"He's got a point. I am sleep deprived. Mostly harmless." That didn't seem to put them at ease. The young one was glancing at the ceiling, evidently scanning for chandeliers.

"But I'm still not getting on the train." There was a nervous whimper from the young guard.
The sergeant stepped forward.

"Right, if none of you hopeless clowns are gonna do your jobs, I might as well show you how."
It should be noted, if only for the record, that what Midday had wanted when she was younger, really really REALLY wanted, more than anything, even wings, was to be a hero. To right wrongs and pound two-hoofed justice into the cowardly elements of the night. To that end she had studied everything a young mare would need to survive in those situations, and had even asked her uncle, former captain of the Canterlot Guard himself and part-time instructor to the Crystal Empire athletics team Shining Armor, for a few pointers on fighting. Her uncle had been a bit reluctant to teach his ten year old niece how to wield a sword for some reason, but eventually he had given her more than a few tips on physical combat.

So, as the sergeant reached out to 'gently encourage' her onto the soon-departing train, she grabbed his front leg, pressed it between her forelegs and flipped him over her head. He hit the ground with an almighty thump.
"Who's next?" She smirked.

*****

Some fifteen minutes later, and Midday reached the booking office of Canterlot Stadium.
"Hello" The young mare behind the glass said. By now the adrenaline was wearing off and Midday's mind was beginning to slip back into sleep-mode, though the fact that she'd wiped the floor with a group of well-trained Royal Guardsponies was helping to keep her on track.

"Yes, I would like..." She paused. Herself, Rainbow, her bargaining chip and her two friends, which made...
"Five tickets for the Wonderbolt Derby" She said.

The mare pulled out five tickets and gave her the price, she handed over the money she'd retrieved from the bank on her way there. It seemed a bit strange to her that the guard hadn't caught up with her y-
There was a polite cough behind her. She took the tickets and turned.

She was met with the sight of the entire Canterlot Royal Guard pointing very sharp-looking weapons at her.

*****

The train from Canterlot slowly pulled into the Ponyville station, and Midday stepped off, flanked by several members of the Royal Guard. They marched alongside her all the way back to the library, wherein the guard tapped gently on the door. It opened, revealing Twilight Sparkle.
"Oh, good afternoon." She said, and looked at Midday.

"Oh, you found her." The guards nodded, and their duty done, turned and left.
Midday slowly walked into the library. The tickets she held in her magic she floated into the saddlebags by the door. She then walked over to the comfy chair.

"Is this going to be a regular occurance?" Twilight frowned. Midday turned to look at her.
"No, no. I swear that was the last bit of voluntary crazy I will pull off."

"Okay." Twilight said, though she didn't sound convinced.
"Why did you do all of this?"

"I just... wanted to make up for the whole brain-switching thing." She said, sheepishly. "I just... well, went a bit overboard. But it's all out of my system now, I swear. Complete sanity from here on out."
"You swear?"

"In as much as I can, bearing in mind terms and conditions apply, I promise I will not cause any more," she yawned, "Madness."
"Well" Twilight said, "I'm glad to hear it." She turned away.

"Now, about those notes you wro-" There was a soft snoring noise, and a thump. She turned to see Midday, half-splayed out of the chair and completely asleep.
"I guess you do need some sleep." She said. Her horn glowed, and the slumbering pony was quickly lifted upstairs and gently placed on top of her bed. Twilight went downstairs to get some serious studying done, but not before taking a look at the slumbering pony. She found herself smiling for some reason.

Author's Note

I had fun writing the bit with the guards. Can you tell?

When Big Brothers Attack! Part One

She opened her eyes, and was quite surprised to find she wasn't in a straightjacket or a cell. She was lying on top of a bed, in a large mostly-circular room that looked like it was part of a hollowed-out tree. Her mind felt clear and free of the foul taint of too much caffeine or lack of sleep.
'Or at least as clear as my mind ever gets' She mused. Strangely enough, something felt wrong. She slouched out of the bed, and looked around. The sky outside was perfectly blue, as normal. There was the sound of birdsong, all perfectly normal. She noticed Trixie's bed was empty, and Twilight's and Spike's basket. She quickly made herself presentable and wandered downstairs, to find Twilight sitting surrounded by books, swarmed by books even. She understood. Re-Shelving day. Any book Twilight was interested in would be placed in a pile, while the rest were carefully recategorised and shuffled about. Sometimes she wondered if one day she'd suddenly find herself interested in doing something like that. She also briefly wondered if her misguided help rampage was responsible for it being bumped up the schedule. She was fairly certain Twilight had just re-shelved everything last week.

"Morning, Twilight" she said.
"Good morning" She said, "Have a nice sleep?"

Midday felt an involuntary yawn.
"Yeah. I guess I probably needed it." She laughed.

"I suppose you did. You were out for a whole day." Midday stopped dead.
"What?" she said.

"Yeah. It's Friday" Twilight said, returning to her book. Midday frowned. She'd been tired and running on empty, but surely she shouldn't have slept through the whole day.
"Oh, and this letter came for you last night." Twilight said, tossing a small scroll that carried the silver seal and blue sash of a letter from Luna.

"We thought you might need some more time to heal."

It said. Such economy of language, she thought. Still. she did hate waking up after noon, but a whole day, gone.

She was suddenly aware of an odd stench.
"Morning" said Spike, walking past Midday with what looked like a rolled-up newspaper. His cheek was filthy, and she could see buried under the dirt and grime what appeared to be lipstick. It didn't take a detective to figure out what had happened.

She went through to the kitchen, partially to get away from the smell, and also because she hadn't eaten in a whole day. Once that was done she returned to the main room. She found Spike reading what in fact was a tabloid, with a blurry but distinct picture of Rainbow Dash at Canterlot Castle with Scootaloo on her back. Or rather, Rainbow Dash with her in the driver's seat with Scootaloo still holding on for her life, thanks to Trixie's rather unusual attempt at revenge.

The headline was... quite remarkable.
'Canterlot Castle takes part in Bring Your Daughter to Work Day', it said.

"Spike..." Midday said slowly. He looked up.
"Yeah?"

"What does the headline article say?" He looked at it.
"Oh, just some stuff about Rainbow Dash. Nothing much."

"Spike, I've just been asleep for a whole day after going near-insane from lack of sleep because a stage magician managed to swap my mind and Rainbow Dash, and I'm one hundred percent sure that's actually my mind in that blurry photo in Rainbow Dash's body, so please, just tell me what it says, or I'll get a damp cloth." It took Spike a few seconds to realise what she meant by the 'damp cloth' remark, but when he did he quickly explained.
"It's just speculating that Rainbow Dash is Celestia's daughter, and Scootaloo is her daughter and they're visiting Celestia even though it wasn't actually Bring Your Child to Work Day on Monday" He said hurriedly.

"Thank you for sharing that Spike. Now, shouldn't you, I don't know... wash that cheek?" She said, concerned. He suddenly looked defensive.
"No way! I'm not washing this cheek ever again!" He said. "It's a shrine to my love for Rarity!"

"You mean you don't have a shrine in the basement anyway?" she asked. Spike quickly leapt over to her and made 'shush' motions.
"Oh, Spike! You don't actually have a shrine to Rarity in the basement, do you?" He blushed, and scuffed his foot against the floor.
Midday did not giggle. She was the more-or-less proud daughter of one of the oldest noble houses in Equestria, with all that it entailed (Including the occasional burst of insanity) and therefore did not giggle at Spike's endearing display of embarrasment.
"Don't tell her" He hissed.

"Not a word." She smiled. Then something occured to her. She looked for the small calendar she'd put up. Quickly she rushed upstairs. She quickly found the small cabinet next to her bed and rummaged through it. She found a small box, neatly wrapped with a bow in the bottom drawer with a small note next to it in her hand-writing, reading 'Spike's birthday present'. Next to that was another note,

'Dear Twinkie, I owe you one save,
signed, M.E.'

"Damn her, she's always one step ahead!" she muttered. She couldn't recall buying this. Had she wiped her memory of the event, or had it just been too far back for her to recall clearly, or had it been during the Help Rampage?
She decided it didn't matter, and calmly closer the drawer again. She could hear raised voices from downstairs. She quickly rushed back downstairs to find Twilight chasing after Spike with a damp rag.

"It needs to be cleaned! It's unhygenic!" She strained. Midday watched as Spike rushed into the kitchen, Twilight following after. She wondered why Twilight didn't just teleport Spike in front of her, although that was probably just the Family Madness acting up again. Knowing Spike, he'd probably manage to evade her, and she'd give up and return home soon enough. She sighed, and looked for a piece of paper. She found one and began to write.
Since Spike wasn't there, and was really only useful for sending letters to Celestia, she decided to walk to the post office.

*****

It was a glorious day. The sun was out, clouds were drifting lazily through the sky, nothing particularly bad going on anywhere. True, the sun was the more harsh glare of winter than the lazy restfulness of spring and summer, but it was warm. And it was somewhat cold. It would probably snow at some point, which was a bit obvious seeing as it was by now December. And that meant...
"Hearth's Warming" she said. She looked about the town, and made a mental note to stay as far away from Sugarcube Corner as was equinely possible. Some ponies probably enjoyed crooning, but not her. And of course at some point Twilight would no doubt make some remark about 'the best Hearth's Warming Ponyville has ever had'.

She stopped walking as visions of misery and despair flooded her mind. True, her Hearth's Warmings were always generally pleasant, with the usual book from Twilight, the odd something-or-other from... her father, and the traditional sweater from grandma Velvet, but considering Twilight only ever bought her books, or gave her books she'd written, or on one rather unfortunate occasion, school textbooks, there was room for improvement. Although no Hearth's Warming present could ever have trumped Rarity's gift of a dress. She had been eight. What in Equestria was an eight year old going to do with a dress?

She sighed, and carried on walking to the post office.

*****

She calmly strolled back from the post office, feeling slight spring in her step, in no small way due to Ditzy having thanked her for some measure of aid she'd provided during the Help Rampage, which had apparently consisted of a warm thermos of tea and some assisting with a massive pile of letters.
She returned to find Twilight carefully analysing a large amount of books, frequently muttering things to herself and sighing supercilliously at random intervals.

"Something wrong?" Midday asked.
"Oh, it's just all this gutter-minded writings by brain-dead researchers constantly enforcing their own sexual preferences on history!" she said. Midday nodded. She was studying Hearth's Warming. She looked at the book Twilight was reading. It was the one she'd bought Twilight just last saturday.

"But apart from that, there's so much inaccuracy in the traditional play."
"Well, you can't make it more like the history books, Twilie. Otherwise you'd need a ludicrously huge amount of money, extras, actors, and it would pretty much be a straight-up historical re-enactment then."

"Yeah" Twilight nodded.
"If you were you I'd more offended about the unflattering portrayal of Princess Platinum, rather than historians and their obsessions with certain ponies being lovers."

"Let's not get started on unflattering portrayals" Twilight said. She looked up at the clock.
"Oh, I must have gotten distracted. I've got errands to run." She stood up and walked over to the door.

"If somepony knocks on the door, be careful. It's Crazy Friday" Twilight said, before she walked outside. And before Midday could question how it was named that, she was gone. But then, Twilight thought ponies who wanted to remove books from the library were mad, so maybe it wasn't anything serious. Nothing serious at all.
She saw what appeared to be Twilight's script for the Hearth's Warming play, which had apparently been savagely attacked by a horde of quill monsters. Little notes were scribbled all over it, pointing out things the historical versions of the characters would never say or do. There was a truly huge amount of them centered on Platinum. She saw one or two on Puddinghead, and several more on Pansy, with constant notation that Fluttershy was unsuited for the part.

She had to agree with that one, if only in spirit rather than the precise wording.
She started recalling the time when, in school, she'd been chosen for the Hearth's Warming play as Princess Platinum (a decision that had caused no small amount of upset) and had decided not to go along with the script, instead playing a more... historically accurate Princess Platinum, which ended with half the cast getting the stuffing beaten out of them by her method acting abilities. It also resulted in her never being allowed to act in school plays ever again. She regarded that as a net gain.

She was shaken from her fond school memories by a popping noise, as a small purple and green dragon fell from one of the top shelves, landing face-first on the floor.
"Hey" Spike said, dazed.

"How long have you been hiding up there?" She asked.
"Couple of minutes" he said, looking proud of himself. "It smells really owl-y up there."

There was a hooting noise that somehow managed to sound annoyed. Spike turned and looked up toward the noises' source.
"You first!" he said to the offended looking owl.

"Now, now boys. No rough-housing on Crazy Friday." Spike's eyes went wide.
"Oh no! It's not Crazy Friday again, is it?"

Midday knew a lot of Twilight's traditions. She knew of re-shelving day, of what happened when certain mythological sub-species of ponies were mentioned in earshot, of Twilight's almost total lack of inner monologue and dislike of direct eye contact and tendency to yell at history books for including lesbian subtext. However, she'd never heard of Crazy Friday.
She was about to ask what it was, when there was a knock at the door.

Instantly, Midday realised why Twilight had warned her. After all, they were in a public library, with a sign by the front door describing official opening and closing hours for all to see, so therefore, if somepony did knock, something was amiss. Spike and Midday exchanged glances. She wondered how Spike had managed to move from right next to her to by the kitchen door so fast for a dragon with such stubby little legs.
She walked over to the door, and, preparing for anything (Including opera-loving land cephelapods) opened it.

"Hi."
Standing there was a mare. She had purple-blue hair, her fur was a rather odd plum colour, and she appeared to be wearing contact lenses. Suddenly, memory of what Spike had said on her first day in the past came flooding back.

"Every few weeks it's the same thing. Some mare shows up, usually with purple fur and blue hair with dyed-in streaks, saying she's a great admirer of the legendary Twilight Sparkle and she wants to learn magic from her, and couldn't she just show her some of her magic, just to get an impression."

The pony in front of her did not look like she was especially dangerous, in the same way that most ponies didn't regard custard or sock puppets evil. But Midday was different. She knew there was reason Pinkie Pie was forbidden from ever having, using, making or handling sock puppets, even if she didn't know why (though she suspected it probably involved the misuse of cutlery)
"Is... this the residence of Twilight Sparkle?" The pony said, sounding confused.

"This is the Golden Oaks library" Midday said.
"Oh, good. I'm new in town, and I was hoping to see her honour, Miss Twilight Sparkle."

"Are you a reporter?" Midday tried to ignore the blatant incorrect title. Or the desire to tell this pony that Twilight had no actual title at present.
The mare looked offended.

"No! I am not."
"Then why are you here?"

The mare paused. "I was hoping Twilight Sparkle would be here. Could I see her?"
"For what purpose?"

The mare looked nervous. She muttered something inaudible.
"Excuse me one moment" Midday said, gently closing the door. She turned to see Spike sitting there eating a box of popcorn.

"Well?" She said. Spike looked up at her.
"All signs point to crazy." He said, in-between another mouthful, like it was the most perfectly ordinary thing in the world.

"So, get rid of her?"
"Yeah."

"Got it."
She walked back over to the door.

"I do apologise, but Twilight Sparkle is not here yet."
"Maybe I could wait for her" the unicorn said hopefully.

"Well, there are a great many reasonably priced hotels in Ponyville. If you leave us your name and contact details we will get back to you."
The mare looked uncertain.

"You do have a name, right?" Midday deadpanned.
"Yes, it's... Twinkling Dawn?"

"And your real name?"
"... Peachy Plum" the mare said, sadly.

For a brief moment, Midday was utterly unsure of what she was supposed to say. Then she gathered her thoughts.
"Well, I'm afraid Twilight Sparkle is not currently looking for an assistant, protege or aide. Thank you and good day" she said. She closed the door and turned to look at Spike. Her horn glowed, as she sound-screened the room.

"Wow" she said.
"Yeah" said Spike.

"Just... wow."
"I know."

"And this happens regularly?"
"Yeah."

"Sweet Celestia on a stick..."

*****

"Your majesty? Is something wrong?"
"Oh, it's nothing. Were was I?"

"The bi-monthly budget report, page twenty-seven."
"Oh, yes."

*****

Twilight returned eighteen minutes later and promptly returned to her studying the play, occasionaly muttering threats against whoever wrote the book. Midday meanwhile wandered aimlessly back and forth. In theory, she could have gone out, but the only place to go to on a friday afternoon in December was Sugarcube Corner, and they'd be playing jingles, or covers of jingles done by some Sapphire Shores-wannabe with a terrible voice and awful mixing, and she honestly wasn't sure which was worse.

So she found herself helping Twilight critisise historians. Which was more fun that not, and evidently Twilight liked having somepony who understood how wrong all the history books were, and how unfair the depictions of some ponies were, even though she could see Twilight's brief frowns when she explained she knew the major players in history.
"It would be so nice to make the play more accurate" Twilight sighed.

"Yeah, but like I said earlier, it would take too many ponies and time, and of course everypony would critisise it. 'Hey," She said, trying to do the most sarcastic, condescending voice that she could think of, "Why's Platinum being all sensible and rational and not whiny! Why's Hurricane a dude? Who's that guy with the beard and bells? This play's so inaccurate to the play I watched twenty years ago! Why didn't they throw in seaponies while they were at it?'" She took a second to realise why Twilight was glowering at her, and gave a small horrified gasp. Behind her she could hear Spike leaping for cover.

"Did you say... seapony?" Twilight said, her voice calm and quiet and cold as permafrost.
"Well, I-I-"

"SEAPONIES ARE NOT REAL! THEY ARE FAKE, FRADULENT, OF THE THINGS THAT EXIST, SEAPONIES ARE NOT AMONG THEM! THEY ARE FALSE, AND FURTHERMORE A TOTALLY RIDICULOUS IDEA!"
Midday waited for the world to stop spinning, and for her ears to stop ringing.

"Got it" she said, shaking her head and hoping the spots went away quickly.
Twilight paused and considered something.

"Maybe I should ask Cheerilee if I can teach her students history at some point."
Midday was about to bring up the fact that Cheerilee would probably argue against it on the grounds of being too dark, then that the foals would probably be all for violence and disembowling. Then she thought better of it.

"I thought you already did that" she muttered.
"That was different. This is just an accurate version of the Hearth's Warming tale."

"Presumably edited for time and adult content?"
"I suppose."

"Well, I might help with that, but the school'll be closed until well January. Kids these days get it so easy. Do you know, when I was a kid my mom made me study during the holidays?"
Midday made a mental note to kick herself for saying that to Twilight Sparkle.

"That sounds fun." The purple unicorn smiled, then it was replaced by a frown. "My parents hid my books during the holidays, said if I didn't-"
"They said they'd never see you, otherwise" Twilight frowned at Midday.

"Sorry, but that is the sort of things parents say" she smiled, in the hopes that Twilight's frown would fade. Instead the mare just turned back to her books.
The two continued onward with their studying, Twilight apparently hoping to find some record of Clover the Clever's usual method of dress before she went to bed. Eventually sleep began to tread at their heels, and the two ponies called it a night. As she went to bed Midday noted Spike's still filthy cheek, and the fact that he was sleeping in a dog basket, and made another mental note to 'talk' to Twilight about that at some point.

She also told herself it was Spike's 'big day' tomorrow, although for some reason she had an ominous feeling.

*****

Midday woke up, yawned, stretched and then went right back to sleeping. Then she woke up when she remembered it was Spike's birthday. She opened the cabinet her gift for him was contained it. She tried to remember if she'd ever recieved a birthday or Hearth's Warming gift from Spike. She looked down at the wrapped present.
"Okay, friendship is a two-way street" she muttered, remembering all those lectures from her university roommate, who would probably enjoy being stuck twenty-three years in the past, knowing her. Especially if she'd got the chance to meet Sweetie Belle and Sapphire Shores.

"Lousy stupid purple pegasus" she said, though there was no malice in it.
She came downstairs to find Twilight brandishing a damp cloth at Spike.

"I'm cleaning that cheek!" she declared. Spike ran, and as he did Twilight's horn flashed. There was a pop of magic as he reappeared in front of Twilight. Amazingly he tried running again.
Midday's horn glowed and Spike ran smack-dab into a forcefield.

"No fair!" He complained as Twilight set upon him with the rag.
"It's for your own good" Midday said, not at all feeling slightly vindictive over eighteen years back order of presents or cards.

There was spluttering from Spike and then a groan as Twilight leaned back with the rag.
"There. Presentable" she said triumphantly.

There was a knock on the door, which given the nature of the tapping was probably Pinkie Pie.
Twilight opened the door and Pinkie burst into the room, a party horn (leastways that was what Midday'd always called it) in her mouth.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" She cheered, tooting her horn and bouncing around the room. Midday saw the rest of Twilight's friends standing there holding presents. And Rainbow Dash, ever considerate of others had brough a barbell. She was still smiling though.

"Are those... for me?" asked Spike upon seeing the presents.
Midday was about to say something when Applejack cut in.

"You bet they are, birthday boy!"
"Don't you know that you get presents on your birthday?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Well," said Spike, "This is my first birthday in Ponyville, and I usually just get one present..."
"From Twilight. A book." Midday joined in. Everypony looked at her. She looked at Twilight, who was grinning sheepishly and barely hiding a book behind herself.

"Speaking of presents" Rarity said, displaying a cape which appeared to be made of taffeta.
"This is from my new line of taffeta capes. I'm going to make one for each of you. Except you Midday, since I wasn't sure whether you would want one."

"Fair enough" she shrugged.
"I've been inspired by the generosity of my little Spikey-wikey, who gave me this beautiful fire ruby, one of the kindest acts I've ever experienced" Rarity continued, calling attention to the necklace she was wearing.

Midday questioned whether being handed a lump of carbon was really the kindest acts Rarity had ever experienced, or whether she was just being nice to Spike. Though considering she apparently needed to learn that being with family involved compromise, it was probably the former.

*****

She watched as Spike opened each present, beaming at what appeared to be hers, a rather large gemstone that she couldn't for the life of her recall getting. She found herself conversing with Fluttershy of all ponies
"You know, this birthday party's been pretty good" she said, smiling. "Nopony's been set on fire, either, which is a plus." There was a terrified squeak from Fluttershy.

"No, no, I'm kidding. My mother never let me set anypony on fire. She did let me practice casting fireballs on melons, though, which was as close to a non-literary present as I ever got from her on my birthday."
"That's... good, right?"

Midday shrugged.
"Well... She did once get me a book on dangerous plants and weeds. That was interesting. Did you know how many types of not-quite sentient plants there are that can break a stallion's leg?"

Fluttershy nodded.
"Wait, are you nodding because you do know, or just nodding in general?"

There was a pause before Fluttershy responded. "The first one."
"Really? I didn't have you pegged (No joke intended) as somepony with an interest in botany?"

"Well, I do sometimes make up herbal remedies for my animals, or sometimes Angel wants something specific in his dinner that the market stalls don't carry, and sometimes there are animals with odd diseases, so I thought it would be an idea to study dangerous plants, especially after this accident with Poison Joke."
"And how soon did you start having nightmares about being eaten by daffodils?"

Fluttershy blushed and muttered something. Midday tried not to feel alarmed that she'd embarrased Fluttershy. It wasn't like she was talking to a pony known for being able to wrestle bears. But the only options of conversation available were either Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash or Twilight. And Applejack as well, in theory.
And Spike had vanished. Something was bothering her, some half-remembered tale from when she was little. And several scraps of information on dragons, some ruminating from Impossibility, her niece, who as a half-dragon did have some valid concerns about her biology.

"Well, good conversation" she said, Fluttershy making the first move and disappearing.
Midday's gaze was drawn toward Twilight, who was looking concerned.

"Something up?" Midday asked.
"Yes. Spike should've been back by now. He was only going to Sugarcube Corner and it's not like the weather could be slowing him down" She waved a hoof at the window showing the nice, mostly cloudless day. She could even hear Rainbow Dash and Rarity talking about it.

"Yeah, it's nice right now, but's it's probably gonna snow by tomorrow. Maybe tonight if we push it."
"No."

"Yeah. Snow. Great, isn't it? We're thinking of keeping it till mid-January" Rainbow Dash beamed with pride.
"But, Rainbow Dash, we're going to Canterlot next week. How can we go if the rails are blocked by several inches of snow?!"

Rainbow Dash patted Rarity on the head.
"Don't you go fussing over that, Rarity. Auntie Dash knows what she's doing when it comes to weather."

"Is that why it rained frogs last March?" Rarity smirked.
"Wasn'tmyfault" she murmured hurriedly, looking at her hooves. "Wuz Cloud Kicker's fault."

"I'm still concerned about Spike" Twilight announced, looking up at the clock.
"Well, he can't have gotten lost, not in Ponyville. Maybe he's just talking to somepony."

Twilight looked at the clock.
"I'm going to go see where he is" she muttered.

*****

"Hey there, Lickety Split! That's a pretty cool ball you got there! Did you know today's my birthday?"

*****

"R-r-right back hoof on blue!" Fluttershy said, straining to keep herself upright.
Midday cursed herself. How did she manage to let Pinkie talk her into this?

"Rainbow, can you reach the thing?" Pinkie said from somewhere behind Applejack.
"Oh, yeah, sure" came the speedster's voice from somewhere in the mass of heads and tails and legs. There was a sound of a door opening and hoofsteps stopping.

"I am awake, right? Trixie isn't seeing some localised debauchery taking place in Twilight's house at eleven in the morning, is she?"
"They're just playing Twister" Rarity said from the chair she was sitting on, somehow having managed to resist Pinkie's cunning arguments.

"I see" Trixie said, carefully edging her way into the kitchen, never taking her eyes off the girls.
"Oh no" whispered Rainbow Dash.

"What? What?" Applejack asked. There was a strange noise coming from Rainbow Dash.
"Nuthin'" the pegasus blurted. Midday was sure she could feel her beginning to wobble.

"I think Rainbow Dash has something against somewhere sensitive" Midday deadpanned.
"Hey! I don't do 'sensitive'. It's just... tickles, is all."

"Dashie's tickly? Fluttershy, you never said she was ticklish!"
"I didn't know."

There was the sound of a door opening again. From the sound of it, it was probably the front door.
"What the-?" Twilight said. She didn't sound amused.

"Hi Twilight!" Pinkie said, apparently waving a hoof. "We're playing Twister. We'd let you join in, but... we're kinda tangled up right now."
There was an unspecifiable noise from Rainbow Dash.

"Whoever's touching me, please move" she said. She sounded agitated.
"Rainbow, whoever's doing it can't move till they know who it is who needs to move" Midday said.

"Who the who who who?" Pinkie chirped.
"Thank you Pinkie, very constructive" said Midday, who had a strong suspicion that it was probably her causing Rainbow Dash her discomfort. Of course, everypony else in the tangle was convinced of the same thing as well, even Rainbow Dash.

"Spin the thing, blast ya!" Applejack said as she felt the full weight of Pinkie Pie upon her.
"Left front hoof on... yellow" said Rainbow Dash. There was an awkward silence as all five ponies did the mental arithmatic as to their positions and the location of a yellow circle on the mat relative to them.

"Aw, nerts." Pinkie Pie said.
Two and half minutes later, and Fluttershy's leg gave out, causing all five ponies to sort of slump into a heap, being too close together and tangled up to fall. Rarity laughed, drawing the gaze of several ponies.

"Next time, you're joining in" Midday hissed, wiping some sweat from her brow.
"Oh, please. I'm a lady, and a lady does not play Twister. Especially not while carrying expensive jewellery."

"See, all I heard there was 'excuse, excuse, excuse'" said Rainbow Dash, adding a derisive snort for good measure.
"So, you do this at everypony's birthday party, Pinkie?" Midday said, rubbing her sore back legs.

"Yuh-huh" Pinkie smiled, restoring her temporarily discarded party hat.
Midday looked at Twilight, who still standing in the doorway and looked furious. Midday knew the specific brand of furious currently gracing Twilight's face. It was her 'disapproving mom' look. And she couldn't help but notice Spike wasn't present.

"Something wrong?" she asked. Everypony turned to look at Twilight.
"I'm fine, but I'm afraid Spike's birthday party is going to have to be cut short."

"What?" Pinkie Pie said with utter horror, somehow managing to unhinge her jaw.
"I'm sorry Pinkie, and no, you cannot talk me out of this" she sounded sad. Midday watched as the mares quickly left, leaving Twilight looking at the floor.

"Hey, where'd everypony go?" said Trixie, walking in from the kitchen with what looked like a sandwich that instead of using butter used... mustard.
"Where is Spike anyhow?" asked Midday.

"He'll be along in a minute" Twilight said firmly. Midday walked up to her.
"What happened?"

"Nothing, nothing." Midday stared at Twilight. She sighed, and sat down.
"He was using the fact that it's his birthday to extort presents off of ponies. I caught him trying to take some flowers from Junebug" she smiled. "Fortunately I was able to nip the problem in the bug, and Spike agreed to return everything he's taken."

Midday and Trixie exchanged glances, although Trixie's slight shuffle away from her, followed by a punctuated bite of her sandwich indicated they weren't exactly thinking on the same level.
Midday wasn't sure what was going to happen, but she could easily tell when Twilight was tempting fate.

"Twilight," Midday said, smiling slightly, "just out of general curiosity, what's the strongest level of containtment field you can conjure?"
Twilight looked thoughtful.

"Class six. Maybe a seven if I were pushed. Why?"
Midday smiled in a manner she hoped was disarming.

"Just for future reference, and not any variety of fear that you may need to use such a spell in the immediate future in any way, shape or form, especially not to contain gigantic fire-breathing creatures." Midday winced. It wasn't actually fear, it was more along the lines of expectance. Like the old Diamond Dog phrase that couldn't translate accurately into actual Equestrian, but generally went along the lines of 'Aargh'.
"That's good." Twilight said, not noticing the concerned look on Midday and Trixie's faces.

*****

"Pinkie? What is it dear?" Mrs Cake asked.
"I don't know. I think it's a giant creature rampage. But I'm not sure which sort. Wait... narrowing it down... it's either a giant lizard, giant bear or... a giant... turtle!"

Mr and Mrs Cake exchanged nervous glances, Mr Cake's eyes going to his wife's midsection. She looked at him.
"Pinkie, do you think you could look after the store tomorrow?" Mr Cake inquired, trying to sound as unconcerned as possible, and ignoring the complete panic only an expecting parent can muster.

*****

The rest of the day passed without any variety of incident, although Midday quickly searched for the book on dragons and couldn't find it, and as time passed her concern and dread grew.
There was also the fact that Spike still hadn't shown up, and Twilight was beginning to pace in the main room.

Midday eventually calmed Twilight through a truly stunning combination of logic and a stern, commanding tone, and made her go to bed, promising to look for Spike first thing in the morning.
As she went to sleep herself, Midday was faintly aware of a strange scraping noise, though she fell asleep before she could do anything about it.

She had dreams of running after a vast, dark shape that seemed to be draining all the colour out of the world.

*****

She opened her eyes to see an alarming sight. Right at the end of Twilight's bed was a massive pile of objects, detritus and what lawyers would call 'stuff'. She could hear snoring underneath it.
"Twilight, wake up" She said to the curled up unicorn. She nudged her. That didn't work. She rolled her eyes.

"Exam student Twilight Sparkle, your time is up!" she said. That did the trick, as Twilight's eyes shot open, and she seemed to get up without actually moving.
"I'm awake, I'm awa-" Twilight cut off when she saw the pile of things at the foot of her bed. She frowned and her horn glowed to reveal a strange and somewhat alarming sight.

Spike was sleeping in his basket, and he looked... bigger. And there was a fedora on his head.
"Spike?" Twilight said. The no-longer-a-baby dragon yawned, revealing a wide mouth and sharp-looking teeth. Halfway through the yawn turned into a hiss.

"What happened?" he said upon seeing his larger form. His voice sounded slightly deeper.
"Will you knock it off with the n-... pleasetellmeimdreaming!" said a voice from the second spare bed.

Midday felt a sudden, resolute and unyielding need to find the book on dragons.

Author's Note

I didn't think this chapter would be this long.
It just sort of... grew while I was writing it. Hur-hur.
(Edit: Just to clarify: I am (now) aware that rubies are in fact not made of carbon. Therefore, I am rolling up my sleves and saying that this is just a case of pony error. Midday made a mistake, that's all.)

When Big Brothers Attack! Part Two

The three mares stared at the sight before them. Twilight looked shocked, Trixie looked nervous and Midday was alarmed. The baby dragon was now tall, taller than most ponies and wearing an oddly out of place hat on his head. Midday couldn't help but stare at his disturbingly odd proportions.
"What's happening to me?" he yelped, his voice sounding much deeper, though still bearing all the essential Spike-ness.
"I don't know" Twilight said. The aura of confusion in the air was palpable. Midday couldn't even remember the last time she'd heard Twilight actually admit there was something she didn't know. She started looked through a book as Spike tried to wrestle the hat off his head.

"Think back to last night!" Twilight said, "Did something happen?" Spike didn't seem to be listening. He seemed more interested in his new body.
"Did something happen? Spike? What did you do after I saw you?" Midday noticed Spike was staring at something.

"I went to talk to... talk to..." he stared walking across the room to an old globe, a hungry look in his eyes.
"Spike!" Twilight yelled. Her horn glowed and the globe floated into the air, at which point Spike fell flat on his face.

"You went to talk to who?" she asked. Spike shrugged and grunted.
"I don't remember." Midday watched as Twilight floated the globe over to the pile of stuff, too disturbed by the proceedings to make any remark about that act. She was vaguely aware of the noise of Trixie edging her way towards the stairs, though.

"Hey, can I have that globe? You're not using it, right?" Spike said as he walked to the pile. Twilight quickly leapt on top of it, so he went for a small book that looked rather like the one Twilight had wanted to give him for his birthday.
"What about this book?" Twilight's horn glowed, and she wrenched the book out of his hand.

"Spike, I'm worried about you" she said, checking the book to make sure it was okay. "You're not usually this... grabby!"
"My arms aren't usually this long either" Spike said, gasping in horror as his voice deepened halfway through his statement.

"What's happening to me?" he asked. Midday tried to rally her thoughts and walked over to Spike.
"Okay, Spike, hello, just tell me, how do you feel?" she said, trying to smile reassuringly. The dragon shrugged again.

"I don't know. Tall, and kinda hungry, I guess."
"Hungry, okay, we can work with that." She paced back and forth for a moment.

"Okay, Twilight, I'll go see if I can figure out what's going on. You stay here and... hold down the fort." She quickly rushed downstairs before Twilight could say anything. She found Trixie pacing back and forth and looking incredibly nervous, as well as undressed.
"What's going on with the dragon?" she asked. Midday ignored her and started looking over all the shelves.

"What are you doing?" Midday cursed as she couldn't find anything. She quickly rushed into the secondary room and started searching there.
"What is it?"

Midday turned to look at Trixie.
"I'm looking for a book on dragons which I know I saw around here. I was thinking I could use it to figure out what's going on and then maybe stop Spike's sudden growth spurt."

"You mean that isn't natural, it didn't just happen?"
"Does it look like a natural growth spurt to you?"

"I don't know. I stay the hay away from big, mean, snarling eats-ponies-up-in-one-go dragons!"
There was a pause. Midday was sure she could hear the sound of hoofsteps, and a door closing.

"Oh no!" she said, rushing out into the main room. She saw the bright flash of a teleport flare by the front door.
"Ohnononononono!" She added, for all the good it did.

"What was that? Should I be panicking? Should I be running away? Is Trixie wasting valuable running away time talking to you?"
"That was Twilight taking Spike to a doctor, instead of listening to me for once. Just once, when it matters, she could listen"

She started remembering some advice her aunt had given her, and her mother as well. She took several deep breaths. For the moment, her panic cleared up.
"Okay, okay." She turned back to Trixie, her voice eerily calm.

"You are going to go to the town hall and tell the mayor to start an immediate evacuation of Ponyville, and me, I'm going to go find Spike and stop him before anything goes wrong."
"Me? Go tell the mayor to evacuate a whole town?" Trixie said. There was no arrogance in her voice, more like... disbelief.

"What, you don't think you can do it?"
There was a moment as Trixie looked about uncertainly. "Perhaps Trixie does not believe anypony will listen to her."

"Ah. Fine." She waved her hoofs.
"We'll have to move quickly" she said.

"I'll just get my cape a-" Trixie was interuppted by Midday grabbing her ear and dragging her out of the door.

*****

The two mares stormed into town hall, and Trixie, with some 'encouragement' from Midday, demanded to see the mayor.
"Yes?" The grey-haired mare said when the two walked into her office, which looked largely the same as it had in Midday's time, aside from the slightly uncomfy looking chair.

"Mayor, we need you to authorise a full evacuation of Ponyville"
"Why?"

"I have strong reason to believe there will be a dragon rampaging about the town."
The mayor's face remained impassive, which considering what Midday had seen of her was unusual.

"I see."
Midday and Trixie exchanged looks.

"You... believe us?" Midday asked.
"Oh yes. Perhaps because Pinkie Pie has already informed everypony in town of an incoming 'doozy'" she said, making the requisite air-quotes with her hooves.

"Oh the blessing that is the Pinkie Sense. Okay, good, fine." Midday smiled.

*****

The two mares walked outside in utter quiet.
"So now what?" asked Trixie, who then looked down at herself.

"You get out of town until the all-clear."
"Okay" Trixie said instantly.

"Because of course you don't really have the sort of spells to take on a dragon, do you?"
Trixie shook her head, the considered something

"Do I have time to go home and get dressed?"
"Yeah, yeah, go." Midday sighed as Trixie rushed off back to the library. This would require extensive thought.

Then, through the fog of panic and general lack of sleep came the bitter realisation of memory. She knew what was going to happen. Impy hold told her about this day, told her about how Spike had grown giant with greed. Grown giant with greed...
That was it, she just had to get Spike to focus on other emotio-...

"Damn" she muttered. True, she had some spells capable of inducing calm or peace, but nowhere near as powerful as her aunt or cousin could manage, mere cheap immitation moods, and there had to be an amount already there anyway, she couldn't make ponies like something they didn't care about (Unless she used a Want-It, Need-It spell, which she wasn't going to.)
So, she couldn't do much. But she could do something, she told herself. She quickly rushed back to the library herself.

*****

She quickly knocked open the door, and rushed upstairs, past Trixie, to the cupboard, quickly opening it and pulling out the hat, cape and leotard.
"Why in the world are you using that?" Trixie asked upon catching up with her.

"Well, it seemed appropriate" she said. She looked at herself in the mirror. Cape, hat, mask, body concealing clothing. She activated her voice-changing spell.
"Now, all I have to do is find Spike, which will in fact be easy" she said. True, Impy hadn't exactly given her aunt the full details of what had transpired, probably because she didn't know herself, but it was easy enough to figure out where Twilight would have gone, and what she would have done.

"You see, she'd have gone to the hospital first, and Ponyville General is nowhere near a quality hospital, except for its nurses, who are a deadly fighting team. Then she'd have gone to the vet, and no vet who'd seen a dragon would be in Ponyville, so that leaves one last place."
"That weird rhyming zebra?"

"Her name is Zecora."
"So, why not go there?"

"Because Spike is currently in the middle of a greed rampage, which means he'll probably go after whatever isn't nailed down or on fire and..." She facehoofed.
"Screaming children in three, two, o-"

There was a distant scream. Midday did a double-check, then blinked.
"Huh. Must've been counting fast" she muttered.

*****

She found Spike wrestling with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, in the process of taking Scootaloo's scooter. He looked taller now, and from the sound of it his grasp of grammar was slipping.
"Well, of course it's them" she said. She leapt.

"Spike WANT!"
She connected with him, jabbing him ever-so slightly with her front hoof. There was a slight jolt. The dragon waved an arm, knocking her off him.

"Mare Do Well!" cheered Sweetie Belle.
"Three, two... one" Midday said to herself. The dragon continued struggling with the CMC, and then suddenly he spasmed, and collapsed.

"I love that spell." Midday said under her breath. Perhaps the adrenalin and panic was messing with her brain since she started thinking... inappropriate things about that spell.
"Girls!" Somepony cried. She turned to see Twilight rushing towards them, utterly panicked.

"Spike!" she said once she saw the dragon, lying on the ground and twitching. She turned to Midday.
"What did you do?" she asked, her tone halfway shocked and appalled.

"Zapped him a bit." Twilight glowered at her. "Hey, he was trying to take her scooter" She nodded towards Scootaloo, who nodded in agreement, clutching her scooter to her barrel.
"Don't worry, he'll be f-" There was a low growling noise, and several wide-eyed stares from everypony else.

"I hate my life" she muttered, just before something kicked her. She flew through the air and landed in a heap.
There was a horrified squeak from the CMC.

"Spike... ANGRY!"
"I hate that spell" Midday said.

The dragon began to lumber towards her, and of course he snorted steam. Midday slowly tried to get onto her hooves.
"Hey, Spike!" Twilight yelled, "Check out this broom"

Five heads turned to see a broom floating in the grasp of Twilight's magic. Spike's eyes changed from simmering with range to wide-eyed interest.
"Spike want!" He started to walk towards Twilight, and Midday couldn't help but notice his sudden spurt as he did. The Cutie Mark Crusaders walked over to her.

"Thanks." Scootaloo said.
"No problem" Midday rubbed the side of her head. Spike had managed to kick her harder.

"What was all that about?" asked Apple Bloom.
"Oh, you know teenagers, plus, he's boy, it all makes sense." She saw the confused looks on the trio's faces.

"Oh, hush up, I've just been punted. Now then, where you fleeing Ponyville like presumably you were told?"
"Yeah. But couldn't we stay and help catch Spike?" asked Scootaloo, who looked like she was mistaken on the definition of the word 'catch'.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders Dragon Catchers?" asked Apple Bloom. The three fillies looked at each other, and back to Midday.
"Get to safety, girls."

"Got it." Apple Bloom said instantly. There was a momentary look of relief on her comrades faces. Then something occurred to Sweetie Belle.
"Wait, I think Rarity's still in her house."

"Got it." Midday said, "Now for the love of Luna, will you hurry and up and move." They did, and she set after Spike and Twilight.

*****

She heard a crashing noise, and saw a distant shape of a fifteen foot tall dragon rushing out of what appeared to be the side-room of the library.
"Twilight!" she yelled. The unicorn stared at her.

"Midday?"
"Hush, secret identity, old girl!"

Twilight blinked. "Really? Why are you doing this?"
"Good question, probably because I might have to do something serious and I don't want to show off and have ponies asking questions." The two mares stood there.

"Shouldn't we...?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah" was Midday's response.

*****

As it turned out fifteen-foot tall dragons were faster and more stealthy than their size and limited diction suggested. Eventually the two followed the kleptomaniacal dragon to Sweet Apple Acres.
"He's fast" Twilight observed, as they passed by dozens of barren trees.

"Actually I think most of these trees are just going through their winter phase."
"Where is everypony?" asked Twilight.

"Most of them fled thanks to Pinkie warning the mayor."
"Pinkie Sense" Twilight said.

"Yeah."
Twilight stopped, and once she noticed Midday did as well. Twilight stared deeply at her.

"How do you even know about Pinkie Sense anyway? Did somepony explain it to you?"
"Spike tried, I think, shortly after I arrived here."

That wasn't completely untrue. He had certainly tried, but Midday had heard the epic tale of Twilight learning about There Being Things Ponies Would Never Understand when she was a child, and had tried to prevent Spike straining something trying to re-explain the circumstances of that day to her.
"Anyway... hey, there he goes!" she said, pointing to a lumbering purple and green shape carrying a large pile of apples.

"Joke's on him. Most of them are probably rotten." She turned to Twilight.
"You fetch Applejack and I'll... do something clever."

"Like what?"
"I don't know," she admitted, "but step one of my fiendish plan involves you fetching Applejack."

Twilight quickly rushed off, and Midday pursued the dragon. However, she was unwilling to use any more magic on him, which made subduing him difficult.
"How can something so huge be so fast?!" Then she saw something in the corner of her eye, Applejack and Twilight.

"Hey" she said, stopping for breath, and also to hear whatever masterful plan Twilight came up with.
"Twilight, get my rope." Applejack said, shaking off two wayward leaves that had settled on her lips.

"You're gonna wrangle a dragon? Wow. Genius. Why didn't I think of that?" Midday deadpanned.
"You got a better idea, Missy Do Well?"

There was a moment of near-silence, punctuated by what sounded like a dragon chuckling.

*****

So, two and a half minutes later, three ponies found themselves wound around one of Applejack's trees.
"Okay, ah'm willing to admit my plan could have used a bit of polishing."

There was a squeak from Midday.
"What?" Twilight asked.

"Dragon. Big dragon. In face." Midday was looking straight into Adult-Spike's eyes. Underneath her mask she smiled nervously. Spike roared in her face, dislodging her hat and getting bits of dragon-spittle all over her face.
"I bet you say that to all the costumed adventurers." She yelled at him as he ran off carrying a small farm's worth of apples. "Also: Ew."

"Help!" yelled Twilight. There was a distinctive sound of somepony laughing, that of the pony Midday least wanted to see when tied to a tree with Applejack and Twilight Sparkle.
"Don't tell me" Rainbow Dash said, before pausing.

"Out of tree puns?" Midday said, raising an eyebrow for good measure.
"I'm branching out" Rainbow Dash said defensively.

"Oh, please tell me you didn't plan that one." Twilight groaned.
"Nope, pure improv. Now, shall we get to the root of the current problem?"

"Rainbow Dash, untie Twilight and Midday here, but not me. Ah feel like ah'm gonna break something."
Midday started counting.

"Why are you counting?" Asked Twilight.
"Because-" There was a high-pitched scream.

"That's why" Midday said, calmly.
"Fluttershy." Midday and Rainbow Dash said.

The pegasus quickly untied all three ponies, staring at Midday every few seconds.
"How can you tell that was Fluttershy?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"I'm good with voices" Midday said.
"And why are you wearing that costume, anyway?"

Midday just shrugged her shoulders. "Because it's so comfy. I think in a few years everypony'll be wearing one."

*****

They quickly found Fluttershy outside her house, clinging to an impossibly thin branch of a tree, with several squirrles clinging to her.
"What happened?" asked Twilight.

"I was helping my squirrel friends with a dance step" Fluttershy explained, "And, all of a sudden, a giant, rampaging dragon came through"
"He's giant? Oh, that's incredibly far from good" Midday said to herself. She noticed Fluttershy's chicken coop was missing, and several startled and confused chickens were sitting around

"That was Spike" Twilight shouted. Fluttershy blinked.
"Spike? But...Why would Spike steal my chicken-coop?"

"That explains the missing chicken-coop then" Midday noted.
"He just pulled it out of the ground and filled it with a whole bunch of apples."

Any further discussion was interrupted by another high pitched scream, one that took Midday a few seconds to realise.
"That sounded like Pinkie Pie" Rainbow Dash said.

*****

They found Pinkie inside Sugarcube Corner (where else would Pinkie Pie be on a Sunday afternoon?) throwing cakes at a remarkably agile Spike, despite the dragon's now prominent stomach, and the fact that he was holding a chicken coop.
"Back!" Pinkie yelled at Spike, hurling another cake at him, "Get back!"

"Pinkie, why are you giving him cake?"
"I'm not giving him cake" Pinkie snapped, "I'm assaulting him with cake!"

"Oh, for the love of..." Midday said, lunging at the dragon before Pinkie could give him more delectable ammunition. She slammed into the dragon, and there was an almighty crash as dragon and pony fell out into the street.
Midday bounced off of him and rolled, quickly pulling herself to her feet before Spike could pull himself up.

"Zap him!" Rainbow Dash yelled.
Midday leapt out of the way of Spike as he lunged at her.
"Wouldn't it be an idea for somepony to find Rarity, instead of playing cheerleader?" Midday asked as she leapt around Spike. While he amazingly fast for such a bulky giant, he was still getting too big. She leapt at his neck, making sure to try and keep a strong hold on him and altered her voice to sound like Rarity's.

"Now, Spikey, let's all behave like calm and rational beings, who do not steal from Fluttershy"
There was a rumble from Spike.

"Or Applejack. Or anypony for that matter."
There was a series of rumbles from Spike, and Midday noticed a strange feeling on her back.

"You've got your tail around my waist, haven't you?"
She suddenly felt herself being violently yanked backwards, and then flung right in front of Spike. He was glowering at her.

"Ah" was all she could say to that.
'I could've given this plan a bit more thought' she thought. Then she saw Spike inhale. An ominous green glow began to fill the back of his mouth.

"This is going to suck" she muttered.

*****

Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie watched as Spike spat out a burst of bright green flame, centered entirely on Midday. Fluttershy collapsed, Pinkie winced.
"That poor girl" Applejack said.

Apparently satisified, Spike turned in the direction of Carousel Boutique. Twilight was still staring at the flames.
She felt a strange feeling in her heart, not entirely like that of when her grandmother had passed away. She'd been a child at the time, so her parents had suggested she stay at home instead of attending the funeral. Why exactly this bizarre accountant from Canterlot made her feel like this, she wasn't sure, but there was something eerily familiar about her.

"OW! HOT, HOT, HOTHOTHOT!" Twilight looked up to see Midday discarding the burning Mare Do Well costume, well outside the flame.
"Oh, good, it's off." Midday sighed, wiping her brow. The five mares stared at her.

"What did Rarity make that costume out of?" asked Rainbow Dash, staring at the almost undamaged costume.
"Sugar, spice, everything nice, and INGREDIENT X!" Pinkie declared, before seeing the blank looks everypony gave her. "No?"

"No 'fense, but how aren't you dead?" Applejack asked.
"Guess Rarity didn't tell us about every feature she installs in her clothing." Midday laughed.

Any further conversation was interrupted by a distinctive scream.
"Speak of the Draconequus."

*****

"Let me down you brute!" Rarity screamed at the now staggeringly large Spike.
"Oh, that'll work." Midday said. She turned to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.

"Think you can distract him?"
"I'm not sure" Rainbow Dash muttered.

"We could give it a try" Fluttershy said. There was an awkward pause.
"I think you two have your roles switched" Midday noted.

"I can't kick a baby dragon in the face!" Rainbow Dash hissed.
"Ah." Midday said. "Yes. That was why I wasn't zapping him with magic."

"Really?"
"Well, you see, the amount of magic needed to actually get a dragon's attention would probably be as close to a kill-shot as makes no difference. Which is also why it's probably a good thing I've never had to fight a dragon."

"That might change in a second" Applejack said. Midday turned, ready to say something scathing, and saw she was looking up, and backing away. And Spike's ten-foot wide foot was heading towards her.
Instinctively she raised a barrier. There was a harsh grinding noise as Spike's giant foot slammed into it, and a feeling like something smashing into her head. She looked at Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

"Move" she said. They quickly rushed to the side, then took to the air. Spike's foot slammed down again. Midday felt something moving along her lip.
"That's not good." Spike slammed his foot against the barrier once more, and this time it shattered. Midday saw the foot approaching, closer, and closer... She closed her eyes.

There was a quick hum, and a strange 'bloink'. She opened her eyes, expecting grays and drabness and eternal floating around, the Asphodel Fields, because there was no chance she was getting into Elysium, not with her school record.
Instead she was in the library. In the distance there was the sound of screaming.

"Next time, just get me a smaller brother for Hearth's Warming" she muttered, before staggering out of the door, trying to ignore the pounding in her head. Or was that just Spike moving about.
It took her a few minutes to get to everypony else, since she could barely move at more than a jog. She could feel the occasional shake of the earth, meaning Spike was moving, although at his scale he wasn't moving very fast. As she ran she found a part of her mind she barely used ranting and raving about something to do with cubes and squares.

"Dragons" she muttered, "give me big green things with teeth any day of the week." You knew where you stood with Big Green Things with Teeth, and it wasn't underneath their feet, because they didn't have feet. Usually. If the Creator was feeling benevolent.
She found Twilight, Pinkie Pie and Applejack standing and staring at the extra-large Spike climbing up a mountain. She was incredibly certain she could see a blob of white on his tail, which was in all likelihood Rarity.

"Hey everypony" she said, just nodding at the looks of surprise on their faces.
"Yeah, yeah, twice in one day, go me. What's up with our dragon friend?"

They looked. Even from their distant vantage point there was a strange look on Spike's face. It looked like... guilt?
"Is it me or is he-?" Midday said as Spike began to... well, shrink. "Yeah, he is."

And then Spike and Rarity began to fall.
"Somepony do something!" Pinkie yelled, before falling onto her back.

"On it!" Rainbow Dash declared. They watched as Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy caught the falling unicorn and dragon in what appeared to be one of Rarity's capes, before safely returning them to the bridge.
"We did it!" Fluttershy gasped, "I can't believe we did it!" She smiled.

"All in a day's work" Rainbow Dash said proudly.
"You said it." Midday said, rubbing her head. Rainbow Dash turned to look at her.

"Huh? I though Spike squished you?"
"I got out of the way. Got a massive headache though. And is the sun supposed to be that colour of chartreuse?"

Twilight laughed.
"Let's get you home before you hurt yourself some more"

"Aww, mom" Midday said, before smirking at Twilight blushing. Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Fluttershy giggled at that, while Rarity and Spike just sat next to each other.

*****

Later, as Midday was sitting down on her bed reading a book, a bag of ice on her head. There was a polite cough. She looked, to see Spike staring at her.
"Hey, Spike" she smiled. He looked embarrassed.

"I just want to say... I'm sorry for all the things I did to you" he muttered.
"It's alright Spike. You weren't exactly yourself. Believe me, I know exactly how that feels. And how it feels after."

"Really? You know what it feels like to wake up and find out you tried to... t-to hurt someone you love?" he sounded angry, though she wasn't sure if that was anger at himself or not.
"Yes" she said, quietly. Spike looked up at her.

"Spike, we're all allowed mistakes. Every single thing under the sun makes mistakes. You, me, Twilight, Luna. Everypony, everyone."
"I guess" he hopped onto the bed and sat next to her. After a few seconds of frowning and looking nervous, he asked a question.

"Does it ever go away? The guilt? For what you did?"
"Over three months so far, and I'm pretty sure it's gonna be here for the rest of my life. And that's what I deserve." Spike rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Well, just... if you need help, ask and I'll do what I can."
"Thanks." She looked at Spike, smiling away at her, face full of innocence.

"Did you enjoy your birthday party?" she asked. Spike smiled.
"Yeah. Thanks, by the way."

"For what?"
"Being here. Just... being here." He looked confused.

"I don't know why, but I just feel like I should trust you."
Midday looked around the room.

"You shouldn't."
"What is your real name, anyway?"

"What?"
"Well, 'Midday Eclipse', come on," Spike scoffed, "that's such a phony name. What's your real name?"

"Do you really want to know?"
"Yeah."

Midday stared into his eyes. He was serious, all of a sudden.
"If I do tell you, do you promise to not tell anyone, not just anypony, ever, unless I say so?"

"I guess."
"Do you swear, on your word as a dragon and the assistant of Twilight Sparkle?"

"Yes."
She sighed heavily. "Alright. But don't say I didn't warn you."

*****

Meanwhile, in a darkened room, two ponies met.
"Rarity, do we really need the lights off? And these cloaks? Brown is totally, undeniably uncool."

"Fine, fine. Be that way" Rarity said, her horn glowed and there was a click as the lights turned on.
"Happy now, Rainbow Dash?"

"Yeah. I guess."
"So, what is it you called this little conclave for?"

"Huh? Oh, right, well, I was just wondering why you went to the effort of making the Mare Do Well costume fire-proof"
Rarity looked at Rainbow Dash.

"I did what now?"
Seconds passed as the two mares realised what Rarity had just said, contemplated it, and came to an alarming conclusion.

"Rainbow Dash, we are going to Canterlot next week, yes?"
"Yeah..."

"Where Midday says she came from."
"Yeah..."

"So, perhaps while we are there, we should do some... investigating."
"Huh?"

"Find out something about her."
"Oh, yeah. Yeah." Rainbow Dash smiled and rubbed her hooves together. Rarity's suggestion sounded really good to her.

"This is gonna be sweet."

*****

There was utter silence between the royal blue pony and the small dragon, who had just been staring ahead into space.
"You okay, Spike?" Midday asked gently.

For a moment, Spike just blinked. "Yeah... I guess I asked, didn't I?"
"And you promised."

"Yeah. I won't tell a soul."

Author's Note

So there I am, writing this out, when all of a sudden BOOM!
Three hours of work, gone in an instant! Thank goodness I'm so lazy, or otherwise it would have been a problem.
Also: Originally Midday's reaction to being flamed? "Oh, come now. Surely the whole universe knows I'm indestructible!"
Saner thoughts prevailed.

Winter Start Up

"So..." Midday Eclipse said, to the small purple dragon sitting next to her.
"Yeah."

She began to ponder whether telling Spike the truth about herself was the best idea. Well, maybe not began. She had already had first thoughts, second thoughts, third thoughts and fourth thoughts. She was incredibly certain that it had been a bad move. Then Spike's brow furrowed.
"So" he said, "when you said you never spoke to your 'big brother' at the Sisterhooves Social... you meant me?"

"You were paying attention? I thought you were trying to look at Rarity."
The dragon frowned.

"I was paying attention" he said, pouting for extra measure. Midday laughed, then quickly stopped herself.
"Although this does make sense. Like why you knew about Pinkie Sense, and... everything else."

"Yeah."
"So..." Spike said.

"Do you hate me?" he asked. Midday suddenly felt like she'd been kicked in the stomach.
"What?"

"It's a fair question."
"Why would I hate you? Just because I've never seen you?"

"Well, you made it sound like Future-Spike is avoiding you."
Midday raised a hoof to gently move the ice pack on her head.

"I was speculating. I can't construct an understand of your future self's behaviour if I've never met him."
"... Future-Spike sounds like a jerk."

"It is entirely possible he moved because he just got to be quite big. You are a dragon after all. Ponies only have to worry about hormones when they hit puberty, you have to worry about constantly banging your head off the ceiling." She looked at the concerned look on Spike's face.
"I don't hate him, or you. I save my hate for those who truly deserve it."

"Such as?"
She paused before she answered. "I'll let you know when I find someone."

"So, what's the future like? Apart from you being there and future-me possibly being a jerk" A thought occured to the dragon.
"What's Rarity like?"

"Rarity?" Midday shrugged. "She's like Rarity."
"That's not exactly what I meant" Spike muttered. She gave him a meaningful Look.

"I know what you meant, and I'm not telling you. If I tell you, or even give the vaguest hint, it could affect your every action between now and then, and that would be irresponsible." She frowned.
"Actually, my every action has a damaging effect anyway. Lousy quantum physics."

"So... what should I do then?"
Midday shrugged.

"Just do what you were gonna do anyway. Just be you, that's all that matters."
There was a pause, before she smiled at him.

"You and Rarity, huh?"
"Yeah. I can't believe that she knew."

Midday laughed.
"You'd have to be as blind as Applejack not to notice" she said, rolling her eyes.

"What about Applejack?" Spike asked.
"Nothing" she said hurriedly.

"But, if you're from the future... don't you have any advice?"
"I already told you. Careful, Spike, I'm easily distracted without a headache from nearly being stomped."

A tremendously guilt look flashed across Spike's face. "Sorry about that."
"Well, I hope you've learnt something today Spike: that there are no shortcuts to growing up. From now on the only way for you to reach adulthood will be to grow into it. The way Your Creator intended!"

Spike stared at Midday, and her attempt at looking deadly serious.
"Rarity said she likes me" Spike said.

"She sure did." Dragon and pony smiled.
"What do I do now?" he asked.

"Whatever feels natural. Provided, of course, that doesn't involve setting fire to anypony."
"Yeah, they told me I breathed fire on you." He stared at her, and she could see confusion passing over his face.

"How come... you know?"
"Well, I thought Rarity had fire-proofed the Mare Do Well costume, but... as it turned out, she hadn't. So that required a bit of quick casting. Hurt a lot." She said, calmly. She leaned in and whispered.

"Do you know what the trick is?"
"No."

"The trick, Spike, is not minding that it hurts."
"But... that doesn't make any sense!"

"Says the dragon who went from fifteen stories tall to flank-height because he felt love, to a pony who managed to time-travel by accident." Spike frowned. He considered that and shrugged.
The two sat there. Spike slid off the bed, and walked over to the door to the stairs.

"Well, it was nice talking" he said, slowly. "I think I'm gonna go talk with Rarity."
"Go forth, noble spirit" Midday laughed, doing a small salute. Spike reached the top of the stairs and stopped.

"And Midday?"
"Yeah."

He smiled warmly at her. "Nice to meet you. Big little sister."

*****

Twilight felt something nudging her. She continued on with her work. Something nudged her leg again.
"Twilight!"

She leapt, and when she landed saw Spike staring at her.
"What is it?" she asked.

"I was just thinking... If something changed, if something happened..." Spike looked down at his feet.
"If something happened with me, would you be there to help?"

Twilight stared at Spike, and the earnest look on his face.
"Of course" she said, before turning back to her work.

There was an irritated sigh from Spike.
"That's not what I meant. I was just thinking... because as I get older, I'm going to get bigger, right, and... well..." Twilight turned back to look at Spike.

"Is this about what happened today?" she asked.
"No!" Spike paused, and frowned. "And yes. ... I don't know, actually. I think it's both, I guess."

Twilight knelt down in front of Spike.
"Spike, no matter what happens, no matter what changes, you will always be my number one assistant."

Spike stared straight at her, looking unimpressed.
"Thanks" he said blandly.

"You're welcome" Twilight smiled, before standing back up and returning to her notes.
"And... I think that's it" she said. She carefully rolled up the paper she was working on and lifted it into a saddlebag by the front door.
"Just going to see Rainbow Dash Spike. I'll be back in five minutes."

"Okay." Spike said. He heard a sound of hoofsteps after Twilight was gone. Midday was walking down the stairs, still keeping the bag of ice balanced on her head. She smiled faintly at him, and suddenly Spike felt something, a sudden stirring of something.
"I'm going to see Rarity" he announced.

"I'll be back... later, I guess" he added.

*****

The rest of the day passed without incident, and the rest of the night. Midday watched as the Ponyville weather team flitted about the sky, moving clouds together. Tomorrow morning, she said to herself, was going to be interesting.
She couldn't get to sleep for quite a while, as she tossed and turned she wondered, as she so often did, whether she should have told Spike the truth. She fell asleep before she could determine an answer.

She woke up to somepony violently jostling her.
"Wake up!" A voice said.

She ignored it. The jostling did not stop.
"Wake up! Wake up!" It repeated. She still ignored it. Then she noticed it wasn't Twilight who was asking her to wake up. It was Trixie. She quickly opened her eyes to see Trixie... and the showmare was smiling.

"What?" She asked, cautiously.
The showmare said one word.

"Snow!" she squeaked.
Instantly Midday's horn glowed and she pointed it at Trixie, prepared to blast whatever demon was impersonating her straight to oblivion.

"Who are you and what have you done with Trixie?"
The Trixie-shaped thing squeaked again and rushed downstairs, "Neige! Neige! Neige!"

Midday sat there, wondering what was going on. Was snow really that much of a novelty to Trixie that she acted like a little school-girl when she saw some? Or was Midday just desensitised to it from living in Canterlot, where the snow fell thick and heavy?

'Guess Neigh Orleans doesn't get much snow.' She sighed, though she did smile a bit, and walked downstairs. She found Trixie jumping up and down around the room, as Twilight and Spike stood and watched. Twilight was wearing a scarf, little tiny booties, and a furry stomach-warmer, over a blue-green-and-brown vest, and she had the most truly adorable smile on her face. Spike wasn't wearing anything, and just looked half asleep.
"About time you got up!" Twilight declared when she saw her.

"Huh?"
"Can't have Winter Start Up without my second best assistant!" Twilight smiled.

"I'm your what now?" she asked, as Twilight's horn glowed and she noticed a vest that was a mix of blue, green and light brown floating towards her.
"Ah. Yes. Got it." Midday said. Her mind may have been fully awake but somewhere between thought and action most of the syllables seemed to have gone missing, and she wasn't sure if she had 'got it', or even what 'it' currently was. Then she saw a list float appear in front of Twilight and unfurl.

"What makes you think I'm going to help?" She asked.
"Because everypony else is taking part?"

"Doesn't work, I'm used to being an outsider." Twilight paused, frowned, and then seemed to arrive at a new solution.
"Please?"

'Damn!' Midday fumed to herself.
"Fine" she said, trying to make her reluctance as plain as possible. Twilight grinned and lifted her checklist.

"Okay! Assistant, check. Other assistant, check. Back-up assistant, check. That's the Start Up preparation check-list done." She beamed. She lifted Spike onto her back. Midday noticed Trixie had somehow acquired a hooded jacket in the same purple as her cape, and on top of the hood was... Trixie's hat. Midday rolled her eyes.

She stepped outside onto completely dry ground to see all of Ponyville standing there staring expectantly.
"Okay, is everypony ready?" Twilight smiled.

"Yes!" Several dozen ponies said at once.

Rainbow Dash took to the air.

"Three months of winter coolness
And awesome holidays."

Midday stared at the sight.
"Tell me you aren't" she said, though she was quite sure what the answer was.
Then Pinkie started.

"We'll keep our tootsies warm at home,
Time off of work to play."

"I'm surprised you can tell the difference."
Then Applejack started.

"Food we've stored so it won't run out,
Cuz' we can't grow nothing in this cold"

"That bit needs some work."
Then came Rarity's turn.

"And even though I love the look,
This Autumn's getting old."

"It hasn't been Autumn for months!" Midday said to herself. Just Twilight, Trixie and Fluttershy left. And it was Twilight's turn.

"The time has come to welcome Winter,
And snow so bright and clean.
Now it's time to say goodbye,
to all that's nice and green."

"You should fire your songwriters."
Trixie piped in, though amazingly her singing was quiet and withdrawn and utterly unlike her.

"How can I help? I'm new you see
What does everypony do?
How do I fit in?
I haven't got a clue!"

There was a slight paused, and Midday could practically feel the giddy anticipation on everypony's lips.

"Winter Start Up! Winter Start Up!"
Let's start our holiday cheer!
Winter Start Up! Winter Start Up!"

Whoever wrote the original version of that tune, Midday mused, was an utter genius of a sadist. This was never going to leave her brain, just like it's counterpart.

"'Cuz tomorrow winter's here!"

She watched as everypony got to work, every few seconds stopping to sing that annoyingly catching refrain. She wondered who had changed the lyrics, and whether they had occasionally stopped to laugh their behind off.
She followed Twilight and the alarmingly awkward Trixie around the town, watching as everypony went about their winter-y tasks, sending the birds on their way south, helping animals to their rest,covering every last surface with snow, and as she watched Twilight go down the incredibly long, long, long list she wondered, oh how she wondered, why they'd put this off until the middle of December.

"'Cause tomorrow winter's here!
'Cause tomorrow winter's here!"

Suddenly the singing stopped, the music stopped. Everypony turned to stare at her.
They couldn't. They didn't. They wouldn't be that cruel.

They were still staring.
"No" she said.

They stared at her.
"No" she repeated. They kept staring.

"I've been stared at by experts. You're not going to succeed."
There was a nudge at her knee. She looked down to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders staring at her.

Apple Bloom looking pathetic she could have handled. Sweetie Belle, perhaps. Scootaloo's puppy dog eyes would have caused no small amount of guilt in her, but all three at one? No being in all existance could withstand it.
She caved instantly, and sighed.
"Fine, fine. Don't blame me for this." She began to sing.

"Now we know what we all do
We all have our place.
We help with all our heart,
Tough tasks ahead we face.
But it's the pony way,
we must do our best today!
Do our best today..."

Everypony sang this time.

"Because tomorrow winter's here!
Winter Start Up! Winter Start Up!
Let's hear our holiday cheer!
Winter Start Up! Winter Start Up!"

"Because tomorrow winter's here.
Because tomorrow winter's here!
Because tomorrow... winter's here!"

Midday's smile, which she didn't even know she'd had, instantly vanished.
"Right, now I'm going back indoors and cuddling up to a hot water bottle" she said.

"Don't nopony bother me till Hearth's Warming!"
She managed all of three steps before a snowball hit her. She heard somepony giggle behind her. Her tail swished for an instant.

"Right. Okay..." she hissed. She turned around, and quickly began to roll snow together.
"SNOWBALL FIGHT!" Pinkie roared.

Seconds later and Ponyville was the sight of a localised snowball war.

Author's Note

Yeah. I just did that to Winter Wrap Up.
... but the song is already stuck in my head again. Woo.
I was a bit worried about having Trixie be a bit... weird about the snow, but New Orleans gets little snow, so hurrah! Reality contrives to help me in my endeavours once more!

Seasonal Entertainment

The snowballs filled the air, sometimes frequently passing through large snowflakes on the way. Large groups of ponies huddled together, forming small teams for some vague sense of protection. Midday ducked behind a hastily built snow barrier, bewildered at how everypony had snowballs ready to go at a moment's notice. Had they been making them during the song or something? She heard a loud cackle as Rainbow Dash used a cloudy perch to avoid being pelted, and slight squeals from Rarity, who was apparently being bombarded. Then everypony heard words that sent a chill down already chilled spines.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS SNOWBALL THROWING CHAMPIONS!!! YAY!"

There were the sounds of yelps and cries as the CMC threw snowballs in all directions, not really caring who or what they struck. Midday cast an invisibility spell on herself and quickly snuck through the maelstrom of slightly spherical weapons of mass irritation. She quickly made her way to where the trio were pelting everypony in sight.
"Hey, cheaters" she said, dropping the spell. There was a slight pause from the fillies as they realised somepony had snuck up on them.

"I think I owe you a snowball or two" She smiled deviously, levitated several dozen snowballs above her head.
"... Parley?" Sweetie Belle squeaked.

*****

Five minutes of intense discussion on whether parlay applied to little fillies with no regard for anypony else on the field of 'battle', and agreement was made that perhaps the Cutie Mark Crusaders needed a strategy, since they had managed to antagonise everypony else in the conflict, and even worse, not managed to get their Cutie Marks.
"Probably just as well" Scootaloo sighed, "What good's a Cutie Mark for something you can only do for a few week a year?"

"Worth a shot" Apple Bloom sighed. Then Midday saw something. Strutting across the way, just outside the fight was a pink filly wrapped up in what looked like an incredibly expensive fluffy coat, with what on any other being (even horrific shambling fragments of broken dreams from outside the purile reach of what lesser beings called reality) would have been called an adorable matching fluffy hat, and she had fluffy boots as well. All of which were nausiatingly pink. Following alongside was a dull grey filly wearing much less fluffy clothing that looked much less expensive, and was probably far more practical, even though she did seem to keep slipping every few moments.
"Hey, girls. Look." She pointed. Three heads turned to look. Scootaloo took aim.

"Fifteen points if you get DT's hat" the pegasus smirked.
Midday coughed reproachfully. "Scootaloo, that's utterly irresponsible behaviour for a girl your age. I am disappointed in you."

Midday lifted a snowball, and took aim. "Besides, I'm older, so I get to go first." Any hat on Diamond Tiara's head needed to be put out of its misery. It was clearly the right thing to do.

*****

Twilight frowned. There was supposed to be order to the snow, to winter. It was part of the cosmic schedule, and everypony was content to hurl it at each other.
Well, almost everypony. Fluttershy had vanished. Come to think of it, she wasn't sure she'd ever seen Fluttershy last winter. She contemplated that. What would Fluttershy do for the next few weeks, if all her animal friends were hibernating? And what if she was snowed in? Fluttershy could barely buy food from the marketplace when she was having a good day. Where did she get the bits to buy enough food to last through winter? Was she getting them from the nearby farms?

Twilight ignored those thoughts. Fluttershy was more than capable of looking after herself.
She stared at the checklist in front of her again.

"Okay, snow." She looked around.
"Big check."

"Hooves?" Check.
Last winter she hadn't done anything like this. She'd been studying, but since then she'd grown as a mare, as a pony. She was going to have fun, studying be put aside for later! She grinned widely.
"Okay, let's build a snowpony" she announced to nopony in particular.

*****

Rarity fumed, marching through the snow back to her nice, warm, cosy house, where there would be tea and woolly blankets and a comfy sofa just waiting for her, ignoring the increasingly wet feeling in her boots and her jacket.
"Barbaric, childish overgrown irresponsible can't-behave-for-five-mintes" she growled under her breath.

She turned to the distant crowd of ponies playing in the snow, none of whom looked remotely guilty about what they done to her clothing.
"YOU ARE LUNATICS, ALL OF YOU! EVERY SINGLE ONE OF Y-" She stopped as a ball smashed into her head, exploding in a shower of rapidly melting bits of water.

"Chill out" Rainbow Dash laughed from her cloud. Rarity gave Rainbow Dash a glare that should have by all rights vaporised the cloud there and then. Instead of responding she turned and marched into her boutique, slamming and locking the door behind her.
She sighed as she felt the warm air wash over her, and discarded her soaking wet garments.

Then she saw Spike sitting on her sofa.
"Spike? What in Equestria are you doing in here? Wouldn't you rather be outside, in the snow?"

The dragon shook his head. Then it occured to Rarity why. Dragon, she told herself. Cold-blooded.

*****

Meanwhile, in Canterlot, in her private tower, her highness Princess Luna dreamt unusual dreams.
" Do you, Luna, she of the night and wind and water, artist of the sky, and five-time drinking champion of Old Canterlot, take this abacus as your lawfully wedded husband?"
"Yes!" The bride said.

"And do you, Abacus, take this alicorn as your lawfully wedded wife?"
There was a pause.

"The abacus says yes!"
The minster stared at Luna disapprovingly.

"I must hear it from him."
There were murmurs in the crowd behind her, and Luna just knew that Celestia was shaking her head. They'd said she was mad to try and start a relationship with an abacus. Her! Mad! But she would prove them.

"I d-" The abacus spoke.
Luna's heart soared with joy, just as she felt the temperature drop dramatically, a strange cold feeling moving across her face.
She opened her eyes, dislodging the snow on her face, stood on all fours and roared.

"WHO DARES DISTURB OUR ROYAL SNOOZE?!" She boomed, the windows rattling at the sheer volume of her rage. She saw the faintest glimpse of something pink and purple leaving the room. She rushed after it. She heard a faint giggle as she rushed out into the freezing cold December morning. Her attacker was nowhere in sight. And Luna knew with grim certainty that her dreams of bizarre marriages to inanimate objects wouldn't be returning.

"Very well, niece of mine. Let us match wits."

*****

Cadance sneaked along through the castle, making sure to check every few moments that Luna was following. After a few moments it became clear Luna wasn't following. She sighed. It had been worth a try. The pink alicorn walked along the way and found Shining Armor standing near the door to the throne room trying to look inconspicuous. Or as inconspicuos as a stallion can look when wearing gold and purple armor, with a festive hat stretched over his helmet. The strange looks were the price he payed for not upsetting his girlfriend and getting subject to an attack by nap vampires again.

"Yes?" He said.
"Woke her up, but I don't think it worked."

"Told you" he said, and Cadance was sure she could see the edge of his mouth begin to curl, just a bit. She looked up.
"Oh, Shining, look. Misletoe." The stallion looked up, noticing there was indeed a sprig of it hovering above them. His highly trained guard senses also told him Cadance was leaning in, closer, and closer, and closer.

"DARK VENGEANCE!".
Suddenly the entire corridor was hit by a flash-blizzard, covering carpet and floor with several feet of snow. After a few seconds of utter stillness two ponies burst out from the snow and struggled to find their footing. Luna, Princess of Moment Killing, floated above them next to an utterly spent snow-cloud, watching with a sinister smirk on her face.

"Good morning, your highness" Shining Armor said with as much decorum as he could muster, trying to free a hoof from helping Cadance stand up to salute. The princess of the night kicked the cloud she had gathered a bit, shaking lose a few more snowflakes.
"Is our message clear, niece, or shall we be forced to elaborate? Do not wake us in that fashion again." Her gaze turned toward Shining Armor. "Now, is our sister attending to matters of state?"

"No, your highness. She said it was a 'snow day', and sent everypony home."
"We are surrounded by mad-ponies" Luna muttered, and began to fly away, but not before shooting Cadance a Stare, though there was the faintest hint of a grin on her face.

Shining Armor looked at the hallway full of snow, trying to figure out how Luna had acquired enough to make a full blizzard in the space of barely a few minutes. He then considered what the reaction of Celestia's staff would be to this. Apparently a lot of ponies, Celestia included, had been complaining about the carpetry outside the throne room for some time now, so maybe there wouldn't be that much shouting. His concern over matters of state vanished when he saw a malicious grin on Cadance's face.

"You're going to go do it again tomorrow, aren't you?" he asked, incredibly sure of what the answer would be.
"Oh, yes" Cadance said, before kissing him.

*****

Luna slowly flew through the castle, trying not to look like she'd enjoyed herself. She was trying to build the image of a humourless type, and Cadance's little wake-up call wasn't going to help with that.
She flew past Celestia, calmly sitting in one of the hallways, sipping from a styrofoam cup containing what smelt like coffee. She saw the sly smirk on her sister's face. When it came to the elder princess, she had many kinds of smirk, and a thousand years on her own had allowed her time to practice all new types of smirk, but this was one Luna recognised.

"This was your doing, wasn't it?" Luna frowned, dropping to the floor and staring her sister in the face. Celestia tried to look innocent, but this didn't last.
"I only suggested waking you up to see all the lovely snow our little ponies created. Everything beyond that was the result of Cadance and Shining Armor."

Luna stared at her. She lifted a hoof and pointed at her, cold fury all over the younger alicorn's face.
"Then I shalt inform Cadance you admired her knitting. And she will feel obligated to make for you an unbearably itchy pullover, and you will have to wear it, for otherwise you will seem rude and ungrateful!" Celestia's eyes went wide with shock.

"You wouldn't!"
"We would! In fact, we shall go inform her now." And so Luna rushed off, thoughts of returning to sleep forgotten, her elder sister staring dumbfounded before placing the styrofoam cup down and rushing after her.

This quickly resulted in the Canterlot press seeing the two princesses engaged in a snow-boulder throwing competition, wondering whether some new kind of madness had inflicted them, and speculating on a way to make a bad seasonal pun about it.

*****

The next morning, in Ponyville, and all was quiet, the ponies having been tired out from the start of winter, the snowball fight, and general assorted fun.
Trixie was woken by a strange thundering noise. It was Midday, who had woken and then instantly sneezed, and she looked like a wreck. There were bags under her eyes, and she looked generally bug-y.

"Oh, gheat" she muttered, "a cowd." Twilight quickly rushed over and placed a foreleg against her head.
"Don't worry," she said reassuringly, "I have a book on this sort of thing somewhere. Spike, go look in the kitchen for the emergency winter breakfast supplies."

"On it."
"Knew I shoubn't have stayed out there so longuh." The royal blue unicorn grumbled, as she looked for a pile of tissues. She groaned slightly.

Twilight came rushing back in with a book apparently claiming to have all known methods of fighting a cold. Midday's eyes went as wide as was possible. Who in the world would write such a book?
"Okay, this says... soup. Okay." Twilight looked uncertain, her eyes darting over the page repeatedly. "Doesn't specify what sort of soup, but that's alright, we'll just use trial and error."

"Just thow me into the sun" Midday said weakly.
Trixie looked confused.

"Don't you have healing spells or something?"
Midday just shook her head, though from the look on her face she quickly regretted that idea. "Dobn't work on diseases. Sobthingk to do with... oh, this one's gonna dribe me mad in a few minutes." Midday groaned.

"When's the last time you had a cold like this?" Twilight asked, to which Midday shrugged. She felt pain in her joints as she moved.
"Bed rest, it says will also help."

"Bike buck!"
"Language!" Twilight said.

"Hey, I thingk I'bm allowed this one." Midday retorted, defensively.
"Just hold on, I'll get the soup" Twilight said, rushing down the stairs. Trixie just smirked.

"Don'b you say a word" Midday said. Trixie waved her hoofs.
"I didn't say anything" the mare smiled as innocently as her mood allowed.

A thought occured to Midday.
"You seembed really interested in the... snow, everythingk, yesterday."

"Oh, that," Trixie laughed, "Well, it was just nice to spend the Hearth's Warming season inside for once, instead of in my little wagon, desperately trying not to freeze to death while also trying to refry some baked beans."
She looked around the room, and her ears drooped.

"Besides, I can't exactly go home."
"Why not?"

"Well, the snow, for one thing, and the fact that home is several hundred miles away. I wouldn't get there till the middle of January."
Midday just made a noise, and wondered whether the room was supposed to be spinning. She kicked her legs, shaking the bed sheets off and walked towards the stairs, though she did note she was having trouble walking in a straight line. Some few minutes later, she managed to get donwstairs, and into the kitchen, where she found Twilight and Spike standing over the stove.

"Aubergines? Where'd we get those from?" Twilight asked the dragon.
"How should I know? Should I put them in?"

Twilight gave this some thought. "Might as well."
"Soup by committee" Midday laughed. The two heads turned to look at her.

"I am not a committee!" Twilight said, irritated. Then her irritation turned to concern. "And you should be in bed!"
"Yeah, no. Not gonna work. I'd go mad into fifteen minutes."

"Twilight? We're out of chili" Spike said.
"Since when?"

"Oh..." Trixie coughed the sort of cough that causes stone dead silences. Everypony slowly turned to look at her.
"I might have used it the other week. I was going to replace it, but nopony in town had any. I checked all the farms as well."

There was a noise from Spike. "And the mustard's gone. Both regular and Prench."
"Sorry" Trixie said, sounding distinctly unapologetic. Midday glowered at her.

"We're gonna habe a conbersation later that you won't enjoy" she said, quietly, before groaning again.
"I could go check at Sugarcube Corner, see if Pinkie has anything in her stocks" Twilight suggested.

"Worbh a shot."

*****

Twilight walked into Sugarcube Corner, which was amazingly abandoned. She recalled Pinkie once explaining how the Hearth's Warming season was unkind to Mr and Mrs Cake for some reason. There was an annoying, and all-too familiar jingle playing.

"Frosty the snowmare"
Twilight closed her eyes and ignored it. Or at least tried really, really hard.

"Oh, hi Twilight" Pinkie declared. Twilight couldn't help but notice she already looked weary. Some of her hair almost looked deflated.
"Good morning, Pinkie Pie. I was wondering if you-"

"Sorry, Twilight" Pinkie said instantly, and strangely enough she was saying it slowly, rather than her usual frantic pace, "All sold out of gingerbread houses at the moment."
Twilight opened her mouth.

"And buns."
"No, I-"

"And cakes. (Gummy ate the last one.)"
"That's n-"

"Pies are utterly gone, too."
"PINKIE!"

"Yes, Twilight? Is there something you need beyond the items that I just mentioned aren't currently for sale?"
"I... need chillies."

Pinkie's smile changed into a grin.
"Okie-dokie-lokie." She walked around from the counter and stood in front of Twilight. She briefly glanced about conspiratorially, before leaning in closer.

"What sort of chilli do you require?"

*****

Twilight returned fifteen minutes later, after fourteen minutes of negotiating with Pinkie she never wanted to repeat again.
"I just wanted some chilli, not to haggle. I don't need to haggle." She muttered furiously to herself.

She entered the library and found Midday sitting on the comfy chair, drinking loudly out of a bowl.
"Oh, good. You're back. I was a bit worried you'd gotten drawn into escapades or something. Still, that's good. You're back and you've brought peppers! Good to know." The royal blue unicorn smiled gently. Then she saw the look on Twilight's face, and it looked like she was trying not to fall over laughing.

"Oh, bother. Yeah, my magic's acting up. Temporary side-effect, according to the book. And it seems to have chosen my voice-changing spell. Who do I sound like?"
Twilight blinked as she tried to get the sentence to make sense. "You sound like... Princess Celestia."

Midday laughed, before stopping quickly.
"Oh, I'm not going outside then. Otherwise we'll have Their Majesties' legal teams suing me into the next millennium." She lay back and sighed.

"But, on the plus side, I feel better, as you may have notice from my clearer enunciation."
"Can't you change your voice back?"

Midday raised her head up and lifted an eyebrow.
"Tried. Accidentaly turned Owly into a chicken." She waved a hoof before Twilight could get angry.

"Don't worry, it wore off in a few minutes, but he did peck me a bit."
Twilight suddenly became aware of an odd smell coming from the kitchen.

"What is that?" she asked. Midday looked around.
"Oh, Trixie probably got into the mayo. That would explain why it's been so quiet."

Twilight grimmaced.
"What's she going to do, with the mayonnaise?"

"Probably mix it in with her soup." Midday said.
Twilight suddenly felt her sanity beginning to crumble, and her stomach do odd things.

"Well, that's good. Good-good-good-good-good." She laughed.
"I'll just put these chilles where they belong, and then get back to making notes for the Hearth's Warming Play" she said, smiling in an unbalanced fashion.

"Looking forward to that" Midday said cheerfully, before taking another swig of the soup. Twilight stopped and looked at her.
"I don't know. You'll probably need time to recover, just in case you catch the cold again."

The royal blue mare's expression turned harsh. "Don't, don't try that. Unless you want to become Celestia's faithful chicken for ten minutes." Midday sneezed, and sniffed, her horn glowing oddly as she did.
"Who do I sound like now?" she asked.

"Princess Luna."
"Must be a running theme" she sighed.

There was a knock on the door.
"I'll get that" Spike cried out from the kitchen, rushing past Twilight as he did. He opened to door to see a mailmare standing on the doorstep.

"Oh, good morning, Ditzy" he said. The mailmare looked at him.
"Hello, Spike. I've got mail here for Midday."

"Hello, Ditzy" the blue unicorn managed. Ditzy stared in shock at her.
"You... sound..."

"I don't sound like myself? Yeah, I know. Should've been here a minute ago." Midday laughed. Spike took the letter.
"Hey, guess who this is from?" he said once he noticed the silver seal and blue sash.

"Coincidence abounds. Also, Ditzy, this is a bit later than your usual time."
The mailmare didn't miss a beat before responding. "It's the snow. Slows me down, and my assistant, despite our best efforts."

"Yeah!" Came a small voice from outside Midday's viewpoint, which sounded unbelievably like Dinky.
"But, I am a postal worker, and we always deliver!" the grey mare said, flaring her wings for added effect.

"Good to know."
"Well, see you later Spike, Your Higness. Tell Trixie I said 'hello'" Ditzy smirked, before closing the door.

Midday waved as the door closed, and then sneezed again.
"Hoo boy" She sighed, this time in Twilight's voice. Her expression suddenly soured.

"Oh, just perfect."
It was just five more days 'till Hearth's Warming, and four till the night of the play, and for Midday, time wasn't passing fast enough.

*****

Meanwhile, back in Canterlot.
"Really, you mean it?" Cadance smiled at the announcement her aunt had made, utterly ignoring the alarmed look the mare in front of her had.
"Yes?" Celestia said, hesitantly. Cadance cheered, and in a scary immitation of a certain purple pony started bouncing around in a circle around the princesses of night and day while repeating the word 'yes'. Shining Armor stood a great distance away, contemplating whether it was a good time to see a psychologist, or a psychiatrist, or just have himself committed to save time.

"What now?" Luna whispered.
"Run!" was all her sister could say.

The two quickly set off, leaving Cadance to keep bouncing in a circle saying 'yes' over and over again.

Thinking up the Chimney

Twilight Sparkle walked into the library room to find Midday covering herself in a blanket, glowering at Spike, who had collapsed due to laughing too much.
"Must have been quite a joke" she smiled. Midday just looked up at her, and took a pointed drink from her bowl of soup.

"Don't tell me then."
"Wasn't going to." Twilight turned to look at the royal blue unicorn, who smirked briefly, though that disappeared when Spike fell over in a fresh bout of mirth.

"Is that-?"
"Yes. I currently sound like you." Midday took another swig of soup, before making a slight groan.

Twilight just frowned. Concerns began to swirl around her head, and she started walking upstairs to examine her schedule for the week.
"Hey, Twilight, how come that whole Winter Start Up thing was yesterday, rather than... I don't know, last month?"

"I was distracted."
Midday looked from Twilight to Spike, and then down at her hooves, jutting out from under the blanket.

"Ah. Sorry."
Twilight left Midday to her soup, and continued up to the bedroom where her monthly schedule rested on top of her desk. She looked over it, and frowned at it. She lifted a nearby quill and a blank piece of paper, and prepared to talk to her friends.

*****

The next morning
Midday heard vague noises outside her fever induced sleep, the sound of strange clicking noises, and scraping noises. She opened her eyes, which felt incredibly heavy, to find Twilight and Trixie's beds empty, as well as Spike's basket. She got to her feet, which felt strangely weak, and walked downstairs, feeling slightly bruised. She was halfway towards the kitchen when she noticed something, a note lying on one of the stands. She walked over to it.

'Dear Midday
Since we weren't sure you were well, decided to let you stay here and recover.
Will be staying at my family house, should you need to contact us,
Twilight Sparkle.'

Midday looked at the note, and almost expected it to burst into flames. She frowned, and looked around the library. She rushed upstairs, grabbed her already-packed saddlebag, and rushed down the stairs again, locked the door, and ran as fast as her legs could carry her.
For a minute she found herself remembering the last time she'd forced herself to run when she could barely stand. The heat. The buzzing. Th- She quickly forced those memories out of her head. She wasn't going to remember that.

She was nearly at the station when she heard the whistle blow, and the sound of a train beginning to move. She rushed up onto the platform and saw the train moving out of the station, she rushed along the platform, and then slid to a halt, and in a complete defiance of common sense, she leapt.
"Hi Midday!" said Pinkie Pie. She had landed on something soft, at least.

"Midday, do not take this at all the wrong way, but you seem to have landed on me with quite some force. Would you mind removing yourself?" Rarity asked.
"Sorry." She grinned, stepping off of Rarity and looking at the seven ponies staring at her.

"What? You thought I was just going to sit around in the library while you all have Hearth's Warming fun in Canterlot?" She smiled, particularly at the annoyed expression on Twilight's face. From the look of it, Midday had committed that most heinous of crimes, disrupting Twilight's schedule a bit more.
"I thought you might at least be sensible. What were you thinking, going around outside after getting a cold?"

"I'm feeling better!"
"You'll be stone dead in a moment." Pinkie Pie interrupted. Twilight and Midday both glowered at the grinning party pony.

"Anyway, the soup seems to have done it's job. Okay, I do feel a bit... ache-y, but it's nothing serious." She grinned, and sneezed. There was a long moment of silence.
"Bless you." Rarity said, levitating a handkerchief towards the young mare.

"Thanks."
"Well, I suppose there's not really anything I can do about it." Twilight mused. She smiled, "And this way I can stick to my original schedule!"

Once more Midday thanked whatever cosmic force made Twilight so forgiving.
"Yay." Rainbow Dash deadpanned. She saw Fluttershy's disapproving look.

"I mean... yay!" The speedster said, sounding slightly more enthusiastic. Fluttershy nodded at this. Then she seemed to notice something.
"Trixie, what is it?" Everypony (and Spike) turned to stare at the showmare, who looked and kept staring out of the window.

"Nothing, nothing" she said, her eyes shifting about. Midday recalled what she'd heard the mare saying when she'd sought her out, a colourful rant relating to wheels.
"It's just... these things are safe, right?" Trixie asked.

"Huh?"
"She means, trains, Applejack" Midday said.

"Somewhat, yes." Trixie shuffled slightly. "But it's more the wheels the train runs on."
There was a moment of silence.

"What." Rainbow Dash responded.
"Trixie does not trust wheels." The magician said, sniffing slightly.

"That's silly. And believe me, I know silly, and as far as silly goes, that's massively silly." Pinkie hummed. "In fact, that's so silly, it's a silly-phant!"
"Why in the world do you have a distrust of wheels?"

"It is a long, and quite bizarre story!"
"Is it because you aren't good at fixing broken wagon wheels?" Asked Applejack. Trixie blinked in confusion, and shuffled slightly.

"No. No. Not at all."
She looked out the window again.

"I can't wait to stay at the castle once more" Rarity smiled, "Oh, to experience those luxurious beds. So soft, so fluffy." She sighed, while Applejack and Rainbow Dash stared at each other. The farmer lifted her hoof and waved it in a circle around her head, Rainbow Dash guffawed at this.
There was a nervous cough. Everypony looked at Fluttershy, who just stared blankly.

"That wasn't me." She said clearly. Midday looked at Twilight, who was blushing.
"What is it?" She asked. Everypony else (and Spike) turned their heads to look at Twilight.

Rarity leaned in, a concerned (and from all appearances, annoyed) look on her face.
"Twilight, dear, pray tell what is the problem?"

"It's just that... well, I didn't want to bother the Princess, and she's incredibly busy at this time of year, and since it's Hearth's Warming, I just thought..." Midday tried not to smirk as she realised what Twilight was going to say.
"Well, that is... I thought you could all stay at my family home."

There was another moment of silence.
Rarity made a strange noise that was somewhere between a guffaw and a giggle.

"We get to meet your parents?" She said, trying not to grin. It took Midday a while to realise why she was doing this. Then she realised why. Parents. Family. Rarity.
"Rarity, no. She does not have any available gallant, chivalrous, charming or otherwise noble brother that you can woo, most certainly not in the space of a few days."

Rarity's smile vanished.
"Curses."

"Besides, he moved out several years ago."
"Further curses."

"And you're not his type." Rarity pouted.
"How do you know this?"

"Twilight, you are the student of the pony who was up until last year, our only reigning princess. And your brother is captain of the Royal Guard. Pretty much everything about you has been printing in-"
"WAIT, HOLD UP! STOP EVERYTHING!" Rainbow Dash yelled. The pegasus had been ignoring most of the conversation, but now was hoving right in Twilight's face, her wings flapping in Applejack and Pinkie Pie's faces. The pink earth pony didn't seem to notice at all.

"Your brother is... that Shining Armor? The Shining Armor?" She stared straight at Twilight and reared in the air. Midday was now cursing herself.
"WHY THE BUCK DIDN'T YOU TELL US THIS BEFORE?!"

"Sorry" Midday whispered, when she noticed Twilight glowering at her.
"I, too, would like to share, if only in spirit, Rainbow Dash's statement. You could have informed us of this."

"It didn't seem important." Twilight mumbled.
"What else have you been hiding from us? Are your parents rulers of some far-flung part of Canterlot? Is your brother engaged to a princess?"

"No." Twilight said. Midday shuffled her hooves. Twilight looked out of the window.
"Look" She said, leaning outside, "We're getting closer!"

That seemed to distract everypony. Why exactly approaching a city they'd been too not even a fortnight ago was so exciting, Midday wasn't entirely sure, but it seemed to have distracted them all the same.
"I can hardly wait!" Rainbow Dash declared.

"I'm so excited" Fluttershy cooed, "I-I feel like shouting." A soft sound emerged from her lips. Midday noticed Rarity placing an incredibly festive pine-tree shaped hat on her head.
"Canterlot, here we come!" Applejack cheered.

"I do hope I looked festive enough" Rarity sighed. Trixie looked at Rarity's hat, and then up at her own. An irritated look passed across her face.
"Trixie honestly isn't sure how much more festive you could look. Unless we find a turkey, and a duck... and some tinsel..." She smirked.

*****

The train pulled into Ponyville, and Midday was surprised to see several recognisable ponies pour off the train. She saw Ditzy and Dinky, Bon-Bon and Lyra, and the CMC, followed closely by two ponies who from their purple hair were likely Rarity and Sweetie Belle's parents.
"Hi, Rarity!" Sweetie Belle yelled.

"Applejack, over here!"
"Hello, Sweetie Belle." Rarity smiled, utterly ignoring the fillies giggling at her hat.

After some exchange pleasantries, mostly the fillies being excited about getting a chance to stay in Canterlot Castle, and wondering why Rarity was making such strange grinding noises and muttering under her breath, and then Rarity's parents explaining (despite everypony knowing) about the scheme to allow several ponies from Ponyville to stay at the castle, Twilight began to lead the six mares (and Spike) along the streets.
As they walked, Midday considered the play that Twilight and her friends were supposed to be acting in. Her concerns lay not in their acting abilities, but rather in the merits of allowing the most powerful magic user in Equestria, possibly the world, the heir of the most skilled illusionist in recent history, and herself, to be in proximity to a play. As everypony knew, plays had power, and with three powerful ponies around, anything could happen. She dismissed those thoughts, since the chances of anything going disastrously wrong were slim-to-nil.

'Although, if one of the Princesses showed up...' But that was even more improbable, since Celestia would probably be throwing some large Hearth's Warming Eve party, and planning the best way to sabotage it before the Canterlot nobility showed up, or dispensing warm drinks to hard-working civil servants. She also briefly pondered Scootaloo, who to her eyes looked... strangely familiar in a way she couldn't place, and she couldn't even recall seeing her parents at any point during the singing the other day, even when every other pony in Ponyville was there.
"Are we there yet?"

"No, Rainbow Dash!" Midday said. In an instant her ruminations on Scootaloo vanished into the aether, increasing the irritation she already felt.
"Wasn't me."

"It was me!" Pinkie Pie cheered, as she finished off the remains of a gingerbread house.
"Sorry, Rainbow, force of habit. No, Pinkie Pie!"

"That's better." Pinkie said, primly. Midday stared at the beaming destroyer of gingerbread domesciles.
"Sorry, captain Pinkie Pie."

"I'm not a captain, silly. Except on Be-A-Pirate Day." At which point Pinkie went on a small rambling monologue of the fun of being a pirate.
"Smooth move" Rainbow Dash groaned.

"To be fair, anypony who gives Pinkie Pie an opening has what's coming to them." Midday sighed.
There were noises of general agreement from everypony else.

"Are we actually there yet?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Almost" Twilight said.

"Feeling tired without your post-breakfast nap, Rainbow Dash?" Rarity smiled.
"Nah, it's just your hat. It's so lame, it's sapping my coolness."

"It is not 'lame', it is festively fashionable."
Suddenly there was a chill air.

"Oh, Rarity." A strange voice uttered, "You and your delusions of what is fashionable, which are of course utterly wrong." A pony appeared in front of the group, her fur a strange grey colour.
"Generous?" Rarity yelped, "How can you be here, especially after what happened with Pinkie's cake cannon?"

Rarity's arch-nemesis waved a hoof, and Midday couldn't help but notice the strange smell, like a morgue.
"I have returned, to trouble you once more. Soon, your pathetic fashion store will be a shambles, and nopony will buy any of your awful designs, and then, then I shall rule fashion in Ponyville with a iron hoof!"

Midday leaned in to Pinkie.
"What exactly did this cake cannon of yours do?"

Pinkie looked about, she seemed embarrased.
"Knocked her into a pool full of unpleasant fish. Which ate her."

Midday frowned.
"Actually, never mind. I don't mind not knowing what you and Rarity get up to."

"And besides," Rarity said, still engaged in her argument with her odd-smelling nemesis, "You are too late. I have already gained the approval of Fancypants himself."
The mare, who Midday now noticed looked incredibly unhealthy, almost pale in fact, seemed shocked.

"Drat." She frowned, and then seemed to recover, "Very well, you may have attained this small victory, but I will return, with more plans, more deviousness, more evil, and your world will crumble! After Hearth's Warming, of course. Even evil doesn't work on the holidays. Good day to you." She said to the others, before stalking past them and vanishing, laughing as she went.

Seven sets of eyes looked at Rarity.
"What. Was that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I'll explain later" the fashionista sighed.
"Really?"

"Provided I do not forget, yes. But it is an incredibly weird story."
"This seems to be the day for weird" Trixie muttered.

"Is she the reason you're afraid of curdled milk?" Rainbow Dash continued. Rarity twitched slightly.
"Yes" She said grimly. The sky-blue pegasus scowled.

"Want me to go beat her up?"
"No. That would be unladylike. And besides, it wouldn't do to engage in vengeance during the holiday season."

Midday looked to Twilight and raised an eyebrow. Twilight raised an eyebrow back at her. Midday raised her other eyebrow, Twilight raised her own other eyebrow. Midday leaned forward and nodded. Twilight looked confused.
"Shall we keep going then?" Midday said. "And also never mention this random nonsensical event again" she whispered to herself.

The group walked on through Canterlot, until eventually they reached a large, cosy looking house with a rather nice sign neatly explaining it was the house of the Starlight family.
Five ponies stared with slack jaws at the sight.

"You lived in a mansion?!" Rainbow Dash said.
"It's not that big" Twilight said meekly.

"You. Lived. In a mansion." Rainbow Dash stressed.
"Knew you lived in a freaking mansion."

"It's not a mansion."
"She's right, you know." Fluttershy whispered.

"Yes. It's not a mansion." Rarity said. Midday looked at her, and then rolled her eyes when she saw the look in the purple maned mare's eyes.
"It's glorious" Applejack also rolled her eyes.

"Shouldn't somepony, oh I don't know, knock or ring the door-bell or something?"
Twilight smiled sheepishly, and walked over to the door and knocked. There was a pause. The door opened and a tall blue unicorn appeared in the doorway, Midday instantly recognised him as Night Light, her grandfather (on her mother's side).

"Twilight Sparkle!" He smiled.
"Dad!" The two hugged. There was a sniff that sounded like Fluttershy.

"These are my friends."
"And me" Midday said, raising a hoof.

"You!" Night Light exclaimed.
"Me?"

"Her?" Twilight asked.
"Less sentence fragments!" Pinkie exclaimed, before Rarity shushed her.

"Well, I suppose that does make sense. Welcome, please, do come in."
They quickly filed inside. They found themselves in an almost cavernous hallway, painted in nice deep blues, with two doors leading off to the side, and stairs leading to an upper floor, and as Midday knew, the bedrooms and guest rooms, as well as an observatory.

"Cosy" Applejack said.
"Marvelous" Rarity said, her voice hushed in awe. Midday was afraid she was about to do something terribly embarrassing.

"It is a mansion!" Trixie declared.
"Hardly. Just a rather large house." Night Light chuckled, "It's been in the family since the house was founded."

"How long has that been?" Rarity asked, her voice far away as her eyes jumped around, observing and no doubt measuring the price of everything.
"A very long time" The stallion said, smiling slightly.

"Night Light, who are yo- oh!" A faint purple unicorn walked into the hallway, and stopped when she saw the group of ponies (and Spike) standing in the hallway. Midday recognised her as Twilight Velvet, occasional sender of woollen Hearth's Warming gifts.
"Mom!" Twilight Sparkle's smile grew.

"Goodness, you've brought friends, and- You?" The mare said when she saw Midday.
"Yes?"

"Where do you know her from?" Twilight Sparkle asked, utterly confused.
"She just appeared on the front doorstep some weeks ago, hugged us, then disappeared."

Midday could practically feel Rainbow Dash's smug grin. Still, she thought to herself, that did explain where exactly her other-dimensional counterpart had teleported to.
"Damn her bones" She hissed.

"I'll explain... later." She said to the assembled ponies. There was a rumble from her stomach. She realised she had in fact skipped breakfast. And brunch. And Second Breakfast. And also brushing her teeth, which she felt some consternation about. Despite her best efforts, some of her mothers' strange habits had still ended up being passed on to her, the necessity of constant dental hygene being foremost among them.
"Will you?" Rarity asked, briefly shaken out of her dazed awe.

"... No."
"It's very nice to meet you, Mrs Twilight." Fluttershy whispered.

"And it's very nice to meet Twilight's friends." Pinkie cheered at this.
"Your the first ones she's ever had visit."

Pinkie cheered slightly differently at this.
Midday's stomach rumbled again, louder this time. She blushed.

"Sorry. I missed breakfast, because somepony decided to let me sleep in while they skipped out of town, and I'm slightly hurt about that, by the way."
"Well, would you like something to eat?"

"I know I would" Pinkie said.
"Well, how about we show you to the guest rooms, and then we'll have lunch."

"Guest rooms?" Rainbow Dash uttered in confusion.
"And you are sure this isn't a mansion?" Trixie added.

"Quite sure, dear." Twilight Velvet smiled. Night Light and his wife lead the seven ponies up the large stairs
"So lovely..." Rarity breathed, having returned to staring at everything.

Midday looked about, her mind noticing all the many differences, although in fact there weren't that many. It felt strangely comforting, being back in what was technically her home, even thought it wasn't, and she hadn't actually been in it for several years before she'd travelled back in time.
Everypony was shown to their rooms, with Twilight getting her old room, which looked almost entirely like a small library with a small bed in it. There was a complete absence of a tiny basket for Spike, Midday noticed.

"It used to be the library," Night Light explained, "until we decided to just put her bed in here to save time or her walking into her brother's bedroom by mistake."
"Dad!"

Applejack smiled at that, and from the looks of it, it was one of those smiles that meant she'd been embarrassed in front of her friends before and was ever-so-slightly enjoying seeing somepony else on the recieving end.
"So, what are you girls going to do during your stay in Canterlot?" Asked Twilight Velvet.

"Oh, we've been put in charge of presenting the Hearth's Warming Eve play" Rarity said.
"Really?"

"Yeah" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
"Which of course means Twilight's got all sorts of notes ready to explain how inaccurate the play is to the actual events." Midday said.

"She does?" Rarity said nervously. Twilight Sparkle nodded, her horn glowing and revealing a small collection of notes.
"Don't worry, it'll only take a few hours to read them." Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie exchanged nervous glances.

"Would you like some lunch first?" Night Light suggested.
"Even better!" Pinkie smiled.

The two ponies set off down the stairs. Midday turned to look at Twilight Sparkle.
"Aren't you going to put those notes down?" She asked. The purple unicorn looked at the notes.

"Oh, yeah. No reading at the dinner table" she muttered, as the notes floated over to a small writing desk. Midday nodded at this, and the two mares walked down to have lunch.

*****

"Oh, that was divine" Rarity sighed.
"It was incredibly lovely." Fluttershy soothed.

There was a slight belch from Rainbow Dash, though she at least covered her mouth, trying not to be rude in front of Twilight's parents.
"That's very kind of you." Nightlight said, apparently ignoring Rainbow Dash's act. Twilight turned to her mother.

"Hey, mom, where exactly is Shining Armor?"
Twilight Velvet looked unsure.

"I'm not entirely sure."

*****

"So... why are you covered in tree sap?" Cadance asked.
"Don't. Ask. Just don't." He sighed, as his marefriend descended into a hysterical fit of giggling.

'If I ever have a kid (Creator willing)' Shining Armor said to himself, 'I hope they aren't anywhere near as mad as that. What is a Cutie Mark Crusader anyway?'

*****

"I'm sure he's just working."
"So, Mrs Twilight" Fluttershy asked, "What exactly do you do for a living?"

"Oh, well, I do some work for Their Majesties' government, mostly just filing and dull forms. But I have always wanted to be a novelist, like whoever it is that writes those Daring Do novels."
Midday noticed Rainbow Dash had lost interest at the word filing, and was talking with something about Applejack.

"So, Midday, wasn't it?"
"Yes?"

"You were the pony who delivered that gift for Twilight Sparkle on her birthday, yes?"
"Yeah. That was me" she muttered.

"That was very kind of you" he said. He frowned.
"You look awfully familiar, by the way. Apart from your identical sister, as you mentioned, have I seen you somewhere before?"

"Shouldn't think so" Midday said. It wasn't a lie, but only on technicality.
"I see" he said, though he didn't sound convinced. Midday saw Applejack whisper something into Rarity's ear.

"Mrs Twilight" Rarity asked, a malicious grin across her face, one that seemed to be on Rainbow Dash and Applejack's faces as well.
"Call me Twilight Velvet, please, Rarity."

"Twilight Velvet, I must ask, what was Twilight Sparkle like as a foal?"
There was a flash and a popping noise, as Twilight Sparkle teleported out of the room.

"Well, I'd be delighted to tell you." Twilight Velvet smiled. "Shall we go sit in the drawing room?"
"You have a drawing room?" Rarity gasped, before swooning off of her chair.

"Is she-?" Night Light asked.
"Don' mind her. Rarity's just a drama queen." Applejack smiled.

"Everypony's a critic."
"Don't quit your day job, then" Trixie commented.

Midday rolled her eyes and smirked, before helping Rarity to her hooves.
"Come on, Rarity. You've got three days before the play, last thing we need is you hurting yourself before then."

Three more days, she told herself. Then she remembered with some dread that she hadn't bought anypony a Hearth's Warming present. Fear gripped her soul at that thought, as well as the memory of that aisle in that toystore that was the residence of what she had decided to deem P'ink, devourer of tomboyishness. Did Celestia have to trouble herself with this sort of thing? What did the Princess of the sun do for Hearth's Warming?

*****

"Okay... This is alarmingly specific. And I don't think Luna needed to include the written threat of being banished to the Sun, and then thrown into a dungeon located in the sun, which I am fairly certain is outright impossible. But, still, one coffee grinding... thing, it is." Celestia sighed. At least it wasn't as bad as Cadance buying stuffed toys for everypony.

She sat on her throne, the image and noise of clicking needles filling her mind, and spending Hearth's Warming wearing some awful maroon abomination of yarn with a stylised 'C' on it.
Suddenly being banished to the Sun, then thrown into a dungeon located in the Sun didn't seem quite so horrifying.

Then fear gripped her soul when she realised she had no idea what to buy Twilight Sparkle for Hearth's Warming.
"This will require thinking up the chimney" she muttered.

Author's Note

Thinking inside the chimney is a thousand years out of style.
True modern forward-thinking genius leadership requires thinking UP the chimney!
(The last line of this chapter was another of the reasons I wrote this whole fic. What a lot of fun I'm having.)

Like a Soldier, to the Stage

The night passed with very little in the way of issues, aside from a bout of bickering between Rarity and Trixie, and Twilight suggested everypony go to sleep early so as to wake up early for the dress rehersal the next day.
Midday awoke, gently rousing herself out of the bed, which in the manner of all foreign beds she had found much easier to get to sleep on. There was probably some reason for that she was no aware of. She slowly made her way downstairs, and she did she heard voices.

"While it is nice to see you again dear, your friends are a bit... strange." Midday smirked at what appeared to be as good an entrance line as any.
"Strange? Strange, indeed. And here I was hoping for eccentric" she said, walking into the kitchen-dining room, nodding politely. Both Twilights and Night Light were sitting at the kitchen table. She walked over to the fridge.

"If you're looking for-" Twilight Velvet started.
"'S alright," Midday said, "Twilight's got the same arrangement in the fridge back in Ponyville." She lifted the little glass bottle of milk out. She was aware as she looked for breakfast cereal that Twilight Velvet was probably staring at her.

"Excuse me, miss... Eclipse, was it? But I wondered if you would mind telling me what it exactly is you do?" Velvet asked, her voice just barely edged with disapproving concern.
"Well," Midday smiled as she floated her breakfast over to the table, noticing that past-Twilight was sitting in the exact same usual chair she'd alway sat in back when Midday was younger, "I was an accountant, not an important accountant, more a minor functionary, that sort of thing, and then... things happened."

"Things?" Twilight Velvet said, raising an eyebrow.
"Well... yes. Things." Midday lifted her spoon and started eating.

"Which I am not really allowed to talk about, and as a result I got sent to Ponyville to stay with Twilight on 'paid vacation'."
"Sent by who?" Night Light chimed in.

"Princess Celestia." The royal blue unicorn muttered.
"I see."

Midday hoped that the others would show up, and fortunately after a few awkward moments there was the distinctive sound of Pinkie Pie bouncing down the stairs. She appeared to be humming.
"Good morning Twilight Sparkle, and Mister and Missus Sparkle and Midday Eclipse." The pink bouncing ball said as she too opened the fridge. She was followed soon after by Applejack, Rarity, Trixie, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, who looked like she needed an extra few hours sleep. Rarity had a look of almost manic proportions, her mind probably brimming with ideas relating to costume design.

"Ah, good morning girls." Twilight Velvet said, unsteadily. There was a chorus of replies, each slightly different, from Fluttershy's whisper to Rainbow Dash's gutteral noise, which earned her a sharp jab in the haunch from Rarity.
"G' m'rng" The mutli-coloured mare said, inbetween an epic duel between her willpower and her eyelids. Rarity looked irritated, but decided not to press on. Rainbow Dash was not a morning pony.

"So, what are you going to be doing today then?" Night Light asked
"Well..." Twilight Sparkle smiled, "We're going to inspect the theatre where we'll be performing the Hearth's Warming play, then we'll begin rehearsal and dress rehearsal and blocking the play, followed by general revising until tomorrow night."

"Twilight, where did you learn this? Did somepony give you a..." Midday looked straight at Rarity, who's face was a mask of innocence.
"Of course she did. I'm not even surprised" Midday said to herself.

"I would rather not leave room for error, is all" Rarity smiled. Midday looked at her, and considered this, and the general lifespan of any plan or scheme that came near Twilight and her friends.
"Good thinking" she said between another mouthful of cereal. Pinkie sat down a rather large bowl inbetween Applejack and Trixie, which was filled nearly to the brim.

"What?" She said at everypony staring at her (Rarity looked like she was about to burst into flames out of shame), "I'm gonna need a big breakfast."
"She's right," Twilight Sparkle said, "We've got a lot of work ahead of us and- ... Where's Spike?" She looked along the table, and gave an irritated sigh, before slipping off her seat and walking towards the stairs.

Once everypony, and Spike, had been suitably breakfasted, they prepared to set off, Rarity checking and re-checking the contents of her saddlebag. They set out the front door, and hurried out onto the busy street of Canterlot.
Twilight Velvet closed the door and turned to Night Light.

"I think we should go see the Princess, soon" she said.
"Yes" Night Light nodded.

"Ask her about that Midday Eclipse girl."
"Yes, dear."

*****

Inside Canterlot Castle, some twenty minutes later and seven ponies (and Spike) stood upon the stage facing towards a small theatre. Rainbow Dash made a small noise that sounded remarkably lacking in enthusiasm.
"Problem?" Midday asked. Rainbow Dash looked at her, irritation all over her face.

"It's a barn" she fumed.
"Pardon?" Applejack glowered at the pegasus, who looked like she'd been kicked again. Midday was certain she just felt the temperature drop slightly.

"It's just really small, and... kinda lame."
"I must admit," Rarity sighed as she slid her saddlebag off, "I was expecting somewhere more... well, impressive, lavish even, not a common community theatre."

"Well, this is where Princess Celestia chose to show it" Twilight Sparkle interjected, giving Rarity and Rainbow Dash slight glances, "And it has a long and varied history. Many great actors have begun their careers here, performing for her."
"And ended their careers, I'm sure." Rarity didn't-quite-mutter. Midday rolled her eyes.

"What do you want, Rarity, the Canterlot House of Opera?"
"That would be nice."

"Well..." Midday had to admit that performing there would be more impressive than in a small, cramped, little room in a barely-used wing of the palace. Then she reminded herself she wouldn't be performing. She walked over to Fluttershy.
"Hey, Fluttershy, could you just stand at the edge of the stage for a moment, please?"

"Why?" the pegasus asked.
"I need your help to prove something."

"-Dating back to over seven hundred years ago, when-" Twilight continued lecturing, although Pinkie was the only pony paying attention to her.
"Okay, good, you don't have to stand on the exact edge, 'Shy. Now, can you just sing a note or something?"

"Which one?"
Midday shrugged.

"They're all the same to me. Whichever one you feel comfy with."
Fluttershy nodded, paused, and then let out a long note. There was moment of utter silence, save the reverberation. Everypony turned to stare at her.

"Thanks, Fluttershy." The pegasus flitted away from the stage edge and Midday turned to Rarity.
"Well, it's not the C-HOP, but the acoustics in here are pretty rocking, huh?"

"Y-yes... that was... how did you know Fluttershy could do that?"
"It's Fluttershy. She can make orchestras of bird-song, I figure she'd be helpful in doing a sound-check on the room wouldn't hurt. Especially since somepony wanted the C-HOP."

"You could probably be sitting right at the back and still hear everything whoever was on stage was saying" Trixie said in awe.
Suddenly a brown-coated stallion rushed onto the stage. He looked almost like that crazy Doctor from Ponyville, but his coat was a few shades darker and his hair had streaks of grey. He also looked incredibly irritated.

"Whatth thith?" He said, and Midday's face sank. Either that was an actual lisp, or he was doing that thing many actors did of pretending to be flamboyantly campy and lisping.
"Who do you ladieth think you are, barging onto my thtage and thinking you can do anything you like on it?" He stomped his hoof down.

"We're here to perform the Hearth's Warming play?" Twilight Sparkle said, meekly.
"Well, you can thorget that. I don't know where Thelestia hired you, but you can thorget acting on my stage. You think you can just barge in, not tell me you're here and thart acting? No. No, no no. Thith is my thage! Mine, MINE! ALL OF IT! MINE!"

Midday took a few steps back. If anypony had been looking at her face, they'd have noticed concern and slight terror just recognisable on it.
"Who's stage?" Rainbow Dash grinned.

"MINE!"
"That ain't helpful, Dash."

Midday siddled up to Twilight, and nudged her.
"I'll deal with him" she whispered. She walked up to the stage manager, who was still stamping his feet and complaining.

"Rarity!" She announced, her voice suddenly cold as Purgatory. A grin creapt along her face.
"Sic 'im!"

Rarity slid in front of the amazingly campy stage director, nudged Midday to the side, and batted her eyelashes.
"Now, really? You'd say that to us? The ponies Princess Celestia herself chose to perform this, the most important play of the season? The bearers of the Elements of Harmony themselves?"

He blinked, and when he spoke again his voice was surprisngly deeper, and absent the lisp. So it was an affectation, Midday yelled to herself. Thought that did explain why he'd been lisping so much, at least.
"Y-you're the Elements of Harmony?"

"Well, 'cept for Midday and Trixie, yes, but they won't be performing, I can assure you of that."
"(Assure? That sound like an insult to Trixie if I ever heard one.)" The magician sulked.

"(Just go with it, she's on a roll.)" Pinkie whispered.
"Well, if you are the, ah, Elements of Harmony, it's just... you probably should have informed me you were here, that is..."
He stopped, and blinked, and stared straight at something. Everypony looked at him, and then followed his eyes to what he was staring at. Fluttershy.

"Oh, carp" muttered Applejack.
"Is... is that... Fluttershy?" He whispered, with the sort of reverance once saved for angry gods (and their grandmothers). He zoomed over to her and bowed.

"It is an honour and a delight and a privilege to meet you, miss Fluttershy."
"Now this is more like it." Rainbow Dash said.

He quickly rushed over to Rarity.
"And you must be the lady Rarity, who makes dresses for the stars, and that must be Rainbow Dash, who teaches the Wonderbolt themselves!"

"What." There was the distinctive thud of pegasus back-bone colliding with the floor. Rainbow Dash had been too startled to fly.
He grovelled before Rarity, who was glancing about nervously.

"Well..." The mare looked awkwardly to the laser-like stares of Applejack and Twilight (and a little from Rainbow Dash), "You're only a pony. Arise, slightly strange one."
"Of course, use whatever you need, my theatre is entirely at your disposal."

"(Oh, buck!)" Rainbow Dash muttered.
A grin spread across Rarity's face.

"is it, now?"
She placed a hoof on the stallion's shoulder.

"Then show me to your wardrobe, my good man."
As the two walked away, Twilight coughed.

"Okay, girls. While Rarity is doing that, we'll get started with rehearsing and blocking" she looked about.
"Of course, Midday and Trixie will fill in for anypony who may be occupied with costume fitting."

"As long as nopony asks me to sing" Midday said, jovially.
"What, you don't like singing?" Pinkie asked.

"It's... not that I don't like humming a tune every now and then, it's just... well..." She coughed.
"You weren't that bad the other day" Applejack offered.

"Oh? Fluttershy, what would you think of my singing?"
"It was good?"

Midday stared at the pegasus for a few moments. Fluttershy winced.
"Well, maybe your voice did tend to have problems with a few notes and your tuning was all over the place, and it did break completely in one or two moments, especially the chorus."

"Thank you. See, this is why you should never room with a musician in university."
"Did you?" Asked Pinkie, "I'd love to share a room with a musician, it'd be so much fun, we could jam all night and all day and parties would be super-awesome because of our hit combo."

"Anyway!" Twilight declared, "Rehearsal!"
The ponies died down as Twilight opened the script.

"Now then, Spike's monologue is on first a-"
"NO!" everypony looked up at the sound of Rarity's voice.

"NO! NO! NONONONO! Were your costume designers even trying?!"
Everypony looked at each other.

"It begins..." Applejack muttered.
"Shall I just go see what's going on?" Midday asked.

"Please" Twilight said tersely.
Midday walked through the backstage, where several previously unseen ponies were fleeing. She walked past and around fleeing ponies.

"Oh, hello, Ditzy. Nice to see you again."
"Hello," The mailmare said, looking completely unsurprised, as one could expect from anypony who'd lived in Ponyville.

"Who let Rarity into the wardrobe?"
"She did." Midday sighed. She walked on, and found Rarity standing in a massive room full of clothesracks, various bits of costume laying next to her in a heap while the stage manager standing next to her, apparently too terrified to move.

"Did you just buy these costumes from some Nightmare Night store? Look at this! Look at it! It's hideous! No amount of acting can save your productions if the actors have to wear these beastly garments." Rarity threw it down and sighed. She looked at the stage manager.

"I do apologise, in my haste and excitement this morning I forgot my wake-up tea, so I am feeling more than a bit crabby." She looked around the room.
"I'm going to need sowing equipment, some material to work with, a pot of tea and if at all possible some biscuits."

The stage manager stomped his hoof. For a moment it looked like he was going to stand up to Rarity, a dangerous thing to do to a tea-deprived fashionista. Midday suddenly felt a slight rumble and knew there were several ponies behind her.
"Do as she says." The unicorn bowed to him, then sagged.

"I might as well examine the rest of these... things to see if there's anything salvageable within." She turned to Midday.
"Would you be a dear and help me?"

Midday nodded.
"Just bearing in mind what happened the last time I tried to be helpful" she said darkly.

"Don't worry, I can remember."
The two carefully worked their way through a rack of clothing, Rarity occasionaly tutting or making noises of displeasure at what she found.

"How could anypony think something like this was suitable for professional acting? Unbelievable," Rarity muttered, tossing one inoffensive-looking garment over her head. After several minutes of this Rarity made another sigh, and announced
"That is it. I cannot stomach looking at these crimes against fabulousness any longer. I shall go see how the girls are getting on." Midday watched as she left, and then saw a small box at the back of the room. She walked over to it, and opened it. It contained crowns, or rather fake crowns. She doubted anything like a real crown would be in the box, since there were no secret kings or queens or princes or princesses running around Canterlot. Though most ponies tended to forget that Cadance was a princess, despite her height, beauty and grace, because she was so humble and polite, except when she was around Shining Armor, of course. Midday looked at the box of fake crowns.

"Things trying to look like things look more like things than things." She muttered. And she'd just been thinking about Cadance as well. And from thinking about Cadance led to thinking about...
She quickly slammed the lid of the box shut, and walked out of the room with it, very quickly. Rarity would want to see the false crowns, she told herself.

*****

She found Pinkie attempting her version of the famous 'Chimney' speech, and the party-planner had a truly distinctive flair for the speech. And the entire role, in fact. It was a bit alarming watching Pinkie go from the extremes of the Chancellor's madness to watching her returning to her normal cheerful self.
"Hey, Rarity, found a box of crowns back there."

The fashion designer walked over and looked at them.
"Goodness!" She breathed, "They're so... so..."

"Flashy?" Rainbow Dash sniggered.
"Well, they are meant for royalty, dear."

There was a cough from Twilight, who wandered over to look at the crowns herself.
"So? Princess Celestia and Luna don't wear anything nearly as... tacky as these." Twilight said.

"That's not... entirely true, Twilight." Midday said. There was a moment of silence.
"They do have rather flashy crowns that they save for Extremely Important Things."

"Like weddings?" Pinkie Pie asked. Midday shook her head.
"No. Slightly more important than life-changing vows, apparently."

"How do you know about these things?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"I'm on a first-name basis with the Princess of the Night, remember?"

"Oh, yeah" Rainbow Dash didn't look entirely convinced, and shot Midday a suspicious Look.
Twilight was examining a rather large tiara, laden with numerous jewels.

"But why would they need to be this extravagant?"
"It's for the audience," Trixie said from the other side of the room, "They're so used to the storybook version of reality they get all annoyed when somepony says 'no, it looks like this', and they start yelling and complaining and throwing food."

She looked at everypony.
"Metaphorically speaking. Basically, 'reality is unrealistic'."

Several ponies nodded at that, though Twilight just looked irritated and confused.
"Well, thank you for the thoughtful idea, Midday. I'm sure one of these will be useful." Rarity said, glancing at one crown that seemed to be too gaudy even for her.

*****

Midday sat and watched as the mares began to practice, and she had to admit she got a laugh from watching Rainbow Dash being told to 'project' her voice more. Rarity meanwhile got into an argument with Twilight about 'artisic vision' versus 'historical realities', though eventually Twilight managed to convince Rarity to see things her way. Fluttershy meanwhile constantly broke character to comment on how mean she sounded, despite the fact that she was acting like Rainbow Dash on one of the speedster's good days. Midday also had to keep from thinking about what could go wrong on the night of performance, usually relating to having three powerful magicians in the same area performing a play.

Plays were stories, after all, and stories had power. She knew all about the ludicrous theories, that some stories were just waiting to get out in some form or another, acting through proxies with no idea what they were creating, and there was a certain... atmosphere to the room. It reminded her just a bit of the Everfree Forest, once she gave it some though, and more specifically like what was in the centre of the Everfree Forest, and how that place had felt. She shuddered, and noticed behind stage a mint-green pony conversing with Ditzy.
"Lyra, hello," she exclaimed. The mare looked at her and waved.

"What brings you to Canterlot?" she asked. The musician laughed.
"Well, I'm going to be providing musical accompaniment to the play, y'know, setting the scene, making the interludes slightly less boring, giving the impression that time has passed, the usual reasons."

"All on your own?" Ditzy asked. Lyra bit her lip.
"No, no, there are other ponies, of course. Can't rely on just one pony to provide scoring to a whole night's entertainment, obviously."

Both mares nodded at this. Lyra smiled brightly.
"Still, I wouldn't mind being the one to perform it. I bet it'd be fun."

"You'd have to survive massive Trixie exposure." Midday smirked. Lyra''s smile flickered.
"She's not that bad. A bit loud, insensitive, but she's hardly awful."

Midday considered this.
"She has improved. But I think she might just be behaving because it's Hearth's Warming. Or she's actually managed to make some friends."

"I like her" Ditzy said.
"You like everypony" Lyra noted.

"Well, yes, but what's wrong with that?"
"I didn't say there was anything wrong with that." Lyra blushed.

"So, Ditzy, if you're here helping out, where's your little assistant?"
"Dinky? She's with some friends on a guided tour of the castle."

"That sounds nice." Lyra chimed. There was a laughing noise from the front of the stage.
"Excuse me a moment, I think Rarity's getting on with the costume fitting."

*****

She found Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash giggling at Spike's costume, which was amazingly adorable.
"Now, now, Pinkie," Rarity said, a noticable malicious glint in her eye, "I wouldn't be so quick to laugh at Spike if I were you."

Midday saw that Twilight and Fluttershy were already in their costumes, a simple cloth cape and a soldier's uniform for Fluttershy (which looked suspiciously like a repurposed Roaman soldier's uniform, of all things), and Fluttershy was giving it an experimental walk-about. Twilight looked annoyed, and Midday walked over to her.
"Problem?"

"Only with the fabric. Ponies of Clover's era didn't wear fabrics like this, they used completely different ones. It's incredibly anachronistic."
"Nopony will notice except you. And me. And the Princesses should they be in attendance."

Twilight gave an irritated sigh, probably acknowledging that truth.
"Shame we couldn't include the later parts after the Hearth's Warming. Do you know, nopony in Ponyville's even heard of Mimic? A scandal! Mimic, apprentice to Clover, Mimic the Great and Powerful!"

"Sorry?" asked Trixie.
"Not you." Midday said. The blue mare quickly returned to a sandwich she'd been eating.

"I know about Mimic" Midday said, in the slight silence that followed (aside from Rarity and Rainbow Dash arguing. Midday could hear Rarity threatening Rainbow with pigtails and a bright pink dress if the pegasus made a single remark about percentages.)
Twilight's eyes lit up.

"Really?"
Midday nodded.

"Well, don't tell anypony, but I am in fact descended from her. On my father's side. Apparently it was kept quiet because his family likes being left alone and not doing anything."
Twilight looked confused, but seemed to eventually acknowledge this.

"There must be some interesting life stories in there."
"I'm sure there are." She said, looking about the stage. Then she turned to Twilight.

"You aren't even a bit concerned about tomorrow, are you?"
"No." The purple mare said. "Should I be?"

"Well, there's you, the Element of Magic, and Trixie, and myself, all in the same room, all quite powerful mares, performing a play."
"It's just a play." Twilight smiled, and sounding a bit too familiar for Midday's liking like she remembered, "No harm ever came from performing a play"

Midday stared at Twilight's innocent and completely un-ironic smile.
"Seriously? 'No harm ever came from performing a play'? What, did Celestia not teach you about this sort of thing? About the dangers of plays, especially near high concentration of magic?" She looked at the lack of comprehension of Twilight's face. No, Celestia wouldn't be that foolish. Twilight just didn't remember.

"Well, perhaps you're right. Perhaps nothing will go wrong. But if reality starts to warp, I'm out of here. And I'm certainly not going to be playing Mimic if you start thinking that." She coughed.
"I'd rather be nowhere near stages anyway. Last time I was near one was... weird."

"Weird?" Twilight asked, grinning slightly.
"Yeah. My university roommate got mistaken for an opera singer, and there was a land-cephelapod and it was just... I honestly don't even want to remember the concentrated weird of that night. I really don't."

"You've lived a charmed life" Twilight smiled.
Midday frowned. "I wouldn't have used those exact words, myse-"

"Pinkie! Stay still or I'll sew yours legs together."
"Hey, I look pretty good in armor" Rainbow Dash said, upon examining herself in a mirror.

"It suits you" Midday called. Rainbow Dash waved a hoof at her.
"You considered quitting your weather control job and becoming a guard-pony?"

"Gold? On me? That'd be incredibly uncool."
Then her expression changed, as she continued staring at her costume. "Although..."

Soon Pinkie Pie and Applejack's costumes were finished, leaving only Rarity.
"So, once Rarity's done with her costume, that'll be us finished for the day." Twilight looked concerned.

"I must admit that was faster than I expected."
"Well, we do know the script off by heart" Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, "We've all seen it since we were in diapers."

"Thank you, Rainbow Dash, for that lovely image."
"So, what do we do tomorrow?" asked Applejack.

"We'll rehearse a few more times, just to be sure, go over the blocking and then all that's left is the play itself, and here's hoping nothing goes disastrousl-" Midday quickly jammed her hoof in Twilight's mouth.

"Twilight, actors... professional actors tend to regard statements like that as idiotic and dangerous. Invoking good luck tends to cause the exact opposite, and before you rail on about how foolish and primitive that is, there are several examples where this tradition has been done away with to... disastrous effect."
Everypony turned to look at Trixie, who was reading a magazine.

"She's right. Do not hope for good luck, or otherwise something bad will happen, like I don't know... Ursa Minors rampaging about."
Twilight didn't respond verbally, but she did roll her eyes.

"Still," Trixie smiled, "This shall be entertaining for Trixie to watch. Mayhap I'll heckle you, let you see how irritating it is."
"Nothing left to do now but wait, then. And prepare, prepare, prepare."

"Be prepared!" Pinkie yelled, dramatically. Then she smiled.
"Ooh, I think I know a song about being prepa-"

"NO!" Six ponies and one dragon shouted at once.
They waited for Rarity to finish work on her costume, before she handed it over to the stage manager, who had been following her about like a puppy all afternoon, and then she suggested they all go for dinner, which everypony (and Spike) agreed to readily. They all felt prepared and excited for the play tomorrow, no matter what lay ahead.

Author's Note

A Hamlet quote taken ludicrously out of context, if only to inject 0.04% more class into this thing.
It was either that or a bad pun. You take your poison.
(This was going to be the conclusion of the play thing, but... the next one for sure. Which will also feature Rainbow Dash facing her most cunning opponent ever.)

Like a Soldier, to the Stage Part Two

Hearth's Warming Eve arrived, with a fresh bout of snow to boot. All of Canterlot was covered, making travel across the city slightly hazardous until some industrious unicorns went out and kindly melted the snow off the major paths and streets, as well as kindly helping to save foals who had gotten their tungs stuck to lamp posts or giant candy canes.
Twilight Sparkle had roused everypony early, and from all appearances hadn't actually gotten much sleep during the night, as Spike kept saying, until Rarity managed to quiet the dragon by whispering into his ear.

Midday was assigned to fetching and carrying the sandwiches Twilight had thoughtfully prepared for everypony, though from the looks of it Twilight hadn't given much thought to individual tastes, or Rarity's claims of being on a special diet that require eating foods that were astoundingly expensive and from quite far away. Midday briefly wondered if that was because Rarity was trying to act more 'lady-like' rather than admitting she could make her own food, or because it was an actual quirk of her own. As they left the Twilight family house, Midday couldn't help but notice Twilight Velvet briefly shooting her a suspicious glare.

The seven ponies walked through the somewhat slushy streets of Canterlot, Spike was not walking alongside them, instead the dragon was perched on Twilight's back, carrying a rather large rolled-up scroll, no doubt Twilight's last minute preparation list.
Rainbow Dash seemed unusually flighty and inattentive, often rushing ahead of the group before waiting for them to catch up.

"Is something wrong, Rainbow Dash?" asked Twilight. The pegasus stared at her.
"Yeah, I had something I wanted to do before we got started."

"What?"
"Nothing important."

"What?" Twilight asked again, innocently.
"Just... getting tickets for a Wonderbolts performance that'll be on after Hearth's Warming. If I don't hurry I'd have to sit in the crummy seats, or worse yet, standing only."

Twilight stopped and stared straight at Rainbow Dash, who was smiling the sort of smile ponies seemed to save only for transparent lies.
"The Wonderbolts will have to wait, Rainbow Dash." Twilight finally said.
"But!" Rainbow Dash's attempted rebuttal was foiled by Rarity.

"Rainbow Dash, while I'm sure your sporting events are important to you, I think the rest of us would prefer..." Rarity looked at Twilight and smiled nervously, "Would prefer not to disappoint the Princess."
"Silly Rarity, Twilight's not a princess" Pinkie laughed, tousling the fashionista's mane as she did. Rarity oddly did not even remark upon this.

"It's alright," She said upon seeing the scandalised look on Applejack's face, "I'll have crown-hair by the end of the night anyway."
They made their way to the palace, and the theatre room, and the small stage located therein, where several ponies were already moving about, the strange stage director from the day before bustling everpony about.

"Okay, everypony, we have a long day to get through," Twilight announced, "And only so much time be-" Suddenly there was a brief flash around Twilight's head. Her eyelids began to droop, she yawned, and quickly fell asleep, and began snoring gently.
"Somepony put Twilight to on side and... don't bother waking her." Midday said. There was a pause and two unicorns came along and lifted her onto a small chair where she could sleep to her heart's content. Midday noticed six ponies and one dragon staring at her.

"I can explain" she said.
"Please do" said Rarity.

"Well, she's obviously not gotten enough sleep and I'm sure we've all seen what happens when she doesn't get enough sleep, so I zapped her with a calming spell. Don't worry," She said upon Fluttershy raising a hoof, "She'll be awake two hours before the performance, all we (by which I mean, you) have to do is have everything ready so she doesn't go into a meltdown."
"Where did you learn that spell?" Trixie asked.

"My aunt's pretty good at them. Now then come on, the sooner we get moving the sooner we can prevent the rampage of Nightmare Twilight."
Everypony started moving.

"The name needs a bit of work" Trixie said, helpfully. Midday simply bopped her on the head.
"Make yourself useful, Trixie. Distract the foals or something." Trixie looked confused, then turned to see the CMC, and Dinky, who had arrived to watch the preparations.

"Children," she muttered. "Why did it have to be children?"
"Skip to it, Lulamoon." Midday laughed, earning herself a summoned snowball from the showmare.

"I suppose you think you were being funny, just there?" Trixie asked, glowering at her.
"Only a tiny bit."

Meanwhile, the mares quickly dug out their costumes, Pinkie giggling at her costume and the thought of getting to wear it.
"Why are we doing what she said?" Asked Rainbow Dash, as she dug out her helmet.

"Ah dunno. It's like when Twilight says to do something, I guess. Ya just can't help but go along with it." Applejack shrugged.
"Huh?"

"Because we were gonna do it anyways?"
"Uh."

"Stop grunting, Rainbow Dash. You're positively giving me a haemmorage." Rarity said, as once more she tried on different crowns. Not because she couldn't choose one, she just wanted to remember how she looked.
"Got it."

There was a noise from the other end of the room, and a few gasps, and somepony decided to put on a fanfare. Midday turned to look. Walking down the hallway was Celestia herself, calm and naturally resplendent.
"Hello, everypony," she said once she'd reached the stage. "I just thought I'd stop by, see how everything was going." She looked about the room, apparently not noticing her slumbering student, though Midday could, and the fact that somepony had put a blanket over her.

"It-i-It's fine, fine!" Rarity said, taking the initiative. "Everything is going well and everything draws apace for tonight."
"Except Twilight's having a brief nap-time" Pinkie grinned, before Rainbow Dash and Applejack dragged her out of sight.
Celestia's gaze turned to Twilight, then to Midday, who grinned sheepishly.

"I see" she said calmly, though Midday was certain that was the beginning of a grin somewhere on her face.
"She's been working herself a bit ragged the last few days. I thought she could use a bit of rest."

Celestia paused for a moment, apparently struggling with the slight grin on her face.
"Very well then. Keep up the good work" Midday watched as the Princess of the Day walked out of the room once more. She was aware of a number of relieved sighs. And she couldn't help but feel relieved Fluttershy hadn't fallen over.
"Okay, back to work." She smiled.

*****

In fact, everything went to plan. Smoothly. Flawlessly. Nothing was broken, or damaged, and Rarity quickly wrenched herself away from playing dress-up with the crowns to rehearse. Trixie, from all appearances, seemed to be enjoying performing, even if only for children, and children as restless as the CMC at that.
"Any questions? Any questions that aren't how I performed that trick?"

Midday watched and laughed. Everything had been going fine.
Then she heard Twilight yawn. The mare looked up, and then around, and a look of panic instantly crossed her face.

"Oh no." The purple unicorn uttered.
"Oh no!" She yelled. "Oh nononononono!" There was the sound of teleporting. Twilight looked distressed.

"I fell asleep? I can't have fallen asleep!" She looked around the stage.
"Where's my checklist, my checklist!" She yelped.

"Here." Midday said, waving it at Twilight, who then teleported it out of her hold.
"You... filled in my checklist?" she said, in the same tone used to confirm whether someone had eaten a puppy.

"Well, you needed rest, Twilight. Can't have you going up on stage half-mad from lack of sleep and worried out of the rest of your mind. And look, everything's been taken care of" Twilight looked up at the scroll, then at Midday, who was trying to look eager and earnest.
"I shall have to examine everything for myself." She said, all emotion gone from her voice.

Midday suddenly decided she needed coffee, and noted that it was roughly two hours before the show started.

*****

As it turned out, Twilight could find no problem with her checklist, though not for lack of trying, and so preparation continued without a hitch, until a few minutes before the curtain went up, when Twilight decided to mention what an honour it was for them to be chosen to peform the play, presumably for the sake of being original.
And of course Fluttershy had a panic attack

"Fluttershy, darling" Rarity said soothingly, "There's nothing to feel nervous about."
"No?" Midday practically feel the hope rising in Fluttershy's voice, and felt with a certain dread that Rarity would probably say the exact wrong thing.

"Of course not. All across Equestria, ponies are preparing their own pageants for Hearth's Warming Eve, in their own towns of course. It's tradition." Had Rarity actually bothered to tell Fluttershy that? It wasn't like the pegasus was an exchange student from Zebrica.
"So you're saying they'll be to busy to come to our play?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well no," Midday buried her face in her hooves as Rarity continued, too focused on powdering her face to notice Fluttershy's rapidly rising panic, "We're in the Canterlot Pageant, the biggest, most important production in all of Equestria. A lot of ponies will come to watch us."

Midday quickly walked over to Fluttershy.
"But it's okay, Fluttershy, because even if you are a bit nervous about going on stage, you'll still be there with your friends, who will be right there for you, and with you. Even if their idea of 'help' is a bit... exactly the opposite."

Rarity 'hmmph'd', and continued powdering her face.
"And they won't all be looking at you."

"You mean it?"
"Well... they will be looking at you sometimes, and some of them a bit more," She added, noting Fluttershy's former career as a model.

"But still, you won't be alone out there, remember?" Midday's attempt to rouse Fluttershy's spirit was interrupted by a sudden sharp breeze from the window.
"My hair!" Rarity yelped, "Applejack! Be a dear and shut those windows, will you?" However, Applejack was quickly distracted by Rainbow Dash, who seemed from Midday's perspective to have snapped, and believed she was being cheered on by a roaring crowd. Cheered for what, Midday wasn't certain, though knowing the mare's self-worshipping tendencies, it was probably just for existing.

"It ain't the Rainbow Dash show!" Applejack snapped.
"Well it should be the 'Rainbow Dash show'. I'm the star." The rainbow-maned pegasus snapped back. Midday had to admit that apart from being twenty-three years younger, and brasher, and her armor being dull grey, she looked almost exactly like the Rainbow Dash of her time. Minus all the positive growth she hadn't yet gone through.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash quickly descended into bickering, and Fluttershy apparently had dived into a box containing decorations, and Rarity seemed unwilling to move to close the window. Midday sighed, and walked over to it.
The windows slammed, and everypony looked at Midday.

"Thank you" Rarity said, before going back to her hair.
"Curtain goes up in two minutes" announced Spike, dressed in his frankly adorable costume. Midday wished she had a camera around. She couldn't help but feel Impy would've probably collapsed with laughter at seeing Spike dressed like that.

"Okay, girls, this is it!" Twilight said, standing tall (as she could) and proud.
"Everypony remember their lines, and how to act."

"Rarity, manipulative. Rainbow Dash, bluster as much as possible."
"Right."

"Applejack and Fluttershy, you two are stuck in jobs you don't want, you don't like who you're working for, keep them from doing any damage."
The two nodded, though Fluttershy could just have been shaking.

"And Pinkie." Twilight turned to the grinning party pony, who was adjusting her pudding-themed hat, and paused.
"... Babble." Pinkie's grin grew.

"Break a leg." Trixie cheered.

*****

The showmare and Midday watched from the sidelines, not quite as fun as watching from the front, as Spike began the introduction, leading everypony past the bits everyone knew: the three tribes, what they did, and the Long Winter.
"Do you see that?" asked Midday, as she stared at the stage. She was certain it had been a lot smaller a few moments ago. Not that it was some small stage with barely enough room to swing a cat, but it suddenly seemed more spacious, and the roof seemed higher up. Midday felt her blood freeze, and the temperature seemed to have dropped regardless, and there were odd ghost-like noises.

Something had gone wrong, at last.

*****

Midday kicked herself for forgetting. Stories had power, it was a know fact. It was why some stories triumphed against all odds, poor recepticon, bad reviews, bad acting, that sort of thing, and endured for so long. The oldest stories wore grooves in the world, and it seemed, as she had been concerned about, that the power of three rather strong unicorns, mixed with the power of story, were warping reality. Midday frowned.

'Still,' she said to herself, 'I am reasonably confident nothing really bad can happen.' Though she did prepare herself just in case.
Instead of the cheap stage props, something Rarity had been complaining dreadfully about, there was now a vast field, not entirely unlike one of the small farms next door to Sweet Apple Acres, with numerous earth-ponies in threadbare clothes working on it, while more respectably dressed unicorns walked up to them, disdain on their faces, as pegasi in dresses (or whatever they were actually called, stola, or something) flew above them.

"And what prompted ponies to clash?" Spike narrated, though Midday couldn't see him, "'Twas a mysterious blizzard that overtook the land" And indeed, the fake sunlight vanished, the skies clouded over, and snow buried the entire... stage? She looked down. She was standing cannon-deep in snow!
"This is weird" she muttered, shaking some snow off her hoof, uncertain of whether to use magic to melt the snow or not, even though it felt real.

Spike continued on, describing how the tribes reacted to the disastrous weather, and how the tribes gathered to discuss the situation.
"I love this bit" Midday heard Trixie whisper.

Midday was certain she saw the illusion break, and some ponies dragging a small table onto the stage, then the illusion kicked back in. Rarity walked in (or on stage), dressed in finery and wearing a somewhat ostentatious crown. Midday was certain she heard an appreciative little filly 'oohing'.
"Of course, Platinum wasn't at this thing," Midday said, not caring who heard her, "She wasn't allowed."

Then Rainbow Dash landed on the stage, and Midday was certain there was something different about her, and not just the uniform.
Then, there was a burst of kazoos, and Midday was certain she could see across the stage to where the musicians were seated, just out of sight, several of them looking furious at having to reproduce the Earth Pony Anthem so precisely. She heard giggles after the first few notes, and not just from the filly trio in the front row. One sounded remarkably like Bon-Bon.

The three ponies stood at the table, placing their head-gear in front of them.
Rainbow Dash, or Commander Hurricane, was the first to speak.

"I WANT TO KNOW WHY YOU GROUND-POUNDERS ARE HOGGING ALL THE DAMN FOOD!" 'She' yelled. Midday was impressed. Rainbow Dash had gone beyond 'bluster'. She even got the cursing right.
"Us?!" Puddinghead, or Pinkie, Midday wasn't able to tell which, "We're not hogging all the food, you are!" She glowered at Hurricane. Then she paused and giggled. "Oh wait. You're right, it's us." She reacted to Hurricane leaning towards her by getting angry.

"But only because you pegasususususes are making it SNOW LIKE CRAZY!"
Hurricane slammed her hoof down.

"FOR THE HUNDREDTH TIME, IT'S NOT US! WE'RE NOT MAKING IT SNOW!" Hurricane glanced at Platinum, the first time in the proceedings. "It must be the unicorns." She growled, "They're doing it with their crazy magicks!"
"Why would we freeze our only sources of food?"

Midday was certain she could hear Twilight saying something about the script, but it didn't seem important at the moment.
"I don't know!" Hurricane rolled her eyes, "Maybe you're stupid enough to think you'll actually survive FREEZING YOUR STUPID ASSES!"

"How dare you!" Platinum hissed, "We would never do such a thing."
"Well, if you non-earthers aren't gonna stop using your weirdo powers to freeze us all, then I'm plum out of ideas." Puddinghead smiled.

"Oh, what a shocker. A ground-pounder with no ideas!"
"Commander, please cease with the insults!" Platinum said, apparently she meant it.

"You're not the boss of me, your royal snootiness." Hurricane said, hovering over the table and leaning right into Platinum's face. Rainbow Dash looked like she was about to get physically violent. Puddinghead started muttering.
"What did you say?" Hurricane hissed.

"What did you say?"
"Stop doing that!"

"Stop doing that!"
Midday remembered what her mother had once said about the three rules of the pony-tribes. Pinkie was doing Twilight Sparkle's educated and well-researched summation of the Chancellor absolute justice.

All three looked about ready to tear each other to shreds, and then, suddenly, they turned and walked out. Or off-stage. For a moment, Midday could swear she saw a strange swirling phantasm in a vaguely horse-like shape.
"Windigos" she said to herself.

The scene changed, to the Pegasus capital, where for some reason Hurricane was sitting outside instead of inside, say, an office, as one would expect of a leading military official, even in those times. Fluttershy, or rather, Private Pansy, who was probably her descendant (Though given Fluttershy's less obvious talents, being the descendant of Pansy wasn't as much of a surprise.). Pansy saluted as Hurricane landed.

"Aren't you curious as to how it went?" she asked, her former bluster outright gone. Now she sounded... well, almost motherly. Midday tried not to burst out in fits of laughter at the idea of Rainbow Dash being a mother.
"How did it go, sir?" Pansy asked. The commander sighed.

"Horribly. The other leaders were so... disrespectful. It's like they don't even realise we are warriors, not to be crossed." She sighed, and rubbed her front hoof against her forehead.
"Perhaps we should break ranks with those fools."

The scene abruptly changed to the interior of a stone palace, where Twilight, or Clover the Clever (Pupil of Star-Swirl the Bearded himself) was waiting, dressed in only a simple cloth hooded cloak. Platinum quickly entered and shut the door.
"How did it go?"

Platinum looked at Clover and smiled as warmly as could be managed, though she looked weary beyond her years.
"Poorly. The other tribes were impossible. Hurricane was a blustering, blundering oaf, and Puddinghead..." She shuddered, and walked over to a small blanket. She stared at it for a moment, and smiled. Clover looked nervous.
"Your Highness?"

"Yes, Clover? What is it? Why are you looking so nervous?"
"Because you've got that face on."

"What face?"
"The 'I'm thinking of doing something mad and dangerous' face. I have nightmares about that face."

"This is my normal face." Platinum said, a slight air of hurt about her.
"I know." Clover looked down at her hooves

Then the scene somehow changed again, though if Midday had a guess it was just the actresses standing on different parts of the stage, as she had seen during the rehearsals, though that all seemed strangely distant.
It was the inside of something that in modern times would look more like a cabin, with a little unlit fire. Suddenly Pinkie, or more rather Puddinghead, appeared out of it.

"Wouldn't it have been easier to use the door?" Asked Applejack, her voice strangely missing a lot of her accent.
"Maybe for you, Smart Cookie." Pinkie smiled, and Midday knew the audience was probably smiling as well, since everypony and their mothers knew about the chimney bit.

"But I am a chancellor. I was elected because I know how to think outside the box." She walked over to the chimney again, and ducked under it, "Which means I can think inside the chimney. Can you think inside the chimney?"
Smart Cookie didn't get a chance to respond.

"Didn't think so" Puddinghead beamed. There was a disgusted sigh from the poor pony. Midday wondered if anypony in the audience even knew of Cookie's reaction to being 'elected' for her current job, which while heartbraking for the poor mare, would be considered comedy gold to any modern viewer. Suddenly, Puddinghead gasped.
"Hold on to your hooves! I am about to be brilliant!"

"That'd be a first" Smart Cookie muttered under her breath
"I have decided earthers are gonna go it alone!"

Smart Cookie paused as she tried to figure out what that meant for the discussion with the tribe leaders.
"You mean the other tribes didn't come around? Shoot..." A bit of Applejack's natural voice leaked through. Midday wondered, was the play making her use that voice, or was it something Applejack was doing herself? And she couldn't help but remember that orange was not the natural colour of any apple she knew of, and her Smart Cookie voice sounded like it was from... Manehattan, and there were the famous Manehattan Oranges, which meant... she made a mental note to check that out later, if she remembered.

"I-I really though we could get through to them if we-" Puddinghead walked up to Smart Cookie and pattered her condescendingly on the head.
"Don't worry about them. We're the ones with all the food, right?"

Smart Cookie stared straight at her.
"Actually, we're all out" she said, pointing to a window, where the constant snowstorm raged on.

"Fine," Puddinghead shrugged, "Then we'll go somewhere new where we can grow some new food." She puffed up her chest, "And with me as our fearless leader, what could go wrong?"
"(Where should I start?)" Smart Cookie muttered

"The point is" Puddinghead declared, at which point Pinkie, Rarity and Rainbow Dash spoke as one to declare their intent of finding a new land.
That was the first act break, and suddenly the illusions vanished into nothingness, and Midday found herself standing just off-stage next to Trixie, who looked slightly damp and very confused.

"What just happened?" the showmare whispered.
"The... story took over the play." Midday stated, trying to sound like she knew what she meant.

The two quickly rushed to the others, who all looked a bit confused.
"What was going on there?" Rainbow Dash asked, "I wasn't going to shout that loudly."

"An' ah wasn't gonna speak like that." Applejack said.
"Is it possible the play was somehow... acting through us?" Rarity suggested. Twilight scoffed.

"Please, that's preposterous pseudo-magical nonsense. I'm sure there's a perfectly rational explanation."
"Well, ah'm pretty sure ah have never spoken like... like... that" Applejack said, thought she twitched slightly as she said it.

"That was quite the unsual accent. None of our voices changed, except Spike's and he was deliberately doing it."
"It's the play," Midday said, "Plays are words and words have power, the story seemed to be acting through you all, probably due to the high amount of magical potential in the room, and the audience getting engrossed in the story."
Twilight stared at Midday like she had just ranted about 'thinking in the chimney' herself.

"With all respect, Midday, that is a total load of-"
"Which of the ponies in this room faced down a draqonequus who could fold reality in half like a sandwich? Or managed to destroy a rampaging moon-god with love and tolerance? And you're telling me that after Pinkie-sense, Him and Nightmare Moon, plays possessing ponies is where you draw the line?"

"Please tell me you didn't say that on purpose." Rarity sighed. Midday looked at her in confusion.
"The cave scene? Act 3?" Midday nodded once she remembered.

"Ah gotta say, it did feel a bit like somethin' was making me speak differently, and no matter what, I couldn't fight against it."
"Did it tell you to kill your loved ones and bring about ever-lasting night?" Midday asked.

"... No. Would'a remembered that." Applejack said, nervously.
"Then I don't think there's any malevolence in it, though perhaps we should be a bit cautious going ahead, just in case. Last thing we need is Nightmare Farmer trying to do away with pears and bring about ever-lasting apples."

Pinkie giggled slightly at that, though nopony else did (most especially not Applejack).
"Any suggestions on how to deal with it?" Twilight asked, as she looked through a book for answers.

"Let the story run it's course? We all know how it ends, and I doubt it's going to deviate that seriously, though I think there should be some emergency chocolate on standby."
"How do you know about all this anyhow?" Asked Applejack. Midday paused, and tried to think of the best answer. Finding none that suited her, she decided to be flippant.

"I'm Midday Eclipse," She said calmly, "I know stuff"

*****

The curtain-call for the second act went up, and Midday took her place just off-stage, watching but feeling slightly more concerned than before.
Spike began recounting how the tribe leaders set out, and the actors began showing this, with more differences than before, save except for most of Puddinghead's scenes which remained entirely the same, barring a few moments where Applejack's accent slipped.

"THIS IS THE NEW LAND WE'VE BEEN SEARCHING FOR! OUR NEW HOME" Hurricane proclaimed, looking over the pleasant fields of green.
"I can see where I'm going to build my home." Pansy declared.

Hurricane posed in mid-air, a mad grin over the pony's face. "I DECLARE THIS LAND TO BE... PEGASOPOLIS!"

*****

Platinum moved from rock-formation to rock-formation, oohing and aahing every now and then.
"Such riches, such value. This whole land just... dazzles" she said. It was not the most measured comment a princess as supposedly dignified as Platinum would make, but for whatever reason the illusion did at least illustrate what the old Equestrian territories looked like. Green and verdant and lush, and while the gems sticking out of every surface was a bit of an exaggeration, they were still amazingly beautiful.

Platinum produced a flag from the large backpack Clover had been wearing, and planted it.
"I hereby dub this land... Unicornia!"

Midday could hear sniggering, and somepony who sounded an awful lot like Scootaloo making a cutting remark about 'corn'. Midday couldn't admit to having any moral high-ground there. If a filly was criticising a name like that, how in the world were full-grown adult ponies supposed to say it with a strange face?

'Unicornia' indeed, she thought to herself.

*****

Puddinghead rushed around a hillock, cheering and whooping and dancing her utterly insane head off.
"The air!" She took a deep breath.

"The trees!" She sniffed around several trees that had looked like part of the backdrop. Then she scooped at the ground and took a bite of the dirt. That was certainly Puddinghead. Even Pinkie, extreme omnivore as she was, didn't eat dirt.
"The dirt!" She cried without chewing. "This dirt is the dirt-iest dirt in the whole dirt world!"

Smart Cookie took a small sample and examined it, presumably using earth-pony magic to determine its strengths.
"And fertile, too. It'll be perfect for growing food" she smiled.

Puddinghead bounced to the top of the hillock, and produced a flag from nowhere, and planted it on top.
"In the name of the Earth Ponies, I think I'm gonna name this place..." The background music built up.

"Earth!"
The music suddenly stopped. Smart Cookie looked around.

"Earth?" she said, or rather Applejack said because it was with her accent, "That's a terrible name for a place. Might as well call it Dirt. Welcome t' Dirt" she muttered with some disdain.
"Dirtville!" Puddinghead declared, before stomping her hooves.

"Glad I thought of it!"
And than all three leaders spoke at once, and then noticed each other.

"I PLANTED MY FLAG FIRST! THIS IS PEGASUS COUNTRY!" Hurricane boomed.
"Did not!" Puddinghead jeered.

"I DID!"
Puddinghead paused, and actually appeared to think.

"Well, we planted it earlier than first!"
Smart Cookie face-hoofed

"We could share the land?" Platinum suggested.
"YOU ARE TRESPASSING IN PEGASOPOLIS!"

"Dirtville!"
"PEGASOPOLIS!"

"Equestria?" Platinum said, as the pegasus and earth-pony squared off. "Anypony?"
Hurricane rushed over to her.

"I SAY WE FIGHT FOR THE LAND, AND WHOEVER IS LEFT STANDING (me) WINS!"
Midday couldn't help but notice a sharp increase in wind, and a rapid temperature drop, but the characters didn't, even as the ground beneath their hooves dried up and snow began to waft increasingly faster past their faces.

"That's barbaric." Platinum sniffed.
"Look," Clover spoke up, "Perhaps if we all calmed down..."

"I agree" Smart Cookie said
"I vote for calm." Pansy added. Hurricane turned on her.

"I'LL HAVE YOU DONE FOR INSUBORDINATION!"
There was a sudden wet splat as something hit Hurricane's face. A snowball. Platinum began to chortle, before a snowball hit her. Both pegasus and unicorn turned to glower at Puddinghead, who already had a dozen snowballs lined up and ready to throw. Then she suddenly stopped mid-throw.

"Wait... where'd this snow come from anyway?"
Hurricane's line in the script indicate 'she' was supposed to utter 'oh no, not again'. Instead, Rainbow Dash's character uttered something that was both more character accurate, and incredibly rude and unsuitable for publication. Midday felt a dreadful pang in her soul as she knew one of the CMC would repeat that phrase at some point, right when it was most inconvenient.

*****

The eight mares reconvened. Twilight looked both weary and excited.
"Okay, girls, we're almost at the end. We've just got a few more minutes, and then the anthem, and that'll be us."

"That's nice, though I was beginning to enjoy myself a bit." Fluttershy whispered.
"There'll be other plays" Pinkie smiled.

"Ah don' know. This don't seem natural to me, mucking about with stories being alive."
"My throat hurts." Rainbow Dash croaked. Suddenly Ditzy appeared with a bowl of soup, which the pegasus downed rapidly.

"Oh, that's better. Ditzy, you are a lifesaver."
The mailmare smiled. "Thanks, Rainbow Dash."

"I owe you one."
The mare gave Rainbow Dash a smile that suggested that she'd remember that, and rushed off.

"Only one more act." Rarity said, calmly.
"And it's the best bit!" Pinkie bounced up and down.

"And then it's Hearth's Warming time!" Trixie declared. Everypony stared at her.
"What?"

"You're in a cheery mood" Twilight observed.
"I'm watching national heroes acting on stage. Why shouldn't I be?" She grinned, before gliding off.

"Ah can't tell if that was an insult or not," Applejack considered that statement, "An' ah'm not sure ah want to, either."

*****

The curtain went up once more, and Spike began to narrate.
"And so the paradise that the ponies had found was soon lost, buried beneath a thick blanket of snow, and hard feelings. Instead of beautiful, it was blizzardy"

"That's not a real word!" Twilight hissed.
"Instead wonderful, it was wintry."

Ponies were already looking annoyed. Midday rolled her eyes.
"Instead of spectacular, it was snow-tacular."

Midday opened her mouth to speak.
"Instead o-"

There was a sudden explosion of noise from the blue showmare beside her.
"GET! ON! WITH! IT!"

Spike fell over from the shock, though he wasn't the only one who was startled. He stood up and laughed nervously, and began to actually narrate properly. The story-fueled illusions kicked in once more, showing a tiny cave with the six ponies inside. And of course, the leaders began to fight while the underlings tried to make peace. Or that was how the script went. Strangely enough, Pansy and Hurricane began to fight, and when Platinum and Puddinghead attempted to intervene, Hurricane knocked them out. Midday frowned at that. She knew the context, but without that precious context, it was meaningless. She noticed it was beginning to get really, really cold, and all she could think of was the things that made her unhappy. Being stuck in the past, Rainbow Dash's boorish behaviour, Applejack, Twilight's total lack of common sense, the mess she'd made of her life, Star-Swirl ruining everything by existing, and then... she saw it. Ice was beginning to form around her feet.

"What the hay?" She muttered. She could see ice forming around Trixie, who looked equally panicked, although for her it was spreading quicker.
"Trixie, quick! Think happy thoughts!"

"I know what's going on," the mare snapped, "I know it's those Windigo things, and we're caught up in the story, like you've been saying non-stop all evening! Trixie didn't fall off the back of a wagon, you know!"
"Sorry." Midday said. She looked over to the fighting ponies. Rarity, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash were now completely covered.

There was a hideous roaring noise, and everypony who could looked up at the ceiling.
"What is that thing?!" Fluttershy yelled.

"They must be Windigos!" Clover stated
Smart Cookie and Pansy looked confused.

"My mentor Star-Swirl told me about them. They're winter spirits that feed off fighting and hatred. The more hate the spirit feels, the colder it becomes."
'Bravo for Star-Swirl' Midday thought to herself, 'Didn't bother to put it down in paper, or in that fantastic journal of his' She shook her head. Angry thinking wasn't going to help. She had to think positive, think of the positive.

"Then... this is our fault!" Smart Cookie said, "We three tribes... we brought the blizzard to our homes by fighting and not trusting each other. Now it's destroying the land, too."
"Now we've destroyed ourselves as well, I'm afraid." Clover said quietly. Midday knew the script mentioned something heavy-hoofed about hatred. She'd have preferred re-writing it to include a heavy-hoofed lecture of trust, herself.

"But, we're not fighting," Pansy chimed. "And I don't hate you guys." She paused, as the ice began to move up their cannons.
"And I don't really hate Hurricane. She can be loud almost all the time, but she is alright once you get to know her."

"I don't hate you two either" Smart Cookie smiled.
"Nor do I" Clover laughed.

"No matter what our differences, we're all still ponies." Then, there was a strange glow from Twilight's horn, and from the look on her face, it wasn't scripted. It shot up into the ceiling, and then spread. It washed over Midday and felt warm, and lovely, and like-
Birthdays with mom and dad, laughing with Shining Sapphire, learning from Uncle Shining Armor, cooking with Pinkie Pie the other week, helping Rarity and Impossibility sew and laughing at the mistakes. It felt like the time mother had said she was proud of her, how Aunt Cadance always smiled and lit up the room, of that Luna from the other world who had believed in her, of meeting her double, being with Wisp, every time.
Now the friendship was spreading, she felt like she could feel everypony else's joy. Running through a forest, a sleepover gone wrong and right at the same time, being reunited with an old friend though lost forever, of a successful party. of a much needed hug after a long day, of being there for the triumphs and the failures and everything inbetween.
It was friendship, and it felt like magic, and it felt good.

There was one more pitiful wail from the Windigos as the illusion vanished completely. Six ponies stood upon a stage, staring at the audience, who stared right back. Above Twilight's head was a glowing fiery pink heart, exuding warmth in both a physical and an emotional sent

"What was that?" Fluttershy said.
"I didn't know unicorns could do that" Applejack frowned.

"I didn't either," Twilight whispered, though from the looks of it she was still acting "Nothing like this has ever happened before. But I know it couldn't have been just me. It came from all three of us, joined together in friendship"
She was certain she could hear Scootaloo making gagging noises, before there was the sound of a swift kick, most likely from Apple Bloom.

Spike finished the narration, of how they thawed out the leaders, and such, and founded the very beginning of Equestria, leaving out the bit where everything fell apart and Discord came along, and the Crystal Empire vanished, and Nightmare Moon of course. It was a happy ending for this play.
'Happy endings' Midday smiled.

And then everypony began to sing.

*****

The eight mares sat about, laughing and talking and chatting.
"So, you think the illusion's gone."

Midday frowned, and smirked.
"Well, the story ended, Twilight, like almost all stories. Every story ends" she said.

"Except the ones that say 'to be continued'" Pinkie smiled, "I like those stories, because then you can just keep telling them forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever-"
"I think it'll return, next year, and the next. Good stories are worth repeating."

A few heads nodded slowly as that statement was considered.
"We should be so honoured that Celestia chose us" Twilight smiled, "She must really think we exemplify what good friends are."

"Well, you managed to take down two rampaging gods together using harmony. Bit of a clue there: Harmony."
"-And ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and-"

There was a sudden draft.
"I thought you closed that window." Applejack said. Midday looked over to the window.

"I thought I closed it as well."
"I though Rainbow Dash was supposed to close it." Trixie said.

"-And ever and ever and ever an-... Hey, where'd Dashie go?"
"Good question." Midday said as her horn glowed, closing the windows.

"Where is Rainbow Dash?" She looked around the room.
"Probably jus' went to the bathroom or something."

There were more nods.
"Now, shall we go wait for her in the main hall, then perhaps go get some delicious Hearth's Warming Eve dinner?"

*****

"FOR THE LOVE OF BUCK, I only want to find one unicorn! How hard can this be for you? One unicorn, that's all I'm looking for!" Rainbow Dash yelled at the pony. He was not the sort of unicorn prone to evilness, except the sort of evil that comes from making ponies bored, and that particular sort of bored that a) is costing you money, and b) occuring when you should be having a nice time. But this pegasus was quite insistant, on Hearth's Warming Eve no less, of looking at his records, and the guards couldn't arrive fast enough.

"Look, I'll even give you a name if it speeds up the damn process. Midday Eclipse. M-i-d-d" The stallion held up a hoof.
"I can spell" he said calmly. He sighed.

"But yelling at me will not change the nature of reality. I can assure you, ma'am, there is no pony who has ever worked for any branch of he-.. of Their Majesties government with that name"
"Are you absolutely sure?" he stared at her. He wanted to go home. He wanted to sit in his nice chair covered in cushions in front of the fireplace and put his feet up, not argue with an overly wound-up pegasus about filing errors.

"Look," the pegasus said, "Just give me five minutes, that's all I ask. I just want to find one pony, I know the file I'm looking for. Just show me the file, and I'll be out of your hair."
Wheels began to turn in his mind. He sighed. This required doing things in a different way than he was used to.

"Very well, come with me" he said. He ducked down behind the desk and removed the small set of keys that hung there where nopony could take them. He led the pegasus along to a room. He opened the door, revealing a near totally empty room, save for one solitary filing cabinet. The pegasus speeded over to it, and opened the drawers, and finally found one that matched what she was looking for.
"M... m a... m e... m i... mic... mid" She stopped. There were the sounds of folders being flipped, and reflipped. He pitied the poor pony who would come in after the winter break and find his or her files untidily flipped. The noise stopped.

"She's not here." The pegasus stated.
"Why isn't she here?" she turned on the stallion, and advanced on him.

"WHY ISN'T SHE HERE?!" Her breath smelt unbearably like cheap coffee.
"I honestly cannot say." The mared groaned, which turned into a full roar and she kicked the wall. He just raised an eyebrow (A skill all good buraucrats develop sooner or later, if not at basic training).

He walked out into the hallway. The mare followed him.
"Fine, I'll just look through every folder I can until I find her!" She hissed. There was the sound of ponies who had previously been walking silently making an effort to be loud.

Rainbow Dash turned to see two imposing guards looking down at her.
"Is there a... problem?" one said.
Rainbow Dash looked at the guard, and the other guard, and considered her options.

She muttered something unladylike.
"Fine, fine, I'll go" She muttered.

*****

The group waited for a full ten minutes for Rainbow Dash, and she finally appeared flanked by two guards, who quickly departed once she mingled with the others.
"Hooray! Rainbow Dash has returned and we can all get dinner," Pinkie cheered. "It really takes it out of you, being turned into a metaphorical personification of a historical figure."

There was a slight pause.
"It's just Pinkie." Fluttershy said when nopony else did.

"Jelly baby?" The pink mare said, waving a small paper bag in everypony's face.
"So where were you Rainbow Dash?" Asked Twilight.

"Just looking for something I left here last time." She muttered, half-heartedly.
"Guessin' ya didn't find it."

"Not yet."
Rarity slowed her pace, and Rainbow Dash slowed hers as well.

"You couldn't find anything?" Rarity whispered. Rainbow Dash shook her head.
"Not a blip. It's like she does't even exist." There was a slight moment of silence.

"And no, I didn't get to check anywhere else. I don't think I'd have gotten away with it. I think we need to step up our game."
"After the holidays, Rainbow."

"Duh. Not wasting my time off. I'm gonna be doing awesome stuff."
"Like napping?"

"That too."
The two quickly resumed walking fast alongside the others. Midday watched them and suddenly called out.

"You girls go on ahead, I've got somepony I need to talk to about things."

*****

Some fifteen minutes later, there was a knocking on the door of Princess Celestia's private chambers. The Solar Diarch looked up from her book.
"Who is it?"

The door knocked again. She sighed. If this was Shining Armor with another blasted report, she was going to recommend he have a psychiatric evaluation.
She opened the door and found Midday smiling at her.

"I was in the area, though I'd come by and say thanks."
"For... what?"

"Well, for whatever you did with all the stuff on me you've had that nice Gumshoe collect for the last few months."
Celestia blinked.
"You... knew about that, about him?"

"I can spot a guard trying to blend in. Bearing in mind I grew up around members of the guard."
Celestia nodded at that.

"I suppose you would have."
Midday nodded and stared aimlessly at the room, and noticed Celestia was ungarnished. Just her, not jewelery or shoes.

"By the way, the play..."
"Yes?"

"That happens every year, right? You have somepony reignite the 'fires of friendship' with that play?"
"It's worked so far, and it's a good story."

"But you knew Twilight wasn't in danger, right?"
"She had her friends with her. I knew they'd manage."

For an instant, Midday's smile flickered, and she went silent.
"What... exactly," She said after a few moments silence, "Did you do with the stuff on me?"

"Well, I had it hid in the last place anypony would think to look."
Midday considered this for a moment. Then she grinned and started laughing.
"You didn't!"

"I did."
"Nice one."

"Thank you."
"She'd never look for it there." Midday laughed.

"Well, have a good Hearth's Warming." She turned to leave, "You are spending it with family, right?"
"Don't worry about me, Twilight Twinkle. You just enjoy time with your family."

"Bet you enjoyed that one." Midday smiled, before closing the door behind her. Celestia sighed and returned to reading a book, briefly pausing to look at a picture of her with Twilight and Spike. She smiled slightly. She looked at the book, stood up and went to find Luna.

*****

"Happy Hearth's Warming, everypony!" Twilight Velvet smiled.
"Here, here" Rarity raised her glass. Everypony, and Spike, did the same.

"Slow down, Trixie, no need to go all Prench on us yet." Midday cautioned. The showmare waved a hoof.
"Let Trixie have her fun. Besides, I've got you to remember everything for me."

"Guess that blast of friendship got to you, huh?" Applejack smiled.
"And to those who aren't here." She said, noticing the look on Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity and Twilight's faces.

*****

"Cadance..."
"Shining..."
"Happy Hearth's Warming, dear."

*****

"Lyra!"
"Sweetie!"

*****

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS CAROL SINGERS! YAY!!!"
"Not indoors, girls."
"Aww..."

*****

"Luna?"
"'Tia?"

"I see you're not wearing your sweater."
"It's not Hearth's Warming Day yet. And neither are you."

"... On the count of three."
"Ready when you are."

"As I'll ever be."
"Happy Hearth's Warming Luna."

"Softie!"
"Somepony needs a Hearth's Warming Hug!"

"Stay back, back! Aghhh! Itchy, itchy, itchy, ITCHY!"

*****

"Muffin."
"Night momma."

*****

Several ponies lay slumbering in the drawing room of the Twilight House. Rarity sleep on a sofa, with Spike curled up next to her. Rarity claimed he was a functional hot-water bottle, and didn't mind his scaly skin. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were passed out next to Fluttershy, and Trixie had fallen asleep on Twilight. Only Pinkie, Twilight and Midday remained awake.
"You know any songs 'bout going to sleep there, Midday?" Pinkie asked.

"Me? I know one, I suppose, but... no." The royal blue unicorn scoffed. Twilight and Pinkie stared at her. She looked down at her hooves.
"I don't wanna sing it. And it gets real loud."

"C'mon, it's already one in the morning and we're gonna pass out in a few moments anyway" Pinkie sighed, "Go ahead and sing."
"I don' like singing."

"How old are you?"
"Eighteen. Ish."

"You look older than that." Twilight muttered.
"I know."

"C'mon" Pinkie slurred as her eyelids drooped. "You've got a song, so sing."
"My father sang it to me once, when I was little. I don't know where he learnt it but, I guess... just this once..."
She coughed slightly and took a breath, and began to sing...

"Lay down,
your sweet and weary head..."

Author's Note

Super-ultra-long-chapter gooooo.
... I need a vacation.
(This chapter would probably be a bit more effective if I'd wrote it, ohhh, I don't know, a few months back.
Perhaps. Whatever.)
Also: Sorry I could resist using that song. I'm only human.

Home for the Holidays

Midday woke from her slumber, feeling strangely energised. She smirked ever-so-slightly. She was eighteen, and counting by the date rather then her actual age, she was now only two months from being nineteen.
'One month out from my actual birthday' she muttered to herself. The prospect of spending her nineteenth birthday in the past was... not something she'd considered.

She looked around the room, at the ponies sleeping. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were sleeping next to Fluttershy. Rainbow was drooling slightly, and even now and then Fluttershy seemed to twitch, like a dog dreaming of chasing rabbits. Applejack's hat was covering her face. On the small sofa Rarity lay curled around Spike, apparently having shifted in her sleep, a smile on her face. On the other sofa, Trixie was leaning on Twilight, her horn glowing every few seconds as small illusory blue unicorns danced and celebrated around her head. Twilight herself was just breathing in and out every few seconds. That left only Pinkie, who looked almost like she'd just shut her eyes for a moment, still sitting in the same position she had when she'd asked Midday to sing.

She looked around the darkened room, and listened for the ticking of a clock. She could tell it was past midnight, and therefore technically Hearth's Warming day, but as her mother had insisted, Hearth's Warming never really started until after six fifty-nine in the morning, and even then not until somepony had some coffee in her. Midday looked about, and tried to see what time the clock said it was. It was only half past four. She sat there for a moment, and then, trying to be as quiet as possible, stood up. As she did she noticed an odd reflection in the light, which she noticed was in fact a tree. She smiled slightly and continued walking, taking every care to avoid the steps she knew would creak or groan, making her way to the library / bedroom. She quietly sat next to the small bed. She looked around the room, which wasn't really easy when the only thing lighting the room was her horn glowing slightly. Unfortunately when awake in the middle of the night with nothing better to do, one could start thinking. She tried to remember the last time she'd been in the family home. Then she remembered, and started trying not to remember the last time she'd been in the family home. She looked up the bookcase. Numerous spell-books and books on magical theory sat there, all looking slightly dog-earred, as if Twilight had read and re-read them over and over again. There were a few non-non-fiction books, the odd Daring Do book, but only the very earliest. She looked at it, and lifted it over toward her, and opened it. Something fell out, and then several things. Little tiny scraps of paper with quotations from the book listing errors of science and magic present in the book, and what looked like a letter. She stared at it. She fought her curiosity and opened it.

"'Dear Twilight Sparkle, thank you for the lovely letter you wrote. It is such a joy to me to know that somepony as young as you has taken such an interest in my book. From the sound of it, you are quite the learned filly, and I appreciate your taking the time to correct this silly filly on her numerous mistakes.'" Midday briefly stopped looking. She looked down at the notes. From the looks of it, the mistakes were hardly mind-shatteringly awful, the odd botched bit of Zebrican or Prench here and there, the minor flaw of logic or such, but hardly something to begrudge a piece of fiction on, and some of the critiques were... quite advanced, only something a much older pony would have noticed. This writer seemed amazingly lacking in self-confidence.

"'I hope they do not discourage you from further reading. Who knows, perhaps one day we might be able to meet in person, or perhaps you will write books of your own? From your letter, you seem confident and clever enough that I am suprised you haven't stared writing your own books already. You clearly have a keen analytical mind and a way with words.'" Midday frowned and looked around the room. She knew Twilight had written the odd paper, or historical study, but she'd never written a fictional book. Or at least not one Midday had ever heard of. Though, she reflected, there was that unfortunate time she'd met one of Pinkie's numerous spawn. What had her name been? Clove? Chives? No, no, Minty. That was it. Minty Pie.

She remembered overhearing Pinkie once remark she'd been running out of names for her children, and her defensive remark regarding just not having more. She smiled at the thought of Vanilla, and his bright pink mane, and genial, if slightly bland personality. She looked back down at the note.
"'But regardless of what you choose to do with your life, I am certain you will go far with whatever you choose. Just don't forget, you should enjoy what you're doing.'"

She couldn't quite make out the signature. Whoever wrote it had incredibly shaky hoofwriting. They must have been a nervous wreck as they wrote, and considering their noticable lack of self-confidence, she wasn't surprised. She gently folded the letter back up, and returned it to the book. Then she noticed on the inside of the book was scrawled something, in different, slightly neater handwriting.
"'To Twilie, for being the best little sister, your B.B.B.F.F.'"

Of course, she told herself. Twilight was never going to examine a non-fiction book voluntarily, but if her Big Brother Best Friend Forever said it was good, then Twilight would take a look at it.
"Shining Armor bought it for her a few days after she got her Cutie Mark" a voice said, a voice that caused her heart to suddenly leapt up into her throat, dropping the book to the ground. She turned around to see Twilight Velvet standing in the doorway, silhouetted by the lights in the hallway.

"Trouble sleeping?" The mare asked. Midday just nodded.
"Haven't quite gotten the nack of sleeping on Hearth's Warming Eve yet" she said. Velvet walked over to her. With her really light purple hair, she almost seemed to glow in the dark. The mare looked at the book incuriously.

"I remember when little Twilight got this note. She'd read the whole book cover to cover, then wrote all these notes, and sent a long letter to the writer informing the poor mare of every mistake she'd made. Then, two weeks later we got a note from the writer back, and I though she was going to faint from surprise. Or worse."
"Like turning everypony around her into potted plants again?"

"That was an unusual minute and a half." Velvet frowned. Something occured to Midday.
"What's got you up and around at half past four in the morning?"

"Hearth's Warming. Got to leave the presents out."
Midday smirked. "Even if your kids aren't there?"

She instantly regretted that choice of words, and the briefest flash on Twilight Velvet's face.
"Especially if they aren't there" Twilight Velvet smiled.

The two stood there for a time. Midday suddenly felt much more tired.
"Think I'm getting sleepy" she muttered.

Velvet stared at her.
"You said you were from Canterlot, right?" Midday felt a sudden pang of fear. She tried to ignore it.

"Yes."
"Twilight said you claimed that you could trace your ancestry to Mimic herself."

"Yeah" Midday said, fighting down a yawn. Twilight Velvet said nothing, just fixing her with a steady stare, which quickly changed into an almost motherly look.
"You look awful. Get some sleep already."

"Yes m'm" Midday mumbled, her body practically on automatic by that point. She walked over to the bed and lay on it, and was asleep in seconds.
Twilight Velvet stared at the sight of the royal blue mare asleep, looking for all the world like her own daughter.

*****

Midday was woken up by Pinkie Pie's extremely raucous cheering. She made her way downstairs to find the girls tearing into a pile of presents. Pinkie seemed quite impressed with her present.
"Look, it squeaked!" She said, bopping the little rubber ducky in front of her every few moments.

"The new Daring Do!" Twilight said, her voice lowered and in awe.
"Goodness" Fluttershy whispered.

"Why in Equestria has somepony given me a tea-cosy?" Rarity guffawed slightly. "I already have a dozen of them. I suppose this was Sweetie Belle's idea." She shrugged, and gently placed it next to her, her eyes occasionally darting toward it as she examined her other presents.
This proceeded on for a few minutes, until everypony had opened theirs. Midday allowed herself a smile. She felt good. Better than she had in a long time, she thought. Perhaps that was something to do with the strange blast of friendship from the play. She considered that, and decided to just ignore it. It was Hearth's Warming. Nothing was going on that couldn't wait twenty-four hours.

*****

"Ah. Surrounded on all sides by snowponies. Killer snowponies. Killer snowponies who eat real ponies." He waved his screwdriver, not liking the result he got.
"Very extremely far from good."

The large blue alicorn standing nearby rolled her eyes, while the strabismus-afflicted mailmare sitting nearby held her foal tightly to her.
"But I have a brilliant and clever plan"

"Which is...?" Luna asked.
"Not getting eaten."

"How did I get talked into this mess again?" Luna asked, as the snowponies advanced towards them. He ignored her.
"Better snowponies than Ice Ponies. I really don't want to run into them again." The brown-haired stallion smiled. He checked to make sure he still had his bowtie.

"Right." He tensed himself, and prepared to be clever.

*****

The rest of Hearth's Warming Midday spent relaxing and joking about with Twilight and her friends, and having as good a time on Hearth's Warming as possible. The day passed without major incident, and neither did the day after. On the next day however, it was decided that perhaps it was time to return to Ponyville.
"Thank you ever-so-much for having us" Rarity smiled. Night Light just smiled.

"It's quite alright, we're always happy to see Twilight and her friends."
"That's us" Pinkie beamed. Everypony ignored her.

"Travel safely" Twilight Velvet said. As they started walking out, Midday turned to them.
"Be sure to tell Shining Armor to write. Just because he's older doesn't mean his sister doesn't miss him sometimes."

And with that the group set off towards the train station.
"Lovely ponies, I thought" Night Light said, casually.

"Yes" Twiligh Velved smiled, watching her daughter still turning to wave. They waited until she was out of sight.
"Shall we go see Celestia now?" he asked.

"Yes."

*****

The train slowly made its way down the mountain back to Ponyville. Midday rested slightly on the small bunk. Then she saw the look on Twilight's face. She made her way over to her.
"You okay?" She asked. Twilight seemed to jump.

"Yes, I just... I, well... it's not important."
"You wish you could've seen your brother."

Twilight blinked, and a noticably sad look came over her face.
"Yes."

"Twilight... feeling miserable about seeing him isn't going to change anything. If you want to talk to your brother, you do have to make a bit of effort towards seeing him."
"But I'm busy most of the time" she said, though she didn't sound like she believed it much.

"If something's important, Twilight Sparkle, you make time." She patted the mare gently.
"I mean, if you just sit around waiting for him to see you, and you to see him, well... it'd be terrible to suddenly find you're an aunt without any forewarning."

At the word 'aunt' Twilight started staring straight ahead, her jaw dropped, and she went utterly unresponsive. Midday tried to guess at what could possibly have Twilight so shocked, even waving a hoof in front of her face, to which there was no response.
"Is she alright?" asked Fluttershy. Midday looked puzzled and turned to Fluttershy. She tried to think of the most accurate thing to say, glancing at the utterly still Twilight.

"I, ah... I think I broke her."
Fortunately she seemed to snap out of it by the time they reached Ponyville, though she did occasionaly shoot Midday odd looks. The mare walked along the path through Ponyville, watching as everypony but Trixie split off from the group to go elsewhere.

Upon entering the library Midday set her saddlebag down, and sighed. She stood there as Twilight, Trixie and Spike went about their business. She sat there, and found she didn't feel quite at home in the small library as she had in Canterlot. She looked out of the window. It was a generally pleasant day, slightly cloudy but otherwise fine, although it wasn't sunny or warm enough for the snow to melt. She decided to go out.
Twilight walked into the room, just as Midday was leaving. She waiting a moment, then looked for one of the books on genealogy. She opened it, and began to study it in detail.

'Let's find out who you are' She muttered to herself.
"You say something?" Trixie asked from the other side of the room. Twilight yelped.

"No, no, nothing." She smiled nervously. Trixie stared at her, then ignored the matter.

*****

Midday walked through the streets of Ponyville, ruminating. The events of the play still troubled her, as did that mad-pony's claims of being Star-Swirl. And she was also greatly concerned by the occasional look she'd noticed from Twilight Velvet and Night Light. She shook her head, and noticed she was feeling slightly hungry, but not hungry enough for a full meal. She walked towards Sugarcube Corner, content in the knowledge that disaster wasn't going to strike anytime soon.

*****

Meanwhile in Canterlot, in the castle in the throne room, Celestia took another sip of her hot chocolate, desperately fighting the urge to scratch, or destroy the offending knitwear currently stabbing her in a dozen places. From the look on her face, Luna felt similar.
"So" Celestia said "What exactly happened with these snowponies?"

Luna made a small noise, "It was the strangest thing, there we were, having a nice early Hearth's Warming brunch, when-" There was a knock on the door, and Shining Armor appeared, wearing what appeared to be a woolly hat that Celestia recognised as one of her niece's creations, along with a matching scarf. She made a mental note to give him a raise at some point, since he seemed able to resist the itchiness where she and her sister could not.
"Your Highness," he seemed nervous, "My parents are here to see you."

Celestia and Luna exchanged glances. This was not the strangest announcement either pony had ever heard, but Twilight Sparkle's parents just appearing unannounced was certainly unusual as far as Celestia was concerned.
She smiled gently. "By all means, let them in."

The two ponies entered, a stern look on Twilight Velvet's face. That, Celestia noted, wasn't a good sign. She walked up to Celestia, and bowed, which made her feel slightly embarrased, not least because somepony was bowing to her while she was wearing an extremely itchy sweater and drinking hot chocolate and trying to feel like a regular pony.
"Yes?" she asked, feeling slightly flat-footed by the sudden arrival of her student's parents.

Twilght Velvet turned to Night Light, who nodded at her.
"Your Highness, my husband and I have something we wish to talk to you about."

"Of course" Celestia said, feeling concerned. "Is it something to do with Twilight Sparkle?"
There was a pause as Twilight Velvet thought.

"Not... exactly. More a pony she knows." Night Light said.

"What can you tell us about Midday Eclipse?"

Author's Note

Yes, more conspiracy! More I say! Hang those who talk of less!
Also: Nothing I love more than foreshadowing. Well, except following up on foreshadowing.

Flashback the Fifth: Learning

Twilight Twinkle, aged fifteen (physically nineteen)
Twilight Twinkle's mind raced. Standing in front of her was the Changeling Queen. The Changeling Queen. And she had just said Wisp was her son. A part of her pointed out this wasn't really a surprise. Thought it was more the fact that the Changeling Queen was in Ponyville, like it was a perfectly normal thing for an emotion-eating, mind-sapping bug monster to do.
"Leave us," the Changeling Queen said, looking at Twinkle like she was something to be scraped off of her hooves, "I would have words with my child."

"No." Wisp said, with an authority and sternness Twinkle hadn't ever heard before. The Changeling Queen looked at him.
"No?"

"I am not your son. You are not my mother." In an instant her expression shifted from shock to anger to what looked like hurt to revulsion.
"Do not speak back to me" she hissed. Twinkle stepped in front of her friend, and tried to ignore the shaking in her legs.

"You heard him. He said no. Now get lost." She knew of the... incident at her aunt and uncle's wedding, and so had her mind-shielding charm ready to go. The Changeling Queen stared at her for a moment, and then she suddenly found herself on her side, several feet away from Wisp. Twinkle saw the shapeshifter wipe her hoof against her chest as she got to her hooves.

"Okay" she muttered. She got to her hooves and, gritting her teeth, let loose a small beam of energy, which hit the Changeling Queen dead-centre, sending the creature flying. She landed in a heap, and pulled herself up. She fixed Twinkle with a glare.
"Who are you?" She hissed, her fangs plainly visible. Twilight Twinkle didn't respond.

"You're clearly quite a powerful little pony, but... obviously foolish. I am as strong as one of your princesses, and there are none here" she said, a cruel smile on her face as she advanced towards Twinkle.
"You only overpowered Celestia by chance, and with Cadance you were too cowardly to try attacking her directly" Twinkle said, trying to sound confident and stand her ground. The monster raised an eyebrow.

"You sound and look awfully familiar" she mused, as she bared her teeth.
"Well, no matter" she shrugged, "You'll be a useful snack all the same."

There was another noise, and a bright pink beam slammed into the Changeling Queen, sending her flying back further, with much more force.
"Don't you touch her." somepony yelled. Twinkle recognised it as her mother, who quickly rushed in front of her, before turning toward the startled colt.

"Whisper, get behind me" she beckoned. The stallion quickly moved behind her as the Changeling Queen got up once more, muttering something under her breath. As she stood up she looked from Twilight Sparkle to Twilight Twinkle, and a nasty smile returned to her face.
"Of course, you're her daughter. I thought I recognised something in you, though she seems a bit better at recognising Changelings that you, dear Twilight." Her grin grew as she immitated Cadance for the last two words. Twinkle saw her mother bristle, then fire another blast of magic at the Changeling Queen, who simply deflected it.

"Oh, please. Magic blasts? How unoriginal. You may be keeping remarkably well, young Twilight Sparkle, but you're still the little pathetic unicorn who fell for my disguise." She laughed.
Twinkle saw a look of irritation pass briefly across her mother's face, before there was an audible 'thwump' of wings flaring. The Changeling Queen took a step back, a fleeting look of surprise on her face. She hissed. Twinkle felt disappointed in the lack of sudden orchestral backing.

"All I wish to do is to talk with my son. Would you deny a mother the right to see her child?"
"You are not my mother" Wisp repeated, "You gave up that right when you abandoned me."

"I think the boy's made his choice." Twilight Sparkle said, "Now leave."
The Changeling Queen looked from her son to Twinkle to Twilight Sparkle. Her eyes seemed to linger on Twinkle, and the corner of her mouth seemed to curl slightly.

"Very well. I shall leave. But sooner or later, my son will be returned to me." She turned and then flew off into the distance. Twilight Sparkle turned to look at Wisp and Twinkle. She set about examining the two of them.
"You're alright." She sighed once she'd finished examining Twinkle, who decided not to mention that she felt like her legs were about to give in. Then Twilight Sparkle frowned, "Now go home, Twinkle. Whisper Wind and I have things to talk about." Twinkle looked to the stallion, his bright blue eyes somewhat lacking their usual shine. She opened her mouth to say something.

"No. Go home, young lady." her mother said sternly. Twinkle glowered at her, but said nothing before reluctantly turning and heading back to the small library. As she did she heard her mother speaking to Wisp.
"Wisp, tell me everything you know."

"Yes, your highness."
"I think we can skip formality this time..."

Twinkle rushed home, and sat down by one of the bookshelves. She quickly let herself collapse. She felt unusually afraid for Wisp. She knew he could take care of himself, she knew he was clever and responsible and... she couldn't stop thinking about him. She carefully raised a hoof to her cheek. It felt extremely warm. She sat there for a moment, trying to process that new shock.
"I have a crush on Wisp?" She sat there for a moment, before eliciting a small 'huh'.

*****

Her mother returned some time later, looking slightly concerned and noticably tired. She looked at Twinkle, and smiled gently, though the unicorn didn't return it. A slightly hurt look briefly went across Twilight Sparkle's face, but she moved on.
"Twinkle?" She asked, sitting next to her daughter, her wings fluttering slightly, "Would you like to go visit Rarity, in Canterlot?"

Twilight Twinkle looked up at the earnest and eager face of her mother, "What? Stay with her and Impy and hem pants every day? Or be roped into modelling the latest skirts? Tempting, but no." She returned to her book.
"I just thought you might want to learn something new. New skills for example, for when you move out into the world."

Twinkle just made a noise of disinterest. "I already know stuff."
"Well, I just worry about you. Cooped up all day, never going out and socialising."

"I 'socialise' with Wisp often enough."
Twilight Sparkle frowned.

"And what's wrong with having more friends?"
Twinkle fought the urge to remark that she was satisfied with the number of friends she had already, even if deep down she really wasn't. She just knew that if she made a remark of the tune of 'not needing friends' she'd quickly be proved wrong by fate, or reality. As a result, she simply turned the page of the book she was reading.

"I don't mind you reading" Twilight Sparkle said, shuffling slightly, "It's just that the books you read, and the lack of friends, and then you started making up these stories." There was a slam as Midday closed the book and stared at her mother.
"What. Stories." Thought she was fairly certain she knew the answer already.

"Well, these stories about... that is... I mean..."
Twinkle made a noise of disgust and walked upstairs, leaving her mother looking embarrassed.

*****

Of course she still got sent to stay with Rarity anyway, regardless of whether she wanted to stay in Ponyville, though she tried to justify it by saying the Changeling Queen could have returned at any time, which her mother calmly brushed off by assuring her that Wisp was quite safe.
She was welcomed on the platform by Rarity and Impy, who somehow seemed to blend into the crowd despite her abnormal size and length. It wasn't that she was an unhealthy eater, but when you're half-dragon, you do tend to become a bit larger than the average pony, though she was slightly smaller than Luna.

"Hello." Twinkle said as her somewhat larger 'niece' embraced her.
"And hello to you too, auntie" Impy said once she stopped crushing the poor mare's bones.

"Tell me, are you actually here to greet me, or just to make sure I don't get 'lost' on the way to your house?"
Rarity looked mildy upset at that statement.

"A bit" Impy smirked, living up to her nickname. "Grandma was... concerned you might do something 'foolish'."
Rarity just sighed.

"Well, you are here now, and not about to run off, are you?"
"No. No, I don't think so" Twinkle sighed. She was still a Twilight, and she had promised to give university a try.

The three walked through the streets to Canterlot, Impy questioning Twinkle on the developments in her life.
"So" Rarity said, "Are you excited to be going to university?"

"Not really." Twinkle replied, "My mom just did it because she thought I'd enjoy it." Rarity just smiled nervously.
"Well, I'm sure you will enjoy it, or at the very least have the opportunity to learn things and make new friends."

"Oh, mom, mom, mom!" Impy sighed, "You've jinxed it now."
Rarity blinked. "Have I?"

"Yes. Remember? Telling somepony they'll enjoy something is a surefire way to cause disaster. How many times did Twilight Sparkle tempt fate, exactly?"
The mare bit her lip as she remembered.

"You have a point there, young lady" she eventually said.
"Goodness. You mean I'm actually right for once?" Impy said, doing a fantastic imitation of wide-eyed shock, before breaking out a massive grin.

As it turned out, she only had to stay with Rarity and Impy for a short time, though they were a strange few weeks. But eventually, they came to an end when she had to leave for university.

The campus was hardly anything shocking. Young ponies wandering about looking studious and vaguely knowledgable, and older ponies looking concerned and bothered, and somewhat rotound. The campus itself was divided into multiple buildings, some of which looked remarkably like converted houses formerly belonging to rich academics. She ignored them and tried to find the place she was supposed to be staying.

It was a small bedroom, cramped but not distinctly unpleasant, with a window, two beds and two desks, and two wardrobes. The walls were an alarming blue colour, probably to induce comfort, though Twinkle couldn't really see how that would work. Then she gathered something. Two beds. That meant she'd have a roommate. The idea hadn't actually occured to her before, so focused as she was on just generally being at university against her will, and strange distracting thoughts of Wisp. She looked at the beds, and sat down on one. She hadn't really brought anything with her, so she just sat there, thinking, waiting, dreading.

After some time the door opened, and a pony walked in. She was a pegasus, with a purple coat, purple wings and a slightly pink mane. Her Cutie Mark was that of a purple star overlaid on another star, with lots of little sparkles scattered around it. Twilight Twinkle would later wonder if whatever force generated Cutie Marks had started running out ideas with this one.
"Oh, hello." she said, upon seeing Twinkle just staring, smiling slightly.

"I'm going to go ahead and guess you're probably my roommate." She said sweetly. Twinkle made no response. This didn't seem to deter her.
"Nice to meet you. What's your name?"

"Twilight Twinkle" she said before she could stop herself. The mare simply nodded.
"Hello, Twilight Twinkle. My name's Star Song."

Twilight Twinkle blinked in confusion. She stared straight at the probably somewhat mad pegasus who was now humming and placing clothing in one of the small wardrobes.
"Star Song?" she scoffed.

"Sounds like a name from a fairy tale." She muttered. Star Song looked at her, still smiling.
"You say that like there's something wrong with it."

"Yeah. They're rubbish, and fill kids heads with nonsense. Making friends in an instant, everything working out in the end, happy endings." The royal blue unicorn frowned. Star Song's smile seemed to flicker for a moment.
"Some ponies get happy endings" she said quietly. For a moment she looked forlorn. Then the smile returned. "So tell me about yourself, Twilight Twinkle, since we're going to be roommates, and getting to know each other."

Twinkle simply stared at the pony like she was mad.
"Or I could start?" She continued onwards without even asking, "Well, my name is Star Song, and I'm here on a music scholarship, and don't tell anypony, but my dream is to be a famous musician. Not having a lot of luck there, but, still, I'm young. Plenty of time."

Twilight Twinkle said nothing.
"Do you like music?" Star Song asked. She stared at the pegasus. It wasn't really something she'd expected to be asked.

"I guess?" Twinkle found herself saying.
"What kind?"

Twinkle blinked.
"I don't know... depends on the music, I guess."

Star Song opened her mouth to speak again and Twinkle raised her hoof.
"Look, I... don't mean to be rude here, Star Song, but I didn't come here to make friends, or go on adventures or discover the joys of adult-life. I'm only here because my mom made me go here. That's all."

Star Song frowned, which seemed shocking for the unusually cheerful mare.
"Okay." She finally said. "Shame, really."

"Why?"
"Because I'd already signed you up for every party I could find." She smirked, and went over to her side of the room. Twinkle stared in confusion.

"You're kidding, right?" Star Song just chuckled.

*****

Twilight Twinkle made an honest attempt at being interested in her lectures, she truly did, but very quickly lost interest, and after a while began to think of other ways to spend her time. And one day it occured to her, something she could do.
She could find her father. She could save him.

And then she realised he was probably in some variety of afterlife, and while she did have a variety of skills, being able to survive whatever probably lay in wait in the underworld was not something she could do. So she started skipping out of lectures and making her way to the libraries. She found nothing of much help there, so she started investigating the royal library. And strangely enough the guards there didn't seem at all astonished to see the daughter of Twilight Sparkle investigating forbidden knowledge. Though of course even investigating secrets ponies weren't meant to know of couldn't hold against holidays.

Shining Sapphire seemed oddly demure when they met, at the train station just outside the Crystal Empire.
"Sapphy!"

"Twinkie!"
"How are you?"

The princess's wings ruffled slightly, and she paused.
"I'm... fine. How are you, cousin?"

"Good, good."
"Are you enjoying university?"

"It's... alright. But my roommate's quite, quite mad." She decided to leave out the mentioning of the mare suddenly waking up in the middle of the night to write song lyrics, or managing to sing in her sleep.
Shining Sapphire raised an eyebrow at that.

"What? What's with the eyebrow?"
"Nothing."

"Sapphy..."
The pink and blue alicorn smiled sweetly, "It's just that you did go on a bit of a rampage after what happened with Discord."

"Yeah."
The older mares' smile flickered. "And... you haven't really been the same since then. You've been all moody, and sullen."

"I guess." She could practically feel it coming. Shining Sapphire was about to say what everypony else had said.
And then she didn't.

"How's Wisp? Whisper Wind, I mean. How is he?"
Twinkle stared at her cousin. She was the only pony she knew of who used the shortened version of his name, and that was because he was slightly annoyed by it. And was her older cousin blushing?

"Yeah, I guess he's fine. He had an incident with his birth mother a few months back, and now Fluttershy won't let him out of her sight, but otherwise he's fine."
Shining Sapphire just nodded slightly, looking concerned as the two walked through the invisible barrier into the Crystal Empire.

"That's good." Shining Sapphire said, calmly. She smiled, as if to reassure Twinkle.
"Just good. The 'fine' part, not the other part, that is."

Twinkle wondered whether to tell Sapphy about her plan regarding the underworld, and decided better of it. Knowing the mare she'd probably tell her father, who would tell her mother, who would tell Twilight Sparkle who would try and stop her. And then, knowing Twilight Sparkle, she'd be lectured to within an inch of her life. And possibly even further.
She just smiled as they walked down the grassy slope.

"You've got that face on, cousin." Shining Sapphire said, calmly.
"What face?"

"The 'I'm-trying-to-hide-something-and-doing-a-really-bad-job-of-it' face."
"Just thinking. About the future. And stuff."

"Just be careful in your thinking that you don't walk into something without noticing it." Twinkle thought she was making a pretentious statement, then she almost walked into a large chunk of crystal, one she could've sworn hadn't been there a second ago. She quickly made her way around it.
"Thanks, Sapphy." She muttered, feeling slightly irritated at her cousin's smirk.

"Any time, cousin."

*****

Some weeks later, in a small house on the very edge of Canterlot, there was a knocking.
"Just a moment" a voice called out, one that sounded irritated at the fact that somepony had dared knock on their door. The front door of the house opened, revealing a light blue mare with silvery-blue hair and an irritated expression.

"Yes?" The mare asked to the royal blue coloured mare staring at her intently.
"You are Trixie, the Great and Powerful?" The mare asked.

"What of it?" Trixie sniffed.
"I was wondering if you would be willing to teach me some things..."

Holiday Aftermath

The day was dull and cloudy, not raining and just cold. It was dull and dreary, and the day passed without anything at all interesting happening. Midday didn't feel up to helping Twilight study, or Trixie with practicing for her show, which she still seemed to be practicing for.
Sleep came easily to Midday that night.

She found herself dreaming of a strange blue-purple void. She made a small noise.
"This is a new one" she muttered. She briefly wondered if something horrible was about to happen to her, and then decided that if creatures that fed on nightmares were after her, they'd probably stick her in a bland grey room with an uncomfortable sofa, rather than a blue-purple void. After a few moments there was a fluttering of wings, and Luna appeared in front of her. She looked concerned. Neither pony said anything.

"Yes?" Midday asked after a few moments of silence. Luna shuffled slightly.
"I felt I should warn you. The parents of Twilight Sparkle have suspicions about you."

Midday just nodded. "Okay."
Luna looked irritated.

"Okay?" she repeated.
"Yeah. I'm not worried about that."

Luna frowned. "You should be."
"Should I? Why's that?"
There was a moments silence, as Luna stared at her. "It would perhaps be easier if we showed you" she finally said. In an instant the blue-purple rippled, being replaced with the marble floor of the throne room. Celestia was sitting on her throne with a small mug of what appeared to be hot chocolate held by her magic, Luna standing next to her, both were wearing truly uncomfortable sweaters, and standing in front of the throne were Twilight Velvet and Night Light, mirrored expresions of concern on their faces.

"Your Highness" Twilight Velvet said, calmly, "My husband and I have something we wish to talk to you about."
Celestia's face remained the same, but there was just the oddest hint of alarm, though Midday was willing to chalk that one up to the sweater.
"Of course. Is it something to do with Twilight Sparkle?"

Night Light spoke this time.
"Not... exactly. More a pony she knows."

Twilight Velvet looked at Celestia.
"What can you tell us about Midday Eclipse?"

There was a moment of silence in the room. Celestia took a slight sip.
"Midday Eclipse is simply an accountant who has been sent to Ponyville on mandatory leave" she said calmly.

"Who is she really?" Twilight Velvet said. Midday couldn't help but laugh at that.
"What is so funny?" Luna, the real Luna, not the recreation, asked.

"It's a family thing, being too clever by half. Makes sense it would come from the Twilights, which means she got it from her mother, Twilight Twinkle the first." Midday shook her head, "I met her once, y'know. She didn't like me that much."
Luna frowned, "Is your great-grandmother not deceased? Long deceased, since over a decade before your birth?"

Midday nodded. Luna just stared at her. The two stared at the replay.
"That is classified" Luna said. Celestia looked at her sister.

"And complicated" she added.
"What is it about her that troubles you?" Celestia asked, before putting down her drink and standing up.

"Well... she's apparently one of my daughter's friends, but... she..."
Celestia walked down to the unicorn, and sat beside her.

"Yes?"
"Well, I am a mother, and part of being a mother means noticing things. I've seen the way she looks at my daughter. At first I thought perhaps it was just my imagination but..."

Celestia looked at her, and raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Yes?"
"I've seen the way she looked at Twilight Sparkle before. It's the sort of thing a parent notices." She mumbled something, and Celestia's eyes went wide with shock.

"The way a child looks at a parent."
"Ah." was all Celestia said. Then the illusion vanished.

Midday took a sharp intake of breath.
She cursed herself. Perhaps she had been a bit careless around her grandparents. And in general. She hadn't expected the ruse to last. In fact she wouldn't have been surprised if somepony had figured it all out already. Then she felt a slight bit of family pride.

"Well, to be fair to grandma Velvet, she's not an idiot, and I'm not exactly subtle."
"But she knows. Aren't you concerned?"

Midday turned to look at Luna.
"Honestly? No. Spike already knows who I am, Rarity and Rainbow Dash already suspect, and I think Twilight's got a few ideas of her own. But if my grandma knows, it's hardly a big deal. And she's only got a theory anyway, and very little evidence to prove it." She paused, and considered that statement.

"Although... there have been times when certain family members have managed to go further with more circumstantial evidence."
"Indeed?" Luna said dryly.

"Yes." She looked at the princess of the night, trying not to say anything else. Or think of any certain shapeshifting emotion-eating creatures.
Luna looked almost annoyed. "Well, then. I thought it would at least be prudent to warn you. It was nice to know that concern wasn't wasted" she muttered. Midday smiled.

"It wasn't. And thanks for being concerned."
Luna mumbled something under her breath, though there was no audible trace of irritation in her voice. Midday was certain she could make out the word 'friend'.

"Nice seeing you again Luna." A though occured to her, followed by a small flood's worth of guilt "And sorry about not visiting you while we were in Canterlot. Guess it just... slipped my mind"
Luna made no reaction to that statement, just looking at Midday.

"Be safe in the days ahead" Luna said, waving a hoof before disappearing.
"Safe? In Ponyville?" Midday scoffed, before she passed into more-or-less blissful slumber.

She'd been safer running around in a thunderstorm wearing a dress made of tin.

*****

The next day proved to be just as dreary, so Midday decided to head outside in search of something to do, leaving Twilight alone with her books. She waited until the door closed, before finding the book on genealogy.
"Hey, Twilight" said Spike, who didn't react at Twilight's startled yelp and jump, "What are you looking at?"

"Just doing some research" Twilight smiled, or at least she tried to smile. Spike looked at the large piece of paper.
"Family trees. What's that for?"

"Just checking something for Midday" she smiled. Spike frowned.
"Did she ask you to?"

Twilight blinked.
"Well, no, but... she said she was the descendant of Mimic, and I just want to see if that's actually true."

Spike nodded, though he didn't look convinced. Twilight's ears drooped.
"Something about her doesn't add up Spike. I'm just being cautious. Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything foalish.

Spike sighed. "If you say so. Need any help?"
"No," Twilight said absentmindedly, "that's okay, Spike."

Midday returned some twenty minutes later, and looked strangely cheerful.
"Hey, Pinkie Pie's throwing a super-duper awesome New Year party. Is anypony interested in that, 'cuz I sure am, it sounds fun, don't you think it sounds fun?"

Twilight and Spike exchanged nervous glances at the royal blue mare rushed past them into the kitchen.
"Somepony's clearly had too much sugar" Twilight observed.

"Actually" Midday said, sticking her head around the door, "I'm just really, really, really bored! So bored!"
"Well, it's almost Zap Apple Season at Sweet Apple Acres. Maybe if you asked nicely-"

"No" Midday said, her face stony cold.
"Why not?" asked Twilight.

"Because I am trying to reduce my boredom" Midday shot back. She paused, and considered something.
"Zap Apple Season..." she muttered. "That's when timberwolves start showing up, right?"

"Yes" Spike said, hestitantly. Midday seemed deep in though.
"I see..." She looked around the room.

"I might need a bit of paper" she intoned, before walking over to a small desk, taking one sheet of paper, some ink and a quill, then going into the kitchen again.
Twilight waited for a moment, and returned to her studying.

"Oh" she said after a few moments. Spike instinctivly found himself poised to run.
"What?" he asked. She looked up at Spike, an odd look in her eyes.

"I think I've found something interesting..." she said. She looked back down at the book.
"Interesting indeed..." Spike saw the slight smirk spread across Twilight's face, and winced.

Author's Note

Got a touch of writer's block at the beginning, but I think I've got through it.
For now.
(Though I'm annoyed at the length of this one.)

Shock to the System

The Hearth's Warming season passed, and then the New Year, with one of Pinkie's unmissable New Years Partys (complete with a strange glowing ball descending from the ceiling that Pinkie refused to explain about) and exactly one week in to the new year there was a noticable aura of anticipation around the town, leaving Midday confused. She gave little thought to it, passing it off as average new year excitement however, more concerned about Twilight's pensive mood, and her stubborn refusal to set hoof outside, muttering something about 'scientific process', which on the advice of Spike she did not follow up on, not wanting a repeat of the 'Seapony Incident'. And so on the seventh night of the new year, Midday Eclipse dreamt of things past.

"Admit it, we're lost." The pegasus sighed.
"We're... not 'lost'. I'm fairly certain we're in the right place. Almost certain. I have a good hunch." Twilight Twinkle found herself smiling despite her inability to maintain the illusion of assurity.
She hung her head. "Fine. We're lost in a massive forest, and the bugs here seem to think ponies are a delicacy. Happy, Wisp?"
"Aside from being eaten alive, and lost, and feeling really sticky, fine." The pegasus nodded. There was a slight hum from nearby. Pegasus and unicorn stared at the bright pink alicorn sniffing around by a tree.
"I quite like it. I've never seen flowers like this, except in my books." Shining Sapphire smiled. "And the smells, and scents. It's beautiful. Don't you think it's beautiful, Whisper?" She flashed a smile at him.
"It's just plants." He muttered, pawing at the ground.
"We might as well set up camp here." Twinkle sighed, "Since I doubt we'll get her to move from all the wonderful sights. Don't sniff that one, by the way." She said, pointing at one non-descript flower.
"Why not?"
"Causes nightmarish trots. And not those wonderfully confrontational ponies who live in Trotland."
"They call themselves the Trots? Don't they mind sharing a name with a bowel condition?" The alicorn asked as she gently nudged a small mushroom nervously.
"They don't seem to care. I dunno, never met a Trot." Twinkle said as she pulled out the book on assembling tents. She opened it and scratched her head, while behind her Whisper Wind stared in surprise.
Some forty minutes of tent-related shennanigans, Twilight Twinkle and Wisp were sitting in a small tent.
"You enjoying yourself yet, Wisp?" She smiled, which only grew as his visible irritation.
His wings fluttered.
"A bit. I suppose."
She nudged him slightly.
"C'mon, grouchy. Smile a little. Won't hurt."
"Why take the chance?"
There was an odd noise from outside.
"Twilight..." Shining Sapphire said from outside.
The royal blue mare facehoof.
"How can you, Fluttershy's kid, be so grumpy?" She smiled, leaning in.
"Twilight..."
"I can be cheerful." Whisper shuffled. His blue eyes darted about. "It's just difficult being cheerful when somepony seems content to hog all the cheerful to herself."
"What?"
"Twilight.....!"
"Are you saying I'm too cheerful?"
"It sounded better in my head."
"Twilight!"
"No kidding."
"Twilight Twinkle!" The royal blue mare rolled her eyes.
"WHAT?" She roared as she opened up the tent and stormed out.
Right into the muzzle of a timberwolf staring her straight in the face. She could see several, one standing right in front of Shining Sapphire.
"Timberwolves." The alicorn squeaked.
Just to confirm this, one howled right in her face.

Midday jolted, there was a tearing sound and to add insult to injury she fell off the bed. There was noise as lights in the room winked on.
"Midday?" A small scaly hand nudged her, "What is it?"
She blinked, as her eyes adjusted to the sudden burst of light. She was aware of a distant noise. It sounded like howling.
"Wh-... What's that noise?" She mumbled.
"Yes, what is that noise?" Trixie asked from her bed.
Twilight Sparkle blinked, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Then she made an odd expression, which appeared to be a combination of joy and irritation.
"It's just timberwolves." She said, "Which means it's also the start of Zap Apple Season again." She muttered something under her breath.
"Timberwolves?" Midday blinked.
"Yeah. Giant wolves made of wood." Spike smiled helpfully.
Midday just patted him gently, too tired to make a pithy remark. She looked to the bed, and the slightly torn bedsheets.
"You alright?" Spike asked. She nodded slowly.
"I'll... I'll be fine. Just a bad memory. Camping trip from Tartarus." She sighed. "Nothing to worry about." She stood up. Her horn glowed as she examined the torn bedsheets.
"This is gonna take a while." She muttered.
"Why not just ask Rarity to do it?" Asked Spike. She turned to look at him, and then looked out the window at the dark purple night sky.
"Stupid question." The little dragon muttered, as he began walking to his basket.

It took half an hour for Midday to finish her slight patch job on the bed sheets, before returning to bed. She woke up again to find Twilight removing them again.
"Why?" She asked. Twilight simply frowned at her.
"I'm taking them so that Rarity can fix it." She turned to leave, then turned back, "And because you can't sleep in bed all day."
"Fine, fine."
Outside the weather looked almost pleasant.
"Nice day." Spike smiled at breakfast. Midday shrugged.
"Hey, we could go visit Sweet Apple Acres. Zap Apple Season's always fun to watch. And maybe we could get in line for the zap apple jam harvest."
Midday looked at him.
"Pass." Spike looked at her.
"But... everyone loves zap apple jam."
"I'm not everyone."
Spike looked at her pleadingly.
"Spike" She said calmly, "I've been puppy-dog-eyed by the Cutie Mark Crusaders. I've been puppy-dog-eyed by Princesses. Trust me, it won't work."
"Fine. Then I call rank."
She blinked.
"I'm your big brother. And what I say goes."
She smirked, "You hold on to that." She looked at him.
"Please?"
She frowned at him.
"Fine, fine. We'll go see the stupid apples growing."

As the mare walked through Ponyville with Spike sitting on her back, she fumed.
"I would just like to point out I'm only doing this because of scientific curiosity about the development of zap apples. Books aren't quite as interesting as watching the actual thing."
Spike looked at the back of her head.
"Twilight wouldn't take me last year. Said what the Apples did wasn't 'scientifically feasible'."
Midday could only raise her eyebrows.
"Sounds like something she'd say."
"How come you don't know how they grown them? If your from the future, shouldn't you live in Ponyville?"
She tried to consider the most diplomatic way to phrase what she was about to say.
"Not really. I grew up in Canterlot. Mother said the 'educational facilities present were better suited toward the development of my talents'." There was a noticable tinge of venom in her voice.
"I mean, I did occasionaly stay in Ponyville, usually during the holidays, but... never really went out to Sweet Apple Acres."
"Why not?"
She stared straight ahead.
"Long story."
"How long?"
"About forty four minutes, depending on whether I include dialogue."
There was a moment of silence.
"You don't like Applejack." Spike said. Midday made no response.
"Why not?"
Midday stopped. Spike felt magic gripping him and he was slowly moved until he was in front of Midday. There was an expression on her face.
"Spoilers." She said. There was a slight twinge to her face.
She sighed.
"It's... I wish I could tell you but... if I did it might badly alter events, and..." She knelt down on the ground. "There is a school of quantum physics that says anything you observe changes it. An important day in Twilight Sparkle's life is coming and... I daren't interfere, for the damage it might do. I wish I could, I honestly do, but I can't." She said quietly.
"Why, and what does Applejack have to do with this?"
She stared at the dragon, a stern expression slowly taking over her face.
"There's... there's a difference between not getting on with your mother and not caring when somepony breaks her heart for a frilly dress." She stared at the uncomprehending look on Spike's face, and placed a hoof on his tiny shoulder.
"You'll understand." For a moment her face looked racked with pain, and then it vanished.
"C'mon. You said zap apple preparation was funny." She smiled, "I wanna see this." She lifted Spike onto her back once more, and went silent.

"Welcome to- Ah, Twilight. Nice to see you." Rarity's smiled changed slightly when she saw the carefully folded bedsheets floating behind her. She couldn't help but notice the obvious patch job, and had to keep from wincing at the clashing colours.
"And I suppose you wish for me to fix it?" She said, upon seeing the look on Twilight's face. Her horn glowed and the sheets were wrapped in the soft glow of her magic.
"So" She smiled as she set to work removing the patch, trying to not retch at its hideous colour, "How have you been Twilight? Enjoying the new year?"
"Yes, actually. I think I found something quite useful." The purple unicorn smiled.
"Glad to hear it." There was a fews seconds pause as Twilight strained slightly. Rarity recognised the look. Twilight wanted to tell somepony something.
"What is it?"
"I think I've learnt an intriguing fact of Midday's heritage." Rarity raised an eyebrow.
"Do tell."
"Well, based on her claims, I analysed the blood-line of Mimic and I traced it to the last known relatives, and based on Midday's distinctive blue colour and slight orange hair colour, she can only be from one family, the somewhat reclusive and incredibly ancient house of Starcatcher." Twilight beamed giddily.
"And that's good?"
"It's something."
"And we're snooping in her genetic backyard, why?" Rarity said as the last bit of threading came loose, and she tossed away the slight green patch.
"Well, I just wanted to see if it was true, I guess. Lots of ponies have claimed to be descended from Mimic, but if she is of the House of Starcatcher, then she might actually be telling the truth. Even though by this point the amount of shared DNA with Mimic would be nonexistant." Her smile suddenly faded, "But there's a problem."
"Problem?" Rarity tutted as she looked through her pile of fabrics, looking for one that matched the bedsheets.
"The current heads of the house are far too old to have children, and... well, don't have children and never could sire children."
"Have they tried?" Rarity smirked at Twilight's coughing fit.
"Which leaves only one conclusion, frankly." Twilight then uttered a word Rarity hadn't even though the mare was capable of, which earned Twilight a slap across the jaw.
"I will not have that language in my house."
"Maybe I should ask her about it." Twilight said.
"I would recommend a bit of tact." Rarity said as she began to sow in the replacement patch. "Actually, I would recommend a lot of tact."

"Okay, that's just weird." Spike said as he stared at the sight of Applebloom skipping around watering cans in a rabbit costume, while reciting the alphabet.
"I'm sure there's a reason for it. Even if the reason is 'Granny Smith enjoys making her grandkids suffer." Midday said, paying more attention to the bright pink filly nearby with the sort of smile usually associated with fins and teeth.
"Twilight wanted to see how they did this last year. She lasted all of two minutes before breaking out in a rant." Spike sighed. "Really ruined the whole day."
Midday sniggered.
There was a howl from the Everfree Forest. Midday practially jumped, and looked about. She also noticed Granny Smith, who was staring at her. On the list of oddest sights she'd ever seen, being stared at by the Apple all Apples feared wearing a bunny costume was incredibly high on the list. She turned to Spike.
"I think I'm going to head on back to the library. You think you can manage on your own?"
"Yeah. I'll be fine." Spike said, still staring at the strange sight. Turning around she nearly bumped into a brown earth stallion.
"Sorry."
"Quite alright." He smiled. There was something familiar about his hairstyle. She looked at him, and back to the small pink filly who had moved, and was now trailing behind the stallion with an expression usually found on cats who've just seen a terrified mouse.
She ignored this and continued walking back into Ponyville, ignoring the desire to find the timberwolves in the forest and fight them. Fortunately, due to the cold weather most of downtown Ponyville wasn't occupied and the route back to the library was relatively easy. She opened the door and stepped in, to find Twilight Sparkle standing there, a familiar and terrifying smile on her face.
"Hi, Twilight. What's going on?"
"I... wanted to talk to you." The unicorn smiled. Midday shrugged.
"Okay, what is it?"
"Well, I did some checking into the lineage of Mimic"
"(You what now?)"
"And I was just wondering" A strange blush came over Twilight's face, "I mean, if you don't mind, it's just..."

Meanwhile, in Sugarcube Corner, the Cakes stared in alarm as Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense went off.
"What's it now?" Mr Cake asked in fear.
"A loud 'what', I think." Pinkie said, handing out ear-muffs to everypony in the store before ducking behind a counter.
"A WHAT?!!"
"Yup, it's a loud 'what'." Pinkie smiled, as she began to sweep up some fallen cupcakes.

Twilight pried herself loose of the bookshelf she'd been thrown into.
"Sorry." Midday whispered.
Twilight blinked at she waited for her hearing to return.
"I just wasn't expecting anypony to ask me that. Ever. Just shocked me."
"I could tell." Trixie muttered from the sidelines.
"I didn't even know you knew that word. But no, no I'm not. Legitamate firstborn" Midday said gently.
"Okay, just asking out of curiosity." Twilight said, wobbling on her hooves slightly. She looked around the library.
"I think scientific research can wait a bit." She said, "I'm going to go lie down for a moment." She began to walk up the stairs.
"If you need me, please don't yell."
"You got it."

Completely Dull and Uninteresting Week

After the unfortunate incident between them, Midday noticed Twilight acting in a suspicious fashion. Or rather, the fashion of a Twilight trying desperately to make up for a mistake. Midday very quickly got tired of this when she was woken up the morning after the 'incident' by Twilight bringing her breakfast in bed.
She stared at the breakfast. She stared at Twilight, then back to the breakfast, then back to Twilight.

"Seriously, Twilight?"
She looked at the unicorn's eager face and wide apologetic smile.

"You really don't need to make this up to me."
"But, I insulted you."

"No, you asked me a rather personal question in an amazingly blunt fashion, which isn't anywhere near the same thing. But, you don't need to make it up to me, as I have already indicated five times by now. No mistake made, no lesson to learn."
Twilight blinked. "You're not mad?"

"Indifferent, perhaps. You've seen me mad, remember, the whole incident with Mare Do Well and me snapping about Rainbow Dash."
Twilight's face went grim as she remembered. Then she gave a very slight smile.

"If you're sure... Just let me know if you need anything."
"I need breakfast in bed" said Trixie from behind them. Both mares looked at her.

"You barely get out of bed anyway, Trixie. If you don't get up for breakfast, what hope is there?" Midday laughed. Twilight's horn glowed and the small, carefully prepared breakfast floated away.
"Hey!" Midday said. Twilight turned to look at her, and smirked.

"You barely get out of bed either, I would like to point out. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go write a friendship report for the Princess" She smirked, as Midday stared in (mostly fake) slack-jawed horror at her vanishing breakfast.
And so, with apologies made, normality in the library sort of returned a bit, and the day passed in the normal Ponyville fashion. Aside from the occasional timberwolf howling, with Twilight having to reassure Trixie and Midday that the town had systems in place for the prevention of timberwolf rampages. And that only three of them involved Pinkie Pie.

And the delivery of the Cake twins.

*****

The corridor smelt like all other hospital corridors, and was still painted the same colour as Midday remembered it from the unfortunate incident with the camping trip, much to her unease. The others seemed incredibly excited about the whole thing, staring at the newborns, while Midday was only wondering how she was allowed in at all, considering the Cakes always seemed somewhat wary around her after the time she and Pinkie had baguette-fenced.

"Can you believe the new baby is finally here?" Applejack smiled.
"Cup Cake and Carrot Cake must be so proud" Twilight said.

"I wonder if it's a filly or a colt" Rarity said, apparently trying not cry.
"Filly and colt" Midday said before she could stop herself. Rainbow Dash turned to look at her.

"How would you know?"
Midday shrugged. "I'm just guessing, is all."

Rainbow Dash snorted dismissively at that, but made no retort, which allowed Pinkie the space to exclaim loudly her own excitement. Of course, this was after the nurses had specifically forbade Pinkie from singing about her excitement. Midday just smiled. She'd met the Cake Twins, but not enough to form any standard opinion on them, though Wisp had met them once or twice, and seemed generally ambivalent about them, which Midday supposed was progress for him. It was hard to form opinions about those two when they were surrounded by the Pies, who were a sort of pony shaped lighting-rod for attention.

Mr Cake soon appeared, looking like he'd been dragged through a hedge, and introduced everypony to a small cream colt, which Midday recognised (barely) as Pound, which made the small filly that followed Pumpkin.
Pinkie's attempts at celebrating the arrival of the twins were thoroughly quashed by the nurse, and poor Carrot Cake seemed to be utterly baffled at his children's mixed genes.

"That makes sense, right?" he asked when he was done explaining.
"As much as makes no difference." Midday said to herself.

Eventually the nurses gently yet firmly asked the mares to leave the premises, and of course all but Pinkie and Midday seemed alarmingly eager to talk about kids, Pinkie of course just muttering something about 'meanie-nurseys', though she quickly declared to nopony in particular that she was in charge of all celebratory parties for the twins.
Midday watch the mare rocket off towards Sugarcube Corner as Twilight and the girls were still talking about kids.

"Hey, Twilight, you gonna weigh in on this. You ever thought of having kids?" Rainbow Dash asked, causing the mare to stop dead in her tracks.
"Me?" Twilight blinked rapidly, "I don't know, I mean... that would require a lot of effort."

"All completely worth it though" Rarity sighed. Twilight just frowned.
"That's not really what I meant, if you think I meant what I think you thought I meant. Having children would require a partner, and I'm far too busy studying to do that. I don't have the time for children. I wouldn't even have time for a coltfriend, with my workload." Midday felt ever-so-slightly like she'd been kicked. And also embarrased at what Rarity had apparently been saying.

"What about you, Rainbow Dash?" Midday asked, "You planning on getting some foals, or would they 'cramp your style'?"
Rainbow Dash didn't even wait before giving her response. "Nah, any kid of mine would be born awesome, cool and radical. Duh. And if not, I can just teach them." The pegasus puffed out her chest at that, doing the mid-air version of a swagger.

"An' what about you, Midday?"
She blinked, slightly taken off guard by the question.

"I... well, I..."
"Oh, come on dear. We're all spilling out our secrets, join in the fun."

Midday frowned at Rarity's almost rogueish smile, though to her disappointment it didn't have any effect.
"Well, for a starter, I'm only eighteen, so I'm not really focused on having foals right now. Not that I'm against the concept of having them at all, I'd just like to get my life in order first. And, y'know, find a guy, all that stuff."

"Really? You're only eighteen?" Rainbow Dash gave Midday a suspicious glare. "You look older."
"So I've heard" she deadpanned.

After exhausting the secret desires topic, they switched to the daily routines, with Applejack beaming away at the fact that she was competing in a rodeo in Canterlot.
"Yup. Ah'm a shoe-in to win, what with being ten-time rodeo champion of Ponyville."

Midday made a small 'hmm'.
"Why the 'hmm'?" asked Rarity.

"Well, I wouldn't go saying you're sure to win, is all."
"What's that mean?" Applejack snapped.

"Well, is this a big professional rodeo, or just a bunch of ponies out in a small bit of Canterlot countryside?"
"Big professional one. They've even using the Canterlot Stadium and everything."

"That's where the Wonderbolts perform" Rainbow Dash chimed, "Like in their next big event next month. Wish I could go, but they ran out of tickets." Midday felt the slightest pang of guilt at that, and a slight bout of reassurance, as she thought of where she'd left those five tickets she bought while on her Help-Rampage.
"Anyway, ah've been practicing since... well, pretty every day for the last few months, so my chances of winning? Pretty good."

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch" Midday smirked.
"Oh, that wouldn't do" Fluttershy said.

"What?"
"If you don't count your chickens before you hatch, you won't know how much food to buy, and you might feed the poor things too much. Or too little."

There was a moment of quiet as everypony exchanged uncertain glances.
"Really?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

The two trailed off into a long conversation about chicken-seed ratios, while Applejack walked off towards Sweet Apple Acres, and with that done, the day progressed normally, aside from Pinkie trying to invite ponies to parties for the newborn Cakes, which led Trixie to utter
"I feel very sorry for those two kids."

*****

The next day, however, something truly unexpected happened. Twilight and Midday were both in the middle of a truly intense game of Flashcard Quickdraw when Trixie burst into the room, and she looked both amazed and terrified.
"You've gotta come see this!" she bellowed.

"What is it?" Asked Twilight.
"No time to explain!"

Twilight and Midday looked at each other, shrugged, and followed Trixie outside. The showmare rushed through the streets, not saying a word.
"Are you sure it wouldn't be easier to tell us what happened?" Midday asked, after a few sharp corner turns. Trixie stopped and stared at her.

"No. I said 'no time to explain' and I stick by that!" Trixie retorted. She led them to the town hall.
What was left of it.

"Sweet Celestia's mane..." Midday breathed, earning her a split-second glance from Twilight.
The entirety of the roof was just gone, and several of the pillars on the outside were missing, and several holes seemed to have been punched through the walls at random points.

"What..." Twilight gasped, "Could have done this?"
Trixie shook her head.

"Not 'what'. Who." She pointed a hoof at a small cloud that was being circled by Rainbow Dash, and sitting on it was a blond-haired, grey-coated pegasus. Neither of them looked exceptionally happy.
"Ditzy?" Twilight and Midday both uttered.

"You sounded really alike just there" Trixie stated.
"How the... how in the name of all that is plausible did Ditzy, of all ponies, do this to the town hall?! She's a mailmare, not some... walking disaster area!" Midday asked in alarm. Trixie just shrugged.

"Don't look at Trixie. She just performs here."
A small crowd gathered as the mayor appeared, apparently not noticing the damage, or just not caring, though Midday noted the ponies nearest the building looked really, really nervous.

"And, I want to thank Applejack in advance, for generously offering up her prize money to help fix town hall."
"What." Midday said, her gaze shifting rapidly from the mayor to the... husk of the town hall. She looked at Twilight.

"Does the average rodeo hand out disaster relief money? That building's a wreck. Hay, I'm amazed it hasn't caught fire or just exploded! How is Applejack supposed to pay for that?" she was shushed by an orange-maned pony, one of Applejack's neighbours from the looks of her.
She remained amazed as the crowd walked off back to their daily routine. She stood there, and gaped at the building, as another support beam fell lose, though fortunately it didn't hit anypony. She sighed.

"Pinkie!" she declared.
"Yuh-huh?" The bright pink party pony smiled into her face.

"Where do you keep your emergency hard hats?"
Pinkie rushed over to a conviniently placed letter-box.

"Right here, in case of hard hat emergency" she smiled, producing one plastic yellow hard hat.
"Thank you, Pinkie." Midday said as she took it, placing it on her head. She walked into the building, casting a slight shielding spell, just in case. She reminded herself of the times she'd teleported to safety out of mortal peril, but a small voice in her head reminded her it wasn't sure to happen every time she was in danger. She found a unicorn wearing a similar hard hat, and a bright orange jacket investigating the town hall. Large earth ponies were helping to move furniture and the like away.

"How's it looking?" she asked. The unicorn looked up from the clipboard he was carrying at Midday, then he looked around the room.
"Well" he said calmly, giving the room another look, "It's not going to get any less safe." He shrugged.

"I see." Midday said, eyeing the room and listening for creaking sounds.
"Good to know" she smiled, before rapidly turning about face and heading out into the winter chill as calmly as possible. She stood there for a moment and decided to find Apple Bloom.

Finding the filly had been easy. Convincing Big McIntosh that Apple Bloom had expertise she needed was not, though she did eventually manage to compromise, on her word that no harm would come to Apple Bloom.
"But you're gonna need a hard hat."

"Why do you need me?" The red-headed filly asked.
"Something I want to check out, and I think you're the right pony for the job."

"Can we help?" squeaked a voice belonging to a pony-shaped marshmellow, which on closer inspection was in fact Sweetie Belle (Midday realising at that point she was somewhat hungry). Scootaloo was standing next to her, wearing an incredibly suspect grin which was mirrored on Sweetie Belle's.
"I don't know. Are you good at design and architecture?"

"... Perhaps." Sweetie Belle said, eagerly.
"Well, I suppose you can help a bit." She braced herself for the noise. There wasn't one.

"You aren't doing the cheer" she pointed out when her eardrums remained un-assaulted. Three confused fillies exchanged glances.
"We don' know what we're supposed to be cheering."

Not wasting any time in seizing upon a golden moment, Midday quickly refused to clarify what they were supposed to be cheering about, and led Apple Bloom to the remains of the town hall.
"You want me to go in there?" Apple Bloom asked, incredulous.

"Yes" Midday said.
"You feelin' all right, miss Midday? Not taken any hard knocks to the head lately?"

"Apple Bloom, I assure you, I only need you for a few minutes, and if anything happens I swear, on my life, I'll make sure you get out safely."
"Pinkie Swear?"

"I already promised."
She looked up to see Big McIntosh staring at her, his eyes dispassionate.

"Apple Bloom, you'll be fine" Midday smiled. Apple Bloom stood there for some time, her eyes moving from Midday to her brother, before finally she just nodded.
So Midday led Apple Bloom into the building, making sure to stay near her. She thought of the Apple Bloom she knew, who was physically a near-match for her older sister, save for the colour of her mane and coat, and how utterly different the filly she was keeping a close eye on was.

"Hey! What's that kid doing in here?" somepony yelled. Midday quickly waved a hoof.
"She's with me."

This failed to have the mollifying effect she hoped it would have, but the pony didn't press the issue any further before Apple Bloom called out.
"Miss Midday, can ya take a look at this?"

In an instant she was next to the filly, staring intently.
"What?" Apple Bloom silently showed her to a massive crack on one of the support beams.

"Yeah, so what?" Midday asked. Without a word, Apple Bloom's hoof moved up the wall. Up, and up, and up, and up, and along.
"Oh... that's not good."

"Ah think it's a pretty one. Heck, ah think ah can see daylight through it." Midday leaned in towards it.
"You're right." She looked around the room.

"I probably should have brought a quill and parchment or something. Taking down notes would've been useful at this point." She sighed.
The two progressed through the rooms they could, noticing odd cracks and dents, and bulges in the ceiling, and one occasion where they found several floorboards in one corridor had no nails holding them down, the nails having long since rusted away.

After ten minutes Midday turned to Apple Bloom.
"You know what, Apple Bloom?"

"What?"
"I think we should vacate the premises, right now, if not sooner."

"Good idea."
They did. And once outside they quickly moved very rapidly away from the building.

"That was unbelievable" Midday said as she removed her hard hat.
Apple Bloom scratched her head. "Ah don't get it. Why'd you ask me to look around that place?"

"Because. If you noticed all of this, why didn't the mayor? Some of those problems didn't start because of Ditzy doing... whatever it was she did. Some of those problems have been around for a while."
She sighed.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have been terrified out of my mind, so I'm going to go eat something, then complain at the mayor, if she can fit me in."
One relaxing brunch salad later, she went to find the mayor and complain at her. She found the mayor sitting in the same restaurant, enjoying lunch.

"Hey, Mayor Mare, I need to talk to you."
"Oh, hello, Midday Eclipse." She smiled warmly, "What's the problem?"

"The town hall is the problem."
The mayor chuckled slightly. "The damage caused by Ditzy's... mistake will be easily fixed" she said, in a tone that Midday presumed was meant to be reassuring.

"That's not what I'm concerned about. I had Apple Bloom look around the place." She paused to let the mayor look alarmed at that, "And, well, she noticed tons of signs of months, if not years, of disrepair. Why hasn't anything been done about that?"
"Where did you find these 'signs of disrepair'?" the mayor scoffed.

"Everywhere. Massive cracks in the wall, window panes held up by glue, ceilings beginning to fold and crumble, trust me, that thing should have been condemed."
The mayor waved a dismissive hoof.

"That's quite the over-reaction, miss Eclipse. I'm sure you ponies in Canterlot have your own way of doing things, but here in Ponyville we take pride in our long-lasting buildings. Why, that town hall has stood tall for over fifty years, and it's never lost so much as a single brick before."
Midday stared in shock at the mayor's remark.

"Could... could you repeat that?"
The mayor looked at Midday with concern.

"That town hall has stood since the days of my great-grand-" Her eyes went wide in shock.
"... grandmother." The grey-haired mare finished. She looked down at her plate, and then looked everywhere but at Midday.

"Oh my."
In the distance, Midday was certain she could hear another loud crash.

"I think" Midday said calmly, once the echoes stopped, "Ditzy just speed up the problem, or called it to light. There weren't many ponies in there when it happened, were there?"
"No." The mayor said quietly, and it didn't sound like she was actually responding. "No, no. I don't think so."

"Pretty sure Applejack's rodeo winnings aren't going to be very helpful with fixing it." Midday said.
"No" the mayor whispered. Her face had gone remarkably pale, impressive given her already pale colouration. She looked up at Midday.

"Excuse me, won't you?"
Midday waited a good few minutes after the mayor left, then went to find Ditzy, who was still sitting on the raincloud with Rainbow Dash hovering nearby.

"Hello, Ditzy" Midday smiled.
"Hello, Midday Eclipth."

Midday blinked. She looked down then up at Ditzy. Her voice sounded a lot different.
"Are you alright? I mean, in a general sense, not an immediate sense?"

The mare nodded. "I'm thine. But I might havth bit my tounge, and it kinda hurtth, and ath you may hath notithed, I'm lithping." She gently floated down to the ground, Rainbow Dash just watching, saying nothing.
"Not been my day today, got to thay." The mailmare said, glumly.

"I wath jutht trying to help clear away a thunderthtorm, and... well, thith all happened. I can't really explain it. And I thried to thit down, and that jutht made things worth."
"You know, I've got a spell that could clear up that lisp, if you want?"

"That'd be nithe."
Midday focused, and her horn glowed and then Ditzy's head glowed slightly. Midday looked up to see Ditzy looking unresponsive.

"Tounge feels better. And I'm not lisping. That's something, at least. Though, I still helped total the town hall." Ditzy said, lowering her head.
"Actually, it was in pretty bad repair anyway." Midday said. Ditzy looked at her.

"It was?"
"Yeah. It was gonna fall apart anyhow. You just... well... in a way, your string of awful luck was also good luck, since there weren't as many ponies in there as there could have been, and nopony's been seriously injured, right?"

"So I've been told. A few cuts and bruises, but nothing extremely bad. As Rainbow Dash has been trying to say."
Midday looked up at the pegasus, who seemed to be distracted by something else and not paying the conversation any mind, even if her ears kept twitching.
"And here I though she was angry with you."

Ditzy laughed, though it didn't sound very mirthful.
"No, no." Ditzy stopped and sighed, "Well, she is a bit, but she's trying not to let it show. She's mostly spent the last while trying to make me feel better."

"Please tell me she's doing better than I can?" Midday smiled mirthlessly.
"The important thing is she's trying." Ditzy smiled back, "Even if she's not very good at it. Her words, not mine."

Ditzy looked around.
"Anyway, I should probably go. I can't sit around distracting other ponies when I've got work to do." And with that she slowly took off into the air.

"See you around, then." Midday smiled.

*****

The rest of the day proceeded slowly, save for Twilight (and everypony else in town) getting summoned to take part in a discussion about replacing the town hall, which met with a heated opposition, until the mayor calmly pointed out that it was outright impossible to fix the town hall, which managed to calm almost everypony. Strangely enough, Ditzy's involvement wasn't mentioned, which Midday felt strangely comfortable about. With noticable reluctance, the ponies of Ponyville all agreed to the motion.

The group quickly gathered together, Midday walking up to them.
"Shouldn't we tell Applejack she doesn't need to win the prize money?" Fluttershy pointed out.

"Oh, hey, yeah." Pinkie Pie beamed, "She's right. Applejack can keep the prize money, isn't that great? I bet she'll be really excited about that, I know I would even though I don't go to rodeos a-" Pinkie was cut off by Rainbow Dash's hoof getting stuck in her mouth.
"Too late in the afternoon for that, Pinkie" the multi-coloured mare sighed with all the air of somepony who had just woken up from a really good nap.

So a letter was sent to Canterlot to inform Applejack of the change in plans.
"I hope she isn't upset by the news" Fluttershy said.

"Upset? Why would she be upset just because of putting in all that hard work and then being told that it doesn't m-..." Midday stopped when Twilight jabbed her in the ribs.
"I see your point" Midday said, "but all we, by which I mean you, can do now is wait."

"Wait and prepare a surprise 'Welcome Back, Winner' party!" Pinkie cheered.
"That too."

*****

Which lead to Midday standing in one of the Apple family barns some days later as everypony prepared the surprise welcome / victory party for Applejack. For some reason, Midday found herself being glared at by Granny Smith.
"Hello?" She said to the elderly mare, nervously.

"You that Midday Eclipse what went and upset my grandson some months ago?" She shifted nervously. She wasn't quite sure why, but as the Apple family matriach looked at her she felt like her very soul was being examined. She presumed the fact that she was still alive meant that the mare didn't have any objections to what she was seeing.
"Yes." she said. Granny Smith just looked at her. "But I had perfectly logical reason to do so" she said hurriedly.

"An' I'm sure you do. But you made things up with him, right?"
"I think so?"

Granny Smith nodded in approval.
"Good. Life shouldn't be wasted on grudges, should it?"

For a moment, Midday wondered if her dislike of Applejack was that transparent, and was about to consider giving Applejack a fair chance when Granny Smith spoke again.
"You know, for me it's only been a few years since I just had a grandson and one granddaughter. Ah got some of Applejack's baby photos around, somewhere."

Midday's blood froze. She recalled Apple Bloom once telling of how the most feared Apple had pictures of all her nearest relatives, careful stored and organised in a system that was so carefully categorised it would make perfectionists like her mother fall down and weep in awe. She wasn't sure whether or not Apple Bloom was being flippant or not, and she wasn't in any hurry to find out either.

"I should probably help somepony..." she said, weakly, looking around the room, noticing only Pinkie destroying some fireworks that Trixie had probably been planning to use. Granny Smith briefly glowered at her with a glare that would probably have made the average diamond fall to pieces. Then she smiled the sort of smile only the evilest and craftiest of evil old ladies could manage.

"Oh, stay an' keep an old mare company. You know, you look an awful lot like one of my granddaughter's friends." There was a sinister edge to her voice. And Midday didn't want to be seen as rude, or at least more rude than was necessary. And she was fairly certain if she said no she wouldn't make it more than a few steps anyway.
"You mean Twilight Sparkle?"

"That's the one. Now she was very polite when she came to Ponyville. You could learn a bit from her, ah reckon." Midday looked at the smirk on Granny Smith's face.
"Are you implying something?" she asked. Granny Smith just kept smiling.

"Me? I'm just an old mare, and my mind isn't what it used to be. Oh, to be fair, I have my moments of lucidity, but they're getting far an' few between." Midday stared at her.
"Don' stare."

Was the old mare psychic? And if this was what her mind was like now, what had it been like in her prime?
"Ah, Apple Bloom, could you be a dear and fetch old granny one of her photo albums." The yellow-coated earth pony quickly rushed over to a table where a photo album was sitting unattended, and brought it over.

"Ah." Granny Smith smiled, "This one'll do nicely."
Midday had, since the Hearth's Warming Eve play, been wondering about Applejack's origins, with her parents never around and the mare's strange lapse into a Manehattan accent during the play. She considered this, and wondered whether it was an idea to ask Granny Smith.

"I was wondering..." She stared. Granny Smith turned to look at her.
"It's just, about Applejack." Granny Smith's grin returned. Midday suddenly decided not to say anything.

"Tell you what, I'll tell you a story, if you help old Granny look at some photos."
Midday weighed her options. Politely accept the invititation or... Politely accept the invitation.

"Alright" she said.

*****

"Oh." Fluttershy said as she helped set up party decorations alongside Rainbow Dash, "I hope Applejack is surprised by this surprise party."
"Well, that is the point" Rainbow Dash retorted, rolling her eyes.

"I know" Fluttershy smiled, "But I hope she isn't so surprised she's startled, because while being surprised can be nice, being startled can be... well, startling."
"What if it's a good surprise?" Said a mad looking earth pony stallion wearing a strange red felt hat on his head. Fluttershy yelped and leapt into the air.

"Sorry. You startled me."
"It's alright, I do that a lot, I think."

Fluttershy stared at the stallion, whom she recognised as the pony who had destroyed her shed.
"I didn't know you were a friend of Applejack."

"Neither did I. Thought I'd pop in anyway, say hi, dance a bit." He motioned for Fluttershy to come closer.
"I only came for the dancing." He whispered. Fluttershy stared up at the hat.

"What is that you're wearing?" she asked, hoping she didn't sound rude.
"It's a fez" he said, as if it were the plainest thing in the world. "I wear a fez now. Fezes are cool. Provided nopony shoots them, which does keep happening. A lot."

Then Pinkie Pie appeared in between them.
"Hey, Fluttershy. Hey, Doctor. Ooh, nice fez. You ready to welcome Applejack back?" Pinkie beamed.

"Yes." Fluttershy nodded. She noticed almost everypony was hidden, and that Pinkie was staring at her.
"Oh, right, right." She quickly hurried up into the rafters. They waited. There was the sound of hoofsteps. There was a knock on the door, which flung open.

"SURPRISE!" Everypony yelled.
At a gangly mail-stallion, who looked thrilled.

"Wow, this is the best surprise ever!" he beamed, "How did you guys know it was my birthday?"
Midday watched as without a word, Twilight took the letter he was delivering and then slammed the door in his face, though Pinkie thoughtfully opened it again and handed him a slice of cake. Everypony gathered around as Twilight opened the note.

"Who's it from, Twilight?" Apple Bloom chirped, "What's it say?"
Twilight's face sank as she read. She cleared her throat.

"'Family and friends, not coming back to Ponyville. Don't worry, will send money soon."
There was a small chorus of rapidly alarmed gasps. Alarmed conversation quickly filled the barn, and Twilight and Midday exchanged concerned glances.

Author's Note

Next time on Pony Trek: Let That Be Your Last Roundup!

Let That Be Your Last Roundup

Twilight Sparkle examined the note, then once more, and again to make sure there wasn't anything she missed.
"That's all there is" she exlaimed. There was a small whimper belonging to a little red-headed pony.

"Applejack's not coming back?" the little filly looked like she was about to flood the whole room.
"What d'ya mean she's not coming back?!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "She loves Ponyville!"

"And she loves Sweet Apple Acres!" Granny Smith added.
"An' she loves her family!" Apple Bloom wailed. There was more gasps and muttered conversation, and Midday could swear she heard the sound of Rarity swooning.

Midday rolled her eyes as she looked at the letter, while Twilight was giving it another look just to be absolutely sure she hadn't missed a single thing.
"I'm pretty sure a few days at a rodeo did not cause Applejack's fondness for Ponyville to evaporate" Midday said. There was a sudden silence as everypony stared at her.

"I'd say it's more likely Applejack's just... had some difficulties getting the money she promised to get."
Everypony was still staring at her.

"And... considering Applejack's usual attitude towards failure, I'd say what happened afterward is pretty obvious."
Rainbow Dash floated in front of her face.

"Why don't you explain then?"
Midday stared at the speedster.

"She's probably gone and gotten a job so that she can raise enough money to help fix the town roof." Something occured to her.
"Which also means she either didn't recieve the note about what... happened to the town hall, or she's ignoring it for some reason."

Rainbow Dash frowned and considered this.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go find her!"

Twilight ran towards the door, the girls following after her.
"Don't worry, we'll search all of Equestria if we have to" she said, her eyes fierce and determined. "We'll bring her back."

Midday watched as they rushed off. She felt a slight nudging at her leg and looked down to see Apple Bloom staring at her.
"What?"

"Ain't ya gonna help them?" The filly asked. Once more the room went quiet and everypony stared at her. She tried to think of something to say in response, something about it not being her business, even though she'd already interefered in numerous things already, and was still interefering just by being there. She thought of her mother, crying alone in a massive hall, abandoned and the words 'c'mon, y'all, let's go check on the princess' started repeating through her mind. Then, another voice started saying something. Applejack was somepony's sister, somepony's daughter. Somepony's daughter.

"Ah mean, ah know Applejack and you don't get along, but..."
"I don't hate Applejack" Midday said, defensively. She paused. She replayed that statement in her head. She frowned.

"I don't hate Applejack." She made a small noise. She looked down at the slightly confused-looking Apple Bloom and smiled.
"Yeah, I'll help bring your sister back" she said. Apple Bloom smiled slightly, though her distress was still obvious. There was an odd sniffing noise and everypony in the room turned to see the madpony calling himself the Doctor sniffing the note.

"Sorry, just it smells amazingly like cherries. Not sure if I like those. Maybe I should try at some point."
Midday quickly processed the first part of his statement, ignoring the somewhat adorable manic grin he was currently sporting. She rushed out of the door after Twilight and the others. She caught up to them just halfway through Ponyville.

"Midday? What is it?" Twilight asked.
"I know how to find Applejack" she said. The five ponies exchanged nervous glances.

"We already know how to find Applejack" Twilight said. Midday stared up at her.
"Let me guess, you're going to wander aimlessly around Canterlot asking if anypony has seen her."

Pinkie gasped.
"She knows!"

"Yes, actually" Twilight said, looking taken aback. Midday shook her head.
"Twilight, do you really think she'd send you a letter if she thought there was the slightest chance of you finding her?"

Twilight and the other girls looked at each other, and the expression on their faces indicated they hadn't actually thought of that. Midday resisted the urge to facehoof or make a pithy remark.
"Oh, it'll be a quest then!" Pinkie smiled, "I love a quest. We haven't been on a quest since the whole Discord thing, the Harmony Quest!" She gasped again. "We'll need uniforms!" And with that, Pinkie rushed off.

Midday stood there for a second.
"Okay, Rainbow Dash, can you go fetch Trixie, and before you ask why, because we'll need her to find Applejack."
Rainbow Dash looked irritated, then glanced at Twilight who just nodded, and the mare shot off towards Sweet Apple Acres.

"Alright, now then, to the library."

*****

The first step in Midday's plan was drawing the curtains, before Midday asked Spike to run down to the basement and fetch a supply of candles and some chalk. When he returned Midday instructed him to begin drawing a chalk outline on the ground, to which the dragon complied, despite Twilight's objections.
"First of all: You're messing up the floor, and secondly: Is this actually necessary?"

Midday looked at Twilight the same way a particle physicist would look at someone asking them whether the particle accelerator was necessary.
"It's not proper magic without the dribbly candles" she said, in a matter-of-fact tone.

Spike returned, and then Rainbow Dash appeared with Trixie and Pinkie in tow, Pinkie carrying a small box which she carefully opened to reveal... shirts. Rarity lifted one out of the box and gasped.
"Velour" she said, in a slightly uncertain tone.

Midday clicked her tounge.
"Okay, could everypony except Trixie stand in a... semi-circle, Twilight, you'll be in the middle." She watched as they quickly did just that. She frowned.

"Okay, Trixie, can you stand there, okay, good, great." She looked at the sight before her.
"Spike, can you join in? Otherwise it's annoyingly asymetrical, and you might be useful." He did so.

"Right, now then, I want you to clear your minds, and think of Applejack. Think of the time spent with her, doesn't matter what you were doing, though if you could try and think of the happiest memories, that would be helpful."
For a few moments, nothing happened. Then, Twilight's horn started glowing. Then, Trixie's started as well, and a strange beam lanced from the girls and Spike, into Twilight, and then into Trixie.

"What the hay?!" The showmare yelped.
"Keep thinking of Applejack!" Midday yelled over a loud rising noise. Then, there was a burst of noise, and the beam shot into Trixie. Her horn glowed bright and then there was an image of a strange sight. Numerous trees, which Pinkie helpfully noted were not apple trees, in a variety of pink and purple shades.

"Those are cherry trees" Fluttershy said. Pinkie made a small 'ooh' noise. Then she looked concerned.
"I wonder what would happen if you mixed cherries with a tortia..." she said to herself.

"Where is that?" asked Twilight, looking at the illusion of a cherry orchard. Trixie just kept staring at everything else.
"Well, there's only one place in all Equestria I know of where there are cherry orchards. And that would be Dodge Junction." Midday said. Then Rainbow Dash yelped.

"Hey, look, Applejack's in this thing." They looked. Indeed, there was Applejack, moving from tree to tree, looking much less cheerful than normal.
"There, Applejack's been found. Now all you have to go do is go get her. And convince her to return to Ponyville, of course." Midday said. At that, the illusion started to vanish, Trixie lifted up a hoof to try and catch it as it dissipated.

"Dodge Junction, here we come!" Rainbow Dash declared. The five ponies set off towards the door.
"WAIT!" Everypony stopped as Pinkie tapped the side of the box.

"Uniforms." She said. Rarity, of all ponies, looked uncertain.
"Must we call them... 'uniforms'?" she asked, with noticable distaste. Midday tilted her head. Pinkie paid her no heed, handing them out.

"Red?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Why is mine blue?" asked Fluttershy, "Wouldn't yellow be better for me?"

"And why are there only three colours?" Rarity pouted.
"I like it" Twilight said, as she slipped on her bright blue shirt.

Pinkie smiled.
"Dashie, yours is red because you're the fighter of the bunch, Fluttershy and Twilight, yours are blue because you two are thinkers, and I'm yellow because I'm the young, excitable one who gets victimised to create an aritifical atmosphere of terror." She grinned more.

"Pinkie, you're only going to Dodge Junction. The worse that could happen is if you meet a bad-tempered jackrabbit, or a rattlesnake." There was a small gulp from Fluttershy.

"You aren't coming with us?" Twilight asked Midday. The royal blue unicorn paused.
"Dodge is out by the desert, right?" She said quietly.

"I think so, if my notes from Equestrian Geography serves me well."
"I think I'll stay here." Midday said quietly.

Twilight just nodded, and the girls set off, Trixie remained in the library, just sitting slack-jawed and staring.
"I've never done anything like that before" she whispered. "Ever." She looked down at her hooves, then she looked at Midday.

"How did you know that would work?" she asked.
"Just throwing magic at the wall to see what sticked." Midday smirked. Then she remembered what Apple Bloom had asked her. Her smirk vanished and she sighed and turned towards the door.

"Where are you going?" asked Trixie.
"Dodge Junction." Midday frowned.

"Right" said Spike, to nopony, "I'll just stay here, and... make sure nopony steals the library. Or something."

*****

Pinkie had cheered when Midday had caught up with them on the platform, though Midday had been less than cheerful about having a bright yellow jumped forced onto her, along with the incredibly long train journey. As it went on, she saw the brown-white of the wintery Ponyville countryside start to turn to regular brown, then green and pleasant, then back to brown, and then a light shade of brown, and increasingly light and warmer. And for some reason she felt distinctly warm, and an all-too familiar buzzing noise was in her ears. There was a nudging sensation on her shoulder.

"You okay?" Twilight asked. She fought down the urge to jump in shock and stared at him. She noticed the others were staring at her as well. She tried to smile.
"Yes, just fine. Why do you ask?"

"Well, you looked worried... and you were starting to make some odd noises" the unicorn said. There was a pause, punctuated only by Pinkie making odd squirming noises.
"I'm fine, I'm fine" she said, still smiling as she pulled down the shade.

"Does somepony not like the desert?" Rainbow Dash smirked. Midday glared at her. Rainbow Dash seemed to flinch slightly.
"Pinkie, are you alright?"

She squeaked something out rapidly.
"We're almost there, Pinkie," Fluttershy said, "Just hold it in a bit longer."

Soon the train pulled into a small, beaten-down looking station.
"This is Dodge Junction, girls." Twilight announced.

"Thanks, eagle eyes" Midday said.
They quickly walked off the platform.

"Now let's fan out and search for Applejack"
Midday opened her mouth to point out the flaw in that plan when Pinkie rushed towards a small outhouse and began banging on the door.

"Hurry it up in there!" she wailed.
The door swung open and an orange-coated mare with blone hair kept under an old stetson, carrying green saddlebags held shut with stylised clasps in the shape of apples walked out.

"Some ponies" Applejack muttered.
Pinkie quickly rushed out of the outhouse and began yelling about having found Applejack. Midday wasn't really paying attention to their conversation, merely thinking about just how warm everything felt.

"Hey, everypony." Applejack said slowly. "What's up?"
"Wow." Midday said, remembering Pinkie's words about quests. "Shortest quest ever."

"Why didn't you come back to Ponyville?!" Asked Rainbow Dash. Midday resisted the incredibly tempting urge to throw something at the pegasus.
"Yes" said Rarity, examining a small medium-sized rock next to her, "why are you here?"

"Are you okay?" Fluttershy asked.
"Do you have any snacks?!" Pinkie Pie demanded.

"Tell us what happened!" Midday under normal circumstances would probably have remarked upon what was happening, but all she could think of was that it was incredibly hot, despite being January.
"Applejack?" Said a voice, belonging to a cream-coloured mare who had just exitied a building. Midday noticed the cherry for a Cutie Mark, which she presumed made the mare the owner of the cherry orchard they'd seen.

"Are these your Ponyville friends?"
"They are. I'm just an associate." Midday smirked, though for some reason Twilight was glowering at her.

"And you are?" Rarity asked.
"Why, I'm Cherry Jubilee, boss of Cherry Hill Ranch. Hasn't Applejack told ya?"

"We only just got here." Midday said, mostly to herself. The mare walked up to Applejack.
"I saw her compete at the Equestria Rodeo. Never saw anypony win so many ribbons in all my life."

Applejack smiled bashfully.
"Shucks, miss Jubille. You don't have to go into all that."

Midday frowned. Based on what she knew (and not what she thought) of Applejack, combined with the mare's behaviour, she quickly arrived at a hypothesis.
Cherry Jubilee laughed.

"She's so modest. Anyway, I could always use a pony with quick hooves and a strong back. So, when I heard Applejack was looking for a change of scenery, I snapped her up as quick as I could and brought her to Dodge Junction."
Midday noticed she'd raised an eyebrow back at the 'strong back' comment. She quickly lowered it.

"Well, I'll let you catch up with your friends." She turned to leave, "See you back at the ranch."
Rainbow Dash quickly seized the moment.

"'Change of scenery'? What's that supposed to mean?"
Applejack looked nervous, and sweaty, and Midday couldn't blame her. Was she the only one who noticed how warm it was?

"No big deal, guys. I though cherries would be a nice change from apples, so I took the job and came here. End of story." From the looks of things, none of the girls seemed to believe Applejack's rather forced description.
"That's it?" Pinkie Pie yelled, "Well, that's a terrible story!"

"Sorry, but that's all there is to tell. Thanks for checkin' in on me, but y'all can go home now." Applejack began to walk off, "Tell my family 'hi', and that ah'm doing okay."
Rainbow Dash quickly placed herself in front of the farmer.

"Excuse me, but we didn't travel all the way out here just to check in on you!"
Applejack frowned.

"An' ah didn't ask ya to come and find me! There is nuthin' to tell, an' I'm not going back to Ponyville!" And with that, Applejack stormed off. There was a slight pause.
"I don't care what she says, Applejack's not telling us something" Twilight mused.

"Duh" Midday exclaimed. Everypony stared at her.
"What? She goes to a rodeo, and then doesn't come back and gets irritable when you ask her to come back? Oh, I do so seriously wonder what she could be hiding" she said.

"Twilight's right" Rainbow Dash frowned, "We gotta get her to spill the beans."
"What?! She had beans?!" Pinkie yelled, "I TOLD HER I was snacky!"

"Can we do it inside?" Midday asked. "It's really warm out..."

*****

An agreement was eventually made, after getting Pinkie something to eat, and some twenty minutes later, and ten minutes of orientation after that, Midday and the others found themselves walking into a large factory located in the middle of the cherry orchard. There was a conveyer belt which the six mares stood in front of, which seemed to be connected to a large wheel that Applejack was standing in. Midday got a sudden feeling of dread upon seeing this, and the looks of total innocent of everypony's face.

"What are y'all doing here?" Applejack bleated.
Midday shrugged.

"Saw this cherry orchard and though 'ooh, nice orchard, might as well get a job.'" She paused, "Never had a job before, except being an accountant, though I'm pretty sure by this point I'm not actually an accountant any more. And we got these cute hats." She said, trying to smile pleasantly, which was helped by the fact that she wasn't outside by the desert air anymore.
"Uh-huh" Applejack said slowly.

"Shall we get started?" Twilight asked.
Cherry Jubilee laughed at that.

"Red cherries go in one bin, yellow in the other. Simple as cherry pie." She started walking out, before calling, "Just remember - have fun"
At which point Midday's soul sank again.

"What are you six up to?"
"Well" Rarity said, "You made working in a cherry orchard sound... so delightful."

Midday cursed Rarity's total lack of subtlety. Applejack didn't sound convinced.
"Well, just remember, no talkin' about Ponyville."

"Does that include ponies in Ponyville?" Midday asked.
"Eyup." Midday didn't know much about Applejack, but she hazarded a guess that if Applejack was going 'eyup' then she was a lot angrier than she looked.

"What don't you stop talking and start walking?" Rainbow Dash yelled.
So, Applejack began to walk, and the conveyor belt started moving. Cherries started moving along from a hole to outside, and the girls gently nudged the cherries into the bins. For a few seconds. Midday noticed Twilight and Rainbow Dash making unsubtle glances towards Applejack.

"So... AJ." Twilight said, "How was Canterlot?" She made a sly grin, "Not talking about Ponyville, talking about Canterlot, totally different place?"
"Canterlot was fine."

Twilight walked away from the conveyor belt, and Midday had a sudden visage of all her ancestors, including Crazy GreatGrandmother Sparkleshine, yelling obscenties for breaking a promise, and had to choke down the urge to yell at Twilight herself to restore her family honour.
"Was the rodeo fun?"

"Yes."
"Did you meet some nice ponies there?"

Midday noticed Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty, had now slipped away from working. There was the tiniest noise of alarm from Fluttershy as the poor pegasus's workload increased. Applejack was getting irritated and walking faster.
"Did you meet Wild Bill Hicok? What about Calamity Mane?"

'Those couldn't be real names' Midday Eclipse told herself, as she found herself nudging cherries quicker and quicker. She found herself remembering an old lesson she'd had on the language of the Diamond Dogs. As it turned out, they had a word which didn't translate into Equestrian, but roughly translated into 'Well, I never wanted to live forever' or just screaming, depending on the tone. She also found herself remembering that Celestia's name in Diamond Dog was 'Run Away!'

"Yes, saw 'em both." Applejack said.
Now Rarity had slipped away. Midday made a note to herself to pie those three in the face when they got back to Ponyville.

"And how did you meet miss Jubilee?"
"Well, Jubilee had a cherry stand at the rodeo. Real good treats."

There was a soft noise of Fluttershy apparently clearing her throat as the three remaining mares desperately shoved ever-increasing amounts of cherries into the bins.
"Cherry winks, cherry cheescake, cherry tarts. We struck up a conversation being orchard folks and all."

"So you told her about Sweet Apple Acres?" Twilight asked.
"Yes."

"Did you tell her why you weren't going back?"
Applejack was really beginning to move now.

"No, 'cuz it was none of her business!"
Midday sighed, and turned to Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.

"I'm sorry, you two, but you're about to see a bad side of me."
Rainbow Dash frowned in frustration.

"Is it beca-"
Whatever Rainbow Dash was going to say was forgotten as there was a loud sob. Applejack stopped running, and four pairs of eyes turned, heedless of the impacting cherries, to see Midday's face buried in her toque.

"Midday?" asked Twilight. There was a slight sob.
"I'm shovelling cherries!" She said in a high-pitched whine.

"I used to be somepony! I was going places! I was an accountant and now looks at me! It's not fair! THERE WAS TIME!" She yelled to the heavens.
"I WAS AN ACCOUNTANT AND NOW I'M SHOVING CHERRIES FOR A LIVING!" She wailed, before breaking off into sobs. Fluttershy gingerly placed a hoof on her shoulder. After a few seconds Midday stopped and looked up with cold, dead eyes at Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash.

"Now that I have your attention, shall we get back to work?!"
Three mares looked nervously at each other.

"I'll clean up the mess." Midday said as they slowly walked back to the conveyor belt, her horn glowing as a small rag appeared.
"That was... horrifying" Rainbow Dash uttered.

"You can persecute Applejack when you're done working, not before or just after staring, only when you're done."
And so for the next several minutes they worked in utter silence, Twilight, Rarity and Rainbow Dash exchanging glances. Applejack just looked at Midday with utter confusion on your face. Once they were done the farmpony walked out of the room without a word.

"Whose side are you on?" Rainbow Dash demanded of Midday. She raised an eyebrow.
"Remember the Mare Do Well thing?"

"I do!" Pinkie beamed.
"Oh yeah, you aren't on anypony's side." Rainbow Dash snorted. "But I though you hated Applejack."

"For the love of Luna!" Midday hissed, "I do not! Hate! APPLEJACK!" And with that she stormed towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Asked Fluttershy.

"To get something to eat." And with that she walked out. There were a few seconds were nopony said anything.
"Well, girls, we seem to be striking out." Twilight mused.

"'Striking out?' Where'd that come from?" Rainbow Dash laughed.
"I was just trying it out."

"You should put it back. And anyway, we're playing too nice."
"Yes." Rarity said solemly, "Desperate times call for desperate measures."

Pinkie looked up and smiled at the three mares, devilish grins on their faces.

*****

"Hold up... you did what now?"
"We may have let Pinkie Pie talk to her at length." Rarity said. They were sitting in a small... saloon, or bar, or grill, or whatever the appropriate term was. Midday was eating something that at one point had probably been a nice healthy green colour, but had since been slathered with an unhealthy amount of cheese.

Midday looked at the somewhat guilty looks on their faces.
"That's a bit extreme, isn't it?"

"Well, you did throw that tantrum when we were just talking to her." Rainbow Dash said defensively.
"I'm not the one who promised to help sort the cherries, then immediately skipped off to bother Applejack." Midday shot back.

"Neither did I. I went second, Twilight was the one who stopped first."
"And why are you suddenly so concerned about Applejack, anyway?" Twilight asked, inbetween looking irritated at Rainbow Dash.

"Well, you guys are being pretty insensitive towards her, so I figured I might as well play Discord's advocate." Midday shrugged.
"I wasn't being insensitive, was I?" Fluttershy asked.

"No, you weren't." Rarity said before anypony else could, though they all had the exact same expression on their face.
"So, did she say why she didn't come back?" Midday asked after a few chews of cheesy concoction, and deciding it wasn't that bad.

"She said she'd tell us after breakfast tomorrow." Twilight smiled.
"She Pinkie Promised as well." Pinkie nodded sagely.

At that, a thought occured to Midday.
"She said she'd tell you, at breakfast, tomorrow?"

Pinkie nodded, before taking a bite of her own meal, which for some reason was a pickle.
Midday felt like making a cutting remark on that, but she could feel the buzzing noise coming back.

*****

As they left the cafe to go back to the ranch to get some sleep, Midday thought she had briefly seen a familiar blue and orange shape.
"Hey, are you alright?" Twilight asked. She turned to look at her.

"Yeah, I just... I though I saw somepony I recognised." She muttered. She looked down the street again. There was no sign of blue and orange ponies anywhere. The buzzing noise returned again.
"You really don't look okay." Fluttershy commented.

"You look like you saw a ghost. Oooh, maybe this is actually right next to a massive ghost town, and if we eat the food here we'll turn into pigs and be taken as collateral by the local ghosts" Pinkie said.
"Just not exactly in the best of moods." She said quietly. She looked into their eyes.

"It's nothing, nothing at all." She smiled. As they walked along the streets she thought to herself about many things, chief among them her plan, before the accident with time-travelling, to flee to Dodge or Appleoosa and hide there.
'Guess I didn't exactly plan that one out'

*****

Sleep came easily enough in the incredibly nice and relaxing beds the ranch had. What happened once Midday was asleep though, was a different matter.
She was running, running as fast as her legs could carry her, faster than she'd ever ran before, terror fueling her every hoofstep through baking hot sand dunes. The air was making her sweat like a sow, her legs hurt, her breath was haggered and her vision hazy, and always, always there was the everpresent buzzing of flies in her head. And then she heard the scream.

"WISP!" She yelled, before falling out of the bed. For a moment, she lay there in the darkness, waiting for her heart to slow down. She could feel a tear moving across her face. She looked around for a clock, finding one that proclaimed it to be just before Early in the morning. She rose, her head pounding, and walked through into the kitchen, determined not to do any more sleeping.
After a short while of sitting there, feeling miserable there was the slightest sound of a door opening, and closing as quietly as possible, and Applejack walked into the tiny front room. She stopped dead when she saw Midday.

"Morning." The royal blue unicorn smiled. Applejack stared at her in terror, and Midday noticed she had her saddlebags on.
"Fleeing somewhere?" she smirked.

"How'd ya guess?" The farmer said, walking up the small table.
"Well, you obviously don't want to talk about what happened at the rodeo, but I can probably guess anyhow, and the way the girls described how you... acquiesced to their request was suspicious."

Applejack stood there and frowned at her.
"If you're thinking I woke up early to try and stop you running, I'm not. I just can't sleep."

"Bad dreams?"
"Bad memories." Midday said, taking a slight swig from a glass of odd-tasting cherry juice.

Applejack stood there, occasionaly glancing at the front door.
"Why don't you like me?" She asked.

Midday blinked.
"You obviously do, and ah don't mind that, but if there's something ah can do to make up for it, ah'd at least like the chance."

Midday sighed, and motioned for Applejack to sit.
"You... haven't done anything to me" she said, slowly. She frowned, and wondered how much to say.

"It's complicated. You see... you just remind me of this pony. It's a long story." She said, a part of her reminding her that she'd always wanted to say that. The old maxim of 'be careful what you wish for' was still going strong.
"How long?"

"About... oh, forty-four minutes or so, depending on whether I choose to explain everything and all the little side notes. Or I could just sum up, but in return, you let me guess why you won't go back to Ponyville."
"Ah don't need to know that badly." Applejack frowned, standing up again.

"Or you could run, and see if you manage to get away from an infuriated Pinkie Pie, which considering she's about as fast as Rainbow Dash on an average day (somehow), I really doubt you will. You don't really look like that much of an athlete."
"An' how would you know what an athlete looks like?"

"My uncle has taught Equestrian Games teams since before I was born. Even taught me a thing or two. Sort of. Not anything related to athletics, though."
Applejack stared at her.

"Well, why don't you explain what this pony did that makes you so angry, then."
"Okay, you might want to sit down, because even though I'm gonna take the short route, this story might be a bit shocking." Applejack sat down. Midday considered what to tell her, and finally reached a compromise. 'Paradox be damned' she told herself.

"Now, about nineteen years ago... no, twenty, actually, I think" Midday silently cursed time-travel, and math, "My uncle got married."
"'kay."

"And he and my mom were close, really really close, best siblings forever and all that. And he didn't even bother to tell her he was engaged until about a week before the wedding. And did I mention he only lived about an hour's train journey away from her?"
"That's kinda rotten."

"So, anyway, she goes to yell at him, feeling betrayed and whatnot, and finds out her new sister in-law's also her former foalsitter."
"How old were they?" Applejack asked in astonishment, but Midday waved a silencing hoof at her.

"And this is great, because my mom and her foalsitter got on great. And then..."
"Lemme guess, she turned out to be a jerk."

"Sort of, kind of, not entirely."
"Huh?"

"A... horrible pony had replaced her, in secret, and was brainwashing my uncle in compliance, which is apparently why he didn't tell his sister he was getting married, and why he didn't notice her magic's aura had changed from a pleasant blue to green. Or why she'd turned into a complete jerk. And she wasn't really trying by this point by the way. She spent the next several days belittling and insulting just about everypony she met and demanding her own way."

"Okay..." Applejack said, before Midday fixed a steady glare at her.
"Now, you are about to say, 'But ain't that natural for a gal preparin' for her wedding day?'"

"Ah don't sound like that."
"But no, because, again, replaced by horrible pony, but this is what everypony else was saying, and for some reason, only my mother, who is not usually the greatest at noticing things, was the only pony who noticed. So she tells her friends, the same ponies the bride's been a jerk to about this, and one of them says: 'Don't you think you're being a bit possessive of your brother'." A dark look overcome Midday's face, and Applejack could've sworn she felt the temperature drop.

"My mother is a lot of things. She is stubborn, insensitive, foolish, prone to acting without considering and once managed to nearly vaporise herself because and ruined the lives of her friends just because she has no inner monologue, but she is not possessive of anything. To this day, I have no idea where on the Creator's green world this friend of hers got that idea from."
Applejack just stared, a bit unsure about what would happen if she interrupted at this point.

"And the evidence continued to pile up, up to my mother witnessing the 'bride' assaulting my uncle in the middle of an argument. So the next day she..." Midday looked embarrased, she coughed slightly.
"With all the facts and outright evidence in hand, she stormed the wedding rehearsal. Now, all of her friends had just been made stand-in bridesmaids because the originals had apparently been 'cosying up' to the bride. They were later found in a cave beneath the chapel, just a teensy bit brainwashed. Now, my mother, even with all her negative traits, was still damn clever. So, do you know what she does?"

"What?"
"She yells that the bride is 'evil'. Her own friends and mentor are all watching her make a complete donkey's behind of herself. And then her brother..."

"Her brother... what?"
"Pretty much disowned her. Completely. And she's sitting there, and this is the time for her friends to stick up for her, remember all they went through together and stand up for her, over some pony they hardly know."

She sighed, nudging the now empty glass of cherry juice.
"And the reason I've been so... angry and nasty to you over the last few months is because you are a near-perfect dead ringer for the mare who, without hesitation or sign of guilt, told everypony to forget my mother and go help the fake-bride."

Applejack was staring in horror.
"She didn't" the farmpony breathed.

"She did. And they all went along with it. And, now that I have time to think on it, it's not really sensible to hate you for it. But... I didn't. Maybe I thought it was a way of connecting with my mother, or something."
"How could they call themselves her friends and just... abandon her like that?"

"I'm sorry Applejack."
"Was... did you mother..."

"Oh, they worked it all out, eventually. Saved the real bride and the wedding, got rid of the fake, happy endings, huzzah!"
"That's something, at least." Applejack looked at Midday.

"But... you thought ah would do something like that? Betray somepony ah care about for no reason?"
"Well, you aren't going back to Ponyville, are you?"

Applejack's eyes went towards the floor, and she pawed it.
"Ah can't. I won't explain but there is a reason. Ah just... can't."

"No matter how much it hurts Apple Bloom?"
Applejack looked like she'd been struck, as if she hadn't actually thought of her little sister.

"Oh" she said, quietly.
Midday slid off her chair and walked over to Applejack.

"Well, I've explained my... admittedly insane reasoning, now you let me guess why you won't go back to Ponyville."
"Fine, go ahead."

Midday bowed her head slightly.
"I think... Well, you said you would send the prize money in your letter, and miss Jubilee said she saw you win tons of ribbons, so here's what I think..." Applejack was sweating.

"I'm thinking that while you did really well for yourself, you didn't win a single blue ribbon."
There was a look of defeat on Applejack's face.

"And since you seem to have some fear of accepting defeat, you refused to return to Ponyville until you'd gathered up enough money to pay back for the damages to the town hall like you said you would."
"Yeah. That's pretty much it."

"Would it help if I told you that no prize money in the world would help fix the town hall now?"
Applejack stared at her in confusion. A bemused look slid across Midday's face.

"You see, after you left I might have had an expert look about the town hall and she found... well, let's just say Ditzy Doo's unfortunate mistake might have been a bit of a blessing in disguise."
"Pardon?"

"The town hall was falling apart anyway. Ditzy just... sped up the process. So they're gonna tear it down and build a new one, rather than try and fix the old thing up."
Applejack bit her lip. She looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"So all that... all ah went through... fer nuthin'?"
"I wouldn't put it quite like that, myself..."

Applejack walked towards the door.
"Thanks, 'fer telling me that." She said calmly. "Ah've gotta go think about this. An' Midday?"

"Yeah?"
"Do you think maybe we could start over? Be friends?"

"That'd be nice."
Applejack nodded, and smiled. There was a slight pause.

"Now then, shall we see if the others are up."
"'Kay." They turned to see Fluttershy standing there.

"How long ha-"
"Long enough." Said a smug voice that sounded amazingly like Rainbow Dash, perhaps in part because it was Rainbow Dash.

"Aw, crud."

*****

Fortunately, they were understanding, and while Applejack seemed resistant to returning, Midday knew sooner or later they'd break through to her. And indeed, they did, especially once Midday pointed out the important factor of Apple Bloom, at which point Applejack's attempts to defend herself vanished.
Goodbyes were exchanged with miss Jubilee, who was understanding of Applejack's need to return to Ponyville, and they promised that if they ever passed through Dodge Junction, they'd visit.

The walk to the train-staion was largely uneventful, save for Pinkie muttering something about 'dramatic chases' before questioning Rarity about whether 'Chimicherries' or 'Cherrychangas' were better, after a slight slip of the tongue from Rainbow Dash (who did have the decency to look embarrased afterward, and then terrified at something Rarity whispered into her ears, involving the word 'bangs'.) Midday, remembering an incident when Rarity had styled her hair into bangs, felt a sudden swell of pity for the speedster. Then she saw something. A pony, a stallion no less, with a coat of unmistakable deep blue, with bright orange hair.
"That's..." she whispered. "That's not possible..."

She started to move towards the pony, who was turned away from her, and she felt a strange tension. Somewhere her mind was screaming that what she was seeing was impossible, a hallucination brought on by lack of sleep, but she kept going.
"Midday!" Twilight said, "Hurry up, the train's about to leave."

She stopped, and turned to glower at Twilight, and then turned around. The stallion was gone. Again. She stared for a few seconds before shaking her head and returning to the others.
"What's the matter?" asked Fluttershy as they got on to the train.

"Nothing. Nothing's the matter. Just thought I saw somepony I recognised. Again. I think I just need a bit of sleep, is all. Didn't get any this morning."
"You do look out of sorts." Rarity said, sympathetically. "Lie down already."

"-changa, chimicherry, cherrychanga, chimicherry, cherrychanga-"
"Pinkie!" Twilight hissed. The bouncing party pony slowly stopped. And then started humming in ways that sounded remarkable like 'chimicherry' and 'cherrychanga'. And the good news didn't stop when it turned out they were sharing the cabin with a group of strangely dressed amateur musicians, who looked almost like escaped convicts.

The song they started playing, while catchy, didn't help.

"Ahhhhh am a mare
Of constant sorrrrroow"

"This is going to be a long trip." Midday sighed.
It didn't help that the lyrics took an alarmingly familiar turn.

*****

Eventually, some several hours later, they pulled in to Ponyville, where everypony was waiting for them. Applejack was quickly tackled off her hooves by a small brown and white dog, then embraced by the rest of her family. Midday quickly nodded at Granny Smith as she walked by.
"Thank you." The elderly mare said.

"Apple Bloom, c'mon, get off me, ah gotta go write a letter."
"Ah could help, sis"

"Alright then."
Midday watched as the sisters rushed along to the library, where it transpired Trixie had desperately been attempting to create illusions of her own. Twilight offered to help with that, and Trixie muttered something that sound like an acceptance. Midday watched as everypony seemed to be more or less happy, especially Pinkie, who'd remembered her two minature new housemates, before she rushed off towards Sugarcube Corner.

*****

Some hours later, as Twilight was doing a bit of early late-night reading of the latest Daring Do, she was aware of Midday walking past her wearing a hat and a scarf.
"Just borrowing this telescope." The royal blue mare said.

"Okay" said Twilight. She kept reading for a few moments, before what had just happened sank in.
She quickly found a bookmark before gently closing the book and placing it on a small pedastal, before rushing out into the cold night air, then rushing out of the cold night air, finding a coat and scarf and hat and rushing back out into the cold night air. After a few minutes she found Midday sitting on a small, barely snow-covered hill just outside of Ponyville, the one she and her friends had watched a meteorite shower from some days before the Grand Galloping Gala. Midday was sitting next to a telescope, gently staring into it, though from the looks of things she wasn't looking for or at anything in particular.

"Hello" Twilight said. Midday jumped, and turned to look at her.
"Hello." The royal blue unicorn muttered.

"I didn't have you pegged as a star-gazer." Twilight smiled. Midday gently placed a hoof on the telescope.
"I'm not, really. It's just... something my dad did." There was a slight smile on her face.

"He was an amateur... astronomer. When I was little, he and I'd sometimes go out and look at the stars, and he'd tell me all about them all through the night." There was a slight sniff, which Twilight could tell had nothing to do with the temperature.
"'s how he met my mom, actually" she whispered.

Twilight sat next to her, remembering all too late to cast something to stop the water getting into her coat.
"Although he knew about her before, my mom was kinda a big name pony, but... he'd had a bit of a crush on her for a while, you see. Nothing major, and he never thought anything would come of it. His family were recluses, he lived in a big city, and she lived in a nearby town. And one night he headed out to the town, not to find her or anything, but because, you know, better conditions for stargazing and such. And by a mad coincidence, my mom was out stargazing. And they got into this massive argument about the 'best spot on the hill', until they finally agreed to just share one telescope for the night."

She sighed, and looked at Twilight.
"Of couse, that's what I was told anyway. Might not be what actually happened, knowing my parents."

Twilight looked at the slightly sad, proud smile on the mare's face.
"When you say... 'did'... is he-?"

"Yeah."
"I'm sorry." Twilight put a hoof on Midday's shoulder.
"Discord did it." She said, after a while.

"And after that, everything went wrong. Nopony remembered him. My own mom didn't remember him. And sometimes..." She made a noise that sounded slightly like a choke, "Sometimes I do actually wonder if he ever existed, or Discord just made me think I had a dad, just to screw with me and my mom. And when that happens I hate myself, and I feel like I'm betraying him, and his... his memory."
For some reason she didn't understand, Twilight put her hoof around the mare, who was now beginning to shake, and she could see, just reflected off the moonlight, tears.

"And I tried... t-tried finding a way to... bring him back, or save him, and nothing worked and..." There was another sob. And another.
Then she started muttering something, something which sounded strangely familiar to Twilight. The muttering quickly turned into a somewhat melancholy song.

"I was prepared to do my best,
Thought I could survive any test.
For I can do so many tricks
... But I wasn't prepared for this."

There was a slight pause, and Twilight wondered if she was going to continue.

"Levitation would have been a breeze
Facts and figures I can recite with ease
I could pass a test on friendship's bliss
But I wasn't prepared for this.

My mind is sharp, my skills intact
Oh, I've taken my share of licks
I've made it through the thin and thick"

Whatever song she was singing seemed to stop.
"But I wasn't prepared for this" she whispered. She leaned in closer to Twilight, who suddenly began thinking of all the years Celestia had taught her, and had to agree with the wording, if not the spirit of the song. She could feels some of the tear drops beginning to hit her legs, and held Midday close to her.

"Midday isn't your real name, is it?"
There was a slight murmur for the mare, who looked like she was falling asleep. She gave a slight smile, though it was tempered by concern for a mare falling asleep in the cold.

"Let's get you home then."
There was another murmur.

"Can't we stay out here a little longer?"
Twilight wondered if Midday was just talking in her sleep, and quietly lifted the mare onto her back, before folding the telescope up, and then teleporting back to the library with the both of them.

As she laid Midday in bed, the mare occasionaly mumbling something, she frowned. Midday had leapt in to save Apple Bloom, seemed perfectly fine with leaping around on rooftops, held no grudge against her for the unfortunate remark a few days ago. Aside from some mild sarcasm, she seemed generally non-threatening. Twilight stared at this mare and wondered what could have caused such low self-esteem, and briefly pondered what her mother must've been like. She decided to dismiss those thoughts, just in case they led to trouble.

*****

The next morning, in Dodge Junction, a stallion trotted through the streets merrily. He reached a small house, and gently rapped on the door. It opened, and Dust Bowl stared into the eyes of his best friend.
"C'mon, you. You said you was going to hang out with the guys last night."

"Well, I... got distracted. I though I saw a comet. Turns out it was just a smudge on the lens."
Dust Bowl chuckled slightly at his friend's misplaced eagerness.

"Don't you laugh!"
"Too late" he said, before a slightly dirty cushion slammed into his head. He walked into the house, and saw something. There was a canvas sitting nearby.

"Hey, I didn't know you could draw." Dust Bowl smiled.
"Don't be a jerk" his friend said, his voice missing the usual Dodge accent. Dust Bowl stared at it.

"Somethin' familiar about that mare" he muttered.
"Really?"

"Yeah, though I saw a mare like her talkin' to old Jubilee the other day." Suddenly he found himself seized between his friend's hooves.
"You sure?"

"Hey, you're hurting me, CC."
"Sorry, Dusty, but it's important. Are you sure?"

"You don't forget a mare that cute, CC." Dust Bowl said nervously, more than worried by the serious glare in his friend's orange eyes. Quickly he found himself released, as his deep blue-furred friend rushed out of the door.
"Comet Chaser? Where ya going?"

"To find her!" The amateur astronomer said, nodding at the slightly poorly-drawn picture of a mare with purple hair, fur and eyes, and while the picture was hardly award winning, his friend had certainly done Twilight Sparkle's smile justice.

Author's Note

Are you confused yet?
Good.
(And as for the shirts? They took them off before they went to bed.)

Flashback the Sixth: Mistakes

Twilight Twinkle, aged sixteen (physically twenty)
She stood, readying herself for another attempt, ignoring the odd twinges.
"Go." The blue showmare declared. She rushed foward, her limbs aching as strange multicoloured globes swarmed around and towards her. She didn't bother putting up any shield constructs, since the globes just went right through them. She ran, and ran from one end of the small obstacle course, until there was the sound of a whistle blowing.

"You'll have to start again" came the showmare's voice. She looked irritated and disappointed.
So she tried again. And again, and again, and she never made it more than a few inches before Trixie declared she would have to start again. After a few tries Twinkle found herself lying down, barely able to breath, while Trixie just tutted.

"Are you even trying, Miss Twinkle? Perhaps the Great and Powerful Trixie would be better off teaching donkeys." Twinkle just glowered at her. Trixie tutted some more.
"Trixie presumed the daughter of Princess Twilight Sparkle would have been able to manage a simple test."

There was a slight blast as Trixie was thrown backwards. She scrambled to her hooves to see Twilight Twinkle's mane ablaze, and a look of cold fury in the mare's eyes.
"A bit of a sore spot for you, eh?"

"You haven't even told me what I'm supposed to be learning."
Trixie raised an eyebrow and laughed. "Is that so? And what, pray tell, was the Great and Powerful Trixie supposed to be teaching you? Could I be sure you were worth trying to teach?"

"You're just making things up as you go along, are you?" The royal blue mare groaned as the flames died down, leaving only her scorched mane and tail.
Trixie paused for a moment, before meekly saying "Yes."

"Well, how about you teach me something you do know?"
Trixie stared into Twilight Twinkle's burnt orange eyes.

"You want Trixie to teach you something? Very well then." She reared onto her hind legs and smiled.
"Prepare to be amazed!"

*****

As it turned out, Trixie only had simple colour-altering spells, and one invisibility spell, to teach her, though Twilight Twinkle did thank the mare for it, which seemed to shock Trixie.
Upon learning the actually somewhat easy music, Twilight Twinkle returned to the university she was supposed to be studying at. She could hear Star Song practicing her music from some distance away. She slowly opened the door, and upon entering was tackled by a purple ball of wings and legs.

"Where have you been?" the pegasus asked. Twinkle looked up and noticed clear signs of worry on the mare's face.
"Out. About. Doing stuff." she muttered, as she gently pushed the pegasus off of her.

"I thought you'd gotten into trouble, or weren't coming back" the pegasus said quietly.
"Well, I'm not." Twinkle said, not noticing the obvious look of pain on Star Song's face, "I just came to get some things."

"Like what?"
Twinkle turned to look at the utterly confused pegasus.

"Sleep, mostly."

*****

There was a saying. Not an old saying, but certainly one that had been around for a while. The saying was that when it came to reaching the underworld, one did not just walk.
Taking that into account, Twilight Twinkle choose to rappel. It was a long, slow, difficult and utterly terrifying experience, with the mare frequently scraping her legs on the rocks, or panicking about slipping, wondering whether her magic would allow her to survive, and the occasional odd noise that made her pause. After what felt like several hours, she reached the bottom of the massive cave, and found... a door, with a large three headed dog sitting by it, and not too far away, some stairs she somehow hadn't noticed on the way down.

"Of course." She muttered.
She walked towards the door, and briefly gave consideration to the idea that the unlocking spell she'd learnt wouldn't be enough to unlock the door to the underworld. She dismissed those thoughts as mere attempts at distraction. The dog looked at her with what appeared to be curiosity, and nothing more. Her horn glowed, and a small beam shot from it towards the massive door. There was a slight 'click'.

For a second, Twilight Twinkle stood there, wondering whether that meant the door was open or not. She looked at the large dog, who still seemed utterly uninterested in the proceedings. She shrugged, and walked towards the door. As she reached it she was aware of a cold draught by her behind. She turned to see one of the dog's heads sniffing at her. its face impassive.
"Not going to stop me, huh?" she asked, wondering about the supply of dog biscuits in the saddlebag she had on her. The dog gave a small grunt, and set its head back down.

"Alright then" she said slowly. She walked through the door, and was greeted by a sudden feeling of chill air, air that seemed to go right through to the bone, and chilled the soul. And then she saw the barren, empty lands, covered in small bits of smoke and haze. She shuddered, and started walking forward, ignoring the strange moans and whispers. It took her a few moments to realise she had no idea where she was actually going, and she stopped.

"Feeling lost?" said a voice. She looked around, but couldn't see its source. She braced herself, readying for an attack from any angle.
"Oh, put the magic away. You can't exactly hurt us" the voice said. There was something eerily familiar about it. She frowned.

"Shows what you ghosts now! I've got anti-ghost magics." There was a slow stomping sound.
"That's just great."

She frowned.
"Hey, why don't you show yourself instead of making sarcastic jibes?"

There was what sounded like a sigh, and the fog around Twilight Twinkle's hooves slowly resolved into the shape of a pony.
"Ta-da" The mare deadpanned. Twilight Twinkle stared at her.

"Is there some reason you're bothering me?" She asked.
"Well, you are using my name."

Twilight Twinkle stared at the mare standing in front of her.
"You are... my great-grandmother?"

The ghost did a small curtsy. "Twilight Twinkle, the first, at your service."
"Are you always this sarcastic?"

"I'm dead." The mare frowned, "I don't really have the capacity for anything other than dry wit."
She walked over to Twinkle and started looking at her. She glared at the apparition.

"What are you doing?"
"Looking to see if there's anything from my side of the family in you. Not seeing it." She sounded disappointed, and shrugged.

"In fact, watching the way you've lived your life, I'm amazed. And not in the good fashion. You've got no friends, no job, you lounge about all day, and... where are you going?"
Twinkle turned to glare at her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, but you're hardly the first pony to lecture me at first sight. Being told you're a failure loses its sting after the first fifty-thousand times."
And with that she walked on, leaving the spectre to frown at her. After a while, it started to move after her great-granddaughter.

"Are you following me?"
"Perhaps."

"Are you going to stop following me?"
"Do you even know where you're going? No, of course not. You're just going to blunder about the underworld. What are you even doing down here?"

"Looking for my father." There was a slight noise from her great-grandmother.
"What? Are you about to give some nonsense about how he doesn't exist?"

"No, not at all. But you don't even know where to look, do you?"
Twinkle paused, and scanned the bleak landscape, before staring down at her hooves.

"No" she admitted.
The two stood there for a while.

"I just figured... he'd show up. I... I probably could've given this a bit more though."
"A lot more" the shade said.

"He isn't here, is he?"
The ghost said nothing. Twinkle just stared into the distance.

"All of this was for nothing."
She waited for something, anything, to happen. Nothing did.

"This was a waste of time" she muttered to herself. There was a slight cough.
"Are you absolutely sure you're looking in the right place?" The shade said.

Twilight Twinkle said nothing, and merely started walking back the way she came, ignoring the noise from her great-grandmother's shade. She kept walking, until she was at the door, which she calmly walked out of, not paying attention to it slamming behind her. There was a curious grunt from Cerberus, but she paid that no heed. She looked at the stairs, and sighed slightly. She started walking, and walking, and walking.

Some large amount of stair walking later, she bumped into something. A leg. A purple leg. Connected to a purple, winged, body.
"Twilight Twinkle." Twilight Sparkle frowned.

*****

"WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE YOU THINKING, YOUNG LADY?!"
Twilight Twinkle didn't flinch. In fact, she didn't even seem to react at all. Not even after being dragged through the streets of Canterlot back to the family house like a foal playing hooky, not even when her mother's mane and tail burst into flames. She just stared at her mother.

"I-" she started.
"WALKING STRAIGHT INTO THE UNDERWORLD!" Twilight Sparkle took a few breaths.

"THE UNDERWORLD! WERE YOU TRYING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED? DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT'S DOWN THERE?!"

"W-"

"AND FOR WHAT? WHAT COULD POSSIBLY SO WORTH RISKING YOUR LIFE FOR?" Twilight Sparkle leaned straight into her, her fury apparently reigned in as the fires died down, and she sighed.
"Was it about your father?" She said quietly. Twilight Twinkle suddenly felt a rising amount of hope, almost joy. She remembered him. Then she felt two hooves being placed on her.

"You know" Her mother said, her voice quite and resigned, "That you don't have a father? All this... all this talk about having one... is just something you made up."
In an instant, Twinkle's feeling of hope vanished, and she felt like she'd been kicked. Again. She felt her mother embracing her.

"It's just a story. Surely you know that. You know that."
She not-so-gently shoved her mother's forelegs away.

"I thought I told you this before. I'm sure I did." Twilight Sparkle stood up, and walked across the room to the small bookshelf. Her horn glowed, and several books floated before her. She looked one, proclaiming itself to be a book on old Equestrian legends, and opened it, before floating it over to Twinkle's face. She saw a painted image of a large underground cavern with a pool in it.

"Have you heard of the Mirror Pool?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "Pinkie Pie helped rediscover it, twenty-odd years ago, just after the return of the Crystal Empire. Used it to clone herself, and those clones went on a rampage. Quite unpleasant for all concerned." She frowned at the bitter memories.
Twinkle said nothing, just looking at the page.

"Anyway, one day I let my curiosity get the better of me and I went to go look at the pool, and... well, examine it, see what made it work. Unfortunately, when I did, the pool... for want of a better term, reacted to my magics. There was a blinding light, and when I awoke, there was a tiny foal by the side of the pool."
Twilight Twinkle looked up at her mother.

"You." The mare said.
There were a few seconds of utter silence, save for the sound of a clock ticking.

Then Twinkle started laughing. And kept on laughing.
"It's not funny." Twilight Sparkle said, quietly. It didn't stop Twinkle.

After a few more minutes, as her mother grew from shocked to confused to irritated, she stopped.
"You actually believe that?"

"... Believe it? It's the truth."
Twinkle stared into her mother's eyes.

"Now, then" Twilight Sparkle said, her voice calm once more, though she hardly looked calm, "You will return to your studies, and, now that you remember the truth, maybe we can put this unpleasant joke of Discord's behind us and get back to the way things were." She looked at Twinkle, who was staring at anywhere but her.
"Sweetie, are you even listening to me?" She reached out a hoof to her daughter.

Her hoof passed through the illusionary duplicate of her daughter.

*****

Twilight Twinkle stormed through the streets of Canterlot, ignoring the staring, all the way back to Canterlot University, to the small dorm room. She walked right past Star Song, and practically fell onto her bed.
"Are you okay?" the pegasus asked hestiantly.

"No." she said, in a tiny, quiet voice. She felt a hoof on her side.
"Want to talk about it?"

"Not really."
Star Song just nodded, and smiled, and walked away. For a few seconds there was no noise, only a slight clicking sound, followed by a light piece of classical music wafting through the air. Twinkle looked up to see a small record player, and Star Song handling something.

"What are you doing?" She asked. Star Song's wings flapped.
"I" she smiled, "Was just making something to help with that awful feeling of yours." Her smile grew slightly at the confused look on Twinkle's face.

"Hot chocolate." She said.
"And the music?"

"Oh, that is by a lovely musician called Lyra. Have you heard of her?"
Twilight Twinkle blinked. There was something about it that sounded amazingly familiar.

"Not the most famous musician who ever lived, but she's incredibly good. Don't you think so?"
Twinkle stared at the cup that had been thrust towards her. She took it gently in her magic, and drank slowly. She did feel slightly better, and wondered when she'd last eaten.

"It is good. The music, that is. And I do feel a bit better." Star Song sat down on the bed next to her.
"That's a start" she said, her voice still cheerful.

Twinkle fought the urge to tell her, but she was going against her almost infectously cheerful roommate's good mood. She lost.
"It's just... she said I didn't have a father. That I was born through some... idiotic incident involving a magical pool that can clone ponies."

Star Song said nothing, just nodding slightly. She looked at Twinkle's eyes, that peculiar colour of burnt orange, tears just beginning to form in them.
"But I remember. I remember him helping me walk. I remember him helping me when I had nightmares, or just couldn't sleep. Helping me learn to read. I remember every birthday, every argument, every terrible joke."

There was a slight noise from the royal blue mare.
"And apparently all those memories are just a story" she hissed.

"We're all stories, in the end." Star Song said in the quiet, as the rays of the setting sun turned the room a strange orange-red shade.
"And how is yours going to go next. Does Twilight Twinkle give up in despair? Does she spend the rest of her life weeping and moaning, or does she get up and keep going?"

"Weeping sounds fun right now" she deadpanned. There was a slight pause.
"But I can't. I'm a Twilight. We don't do silly things like that. We don't whine and moan about our lot. We go out and find a way to improve it."

Star Song said nothing, merely thinking 'this is a scary turn-around'.
"And I'm sure I'll find a way to bring him back, sooner or later." She smiled. "After all, I'm the daughter of one of the most powerful magic-user alive." She smiled, making a note not to tempt fate by saying anything like, say, 'what's the worst that could happen'. So she didn't.

"Are you always like this?" Star Song asked.
"Like what?"

"Well, you go from being miserable about something which you have every right to be miserable about, then declaring that you can't be miserable about it, then confidantly saying you'll find a solution. And now you're smiling and it's... kinda freaking me out a lot."
"Sorry."

The purple pegasi's smile returned.
"Don't be. Never apologise for trying to see the best in a situation."

She jumped off the bed. "Now then, I was wondering, if at some point you'd like to go see a concert with me and some friends"
"Would I?"

The two laughed at that.
"Sorry, that was terrible." Twinkle smirked.

"Bad jokes. Good sign, very healthy."
"Thank you, Doctor Star Song."

"Well," the mare said, walking across the room, "You might enjoy it. Might inspire you to do something. Hopefully, not something like walking straight into the underworld, but something constructive. Even if it's just a little thing, like saying something nice to somepony. 'Make your life count for something'" She said.

*****

Twilight Twinkle, aged seventeen (physically twenty-one)
"You seem cheerful." Wisp noted, dryly at Twilight Twinkle's humming. She looked up at him, and once more found herself blushing profusely.
"Yeah, well, you know. I'm just feeling cheerful." She said coyly. "And why shouldn't I be?"

She bent back down to look at the flowers.
"I'm in Ponyville, there's no major disaster, and I'm with you, the sun's out and it's a lovely day. What's not to love?" She said, leaning in closely to him and smiling. He smiled back, though there was an odd look in his eyes.

"Wisp, I was wondering, you see, Star Song convinced me into going to a concert with her, and I'd really, really appreciate it if you would come along."
There was a long pause before he responded. "A concert?" He asked.

"Yeah."
"This is in Canterlot, right?" He frowned.

"Yeah..."
"Is there any specific artist, or is there a wide selection?"

Twinkle looked about Ponyville, occasionaly glimpsing one of the many Pie children bouncing about on their way somewhere. She looked back at Wisp, and his soulful blue eyes, which went so well with that gold-brown fur of his.
"I think it's mostly Sweet Belle." She made a small noise, "Do you know, I don't think I've ever met my sister-in-law's sister. Weird, huh?"

"Twilight, there's something I need to say to you."
"Yes?" she said, not paying attention.

"It's... well, something I've been meaning to say to you for a while..."
That got her attention. She looked up at his uncertain face, a smile beginning to grow across her face in the mild spring afternoon.

"Yes?" She said, leaning closer. He leant back.
"I might be leaving Ponyville soon." He said quickly. She felt her ears drop.

"Okay" she said slowly.
"I mean, let's face it, as long as I'm here, the town is somewhat in danger of getting attacked by my..." He looked around, and leaned in, "By changelings."

She blinked. Then she smirked and playfully jabbed him. His serious expression remained.
"As long as I'm here, it's a target. There is nothing she would not do to reclaim me."

"Why, exactly?" Wisp looked at her in confusion, "Why does she want you so badly when she apparently gave you up in the first place?"
Wisp shuffled awkwardly. "A good question. But not one I'm focused on. I'm not concerned with what she has planned, I'm more concerned about what she might do to those I care about."

"You mean your mom."
"And Miss Pie, and her family. Have you seen the newest Pie yet? Strawberry." A solemn note came into his voice.

"Only a few months old. Apparently she's got her mother's energy."
"That's a lot of energy..." Twinkle said, her mind still focusing on the implications of what Wisp had said.

"You don't think she would, would you?"
"I honestly don't know what she is capable of. Nor do I wish to know." There was the sound of a bell ringing, indicating the change of the hour.

"Must be one heck of a plan she's got, if she's been sitting on it for so long" Twinkle said. Wisp gave no response. She looked around to see that he'd vanished. She sighed.
"Right, forget subtlety. Next time I'm just freaking telling him." She muttered, as she walked off towards the train station. Spring break had gone by too quickly for her tastes. The nearly-eighteen year old smiled as she thought of the next time she'd see Wisp.

*****

The train-ride was quicker than she'd expected, and as the train slowly ground to a halt, she was still thinking of Wisp. Then she saw the platform was strangely empty for that time of day, save for one noticable pony.
Her mother.

"Great."
They hadn't spoken, or had contact since the incident with the Underworld, although she had recieved some letters from her mother asking about her progress in university, all of which had been mysterious 'lost'. And her mother didn't look especially cheerful either.
She slowly walked out on to the platform, not bothering with the invisibility spell, since she had a sneaking guess her mother was prepared for that.

"Hi" she said, casually.
"Hello." Her mother said. Was she being 'corrected', Twinkle wondered.

"Is... something the matter?" she asked. Twilight Sparkle looked concerned.
"No, no. Nothing's the matter. Just thought I'd see how you were getting on at university. Whether you've made any friends."

"I've been there for a few years now. Pretty sure I'm beyond friend-making." Mother and daughter both looked anywhere but at each other.
"My room-mate's okay" she muttered. "Bit mad, but otherwise she's fine."

"Good, good."
Twinkle briefly stared at the slight smile on her mother's face, and the slightly eager look in her eyes.

"I just wondered if you wanted to... hang out with your old mom."
"'Hang out'? I don't think I've ever 'hanged'. I'm not a 'hanging out' pony." She began to pace around her mother.

"And if we were to, as you say, 'hang out', where would said hanging take place?"
"I don't know... the library? Or we could visit Celestia?"

"Visit your old mentor?"
"Yes."

"Or the library?"
Twilight Sparkle smiled that eager little smile of hers again.

"Or we could go visit Rarity. See how she's getting on."
Twinkle stopped dead in her tracks, and slowly looked at her mother. "Oh, you don't really mean that, do you?" She saw the smile on her mother's face vanish.

"Well, I just thought... perhaps it was time you..." She coughed slightly, "Just in case you wanted to go to a party, or to the Gala, it would be nice to be prepared."
"I am prepared for going to the Grand Galloping Gala!" The young mare declared, "I've got several different kinds of weather spells, and my levitation's strong enough to throw a grand piano, and fine-tuned enough to play it as I do."

She saw the look of irritation on her mother's face.
"Well, it will be when I know a tune I can play" Twinkle admitted.

"Please? Do it to give your mother some peace of mind."
She cursed inside at the use of the dreaded 'p-word'. She sighed.

"Alright, fine. Provided I get final say on what I'm wearing."
Twilight Sparkle smiled, and mother and daughter walked away from the platform, though Twilight Twinkle kept a noticable amount of distance from her mother.

*****

Apparently, when Rarity had moved from Ponyville to Canterlot, it had been with the greatest feigned reluctance outside of Luna's singular attempt to attend the Grand Galloping Gala (which had ended in molten cake). Considering how much larger and opulent her new store-residence was, it wasn't surprising, though Rarity maintained that the larger size was beneficial to raising Impossibility, who would feel more at home in the city than out in the countryside. And when asked as to whether it allowed Rarity a chance to be nearer her estranged little sister, the mare had said nothing, and when asked if it was an attempt at preventing any variety of child cruelty that Sweet Belle had experienced as a filly, the reported had been summarily ejected from the store.

Twilight Sparkle sat on one of the many sofas kept in the small waiting area, calmly drinking tea alongside Impossibility, who she was well aware viewed her as a grandmother. After so many years, she still wasn't sure how she felt about that.
"So, Impossibility, how have you been?"

"Good." the half-dragon said, as there were noises from upstairs, where Rarity and Twinkle were sorting out dresses. Twilight had wanted to help out, but once Rarity had announced she was in 'the Zone' that had been it, and the alicorn had been gently nudged downstairs with the offering of tea and biscuits.
"I mean, you know, a bit bored, here and there, but still, things are going well otherwise."

"I see."
"How about you, grandma?"

Twilight Sparkle shrugged slightly. She looked at Impy, who had her father's deep green eyes, though most of her appearance suggested she took more from Rarity than him.
"Have you talked with Twinkle lately?"

"Oh, we meet up every now and then, but not on any regular basis. Why?"
"I just... we haven't talked in a while, is all. I don't know." She sighed, "I keep trying to fix things between us, and nothing I think of works. I'm fairly certain she hasn't been reading my letters to her."

"Yeah, she gets a bit... quiet when anyone mentions you." Impy said, calmly eating a whole stack of biscuits. She offered Twilight some from the tin, but she just shook her head.
There was a sudden shriek from upstairs. Twilight Sparkle sprung up, but Impy held up a claw, and seemed to be waiting for something.

There was the muffled sound of laughter.
"No. No thump. She's not fainted." Impy said.

Twilight stared at her.
"You spend most of your time around her, you figure out the patten of her freak-outs pretty quick."

"How old are you right now, Impy?"
"Twelve." The half-pony said.

Twilight Sparkle sighed.
"Do you and Rarity ever fight?"

"No. Well, occasionaly she gets a bit high-strung or thinks I'm associating with the Wrong Sort of Pony, but I usually manage to steer my way out of those conversations." Suddenly the cheer vanished from her voice, "Although... there was last Hearth's Warming."
"What happened?"

"I may have been given a bunch of records by a friend, and one of them was... well, I'll give you three guesses." She said solemnly.
"Sweetie Belle?"
"Yeah. Mom wasn't happy about that."

There was a slight pause, and the muffled sound of conversation from upstairs.
"What exactly happened that caused you two to fight?" Impy asked.

"Ever since what happened with Discord we've... no, actually, since she managed to age herself, we've been drifting apart, and the incident with Discord, and all this talk about who her father is, and... nothing I do seems to go right. I try to talk to her, and she walks away. I let her pursue an education and she just keeps going off and doing whatever she feels like, and they won't get rid of her, just in case there's negative publicity, so she's safe there, and I just..." She looked down at the empty cup of tea, "I just don't know anymore. I just... I-I... I can't..." She trailed off.

"Things will work out" Impossibility smiled gently. Twilight Sparkle looked up at her, and smiled. Then there was a loud scream. Instantly the two rushed up the stairs into the design room, to find Rarity, whose face had gone pale (an always terrifying sight) and she was shuddering. When she saw Twilight Sparkle walk in her eyes darted to her.

"Oh, come on, Rarity, it's not that bad." Twinkle voice came from behind a curtain. Twilight Sparkle looked and Rarity and raised an eyebrow. Rarity raised a trembling hoof. The curtain glowed slight, and Twilight Twinkle stepped forth.
Twilight Sparkle's jaw dropped, while Impy covered her mouth to keep from howling with laughter.

The first thing that would be noticed was the hair, which was now arranged in bangs at the front, and carefully arranged at the back, though from the looks of it the hair was already making a spirited effort to break free of Rarity's restraints. The next thing anypony would notice was that below the neck, very very little of Twilight Twinkle's coat was visible.
"What. In the Name of SANITY are you wearing?!" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"What?" Twinkle smiled, looking at herself in the mirror, "You don't like it?"
There was a slight whimper from Rarity.

"Oh, hush up. You styled my hair, I think it's only fair I get revenge."
Rarity's mind seemed to briefly return from whatever placed it had retreated to.

"Yes, but..." Rarity trailed off again.
Twilight Sparkle frowned, and tried to think of her best 'stern' voice.

"You are not wearing a tuxedo to the Gala!"
"No." Twilight Twinkle said, her horn glowed and the bits of cloth shifted into a casual sun-dress, before slipping off her body, save the shoes, which she delicately untied and stepped out of. "I'm not." She said, before calmly walking past her mother.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have places to be, ponies to talk to."
Twilight Sparkle blinked in confusion.

"Oh no, you don't. You came back here right now!"
The royal blue mare turned and fixed Twilight Sparkle with a glare.

"Or what? What can you do to me? What will you do to me that Discord and Star-Swirl the Idiot haven't already done, hmm? Or Princess Celestia for that matter? Do you think you can just wave some magic about and hope you're going to get 'your little girl' back? Do you think there's something wrong with me, that I'm making all these things about my dad up for attention?"
Rarity and Impy exchanged nervous glances, and quietly moved away from the scene.

"Do you think I want to look at you? Do you think I want to spend any time with you now, when you seemed barely bothered to teach me one thing about magic? When you only ever showed up to lecture me about the fact that I was picked on for being your daughter? No wonder Discord went for dad. Heck, if he'd erased you, I'd probably haved cheered with JOY!"
There were a series of horrified gasps, including from Twilight Twinkle herself. There was an awkward pause.

"I... I didn't meant that" she said quietly, "I... I..." She suddenly looked so much younger.
"You're not my daughter. You're a thing." Twilight Sparkle said quietly. "I created you and I shouldn't have."

There was another horrified gasp from Rarity and Impossibility, who if either Twilight had looked they would have noticed were on the verge of tears, and both huddled next to each other.
There was a slight glow in Twilight Twinkle's horn, and she vanished from sight, followed a few seconds later by the sound of a door gently opening and closing.

Twilight Spakle stood there for a second, before a whimper burst from her lips, and she rushed out to the door. Rarity and Impy sat there for a moment, as they heard the grown mare yelling apologies to the empty night.
"Mom?"

"Yes, dear?"
"You know I love you and dad, right?"

"Yes dear."
"Good." Impossibility said as tears began to move down her cheeks. "Just wanted to make sure."

*****

Twilight Twinkle slammed the door to her dorm shut.
"What th-" Star Song said as a sniffle emerged from the mare. A few seconds later the purple pegasus saw her roommate turn into a small puddle of tears. She was aware of the unicorn saying something underneath the sobs, but she wasn't sure what Twinkle was trying to say. After a few minutes, and several tissues, she frowned, and sat next to the mare. She didn't ask what happened, and when her friends came, ready to go to see Sweet Belle, she shushed them. When they saw Twilight Twinkle, looking thoroughly miserable, they quickly understood. After a while, one of them bravely asked Twinkle if she wanted to go see the concert, and the mare said yes. Despite everypony else objecting, trying to talk their way out of it, Twilight Twinkle was adamant. The other mares all exchanged concerned and alarmed looks for Star Song's friend. None of them felt brave enough to ask, though one of them did suggest having a sleep-over, which, given they felt moved to protect the obviously upset mare, they all agreed to, against Twinkle's slight attempts to discourage them.

"We're here for you." Star Song said gently. "Now, let us help you."
"But you don't even know me" Twinkle pointed out. Star Song just shook her head.

"Doesn't matter. You're hurting and you need help, and you don't seem to have anypony else to go to." Said the one who'd asked her to go to the concert. "So we'll look after you, 'kay?"
"You cry as long and as loud as you need to. We'll be here for you."

"No, I'm pretty much done crying now." Twilight Twinkle said, smiling slightly.
"It's your mom, isn't it?" Star Song guessed.

"Yeah. I said things I shouldn't have and... and she hates me now."
"Well, how about we go see this concert, see if that takes your mind off her, and deal with this problem in the morning, okay?" Star Song smiled. "Because until then, your mom doesn't exist." She cursed her poor choice of words, though Twilight didn't seem to mind.
As it turned out, the concert was actually enjoyable. Apparently somepony managed to convince Sweet Belle to sing more 'family-friendly' lyrics to some of her songs. Twilight Twinkle even smiled for prolonged periods, though all the while thoughts of her mother dwelt in the back of her mind, and a nagging sense that something somewhere was wrong.

(Unbeknownst to Twilight Sparkle, Twilight Twinkle did decide to see what the Grand Galloping Gala was like. She lasted all of twenty minutes, and that was only because she managed to get lost on her way to the snack bar.)

*****

A few days later, in Ponyville. The warm morning spring sun shone down on the slight path, and young Minty Pie bounced along the roar leading to the mayor's house. Apparently the pegasus had been offered 'better' lodgings closer to her workplace, but she had insisted on remaining in her house. Minty liked the mayor's house. But then, it was surrounded by plants, which were her favourite colour. And Minty Pie liked almost everything, except that shouty mare who shouted at her that one time, though Minty was fairly certain she'd done something to upset that really blue mare with the orange eyes somehow. Then, she noticed the house in the distance, and something was definitely wrong. One of the upper windows was smashed. Her bouncing gait, which she inherited from her mother, stopped, and she slowly walked to the house, cautious. While she was not the greatest intellect in the family (That went to Chess Pie, her older brother) she still had the Pie knack for forethough, so when she noticed several of Miss Fluttershy's animals forming a perimiter, she became alarmed. Then she noticed the bodies. There were two of them, sprawled in the front garden, tied down by a lot of rope, though they didn't seem to be concious. As she got to the house, the animals noticed her and rushed her. She felt a sharp jabbing sensation, and noticed a slight bit of blood from where she'd been pricked by a hedgehog. The animals seemed satisfied that it was red, and she slowly continued onward, noting to ask Miss Mayor Fluttershy about that. Then she noticed several more bodies, each an identical charcoal grey, with bug-like wings and no hair. One was pinned by a chair, another had apparently been brained with a different chair, and there were several sprawled by the staircase, one of which had a frying-pan shaped lump on its head. Then Minty noticed the frying pan embedded in the wall.

"Uh-oh" she said to herself. She walked up the stairs, noting the odd breaks in the wall where somepony had apparently been hitting it, and then she saw the door to Miss Fluttershy's really tall son's room, which was smashed off its hinges, and then she looked into Miss Fluttershy's bedroom (feeling somewhat hesitant about that). She gave a small squeak of terror at the sight of the mayor, lying half-spread across her bed.

"Miss Fluttershy!" She cried, shaking the mare slightly. Nothing happened, and Minty began to panic. She wasn't sure what all the identical ponies were doing there, or where Whisper Wind (as she was told to call him) had gone, or why the mayor was de-
No, dead ponies didn't groan. Fluttershy slowly moved, and Minty praised Celestia that she wasn't dead, although, when she gave it some though, she could have been a zombie.

"Mintys" Fluttershy groaned, looking at the young Pie clan girl.
"Yes, your... mayorness?" The girl smiled nervously.

The mayor quickly got up and rushed into the next room.
"Oh no" she said. She quickly rushed back out onto the landing, and looked down the stairs.

"Oh no no no." Fluttershy quickly flew down the stairs, and outside, Minty following hestiantly.
There was a slight noise from Fluttershy, followed by her screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Miss Fluttershy?" asked Minty, "What is it?"
"She took him." Fluttershy whimpered. "She took my son..."

Author's Note

Ech. Not sure about this one. But I had serious writer's block going through it, and other things and shennanigans...
Over twelve frikken hours. Urgh...

Swindling Stupid Stallions Splendiferously

Midday slept, dreaming peaceful dreams of running and skipping through endless pleasant fields of green, under clear blue skies, feeling content and cheerful. It was so nauseatingly happy, she was glad to be woken up by the sound of rapid hoofsteps.
She opened her eyes, ignoring the screams of a body that was enjoying being at rest, and looked around the room. Twilight was walking towards the door, smiling broadly.

"What in the fiery pits of Tartarus are you beaming like a schoolfilly about?" she asked. Twilight turned the grin towards her.
"It's cider season" the librarian said, in the same fashion foals said 'snow'. For a second, Midday said nothing, her mind still not fully awake processing that statement.

"You're... excited about cider?" she asked. She'd woken up to hear about cider? She looked around for a clock. It was barely after half past seven in the morning. She let her head fall back on to the pillow.
"You aren't excited? Everypony in Ponyville qeues up for a chance to buy the finest vintage Apple family cider."

"Thanks for the slogan." Midday groaned, and rolled over, "'mma keep sleeping, thank you very much."
"Oh..." Twilight's ears drooped, and she walked towards the stairs. Midday tried to get back to sleep, unfortunately she was well-aware of Trixie, who was of course snoring, and muttering in her sleep.

'This has Long Day written all over it.' She sighed to herself.

*****

Eventually, Midday decided not to sit around waiting to go back to sleep, and wandered downstairs, to find neither Spike nor Twilight around. Trixie appeared when Midday was halfway through her breakfast, looking slightly confused.
"Morning."

Trixie's only response was a series of noises.
"How come you aren't excited about 'Cider Season' then, Trixiemoon?" The showmare stopped and fixed Midday with a full-force Glare.

"One: Do not ever, ever use that name again. Two: I hate cider. Trixie's preferred beverage is a bottle of bourbon." There was an odd, yet content sounding sigh from Trixie at that. "Brownest of the brown liquours... or failing that, beer. Or perhaps, if Trixie felt truly desperate, wine. But not cider." She shuddered.
"Never cider."

Midday stared at Trixie for a while, then went back to eating her breakfast.
"I was thinking of heading over to Sweet Apple Acres, seeing what's going on there. Apparently everypony in town drinks apple cider."

Trixie looked confused. "Everypony? As in, every adult pony in town all likes the same beverage?" She frowned as she calmly grinded some pepper into her bowl of oats. "That's just bizarre." she muttered.
"Well, I suppose there are any number of reasons why they go along with it. Maybe it really tastes that good." Midday sighed, suddenly feeling less hungry at the sight of pepper and oats.

*****

Midday walked out into the brisk winter air, and noted the total abscence of anypony in sight. It was actually more than a little bit unsettling. Regardless, she started walking towards the Apple family farm. On the way there, she walked through the farmer's market, noting most of the stalls were completely empty, save for one, belonging to an orange-maned mare who looked like she was loosing a battle to fall asleep. Curiosity compelled her to talk to the mare.

"Morning" she called out, which startled the mare into falling over.
"Sorry." Midday said sheepishly.

"No, no, don't be. I just wasn't expecting anypony to show up today." The mare smiled. Midday couldn't see her Cutie Mark, but by the variety of carrots lying in carefully (indeed, ludicrously so) arranged patterns, she could guess at the mare's occupation.
"I'm guessing you're a carrot farmer."

"A bit obvious, isn't it?" The mare sighed slightly. "Yes, I am a carrot farmer. Carrot Top, owner and manager and proprieter of Golden Harvest Farm, at your service. Provided you only require carrots. That's really all I can do" she said calmly.
"You seem to be the only pony left in town" Midday observed. Carrot Top rolled her eyes.

"Yes, it's those Apples. Can I tell you a secret?" She motioned for Midday to come closer. Midday leaned toward her.
"I don't like cider. Isn't that weird? A pony, in Ponyville, who doesn't obsess over cider?" She sighed.

"So, I'm sitting here, trying not to fall asleep. I even tried making little dioramas with my carrots but... there is only so much you can do with carrots after a while." She looked at Midday.
"You aren't interested in buying anything by any chance?" she said, with what sounded like mock-hope in her voice. Or more worrying, actual hope. Midday decided to be kind. The fact that her stomach was beginning to rumble helped.

"Yeah, I will..." Midday 'hummed' and 'haahed' thoughtfully at the vast array of carrots before her, and the sign right next to Carrot Top's head declaring each baby carrot to be one bit, each medium carrot three bits, and large carrots five.
"I think I shall try... a medium sized carrot" she said eventually. Carrot Top smiled, and lifted one up.

"That will be three bits, then." She smiled. Midday paused as it occured to her she had no money on her. Carrot Top's expression indicated she could tell.
"Ah." The royal blue mare said after a time. "Sorry."

Carrot Top looked at the mare, and then at the carrot.
"Tell you what, I'll let you have this one for free."

"Oh, no, I really couldn't."
"I insist." The orange-maned mare said, nudging the carrot toward her.

"No, it wouldn't be-"
"I insist." Carrot Top said. Midday considered her options and took the one offered, as well as the carrot.

"Very generous of you" she muttered.
"Well, I wasn't really expecting to make any money today, anyhow. I mean, aside from the slight boost I've gotten from business with the Cakes, I don't really make much anyhow." Carrot Top sighed.

"The Cakes?" Midday asked, in-between a mouthful of carrot.
"Yes." Carrot Top said, before pointing a hoof at the baskets of carrots on the front of the stall, "Could you kindly help me carry these, if it's not too much to ask?"

Midday focused her magic, lifting the boxes of carrots.
"Thanks." The farmer smiled, "You see, the Cakes occasionaly buy some of my produce. If I had to guess, it'd be for little Pound and Pumpkin. Or maybe they're trying to encourage Pinkie Pie to eat something that isn't glazed or sugary."

"Hope springs eternal." Midday laughed.
The two walked along the slight dirt path towards the farm-yard, noticing the tail-end of an incredibly long qeue. Midday stared, her expression one of concern and slight puzzlement.

"That's a really large queue" she observed.
"Everypony in Ponyville drinks Apple Family's finest cider." Carrot Top noted. "Musicians, teachers, librarians, the weather team, the mayor."

"And why is the queue so long?" Midday asked. "I mean, it must be really great stuff if ponies are willing to... is that a tent?" She asked, pointing to what was in fact a tent.
She stared at it for a moment. "Well, that's one way of beating the queues I suppose."

"How would you do it?" Carrot Top laughed as their path took them away from the cheerful looking queue.
"I'd stand and wait, myself. I'm from Canterlot. I know how to queue: stand perfectly still and don't look interested in anything. No chit-chat, no small talk, no nothing."

Carrot Top stared at her in bemusement.
"I'm an accountant. Or I was. I think by this point I've technically switched careers, in a manner of speaking." Midday said.

"My aunt lives in Canterlot." Carrot Top said, slowly, and awkwardly. "She's called Golden Harvest, but the farm came first." She frowned, "Well, I say 'lives'. It's where I've been getting letters from. She travels around a lot, you see. Bit of an adventurer. Apparently she even took part in the Seven Minute Buffalo War last year."

Midday's eyes went wide. "Seriously?"
"So she says. I don't know if she was telling the truth or not, but what she says about matches up with what everypony else who was there said."

Midday knew about the Seven Minute Buffalo War, when Chief Thunderhooves had been enraged by an unspecified (Though easily identifiable) pony singing an irritating (yet extremely catchy) song enough to declare war on the settlement of Appleoosa. In her time, it was regarded as one of the greatest diplomatic blunders of the modern age, right up with the time a Zebrican embassador had been greeted to Equestria with the unfortunate words 'Your wife is a hippo', due to a group of translators not doing their job properly.

"Those ponies must be waiting for hours." Midday mused, "Just for a drink. Surely that would hurt sales a bit, even if they are the only apple salesponies in a long distance."
"Well, nopony's stupid enough to go against the Apples. Even if they are a bit stubborn sometimes, their family is the reason the town was founded. And they're good folk, and good neighbours too, so no more bad-mouthing them."

Midday frowned, and felt the need to explain herself. "I'm not 'bad-mouthing' them. I'm just a bit uncertain about their business tactics. Seems like this would be prime picking for competition."
"What are you implying?" Carrot Top asked.

"Implying? Nothing. But I just hope Applejack can handle any competition that comes her way."
Carrot Top made a small noise, as the two walked along the dirt road leading past numerous apple trees.

"What?" Midday asked.
"I just... well, from the way you were going, I just..."

"You think I hate Applejack, or have some grudge against her?"
"Perhaps. A little."

Midday shook her head. "A minor misunderstanding on my part, all fixed up. I mean, I'm hardly her greatest fan, but we're starting over, trying to get to know each other."
The two then went silent, until their path took them to a small house in front of a large field, which was not filled with carrots.

"Well" Carrot Top smiled, "Thank you for helping me carry my supplies back, miss...?"
"Midday, Midday Eclipse. Gosh, that makes me sound like a spy or something doesn't it." She smiled as Carrot Top pointed to where she wanted the boxes of carrots stacked. "Mind you, I do look pretty fetching in a tux, and bow-tie." Carrot Top looked about.

"Do you hear that?" She asked.
Midday listened. In the quiet she heard a strange rumbling and rattling noise.

"Yeah..." She frowned. "What is that noise?"
"It's coming from outside."

The two ponies leaned out the door, and watched as an odd contraption rushed past. It looked like some strange mix of a furnace and a train, and a few other things, and Midday saw a glimps of two ponies sitting near the front of it, appalingly smug grins plastered on their faces.
"What in the world was that?" asked Carrot Top, as the machine hurtled towards Sweet Apple Acres.

"I think that's the competition arriving" Midday said ominously. She turned to Carrot Top.
"If you need any help at any point, just ask." She smiled, before walking out of the door and following the odd machine.

*****

Midday found a crowd of ponies gathered around the machine, and the two ponies she'd glimpsed sitting on it smiling at the crowd. On getting a closer look, Midday really wished she hadn't. Aside from their striped shirts, straw hats and the goofy facial hair one of them had, they were also... singing.
She looked at the crowd, ignoring the singing idiots, as she decided to dub them. The majority of ponies looked confused, or intrigued. She saw Rainbow Dash, who looked like she was about to burst into song herself. She walked around the crowd, hoping not to make eye-contact with anypony, and found Applejack glaring at them. After a few minutes of hearing their obnoxious singing, she decided to walk away. Far away.

'The other side of Ponyville away' She thought to herself.
"You got a deal!" She heard Apple Bloom cry out. She stopped dead, and swiveled around. The crowd seemed excited by this, and she saw the Apples gather into a huddle. She looked at the grins on 'Flim' and 'Flam' as they proclaimed themselves, and wondered if she wasn't actually just asleep. Flim and Flam? She had to stop herself asking what pony could possibly trust anypony going by that name, especially once she saw Rarity lying in a heap, apparently having been charmed off her hooves. She quickly made her way next to the Apples

"I just don' know, y'all." Applejack muttered, though being Applejack her voice was still easy enough to make out, "We've always made cider the same way."
Big McIntosh agreed on this, then seemed to notice Flim and Flam had managed to insert themselves into the huddle. She looked at the situation. The Apples were stubborn, and the two obvious shysters would clearly not have put on their little song and dance if they hadn't some means of ensuring the best situation for themselves, and would probably goad the Apples into dancing to their tune quick enough.
'Three can play this game' she muttered to herself.

"We'll sweeten the deal" The clean-shaven one smirked. "You supply the apples"
The facial-haired one (Flam, if she'd listened to their inane singing correctly) spoke "We'll supply the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000." Oh goodness, Midday thought to herself, these two sucked at naming things.

"Then we split those sweet sweet profits..." The brothers said as one, "Seventy five-twenty five"
"With you two getting the seventy-five, of course" Midday spoke up. Everypony turned to look at her.

"Is everypony takin' part in this conversation?" Applejack said to herself. The two brothers shared uneasy glances.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, you've caught us-" Flim smiled.

"-A bit off-hoof." Flam finished.
"I'm Midday Eclipse, consulting accountant." She tried to match their grin.

"Since when?" asked Apple Bloom.
"Since, Apple Bloom, none of your family are professional accountants. Don't worry" She said reassuringly, "My fees are extremely generous. Certainly more than the Fakeloo brothers here."

There was a horrified gasp from the two stallions.
"I resent the implication of your remark!" Flim said.

"We are travelling salesponies n-"
"I heard your song" Midday said, suppresing the urge to turn them into cabbages there and then. She wasn't even sure if she could turn ponies into cabbages, when she gave it a bit of thought. Then she went over what they said and smiled sweetly. "And you didn't refute it."

"That's because anypony with an eye can see we are mere salesmen, cogs in the machine of modern cider-selling industry."
"Now, hold up" Applejack demanded, "Who is gettin' the seventy-five percent?"

"Why, us, naturally."
"Nothing suspicious there at all" Midday deadpanned. The brothers exchanged glances.

"We'll throw in the magic to power the machine for free." Flam added.
Applejack looked thoughtful, followed by concerned.

"Cider sales keep Sweet Apple Acres afloat through the winter. We'd lose Sweet Apple Acres if we agreed to this."
"So, what'll it be?" Flim and Flam said, their smiles never wavering for a minute. Midday could guess they were prepared for this. The huddle was broken, and the Apple family stood together, squaring off against the brothers.

"No deal" Big McIntosh intoned.
"(I forgot you talked)" Midday said to herself, earning her a glare from Apple Bloom.

Flim and Flam's smiles didn't so much as flicker, but there was a subtle change to their eyes, a cruel glimmer appearing in it.
"Very well" Flim said, his voice dripping with as much feigned solemnity as possible, "If you refuse our generous offer to be partners, then we'll just have to be competitors." There were a number of shocked mutters from the crowd, and a look of cold fury flashed across Applejack's face.

"You wouldn't dare" Applejack declared.
"And why not?" Midday asked out loud, "You don't have exclusive rights to sell apples (or apple byproducts) in Ponyville, do you?" Applejack looked irritated.

"No, bu-"
"Then there's not really any reason we can stop them" Midday said loudly. Flim and Flam grinned further at that, and turned to the crowd.

"Don't you worry, everypony!" Flam smiled, "There will be plenty of cider for all of you!"
Before anypony could make any remark or comment on that, Flim chose to add "As soon as we drive Sweet Apple Acres out of business."

Midday heard the horrified gasps of the Apple Family, and prepared to catch any of the farmers trying to beat Flim and Flam into the ground. Instead the two stallions were allowed to waltz off laughing all the while. Midday could feel the glare on the back of her neck. She turned to see an incensed Applejack looking at her.

"That was easy." She said, and then raised a hoof before Applejack could retort, "I honestly didn't think they were that stupid."
Applejack opened her mouth, and apparently couldn't think of what to say, so she closed it again. She opened it, and closed it. Finally she managed to get out a simple "What?"

"Oh, come on, Applejack, they're con-men. They travel around Equestria looking for easy targets to exploit. They'll come back soon enough and 'convince' you into some variety of exchange that will ultimately benefit only them."
"How can you be sure?" said Twilight from behind her. She frowned.

"Perhaps it was because they called themselves 'Flim' and 'Flam'. Flam and Flam? Come on, that's a freaking clue train pulled up right to the station. They just said they want to drive you out of business. They wouldn't have done any of that if they weren't confident in their ability to accomplish their own ends."
"What?" Applejack said again.

"They'll probably show up again tomorrow and challenge you to a contest for the ownership of Sweet Apple Acres, probably hedging on your inability to walk away from a challenge."
"What?!" Applejack looked incensed.

"Well, you did vow to not return to Ponyville just because you failed to win a rodeo. And there was this thing I heard about you going without sleep. Something about apple bucking?" Applejack looked embarrased about that, pulling her hat over her eyes.
"So... what are you saying we should do?" Apple Bloom asked. Midday smirked.

"You give them exactly what they want." She smiled. Then her smiled was replaced by a more serious expression.
"But there are some... rules we have to follow."

*****

The next morning, the line formed in front of the Apple family's stall. Midday stood next to the stand, looking at the assembled line of ponies. She looked over to an uncertain looking Applejack, and nodded. The mare walked over to the megaphone she had set up.
"Attention, everypony" She declared, "Due to events beyond our control, we can only give each pony one serving of cider this year." The assembled ponies looked confused and just a bit irritated. Midday looked down at Apple Bloom.

"Are you sure about this?" the filly said quietly. Midday considered the question.
"No" she said, eventually.

"THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Pinkie Pie squealed from somewhere in the line. Midday glowered in her direction. From the way the ponies seemed to nervously shuffled out of the way, Midday presumed she looked really furious. It helped that Applejack had reluctantly informed her that Pinkie had bought several flagons of the stuff yesterday.
"Pinkie, get out of the line" Midday said, her voice eerily calm and polite.

"Yeah" Applejack said into the megaphone, "Anypony who bought cider yesterday, please allow ponies who haven't made their purchase yet have a chance."
There were several annoyed mutters as ponies peeled off from the line, Pinkie slouching as she went.

"Ah really ain't sure about this" Applejack muttered.
"Wait for it." Midday said, calmly. After a while, the line came to Rainbow Dash, who gave a positivily jubilant 'Yes!' as she floated over to the stand. Apple Bloom nudged the nozzle, the machine made its usual noise... and there was the tiniest drip. Rainbow Dash stared in horror at the nigh-empty flagon in front of her. She looked like she was about to cry.

"Is this some kind of cruel joke?" she whimpered. Then Midday, and everypony else, heard the rattling and thundering of Flim and Flam's device roaring into view. It smashed into the fence opposite the stall, and the brothers hopped down from their ride.
"What seems to be the problem here?" Flim grinned. Flam tutted.

"Oh my oh my, out of cider again?" Flim's grin grew as he held aloft an empty flagon.
"Who'd like a cup?" He said, enticingly. There were several cries of excitement. Flam made a slight chuckle.

"Don't worry, everypony, we've got the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 to make more in an instant!"
Flim moved a hoof towards a barrel resting on the machine, but before he could reach it, a lasso wrapped around it and yanked it clean through the air. It landed right next to Applejack, who proceeded to rest a hoof on it.

"You can't sell that cider! That's made from Apple family apples!"
There were a few murmurs from the crowd, but Flim just smiled that annoying smile again.

"Don't worry, everypony, there's plenty of apples in Equestria. We'll find some others and make some more cider than all of Ponyville can drink!" There were astonished gasps at that.
It was Apple Bloom's time to shine, and the filly didn't disappoint.

"We'll make more cider than you can imagine!" she bellowed. The crowd gasped at that as well. Midday briefly wondered if Ponyville had a gasp quota of some kind, with all the gasping going on, or whether somepony would strain themselves over-gasping. Granny Smith walked over to Apple Bloom.
"Now, it ain't about the speed, young'un, it's about quality" she said sagely. There were annoyed sighs from the crowd. Midday heard Rainbow Dash whining something about not getting any cider at all.

Flim looked sorrowful. "Look at all these poor, dissatisfied ponies" he said.
"Ponyville is Sweet Cider country!" Apple Bloom snapped.

"Our cider speaks for itself!" Applejack declared. Matching smug grins spread across the stallions' faces like no tomorrow.
'Perfection' Midday thought to herself, 'Keep going, see what you're in for'. She tried not to grin herself.

"Let's put it to the test" Flim said. Apple Bloom walked over to him.
"Anytime, anywhere." There were mutters from the crowd. Midday did her best to look concerned.

"Well, that's enough now" Granny Smith declared, trying to move her granddaughter away from the con-ponies. Flim seemed to think he had an opening, and spoke up.
"With our machine" he said, giving it a slight pat, "We can make enough cider in one hour to satisfy this entire town."

Apple Bloom stopped struggling against her grandmother and a sly grin overcame her face.
"We can do it in fourty-five minutes" she said, calmly, while pretending to examine her hooves. There was no small amoun of amazed mutters from the crowd. Granny Smith looked alarmed.

"Easy, Apple Bloom." She said. Then Flim and Flam stepped in the proverbial 'it'.
"What's the matter, old lady? Are you chicken?" Granny Smith looked like she'd been struck by lighting. She slowly turned to look at the brothers, and Midday noticed everypony in the crowd taking a step back. When Granny Smith spoke, it was with all the cold fury the Apple family matriach could muster, and Midday was certain she felt the already chilly temperature drop slightly.

"... What. Did you call me, sonny?" She practically hissed each word. Flim just ignored the death-glare, cementing him in Midday's eyes as a suicidal oaf.
"If you're so confident in your cider, what's the problem?" Granny Smith stared at him like he was something from the rear end of a dog.

"Tomorrow mornin'" She spat, "Right here!"
Flam made a look of mock-concern. "But I'm afraid we don't have any... apples" he said, smiling that awful smug smile on the last word.

"Y' can use our south field, and it'd be worth it to teach y'all a thing or two about cider making!"
"But, Granny-!" Applejack said, cutting off when the old mare whipped around to look at her.

Lying was not one of Applejack's fortes, but apparently, acting in defense of one's home, family and business was a different matter. And most of what they were saying wasn't acting. She'd just gently told them what not to do, and so far, they were doing good. Midday then found herself remembering that she still hadn't learnt of Applejack's origins.

"Excellent." Flam announced, sticking out a hoof, "We have a bet. Whoever produces the most barrels in one hour wins the exclusive rights to sell all cider in Ponyville."
Granny Smith extended a hoof of her own. "And after we beat ya, ah don't never want to see you two bimboozlers around here again!" And at that, the elderly mare walked back to her family. Midday watched as the family walked on back to their farm, and looked at Flim and Flam. The two stallions quickly walked over to her.

"How much?" The facial-haired one asked. She raised an eyebrow.
"How much... what?" she asked innocently.

Flam sighed. "So it's like that, is it." He looked at Midday.
"We know you're helping the Apples, we know you've got a plan. How much would it cost to get you to stop?"

Midday entertained the thought, and smiled slightly.
"More than you could ever afford" she said.

"You sure you want to do this?" Flim asked.
"You're a small fish in a big pond, after all." Flam said, his voice cheery, but the undercurrent of menace present. Midday turned to look at him.

"I wouldn't worry about me if I were you." And with that she walked away, and the two didn't try to stop her.

*****

"So, why did you ask us here?" Asked Rarity. Midday looked at the faces before her. Twilight, Spike, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Trixie, Rarity and Rainbow Dash were all sitting in a circle around her. Rainbow Dash had been unwilling to show up, until Midday had pointed out everypony else was going, and it was part of a plan to help Applejack, who the speedster had pointed out wasn't there.
"Because, Rarity, we're going to help Applejack."

Fluttershy raised a hoof.
"If we do, isn't that cheating?" she asked. Midday smiled at that, and noticed the look of unease of Spike's face.

"Actually, no, it isn't." She paused, "Actually, it is a bit, but it's okay because Fakey and Phoney are cheating anyway."
"They are?" Pinkie asked, with all the horror she could muster.

Midday rolled her eyes. "Well, they are conponies. Like I told Applejack, they deliberately targeted the Apples. They knew all the right keys to hit: The crowd, the desperate, the thirsty, the easily swayed and convinced, those who don't have as much personal connection to the Apples and would regard the family's problems as being somepony else's."
"I was wondering why they started off with a song" Pinkie said. Everypony turned to stare at the mare who though the best way to introduce herself was a full musical parade, followed by partying. "What?"

"And they're clearly experts. Which makes sense given that scamming is written all over their Cutie Marks."
"But surely if we cheat then we're no better than them" Twilight said.

"Well, our cheating isn't really 'cheating'. I mean, they never said Applejack couldn't recieve help from her friends, nor was this contest actually approved by the actual owner of Sweet Apple Acres."
"Yeah it was" Rainbow Dash cut in, "Granny Smith shook and it and everything. Why are you smiling like that?" She asked when Midday's smile didn't stop.

"Technically, the Apples don't own the land. Or, at least, not entirely. Princess Celestia lended the land to them."
There was a moment's silence.

"Have you always been this devious?" Rarity asked, "And if so, how have we not noticed?"
"So I sent a letter to the Princess, explaining the Apple's problem."

"And?" asked Twilight, who was frowning at Spike.
"Legally speaking, Flim and Flam's acts are in fact a criminal offense. Forcing a family to surrender their own property through coercion and all that."

"You don't want them foiled" Trixie said quietly, "You want them completely out of the picture." She took her hat off.
"That seems a bit... extreme" Twilight frowned.

"Not so. These two go from town to town, conning ponies wherever they can. Their entire life is dedicated to taking and stealing from others, and by the looks of it, I'd wager they do it for fun. For the thrill of the game" Midday said, her voice quietly filled with disgust. That seemed to be shared by everypony else in the room.
"I thought you didn't like Applejack" Rainbow Dash said. Midday buried her face in her hooves.

"I swear to me, I'm going to go put a sign up in every public place telling everypony in no uncertain terms that Applejack and I no longer have any quarrel. Besides, there's also Apple Bloom and Big Mac, and Granny Smith. How could I turn my back on them?" There was a slight pause.
"So... what do we do?" Asked Twilight.

"You guys are going to offer to help the Apples. Flim and Flam are so overconfident they won't even care whether anypony helps the Apples, and even if they do, it won't matter." There was a moment of silence.
"That's all" she said.

"Really? I thought you were gonna do something like spike their machine using the mysterious liquid Twilight keeps in the basement, then wait for them to get run out of town by everypony when they realise the two have stolen the Mo-" Rainbow Dash jammed a hoof in Pinkie's mouth. Panic was all over the pegasus's face.
"SHUT UP!" she yelled. This didn't stop Pinkie from going on. Midday looked at everypony else. Nopony choose to explain what Pinkie had been about to say, and she had the feeling they weren't going to.

"That's an idea." Midday said, calmly, "But mine doesn't involve using whatever-that-is-down-there." She had to admit, she was beginning to wish that was her plan.
"So, once Flim and Flam have been defeated, what then?" asked Fluttershy.

"The Royal Guard will arrest them." She smiled.
"Okay..." Twilight said, "This could work." She smiled. Spike rushed to turn the lights on, causing Rarity and Fluttershy to wince slightly, while Rainbow Dash rubbed her hoof off.

"Trixie" Midday said, suddenly, "I'm going to need your help."

*****

Flim and Flam relaxed in the cool night sky, enjoying a hearty drink of cheap warm wine.
"Ah, brother-of-mine, we have accomplished something here." Flam smiled.

"Sure have. I can't believe they fell for that. I mean" Flim looked, "This town must be stupider than it looks. They actually let those idiot farmers challenge us? Do they actually think they've got a chance against Baby here?" He said, tapping his hoof against the SSCD6000.
"I tell ya, getting her was the best job we ever pulled. And once we've got that farm... we'll be rich." Flim paused, and considered something.

"What should we name it? The farm?"
"How about... 'Flim Flam Fields'?"

Flim chuckled, "I like it! No, I love it!"
"Flim Flam Fields it is then." The older brother raised his glass. "To tomorrow, and all its bounties!"

"Tomorrow." They drank, and suddenly there was a whistling noise.
"Boys" a voice cried out. They leaned over the edge of the machine to see a sky-blue mare wearing a purple hat looking up at them.

"I don't suppose you two fine, upstanding gentlemen could help a fellow traveller, could you?"
"Sorry." Flim said, "We don't have any money, right now. Spent it all on Baby here."

Flam gave his brother a sharp nudge.
"By which I mean I would be delighted to help you, in any way I-WE can." He smiled, thoughts racing through his head.

"Why don't you come down here, then?" the mare said, smiling slightly. The two brothers practically tripped over each other rushing down to her.
"Now then, I only need a moment of your time. You see, I'm working on a trick for my newest show, and I need to test it on the smartest ponies to make sure it works."

"What's in it for us?" Flam said, trying not to sound desperate. The mare stared at him impassively.
"I wouldn't get your hopes up" she said bluntly.

Above them, a shadowy figure moved onto the SSCS6000, and opened a small hatch as silently as it could. Inside were contained a variety of letters and objects. The cloaked figure placed inside a letter. It quickly closed the hatch, and moved to within sight of Trixie, and gave the signal, before disappearing into the night.
"You know what?" Trixie said, "I suppose it doesn't matter. I'll let you two get back to your... wine." She said with a touch of mockery in the last word, turning around and walking back towards the library. She stopped and turned to look at the two again, opened her mouth and appeared to think better of it.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie isn't anywhere near that desperate" she muttered, before walking away.
"What was that all about?" Flim asked. His brother sighed.

"That, oh brother-of-mine, is called a 'woman'."
"Shut up!"

"Then don't ask stupid questions. Now come on, we've got to get some sleep, and wake up bright and early for tomorrow."

*****

Trixie closed the library door, and found Midday calmly reading a book on ancient mythology.
"Well?" the mare asked.

"Trixie player her part, as you asked. What did you think?"
Midday Eclipse shrugged. "I'm not an acting critic."

Trixie stared icily at her. "I hope this mad plan of yours works. Trixie is fairly certain those two idiots want to get on the Ponyville property market."
Midday just smiled as Trixie walked past her towards the kitchen for a pre-bed snack. Tomorrow, she told herself, was going to prove interesting.

*****

Sunlight washed over Ponyville, the grace of Princess Celestia herself, and the Apples, as always, were the first to rise. Even with their farm in the balance, they still had chores to do. And so, while Applejack was working, there was a polite cough behind her. She turned to see an unlikely pony standing there.

"Carrot Top? What brings you 'round here?" Applejack asked in confusion. The mare just smiled gently.
"I wondered if you might need any help" the carrot farmer said kindly.

Applejack shook her head. Her friends had probably been going around asking for help. She made a note to thank them for the thought, even if she didn't feel she need it.
"Hiya Carrot Top" Apple Bloom said, shocking Applejack. "What'cha doing around here?"

"Just thought I'd be neighbourly, help out, and such." Applejack opened her mouth to object to this, when she heard Granny Smith speak up.
"Well, that's real nice of ya to say. It's been a long while since you visisted, ah must say." The pale orange mare looked a bit embarrassed.

"Actually, miss Sm-"
"Granny." The elderly mare said, in the sort of tone that left no room for argument.

"Granny Smith, I'm fairly certain I've never visited."
"Then it's about time ya started." The Apple matriach smiled warmly, "Better late than never"

Applejack watched as Granny Smith led their neighbour away, and sighed. She could practically feel her big brother's eyes on her.
"Was that your idea, big brother?" she sighed.

"Eyup. Thought you had enough to worry about."
She took a deep breath. She remembered the last few times she'd bitten off more than she could chew. She couldn't remember the last time she'd actually talked with Carrot Top. The mare kept to her own farm and Applejack kept to hers.

'Except that isn't true' She told herself, 'You just don't make the effort. And she won't be the only friend showing up to help out.' Applejack frowned. And then she smiled.

"Thanks."
"You're welcome" the stallion said. As he walked off, Applejack tried to recall who Carrot Top was friends with, and how many favours her overly-generous neighbour probably owed.

"'Opportunity to this community' mah left flank." She grinned. Suddenly all her concerns melted away, and she felt like she could take on a full-grown dragon all by herself. Then she got back to work.

*****

Twilight, Trixie, Spike and Midday slowly assembled with everypony else at the Apple Family farm. Midday couldn't help but notice a lot of familiar faces were already there, looking somewhat worn out. Applejack, when Midday saw her, looked like she hadn't gotten the right amount of sleep. A megaphone was set up in front of a large timer, with a familiar bow-tie wearing stallion standing around by it trying to look nonchalant. The mayor walked up to the megaphone.

"Everypony, could I have your attention?" She waited until the already somewhat hushed crowd was silent, then continued, "Very good. The teams will have one hour to produce as much cider as they can, after which the barrels will be counted, and the winner will be named the sole cider provided of all Ponyville."
There were some dark mutterings from the crowd. Evidently the ponies in this crowd were not the ones from yesterday.

The Apples and the brothers quickly set off. Cheers for the Apples very quickly ceased at the sight of how quickly the large machine produced barrels of cider.
"Time for plan A?" asked Spike.

"That would assume that I could only make twenty-six plans, and that we need more than one." Midday noted. "But yes, time for the Plan."
Twilight walked up to the mayor.

"Miss Mayor, are honorary family members allowed to help in the competition?" The mayor looked uncertain.
"Well, I'm not sure..." she said, before looking to Flim and Flam, "Flim, Flame, are you okay with honorary family members helping?"

The two stallions, who were sitting on the little sofa on the front of the machine laughed. Midday had to fight the urge to summon lighting on them right then and there.
"Are you kidding?" Flam said,

"We don't care if the whole kingdom of Canterlot helps. It's a lost cause." Flam scoffed.
The mayor hummed. "I guess it's okay. Applejack? what do you think?"

The farmer looked up, a determined look on her face.
"Ah think ah'd love to have the rest of my family helpin' out."

There were cheers, as the girls rushed over to the Apples. They lined up, guard-style, with Twilight and Midday walking amongst them.
"Alright, you all know the stakes and the players" Midday said, before she stepped aside "So listen to Twilight."

"Thanks, Midday." The royal blue mare wondered if she wasn't actually dreaming all of a sudden.
"Okay everypony, we're not gonna let these smooth talkers take our friend's farm!" Midday wondered if Twilight was trying to channel Shining Armor as she was speaking.

"Yeah!" everypony said.
"Fluttershy, help Applejack with the trees." Fluttershy nodded, and gently hopped away.

"Pinkie Pie, Trixie, you're on apple-catching detail."
Pinkie saluted. "Yes sir, ma'am, sir!"

"On it." The showmare nodded.
"Rarity, Spike, you've got discerning eyes. Help Granny Smith at the quality control station."

"Of course" Rarity said.
"Be glad to" Spike added, his face set with determination.

"Rainbow Dash, do you think you can help Big McIntosh press?"
"In my sleep!" The brash speedster smiled.

"Alright, everypony, let's keep Sweet Apple Acres for the Apples!"
"All right!"

Twilight turned to Midday.
"This leaves us with the tasking. Is your magic good enough for that?"

"Just try and stop me from helping." Midday smiled, remembering the last time she'd acted like this, which had been when learning combat techniques from Shining Armor.
As they worked, Twilight noted they were helping the Apples produce the cider at five and a half times the normal rate.

"Less calculating, more levitating" Midday said.
She briefly looked over to the brothers, noticing the somewhat panicked looks on their faces. Then she heard some harsh grinding and groaning from their infernal machine.

"Well done, Flam!" Flim cheered to the crowd, "We're at full productivity!"
Rainbow Dash was beginning to slow, casting glances at the basket.

"We don't have time for quality control if we wanna win this thing!" she yelled, as Granny Smith tried to drive her back.
"Stay the course" Midday yelled.

"There's no point winnin' this thing if we cheat" Applejack declared. She looked over to Twilight, who looked to Midday, who nodded.
"We'll just have to work harder" Twilight and Midday said.

Soon, the mayor announced that the time was up, and everypony allowed themselves to collapse. The mayor and the Doctor began to count the barrels.
"I'm proud of you, Applejack." Twilight breathed. The mare just nodded.

"Integrity like that will always be... rewarded." Midday said nothing. Though she could see the look of anguish on the mayor's face as she started counting the amount of barrels the brothers had produced, and she could tell, instantly she could tell it wasn't enough.
"Flim and Flam win!" The mayor announced, solemnly. There were shocked gasps from the crowd, and Midday saw Carrot Top moving over towards Applejack, who just slumped onto the mare. She didn't look sad, or angry, just... defeated, empty. It was a horrible look for the mare, one Midday prayed desperately never to see again.

"D'aww." Flim said, cruelly, "Too bad, Apples." Flam laughed.
"Guess you'll just have to find a new line of work that doesn't match your name so perfectly."

Flim looked towards the farmhouses, a naked look of greed in his eyes.
"Now should we tear down these tacky old buildings and put up new ones, brother?"

Flam shrugged. "I don't see why not, brother-of-mine. After all, this isn't Sweet Apple Acres any more." He hummed. "How about... 'Flim Flam Fields'?"
There was a noise of disgust from Carrot Top. Rainbow Dash flew towards them.

"I oughta press you into jerk cider!" she yelled. There was a weary sigh from Applejack.
"No Rainbow Dash. A deal's a deal." Midday felt slightly guilty, and knew Rainbow Dash was floating towards her. She knew in her time that Sweet Apple Acres belonged to the Apples, she knew it. She'd met Lil' MacIntosh, who had been born on the farm. She began to fear that her prescence had caused this, and wondered how badly it was going to spiral out of control. Then she reminded herself of something. Flim and Flam were weasels. They'd thrown everything they had into conning one family out of a farm. If they were geniuses they'd have sold the device to the first pony they met, rather than hauling it around the countryside. They had nothing, whereas Applejack had her friends, and her family to support her. She had, cliche as it was to even think, friendship on her side. Ponyville had wanted Applejack to win, Ponyville preferred Applejack. She smiled slightly. The two idiots nonpareil hadn't won. Not yet, not ever.

"What gives?" Rainbow Dash fumed. "You said we'd win!" she hissed. Midday looked at her and smirked.
"Watch." She said.

The two brothers opened up the barrels and began pouring out their product.
"Fear not, everypony" Flim cheered, "There's more than enough cider to go around." He sneered, and the two began to laugh again. Midday looked at their cider, and smirked. Rainbow Dash frowned at her, and she nodded towards the beverages. Rainbow Dash stared for a second, then smirked, and walked over to Applejack.

There was the slightly satisfying sound of ponies retching and spitting.
"I can't get the taste off my tongue!" cried a pony she quickly recongised as Cherry Berry.

"Mine's got rocks in it!" Bon-Bon wailed.
"I wouldn't pay one cent for this dreck!" yelled a stallion she didn't recognise. The rising nervous look on Flim and Flam's face gave Midday a warm fuzzy feeling.

"You wouldn't even pay one cent?" Flam smiled.
"No!" The crowd yelled. The two brothers started whispering to each other.

"How about two cups for one cent?" Flim offered.
"No!"

"Two bits for one barrel?" The pair said, barely able to say it.
"NO!"

The two brothers exchanged looks, then looked at the approaching mob.
"It looks like we've encountered a slight... problem here in Ponyville" Flam said, as they crept backwards.

"Nopony wants out product" Flim whimpered. They exchanged looks.
"Next town?"

"Next town. Let's go Flim."
"Let's go, Flam." The two did a mock-bow, before galloping full-pelt to their machine, and driving it into the distance. Midday smirked slightly.

"They're gone." Applejack sighed.
"An' stay out!" Apple Bloom yelled to the retreating figures, before smiling with satisfaction.

Midday turned to see Twilight beaming. "That means Sweet Apple Acres is still in business!"
A stallion Midday didn't recognise walked up to the barrels.

"Plus we can have high quality apple family cider!" he cheered.
"Because of this silly competition" Apple Bloom said slowly, "We have enough cider for the whole town!"

There was a massive roar of cheers, followed seconds later by Pinkie somehow starting up party music.

*****

The seven ponies clinked their glasses together. Midday hadn't really wanted any, but since somepony had used the dreaded 'P-word' on her, she gave in.
"Hope that's the last we see of those guys" Applejack said.

There were a few seconds were nopony said anything, but all eyes slowly turned to Midday.
"What?" she asked.

"You said the Royal Guard would deal with them." Rarity frowned.
"Yes."

"And?" Twilight asked. Midday smirked.
"Don't you worry your heads about Flim and Flam. I don't think we'll be seeing them again for a long, long time."

*****

"So, what are we going to do, brother? That was a disaster, a lemon! We don't have enough money to make it to the next town!" Flim said, chewing the brim of his hat. His brother gave him a gentle whack on the head.
"Calm down. Remember when we were young? We've been in worse situations before and we've managed. All we need is time, time to manage our next move, and we'll get back at those fools. They will rue the day they-"

"FREEZE!" A voice boomed. Instinctively the two stallions cowered at the sight of a gold-clad stallion. At first the two began plans to smooth-talk the officer of the Royal Guard, then there was noise. More armored unicorns leapt from the bushes, and there was a rustling overhead of pegasi.
"Officer..." Flam said calmly, "There's been a terrible-" He didn't finish, as he was pulled to the ground by magic.

"This it?" A rough voice said.
"Sure is. Matches the description the boys from Manehattan gave us." A large, dark, unfriendly-looking guard leaned in front of them.

"Do you two know how much trouble you're in? Cuz it's a lot." He smirked. There was a noise from the machine.
"Sir, found a hatch." Somepony shouted. There was a pause, followed by an appreciative whistle, followed by a small noise of confusion. "Found a letter in here, adressed to these two from the looks of it.". The guard motioned for it to be brought over. His horn glowed, and as he read the letter he looked first confused, and then amused, in a way that made the brothers' hearts sink. He showed to them.
It read:

"Be careful what you fish for."

Followed by a crude drawing of a grinning fish eating a fisherman wearing a familiar looking shirt and hat.

"Boys, you're in a whole mess of trouble." The unicorn grinned, before nodding. The two ponies were suddenly lifted, and carried away.

A Dash of Fiction

The seven mares drank from their celebratory cider, until Midday lowered hers and made a slight noise.
"Not what I was expecting" she muttered, staring at it. She had never really been fond of cider, and she was slightly glad to see her opinion of the drink hadn't changed. Applejack smiled slightly.

"Don't take it so hard. Not everypony likes cider."
"I'll take that then" Rainbow Dash said, calmly taking Midday's glass before she could say anything, and downing it in one gulp. Followed by a rather loud belch.

"Charming" Rarity sighed, shaking her head slightly. "I pity any stallion who winds up with you." There was a small squeak from Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash just scoffed.
"But I'm so awesome, whoever I end up with would be glad to be with me." Rainbow Dash flashed a smug smile.

After a few moments of random conversation, the group dispersed to enjoy the celebratory party. Midday found herself standing near a snack table, which she hadn't noticed several minutes ago. There was a noise and she turned to see Granny Smith smiling at her.
"Evening, Granny Smith" she said, looking around uncertainly. The mare said nothing. "Is there something wrong?"

"No" the mare said, "Just wanted to thank you for helping out today." Then something seemed to occur to her.
"Ah never told you the story I'm promised, did I?" Midday shuffled slightly. She had expressed some curiosity in the origins of Applejack, but she was fairly certain at that point that she knew the basic parts of the story.

"Well, why don't ah tell you now. After all, you did help bring mah granddaughter back, buried the hatchet with her, and helped save my pappy's farm from them snake-oil salesmen." She spat at the last part. "Ah figure you're owed a reward."
Midday tried to look for an interesting appetiser.

"That's really not necessary" she said. Granny Smith's smile changed slightly. Midday got the feeling she wasn't getting out of this.
"Do it any way, ah rarely get a chance to talk to anypony these days. Most of 'em just wanna talk to Applejack. Not enough of them wanting to talk to McIntosh, though." She frowned and shook her head.

"Ah worry about that boy." Midday titled her head.
"Well, Hearts and Hooves Day is coming up, isn't it?" She said, a slight pang of dread hitting her at she realised what she said. Granny Smith nodded slowly, then glowered.

"Guess it is, but that boy spends most of his day workin' on the fields, or shut inside. Bit like that Fluttershy gal, ah always thought." She suddenly seemed to realise something.
"Anyway, yer hearin' the story, and I'm not taking no for an answer." Her sudden irritation shook Midday, who found herself unable to make some remark. She was certain she could hear Granny Smith muttering something about 'nuthin' like your mother'.

And so Granny Smith sat at a small table she had Big McIntosh set up, and calmly started to explain, of how a farmer and a slightly spoilt heiress from the city met and eventually fell in love, and even disclosed the origin of Applejack's hat. After she was done with the tale, Midday simply frowned.
"How much of that story is true?" she asked. Granny Smith just smirked slightly.

"Ya know, Applejack's never asked that" the old mare said. At that she walked away from the table, not answering Midday's question in the slightest. After a few moments she just smiled and went off to join in the party.

*****

The next few days passed entirely without incident, until one morning, Twilight declared that she was going out for a walk. and having nothing better to do, Midday followed her. They found Rarity and Pinkie staring into the sky.
"What are you looking at?" asked Twilight.

"Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie Pie smiled, "Isn't she the most daring devil? I mean the most devilish darer? I mean-"
"She's dazzling!" Rarity said. Midday watched the multicolour trail the pegasus was leaving. It was quite impressive. A small part of her smiled at the fact that the while the young Rainbow Dash was unbelievably foolish, she was still the same amazing speedster. But she was fairly certain she could see a grin on the mare's face. Rainbow Dash obviously knew she had an audience, and her stunts were getting more and more complicated, and more dangerous, and while she knew Rainbow Dash was likely to survive whatever happened, she was still going to hurt herself.

And seconds later, she crashed.
"So much for dazzling" Pinkie said. The four ponies quickly rushed over to the crumpled pile of legs and wings.

"Oh, this is bad." Twilight winced. Rarity lifted a hoof, and Midday slapped it away.
"Don't move her!" She hissed.

"But she's hurt!" Midday rolled her eyes at that.
"And nopony here is a trained medical professional." She turned to Pinkie, "Pinkie, rush over to the hospital and..." She saw a group of ponies approaching with a stretcher.

"Nevermind" she said calmly. "That was fast" she added.
"Well," one of the ponies said, "after the first few crashes, we figured it was an idea to keep a watchful eye on her when she practices her stunts." There was a small hum from one of the ponies.

"Looks like a broken wing" the mare said, eyeing Rainbow Dash's obviously broken left wing. The ponies carefully lifted the pegasus onto a stretcher and heading towards Ponyville General Hospital, Twilight and the others quickly following after her.

*****

Middays' bored pacing in the hallway was interrupted when Applejack and Fluttershy arrived, both looking concerned, however the doctors still wouldn't let them see Rainbow Dash, until eventually they were shown into a room where a sleeping Rainbow Dash was spread out on the bed, her right wing quite clearly bandaged. Midday considered using some of her own wide brand of bone-fixing spells for her wing, but then she remembered the drawbacks, that while the bones would certainly be fixed, after a short bout of vigour the affected body part would become useless for a period of time, and given Rainbow Dash's usual behaviour, and unwillingness to listen to anypony, she'd probably still try to fly, resulting in her becoming Rainbow Splat. She grimaced.

"It is quite an alarming sight, isn't it?" Rarity said, apparently having noticed her look of concern.
"I've seen injured ponies before" Midday said grimly, trying desperately not to remember the last time she'd been anywhere near a hospital.

"Is she gonna be okay?" asked Applejack.
"It's only a broken wing" Midday said calmly, before she noticed the plaster over Rainbow Dash's right eye. "And possibly a nasty bump to the head." There was an irritated cough from the attending physician.

"And I though I was the doctor here" he muttered. There was a slight groan as Rainbow Dash woke up. The mare looked around the room in alarm before examining her wing.
"How is she, doctor?" Twilight asked. He was still examining a x-ray of Rainbow's wing, showing the very clear break in the bone.

"She's going to be fine. he said. There were several sighs of relief. Rainbow Dash folded her legs together.
"How long do I have to stay here? I've got things I need to do!"

"Well, that all depends on your recovery, but," he eyed the chart again, "I'd say a few days minimum."
Rainbow Dash suddenly looked terrified. She reached over and grabbed Fluttershy.

"You guys have gotta get me out of here, I'm gonna climb the walls!" Pinkie 'oohed'.
"Just like a spider." She turned to the doctor, "Did the crash give her super-duper spider powers?"

He stared at her with a look of mild concern, and calmly turned away. "No. Nor did it give her amazing healing powers. She needs to stay in bed for a few days" he said sternly, as he walked out of the room. Rainbow Dash looked like she was about to cry.
"A few days?" she whimpered, "Might as well be a few months, or a few years!"

Fluttershy opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by Midday.
"It's nowhere near that bad, Rainbow."

"Easy for you to say" she muttered angrily.
"I bet the chow in here's hoof-lickin' good." Applejack said, uncertainly, leaving Midday to wonder if the mare had ever had to stay in a hospital before. Rarity looked at one of the gowns, and seemed to wince at the awful mucus green colour, probably chosen specifically to induce a sense of despair in any who wore in. Midday was amazed Rarity wasn't trying to burn it.

"And the clothes..." she looked around the room, and held the gown up against the curtains, "Match the drapes?"
"I think they're made out of drapes" Midday observed. Pinkie walked over to the small curtain by Rainbow Dash's bed and smiled.

"And look, you've got a roommate." She beamed, pulling the curtain back to reveal a truly unfortunate pony covered almost entirely in bandages. Midday slowly raised a hoof and waved to the poor stallion (or at least she assumed the pony was a stallion, it was hard to tell).
"Hello there" she said

Rainbow Dash said nothing to all of this, merely throwing the bed-clothes over her head. The uncomfortable silence was broken by the noise of squeaking wheels, and a mare brought in a trolley full of books. Twilight lifted a familiar looking book off the cart and waved it towards Rainbow Dash, who slowly looked at it, like it was a sample of Poison Joke.
"What's this?" she looked at the cover, "'Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone'?" There was a truly adorable grin on Twilight's face as Rainbow looked at the book disapprovingly.

"It's the first story in the series. I own all of them." Her grin grew slightly larger and she made a slight squeaking noise. Rainbow Dash simply slumped backwards.
"No thanks. I so don't read. I'm a world-class athlete." Midday desperately fought the urge to point out the obvious error in that statement, "Reading's for eggheads like you, Twilight" She looked at the slightly hurt expression on Twilight's face. "No offense, but I'm not reading." She lay back, placing her hooves behind her head.

"It's undeniably, unquestionably, uncool." To that, everypony laughed slightly.
"Is she serious?" Applejack said, "Who doesn't like to read a bang-up tale from time to time?" Midday raised an eyebrow at that. She hadn't expected Applejack to say such a thing.

Rarity gave a slight sigh. "Why, a good book is almost as magnificent as silk pyjamas on a sunday morning"
"Reading is for everypony, Rainbow Dash" Twilight said in her best 'teacher' voice.

"'Uncool'?" Midday asked, "Seriously? You do realise, Rainbow Dash, that being a Wonderbolt requires extensive reading. Why, Spitfire herself frequently chairs seminars at Cloudsdale University." Rainbow Dash looked like she'd been kicked. Midday smiled as innocently as she could manage. "Actuallly, now that I think about it, 'Doctor Spitfire' sounds like a superhero. But she does have at least one doctorate, or so I've heard."
"You... You're making that up!" Rainbow Dash said plaintively. Midday just looked at her.

"Am I?" She patted the book slightly. "Well, I'm sure you can find plenty of other things to do to occupy your time here. In my experience, boredom's a brilliant cure for all ills."
"Is it?" Pinkie asked, horror evident in her voice.

"And it's either this or..." she looked at the book cart, "The Highlights of Equestrian History." She flicked through the book, and frowned. "And surprise, surprise, almost no mention of the Crystal Empire." Her frown grew worse, "or Luna for that matter. And absolutely nothing on the bearded one."
Twilight looked irritated. "There's no such thing as the Crystal Empire" she said. There was a knocking sound, and everypony turned to see a nurse standing by the door.

"Alright my little ponies. Rainbow Dash needs her rest. You'll have to come back tomorrow." And with that they started moving towards the door. Twilight took one last look back at Rainbow Dash.
"I think you'll like Daring. She's a lot like you. Adventurous, fierce, and undeniably, unquestionably unstoppable."

Midday frowned as they walked out towards the door.
"I though Stoppable was her sidekick."

"That never happened." Twilight said calmly.
"But-"

"Never happened."
Midday smirked at that. "Does somepony not like book six?" She said as they walked out into the lazy afternoon sunlight.
"It... has its merits. It's readable" Twilight said, quickly. Midday nodded, knowing what Twilight meant by 'readable'. She looked at Fluttershy, who seemed oddly interested in their conversation.

"I hope Rainbow Dash will be okay." She said, in her usual quiet voice. Midday smiled at that.
"I wonder if she will read that book." Twilight said, her voice slightly far-away. "How can she not think reading is cool?!"

"I'm fairly certain, knowing Rainbow Dash, she probably will end up reading it. And knowing her, she'll probably start trying to hide the fact that she did, with all her usual subtlety and grace." There was a slight pause.
"Still, I always though Azy was a pretty entertaining villain. 'You think you're so daring, Daring, but you're not!'" she smiled. "Of, course, that was after he stopped being a threat. Which did you prefer, Fluttershy?"

The pegasus jumped slightly. "What, me?" She asked, looking around nervously.
"Yes. C'mon, you read Daring Do, don't you? I saw that book on your coffee table." Fluttershy looked at her.

"Oh, I... that was for Angel. He likes those books" she said, shuffling her hooves slightly. Midday just smirked.
"And has anypony ever noticed how Rainbow Dash looks like Daring Do?" Everypony suddenly stopped walking.

"Hey, yeah..." Applejack said slowly, "Y'know, that's true."
"Does she?" Fluttershy whispered. Midday's horn glowed, and a slight wave of magic washed over her. Her coat turned a golden-mustard yellow which she had always though rather resembled Wisp slightly, and her mane appeared to shorten to look like Rainbow Dash's, only in varied greys.

"Goodness." Rarity said, "It's uncanny. She does look like Rainbow Dash."
"What a coincidence." Fluttershy said to herself.

"Certainly is." Midday said calmly, noting the obvious distress on Fluttershy's face. "Perhaps the writer just saw her when she was younger, because there's no way she could have met Rainbow Dash, right? I mean, the books only came out when you guys were what? Ten, twelve?"
"Twelve." Fluttershy whispered.

"Spooky." Pinkie said, before making 'ghost'-noises.
"I'd love to meet her someday," Twilight sighed, "But apparently she's a recluse. There's not even a photo of her." She looked down at the ground, and smiled slightly, "It's probably for the best. I'd probably bother her to death asking about her books and all the errors." There were a few shared giggles, and even Fluttershy cracked a slight smile.

"Well" Rarity said, "I should probably get back to work." She looked back to the hospital. "See you girls later."
"I gotta get back to Sugarcube Corner." Pinkie said suddenly, then she beamed at the thought of seeing Pound and Pumpkin Cake again.

Slowly everypony else went off, Fluttershy barely mumbling out wherever she was going, leaving Midday and Twilight walking back to the library. Twilight occasionaly glanced at Midday.
"What?" She asked eventually.

"Crystal Ponies? Really?" The purple unicorn asked.
"What? You don't think they're real? Ask Luna, next time you mail her." She stopped, and appeared to consider something. "Actually, ask Celestia. I think all you'd get back from Luna is a piece of damp paper."
Twilight looked at Midday in confusion, thought the mare said nothing further on the matter.

*****

The next morning, Fluttershy visited the library, asking Twilight if she wanted to help visit Rainbow Dash. The librarian agreed, and Midday decided to follow after them, out of curiosity. When they reached the room Rainbow Dash was being held in, Midday saw the mare quickly shuffling something out of sight. Something that looked almost like a book. And Rainbow Dash, with her usual grace and subtlety, tried to look nonchalant.
"Hi Rainbow Dash!" Twilight and Fluttershy chimed.

"Hey... guys" Rainbow Dash smiled.
"We thought we'd come and cheer you up" Fluttershy said. Twilight lifted a small cardboard box onto the bed.

"We brought your favourite board-game" she smiled.
Midday watched as Rainbow Dash very quickly declared herself the loser of this particular game, at which point Twilight and Fluttershy exchanged uncertain looks.

"But Rainbow Dash, you didn't even get a turn" Rainbow Dash laughed and shrugged.
"You win some, you lose some" she smiled.

"But you don't 'lose some'," Twilight said, "I don't think you've ever lost a game of-"
Rainbow Dash made the most fake yawn Midday had seen in years.

"Thanks for coming" she said quickly. Midday wandered over to the window, trying not to smirk as Rainbow Dash shuffled just enough to obscure what was quite clearly a book.
'Subtle' Midday thought.

"But yesterday you were desperate for things to do." Twilight added. Rainbow Dash suddenly looked alert.
"Do? Who said anything about Daring Do? I told you I'm not interested in reading." She yawned again and leaned back into her pillow, before reaching over to the light by her bed and turning it off. "It's nap time for me." She said, before making the most fake snoring noises Midday had ever heard in years.

"Glad we could cheer you up" Fluttershy said, before hesitantly walking away, leaving Twilight staring at Rainbow Dash, who opened her eyes. Twilight leaned right into Rainbow Dash's face.
"Alright then" she said, before turning to leave. Midday followed, stopping at the door to smirk at Rainbow Dash.

"What?" The pegasus asked. Midday just smiled and laughed.
"What chapter are you?"

"Fou- HEY!" Rainbow Dash yelled, but Midday quickly rushed off before the mare could say anything else.
"What's so funny?" asked Fluttershy.

"Just messing with Rainbow Dash's head." She smiled back. Twilight was just looking concerned.
"I don't know what could possibly have gotten into Rainbow Dash." She said.

"Seven hundred and fourteen pages of excitement and adventure, I'd hazard." Twilight just looked confused.
"But Rainbow Dash said she wasn't interested in reading." The purple unicorn frowned. Midday just smirked further.
"I worry about you sometimes, Twilight" she said, not noticing Twilight and Fluttershy sharing confused glances.

*****

The next day, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie visited the library, sharing an incredibly descriptive tale of how Rainbow Dash had driven the three mares out with some highly disgusting eating.
"Maybe she's gone mad." Trixie wrly observed from what appeared to be a book on illusions. "Actually, how would you be able to tell if she'd gone mad?"

"Nah, Rainbow ain't the sort of mare who'd go mad after just a day in a bed. Pretty sure she just didn't want to see nopony." Applejack said. "Can't imagine why."
"Yes." Midday said from the Daring Do book she was reading through, which she had chosen to read of her own free will "I do wonder entirely what could possibly have made her so anti-social. Maybe she decided to read that book on Equestrian history, and read all about the wonderful exploits of Mimic."

"Rainbow Dash isn't the sort of pony who reads history books." Spike said, over by the non-fiction section. Midday just rolled her eyes slightly.
"Maybe she just doesn't want us to see her in her injured condition," Rarity said, "she's always been extremely sensitive about how others view her, after all."

"Like during the whole Mare Do Well fracas?" Midday said.
"I'd say it was more of a ruckus" Pinkie said, blowing a bubble pipe she hadn't been carrying seconds ago.

"What's the difference?"
Pinkie shrugged. "Semantics, mostly" she said calmly, before blowing some more bubbles.
A question occured to Midday. "If Rainbow Dash can't fly, where's she going to stay?"

Applejack fielded that question. "She'll be staying with Fluttershy. The gal's got a spare bedroom she doesn't use."
"Oh yeah" Said Midday, quietly.

"I was going to let her stay at Sugarcube Corner, but Pound and Pumpkin Cake keep crying, and that wouldn't be really restful for Rainbow. It's not really restful for anypony, actually" Pinkie said, rubbing her hoof against her chin. Midday had to agree. Every now and then for the last few weeks she'd heard the twins crying in the night. She slowly closed the book, and set it down gently.

"I'm sure Rainbow Dash doesn't mind her friends seeing her in a weakened state, Rarity. It's more likely she started reading that Daring Do book and doesn't want anypony to discover that she is in fact an 'egghead'."
There were a few moments of silence, before Pinkie started laughing.

"That's just silly. You're being silly, Midday."
The royal blue unicorn's only response was to raise an eyebrow and go back to reading her book. She knew Rainbow Dash of her time read, and had even on a few occasions written, books. She was fairly certain the events of the past few days were Rainbow discovering her fondness for books. She calmly turned the page. After a few lines she smirked.

"Ahuizotl, you scamp."
Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie exchanged nervous glances, and shrugged. Midday continued reading. She frowned, and wondered where Fluttershy was.

*****

Later that night, as Midday was finishing off the book, inbetween laughing fits at Ahuizotl's rather campy attempts to take over the world, there was a knock on the door. Midday looked about. Twilight and Spike were upstairs, and Trixie was off doing whatever she did. She sighed. She hated leaving the book unfinished, but she walked over to the door. Standing there was a pony wearing a dark cloak, which a part of her mind noted wasn't as good for disguising oneself at night as something dark green or blue. And the yellow hooves sticking out from underneath it made it quite clear who it was, and slightly comical.

"Hello, Fluttershy" she smiled. Suddenly the pony motioned for her to move closer. She considered resisting, but then remembered Fluttershy could fight bears, and whole swarms of Changelings. So she stood next to the mare. She hoped nopony would walk in and see her talking with a pony dressed like one of Sombra's Witch-King Ministers.
"Please don't tell anypony." Fluttershy said.

Midday blinked. "Tell anypony... what?" She was aware, without being able to see Fluttershy's eyes that she was being Stared at.
"You know what" the pegasus said. Despite her utter terror of Fluttershy, she couldn't help but smile.

"You are saying that you, you of all ponies actually..."
"Shush!" Fluttershy hissed. Midday's smile grew into a grin.

"Is this the point where you offer to do 'anything' to stop me blabbing to everypony about this? Since I'm assuming you just want a quiet life not being badgered by Twilight critiquing every single book."
There was a slight pause, and the sound of feathers moving against cloth.

"Would I help if I promise to not tell anypony?"
"Yes. It would help." From the sound of it, Fluttershy had some greater plan which she'd managed to completely derail. Midday wasn't quite sure why Fluttershy hadn't expected that. Just like with her mother, plans tended to fall apart around her.

"Well, that's good. Thank you." Fluttershy said, and she turned to leave. Midday coughed.
"However, Fluttershy, I would like to point out that somepony will probably figure it out sooner or later. And, by the way..." she said, solemnity seeping into her voice.

"You know book ten? You are going to tell us the backstory between Daring and that guy eventually, right?" She couldn't help herself. She could practically feel Fluttershy's blushing. She laughed slightly. Book ten had been quite controversial, even by the usual complaints about the newest Daring Do books, usually along the lines of each new one being not quite as good, or focus not given to cool sounding characters. She'd actually liked it, herself. It was better than the times when the writer (or Fluttershy, rather) tried to get out of writing Ahuizotl and replace him with different villains.
Fluttershy just mumbled something. Midday laughed. "Good night Fluttershy." She said, as the mare walked out the door, closing it gently behind her.

"Who was that?" Asked Twilight, walking down the stairs.
"Just some writer." Midday said, picking her book back up and smiling at Twilight, "Nothing more."

*****

"Congratulations, Rainbow Dash, we're checking you out of the hospital."
"What, later today?"
"No. Right now!"

*****

Midday woke up at somewhere around eleven in the morning, and eventually managed to get out of bed, having dreamt of wandering around an ancient temple which quickly turned out to be a giant spaceship of some sort.
"I think I preferred the nightmares" she muttered. After breakfast, she went for a walk, feeling the need to shake thoughts of pith helmets from her head. She found Rainbow Dash slouched on a bench, looking miserable.

"Hey, Rainbow. What's the matter?" she asked. The mare slowly looked at her.
"Nothing," she said, frowning slightly. "I'm fine. Except I can't fly. But other than that, completely cool, radical and awesome, same as usual."

"Good to know." Midday said calmly. She stood there for a moment. Rainbow Dash looked uncertain.
"You couldn't finish the book, could you?" she grinned.

"What book? I have no idea what you're talking about, you're crazy Midday Eclipse, if that is your real name, which I doubt. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm busy thinking."
Midday raised an eyebrow.

"You know, you could just 'ask' Twilight to give you her copy of the book, if you really want to know what happens. Though, if you'd listened to what Twilight said, you'd already know Daring survives."
Rainbow Dash glowered at her, with all the hate of a pony who's just had a book ruined for them.

"Don't go glowering at me, Dashie. Of course she survived, she's the heroine. The heroine always lives." She looked about, uncertainly. "Barring that one with time-travel, which doesn't really count. That one was weird..." She shook her head at the memory of reading that one.
"I can't go ask Twilight. I called her an egghead."

"Technically, you called everypony in the room an 'egghead'. And Doctors Spitfire and Soarin'." Rainbow Dash's eyes went wide.
"Soarin's a what-now?!" There was a pained groan as Rainbow Dash buried her face in her hooves. Midday just shook her head.

"Besides, Twilight's probably forgotten what you said already." Rainbow Dash said nothing, still apparently mourning for the death of her world-view. "Well, I'll let you get on with your thinking." She turned to go, stopped, and turned around, "You do know the library's always open to somepony who wants to read, right?"
But Rainbow Dash was clearly thinking up something cunning, something that would leave analysists pondering for ages just how she came up with such a plan.

'Who am I kidding?' Midday thought to herself.

*****

"Oh, the pain! The PAIN!"

*****

For the rest of the day, there was calm, save five crying jags from Pound and Pumpkin Cake. There was a brief debate whether it was actually six, but eventually Twilight and Midday agreed that the amount of time the infants spent not crying was too small to count as anything more than a brief pause for breath.
"They get cute at some point!" Trixie yelled over the fourth and loudest of the jags, "Explain to Trixie exactly how that works!"

But apart from two extremely loud newborns, there were no incidents. However, Midday felt uneasy. Rainbow Dash, even in her time, was difficult to sway from her train of thought, so this younger, brasher mare was unlikely to stop until disaster struck. And so, as Midday was drifting off to sleep, she wondered whether it would have been an idea to just give Rainbow Dash the library's copy of the Quest for the Sapphire Stone (Like heck, Midday vowed, she was going to call it by it's lesser title. Sapphire Stone was what Fluttershy had called it, and that was that for her.).

'Rainbow Dash would probably have refused to take it' she told herself as her eyelids began to droop.
She wasn't sure exactly when she fell asleep, but she the slightly low hanging moon when she was woken by a great amount of shouting and yelling going on from outside.

"What in Luna's mane is that noise?" she mumbled. She followed Twilight and Trixie (who she saw was wearing a purple night-cap) outside, to find Rainbow Dash surrounded by several unhappy looking hospital workers, wearing one of Pinkie's stealth outfits. Then Applejack came along, and from all evidence she looked like she'd been awake for a while.
"What's with all the ruckus?" she asked.

"Oh, I'd say it was more of a fracas than a ruckus" said Pinkie, who underneath her usual cheer sounded slightly irritated from being woken up.
"I think I can answer that" Midday said. Everypony turned to stare at her. "Rainbow Dash really wanted to finish that book, and she didn't want everypony to find out she's an 'egghead'."

"Will you stop air-quoting that word?" Twilight asked.
"Never."

Everypony looked at Rainbow Dash, who looked ashamed.
"It's true" she said quietly, "I'm an... an egghead..."

"Wow" said Twilight. "I knew that book was good, but I never knew it could drive anypony to theft."
"Good?" Rainbow Dash started to smile, "try awesomely amazing!" Midday looked over to Fluttershy, and raised an eyebrow. "This book is undeniably, unquestionably"

"Those mean the same thing" Midday said, fighting down a yawn.
"Un-put-down-able!" Rainbow Dash finished. She looked over at the doctor, who'd remained behind after all the nurses had chased off some over patient, who for some reason seemed to think she was a dog. "But then I had to put it down; I was sent home before I could finish."

There were a few seconds as everypony giggled at this.
"Well" Twilight smiled, "I'm glad that's all this is about."

Applejack shook her head.
"There's no reason to go causin' a ruckus-"

"Fracas!" Pinkie cut in. Applejack rolled her eyes.
"Causin' a fracas just because you like to read."

"Indeed" Rarity sighed, "Now if you'll all excuse me, I having a wonderful dream that I don't think I'm ever going to see again. And I'd just impressed every fashion critic in Canterlot as well" She sighed, before walking away, shooting an irritated look at Rainbow Dash as she did.
Everypony quickly dispersed, and Rainbow Dash slowly walked into the library. Trixie walked back upstairs without a word, slamming the door as she went.

"Like I said," Twilight smiled, her horn glowing slightly, "I have every book in the series, and you can borrow them all" Twilight apparently didn't notice the slight noise of annoyance from Midday, "Any time you like."
Rainbow Dash looked at the book and smiled.

"Thanks, Twilight," she looked down at the floor, "I'm sorry I made such a big deal about all of this. I thought reading was for smart ponies like you."
Midday raised an eyebrow at that. She looked over to Twilight, who looked suitably shocked. Whatever she may have thought of Past-Rainbow Dash, stupid wasn't exactly one of them. Foolish, yes, overconfident certainly, but not stupid.

"Rainbow Dash, just because you're athletic doesn't mean you aren't smart!" Twilight said, in what sounded a little bit like an attempt to imitate Princess Celestia.
"Yeah, just look at me!" Midday jumped at the sound of Spike coming from behind her. The little dragon was flexing his arms and kissing non-existant muscles.

The three mares all looked at each other in the slight silence that followed Spike's statement.
"Reading is something everypony can enjoy, if they just give it a try" Twilight continued.

"Just be sure to take some breaks inbetween reading every now and then" Midday smirked, thinking of a bright pink pony sitting in an isolated library, reading any book she could get her hooves on. Rainbow Dash just nodded.
"Yeah, I get it. 'I shouldn't knock it 'till I've tried it'."

"That's a good lesson, and it would make a great letter to the Princess."
Rainbow Dash turned to Spike.

"In the morning." Midday said, sternly. Rainbow Dash looked from Midday to Twilight.
"I think we should all try and get some sleep right now."

Rainbow Dash was about to protest, and then she yawned.
"Alright, whatever" she sighed in defeat. Midday smiled slightly, and walked towards the stairs, noting Rainbow Dash hadn't gone anywhere.

"Hey, Midday," Rainbow Dash said. She turned to look at the pegasus, "you were right. About just asking. Thanks for the advice."
"Anytime" she said, calmly. Suddenly Rainbow Dash's slight grin vanished.

"But don't think I've gone easy on you for one minute."
Midday just looked at Rainbow Dash and shook her head.

"Good night, Rainbow. Try not to stay up too early reading."
And with that, she calmly walked upstairs to bed, the current crisis solved, and Rainbow's love of reading assured. She felt good, and slightly relaxed. And then she walked past Twilight's schedule. She looked in horror at the date, circled in bright pink and underlined, as if to taunt her further.

'Hearts and Hooves Day'. She felt the bottom of her stomach drop.
"Oh, Belgium."

In Our Hearts and Hooves

The first thing Shining Armor was aware of was something moving near him. Even half-asleep (or perhaps half-awake) his mind quickly considered a dozen options to disable his potential attacker. Then he was aware of a warm feeling moving along his back, and a light giggle. Then there was the ever-so-slight feeling of something nibbling his ear.
"Stop it" he mumbled, kicking his back legs slightly. There was a feeling of a hoof heading along his barrel. Back and forth, back and forth.

"Cadance. Stop it." The giggling continued. "Stop it. Stop it stop it stop." He said, fighting the urge to laugh and scream. "Cadance, knock it off."
"Never!" He frowned. This called for desperate tactics.

"'M trying to sleep." There was a slight pause, and he could feel the hooves moving away from him, followed by the ruffling of bedsheets, and what sounded like Cadance putting on a dressing gown she'd brought with her.
"Fine then. I'll just go get breakfast started."

Shining Armor was a highly trained captain of the Royal Guard. Ever since he was young enough to levitated a sword, he'd wanted to serve. And while this had included the usual problems, like having to put up with being called 'my good pony' by Blueblood, or talking to Blueblood, or being in the same universe as Blueblood, being compared to Blazing Nova (Greatest of the great guards of old) or having to learn how to sing just to get through basic training alive, or putting up with that damned phoenix, he was a guard. It was his job to serve the Princesses of Equestria without question, hesitation or fear, even when faced with unrestrained cliches (Which was always a problem with Cadance, who seemed to lack any sense of irony whatsoever). So, with Shining Armor's extreme steadfastness and dedication readily established, he still felt a bit... concerned about Cadance cooking. It wasn't that she was a bad cook, far from it. She was a skilled chef, in fact. And she loved to show it by going the whole hog whenever she cooked, and being a gentlestallion, and her long-term boyfriend, Shining Armor couldn't not eat all of it.

He briefly pondered whether that was subconciously the reason he was dragging his hooves on the proposal thing. That, and the occasional fear of Twilie overreacting. He kept having dreams of Twilight Sparkle storming the wedding and screaming her head off at him for some minor slight. The most terrifying of these had been one where the fact that his favourite uncle's uniform didn't quite fit was apparently reason enough for his LSBFF to turn him into a newt, while Cadance just nodded approvingly.

He then realised he was still in bed while his girlfriend raiding his entire kitchen just to make breakfast. On Hearts and Hooves day. Terror gripped Shining Armor, and he quickly scrambled (or slumped, to be accurate) out of bed, if only to make sure he still had room in his stomach for the elaborate birthday dinner he'd planned to take Cadance to later. He didn't want to explode from overeating before proposing to her, after all.

*****

Midday Eclipse woke up at around ten in the morning on Hearts and Hooves day, and was halfway through brushing her teeth before she realised she could've stayed in bed. Memories of numerous horrible Hearts and Hooves days of years gone by went through her head, mostly relating to a total abscence of red or pink envelopes. Though in fairness, she had managed to age herself enough to make asking her awkward for anypony brave enough to do it. Too old for ponies her actual age, too emotionally young for the ponies she was usually around.

And she knew for a fact that even Luna got a few letters from admirers on H&H Day. She sighed, and went downstairs, where she found Twilight preparing a checklist.
"Morning, Twilight Sparkle" she muttered. The mare looked up at her.

"Good morning" the purple unicorn said cheerfully.
"What's the list for?" Twilight smiled slightly.

"I'm just doing some studies on Hearts and Hooves day. I... though it might help with some papers I've been writing."
Midday made a small hum. Twilight looked at her.

"What?"
"I'm surprised you don't know about it already, you seem to know Equestrian history inside and out. Except about the Crystal Ponies." She smirked a little as Twilight's ears twitched at that, and the very beginnings of a slight smile on Twilight's face.

"Well, I... it wasn't something of interest to me. Most of the stories don't seem to blend with most of the assembled knowledge of Equestrian history." There was another twitch, which probably meant Twilight was trying not to comment on her usual opinion of historians. Midday couldn't help but agreed, considering the 'average' historian tended to greatly downplay Luna's parts in early Equestrian history, despite Celestia being on record repeatedly emphasizing her sister's role, possibly even over-emphasizing in some parts.

"And most of the books containing knowledge on Hearts and Hooves Day are currently 'on loan', so I was going to go ask around, see whether the people who loaned them could possibly consider giving them back." A look of irritation came across her face. "Some ponies in town are awful when it comes to returning books. Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't install some penalty system for ponies who don't return books, instead of just not allowing them to take books from the library."

"And that's your day, then?" Midday asked, "Reading books?"
Twilight nodded. Midday rolled her eyes. "Why am I not surprised?"

Twilight looked irritated again, and fixed Midday with a stare.
"What's that supposed to mean? Let me guess, you think I don't believe in romance or something."
Midday shuffled nervously. She'd forgotten Twilight had been foalsat by Cadance. Actually forgotten. She wasn't going to let herself live this one down, she could tell.

"Sorry" she said quietly. "I'm guessing you just don't have the time for romance, not with all your CIS going on." She smiled, and walked through into the kitchen, not seeing Twilight's slightly confused face. Once the door was closed she let her smile vanish completely. And since Spike had been going on about spending the day with Rarity all week, she knew she wasn't going to be seeing him around the library all day. She sighed, and calmly started making herself some breakfast.

*****

"So, Shining Armor, do you have any plans for Hearts and Hooves day?" Cadance smiled slightly. Shining Armor tried to look coy.
"Maybe." Cadance prodded him slightly.

"You can do better than that" she laughed.
"Well, if I was planning something, and I said I was planning something, it would ruin the surprise. That's the whole point of a surprise party, y'know. It's a secret."

Cadance's eyes went wide, and Shining Armor realised he'd said 'surprise party'.
'Uh oh.' He thought to himself. He started edging along the sofa he was sitting on, trying to think of a good enough excuse, but he'd asked Celestia for the day off, and he couldn't stall for time by going to talk to his sister, and even if he did go to work, his troops would instantly sell him out the minute Cadance came looking for him.

Fortunately, and also unfortunately, as Cadance smirked and opened her mouth to say something, she suddenly stopped. And frowned, and then looked like she was in pain.
"Cady? What's wrong?" The alicorn looked confused, and hurt. Tears were beginning to form in her eyes.

"I... think..." Her mouth dropped. "Oh no." She whispered. She suddenly leaned in to Shining Armor.
"Somepony has just had their heart broken." She said quietly, squeezing Shining Armor like he was an oversized pillow. He gently held her. Cadance's powers allowed her to sense love, nurture it, and bolster it when it faltered, but it also meant that when what she described as 'True Love' failed, she felt it. Fortunately she just felt the initial shock, but Shining Armor knew she'd feel compelled to fix it, despite knowing full well there was little she could do.

"It'll be alright" he said calmly. As he comforted the upset princess, a part of his mind noted that perhaps it was an idea to postpone the proposal for a while. "It'll be alright."

*****

Midday sat in the comfy chair, desperately fighting her boredom. She wondered about going to see Fluttershy or Pinkie Pie, but noted that Fluttershy was probably throwing minature H&H events for her animal companions, while Pinke was having to bake huge amounts of cakes from celebrating couples. Trixie had, after a time, decided to see about going out to get something to eat, which meant she was doubtless about to return and vent opinions, in her usual fashion.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Trixie slammed through the front door, ranting and cursing and muttering.
"Only for ponies with Very Special Someponies. Only loving couples allowed. Why I oughta-"

"Trouble, Trixie?" Midday asked, not bothering to move from her slouch. The showmare hadn't noticed her, which raised the question of how one could not notice a mare of royal blue hue sitting in a bright orange chair.
"Stupid cafes and resturaunts wouldn't allow Trixie entranced unless she had a reservation, or a VSS. What kind of world do we live in, where such rampant stupidity is allowed to thrive?!"

Midday leaned forward. "It's probably because they don't want bitter showmares driving customers away by mixing the salad dressing and the vinegar again."
"That was only once!" Trixie sighed, and looked down at the floor. "Hate Hearts and Hooves day" she muttered, then added something about 'cards' and a name Midday didn't recognise.

"Would it help if I told you that you aren't the only pony in town who doesn't have a 'Very Special Somepony'?"
"No." Trixie said, as she walked towards the kitchen. "Now, if you'll excuse Trixie, I have a date with my old companion, Monseuir Bourbon. Might as well try to enjoy myself today." She muttered. Midday looked at the clock.

"It's only just gone noon!" she called out.
"Not in Stalliongrad, it isn't" Trixie retorted, as she closed the door to the kitchen. Midday couldn't help but facehoof. She sat there for a moment, and then decided to look at some of the bookshelves for something, anything to read. She wondered if visiting Applejack was on the cards, and then remembered that meant going near Granny Smith, and thought better of it. She was fairly certain that mare could see right through her. She looked at the pile of notes kept on one of the desks, Twilight's already gathered notes on Equestrian prehistory, and wondered about proof-reading them, even though Twilight Sparkle rarely made mistakes, and when she did, they were pretty noticable. She sighed, and decided to read them anyway. After around twenty minutes of reading Twilight's ever-so-humble opinions on pony history, the door swung open and a mint-green blur rushed into the secondary library room. Midday looked around, wondering what had just happened. Twilight had left a series of notes which she'd completely ignored about what to do if somepony came to the library hoping to use the library as what Twilight deemed a 'nookie zone'. Midday wasn't entirely certain where Twilight had learnt the word 'nookie', considering the mare usually described romantic acts in much less euphemistic terms (Especially when describing certain acts adult ponies could perform to her young, innocent daughter), but she was fairly sure that whoever had just come in wasn't using the library as a place to secretly score a few kisses from their girlfriend / boyfriend. After a few moments, Midday was certain she could hear a slight noise. Slowly, she walked towards the door, and opened it. She saw a familiar mint-green unicorn lying in a corner, curled into a ball and gently sobbing.

"Lyra?" she asked, cautiously approaching the mare. There was a slight sniffle.
"What's the matter?" she asked gently. Lyra said nothing. Midday just sat next to the mare, waiting for her to finish crying. For the next while the musician kept going. Midday noticed the mare wasn't curled up, she was keeping a death grip on her lyre. Eventually, she stopped crying and looked up at Midday with her slightly bloodshot-looking golden eyes. A slight smile came across her face, the sort that usually preceeded the words 'rampage' and 'violent'.

"I'm alright" she whispered, her voice hoarse. "I'm alright. It's just..." She stared out of the large window.
"Bon-Bon left me." Midday saw the look of utter heartbreak on the poor mare's face, and gave her a hug. There was another sniffle, followed by the mare hiccuping. Midday wanted to say something comforting, but while she knew all the ways to deal with rampaging timberwolves, or how to treat Phoenixes, she was utterly unsure of what to say to a mare who'd been dumped.

"What? Why in the world would she do that?"
Another sniffle, and Midday wondered about fetching some tissues for the musician.

"She said... said we weren't 'going anywhere', and I wasn't doing enough with my life, and..." She stopped to make a strange wailing noise. "I'd been planning to take her to her favourite restaurant, because s-she's always doing the cooking for both of us, and I w-wanted to do something nice for her and..." She stopped to hiccup again, "She just..." She started crying again.

"And I didn't know where to go. Just about everypony's out celebrating Hearts and Hooves Day, with their Very Special Someponies, so I couldn't go to my dads, because they're celebrating in Canterlot, and I can't... I can't even go home, because it's BB's home..." Lyra looked down at her lyre, and sharply kicked it across the room.

"And I can't even look at that damn thing because it reminds me of BB, and all the time I've spent with her." She sighed, "All the time I spent with her instead of studying, all those stupid sonnets I made for her instead of listening to what Tavi was saying. All the days I could have spent with her. Should've spent." Her voice was getting lower and quieter, and Midday began to feel increasingly worried. She'd once recieved a long explanation of the history of Lyra Heartstrings from Star Song, and there'd been no mention of her breaking up with Bon-Bon.

"I would've stayed with her forever. Guess Cady was wrong." Lyra smiled, and as she did, Midday noticed something horrifying. Lyra's mint green coat seemed to turn grey. Alarm bells went off inside her head, as she saw Lyra displaying the prominent sign of Cutie Mark Failure.
"See you around, Midday Eclipse" the mare said, getting to her feet and calmly (yet noticably unsteadily) walking out of the room, leaving the lyre just sitting there, abandoned. For a moment, Midday Eclipse sat there, just staring at it, and while it was just an inanimate object, she couldn't help but feel like she was staring at a tiny orphaned kitten, only made of metal and whatever lyre strings were made of. She gently lifted it in her magic, and stared at it. Then she walked through into the main room, to find Trixie slumped over the chair.

"I thought you were going to drink away your misery." Midday said as she walked in. The mare looked up at her.
"The bourbon's gone." Trixie sighed. "I think I might have drank all of it. Or somepony took it. Or I took it and drank it, which now that I think of it is increasingly likely. Also, you appear to be carrying a harp."

"It's a lyre. And it's been abandoned by its owner." Midday said solemnly, placing it on one of the podiums. She hadn't been expecting what happened next. She turned around to see Trixie staring at her, expectantly.
"What?"

"Trixie thought you were going to explain that statement, or at least give her some context for how this inanimate object became 'abandoned'." The mare drew a pack of cards from her hard and started shuffling it, trying to look as nonchalant as possible. Midday rolled her eyes.

"Well, you know Lyra?"
"Lyra? I know her. Nice mare, poor taste in boyfriends, kind, sounds younger than she looks." Midday frowned. Trixie seemed blind to the fact that Bon-Bon happened to by some extraordinary fluke of genetics a filly who had grown into a mare. She decided to set the record straight in the regard before going further.

"Trixie, you do realise Bon-Bon... is a mare, right?" The look on Trixie's face indicated that she hadn't realised this.
"Ah. Oh." Trixie said, before biting her lip. "That would... Yes. That makes sense." She looked at Midday again.

"Of course, Bon-Bon is now Lyra's ex-marefriend."
"What?" Trixie yelled. There was an annoyed hoot from above the bookshelves.

"Yeah. Apparently Bon-Bon just... dumped with her, completely out of the blue, which is... alarming." Midday walked over to Trixie, "And even worse... can I trust you, Trixie?" The showmare frowned. She rubbed her hoof against her chin.
"Well, normally Trixie would be inclined to say 'yes', but... since it's you, and if this is about Lyra, and what I think you're about to say, then yes. Yes, you can trust Trixie on this."

"Well, Lyra's showing all the signs of CMF." Trixie stared blankly at her. Midday rolled her eyes. Why did nopony seem to understand acronyms today, she thought.
"Cutie Mark Failure." There was a horrified gasp from Trixie, and with good reason. Ponies suffering from Cutie Mark Failure (Or Cutie Mark Failure Insanity Syndrome, or Missed Destiny Madness as it used to be called, along with any other long-forgotten similar names) became liable to do anything, although this usually restrained itself to standard inversions or twisted parodies of their 'destiny', for example fruit farmers farming rocks, accountants becoming clowns, clowns becoming politicians, or throwing parties for buckets full of turnips, although on very, very rare occasions, the afflicted would just become extremely depressed and forgetful. Either way, it was a serious problem, that deserved to be treated with all due seriousness.

"What should we do?" asked Trixie, quietly, "I mean, we can't get the dragon to call the Princesses for help, Twilight Sparkle's... missing, and everypony else will probably be busy with their own Hearts and Hooves day plans." She frowned. "What do we do?"
"Maybe we should just let things work themselves out." Midday said quietly. Trixie stared at her in a mixture of confusion and shock.

"What?" She said. "What happened to the mare who fought her way through Twilight Sparkle just to do... whatever it was you did that day? What happened to the mare who got everypony to help get rid of Flim and Flam?"
"I didn't get 'everypony' to help, I just made sure everypony was on the same page. They would have done it anyway" she said, staring at the windows. Trixie frowned.

"I thought you were unwilling to turn your back on your fellow pony, especially if they were in need of help. Why do you suddenly draw the line at helping a musician and a candy-maker get back together?"
"Well, for one thing there's already a designated Princess in charge of solving romantic problems, and second of all, getting involved in other ponies... relationships always leads to trouble." She muttered. She was thinking about Wisp, when she didn't want to be thinking about Wisp, especially not on Hearts and Hooves day, of all days, of the worst days to be thinking of him, it was on her Aunt Cadance's birthday. And then she remembered she hadn't sent Cadance anything. She was just forgetting everything today, and she was fairly certain there was something about Hearts and Hooves day she was supposed to remember, but all she could think of was Lil' McIntosh kicking apples trees.

"'Trouble'?" asked Trixie, sounding intrigued. "What form of trouble?"
"The bad sort, not the amusing sort. And by bad, I mean private, and I'm not telling anypony, certainly not you." Trixie looked a little bit hurt by the remark, but also slightly accepting.

"Of course. So, what do we do?"
"Well, first of all, I'm going to write a letter, then I am going to mail the letter, and then I'm going to find Bon-Bon, and hope that the train schedules aren't working like usual because of this damned holiday, and then I'm going to figure out why I keep wanting to go to the little cafe on Main Street." She frowned. The cafe on Main Street was passable if somepony was interested in a light snack, but aside from a rather nice view of the Carousel Boutique, and the countryside beyond it, there wasn't much else, unless the houses along it had moved in the last few months.

"Now then, I shall need a quill and some paper" Midday frowned.

*****

Writing the letter to Cadance proved to be quite tricky, since Midday couldn't really do much more than just say 'happy birthday' on it, even though she really wanted to make the card feel special. On consideration though, she realised Cadance was probably going to be satisfied even if it did just have a generic greating, 'it's the thought that counts' was what she'd most likely say. Midday sighed to herself, annoyed that she couldn't just find Cadance and talk to her. Some days she felt like she was going to explode with all the things she had to keep to herself, just to stop time from falling apart. At least, she assumed it would fall apart. She wasn't really sure what would happen if she just told Twilight Sparkle who she was. She briefly wondered about saying the card was from Twilight, but she knew that Twilight had managed to forget about Cadance. She stopped to think about that. How in the world did Twilight forget one of the first friends she'd ever made, who happened to be a Princess, and one of the nicest, if not the nicest, ponies in existance? Knowing Twilight, she'd probably justify it by saying they hadn't seen much of each other since Twilight was a filly, or something.

'Bearing in mind' Midday told herself, 'Mom sometimes forgot she had wings'. She frowned, and decided that the card was pefectly fine as it currently was.
"Who's Cadance?" Trixie asked. Midday turned to glower at her.

"How long have you been standing there?"
"A few seconds." Trixie shrugged. "Who is she?"

"She's the mare who suggested Lyra and Bon-Bon get together. Something about... 'It doesn't matter how far apart you are, your love will keep you together'." Trixie looked a little bit alarmed by that statement.
"Really? She actually said that?"

"Yes. Bearing in mind, her specialty is love. Nuturing it, strengthening it, that sort of thing. I think she always draws power from the love of ponies around her, but I'm not quite clear on that part. She probably does though." She smiled at the memory of Cadance, who probably could have felt her and her mother's falling out. A thought, a strange terrifying random though about Cadance's abilities suddenly found its way into Midday's train of thought, and was quickly filed away for future use. She slid off the chair, and quickly folded the card into a bright pink envelope.
"And if the usual behaviour of Ponyville's citizens is any indication, it's not the sappiest thing you're going to hear today."

*****

As the two walked down the street, Midday's statement was quickly proved right. Ponies left and right were calling each their loves ones ridiculous nicknames or titles, and while in some cases it probably worked, in most cases it sounded kind of ridiculous. Not that Midday Eclipse could call herself a stranger to embarrasing fumbling attempts at romance in any shape, but she prided herself on the fact that she'd never called Wisp 'her shapey-changey-cuddle-bug'. She felt like she'd demeaned herself on a cellular level just for even thinking that phrase, and quickened her pace to the post office.

Which turned out to be shut, so she just deposited her mail in the slot.
"Ditzy must have taken the day off." Midday observed.

"But... she never takes the day off." Trixie said from under her hat, which she had pulled over her eyes so as not to witness any acts of affection.
"Now what?" The showmare asked, looking up at the sky, which both mares refrained from pointing out was a strange pastel purple/pink colour.

"Somepony please tell me Celestia isn't behind this." Midday said to herself.

*****

"What on earth has you in such a cheerful mood, sister?" Luna asked. Her suspicions had first been roused when she saw her older sister smiling, and had risen until she determined what variety of smile it was, and why Celestia was smiling it. Immortality allowed for an interesting emotional range. Sometimes Celestia could even look like she enjoyed hearing about statistics.

"Oh, I've... got a very good feeling about today, is all" the mare said mirthfully. Luna raised an eyebrow and her gaze turned towards the small, barely hidden pot containing the money everypony in the castle was betting on for when Shining Armor dared to propose to Cadance. The smart money (which just happened to include Celestia's) was going for today.
"Is that why the sky is that... particular colour of pink and purple?"

"Oh, there's no harm from it, Luna. And it helps with the mood."
"If you say so."

*****

The two mares began walking back toward the library, in a route best descibred as 'circuitous', going via all the means of locating Bon-Bon. Eventually, Trixie noticed her sitting on a bench, looking incredibly miserable, though her coat was the usual cream colour.
"I'll deal with this." Midday whispered to Trixie, who said nothing on what the supposed 'this' was.

"Hey there" Midday said, trying to sound as genial as possible. Bon-Bon's eyes slowly moved towards her.
"Hey" she said, instantly going back to looking glum. Midday looked over to Trixie, who was trying and not succeeding at hiding behind a tree.

"Is... something the matter?" Midday asked. Bon-Bon sighed.
"Yeah." Midday scuffed a hoof against the ground, waiting for her usual effect on ponies to kick in.

"Why can't anything ever go right for me?" she heard Bon-Bon mutter. The mare looked up at her.
"There's a limit to how much bad luck a mare can have, right? I mean, after a while, good things should happen to me as well, right?"
Midday just looked uncertain. "What do you mean?"

"I try to operate my parent's store, and everypony started going to Sugarcube Corner. I meet the most wonderful pony, and before I can tell her how I feel, she goes away to Canterlot. And then she came back for me. And it was the biggest mistake of her life." Bon-Bon stood up, though she was still on the bench. "We never did anything, and she kept never doing anything because of me. I was holding her back and we both knew it, and so I decided I'd let her go, become the brilliant musician we both know she could be, but... I kept putting it off, and this morning I finally did it and..." Bon-Bon looked like she was about to burst into tears herself.

"I thought she'd be happy, but all she did was yell at me, and now I feel like an idiot, 'cuz I screwed everything up and now she's gonna hate me forever and never want to see me again and I deserve it." The mare said, her words beginning to blur together as she got increasingly upset. Midday looked at the mare and nodded.
"So, you thought Lyra was better off without you?"

There was a noise that sounded like an affirmative from Bon-Bon.
"You're an idiot" Midday said suddenly. Bon-Bon looked like she'd been struck by lightning.

"W-what?"
"You're an idiot" Midday repeated, well aware of the noises Trixie was making behind her. "One of the most gifted muscians alive, one of the most wonderful, gentle, brilliant mares and you think she's better off without you? Really? Considering she came back from Canterlot, where she was friends with a freaking Princess, and student to one of the most famous composers of modern time" Midday silently thanked Star Song, wherever and whenever she was right now, for the long discussion on the subject of Octavia, Lyra Heartstring's mentor, and noted musician in her own right, "Just to be with you! You! A candy-maker! Doesn't that tell you something about what's more important to Lyra? Doesn't the fact that she's given up her music because she's so upset tell you something about how important you are to her?! Yes, you're an idiot for letting true love slip through your hooves! There are beings out there who would tear whole kingdoms apart for just one day's worth of the love you two have, being who would give up everything, wealth, fame, immortality, just to have a mere fraction of what you could be!" Midday frowned, and shook her head. "But then, you know what, it doesn't matter, really. Lyra's hardly important to anypony." Midday really didn't like being angry, or sounding angry, or being a jerk to Bon-Bon when she knew exactly how the mare felt, and she really hoped she didn't have to go further, and for once the universe complied with her prayers, as she felt herself being grabed and spun 'round until she was looking Bon-Bon right in the eyes.

"She is to me!" the mare hissed. Midday smiled gently, and Bon-Bon looked surprised at what she'd just said.
"Then go tell her that." She looked around, and reached into a nearby bush and pulled out one of Pinkie Pie's emergency watches (Spread all over town in case of watch emergency). "By my understand of how the trains run on H&H Day, you don't have that long to get to the train station."

Bon-Bon looked confused for a moment, and slightly hesitant.
"Go on, go get her. She's Lyra Heartstrings, she's the mare you love and she's the mare you belong with. And you're the mare she belongs with. Anything less would a waste."

A determined look set on Bon-Bon's face.
"Thanks" she said, before rushing off into the distance towards the train station.

"What did Trixie just witness? One minute you call her an idiot, then next she looked ready to lay siege to Canterlot itself."
Midday just smiled slight, rubbing her shoulders.

"A little motivational speech. I honestly didn't think that was going to work." She said, her eyes wide in astonishment. She slumped to the ground. "Glad it did."

*****

Lyra stood on the platform of the Ponyville station, eyes not really noticing the odd stares she was getting from passersby, many of whom were couples. She could see the train arriving, getting closer, and closer. She was also aware of ponies turning to look at something, but that wasn't of any interest to her. But there was a familiar ring to it. The train slowed, slowed, and then stopped, and the passengers began to disembark. Lyra raised a hoof to begin walking, and then she felt something.

"LYRA!" Bon-Bon yelled, right into her face. The earth pony began furiously hugging her, and try as much as she could she couldn't break free of the mare.
"Lyra, I need to tell you something." Bon-Bon panted, winded from her long run from the Ponyville park.

"What's so important you couldn't just mail me?" Lyra said, though she felt a slight pang of something at the sad look in Bon-Bon's eyes.
"Please don't go. Don't go. I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what? Sorry that you were right? I'm never going to get anything done with my music. You were smart enough to thank me, and-" Bon-Bon glowered at her.
"Don't you dare say that! Do you hear me?! Don't you dare!" The mare embraced Lyra. "I was so wrong, Lyra. So wrong. You are brilliant and wonderful and I will always, always love you, no matter what. I will always be there for your Lyra Heartstrings, so please, if you are going to go to Canterlot..." Bon-Bon looked down at the ground, "Let me come with you. I love you."

Lyra blinked and stared at her. She remembered the first night away from Ponyville, how she'd missed Bon-Bon so much, how the second night she'd started crying in her sleep, how on the third day a nasty comment from Octavia had her crying in the shower, and how Cadance had helpfully shown her why she felt miserable every time she looked back at Ponyville. She hadn't missed her dads, or her friends. She wasn't finding it difficult to adjust to Canterlot, she was thinking of Bon-Bon. And the thought of Bon-Bon had driven her on, had inspired her to create music that had actually shocked Octavia out of her stoic facade, which eventually led to their beings friends, and even teacher and pupil. And eventually, when she'd returned to Ponyville to find Bon-Bon had waited all that time, just for her. Even the appearance of Nightmare Moon hadn't had an effect as great on her as when she'd told Bon-Bon how she felt, and the mare had responded in kind.

Suddenly, Lyra's coat regained it's natural mint-green hue, and a smile overcame her face. Why had she ever though Bon-Bon didn't love her?
"Oh, sweetie..." she said. That was all she needed to say.

Aside from "You're my Special Somepony". It was Hearts and Hooves Day, after all.

*****

Trixie and Midday watched from a distance, averting their gaze once the two mares... reconnected.
"Well, everything's worked out fine, then" Midday said. "For them. I'm still not sure about me. There's something I know I've forgotten, but I can't remember, for the life of me, what it is..."

"You know, Lyra left her harp back at the library."
"Lyre."

"No, remember I-..." Trixie scowled. "How long have you been waiting for Trixie to say that?"
Midday blinked. "Sorry, what? Say what?"

"I bet you've been waiting years for somepony to say the word 'harp', just so you could make that joke, haven't you?"
"No, I was just correcting you" Midday said, making odd glances at Trixie.

"Why in the world would I do that anyway?"
"Because it's a pun, or play on words?"

*****

Shining Armor glanced at the clock. Technically speaking the dinner wasn't for some hours, but there were other things he wanted to show Cadance before they reached the restaurant, and time was wasting. He sighed. A short while ago she'd perked up, saying something about 'true love' again, though from the sound of it, the couple who were having relationship problems seemed to have fixed everything, which meant it was a happy ending.

'Happy endings' he mused. He liked those. Stories where the dashing knight saved the studious mage from not getting enough sleep, or managed to fight his way past the evil tickle ninjas to the fridge of mystery, or where the gallant captain of the guard finally worked up the nerve to ask the mare he loved for her hoof in marriage. There was a noise on the steps, and he looked up.

There stood Cadance, looking... well, Cadance's usual condition was usually some combination of beautiful, graceful and incredible, and currently, she looked beyond even that. She looked magnificent. Shining Armor had, throughout his education, been made to read and learn of the many poems written on the beauty and grace of Princess Celestia.

As far he was concerned, Cadance made the ponies who'd wrote those poems look like blind idiots. His jaw dropped at the sight of Cadance wearing a dress that just seemed to... Well, she looked beautiful, and perhaps it was best Shining Armor didn't think beyond that. Her hair was styled impeccably, as always, and Shining Armor began to feel like perhaps he should have worn something a bit more suitable than a suit and tie. And then Cadance smiled.

"How do I look?" She asked. Suddenly, Shining Armor's mind seemed to disappear, and he could barely think.
"I... I.... guh?" She smiled at that. He grinned like a teenager on a sugar rush. And while Shining Armor would brook no insult to Cadance, she too was smiling and giggling like a little teenager. There was something in the air, a tension that couldn't be rightly described, but if observed from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, the actions of the two lovestruck twenty-somethings was leading up to a decision that would make history.

"So, where are we going first?" Cadance asked. Shining Armor, using all his courage, managed to say something.
"It's a surprise." He smiled. "But you'll love it."

*****

Trixie and Midday returned to the library to find Twilight analysing several books.
"Afternoon" Midday said, noting that it was now two in the afternoon, and gosh, hadn't time flied.

"Where have you two been?" Twilight asked.
"Keeping music alive" Trixie said. Twilight Sparkle just nodded and went back to her books.

"Did you know" Twilight asked, in the way Midday recognised as the way Twilight asked when she assumed ponies didn't know what she was saying, "That Hearts and Hooves Day started because of a love potion?"
"Love potion?" Midday said, mostly to herself. She had a sudden sinking feeling

"Yeah. I even found the recipe used for it in one of the books I had, but Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo borrowed it."
There were a few seconds of utter silence, and Midday and Trixie exchanged nervous glances.

"You... ah, gave it to them?" Midday asked. Twilight made an odd combination of smile and frown.
"I know, it's not like them to take such an interest in reading, and they vanished before I could give them any more reading material."
Midday rubbed a hoof against her forehead.

"Twilight Sparkle, you... knowingly gave a book containing a recipe for a love potion to the Cutie Mark Crusaders on Hearts and Hooves Day?" Twilight's face was the definition of confused innocence.
"Yes, but I don't see why that's a-" Then she remembered. "Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh' about covers it" Trixie smirked.
"What have I done?"

Midday smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, I'm sure nothing bad can come of this. I mean, it's only a love potion. It's not like it's a love poison, right?" The confused noise from Twilight Sparkle was telling.
"Love poison? What's that?"

Midday felt her legs give out.
"Alicorns and ministers of grace defend us" she whimpered. "Did you happen to check how that legend about the beginning of Hearts and Hooves Day went, by any chance?"

Twilight looked down at the book, and in a rare move from Twilight Sparkle, skimmed through it.
"Uh-oh" she squeaked.

"Uh-oh? What-oh?" asked Trixie. Twilight Sparkle quickly slammed the book shut, a look of panic on her face.
"It's nothing, nothing at all. I'm just going to go outside. For a walk. Because it's a lovely day out."

"It is a nice shade of purple, Trixie has to admit." The showmare smiled.
"Shut. Up." Twilight said through clenched teeth. Midday raised a hoof.

"Just out of curiosity, when exactly did you hand them this book?"
Twilight's look of panic increased.

"Half an hour ago."
The three mares minds each calculated the amount of damage caused by one potion book multiplied by three fillies and whoever they infected with their love poison increasing over the amount of time it took to find the CMC.

"We mustn't panic" Trixie stated calmly.
"Indeed." Midday said, her voice eerie calm. "Now, I too shall go outside. For walk."

"Yes." Trixie said, her eyes moving towards the kitchen door. "Three delicious bottles of walk."
Twilight Sparkle and Midday rushed through the front door, while Trixie went searching for her missing drinks.

*****

"Okay, Twilight Sparkle, think, think, where would you be if you were a little filly with a love poison? The library? Too obvious. The school? It's closes early on H&H day. The observatory? No" Twilight Sparkle moaned, "Ponyville doesn't have an observatory." Midday watched as the mare grew increasingly frantic as she removed bits of shattered wood from her mane.
"How about at their clubhouse? Like I suggested five minutes ago?"

"No!" Twilight said, "That's the first place we'd look!"
Midday rolled her eyes. She'd given up trying to use reason in this argument, since Twilight Sparkle's mind was currently too far-gone to listen to reason. But she still found herself trying, mainly because not trying would have been far worse.

"Well, how about we split up?"
"Good idea!" Twilight smiled, before teleporting away. Midday quickly began to rush towards Sweet Apple Acres, her alarm and concern over what Twilight Sparkle might do once she found the children granting her extra speed, but she was certain there was something she was missing.

"Howdy there, Midday" came a voice. She stopped, which wasn't the greatest thing to do when running full-tilt, since it meant she ended up flipping head over hoof. "What's got you rushing about so much?" A familiar orange-tinted shadow fell over her, and she quickly leapt to her hooves.
"Applejack! Oh sweet, delicious Applejack, have you seen your sister and her friends about anywhere?"

Applejack looked a bit alarmed at the unhinged looking mare. "No. Can't say ah've seen them around all day, but ah've been kinda busy. Big McIntosh's gone walkabout, it seems, so ah'm having to do both our chores." Midday blinked.
"Big McIntosh?" She repeated. Then it came together. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, Hearts and Hooves Day, Love Poison, Big McIntosh and Cheerilee which added together made one royal mess.

"-like him to go galivantin' off without so much as a word of notice, specially not on Hearts and Hooves Day, an- hey, where ya rushing off to?" Midday's frantic gallop took her to the small treehouse where the Cutie Mark Crusaders spend most of their free time, Applejack following behind her, increasingly confused and annoyed. Midday rushed up the ramp, and reached the front door, and gently opened it and stepped inside, where she found a book spread wide open on the floor, the words 'LOVE POISON' plain as daylight on the open page.
"What the-? 'Love poison'?" Applejack shook her head. "Ah'm thinkin' those girls need adult supervision. Ah mean really, this sounds like the sort'a thing that gives foals nightmares."

"Yes, nightmares" Midday said, "Lots of nightmares. Adult supervision, good plan. I think adult supervision is just what we need." Of course she was thinking of Twilight Sparkle having a parole officer assigned to her. She shouldn't have let Twilight go about town unsupervised, and now... well, actually now history was unfolding exactly the way it should. She briefly pondered if there was somepony intelligent she could consult on why everything seemed to be happening exactly the same, then remembered she had to be somewhere else. She turned to Applejack.

"Okay, Applejack, think, really think. If you'd been zapped by a love poison, where do you think you'd head to? Just say the first place that comes to mind."
"Ah dunno" the farmer shrugged, "Probably Sugarcube c-"

"OF COURSE!" Midday roared, before turning, gently opening the door of the clubhouse, and leaping down the ramp and heading back towards town. Applejack stood there for a moment, and decided to follow after the librarian's assistant.

*****

By whatever measure of logic that Twilight was going on, she wound up at Sugarcube Corner at the same time as Midday and Applejack.
"I figured it out!" the purple unicorn beamed, "Based on all available evidence Big McIntosh is at Sugarcube Corner." She grinned with pride in her deductive reasoning. Midday just nodded slightly.

"Yeah, I kinda figured that one out. And I know who he's with. That mare, Cheerilee."
"What?" asked Applejack, "Applebloom's teacher? What in the wide world of sports is goin' on here?" Then slow realisation came to Applejack, and apparently just came to Twilight Sparkle.

"Yes, your brother and Cheerilee have been doused with a love potion, and are now unshakably attached to each other, but fortunately I have to a plan to fix this."
"Really?" Applejack said, "That's great."

"We've just got to keep them apart for exactly one hour."
"One hour?" Applejack smirked, marching into the store, "Ah can do that in a second." Twilight opened her mouth to say something.

"Don't." Midday suggested. Twilight closed her mouth, looking thoroughly annoyed. Twilight began to walk into Sugarcube Corner, and Midday stuck out a hoof.
"Be warned, what you see in there is not for the faint of heart."

Twilight just smiled gently at her, and in her best 'mom' voice said "Don't worry, I stood against Nightmare Moon and Discord, I think I can handle whatever some love potion can bring." Midday rolled her eyes and walked in after Twilight. They found Applejack, frozen like a statue, her face a rictus of alarm and disgust.
"Applejack?" asked Twilight.

"You first, schnuzzy-wuzzy-pookum-pie" came a voice that sounded distinctly like Big McIntosh. He was standing on a chair, his legs resting on a table on which sat an ice-cream sundae, on the other side of which was Cheerilee, who was staring, unblinking into his eyes.
Midday had done things that she wasn't sure she could describe without sounding mad. She'd once fought a pony-eating custard tree, she'd ran through blazing deserts and fought gods and monsters, but she'd never heard anypony said something like that before. Although, to give her credit, she only felt slight alarmed, as opposed to Twilight's... reaction.

"No, you, huggy-wuggy-snuggy-huggy-bug." Cheerliee said in return.
"This" Twilight said, "Might be a bit more than I can handle." Midday looked over to see Mrs Cake watching the whole ordeal, apparently stuck to the spot like Applejack, her face shifting between different expressions of pain and embarrassment.

"What's gotten into those two?" the mare asked. There was the sound of tiny hooves clattering, and Midday saw three fillies rush into the room, determination on their faces. Then they saw Applejack and Twilight.
"Uh-oh." Sweetie Belle said.

"I'm all for romance" Mrs Cake said, "But those two have been at it for hours."
"Really?" asked Midday. The CMC turned to look at her, having apparently not noticed her prescence.

"I think so. What time is it?"
"Just after four o'clock." Apple Bloom said.

"What are you, a sundial?" Scootaloo smirked. Then Cheerille spoke again.
"You take the first sip, snuggle-wuggles."

"No, you take it, schnoodle-bump."

"No, you, shnooky-lumps."

"No, you, pookie-pie."
Midday looked to the horrified expression on the faces of the CMC.

"Anypony got a plan?" asked Midday, "Anypony? Please?"
"Sorry, Midday, I'm terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought." Twilight said. Midday turned to the CMC.

"Have you girls got a solution?"
"Us?" Scootaloo said, eyes darting to Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. "It's not our fault. The book didn't tell us they'd be like... that!" She said, waving a hoof as the two ponies balanced a cherry between their lips.

"Snuzzle-wumps."

"Fuzzy-wuggle"

"Okay, that one? Actually hurt. As in physically hurt." Midday said, to nopony in particular. "And this H&H Day is rapidly ascending the list of weirdest days of my life, so please, one of you girls tell me there's a plan."

"Kissy-missy-wissy"

"Nuzzle-fuzzle-wuzzle."

"Plan." Midday winced. "Now."
"The book said if we keep 'em from lookin' into each other's eyes for an hour, it'd break the spell, but... we don' know how."

Mrs Cake didn't seem to have heard what anypony was saying (and who could blame her), and said some truly fortuitous words.
"Well, these loves birds will probably be planning a wedding soon. I can always use the catering business."

The four ponies exchanged glances.
"A wedding! That's brilliant!" Midday smiled.

"How is gettin' hitched gonna keep them apart?!" Apple Bloom asked.
"They aren't really gonna get married" Sweetie Belle said, "They're just going to get ready to get married."

"No, you biscuit-wicuit bear!"

"No, you huggy-wuggy-snuggy-bunny."

"Didn't she already say that one? What sort of girl dates a guy who just repeats everything she says at him?" asked Midday. She frowned. "Oh, no. It's getting to me as well." The Cutie Mark Crusaders quickly rushed over to Big McIntosh and Cheerilee, and with some rapid convincing that Midday couldn't quite focus on, managed to talk the two into rushing off to get married. Of course, once they were gone, Applejack, Twilight and Midday quickly recovered.

"Can we never mention that to anypony ever?" Applejack asked.
"This stays between us. And the girls." Midday nodded.

"Agreed" said Twilight almost instantly.
"Now then, who's going to lead Big McIntosh to go get registered?" Midday said. "It'll distract him for a while." She pointed out once Twilight started glaring at her.

"Ain't there any other way to fix this?"
"I'm pretty sure there isn't, because if there was, I wouldn't be here." Midday said, with utter conviction.

*****

"This has been a wonderful afternoon, Shining Armor."
"Just you wait and see what I've got in store for tonight."

Cadance raised an eyebrow.
"Indeed?"

"You've been hanging out around Princess Luna too long."
"You've been hanging around Celestia too long, Shiney-winey."

*****

"Okay, how long's it been?" Applejack asked.
"We've got five minutes, but I should warn you, Rarity's on a roll today." Midday frowned, watching as the fashionista (who was not happy about being dragged away from whatever-it-was she and Spike had been doing, which had involved a small boat and some ducks, apparently) showed Cheerilee dress after dress, and Sweetie Belle rejected each one.

"They aren't fancy enough" the filly stated. Rarity hadn't been filled in on the situation, and was beginning to get annoyed at her little sister's Rainbow Dash-esque dismissal of her works.
"Well, what does work?" she sighed in exasperation.

Then there was a clattering noise as Scootaloo entered. "We've got a problem" she declared. Midday and Applejack looked out of the window, to see what appeared to be a house moving down the street. A house being towed by Big McIntosh.
"That's about seven hours flight from good" Midday said.

"Ah'll go slow him down" Applejack said. "You stay here and keep Cheerilee busy."
"I've got an idea." Sweetie Belle said, nodding to Scootaloo. The fillies rushed outside.

"How about this one?" Rarity said, holding one nondescript veil up.
"Yeah, yeah, that's great. Fine" Cheerilee said, snatching it from Rarity's magics and rushing into the changing room before anypony could say anything. Midday looked at the nearest clock. Just five more minutes.

The next three and a half minutes were among the longest three and a half minutes of Midday Eclipse's life. She was aware of a yelping noise from outside, and the loud creaking and groaning noises from before had stopped, so presumably Applejack had stopped Big McIntosh, or Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had stopped him. They had one minute left. Which meant it was about to go wr-
"SHMOOPY-DOO!"

"Sweetums?" Cheerliee asked, smashing her way through the little faux-saloon doors of the changing rooms, causing a sligh yelp from Rarity, who tried to stop Cheerilee from running off with her product. However, Cheerilee was quite determined, and far stronger than she looked, so she managed to move on, plowing her way through Midday, and the mare's magical constructs, like they were tissue paper. Midday was sure she could hear the sound of a bell ringing out, though considering she'd just been hit incredibly hard, she wondered if the noise was real. After a few moments, she got to her feet and noticed a large hole a short distance away from the boutique. The CMC were standing next to the hole, staring into it.

"Did it work?" she asked the fillies.
"Girls!" came the confused voice of Cheerilee, "Can you explain why I look like I'm getting married at the bottom of a pit?"

The three fillies looked at each other, then down into the pit, and tried their most innocent looking smiles.
"We may have given you the teeniest, tiniest bit of a love-potion, that may have turned out to have actually been a love poison, and you might have gone the teeniest-tiniest bit nutty" Sweetie Belle stated.

Midday shook her head, and looked over to where Applejack and Twilight were both sprawled in front of a house that had a long piece of rope going around it. A nervous, light purple mare was nudging them.
"-me honestly, am I still asleep?" the mare was asking Twilight, as she helped the mare to her feet.

"I'm afraid not." The purple mare sighed.
"Of course I'm not. If I was... there'd probably be booze."

"Did we get 'em?" asked Applejack, who was adjusting her hat.
"Yes. Your brother and Cheerilee are back to their normal selves." She looked over to the small pit, where Cheerliee was talking to the three fillies, Big McIntosh standing next to her.

"Told'ja we could do it." Applejack smiled, as she tried to focus her eyes. "Easier'n line dancin' with a rattlesnake."
Twilight, the purple mare, and Midday exchanged uncertain glances.

"Now, ah'm gonna go lie down" Applejack said. "Ah've had enough lovey-dovey-stuff to last a lifetime."
"Can't argue with that" Midday replied. "See you back at the library, Twilie?"

"Yes" the unicorn smiled. "I'm just going to talk to the girls myself. There are a few questions I want to put to them."
"What about my house?" asked the mare. Midday sighed, and focused her magic, lifting the house into the air, and slowly moving it back to where it belonged, or at least as close as made no difference.

"Better?" she smiled. The mare just nodded slightly, before muttering "I think need a drink..."
"I know the feeling. I just saw a mare lift an entire house like it was just a heavy rock." Midday smiled not unkindly, before walking back to the library, leaving the poor mare to alternate between staring at her house, and Midday.

When Midday returned to the library she found two ponies standing side to side smiling at her.
"Hello Lyra. Hello Bon-Bon."

"Hi" They chimed, before looking at each other.
"You first, sweetums." Bon-Bon said.

"Okay then, sugarlump. Midday, we wanted to thank you for... well, meddling. I don't know what reason you had for doing it, but we are incredibly grateful."
"Okay" the royal blue unicorn said, before noticing the mares exchange glances.

"We're sorry you had to get dragged into out afairs." Lyra said, "And if there's anything we can ever do to repay you for this, just let us know."
"Almost anything" Bon-Bon said, cautiously. "I'm not letting you get away from me twice." She said to Lyra.

"Aw, BB" the mare smiled, and the two leaned in closer, and closer, an-
"Hey, this is a library, not the school bike shed. Scram." Midday said, trying not to laugh as the two mares walked outside, side-by-side. Finally, Midday let herself collapse. In review, she'd witnessed a mare go mad from stress, fixed her romantic mess, forgotten about Cadance repeatedly, seen two mares say the most teeth-rotting sickly-sweet gibberish she'd even seen, and generally had a truly mad day all around.

"I really hate Hearts and Hooves Day" she muttered, with a slight smile on her face.

*****

Meanwhile, in Canterlot.
"Shining..."
"Yeah."

"I can't help but notice we're in my favourite restaurant, and there's a group of musicians playing my favourite song."
"Yeah..." he said, cautiously, trying not to get lost staring at Cadance.

"And you've been even more charming and wonderful than your usual charming and wonderful self."
"Yes" He said, trying to raise an eyebrow like Cadance's aunts.

The bright pink mare tilted her head. He smiled, and slowly got off his seat and walked over to her, trying to ignore the fact that his heart felt like it was trying to escape.
"Cadance... I had a whole speech prepared, but I'm pretty sure I don't need it at this point. You know how I feel about you, and... well..."
Cadance's eyes went wide and the musicians stopped as Shining Armor's horn glowed and a small red box floated from his pocket. He looked up at Cadance and smiled the most brilliant smile he could manage.

"Cadance, will y-"
"YES! YES!" the mare said, practically leaping on him. The entire restaurant burst into cheering and stamping, especially two mares seated by a window overlooking almost the whole of Canterlot.

"Pay up, Luna" the slightly taller, purple-eyed one whispered to a suddenly irritated looking younger one.
"Hey" Shining Armor said as he and Cadance stood up, now looking slight dishevelled, "You realise this will make Twilight Sparkle your sister in-law, right?"

"You've already got me, Shining Armor. Don't jinx it."
"Oh, come on Cady. What's the worst that could happen?"

Cadance didn't seem to hear him though, too busy as she was holding on to him for dear life.
"I love Hearts and Hooves Day." Shining Armor said to himself.

Author's Note

I wonder if I probably shouldn't have split this chapter up somewhat...
(There was a scene planned with Diamond Tiara being... well, Diamond Tiara, but there just wasn't enough space for it.)

Out of Hearts and Hooves

Twenty minutes after Midday returned to the library, Twilight Sparkle reappeared carrying the potion book the CMC had borrowed from her, along with Big McIntosh and Cheerilee, both ponies looking incredibly nervous around each other. Twilight led them down into the basement, taking no notice of Midday. After a few seconds she decided to see what was going on, and found Twilight examining the schoolteacher in the strange contraption she'd tried to use on Pinkie Pie.

"Okay..." Twilight said slowly, "You'll be fine" she said, smiling. "The potion has had no noticable effect on your system, but I would recommend you eat something."
"Thanks, Twilight Sparkle" the purple earth pony said, nervously looking at Big McIntosh ever few seconds. The two ponies stood there for a moment, and walked towards the stairs, before bumping into each other.

"Sorry" they both uttered, before trying again. Twilight Sparkle sighed.
"I can't believe those three. I must be a fool." Midday just laughed, causing Twilight to jump slightly.

"You didn't know they were going to make a love potion that turned out to be a love poison." She said calmly. "And besides, they were just trying to do their teacher a favour, right?"
"So they said. Repeatedly, in fact." Twilight sighed. Something seemed to occur to her. "Did you really lift a whole house up?"

"Yes" Midday said, calmly. Twilight Sparkle, for the first time as Midday could remember in a long time looked impressed.
"I'm pretty sure I couldn't do that." The mare whispered. Midday just frowned.

"Didn't you manage to lift an Ursa Minor and levitate it well over a mile with only minor difficulty the other year? I am quite certain that however impressive my magic gets, I couldn't do that." She frowned. "Although, to be fair, I've never had to try. However, I'm reasonably sure I could lift the entire library if I had to." She saw the fierce look of disapproval on Twilight's face.
"Doesn't mean I'm going to try" she said, and Twilight's glower faded. The two walked upstairs, and as they did Midday realised something. She was hungry.

"You want to get something to eat?" she asked. Twilight frowned.
"No, no. I've still got a lot of studying on Hearts and Hooves Day to do." Midday turned to the door. "Although..."

Midday turned to see a slightly grin on Twilight's face, "Perhaps later you could tell me some things about these Crystal Ponies you keep mentioning?"
Midday smiled back. "Maybe I will. We'll see."

*****

Midday walked down the street, trying not to notice the slight shade of purple, or the couples out enjoying themselves. She was halfway along the street when she heard hoofsteps.
"Hello there." Trixie smiled, "And where are you rushing off to?"

"I am going to go find dinner" Midday smiled, "You can tag along if you like, I'm pretty sure the local cafes have stopped serving H&H Day couples now."
There was a triumphant 'yes' from Trixie. Midda stared at her in bemusement.

"Trixie has been trying, without much success, to gain entrance to these eateries since lunchtime. Aside from a few carrots, I haven't had much to eat today."
"Better than some ponies." Midday said, absent-mindedly, feeling slightly annoyed now that she realised she'd missed lunch.

"Yes." Trixie said, before something seemed to occur to her. "Tell me, why was that... incredibly muscled farmpony pulling a house? And what is a 'scmoopy-doo'?"
"Don't ask. Trust me, just don't ask" Midday said, as sternly as possible.

*****

As it turned out, the average restaurants were still not selling to non-coupled ponies, which Trixie complained about at length, briefly pausing to take out a small notebook and jot down the name of the waiter who informed them of this, making stern remarks to the shape of 'informing ponies of note' about his conduct. In the finest tradition of waiters everywhere, he just took it in stride, to which Midday calmly insinuated returning to have breakfast, lunch and dinner there every single day of the week, at which point the poor pony paled, and the two mares beat a hasty retreat.

"How in Equestria did you do that?" Trixie asked, aghast. Midday just looked at her and tried to look innocent.
So, the two wound up in the only restaurant in town not serving exclusively to Hearts and Hooves Day patrons, which due to an unfortunate incident that seemed to involve copious amounts of butter, was mostly just serving soup. So Midday found herself eating (or was that drinking?) Forest Mushroom Soup, which she learnt was carefully designed to have as little forest mushrooms as possible. Customers didn't like hallucinating things going through the walls during their meals, apparently. She looked up to see Trixie calmly emptying a small sachet of an odd brown sauce into her soup, which seemed to have lots of rice in it.

"What?" The showmare asked, sounding genuinely confused as to why somepony would fine such an act strange.
"I thought you were gonna put mustard or vinegar in it" Midday said after a moment's hesitation, ignoring the rather strange scents coming from the broth.

"You don't mix mustard and soup" Trixie said, solemnly. "That's just not..." She shook her head, staring at Midday like she was the crazy one.
"Mustard and soup. You're weird, Midday Eclipse." Trixie lifted her spoon and took a sample of it.

"Needs more salt." The showmare-turned chemist said, after a few seconds.
Midday smirked. While Trixie's eating habits were frankly bizarre, it was better than eating alone on Hearts and Hooves Day.

"I can see you smirking" Trixie said, as she sprinkled some salt into her mixture. "Let us not forget that Trixie is not the one proclaiming the existance of non-existant ponies."
"You saying the Crystal Ponies aren't real?" Midday said, raising an eyebrow. Trixie raised her eyebrows in imitation.

"Um... Yes." Trixie said. "Because if they were real, we'd know of them."
Midday banged her spoon against the table like it was an incredibly tiny staff or spear.

"Well," she said, "How about in eight months time we see if I can scrape together some evidence about them?"
'If I'm still here in eight months' Midday thought to herself.

"Why eight months?" Trixie asked, taking another sip of her meal.
"No reason" Midday said quickly.

The two ate mostly in silence for a while after, though Trixie finished first, and in her boredom explained that she was planning on holding her first comeback show in a few weeks time.
"That's good" Midday said. Trixie smiled slightly, and it was amazingly unlike the mare's usual smiles, in that it looked genuine.

"Thanks. I suppose I do have you to thank for that, as well. Had you not stolen Trixie's hat... I would probably still be thinking of getting revenge on Twilight Sparkle." The two smiled nervously.
"And I've got some new types of spell ready to show. The only problem is that I don't have an assistant. Apparently practicing magic tricks on a filly is alright, until a point." Trixie leaned over the table and whispered. "Miss Doo scares me."

"What? Ditzy Doo the lovable mailmare? Scares the Great and Powerful Trixie?"
Trixie just looked at Midday, and when she spoke it was with as much seriousness as she could bring to bear. "An angry single mother? Trixie would much rather face an Ursa Major with only a wet towel at her disposal."

After a few moments of silence, Trixie sighed. "Now, if you will excuse Trixie, she is going to return to the library." And she left, leaving Midday to drink her soup in peace.
For a few moments. She was aware of a horrible, high-pitched bleating noise. She looked around the restaurant, and saw nothing but ponies calmly eating food or talking with loved ones. She quickly turned herself invisible and went outside, where she saw a horrifying sight.

Three tired and unhappy looking little fillies she recognised very clearly being circled by two other fillies, who had nasty smiles on their little faces. One was bright pink with grey hair, and the other was varying shades of silver. On closer inspection, the one she recognised as being Silver Spoon didn't look entirely like she was enjoying herself, unlike Diamond Tiara.
There was a name she knew. She had met Scootaloo, of course, or Sonic Boom, as the mare had called herself in Midday's time, and she had met Apple Bloom, both of whom had describe the mare's deeds at length. And she had certainly heard of one of Sweet Belle's songs, which explained in no uncertain terms how the unicorn mare felt of her former tormentor. Strangely enough, that song had been critisiced by parents despite being a mare describing the bullying she and her friends had endured.

"-nestly, a Hearts and Hooves Day card to Miss Cheerilee? That's so pathetic. But then, it's not like anypony would send blank-flanks a Cutie Mark. No, wait, card, yes, card." Diamond Tiara smiled the exact sort of smile that usually needed bricks to remove.
"Leave us alonge, Diamond Tiara" Scootaloo said. It was slightly horrifying to see a pony she'd know to be constantly full of life looking so... timid. The two fillies made 'oohing' noises, and Midday wondered why nopony had noticed this. She ignored the bullies' awful comeback and rushed back inside her soup.

"Just need to borrow this for a moment" she smiled as she took it outside before the staff could say anything. She checked to make sure the liquid had cooled enough. It had.
"Waste of good soup" she frowned. But it was in the name of a higher cause. Or a lower one, she supposed. She carefully floated it above Diamond Tiara's head, waiting for Silver Spoon to move just out of the way. Evidently the girls had noticed the floating bowl, and were slowly moving backwards. Silver Spoon had the prescence of mind to recognise this, and looked up.

"DT?" She said.
"Shut up, I'm busy" The pink earth pony said, frowning as her rant was forgotten. "Great. That was a good one, too. Thanks, Silver Spoon." She snapped. Then she saw the filly taking a step backward, and looked up.

Midday tilted the bowl, and the half-full bowl of soup emptied all over Diamond Tiara, who gave what Midday had to admit was a satisfying yelp of horror, followed by sputterings. Midday walked over to the scene as the filly fixed her with an almost barely intimidating glare.
"Are you INSANE?" Diamond Tiara yelled, as bits of mushroom slid down her mane. "Who do you think you are, dumping soup all over me?" For a brief second it seemed to register to the mare that she was trying to intimidate a mare who was already twice her size, and Midday wasn't exactly an average-sized mare. "I-I'm gonna get my dad, and he's going to sue you for being... mad!"

"Your dad?" Midday said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes" the filly said, sticking her nose in the air.

"That would be... who, exactly?" Midday did not regard herself as a bully, she did not like hurting others and had more than once in her childhood gotten into trouble for taking on bullies, but she did feel the slightest bit of satisfaction at the shock on Diamond Tiara's face.
"My dad is Filthy Rich. Of the Ponyville Riches, and we've been in this town since it was founded." The filly stomped her foot for extra measure.

"Goodness." Midday deadpanned. "Your family goes back a few generations, then." She looked thoughtful.
"But, that's interesting. Your family name is 'Rich', and I presume your grandfather's name is Rich"

"Yeah." Apple Bloom said, from a few feet away.
"And I'm guessing it's something like 'Awful', or 'Stinking', which does raise the question of why you, Filthy Rich's only daughter, doesn't go by the name of Rich." There was a look of alarm of Diamond Tiara's face now, and Midday raised an eyebrow.

"Let's see now, your assumed name probably shares the initial of your given name, and given your evident family tradition, I would hazard that your name is..." She made a slight show of thinking the process over, before smiling,
"Disgustingly Rich" She said, triumphantly. Then her smile vanished. "Yeah, that's it, isn't it? 'Disgustingly Rich'. Fitting. You are disgusting." She said, her voice hard, and cold.

"I don't pretend to understand what motivates you, and I really don't want to. You are a loathsome child, relentlessly picking on three ponies who have never done a single thing to you, for Luna only knows what reason." She stared at the mare. "I'd hazard that perhaps it's jealousy. Jealousy because on their worst day they're better ponies than you'll ever been on your best. And that just drives you mad" she hissed. Diamond Tiara was shaking.
"Now, normally somepony would say that you're young, and you'll grow out of this, but I think we all know that's a load of ponyfeathers. You are incapable of loving anything that isn't a bag of bits, you are incapable of trusting anything that doesn't have fine print, and you deserve so much less than what you've got, and so much more than what you've got coming to you." She looked at the little quivering mass of pink in front of her. Then she looked at the trembling ball of silver that was Silver Spoon. She slowly walked over to the filly, and her expression softened.

"You could do so much better than this" she said, calmly. "You really could. If only you could see it. You are capable of so much more, Silver Spoon. But you won't realise until it's too late." She shook her head.
"What a waste."

And with that, she slowly moved away, pausing only to look at the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who looked like they were considering trying to talk to Diamond Tiara. Then, Midday kept walking, not stopping even as she heard Diamond Tiara yell slurs at whoever approached her first.
She felt her heart sink. She knew Diamond Tiara would probably brush off what she said, probably blame Silver Spoon for not stepping in to defend her, or just cry and rage and take it out on somepony else, but she still felt quite terrible about having done that.

'No' She said to herself, 'She won't ever change. You know of the things she's done, and the things she will do. Just because she's a filly doesn't make her actions any less reprehensible.'
But, she reminded herself, Diamond Tiara was still somepony's child. Somepony's little filly. And there was always, always the chance that perhaps, just perhaps, she might have taken in some of what Midday had said.

The question was, what would Diamond Tiara's response be?
For a moment, Midday stood there, wondering whether the harshness she'd used on Diamond Tiara was her own doing, or if... just possibly... She frowned. Of the two options before her, neither was at all encouraging.

She quickly hurried back to the library.

*****

"-ere we were, and the lady's just ranting on at Rarity, going on about how feeble she is, and how awful her designs are, and how, you know, the sort of things supervillains say."
Midday's alarm seemed to vanish at the sound of Spike's voice. Even if she was feeling somewhat jittery, and no small amount of distaste with herself, she didn't want to bring it anywhere near Spike. She opened the door to find Spike sitting on a chair in front of Twilight. The mare had a small notepad next to her, which was closed, and she had a rather sweet look of interest on her face as she listened to what Spike was saying.

"So what happened next?" Twilight asked, as Midday slowly walked past them.
"Well, I'm not really sure." Spike said, scratching his ear. "I mean, I was hanging upside down and all the blood was going to my head, so that didn't help..." Midday stood next to Twilight, curious at Spike's tale of how Rarity and he had spent Hearts and Hooves Day, of how the dragon and the fashionista had been abducted by Rarity's self-appointed evil arch-nemesis Generous Embrace, and how in a curious turn of events the evil designer had been crushed by no less than fifteen grand pianos, and how the pair's intended place to hang out had been damaged in a curious accident, so the two had just gone to the lake.

"Someone's had a busy day, then" Midday smiled. Spike just looked bashful.
"I guess. But I bet your day was just as great."

Midday shifted on her hooves slightly.
"Yes. Great. That is exactly how I would define it."

"Is something wrong?" asked Twilight.
Midday looked at her hooves.

"I said some very unpleasant things just now, to a filly." She muttered. Twilight looked horrified. Spike just frowned.
"If it was Diamond Tiara, don't get upset" he said calmly.

"Spike!" Twilight snapped.
"What? Diamond Tiara's a jerk!" he said defensively.

Twilight just frowned, and gave Spike a look that indicated the little dragon was going to get an infamous Twilight Sparkle Lecture for his comments.
"Would it help if I said I feel awful about it?" Midday said.

Twilight gave Midday her coldest glare, before she sighed. "A bit. To be fair, I have heard some of what Apple Bloom and her friends say about her but... I can't believe anypony would be that cruel. Over Cutie Marks."
Midday decided not to share her theory on the filly's behaviour, just in case it damaged Twilight Sparkle's near-endless faith in her fellow pony.

"Well, how about we change the subject?" Twilight said, after a few moments silence.
"To what?" asked Spike.

"Well, Midday said she was going to tell me about these so-called Crystal Ponies."
Midday felt a sudden shock.

"Yes, I suppose I did, rather. Actually, it's kinda fitting to talk about them, in a way." She smiled. Twilight just looked confused, and lifted a quill from across the room, bringing it over to her notepad.
"But, before I tell you that" She said, smiling slightly as she tried to remember everything she'd read about the Crystal Empire, "I have to start at the beginning..." She motioned for Spike to move off the chair and let her sit down. She took a deep breath... and then was startled by a knocking at the door.

"Yes?" Twilight asked, opening the door. Rarity walked in, smiling slightly.
"Oh, Twilight. And Midday. What in the world are you three up to?" She asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Midday was just about to give Twilight a history lesson." Spike grinned, earning himself a slight frown from Twilight.
"Really?" Rarity said, trying not to look amused at the concept. "Also, there appear to be three fillies lurking around outside. Apparently they have something to say to you, Twilight Sparkle."

The Cutie Mark Crusaders walked in, and Midday noted a few brief alarmed glances aimed at her, as if they'd forgotten she resided in the library.
"We're sorry, Miss Sparkle" the three fillies said. Twilight just smiled.

"It's okay girls, but next time, if you want to show somepony you care about them, please find a more constructive means of showing your appreciation. And read the instructions in full next time."
The fillies nodded at that.

"Hey, they managed to make a successful love poison on the first try. That's something, right?" Midday smiled. Twilight glowered at her for saying that.
"Thanks, but we already tried being Cutie Mark Crusaders Potions Makers." Scootaloo said.

"How that go?" Midday asked. The fillies exchanged looks.
"Trust us, you don't want to know" the pegasus said.

"Well, that's that sorted then." Rarity smiled, turning to leave.
"Oh, you don't want to stay and hear about the Crystal Ponies?" Twilight asked. Rarity stopped, and turned, a strange look in her eyes which made both Midday and the girls nervous.

"Crystal... ponies?" she said quietly.
"Apparently." Twilight said. "I was going to take notes on it, and ask Princess Celestia about it once we were done."

"I don't know." Scootaloo said, "I've got... places to be."
"An' ah've got chores to do." Apple Bloom added. Sweetie Belle looked pancied as her mind couldn't think of a suitable excuse.

"Oh, I promise I'll try to not make it boring, and it's got some good stuff anyway." Midday smiled.
"Such as?" Scootaloo asked.

"Well, there's a huge fight at the end for all of Equestria. Betrayal, sacrifice, carnage, bone-chilling terror." Rarity looked uncertain, but if anything got Scootaloo's attention, it was the promise of an adrenalin rush. Not so much with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, though considering they'd seen their teacher saying goofy pet names with Big McIntosh earlier, and Diamond Tiara apparently breaking down into tears at her hooves, Midday wondered what was left for them to be scared of.
"You promise?" Scootaloo asked.
"Of course."

"Alright then, I guess I can stay for a while." Scootaloo smiled.
"Oh, lot of ponies in here" came the voice of Trixie. "What's going on? Somepony explode from too much love?"

"Cool history lessons." Scootaloo said.
"If I can ever start" Midday deadpanned.

"We'll be quiet." Rarity said, assuringly.
Midday smiled, and looked at Trixie, who slowly walked over to sit beside Twilight. Midday took a deep breath as she tried to find the right frame of mind for narrating.

"Far to the north, beyond the woodlands, and wastelands, beyond even the mountains, in the middle of what we would call the Frozen Wastes, lies the last and greatest of all the Ancient Pony Kingdoms. The Crystal Empire."
She looked at the slightly awed-looks on everypony's faces, save Twilight, who was quickly scribbling notes, and Spike, for obvious reasons.

"Its cities stretched across the hills and plains of those lands..."

Author's Note

So, yeah. I don't like Diamond Tiara. But, she is incredibly unsympathetic, from all appearances.
(Apart from the fact that she apparently loves her dad, of course.)
(But let's not get started on her or we'll be here all week.)

Flashback the Seventh: Whispers in the Dark

Twilight Twinkle aged seventeen, and eleven months (physically twenty-one)
It was evening in Ponyville, and as the night came in slowly in the early spring evening, ponies began to relax. On the edge of Ponyville, in the residence of Mayor Fluttershy, all was quiet. The various animals that occupied the place were relaxed, most of the rabbits just sitting next to the cosy fireplace alongside the pegasus owner of the house. The mare slowly read her way through an old book, one that had in fact helped her buy the small cottage she lived in. Her first novel. Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone. Over the years she'd changed her opinion on the Daring Do books. The first had been apprehension, wondering whether the pony she'd based the design of the title character on would take offense, then joy at learning the books were popular, then mild irritation at herself for all the errors, as helpfully pointed out in a long, long letter from an admirer all the way from Canterlot. She had completely forgotten about the letter from the young Twilight Sparkle the day she met the unicorn, partially from her usual social awkwardness, and also because, if she remembered correctly, she hadn't wanted to be known as the mare who wrote Daring Do books. Even though Ditzy had managed to figure it out one day. She hadn't really wanted to write as many as she had, but Angel had been insistant on it for some reason. And her heart had soared the day Rainbow Dash declared she read the books as well. Fluttershy had regarded that as a true victory for her writing, and one of the top ten days of her life. At that point the door to the cottage opened, and the pony who was responsible for half of the days of the list entered, an odd smile she'd been seeing on his face a lot recently on his lips.

"Mother." He nodded, before walking merrily past the fireplace. There was a slight buzz, and Fluttershy was certain she could hear him humming. She gently set the book down and turned to look at him, smiling as she did. Even after all these years, the fact that he called her mother made her want to cry, just a little bit. She remembered the day Whisper Wind had first said 'mama', when she'd actually cried for seventeen minutes at that.
"And what are we so cheerful about?" she asked. He said nothing, gently moving about the tiny kitchenette, still humming.
"Whisper Wind" she said, with a touch of motherly authority. He turned to look at her, still smiling.

"Well, I just... I was thinking of visiting the Crystal City again." He said, his wings fluttering slightly. Fluttershy smiled. Her son had a great fondness for the city, ever since Twilight Sparkle's daughter had asked for him to journey along with her to see it. There had been a noticable change from her son after that visit. She hadn't been sure quite what exactly the reason was for that, but he'd occasionaly just start smiling, in a way Fluttershy had seen once or twice before, including on Mr McIntosh, and Rainbow Dash when they'd found their own personal Very Special Someponies. Fluttershy had always assumed something had happened between Whisper and Twilight Twinkle, and while she wasn't entirely sure the filly was the most responsible mare around, she'd never held any malice towards the girl either. But for the last few years, every chance he got Whisper had been travelling to the distant city. And she couldn't blame him. The city was almost like one massive work of art, from the green fields, and the dazzling mountain-like castle. But she knew exactly what was on Wisp's mind. Once that nice mare had shown up on her doorstep one night, blushing and shuffling and asking if Wisp wanted to go to a dance with her, everything had clicked into place.

"Visiting it for somepony?" she asked. He blushed. And muttered something. There was a slight pause, followed by a sigh.
"There's something I should probably tell you, mom." He said, calm as always. He looked down at his hooves.

"It's about her." Fluttershy looked at him for a moment. Then she realised who he meant by that. His real mother. His birth mother, not his real mother, a stern un-Fluttershy-like voice in her mind stated.
"What about her?"

He looked uncertain, and a bit pained. "Well, it's just that... we still don't know what she's actually planning, or what she wants, and... I just think it would be a lot safer for everypony if I were somewhere more difficult for her and her armies to access. Somewhere more difficult to attack than, say, Ponyville." Fluttershy looked into his eyes and saw there was something else, something causing the emotional distress in him.
"There's something else." She said. He nodded, and walked towards the window.

"It's Twilight Twinkle" he said, sighing slightly. "Ever since the incident with Discord, she... has been a bit unusual around me. At first I thought it was simply because I believed her tale about her father." Fluttershy felt a pang of guilt about the poor girl. She knew exactly how it felt to have one's mind played with by the chaos deity, but he'd managed to out-do himself with whatever he'd done to her. Apparently the medics at Canterlot General had tried suggesting spells similar to the sort Twilight Sparkle had used to restore Fluttershy and her friends from their 'Discorded' (As Rainbow Dash had dubbed it) state, and that had met with frosty reception from the young princess. Or at least everypony called her a princess, despite her not having wings, or a crown, though the mare had never seemed troubled by that fact.

"But it isn't. It's much simpler." There was a slight pause, as the stallion (and she had to think of him as a stallion, because he was taller than her now, and therefore couldn't really be called her little colt) shuffled slightly. "She's attracted to me" he said, in the same tone one used to describe tax hikes. Fluttershy ruffled her wings slightly, and realised what he'd said.
"Oh. Oh!" She suddenly felt the need for a strong cup of tea. After a few minutes she had prepared one cup of the most soothing tea she had lying around.

"So, you haven't just told her?" She said once she had taken a few sips. He shook his head.
"I... Keep meaning to, but every time we meet, she's just..." He turned to look at her, his face filled with sadness. Fluttershy just nodded, not sure what to say to such remarks. "Sometimes she just stops smiling."

The stallion looked down at his hooves. "You don't mind my going to the Crystal Empire, do you?" He said, quietly. She smiled, fairly certain she could tell why he was going there, and it had nothing to do with defensive capabilities.
"You're a grown stallion, Whisper Wind. There's not really much I can do about it." A slight smile began to move across Fluttershy's face. "Is she pretty?"

"Ye-" He stopped, apparently shocked at what he'd said, and frowned, though it seemed to be more out of habit than any genuine irritation, before looking flustered. He sighed. "I think I'm going to go to bed. Feeling slightly sleepy." He said. And with that he walked up the stairs, leaving Fluttershy sitting by the crackling fire, smiling to herself.
Her son had a girlfriend. She promised to make him explain things to Twilight Twinkle in the morning, and then went back to reading her book. After a while she apparently fell asleep. She dreamt an incredibly alarming dream of being in a small ramshackle cottage in the middle of the Everfree, as something large, hairy and covered in legs tried to smash in. Then she was vaguely aware that she wasn't dreaming the loud smashing noise. Her eyes tore open as two changelings smashed through the front door and windows, landing in front of her and hissing at her.

"Give up the royalty, she-pony!" One said.
Fluttershy wasn't entirely awake, but she still recognised their aggresion. Some years ago she would have probably curled up into a little ball and let them waltz through her house and take what they wished. But nopony was taking her son. She raised her hooves, and leapt.

*****

Fluttershy was aware of a young, yet familiar sounding voice in her ears, and a slightly soft feeling beneath her cheek. She opened her eyes slowly, to see she was lying on her bed, and a mint-green and pink mare was looking at her with concern. She recognised the bubblegum-pink mane quickly enough.
"Minty" she said, seizing onto that and allowing recollection to fall into place. She'd injured several changelings, but there had been several of them, and she may have been incredibly strong, but she had little in the way of actual combat training. Then terror gripped her mind as she rushed across the landing on her hallway to Whisper's bedroom. Her son's bedroom was a mess. Apparently he'd put up a fight, but it hadn't been enough.
"Oh no."

*****

Far from Ponyville, in an undisclosed location, several changelings dragged a prone form across a room, until they halted in the middle of a large polished granite floor. Something in the darkness around them moved, and a pair of piercing green eyes opened.
"Hello" A voice whispered, "Son."

*****

Some days later, in Canterlot, in the vast dining hall of the Princesses' School for Gifted Unicorns, Twilight Twinkle sat with her friends, laughing and talking. Her friends, she noted. Actual friends, who liked her. She actually felt happier than she'd felt in a long time, all of her issues with her mother forgotten.
"So we're just out of there, and... what was it you said?" Star Song smirked. Twinkle rolled her eyes.

"'Are you crazy?'" she said, imitating what she'd said the other day, "'I'm not going back in there, it's full of oatmeal.'" The group of ponies laughed at that one, one of her friends even fell off her chair, causing a few heads in the hall to turn. The group continued on with their laughing and joking for some time, until Twilight Twinkle noticed something, and her smile disappeared. Star Song noticed, her concern growing as she saw the royal blue unicorn slip off her chair, and walk over to a pony calmly reading a newspaper. It grew when she saw the mare politely yet firmly take the newspaper from him. Then her face sank, and she began to stride out of the room.
"Twinkle?" Star Song called after her, getting no response. "Twilight?!" She said to the rapid moving pony. She looked at the main headline of the newspaper, which announced
'Ponyville Mayor's Son Abducted!'

Star Song quickly flew after her friend, eventually catching up with her stuffing what few possessions she had into a small saddlebag.
"What are you doing?" she asked. Twilight Twinkle looked up at her, a cold look in her eyes. Star Song wasn't entirely sure she was actually looking at the mare she'd grown to know over the last few years.

"I'm going to Ponyville" she muttered. Star Song could gather that she obviously knew the stallion who'd been abducted, but something else occured to her.
"You're just going to rush off? Just like that? Does that make sense to you?"

The mare glowered at her. "It doesn't have to make sense! I l-... I lo-..." She frowned, and then looked like utterly miserable. Star Song looked in concern. "What?" She reached out a hoof to the mare, who looked utterly lost.
"He's my friend, and if there's anything I can do to help him, I will do what I can." And at that, she walked right past Star Song. The purple pegasus looked heartbroken, and gently kicked a hoof against the floor. She had a terrible feeling she wasn't going to see the royal blue unicorn again.

*****

Twilight Twinkle disembarked from the train, taking in the smell of apples, which seemed almost offensive to her as she thought of changelings, of what that farmer had done to her mother. She quickly made her way to the Golden Oaks library, which her mother claimed as residence, and opened the door. She found a familiy of pink-maned ponies all working in the area, and they all turned to fix her with near-identical toothy grins.

"Hi!" They all smiled at once, and Twinkle wondered why she wasn't teleporting away. She walked past twenty-odd confused faces upstairs, where she set her saddlebags down, and let herself collapse. She quickly frowned, and resolved to get to work.
As it transpired, she didn't have much to go on, since the scene had been barricaded off by members of the guard, and the guard reported to Rainbow Dash, who would probably tell her mother if she was there, so she returned to the library to fume and try and think of a plan. Unfortunately as the sun began to set, she still wasn't sure of anything she could do, outside of rushing out into the wild to look for Wisp, which was beginning to look more and more tempting as time went on.

Then she heard the front door opening, and voices. She walked over to the door to the stairs, and listened in mounting horror.

*****

"C'mon, Fluttershy, there's no need to be such a gloomy gertie. Dashie's ponies will find him." Pinkie Pie smiled brightly, as she always did. Fluttershy smiled slightly. Then she looked around the library, which looked almost exactly the same as it had when they'd all lived in Ponyville, before Rarity and Rainbow Dash had moved away. She looked at Pinkie Pie, who was saying something about chocolate eggs, but she could see Pinkie was giving at least some thought to the fact that it apparently took a disaster to bring them back together.
"Doesn't seem like Twilight Sparkle to be late." Fluttershy said. Pinkie's smile vanished.

"Twilight Sparkle is never late" the mare said. "Nor is she early. She arrives precisely when she means to."
The front door opened, and the two mares turned to see a purple pony enter, who's weary look vanished when she was embraced by the two mares.

"You're late" Pinkie said, before breaking out into a wide grin. There was a slight smile from Twilight Sparkle, instead of the annoyance or panic the mare would have displayed back when they first knew each other.
"Yes, sorry. I was... distracted by..." For a moment she looked both incredibly younger, and incredibly older, and her wings ruffled slightly.

"Anyway" She said, smiling again, "I'm here now. And we're just waiting for Rainbow Dash to show up." She walked over to the centre of the room. Her horn glowed, and four chairs appeared. Pinkie looked appreciatively at the one obviously meant for her, and quickly sat down on its with a content sigh. Twilight looked about the room.
"Does anypony want anything to eat?"

"Yes." Pinke said calmly. "Just biscuits though. And no coffee, before you ask, because I had coffee when I was carrying Banofee and..." She made a curious expression that was both smile and frown. Fluttershy just nodded. The tenth Pie child was capable of bursts of manic excitement that put her mother to shame, including one occasion where the filly had spoke fast enough to shatter windows. Fluttershy was fairly certain that the filly's behaviour was not the result of her mother drinking caffeine, but when it came to the Pies, almost anything was possible.

"Okay, no caffeine for Pinkie. Hot chocolate, or chocolate milk, then?" Pinkie smiled and nodded. "Anything for you Fluttershy?"
She just shook her head. "No, no, I already had lunch, My aides keep saying I need to 'keep my strength up', and all my paper seems to keep disappearing today." She sighed, and relaxed in her chair. "They're good ponies."
Twilight Sparkle just nodded and walked into the kitchen, leaving Fluttershy and Pinkie sitting along, Pinkie's eyes beginning to close slightly.

"So, when's it due?" Fluttershy asked. Pinkie's eyes opened, and she smiled.
"Soon, the doc says. I hope it's a colt. Or a filly. Or a filly and a colt. Or two fillies and two colts." She said, slightly slower than usual. From the looks of things, Pinkie's near-limitless supply of energy was beginning to run low, though she still maintained her usual cheerful attitude. "Though the doc keeps saying four babies at once isn't possible." Pinkie pulled out a pair of sunglasses.

"But he forgot the Pie Family motto. 'Go beyond the impossible and kick reason to the curb.'" Fluttershy just smiled at that, as one usually did when exposed to Pinkie for long enough, and the strange became simply unsual.
"Have you thought of what to name him, or her?"

"I though 'Bumbleberry' would be good, even if it's a filly or colt."
Then, there was a knocking on the door, in a fashion the two recognised. Fluttershy walked over to the door, and opened it. A sky-blue pegasus stood there, a polished golden helmet covering her multi-coloured mane. Her stoic expression was quickly replaced by the broadest possible smile when she saw Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy!" The mare said, embracing the pegasus, who felt the wind knocked out of her.
"H-hello, Rainbow Dash." She said, once she'd regained her breath, making sure to smile back.

"Hiya Dashie! I like your hat." Pinkie said.
"Hey, Pinkie Pie." Rainbow Dash's eyes quickly noticed Pinkie's noticable mass.

"Gosh, that's a big one you've got there." She smiled. Pinkie just smiled back. "Wouldn't be surprised if it turns out you've got twins or something, or a small village." Rainbow Dash's smile didn't flicker when a pillow hit her in the head.
"So, Rainbow Dash, how have you been?" Fluttershy asked. The pegasus sat down on her chair, which reclined slightly when she sat in it. Pinkie pouted slightly, and began investigating whether her chair reclined. It didn't.

"Not bad. Not bad. Managed to get my book published." She said, her smile changing into a grin, but there was something about it.
"Yes." Fluttershy said calmly, "A Daring Do book, wasn't it?" Rainbow Dash looked sheepish, yet also like someone trying to impress an aloof big sibling.

"What did you think?" She said. Fluttershy looked uncertain. "Be honest." Rainbow Dash said. Fluttershy sighed, and Pinkie looked concerned. Some twenty-four years later, and all three remembered what had happened the first time Fluttershy displayed her 'freaky sowing knowledge'. For such a nice pony, she could be pretty remorseless.
"Well... the writing's not bad, the language is a bit simplistic, and your author avatar is... blatant. And the philsophical musings don't really hold up to close scrutiny." Fluttershy looked down at the cushion she was sitting on.

"And why in the world did you choose that title?"
Rainbow Dash bit her lip. "Yeah, I... didn't choose that. The title I'd given it had already been taken, and the one after that, and the next, and the next..." She muttered something about lawyers.

Then two things happened at once. Twilight Sparkle finally returned with snacks and drinks, and there was another knocking on the door. Rainbow Dash walked over to the door, and calmly opened it, to find what at first glance looked like a floating hat. Underneath the hat was a unicorn with elegantly styled hair and three gemstones for a Cutie Mark.
"Rainbow Dash! Oh, it's good to see you again." The mare said, sauntering past the mare. "Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie."

"Rarity?" Twilight Sparkle said, confused, "I thought you wouldn't be able to make it."
Rarity laughed, "Did you really think I'd busy myself with some dull fashion show when poor Fluttershy needs help?"

"No. I just thought you wouldn't be able to show up."
"No Applejack?"

"She's in Manehattan, attending to family business" Twilight Sparkle sighed, secretely glad that her arranged schedule for the meeting wasn't completely disrupted, even if it meant all her friends weren't together again. Her horn glowed, summoning a plush velvet-covered chair for Rarity, who eyed it approvingly and sat down.
"Okay, well, in case we aren't all in the know, Fluttershy's son, Whisper Wind has been kidnapped by changelings." Twilight Sparkle looked at Rarity, who had moved her seat to be next to Fluttershy, who even after all these years and all the self-improvement she'd gone through, still managed to generate incredible levels of sympathy when she looked sad.

"This was apparently done on the command of Whisper Wind's... birth mother" Twilight noticed the slight look of anger flash across Fluttershy's face, "The Changeling Queen." There was a gasp from Pinkie Pie.
"Unfortunately, attempts at locating the boy are hampered by the fact that we have no means of locating the changelings, but..." Her horn glowed, and an illusion of a vast desert appeared in front of her. "We believe they are somewhere beyond the Appleoosan frontier. The problem is finding out where."

From upstairs, Twilight Twinkle slowly listened in.
"So, what's the plan, then?" Rarity asked.

"Rainbow Dash and I were going to take a group of guards, find the changeling queen and try to ascertain her motives. But..." Twilight Sparkle looked at the pegasus, "We think the Changeling Queen is doing this as a means of saber-rattling, perhaps even planning to use her son being raised by ponies as an excuse to declare war."
"What?" Pinkie said, scratching her head.

"Bearing in mind how she acted at during the wedding." Twilight Sparkle muttered, the four other mares suddenly feeling a slight stab in the heart, "I think, based on all the evidence, that she is insane. Just utterly insane."
Twilight Twinkle, meanwhile, was slowly examining the windows, but figured that probably wouldn't work. She looked at the exit to the little balcony, and smiled. A plan was beginning to form in her mind. She quietly opened the door, and looked out over the balcony. There was a considerable drop. She frowned.

*****

"I don't see why we don't just go in there and kick the crap out of her. We've done it before." Rainbow Dash fumed.
"Well, because when we did that she scavenging and barely capable. We don't even know how strong they are, but if they were confident enough to send only a few on their number to snatch one stallion, I think we sho-" Twilight Sparkle stopped, her ears twitching.

"Twilight? What's the matter?" Rarity asked.
Twilight Sparkle frowned, and rushed upstairs. A few moments later Rainbow Dash and Rarity followed after her. They found her staring at the door to the balcony window, before the mare rushed out into the evening air. Then they saw a look of shock and alarm on her face, as a barely visible royal-blue form rushed off into the distance.

"Come back here right this moment, young lady!" The purple alicorn roared, though the young mare paid her mother no heed, retreating out of sight. Rainbow Dash and Rarity exchanged glances.
"I could go get her" Rainbow Dash suggested, though Twilight Sparkle said nothing.
"It'd be easy. I could just fly over there, catch her, bring her back."

"No" Twilight Sparkle said, her voice sounding alarmingly hollow, "No, we've got other things to do."
Rarity and Rainbow Dash watched as Twilight Sparkle walked back downstairs, their faces mirrored expressions of concern.

*****

Twilight Twinkle set out from Ponyville with no general plan in mind, heading in the general direction of Appleloosa. It was only when she was halfway there that she realised she had no plan, no money, no means of looking for Wisp. All her life she'd wanted to explore faraway places and go on adventures, and she'd finally got one, and managed to sabotage it beyond salvation already. She hadn't even been able to get a train there, since she'd left Ponyville in such a hurry. A quick stopover in a small town and a visit to a local bank solved at least a few of those problems, allowing her to get a train. However, the long train ride gave her time to think about what she had done, and her previous issues had time to reassert themselves, meaning she arrived in Appleloosa feeling distinctly put out. She decided to explore the town, wandering at random around it, before eventually settling down on a small sun-warmed bench to think, which proved more difficult than she'd expected, however the thought of seeing her mother again quickly gave her some new determination. Eventually, after several long minutes, an idea came to her. She made her way to the centre of Appleloosa, ignoring the mild west dancers, and sat down, closed her eyes and focused.

Every pony everywhere was taught that magic was present in all ponies, regardless of species. What she planned to do was make a spell of her own, one that could find a pony based on their unique magical imprint. If her mother was there, she'd probably be getting some long-winded lecture on how that was 'not scientifically possible' from the mare who managed to swap her friend's Cutie Marks, then survive being vaporised. She was Twilight Twinkle, daughter of the Princess of Magic, and she didn't care about whether it was possible or not. She focused, reaching out with her magic, not really certain of what she was supposed to be doing. She thought of Wisp, of his light blue eyes, his golden-brown fur, the way he smiled, and... several thoughts about Wisp occured to her at that point, which she ignored. She could interrogate him after she found him.

"I know who I'm looking for." She said. She focused her magic further. Then, she felt something. She opened her eyes. Appleoosa seemed suddenly tinged with darkness, despite it being the middle of the day. She frowned, and looked around. She saw a pair of ponies walking by, glowing faintly. From all appearances it had worked. Now all she had to do was find the changelings. She thought of Wisp again, all the time they'd spent together, of how he'd never directly complained about any of her nonsense, how he'd believed her when almost nopony else did, how good and patient he'd been. She focused, and found the ground seeming to move beneath her feet, moving out towards the vast desert beyond Appleoosa, and a strange blob of green moving through the wastelands. She smiled, and then found herself back in Appleoosa, with a number of ponies staring at her. She smiled, stood up, and ran out toward the desert.

*****

It occured to her, after a while, that perhaps running into the middle of a desert had not been anywhere near the best idea she could have had, especially after a short while when it became increasingly difficult to see, with the blazing sun above her head, and it was getting harder and harder for her to think, and she was so thirsty, and everything was spinning.
Then she passed out, sliding part the way down a sand dune. For a few moments she lay there, and then a shadow passed over her.

*****

Twilight Twinkle felt something cold pressing against her head. She slowly opened a eye to see darkness. After a few moments it turned out to be a cave. A rather small, unimpressive cave, all things considered, but she wasn't out in the desert. There was a small bowl lying by her head. She slowly focused her magic, and lifted it towards her mouth. It turned out it had water in it.
"Just don't drink all of it" a voice said. She felt startled, but not enough to drop the bowl. She looked over the way to see a shape lurking at the other end of the cave. It looked like a pony, and the voice was certainly masculine.

"What brings you this far?" the voice said. There was something familiar about it.
"I'm... looking for somepony" she said, slowly.

"In a desert?"
"Yes." The pony made a small noise.

"He goes by the name of Whisper Wind, he's from Ponyville, and I'm reasonably certain his mother misses him terribly." She slowly rolled on to her hooves and stared at the stallion.
"He's about the same height as me, bright blue eyes, nicer than he thinks he is, and I'd recognise him in a heartbeat." She said, confidently.

"Is that so?"
For a moment there was utter silence. "Wisp, knock it off with the disguise."

There was a slight ruffling sound, followed by the stallion shimmering. His fur turned a familiar gold-brown colour, and a pair of wings appeared on his back.
"That's not quite what I meant" she said. For a moment, there was a look of apprehension on his face, and his form shimmered. In the place of the immaculately-maned pegasus stood a charcoal-grey changeling. Twilight Twinkle frowned at him.

"What?" he asked.
"Well" Twilight Twinkle said, calmly, "It's just something that I've been dwelling on for a while, but... your mother is the Changeling Queen, yes?"

"Yes." He said. She was fairly certain he could guess what she was about to say.
"So, wouldn't that make you... different from the regular changeling?" The look on his face told her all she needed to know. "What do you really look like, Whisper Wind?"

He looked at her, and there seemed to be sadness in his eyes, though she couldn't tell why. His horn glowed, and his form seemed to melt away. In the place of the average sized changeling was a taller, slender form, looking not entirely unlike the Changeling Queen herself, only masculine, and with more muscles. And then Twilight Twinkle saw his true form more clearly. She saw his wings, which were now somewhat larger than the first time, and had glinted in the sunlight when she'd first seen them, and gasped. The right wing was bent, and torn, and just hung pathetically at his side. There were signs along his body of bruising and what appeared to be cuts. She had been planning to make some remark about how he looked like a Princess himself, but now...

"Wisp... what happened to you?" She breathed, feeling quite sure as to what the answer would be.
"She happened. My 'mother'. Chrysalis." He sighed, and sat down, briefly glancing outside to the setting sun. "When she had her changelings bring me back, she explained exactly what her plan was. You see, years ago she came up with a plan, a plan to get 'revenge' on Equestria for what happened at the wedding of your aunt and uncle. She found a random pony and..." He blushed slightly, looking amazingly like Fluttershy for a moment, "Seduced him. Which led to me. At which point she promptly abandoned me outside Ponyville. Fortunately Fluttershy found me before I could starve to death." He frowned.

"Chrysalis believes that the emotions ch- we feed on needs to be taken by force, but I survived for years just because of Fluttershy's love for me. ... Of course, she was always keeping an eye on me. Shortly after the Camping Incident, she keep visiting me while I was sleeping, occasionaly monologuing about her plans, and goals. And sometimes, singing." He sighed again. "She is insane. But the worst bit is that the other Changelings don't care, because as far as they're concerned, there's only one way they can feed."
"And... what is her 'plan' then? Why did she foalnap you?"

"Because, she wants revenge. Her plan was always to send me to live amongst ponies, then return and claim I had been abducted, and use this as an excuse to attack Equestria. Specifically Princess Cadance and her husband. And Twilight Sparkle."
For a moment Twilight Twinkle processed that plan, while he just sat there, apparently waiting for her thoughts on the matter.

"That's... that's the stupidest plan I've heard. What does she honestly expect to gain from another invasion?" She broke off into inelegant sputtering and sentence fragments, before eventually stopping. Wisp gave a low, mirthless chuckle.
"I said as much to her. She... took issue with my open defiance." His bent wing wiggled slightly. Twilight Twinkle just gave him a slight hug, trying not to hurt him by accident. "And had me contained, although fortunately after years of being around the Pie family, getting past them proved easier than expected." There was a slight smile from him, "Grounded though I am."

The two sat there for a moment.
"So, now what?" Twinkle asked, looking out of the cave, and the harsh, glaring sunlight. She was aware her back felt incredibly warm. Wisp just looked... sad.

"We wait" he said. For a moment, neither said anything. "We wait for the sun to go down, then make our way back to civilisation."
The two sat there, seconds passing without incident. Then something occured to Twilight Twinkle. She fought the urge to say it, but the sheer silence quickly proved overwhelming.

"I think it's past my birthday" she said quietly. "I'm eighteen." She smiled weakly.
"Many happy returns." Wisp said, a very brief smile flashing across his features. Then, she remembered some of the things she'd been meaning to say.

"I'm sorry" she said gently. He looked confused.
"For what?"

"For being so... pushy, the last few times we met. I just... I really can't explain why I was doing that, but I am sorry. Sorry for making things so awkward, and being an awful friend." He walked over to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder. There was a slight twinge that felt like sunburn, but she tried not to let it show.
"No, you're not an awful friend. I thought I was protecting your feelings, that I might have assumed after everything that's been happening, Discord, aging yourself, losing your father, the fights between you and your mother, that I just... didn't want to hurt you." His eyes seemed filled with sorrow. "But that's a poor excuse. I was a coward. And a terrible friend."

"No, no, you aren't, Wisp. You're just like the rest of us. Even if you are a shapeshifting emotion-eating Prince of the bug monsters. And you're my friend. You'll always be my friend" She said, leaning in to him. He seemed to jerk slightly, and she wondered if perhaps his injuries were more extensive than he let on. For a moment, neither pony said anything. Then he took a deep breath.
"Twilight, there's something I ought to tell you. I actually wanted to tell you this a few months ago, but... I couldn't work up the nerve." There was trepidation in his voice, and she tilted her head in confusion. He looked hesitant. She raised an eyebrow.

"You're seeing somepony" she said. He looked at her and bit his lip with tiny, pointy little fangs.
"Yes" he said. "Sort of. It's... well..."

"Who?" Twinkle asked, letting her curiosity get the better of her.
"Shiningsapphire!" He blurted. For a moment, neither said anything. Then a scowl overtook Twinkle's face, and there was a curious scent of something burning.

"What? My cousin?!"
"Yes." He said, apprently trying to shore up his courage.

"Shining Sapphire? My cousin?"
"Yes." He repeated. Her mane and tail burst into flames, and her fur went chalk white.

"You're in love with her? Her of all ponies? I introduced you!" she yelled, the room darkening.
"Well, yes, and that was the end of it. And then a few months ago... well, it's curious, but..." Then he stopped, and turned his head. Twilight Twinkle looked as well. Outside, in the distance was a slowly approaching cloud. Or what looked like a cloud.

"That's not a cloud" they both said.
Wisp turned to look at her. "You have to go" he said, she opened her mouth to object, but he held up a hoof. "Don't. I know what you're going to say, so don't. You can't carry me all the way through a desert on your own with no supplies." He frowned. "I'll try and hold them off. It's me they're looking for, not you."

There was a slight pause. "Although from the way you're emoting, it might also be you they're looking for."
"Thanks, guilt trip me, why don't you?"

He smiled gently, but firmly. "Just go, Twilight. Go and don't look back. Please. Please, promise me you won't risk your life for me." She frowned at the use of 'please', and the sad look of desperation in his eyes made her want to knock him out and drag him back to civilisation with her. But there was no fear in them. She leaned forward and gave him a slight kiss on the cheek. And then ran out of the cave. As she did, she heard the buzzing get closer, and closer, and her hooves pounded the sand beneath her.

And she didn't look back.
Twilight Twinkle ran, and ran, and ran on. Her legs quickly began to ache, her mouth began to parch and she ran, and kept running. She ran faster and longer than she'd ever thought possible, and as she did they was the horrific buzzing echoing in her ears, but she dared not turn around in case the Changelings were following her. She felt her cheeks sting as little tears rolled down them and evaporated in the heat. And still she ran, until she couldn't run any further.

*****

Twilight Twinkle awoke with a jolt. She was lying on something that felt like wood, and wherever she was, it was cold. After a few seconds, she became aware of voices, somewhere not too far away, in the dark.
"-or girl. What could've driven her to do that?"

"Don't know, but whatever it was, had to be something terrible." A different voice said.
"The sheriff said we should let her be, but... shouldn't we contact her mother or something?"

There was a few moments silence. "No, no. I think it's best if we let her be."
She opened her eyes. She was in a dark room, with a window showing the rising moon high in the sky. She sat there, wondering where she was, and reached a conclusion. She was back in Appleloosa, having probably been found by somepony and brought back to civilisation. And Wisp was dead.

The thought struck her like a lead weight, crushing every other thought. She was glad she was sitting down or she'd have just collapsed. Suddenly it was difficult to breath.
Wisp was dead. Wisp was dead and it was her fault. Her fault. Wisp was dead.

For the next several minutes, she played that phrase through her mind, in every possible way. For some reason, she couldn't accept it. It just didn't seem possible. How could Wisp be dead? Then a thought came to mind. She needed to talk to somepony. There was something important she needed to do. She tried moving a leg, and was met with an incredible amount of pain, her body screaming 'Do Not Move' at her in as plain a language as possible. She ignored it. She needed to talk to somepony. Very, very slowly, and with a considerable amount of pain, she stood up, and turned herself invisible. After a few steps she started getting accustomed to the pain, and started ignoring it. She opened the door to the cell she was in. She was in a cell. Fitting, consider Wisp was dead and it was her fault. She frowned, ignoring her mind. She slowly walked down the corridor, and found a small desk with a sack of bits on it. She had no money. How was she going to go anywhere without money? And she was technically a princess, since her mother was a princess, and what she was doing was important, so it was wrong to take the money. She'd pay it back later, she told herself, as she made the money disappear. She decided not to bother investigating the fate of her saddlebag. As she walked out of what turned out to be the Appleloosan sheriff's officer, her pace began to quicken. She tried to think of where to go. Back to Ponyville, or Canterlot? Talk to her mother, or maybe even Princess Luna. No, no. Her mother would probably just yell at her, and throw her into a dungeon, and lecture her. She didn't want to be lectured. She didn't deserve a lecture right now. So that left the Crystal Empire, where Aunt Cadance and Uncle Shining Armor lived. They wouldn't yell at her, or lecture her. They'd be understanding. Problems always disappeared with Auntie Cadance. Shining Sapphire was lucky, she had both her parents, and they loved her, and weren't lecturing machines or crazy bug-monsters. Shining Sapphire was really lucky all around, actually. She was smart, beautiful, she had wings and a horn and everypony seemed to love her instantly, including Wisp.

Twilight Twinkle walked, still going slowly, onto the platform for the train. After a while of waiting, still listing all the ways in which Shining Sapphire was lucky, the train that eventually went to the Crystal Empire arrived, and she slowly walked into one of the carriages. There weren't many ponies on the train, so the ticket pony soon arrived, and she paid for her ticket to the Crystal Empire, thought the salespony seemed a bit unsure about her wanting a one-way ticket. As she sat on the seat, watching the scenery go by, she did briefly, ever-so briefly wonder whether she was actually fine. She'd just ran into a desert of her own free will, which made her sanity a bit suspect, passed out from what seemed like dehydration, and from all appearances caused the death of her first ever friend. She did wonder whether it was an idea to go back to Ponyville and explain the situation to Fluttershy, and hope the mayor of Ponyville would be if not tolerant, then at least lenient. Then those thoughts vanished as the tears started.

What had she done to deserve all this? What possible crime had she committed that was so great she required to be punished for this?
'It's her fault.' a voice said. She looked up, and around the carriage. It was empty, and there was nopony else there. She blinked in confusion. She probably just needed some more rest. Or she was hallucinating from the pain.

'You could have saved him.' the voice said again. 'If Shining Sapphire hadn't stolen him from you, you could have saved him. You're strong, you're smart, you're resourceful. So why couldn't you save him?'
Because she was weak from passing out, dehydrated, and she couldn't have fought an entire army of changelings and protected Wisp at the same time.

'Shining Sapphire probably could..' Even though there was no proof of that. Aside from the timberwolves, Shining Sapphire she was fairly certain had never seen an actual fight. She doubted Shining Sapphire could have fought of an army of Changelings either. Most of her magic was love, and magical constructs created by her love. She was fairly certain that an army of Changelings would have just eaten their way through her magic. But, she was wondering how the alicorn and Wisp had ended up together. And not with you. She froze. The voice was inside her head now.

Of course I am. She sat there for a moment. It seemed incredibly likely that she was insane now.
Is it insane to feel like you've been given shabby treatment? Look at you. You're the daughter of Twilight Sparkle. You deserve so much better than this.. She considered that, and it did make sense. She'd often wondered why she didn't have wings, for example. Or why she couldn't teleport. And she was wondering why and how Wisp and Shining Sapphire had gotten together.

They shouldn't have. It should've been you. Don't you deserve some compensation for the crap you've had to endure these last few years?
She nodded. Under ordinary circumstances, she would have realised what was going on was far from normal or sane. She would have quickly informed somepony, but this mystery voice seemed to know her inside and out. It knew all the things that she'd put in the back of her mind, where they would never bother anypony. The sort of things that you never said. But the circumstances she was in were far, far from ordinary. And its arguments sounded so reasonable. So she let the whispering voice in her head continue.

And then Shining Sapphire dares to steal your oldest friend from you?! Who does she think she is?! Wisp is yours! You deserve it. You deserve wings, and a throne and a crown and the praise you have been denied for so, so long!
And then, Twilight Twinkle, daughter of Twilight Sparkle, did the worst possible thing she could have possibly done. She agreed.

"Yeah. Yeah. You're right! I deserve all those things. I've earned them! I think I'm going to ask Shining Sapphire some questions when I get to the Crystal Empire." She frowned.
And had anypony been listening, they would have noticed her voice had deepened considerably. Had there been somepony around who could have read minds, they would have heard a low chuckling noise. In an instant, Twilight Twinkle had changed.

She was no longer Twilight Twinkle, in mind or body.

Author's Note

Just two more flashbacks left...

Cutie Mark Crusaders Daytrippers!

Shortly after finishing her story about the Crystal Empire, Midday was bombarded by a variety of questions from everypony, including several from Rarity asking if they really did make their cities out of gemstones. For some reason, Rarity seemed to have difficulty grasping the concept, while Twilight just questioned the nature of dark magic, and despite her vast array of strange abilities, she regarded necromancy as 'utter fantasy', to which Midday just smiled slightly. As the Cutie Mark Crusaders left, they started debating over what they'd do to an undead monster if they ever met one, as Rarity gently encouraged them to keep moving. Twilight watched as they left, and looked at her notes, before looking at Midday quizzically.

"That was interesting" Twilight said, calmly organising the notes. "Although it sounds a bit unrealistic. And the witch-king parliment? Where did that come from?"
"That came from Luna." Twilight just made a small noise, which sounded like she didn't believe her.

"Well, from the way you described it, it almost sounded like an eyewitness account." Twilight smiled slightly, "Which is of course impossible, because the only ponies who were there were the Princesses and this... Sombre character."
"Sombra" Midday said, before twirling and doing an odd jig, just to err on the side of caution. Twilight stared at her.

"Precautionary measure" The royal blue unicorn explained, sheepishly.
"That can't have been entirely true, though." Trixie said, "I mean, Princess Celestia doesn't fight. It's a known fact, she prefers subtle mindgames and manoeuvring to brute force attacks."

Midday just shrugged. "It was a thousand years ago. And she does fight sometimes, like when she's angry, or when somepony attacks her subjects. Though I think after a thousand years of peace her skills might have gotten bit... rusty." She said, trying to ignore the look of horror on Twilight Sparkle's face, and wondered whether the mare was about to suggest she be banished or thrown into a dungeon for daring to disparage Princess Celestia. She didn't, but she did glare at Midday before announcing she was going to go collate her notes, and perhaps ask the princess about their accuracy. Midday just shook her head, before remembering something important, that the Wonderbolts performance in Canterlot was in a few days, and that she had those five tickets she'd bought during her Help Rampage. One for herself, one for Rainbow Dash, and the other three for the Cutie Mark Crusaders (She had considered buying only one for Scootaloo, but realised she could have invited the other two fillies, otherwise they'd just have stealthily tagged along anyway.)

*****

The next morning, when Midday made her way into the kitchen for breakfast, she noticed Spike was staring at her.
"What?" She asked. He looked concerned.

"You don't look like you've been sleeping well." He said, calmly. She smiled gently, as she looked around the kitchen for a bowl.
"I'm fine." She said, as reassuringly as she could manage. Spike opened his mouth to say something, then seemingly thought better of it, and just smiled back.

After breakfast, Midday went upstairs to fetch the tickets (and her saddlebags so she didn't have to carry the things about with her magic) and then went outside to find Rainbow Dash. She knew the mare would love to see the Wonderbolts perform, the problem being that she was fairly certain Rainbow Dash wouldn't want to go see the Wonderbolts with her. But, she reminded herself, the whole point of this was to do something nice for Rainbow Dash, after the whole incident with their minds getting swapped by Trixie. She frowned, and wondered why exactly the Wonderbolts performance would sell tickets months before the actual show. That just didn't make sense to her. Maybe Rainbow Dash would know. She walked over to where the weather team usually met, or at least where she presumed they usually met. For all she knew they met up completely by chance every morning. But then she saw a familiar sky-blue pegasus slowing down in midair to land on a cloud.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash!" She called out. For a few seconds nothing happened, then a familiar face stuck out from the edge of the cloud. She looked down at Midday, an annoyed expression on her face.
"Yeah?" She yelled back.

"I need to talk to you."
Rainbow Dash seemed to consider this for a moment, then after a short pause quickly dropped down in front of her.

"What?" she said, studying Midday's face.
"Are you available on Tuesday?" She asked. Rainbow Dash looked momentarily confused by the statement.

"Why?"
"Because, as it turns out I have tickets to the Wonderbolts performance scheduled for said Tuesday." She said, trying not to smile at the look of shock on Rainbow Dash's face, though that was quickly replaced by suspicion and annoyance.

"Really? Why do you have tickets to the Wonderbolts?" The speedster asked.
"Because I bought them, perhaps?" Midday deadpanned. Seeing Rainbow Dash's suspicious look she levitated the tickets out of her bag, showing them to the mare.

"Why are there five?" she asked. Midday shrugged.
"In case you wanted to bring somepony along with you, and they might want to bring their friends?" Rainbow Dash stared blankly at her. Then she seemed to realise what she meant. She didn't look entirely sold on the idea.

"You want to go see the Wonderbolts?" Midday just looked at her.
"Well, if you must know, I figured this was as good an apology for the whole mind-swapping thing as any." Rainbow Dash's face went blank for a few seconds, then she seemed to remember.

"Oh yeah, yeah, that. Right." She coughed slightly. Rainbow Dash eyed the tickets suspiciously, almost as if they'd vanish if she didn't keep looking at them.
"Are these even real?"

Midday blinked. "Yes."
"They look fake."

"They aren't fake."
Rainbow Dash gave a small hum, one that showed she wasn't entirely convinced.

"Scootaloo and her friends?" she said after a while of staring at the ticket. Midday shrugged.
"Also to make up for lying to Scootaloo about being you." Rainbow Dash just nodded, still staring at the ticket.

"Actually, why don't you give Scootaloo her's?" Midday said, giving Rainbow Dash the three smaller ones marked for foals.
"See you Tuesday morning." Midday said, walking away before Rainbow Dash could object. For a moment the mare sat there, staring at the tickets.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash, you helping out or not?" Raindrops yelled from above her.
"Yeah, yeah, keep your shoes on." Rainbow Dash hollered back, her eyes still affixed on the tickets. Wheels began to turn in her mind. She didn't trust Midday Eclipse, but, as Rarity would probably say, this was a good chance to try and figure the mare out. And it wasn't every day somepony offered her a chance to see the Wonderbolts perform, which was strange because she didn't exactly spend all her bits on anything. And there was the chance to hang out with Scootaloo, even if it did run the risk of getting covered in tree-sap. Again.
She stared at the tickets again, just to make sure they weren't fake, or disappear when she stopped looking.

*****

"So, I dunno, should I? I mean, Scootaloo would love it, but I just-" Rainbow Dash's long, and somewhat confused musings were interrupted by a raised hoof from Rarity. She had originally gone to ask the mare her opinion on the tickets, but being Rainbow Dash she proved unable to remain still and silent.

"I am quite aware of your misgivings, Rainbow Dash, but..." She sighed, looking at the chalkboard covered in their speculation of the mysterious royal blue mare, "From all appearances, Midday Eclipse is nothing more than a slightly eccentric young unicorn, who wishes to do something to make up for her rocky start with you, that's all." Rarity decided not to point out that Rainbow Dash was the one who'd taken a counter-prank as a deadly insult, or that Midday had helped institute measures during the incident with Flim and Flam that had allowed Rainbow Dash to get the cider the pegasus always seemed to miss, and that Rainbow Dash had been the one to declare that Prank War of theirs.

"Yeah, I guess." Rainbow Dash slouched, though she looked annoyed. Rarity just smiled and levitated the letter back to her friend.
"Everypony deserves their secrets. And I'm fairly certain young Midday isn't hiding anything of note."
After she left the boutique, and feeling satisfied that the tickets were in fact real, Rainbow Dash went back to her house and placed them where she wouldn't forget them. Then she checked the time and decided to go invite Scootaloo. She found the mare sitting and talking with her friends out in the school-yard, with Cheerilee watching them closely. Of course, she was their teacher and those two had once managed to make an oven explode (Therefore proving they weren't Cutie Mark Crusaders Pastry Chefs, and causing it to rain icing), but there was something new in Cheerilee's expression, something Rainbow Dash couldn't quite analyse. She decided to land without showing off.

"Hey, squirt." She smiled, especially at Scootaloo's usual awed expression at seeing her. At first she'd thought it was just normal hero worship, but she'd been amazed as just how much the little filly idolised her.
"Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo said, rushing over to her. She didn't hug Rainbow Dash, probably trying not to look like a squealing fanfilly in front of her friends and contemporaries. "What's up?" She asked instead.

"Oh, nothing. I was nearby, thought I'd see how my greatest fan was doing." Rainbow Dash saw the bright smile on Scootaloo's face grow.
"I'm fine." Scootaloo said, her eyes very briefly darting over to Cheerilee, who was scanning the whole playground, though she had noticed the pegasus's arrival, and her gaze kept going back to Rainbow Dash every few seconds. "I mean, I'm cool." Scootaloo amended, trying to sound gruffly nonchalant.

"Good to know." Rainbow Dash said calmly. She leaned in. "Hey, as it just so happens I'm going to go see the Wonderbolts perform in Canterlot on Tuesday, and I was wondering if you wanted to come along."
Scootaloo's eyes went wide, and her jaw hung open for the longest time. "Hold on a minute" she said once she was able to speak again, before walking over to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, who were trying very hard to look like they weren't listening. The three fillies huddled together, occasionaly one of them would look up at Rainbow Dash. After a few minutes they un-huddled, and Scootaloo walked back to Rainbow Dash.

"Can Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle come with?" She asked. Rainbow Dash nodded, and Scootaloo actually cheered, before she blushed and smirked. "I mean, 'whatever'."
"See you Tuesday morning. Meet up by the library." She said, before rocketing off into the air, leaving her usual multi-coloured trail behind her. Once she was gone, Scootaloo found herself grinning like a maniac.

"Hanging. Out. With. Rainbow Dash!" She squeaked. Across the yard, Cheerilee suddenly felt greatly concerned. Normally, she wouldn't have, since Scootaloo and her friends were generally well-behaved, but after yesterday's incident with the love poison... Once she started thinking about Big McIntosh again she declared break-time over.

*****

Midday returned to the library and looked around for a book on the Wonderbolts, planning to read it just in case Rainbow Dash started doing something like questioning her about the group, although Midday considered letting Rainbow Dash explain in-depth all knowledge she had of them. The Rainbow Dash of her time had written several books on them, in fact (Which had greatly disappointed ponies looking for a 'tell-all' book revealing the sordid secrets of the Wonderbolts, once they cracked open the books to find Breezy rather liked toboganing, or that Spitfire knew one hundred and twelve seperate jokes about the buttocks, or the occasional remark from Princess Celestia on various historical members of the group) and it stood to reason her younger self could probably talk for days straight about them. Midday carefully put the book back to see Spike and Twilight staring at her.

"What?" She asked. They briefly exchanged glances. Spike nodded at Twilight, who looked up at Midday.
"Well, it's just that... you've been having nightmares, right?" Twilight said. Midday frowned. That was true, she had been having the odd nightmare every few days.

"So what?"
"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" Midday frowned at that.

"No, I really don't want to talk about it." She said, calmly, going back to the book on the Wonderbolts, having suddenly changed her mind. "But thank you for the concern."
Spike and Twilight looked at each other, sharing the same expression, but said nothing.

*****

The next day passed without much in the way of incident, though Midday noticed Twilight and Spike had managed to wake before her, and Tuesday came quicker than she'd expected. She quickly gathered some bits, and her ticket, and walked down to the front room of the library.
"And where are you going?" Twilight asked when she saw the saddlebag placed by the door.

"Canterlot." Midday smiled. "Taking Rainbow Dash and the CMC to a Wonderbolts performance."
Twilight just nodded. "Sounds nice. Hope you have a good time."

"Actually" Midday smiled, ignoring the fact that she felt quite sleepy, "I'd settle for a good time. The girls will probably want excitement, and they'll wander off and Rainbow Dash and I will have to go chasing after them." She suddenly had an image of Canterlot in flames, as the Cutie Mark Crusaders stood in the middle of it all holding an ancient leather-bound tome with the most perfectly innocent expressions on their faces.

'That's... highly unlikely to happen' She had to tell herself. Those three were reckless, but even they were unable to cause wanton annihilation with Star Swirl's journal. She hoped.
A familiar rapid set of knocks on the door indicated the arrival of Rainbow Dash, and when Spike opened the door, there was Rainbow Dash, wearing a pair of sunglasses and a shirt designed to look like a Wonderbolt uniform.

"Hey" the pegasus said, calmly. She lowered her sunglasses and looked at Midday. "You ready?"
"Yeah, I am, I guess." She walked outside into the somewhat chilly February air, then noticed something. "The girls not c-"

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS DAYTRIP! YAY!"
"There they are." Midday said, as she unsteadily got back onto her hooves. The three fillies were standing by Rainbow Dash, smiling innocently as always. Rainbow Dash was looking at Scootaloo in shock, since the little filly was wearing an imitation (and a pretty good one at that) of a Wonderbolt costume. She even had the goggles, which looked like the ones actual Wonderbolts wore, and those were never cheap to buy.

"Cool costume" Midday said. Scootaloo just looked at her. Rainbow Dash gave a small noise that sounded like an agreement, at which point Scootaloo broke out a truly adorable smile.
"Kinda suits ya." Rainbow Dash said, to which there was a small squeak for the filly. Midday wondered if it was healthy for a filly to smile like that. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle seemed concerned about something.

"Isn't anypony else comin'?" The red-headed mare asked.
"No, just us and Rainbow Dash." Apple Bloom looked concerned.

"Hey, there's no need to worry, Apple Bloom, Rainbow Dash and I are both fully mature and resp-" She frowned in exasperation. The four ponies around her just stared blankly.
"Resp-what?" Asked Sweetie Belle.

"Sorry, mouth shorted out just there. A lie too big" she said, before smiling again. "However, I am... reasonably certain that together Rainbow Dash and I can be responsible enough as makes no difference." Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle just shrugged.
"Less talk, more walk!" Scootaloo yelled, rushing off toward the train station. Rainbow Dash laughed and followed on behind her, followed by the others.

*****

The three fillies had managed to sit still on the train for all of half a minute, which given their usual record was still something. They quickly began talking about all sorts of things, while Midday just sat on her seat and tried to relax.
"You okay?" asked Sweetie Belle. She opened her eyes, not aware she'd even closed them.

"Yeah... Yeah, I'm okay." She smiled, "I think I just didn't get enough sleep." Sweetie Belle seemed to accept this. Across from them, Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash were engaged in a fast-paced conversation on the Wonderbolts. Rainbow Dash looked over to Midday.
"Have you ever seen the Wonderbolts flying?" Rainbow Dash asked. Midday nodded.

"No, not really. My mother knew a few of them, but she wasn't really a show-going sort of pony. I think she was just doing it for a friend, and I happened to get brought along." Rainbow Dash's face was one of barely controlled surprise.
"You've met some of the Wonderbolts? In person?"

"None of the big name ones, and I'm pretty sure they aren't in the business right now." Rainbow Dash made a small noise at that, before grinning slightly.
"Well, you'll be in for one heck of a show, then." She smiled slyly. "But that's cuz the Wonderbolts are always awesome."

Midday hummed slightly, and raised an eyebrow.
"Didn't they try to stop Spike when he... y'know?"

Rainbow Dash looked annoyed and embarrased. "Yeah, well... that was just bad luck. They'd have figured something out." She said defensively. Then she scowled. "Whatever. You'll see."

*****

The train slowly pulled into Canterlot. Canterlot, the throne of the Princesses. Canterlot, the Shining City. The home of artisans and culture famed around the world, and so much beauty. What ways were there to describe such a place that could be achieved in mere words?
It was a big city sitting on a big rock that smelt like cake, filled with snobs.

"Okay" Rainbow Dash declared, on exiting the train. "To the stadium."
Rainbow Dash quickly set off down the streets. Midday shook her head and turned to the CMC.

"This is why you should always now which way you're supposed to be going before you set off." She said calmly, as Rainbow Dash returned trying to look un-flapped.
"I knew which way I was supposed to go. I was just waiting for you guys."

Midday just smiled slightly and walked past her. "Try to keep up then, Rainbow Dash."

*****

They found the stadium largely by following the increasing crowd of ponies, at which point Rainbow Dash began muttering that the 'good seats' would already be taken, to which Midday just nudged her.
"Stop complaining. Does it really matter where we sit?" She asked, to which four ponies yelled 'yes' at once.

"Well maybe if we hurry we can still get them" Midday said. Rainbow Dash nodded, and suddenly threw Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle onto her back.
"So we don't get split up." She explained, before depositing Apple Bloom on Midday's back, to which both mare and filly were annoyed about. However, the crowd was getting incredibly thick, and there were more than a few ponies shoving as they made their way to the gates that let them into the stadium proper.

"Apple Bloom?" Midday asked.
"Yeah?" Came a voice from behind her.

"Can you keep an eye on where Rainbow Dash is, so that we don't lose her?"
"Okay" the filly said, though she didn't sound entirely confident. Slowly they made their way through the line of ponies to where a mare was taking tickets and ushering ponies through.

"Still keeping an eye out for Rainbow, Apple Bloom?"
There was a slight pause from the filly.

"Ah... kinda lost her."
"Oh dear" Midday said calmly. "Well, I suppose she'll be easy to find once we're in the stands. After all, she's not exactly the sort of pony that blends in with a crowd." Apple Bloom made a small noise of agreement, as the mare walked up into the stadium. It was different than she'd been expecting, although she was now aware she wasn't sure what she'd been expecting in the first place.

"Lotta ponies" Apple Bloom commented as she jumped off Midday.
"Did you see where Rainbow Dash has gotten to?"

"Yup." The filly smiled, "She's over there." She pointed a hoof. 'Over there' turned out to be all the way at the bottom of the stands, while they were halfway up.
As the two walked down towards where Rainbow Dash was sitting, Apple Bloom looked quizzical.

"How come you're doing all this, anyhow? Ah thought you an' Rainbow Dash didn't get on."
Midday looked at the youngest member of the Apple family.

"That's because Rainbow Dash seems to think I'm up to something sinister, mainly because of what happened a few months back."
"What happened?" Apple Bloom asked innocently.

"Didn't Scootaloo tell you?" The young filly shook her head.
"Well, Trixie was a bit upset at me for dropping a piano on her head, and stealing her hat, so she used a spell to switch my mind and Rainbow Dash's. Very strange stuff followed, but Twilight was able to switch our minds back, and no harm done, but I figured I owed Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo something, so I figured I take them to a Wonderbolts performance, and then I figured Scootaloo would probably want you and Sweetie Belle to tag along." Something occured to her. "I'd have thought you three would've been grounded after Hearts and Hooves Day."

Apple Bloom's face went red. "We are. Granny Smith said it was alright for me to be with my friends though, and wouldn't let Applejack argue against it. But she said ah'm still in trouble."
Midday just nodded at that as they made their way to Rainbow Dash. Apple Bloom was humming an odd tune. Something about enchantresses, as far as Midday could make out.

"Where the heck did you go?" she laughed. Midday noticed Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle chowing down into a large supply of nachos that had been covered in what she would have defined as an unhealthy amount of cheese. Apple Bloom sat next to them, and then joined in.
The wait for the show to start was quite a while, and eventually Midday joined in with eating the nachos. Rainbow Dash kept alternating between staring at her, and staring at the stadium. From the looks of it, the Wonderbolts were just going to perform some small tricks, rather than a proper race, but Rainbow Dash seemed far from disappointed, though Midday reasoned that was probably because Rainbow Dash knew she could outdo any Wonderbolt for speed, and was therefore more interested in seeing them perform more complicated stunts.

"I wonder what everypony's doing back in Ponyville." Midday said out-loud.
"It's a Tuesday. They'll be doing boring Tuesday stuff." Rainbow Dash muttered between mouthfuls of her own private supply of nachos.

*****

"Okay, that's reports one through thirteen summarised. Good start. ... Good, but not great. SPIKE!"
"Yeah?"
"I'm going to need more parchment."
"Got it."

"Ain't there an end to these darn caterpillers?"
"Nope."
"Figures. That's what ah get for sayin' ah was bored yesterday. Just keep 'em away from the trees"

"Oh, don't worry about him, Angel, he's a perfectly civilised be- oh, yes, more biscuits, sorry. Please stop staring Angel. He can't help being a bear"

"No, Pumpkin Cake, we eat food, not tablecloths"

"Sounds about right." Midday shrugged.
As it turned out, waiting for the Wonderbolts to appear didn't take long. When they flew casually into the stadium, the entire place burst with cheering and stamping, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo doing their best to be as loud as possible. Midday had to admit she was slightly impressed, especially at the sheer zeal Rainbow Dash was showing. The Wonderbolts did some small warm up exercises, probably for show, and then very quickly began their actual stunts. Those started off slowly as well, performing small barrel rolls or loops, incredible dives and feints, and then they began to speed up, and become almost more dangerous, though Midday presumed that as trained professionals they knew what they were doing. Complicated spirals and curves and several occasions where they raced at each other and swerved away at the absolutele last second. Small sonic booms dotted the area as they went increasingly fast, and it all seemed to turn into a massive blur of strange contrails and sound and then, just like that, it seemed to be over.

Midday was about to make some remark when the audience leapt into full-blown roars. She decided not to say anything until they were outside. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were recounting their favourite parts of the show while Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle stuck to just saying which bits they liked and leaving it at that.
"That was... a bit shorter than I expected for the amount I paid" she said. Rainbow Dash looked at her.

"You got a whole ninety minutes of awesome."
"Ninety minutes?" Midday exclaimed, before making a small 'huh'. "Didn't feel like that much."

"Yeah, they never do." Rainbow Dash said, a touch bitterly. Then she looked down to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders staring at them.
"We're hungry. Can we get something to eat?" Apple Bloom said, apparently chosen because she was the best at looking desperately cute.

"Yeah." Midday frowned.
"I figured it would be longer." She said as they walked away from the stadium. As they continued walking, there was a meaningful silence, wherein the three fillies exchanged increasingly confused glances.

"What are we gonna eat?" Sweetie Belle eventually asked.
"Pizza?" Suggested Apple Bloom.

"I wish you hadn't said that." Midday said, solemnly.
"Why? Did you have a bad experience with pizza at some point?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"No, I just can't stop thinking about pizza now."
That seemed to settle the argument. All they had to do was find a good restaurant.

*****

"Admit it, we're lost." Rainbow Dash sighed.
"... We're not lost" Midday insisted, "we just can't find a good pizza place. I'm not lost. I grew up in this city."

"Then why'd you leave?" Sweetie Belle asked, innocently. It was still incredibly alarming to look at the little filly who was so endlessly cheerful and optimistic and remember that she'd grow up to be... what Sweetie Belle grew up to be. It was also slightly heartbreaking.
"Accident, mostly" she said without thinking.

"You left Canterlot because of an accident?" Sweetie Belle tilted her head in confusion.
"What did you do," Scootaloo asked, "blow something up?"

"It's..." Midday paused, and stared at the three fillies. "It's a whole thing. I did mean to come back, but then... things happened, and other things, and staying away from home suddenly seemed like a good idea." She tried to make it sound as boring and dry as possible, so they wouldn't get curious and start asking further questions. Fortunately, a certain pegasus was getting impatient.
"Hey, great speech. Can we go find the food now?" Rainbow Dash snapped. Midday looked about.

"I was sure there was a restaurant near here." She muttered. Rainbow Dash gave out a loud groan.
"You know what? I'm gonna go ask somepony. Just wait here, 'kay?" she said, before flying away. Midday sighed slightly. She probably should have expected the street layouts to change in the last twenty years, now that she gave it some consideration, but considering Canterlot was famous for its wide array of eateries, she'd thought that wouldn't be a problem. But Rainbow Dash and the CMC were very insistent. Pizza, or nothing, they'd said. And then Midday became aware of whispered voices behind her, and knew, with utter assurance, that when she turned around that there would be a noticable abscence of three fillies. She saw Rainbow Dash approaching, and turned around, to see...

A noticable abscence of three fillies. She sighed, and rolled her eyes.
"Okay" Rainbow Dash said as she got close, "I found a place th-... where'd the kids go?"

"Ran off." Midday said, calmly, waiting for Rainbow Dash to yell.
"What? I was only gone five seconds. How could you not keep your eye on them for five seconds?!" Midday just stared calmly at her.

"Because they ran off while my back was turned, and don't worry, I do have a plan to find them."
Rainbow Dash looked at her with suspicion. "This had better be the best plan ever."

"Well, I figure if you head to the castle, that'll head them off."
Rainbow Dash stared as her, as if she expected something more, so Midday rolled her eyes.

"Those three are nearly incapable of getting into trouble. If you head to the castle and wait for a few minutes, they'll probably show up there. Meanwhile, I'll try and track them down."
"Track them down? How? You don't know which way they went. This plan of yours? Kinda sucks."

Midday glowered at Rainbow Dash.
"Look, you just get over to the castle and wait, and if I find them before the guards do, I'll come and get you, okay?"

Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and scowled.
"Look, this way, only one of us is wandering the streets aimlessly for them. And you might be able to spot them from the air as well." She added, as calmly as she could manage.

Rainbow Dash considered this, and seemed to reach a conclusion she liked. Knowing her, the pegasus would probably try and do things her way instead.
"Alright, let's do this then. Before I change my mind..." She sighed, before raising into the air and zooming towards the castle. Midday frowned, and tried to guess as to which way the girls had run. There was the way they'd came, which was unlikely since Scootaloo probably wouldn't go backwards, there were a number of side-alleys, all non-descript, but fortunately Midday saw a dazed-looking pony standing near one of them. She walked over to her.

"Excuse me, odd question, but have you seen three fillies around, one with a bow in her hair, another wearing a Wonderbolts costume?"
The stallion nodded. "Yeah. Nearly stood on them, and I fell over." He grumbled, and raised a hoof, "Went tearing on down that way."

"Thanks" Midday said, before rushing onward. She had this nagging feeling that if she didn't catch up to them quickly, then they'd likely run into somepony important. It was the past, and they were the Cutie Mark Crusaders in Canterlot. Her mind quickly raced through all manner of names. Blueblood, Fancypants, Luna, Celestia, Shining Armor, her grandparents, Discord's statue or... no. She knew who they'd run into. She knew exactly who they'd run into.

Strangely enough, as Midday rushed down the streets (Taking care to avoid running into anypony carrying anything breakable, of which there seemed to be a sudden swell of) she rushed past a small shop where, if she'd noticed, two familiar unicorns were exiting.
"Did you see that?" Nightlight exclaimed.

"Her, again?" Twilight Velvet said. "Curious. What could she be doing?"

*****

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were running. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom had asked why it was so important they run, but Scootaloo had just said it was. Of course Scootaloo was the one who suggested they slip away, find a pizza place, then go back and tell Rainbow Dash and Miss Eclipse, which was looking to be more and more difficult as they kept running.
"This would be easier if I had my scooter." Scootaloo said when they stopped for breath. It wasn't exactly her fault it broke, it was because of gravity.

"Are you sure you know where you're goin'?" Apple Bloom asked. She was the least out of breath of the three, which didn't mean much considering they were all taking deep breaths. Scootaloo just smiled weakly in response, neither confirming nor denying what Apple Bloom had asked. She seemed to know the layout of the streets, and she'd been in Canterlot during Hearth's Warming, but Apple Bloom couldn't remember if she'd been with her parents. Actually, now that she thought about it, she couldn't remember the last time Scootaloo had spoken about her family. But she was sure she had, at some point. Somepony had to have given her that scooter she kept breaking, and she obviously wasn't homeless.
"Hey, Apple Bloom." Sweetie Belle squeaked, "You alright?"

Apple Bloom blinked at her friend. "Yeah, ah'm alright. Just thinkin' about stuff, 'kay?"
"C'mon, let's keep going." Scootaloo said. The two fillies hesitantly rushed after their friend. As they did, Apple Bloom felt like she was forgetting something important, but it would probably come back to her.

The trio rushed onwards through the streets. Sweetie Belle was about to comment that they were lost, when they turned out onto a larger street, and Scootaloo hit something, with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom piling into her. Whatever Scootaloo had hit was casting a shadow over them. They looked up, and then when looking up proved insufficient, looked up some more.
"Oh, I'm sorry" gasped whatever it was they'd run into, "I should've been watching where I was going."

*****

Midday was fairly certain she was catching up to them.
'Next time, I'm gonna hit myself before I do this, to remind me to put a tracking spell on them.' She told herself, before memories of her own experience wandering off as a filly came to mind.

'Shut up, subconcious.' She stopped. There were no more ponies looking alarmed or disoriented. She frowned. Sudden visages of being burnt alive by Applejack and Rarity for failing to look after their little siblings for ten minutes came to mind. Then, she was certain that over the usual noise of the city, she heard the sound of three fillies running into each other. She paused, trying to determine the best place the noise had come from, and headed after it. She went down a side alley, which opened onto a wider main street, where she saw three fillies looking up at a pony she instantly recognised.

Several emotions rushed through her. Shock, joy, alarm, concern all danced across her face, as she saw the tall, winged form of one of the greates ponies she'd ever met.
"Aunt Cadance?"

Author's Note

Not entirely happy with this one, gotta say. Had bad writer's block while writing it, but...
I really wanted to write this chapter, too.
(It would help if I'd ever been to any kind of sporting event, ever.)
Next chapter: A dramatic revelation ... of sorts. And some other revelations, which aren't quite as dramatic.

Mistakes of Friends

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were not stupid. Any children capable of perfectly brewing a potion on the first go, regardless of their intent or purpose for making it, cannot be classified as stupid, regardless of what certain other fillies said. This was in part the reason Midday had admitted to them that she was from the future. That and the fact that Scootaloo had already realised she was telling the truth, and would probably have worked her way around to telling Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, which would have caused a whole domino chain of madness. And then Apple Bloom had recognised what she'd said about Twilight Sparkle's future. This had called for immediate action. In other words, bribing them with cupcakes (She had already made then promise not to tell anypony about her being from the future, but had made no such guarantee about anything else). It seemed to work, though every few seconds one of them would think of something, before deciding not to bother. Then a thought occured to Sweetie Belle.

"So, does anypony else know about you being... you know?"
"Well, there's Spike."

"Figures. 'Cuz you seem him as bein' like a big brother, 'cuz Miss Twilight Sparkle hatched him, right?" Apple Bloom smiled, proud of her deduction.
"Yeah." Midday said. "And Celestia, and Luna."

The three fillies just nodded. But then, at their age and even with their above-average intelligence, they still probably thought Celestia knew everything there was to know. Which as Midday knew was only mostly true.
"And I'm fairly certain, though I have no idea how, that your grandmother has me figured out" she said to Apple Bloom. The filly didn't even react to that, except a slightly proud smile.

"That's cuz she's Granny Smith. She's seen everything." Midday chortled, which caused them to give her quizzical looks.
"What?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"You just remind me a lot of when I was young." She paused and considered this. "Younger, that is. Seeing as I am in fact eighteen, and therefore only just qualify as a young adult."
Their eyes went wide with shock, and Midday remembered Ponyville had a curious lack of teenagers.

"You're eighteen?" they said as one.
"You don't look like it." Scootaloo finally said.

"Accident with magic. Which is curious because there are ways to alter age, so I'm wondering if it's just because altering your own age is against the rules, but of course that doesn't make sense because Tw-... my mother tried to dispell whatever I did to myself." She said, frowning as she did.
"That's gotta be awful. Agin' yourself" Apple Bloom said. Midday just nodded slightly.

"It was awful. And so was the physical therapy, and going from being twelve to being sixteen, which-" She was suddenly aware of what she'd been about to say to a group of pre-teens. "Well, stay away from age-altering spells" she said sharply.
Eventually, the girls finished their bribes and decided to go off and continue their 'crusading', though not before asking whether she could give any hints about what their special talents would be. She considered this for a moment before saying:
"I don't think I can give you any hints, and nothing that anypony has told you before. 'Find out who you are' and such."

"Oh, forget it then" Scootaloo said glumly.
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS AWAY!" They yelled, before rushing off into the distance. Midday just watched, shaking her head.

*****

Midday returned to the library to find an alarming sight. Twilight was staring at a piece of paper, a quill hovering over her head, her expression one of irritation.
"Afternoon, Twilight." Midday said. The mare gave no indication of her arrival. Midday slowly walked her way over to the mare. She looked at Twilight, and then to the paper, which only had the words

"Pinkie Pie"
written on it. Midday stared at the scene in front of her, and raised an eyebrow.

"Did something happen?" she asked. The quill floated towards the desk. Twilight looked at her and blinked.
"I've been trying to write an apology letter to Pinkie Pie, but I can't think of what to say." She looked... heartbroken, now that Midday thought about it.

"What happened?"
"Well, you know Pinkie Pie wanted to foalsit Pound and Pumpkin Cake?" Twilight said slowly. Midday nodded. The pink pouncer had mentioned that every now and then since they were born, sometimes subtly inserting her opinion into a conversation, and much more often doing the exact opposite. "Well, the Cakes had some work they needed to finish, and so they were asking everypony around town. I was too busy summarising my notes to the Princess, and eventually they acquiesed and let Pinkie look after Pound and Pumpkin." Twilight looked around the room.

"Well, eventually I managed to finish my work and I went over to offer Pinkie some help and... I said the wrong thing and she threw me out and I haven't seen her since because I wanted to apol-" Midday held up a hoof.
"Ease up, Twilie, before you sprain something" she said. She looked at the mare, who appeared genuinely confused as to what she'd done. "Now then, can you take a deep breath, and tell me exactly what it was you said?"

Twilight nodded. "The first thing I said was explaining that I came to help. Pinkie was enthusiastic at first, and explained that she was having trouble looking after the foals. I said 'I figured you could use some help'."
Midday bit her lip. Then she realised she was biting her lip. "Go on." She said.

"Pinkie suddenly got annoyed and asked me to explain what I meant. And I said that..." She frowned in concentration, "I said 'Babies take a lot of work. Some ponies are just not cut out for the responsibility.' Midday? Midday, why are you doing that?"
Midday removed her face from her hooves (or her hooves from her face, depending on how one viewed it.) "Sorry, sorry. Tell me you didn't actually say that?" she asked. Twilight nodded.

"And then Pinkie shoved me outside and slammed the door in my face."
"No kidding." Midday saw the look of confusion of Twilight's face. "Okay, Twilight, I can see what went wrong there." She placed a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "Your intention and meaning? Perfect, ten out of ten for friendship. Phrasing and tact? Minus several quadrillion."

"That's not a word" Twilight mumbled.
"What you did was tell Pinkie you were expecting her to fail. Or at least that's how it would sound, especially since a pony who's been dealing with month-old foals all day isn't going to take the time to analyse the subtext of what you were saying." There was a slight pause as Twilight tried to work this out.

"Now then, how long ago was this?"
"A few hours."

Midday blinked as Twilight's words sunk in. "You've been trying to write a letter for 'a few hours'?" She asked, her voice raising slightly in concern. Twilight just nodded. Midday suddenly felt herself at a loss for words, beyond a simple "Oh my."
For a few seconds the two sat there, before Midday just smiled. "Well, I am reasonably confident that Pinkie Pie has forgotten about this whole thing, or forgiven you, so here's an idea: We go over to Sugarcube Corner and see if Pinkie's done that, and you can apologise in person."

Twilight opened her mouth to apologise, but Midday stared at her.
"Or have you been planning to write a letter because you were concerned Pinkie might instantly dismiss your apology?"

Twilight's mouth snapped shut.
"Well, how about we go see what's what, then?" She nudged Twilight slightly, and the mare stood up. "Honestly, I'm a bit amazed you haven't tried this yourself."

*****

The two mares walked through the streets of Ponyville, Twilight's mood already having improved, not least at the prospect of having a new letter to write to her mentor. But as they did Midday noticed something bothering Twilight.
"What?" Midday asked. The mare was glancing at her, and appeared nervous when she asked.

"I was just wondering, how did you know I had a foalsitter?"
Midday smiled. "I met her while I was in Canterlot."

Twilight suddenly broke out in a wide grin. "Really? Did she mention me?"
"She did. You lucked out with her for a foalsitter." Twilight's smile grew, and Midday could swear she was thinking of the 'Ladybug' dance she did. It helped that Twilight's ears started twitching and her backside noticably shook, though Twilight herself didn't seem to remember.

"I haven't seen her in years." The mare said quietly. "I wonder how she's getting on. Maybe I should send her a letter." She said, absent-mindedly turning around. Midday's horn glowed and the purple unicorn quickly found herself facing the way she was supposed to be going.
"Pinkie Pie first." Midday watched as the mare's expression shifted slightly to one of worry. She did briefly wonder who would have gotten Twilight to apologise if she hadn't been there.

*****

Spike had finally finished cleaning up the kitchen, and decided to go check if Twilight was there. He had heard voices earlier, but had given them no mind, since Twilight frequently dictated her letters as she wrote them (or more often when he wrote them for her), which made the times she wrote essays maddening. He walked through into the main room to find Twilight was gone, but the letter she'd been preparing to write was still there, unfinished save the opening line. Spike took in the scene, and eventually came to the conclusion that Twilight had taken his advice to just go talk to Pinkie Pie after all, and nodded approvingly.

*****

Twilight stood in front of the store, looking hesitant. Midday stood behind her, saying nothing.
"Would it help if I said you can do this?"

"Yes" Twilight said.
"You can do this, Twilight."

The mare smiled at her, and nodded. She walked through into the store, Midday instantly behind her just in case she tried to flee.
Instead they found numerous banners, and ponies standing there wearing conical hats and identical grins, along with a massive banner reading 'Apology Accepted'.
Midday and Twilight stared at the scene in front of them, then at each other, then back to the party, before the royal blue mare suddenly started laughing uncontrollably.

"It's okay, Twilight" a voice that belonged to a puffy-maned pink pony said, as she placed party hats on the mares' heads, "I know you meant well!"
Midday reigned in her laughter after a few minutes and shook her head. "I gotta hand it to Pinkie, I wasn't really expecting that."

*****

The party was a low-key affair by necessity, since little Pound and Pumpkin Cake were asleep, and the Cakes had just returned from several hours of working, meaning it only lasted half an hour. Several party-goers even noted that Pinkie appeared much more subdued than her usual self.
"Midday?" Twilight said as they walked out of Sugarcube Corner.

"Yeah."
"Thanks for the advice. You and Spike."

"Spike?" Midday asked.
"He said pretty much the same thing Well, okay, he said 'snap out of it' once or twice and you didn't."

"We're just doing our jobs." Midday said calmly. Twilight grinned and shook her head.
"And what job is that?"

"Being friends, obviously." Midday paused. "Did I just say that out loud?" She said with mock-horror.
"Yeah."
Midday paused, and considered this. "I can live with that" she finally said.

"We all make mistakes, Twilight Sparkle. Just don't be afraid to ask for help."
Twilight frowned, before a small grin appeared on her face. "Did you get into the salt lick?"

*****

The next few days were reasonably peaceful, or peaceful as a town can get when it includes ponies like Rainbow Dash, Rarity or Pinkie Pie around to liven up dull afternoons. Midday wandered downstairs on the saturday after the Wonderbolts show, to find Twilight and Trixie both sitting around looking concerned.
"Morning, everypony. Why so concerned?" She asked on seeing their faces. Trixie spoke first.

"Ditzy's late" the blue showmare frowned. "Ditzy Doo is never late."
And then Midday realised something. She hadn't seen the amicable mailmare since the near-destruction of the old town hall. It was a sobering thought to be thinking on just waking up.

"Do you think something happened to her?" she asked. Twilight shook her head.
"No, but we are concerned."

Trixie nodded emphatically. "Deeply concerned."
"Maybe she's just ill" Midday suggested, though a part of her brain was actually questioning whether she'd been foolish enough to say that, which seemed to be shared between the three mares.

"Hasn't anypony seen her?" Twilight and Trixie shook their heads. "Has anypony been to her house?" Their heads shook again. This was getting all too alarming. "Has anypony seen Dinky?"
Trixie raised a hoof. "I've... seen her around and about the town, but we haven't talked. Which is a shame because she seemed to enjoy watching Trixie practice. I was..." She trailed off into mumbling.

A thought occured to Midday. "Pinkie Pie would know. Why not just ask her? She knows everything about everypony."
"Not everything" Trixie said confidently.

"I'm pretty sure she knows about how you feel about socks, Trixie." The showmare looked aghast.
"You talk in your sleep." Midday said at that.

"I-I do not!" Trixie said, evidently trying to fight the embarrassed look on her face.
"You do." Twilight said, before Trixie turned on her.

"You stay out of this, sock-lover!"
"Anyway" Midday said, "Pinkie."

"Trixie will come with you. If only to make sure Pinkie Pie does not know of her weaknesses." The two mares then marched outside, leaving Twilight alone to read her book. Then there was an almighty crash, and glass scattered all over the room. Fortunately Twilight was smart enough to put up a forcefield before any of it hit her, though she did sigh wearily as Rainbow Dash slammed into the ground and rushed over to her.
"Twilight, ya gotta help me!"

"Okay" She said, but before she could ask what was wrong the distressed mare continued.
"It's a disaster, an emergency! It's unbelievably unfairly uncool!"

Twilight stood there for a second, waiting for Rainbow Dash to explain what the problem was. The mare's lip quivered.
"Yes?"

"My lamp broke!" Rainbow Dash wailed. "Now I can't read Daring Do in bed!"
"Why don't you just read them here?" Twilight said. Rainbow Dash paused for a moment.

"Oh, yeah" she murmured sheepishly. "Could just do that." She smiled, before rushing out of the library again, leaving a confused Twilight to wonder what had just happened.

*****

Midday knocked on the backdoor to Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie opened the door, and for some strange reason was dressed like she was going for an early-morning jog.
"Pinkie. Good, just the mare we would like to talk to." Midday smiled.

"Why exactly are you dressed like that?" asked Trixie, apparently unable to contain her confusion. Not that Midday wasn't wondering about that.
"Practicing my comedy." Pinkie said as she lead the two mares up into her private room where Pound and Pumpkin were staring expectantly at the mare.

"If I get Pound and Pumpkin Cake to smile then I know I can get everypony to smile today, because what sort of day would it be if nopony ever smiled, I mean that wouldn't be fun-" Trixie and Midday exchanged looks.
"Pinkie." Trixie uttered.

"Yes. Do you need helping getting a smile on your face today Trixie Lulamoon?"
There was a noise from Trixie indicating she was holding back the urge to yell, most likely because of the two infants staring at the scene in front of them. "No. Trixie is merely wondering if... do you know where Ditzy's gone to?"

Pinkie's smile changed. Midday, for the life of her, couldn't honestly remember seeing the expression on Pinkie's face go straight from pure happiness to total confusion.
"Gone? What do you mean gone? You're not making sense, Lulamoon. Ditzy hasn't gone anywhere."

"Pinkie, she didn't deliver the mail today. Not even a newspaper, or a bill. Nothing. Not even dropping by unannounced on her route." Trixie said, her voice almost calm. There were a few seconds of near silence, save the occasional noise from Pound and Pumpkin. Pinkie's hair seemed to deflate slightly.

"I'll check" she said, her voice noticeably lacking some of its usual energy, before she began beaming again. "Don't worry, your auntie Pinkie will get to the bottom of this mystery right away" she grinned, patting the two grown mares on the head and gently nudging them towards the stairs. As they walked down the stairs they heard Pinkie mutter something about her 'bubble pipe'. The two walked in silence all the way out onto the street. Trixie looked around.
"What are the chances that she'll forget to look for Ditzy?" The mare asked. Midday felt defensive of Pinkie.

"She will. Pinkie doesn't break her promises." She said quickly. Trixie stared at her.
"Though she does get distracted easily, I must admit." The two mares stood there.

"Okay, let's see. Who are the ponies that would know where she is? I mean, there's Dinky, obviously, and probably Cheerilee would know as well. And there was that mare that she was with during the Sisterhooves Social."
"Amethyst Star. Or Sparkler. I can't remember which." Trixie said, "She occasionaly chaperones Dinky. I wouldn't have pegged her as Dinky's sister, myself. I mean, they don't look like sisters."

Midday shrugged. "Well I barely look like my mother, so Dinky and Amethyst can be sisters all they want. Anypony else?"
Trixie contemplated. "Carrot Top." She said eventually.

"Really? What would a mailmare have to talk about with a farmer?"
Trixie blinked. "No, I was just thinking about carrots. You seemed to be handling the thinking just fine without Trixie" she said, archly. Midday rolled her eyes.

"Rainbow Dash?" Trixie suggested, "She seemed to know Ditzy fairly well."
"Good idea. Shall we go then?" Midday said. The two stood there.

"Where first?"
"Let's try Cheerilee first."

*****

As it turned out, Cheerilee wasn't willing to tell either Trixie or Midday where Ditzy was, and even when they did convince her to tell them, she wasn't sure, and noted Dinky hadn't appeared in a while either. Then they went to the post office, where it turned out Ditzy had just up and vanished shortly after Applejack returned from Dodge Junction, and the Post Master suggested asking Amethyst Sparkler, so they travelled all the way across town to the mare's store, where she informed them (in no uncertain terms) that she hadn't seen Ditzy or her half-sister anywhere for some days, and Fluttershy wasn't at home. Feeling slightly curious, Midday went to check and found the odd blue box that belonged to the pony calling himself the Doctor was missing.

"Curious" she muttered. She remembered the stallion saying something about 'couldn't take off' and something about a paradox. She stared at the spot of flattened grass where the box had been.
After that, the two mares returned to the library, Trixie occasionally pondering something. The two stood outside the library door and Trixie frowned.

"I'm going to keep looking for her." The showmare said. Midday raised an eyebrow.
"That's altruistic, for you." She noted. Trixie stared at her.

"I like Ditzy. And nopony seems to have noticed or even cared that she's missing. Or her daughter. Doesn't that strike you as being strange?"
"Yes." Midday said instantly. "But aside from rummaging around, I don't think there's much more that can be done." She looked at Trixie, who looked furious. Midday felt slightly lousy herself. She knew of Ditzy Doo, in her time, the mare still being around and alive, and of Dinky. Again she wondered if their absence had some connection to her, some counterbalance for her going through time. What was it the pony had said... 'timey-wimey'? Trixie was still looking furious.

"Very well then." She said, "Don't bother helping Trixie. She shall look for Ditzy and Dinky by herself, if she must." And at that the mare stormed off, cape billowing behind her.
"Wrong way, Trixie." Midday called out, as the mare stopped walking the way they'd came, and turned to head in the other direction. Midday walked into the library, her mind still trying to analyse the situation, and then something else occured to her. She had travelled into the past, but time still seemed to be happening on more or less the same lines as before. The implications were making her head spin. Why wasn't she having any effect on time? Or was time fighting back somehow, making everypony else follow the pre-set plan it had laid out.

"Whoa, somepony looks terrible" a voice said. She looked up to see Rainbow Dash looking at her and smiling, with an ever-so-slight hint of smugness. A Daring Do book was resting on her hoof.
"Rainbow Dash, in a library? I must be hallucinating." She smirked. Rainbow Dash briefly looked nervous.

"My house is getting... fumigated," she stuttered. "For... cloud... termites?"
Midday walked over to her, noticing Twilight reading another Daring Do book. Well, the purple unicorn had been reading a Daring Do book, but at the moment she was shaking her head. Then when she was done she went back to reading. Midday looked at the book she was reading.

"You're still on the Sapphire Stone? I thought you'd finished it."
"Yeah. I did. And now I'm reading it again, okay?" Rainbow Dash said defensively, before going back to her book. Midday stared at the mare.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash?"
"What?"

"Have you seen Ditzy or Dinky around?"
The mare looked up from her book, a look of genuine confusion on her face.

"... No" she said quietly. "I haven't seem them in... almost a month." Alarm came over her face.
"So you and Trixie couldn't find her?" Twilight asked. Midday shook her head.

"It's weird. Nopony seems to have recognised she wasn't there. It doesn't make any sense. Trixie and I looked everywhere, but... she's just vanished into thin air."
"That's really not like her. That's not like her at all." Rainbow Dash frowned. The three mares sat there in silence. All three sat thinking of reasons for Ditzy's abscence, but none made any sense to them.

"She'll turn up eventually." Rainbow Dash said. Twilight and Midday said nothing, though they were thinking along the same lines. Suddenly a small smile began to appear on Rainbow Dash's face. "She'll be back."
Midday stared at Rainbow Dash for a moment, and just for that instant she could swear she was looking at the Rainbow Dash she knew, and she began to smile herself. Then she realised she hadn't eaten at all yet, having missed breakfast because of the fruitless search for Ditzy, and went into the kitchen to get herself something to eat, meaning she missed Pinkie's arrival. However, she did catch the tail end of the mare's explanation. From the way she seemed to keep repeating the same basic facts, she sounded uncannily like she was in shock. She glanced at Twilight, who was looking sympathetically at Pinkie.

"I know this is hard for you, Pinkie, seeing that you're friends with everypony, but you just have to accept that Cranky is gonna be an exception. He just..." Twilight paused as she searched for the most fitting term, "Doesn't want to be bothered." There was a sudden snort from Rainbow Dash.
"Yeah, he doesn't want to be bothered by your over-the-top super-hyper antics." Rainbow Dash smiled, punctuating her statement by waving her hoof around in a circle by her head and rolling her eyes about.

"Rainbow!" Twilight immediately responded.
Strangely enough Pinkie just nodded to this. "No, no, it's okay Twilight. I get what you're saying. What you're both saying." She sighed, and Midday felt a rising sense of alarm, "And I guess... I guess I can leave Cranky alone." Twilight smiled in vindication. Then Pinkie smiled again.

"Right after he accepts my apology!" Pinkie walked out of the library smiling, while Twilight decided to inspect the book at much closer distance.
"Shouldn't somepony stop her from bothering this... 'Cranky'?" Midday asked. There was a pained groan from Twilight which sounded like (In a very euphemistic sense) her way of saying 'That's what I just did'.

"Nah. Pinkie'll get distracted by something in about ten minutes." Rainbow Dash said, looking at her book again. "Now can I get some peace and quiet? Daring Do's about to get the stone."
"Yeah, but... would you really want some mare barging into your life and not going away when you asked her no matter how much you-" Midday stopped when she saw Rainbow Dash raising an eyebrow. When Rainbow Dash was raising eyebrows, it was definitely time to stop.

*****

As it turned out, Midday's concern was misplaced, since Pinkie managed to reunite the donkey named Cranky Doodle Dandy with his long-lost sweetheart, which made him accept her apology and her offer to be friends. Of course, Midday found this out when Rarity visited the library to impart the news, occasionaly taking small crying fits at the 'romance' of it all. Spike seemed to materialise from nowhere to hand Rarity fresh tissues every moment.
"Imagine it" Rarity said, "Being seperate from the one you loved for so long. It's so... so..." And she descended into another bout of overly-dramatic sobs. Midday lost all interest in the conversation at that phrase, and quickly found something else to do.

*****

The next week passed without any real incident, save one or two of Pinkie's partys. Trixie had returned the day after she had vowed to find Ditzy, having (in her own words) found nothing. So, after much debate, they decided Ditzy was a grown mare who up until recently had always tried to do the right thing, especially by Dinky, though possible reasons as to why a mare and her child would disappear after what happened to the town hall loomed throughout the conversation like ominous shadows. Twilight quickly declared that worrying about Ditzy was unlikely to make her randomly appear, and the topic was quickly dropped, though it did remain on everypony's mind.

On the Saturday after, Midday was chosen for the specially designed rota for fetching the week's groceries.
"I don't remember this" she uttered, to which Twilight smiled an alarmingly eager smile.

"That's because I just designed a new schedule for who gets groceries each week" she grinned. Midday stared at it. And then she stared at it further.
"Makes sense" she finally said, to which Twilight's grin actually grew, which didn't seem to be scientifically possible to Midday until that point. This meant she had to go to the small farmer's market on the edge of town. It wasn't that she had anything against the farmer's market, more the gouging, and the gouging on top of that. There was just something about the place that seemed to bring out the worst in ponies. Actually, now that she thought about it, everypony had been acting moody all morning. As she approached the market she saw Rarity and Pinkie Pie talking with Fluttershy.

"Good morning, everypony" she said as she walked over to them. Pinkie beamed and waved, Rarity just nodded while Fluttershy gave out a small, depressed sounding sigh.
"Something the matter, Fluttershy?" The mare looked startled at that.

"Oh, no, no, not really, though I'm just having bad luck buying food today." Midday raised an eyebrow.
"Ah, one of those days." She said, in the way only an eighteen year old stuck in a twenty-two year old's body could. Not that she couldn't tell what was happening.

"Is it me, or is everypony being kinda insensitive today?" she asked, sniffing the air. It smelt like apples, and the day's mystery scent from the Everfree, which actually smelt like a variety of soup.
"I haven't noticed" Rarity said, calmly. Pinkie rapidly shook her head in agreement with the fashionista.

"At least try and purchase a cherry yourself." Rarity said, returning to the conversation she and Pinkie had been having with Fluttershy before Midday got there. The pegasus looked from Midday to Pinkie to Rarity.
"Okay" She said. She walked over to a stand which apparently sold cherries, and only cherries (and apparently only one variety of cherry, which had nearly sold out on top of that). Midday had a sinking feeling about the whole situation, and watched as Fluttershy somehow managed to get herself confused enough to make the store-owner all the way up to twelve bits ('Take it or leave it' she heard Fluttershy proclaim) at which point Rarity and Pinkie rushed over to drag Fluttershy away. She saw a pony rapidly approaching the stall, and was sure she heard Fluttershy exclaiming something in shock. Apparently the stall owner could smell desperation, and had increase the price beyond the Fluttershy price-range. Then the pony (Lemon... something, if she remembered correctly) bought the cherry for all of two bits, said loud enough for a lot of ponies to hear. At this, Fluttershy looked more miserable than Midday had ever seen her before, and she found herself amazed she wasn't trying to smother the pegasus in hugs and warm blankets already. She quickly trotted over to the pegasus.

"Come on, Fluttershy, it's not like it's the end of the world." The mare looked up at her.
"But Angel Bunny really wanted that cherry, and I needed to get it, otherwise he won't eat his meal, because he's such a fussy eater."
Midday stared at the mare in front of her. How had this mare become the pony who raised Wisp, who by all appearances managed to fight off at least several changelings single-hoofed and survived an attack by a lot more, when she couldn't even manage to buy one single cherry. She decided to just go buy one for Fluttershy, only to see the stall-owner had installed a sign declared that he was closed.
'Of course you are' she sighed. She looked back to Fluttershy.

"Can't you just... I don't know, convince Angel to eat his meal without the cherry, for once."
"I guess I'll have to." Fluttershy said, walking on ahead of Midday, who for some reason found the strength to argue sapped from her. She was aware of Pinkie Pie and Rarity appearing behind her.

"The poor girl" Rarity commented, shaking her head. Midday had to agree, though her pity was tempered by the knowledge of how much stronger Fluttershy could be. Then she remembered she had groceries to buy.

*****

Midday found grocery shopping herself much easier, despite the fact that Rarity and Pinkie Pie were both talking away behind her about Fluttershy needing to 'assert' herself. After five minutes of this she turned around to them, smiling as polite a smile as she could manage.
"And tell me, Rarity, the socialite, the toast of the town, the pony everypony should know, how exactly should this assertion manifest itself?"

Rarity paused in thought. "Well, she should... stand up for herself more. And be more confident."
Midday nodded slowly at that. "More confident." She repeated.

"But how will she go about gaining this confidence?"
Rarity blinked. "She should tell herself she isn't going to take any nonsense from anypony anymore" she declared. Pinkie nodded at this.

"No nonsense from anypony. So that would include the ponies constantly telling her she's a pushover and a doormat?"
Rarity looked uncertain. "Well, obviously we were only doing it to..." her voice trailed off "Encourage her?"

"And I know you meant well, Rarity, but, and here's the problem, you want Fluttershy to stand up for herself, right?"
Rarity nodded instantly.

"Then who's she standing up to? Something to think about." She said, walking back to the library.
Rarity turned to Pinkie. "But that's obvious. It's everypony who's ever pushed her around."

"Of course it is." Pinkie smiled. "Once Fluttershy learns to stand up for herself, she'll be just fine."

*****

Midday quickly returned to the library, and deposited the groceries in the kitchen. She walked back into the main room to find Twilight carefully analysing piles of paper.
"Hey Twilight, what'cha up to?" She asked, making the mare jump. She looked at the dates and notations and the calendar very barely visible underneath all the notes. "Tax returns?"

"No" said Twilight, who didn't seem to recognise the flippancy in Midday's voice, "I'm organising my schedule for the month."
"Oh, yeah." Midday said as she saw several red notations saying 'Lunch with Pinkie Pie' followed by the word 'urgent' underlined several times. The urgency probably came from the fact that Pinkie was more fanatic about scheduling than Twilight. Many was the tale of the unfortunate pony chased beyond the brink of exhaustion while running in terror from the deadly phrase 'Is next Thursday okay'. Although the way Rainbow Dash had told her a version of such a story when she was younger had made it sound far more interesting, including one instance where she and Pinkie Pie had fought off a roving gang of sky pirates. It was around the time Midday had learnt that nearly every story Rainbow Dash told was at least slightly 'enhanced' as the mare put it, save what she called 'The Party of One Incident' which she always bluntly informed anypony who questioned her about it was the truth.

Midday looked at the pile of mail sitting by the door, and raised an eyebrow.
"Has Spike not cleaned out the junkmail today?" She asked. Twilight gave no response, too busy as she was trying to determine a good time to arrange her letters to the Princess (the private copies, of course) in catergorical order. Midday looked through them, mainly because she was feeling slightly antagonistic at the moment. Then she saw a flyer with a picture of a minotaur flexing it's fore-arm muscles.

"The Incredible Iron Will turns doormats into dynamos. Assertiveness seminar today, hedge maze centre." It proclaimed. Midday gently folded it back up and placed it in the nearest waste-basket. Iron Will, she thought. Iron Will, Iron Will, that sounded familiar somehow. Then she remembered where she heard it before.
'Oh, that's not good'.

Quickly she rushed out of the door, only to remember when she was halfway through Ponyville that'd she'd no idea where the maze path was.

*****

"Okay, I feel good. I feel 'ready' to attack the day, as Iron Will says."

*****

It took Midday some time to find the 'hedge maze' as it was called, located on the edge of town, and by the time she'd got there, all she found was a minotaur yelling at some goats not to eat his stage curtains. Midday quickly turned around and headed back into town. It had taken her twenty minutes to find the maze, and it took several minutes more to reach town. On her way she crossed one of the small bridges across the river running through the village, and regretted that instantly. Somepony had managed to spill garbage over the entire bridge, save for eight hoof-shaped gaps. She was aware of a crash, followed by varied screams. She rushed to what appeared to be the source of the screams, Sugarcube Corner, where a pony was lying dazed in the wreckage of the sign hanging on the front of the store. She was aware of somepony yelling.

"Nopony pushes New Fluttershy around! NOPONY!"
Midday stopped dead in her tracks, which caused her to flip head over hoof, right next to Pinkie Pie and Rarity, who didn't seem to notice her.

"Old Pinkie Pie is not so sure New Fluttershy is such a a good idea after all."
"Old Rarity agrees."

Midday slowly got to her hoofs. "What just happened?" She asked.
"Fluttershy's got nuts! She's throwing everypony about and speaking in the third person and then, when I gave her punch, she just went all rhyme-y, and then you saw the rest."

Rarity frowned. "Midday, dearest, did you know this was going to happen?"
She stared at the fashionista, and tilted her head.

"Sort of."
"Sort of" Rarity repeated, her voice cold.

"Well, I did see the flyer for Iron Will's seminars, and if you take somepony like Fluttershy, who's been pushed around all her life and give her the chance to push back... she's going to take it. Like, I don't know, kids that've been bullied, I guess. Everypony just has a point where they snap and today was apparently Fluttershy's."
The three mares stood there, looking at her. Rarity didn't look quite convinced, while Pinkie just looked worried about Fluttershy. Midday smiled. "Now, why not try and think of a way to stop 'New' Fluttershy before she does something she'll regret." She paused to consider the average mindset of the Fluttershy, "Regret more than she usually does, I mean."

"We knew that!" Pinkie said, "We're not scatterbrained id- The punch is dripping everywhere!" She squealed, before rushing over to the counter inside, where there was in fact a large puddle of punch dripping everywhere.
Rarity coughed the sort of polite cough that silenced rooms. "So, Midday, if you know so much about Fluttershy, and what ails her, then what do you suggest we do to get her back to normal?" she asked. Midday looked uncertain, then noticed the pony by the sign beginning to stir and walked over to him.

"You okay?" She asked.
"Something hit me" the dull-grey stallion muttered.

Midday did a quick check. "Well, you'll live, but I'd recommend seeing a trained medical professional just in case. Go on, hospital, now." The stallion looked around, slightly confused, before Midday turned back to Rarity.
"I think we should find Fluttershy, and talk to her."

Rarity raised an eyebrow. "Talk to her? She doesn't exactly appear to be in the most talkative of moods."
"Yeah, you didn't see her!" Pinkie announced from inside Sugarcube Corner, "She was all 'rrr' and 'grrr' and 'I'll take what's mine' on everypony." Her voice lowered. "Fluttershy's turned into a... a meanie."

"Then it's a good thing she's got two friends who are willing to do whatever they can for her." Midday said, "Right?"
Pinkie looked at her in confusion. "Who?"

*****

Half an hour of aimless wandering later, the three mares noticed a pony flying through the air. From the looks of him, he was a tourist, though exactly how Midday managed to figure that out from a three-second glimpse, she wasn't sure. Fluttershy was flying about in the general vicinity of where the pony had been thrown from, looking quite pleased with herself.
"Fluttershy" Rarity called out, "What are you doing? That's no way to behave!"

She glowered at the three of them. "Didn't you see what he did to New Fluttershy? And he thought New Fluttershy was a pushover." She smirked.
"No sweetie, he didn't. We saw the whole thing. We think that you've taken your assertiveness training a little too far." Fluttershy looked incensed.

"What?!" She leaned in close to their faces. Her breath smelt like cherries, strangely enough. Presumably she'd taken advantage of her confidence to purchase and eat some before they'd found her. Her increased self-esteem would also have explained why she was flying. "You just want New Fluttershy to be a doormat like Old Fluttershy! But Old Fluttershy is gone!" she roared triumphantly.
It shocked Midday, Pinkie and Rarity just how much venom the mare had managed to infuse into the word 'doormat'. Pinkie then blinked.

"New Fluttershy... old Fluttershy?!" she asked, her head rotating at odd angles. "What happened to Nice Fluttershy? We want that Fluttershy back."
Fluttershy's voice went low, and despite it being late afternoon, everything seemed to go momentarily dark.

"No, you want wimp Fluttershy. You want pushover Fluttershy! You want do-anything-to-her-and-she-won't-complain Fluttershy!" Pinkie looked like her head was about to burst from confusion, she opened her mouth to say something but Midday interrupted.
"No. We want Sweet Fluttershy. We want Agreeable Fluttershy. We want the Fluttershy who was kind, and gentle, and loving and lovely. We want the Fluttershy who was brave, even when she was terrified, who managed to resist Discord's mindgames. We want the Fluttershy who not only earned the right to be called the Element of Kindess, but deserved it!. Not whatever you've become. We want the real Fluttershy. The who was our friend."

Pinkie Pie and Rarity paused, and then nodded in agreement at this. Fluttershy, or New Fluttershy or Fluttercruel or Flutterjerk or whatever she was going to be named, just looked at her. For a moment her expression softened. Then it returned to scowling.
"Nice try" she said, icily, before flying off. Midday stared in shock, before suddenly saying a set of words she never thought she'd say, much less shout.

"Fluttershy, you get back here right now!" The yellow pegasus stopped, and slowly turned to look at her.
"Do you really think you're the first pony to ever be picked on, the first pony to ever feel miserable, to feel isolated and victimised unfairly? Because I've got news for you, New Fluttershy, you really aren't. Everypony feels like that. Hay, even Celestia's felt like that. You think you have a hard life because ponies seem to automatically ignore you? There are ponies out there who would do anything to have your life! You've got five of the best friends there will ever be, every pony who knows you has never had a single negative thing they could say about you! And yet you seem to think you're reality's punching bag! You've been the idol of dozens, you were a successful super-model, you've stared down mad gods and lived to tell the tale to your children and grand-children, and-and great grand-children, so don't... don't throw a fit just because you had one awful day. Okay, so your day was bad, terrible, a total complete mess, but you..." Midday stopped, her exasperated tirade suddenly evaporating once she realised she had no idea where she was going with it, and that she'd just paused for breath. She looked down at her hooves.

"You are so much stronger than you think you are." she whispered. Fluttershy stared at her. For a few seconds there was silence.
"No." Fluttershy said, dropping to the ground. Tears fell from her eyes, and she appeared to be staring into her own reflection. "I'm not. I'm a monster." She said, before rushing away. For another few seconds, nopony said anything.

"That was far less successful than I'd hoped." Midday said after several minutes. "Should we-?"
Rarity shook her head. "No." she said calmly, "Not today. Right now, we all need time to heal."

"Tomorrow morning, then." Pinkie said. And that was that. When Pinkie Pie set the time, that was the ending to it.

*****

Midday returned home to find Twilight still going over her schedule for next month.
"Hello, Twilight" she said automatically as she slouched through the front door. The mare looked up to see Midday sitting in the comfy chair, staring straight ahead, eyes unblinking.

"Are... you alright?" she asked. Midday made a noise that sounded neither like no or yes.
"What happened?" Twilight asked. Midday turned to stare at her.

"I... It..." She frowned, and tried to collect her bearings. She explained the story of Fluttershy's time as New Fluttershy in as much detail as she was aware of.
"I see." Twilight said eventually. Midday finally blinked.

"Pinkie suggested we talk to her tomorrow morning." Twilight nodded, slowly, before realising she wasn't sure why she was nodding. She looked at the somewhat worried expression on Midday's face, and once again felt concerned for the mare.
"Do... you need anything? Something to eat, or drink?" Midday just looked puzzled.Then she smiled slightly. A thought floated through her mind, from some long-forgotten and abandoned part of her mind.

"Why don't you tell me about your day?" she asked.
Twilight smiled gently. "What?" Midday asked.

"I'm pretty certain all I did was organise my schedule for the next month, and the groceries rota."
"Well, you could try and make it sound exciting" Midday suggested. Twilight frowned.

"What do you mean 'make it sound exciting'? Organising is always exciting!" she said with almost deadly-earnestness. Determined to right this wrong inflicted against her passion she quickly launched into an explanation of the system she'd made up for her schedule, all the little tricks she'd made, the special ways of indicating important dates, and continued on explaining for several hours, well past her appointed bed-time.
(Of course, in her excitement to lecture, she forgot to plan out next month's schedule. But she would've forgotten anyhow.)

*****

The next morning, Midday woke early, cleaned herself up, had breakfast, and travelled over to Sugarcube Corner to find Pinkie, and then the two travelled over to the Boutique to find Rarity. As they travelled silently through the streets of Ponyville in the early morning, they couldn't help but notice the sky getting more and more forboding, the ground beneath their hooves becoming rougher, and the foiliage looking... dead, almost. Then they saw Fluttershy's cottage.

In the space of not even eighteen hours, it had transformed, and now looked like it had been abandoned for years. Every possible opening was boarded over. The windows, the doors, even the rabbit burrows and the bird nests. And as they approached, they heard a wolf howling somewhere in the distance.
"This is less than encouraging." Midday said, before realising she'd been the one to break the spell of silence. They walked over to the boarded up doors, and exchanged glances. Rarity raised her hoof and knocked politely.

"Fluttershy" she called out, "Are you in there?"
"It's Pinkie Pie, and Rarity, and Midday!" Pinkie Pie added. For a moment, there was nothing, only more silence, that seemed to almost have physical presence. Midday briefly wanted for there to be some other noise, just to get rid of it, but then realised that a giant multi-limbed colour from beyond the veil of existance could probably make noises, and decided mind-numbingly terrifying silence was not as bad as she'd presumed.

Then Fluttershy spoke. "Go away! Go away before nasty Fluttershy strikes again!"
The three mares exchanged nervous looks.

"Oh, sweetie, we all said things we regret!" Rarity said, upon realising neither Pinkie or Midday were adequate for speaking at that moment.
"We did?" Pinkie asked, before Rarity quickly jammed a hoof in her mouth, and shushed her.

"No, Pinkie and Midday are right." Fluttershy's voice echoed through the door, "I'm the only one to blame for what happened."
Midday made the universal gesture for confusion.
"But don't worry" Fluttershy continued, "I'm never coming out of my house again. Everypony will be a lot safer with me and my mean mouth locked away."

"Fluttershy, don't do that" Midday said, "You aren't to blame for what happened, nop-... no-one is. You just had a bad day. We all have bad days. They're what make the good days better, and the brilliant days brighter. I know what it feels like to be hurt and upset with everything around you. I know, I know how that feels. But you are not a monster, you're not a demon, or a bully. You're just somepony who made one little mistake. That's all. Don't let it destroy your life."
"Yes." Rarity said, "You just made one mistake, taking bad advice from this Iron Will character"

"YEAH!" Pinkie declared, having freed herself from Rarity's reach, "He's the one who made you super-duper nasty. What I- what we mean is that there are other ways to express yourself other than being nasty."
"Actually, that wasn't what I was saying." Midday pointed out, before being shushed by both ponies.

"You can stand up for yourself without being unpleasant about it" Rarity said.
There was another pause.

"I-... I'm not sure I can. I'm too far-gone. Whenever I try to assert myself I become a monster." At that moment lightning struck, and Midday was fairly certain Fluttershy had some variety of startling vision, rather than being spooked by the lightning.
"You're not a monster" Midday and Rarity said at once. Pinkie noticed something.

"No, but he is!" she smiled, pointing toward a minotaur standing atop a goat. It was a strange sight, considering the size of the goat compared to the minotaur.
"Iron Will's my name, training ponies is my game." He paused to give a thumbs up to a non-existant audience. The three ponies exchanged confused looks.

"What a... darling catch-phrase." Rarity smiled awkwardly.
"Your friend Fluttershy loved Iron Will's catchphrases. Word on the street is that she takes no guff from nopony!" He smiled, and then his smile disappeared. "So Iron Will is here to correct his fee."

"Well, Mr Will" Midday said as calmly as possible, "Fluttershy is really in no condition to see anyone right now, she's feeling incredibly... unwell?" The half-bull, half-something else ignored her, and moved towards Fluttershy's door. Pinkie whispered to Rarity to stop him, and the unicorn walked up to the minotaur, trying to look polite.
"I'm sure a big, brave, powerful and rich monster- I mean minotaur, like you, doesn't need that money right away. You can afford to come back later."

For a second he stared at Rarity. "Are you kidding? Fluttershy's overdue as it is. Iron Will collects now." At that he lifted Rarity out of the way, marched over to the door, and began removing the boards from it.
"Do something" Rarity suggested. Pinkie zipped up to Iron Will and smiled nervously.

"We're not even sure Fluttershy is home right now." Her eyes darted nervously, "She might be off frolicking with some woodland creatures. Why don't you give us some time to track her down for you?"
The minotaur paused.

"Iron Will does have some grocery shopping to do." He said, slowly, lifting a small piece of parchment with a list on it out of what looked like nowhere. "Iron Will will come back this afternoon."
"But that's only half a day!" Pinkie snapped. "We need a full day at least."

"Iron Will will delay for only half a day and no longer!"
At this point Pinkie began to use a technique that Midday had heard of, but never seen in action, which was for some reason known as the 'Duck Season Argument'. As Pinkie did that, Midday placed herself in front of the door.

"We need half a day and no more!" Pinkie declared.
"Well you'll get a full day and no less!" At this, Pinkie smiled, although for some reason she was now floating in mid-air.

"Okie-dokie, then. See you tomorrow" She said, her voice sickly sweet again, as she walked away, in midair.
'It's a good thing I didn't just see that, or I'd think I'm mad' Midday observed.

Then Fluttershy sneezed.
"Sounds like the search won't be necessary. Iron Will collects now!" The minotaur declared in triumph. Pinkie's eyes blazed with fury.

"But we had an agreement! You gotta come back tomorrow!" The minotaur looked at Pinkie.
"When somebody tries to block, show them that you" he lifted Pinke up by her tail, and threw her into the air, "Rock!"

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it, there was a small splat of pony hitting mud. This left Midday staring down a minotaur. She tried smiling politely. He didn't respond in kind. He repeated his catchphrase, and then tried to grab Midday. Only his hands bounced off the forcefield she'd established. He tried to walk around her, only to bump into the other forcefields she'd set up.
"Kid, move out of the way. Fluttershy's gotta pay." Midday prepared to make some remark against that, only for her to hear the door opening slowly. She turned to see Fluttershy, the mare's face emotionless. Midday stopped casting her spells, and there was a slight crackle as the magic barriers vanished. Iron Will snorted.

"You were nothing but a doormat, and Iron Will turned you into a lean, mean, assertive machine." He punctuated each remark with a different pose, "Now pay Iron Will what you owe Iron Will!"
For a moment, Fluttershy said nothing. Then she remarked, "Um, no."

It wasn't very loud, or loud at all. It was the usual Fluttershy vocal level of near-whisper, but it sounded like a thunderbolt to everyone present.
"What did you say?" Iron Will asked, the strength of his voice blowing the mare's hair backwards.

"No." she repeated. An alarming smile came across Iron Will's face.
"Oh, I'd hate to be you right now, because Iron Will is gonna rain down a world of hurt unless Iron Will gets his money PRONTO!"

Fluttershy just looked up at him, a very, very minute smile on her face. "As I recall, your workshop promised one hundred percent satisfaction guaranteed, or you pay nothing." There was a slight pause.
"Well, I'm not satisfied."

Iron Will looked confused. "What do you mean you're not satisfied? Everypony has always been satisifed!"
Fluttershy shrugged. "I guess I'm the first then. But since I'm not satisfied, I refuse to pay. It's as simple as that."

Iron Will actually looked shocked now. "Are you... sure you're not just a little bit satisfied? B-because maybe... we could cut a deal, I-I mean we're both reasonable creatures, aren't we?"
Fluttershy just shook her head. "I'm sorry" And everypony could tell she meant that, "But no means no."

Suddenly, and without Midday noticing, Iron Will was standing on one of his goats again, his face downcast and his shoulders slumped. "No means no, huh? Nopony's ever said that to me before" He appeared to contemplate this, and wherever his train of thought went, he seemed to like it, "I gotta remember that one. That's a good catchphrase for my next workshop." And at that Iron Will and his goats left, leaving the four mares standing there.

Then they hugged.
"That was amazing!" Midday declared.

"Oh, I-"
"You were amazing!" Pinkie smiled, "You totally stood up to that minotaur!"

"In fact, you didn't change at all!" Rarity smiled, "You're still the same old Fluttershy we've always loved!"
"The one we missed!" Pinkie added. Fluttershy smiled further at that.

"Not exactly" she said. The three ponies stared at her.
"Now I know how to be confident, without going overboard. And I know there are ponies who will always be there to make my days bright." As she said this, the gloomy clouds above them began to disappear.

"My friends." She said, as there was the sudden sound of birdsong.
"All's well with the world." Midday said.

"So what now?" asked Pinkie. The three ponies paused. They were fairly certain they knew what the answer was.

As it turned out, they didn't have the right answer. Pinkie Pie suggested writing a letter to Celestia about their experiences. And then partying. Though Twilight Sparkle declined because she was still organising her monthly schedule.

Author's Note

Three episodes covered in one chapter.
Sane? Heck, no. But I'mma do it anyway!
(I certainly showed me. Gosh, if I'd know PYHD was gonna take up so much space, I'd have made a seperate chapter)

Quite Possibly

Midday Eclipse was awake, and that was when she noticed something she hadn't been aware of: That she hadn't yet fallen asleep, and that it was after three in the morning, and there was rythymic noise which appeared to be coming from downstairs, which she could guess was likely Twilight Sparkle frustrated about something and engaging in a bit of stereotypy, and if it came to guessing what had the librarian so aggravated, it was almost certainly her schedule. Midday sighed. She'd been looking forward to getting some sleep, having woken up early to help in bringing Fluttershy back to her senses, after bringing her back out of her senses with one poorly thought-out speech. Midday was aware of a small ruffling sound, which meant Spike was shifting in his basket. Then there was a sudden explosion of light as the dragon turned on the lights by Twilight's bed, and gave a small noise of irritation on seeing the empty bed belonging to the studious unicorn. Midday blinked the spots out of her eyes, and decided to follow the dragon downstairs, if only for moral support. Meanwhile, Trixie (the occasionaly Great and Powerful) mumbled something in her sleep about bourbon, which sounded oddly like off-key singing.

*****

"Twilight!" Spike said, apparently shocked that the mare he'd known from birth was still up, despite Twilight Sparkle's habit of pulling all-night study sessions.
"Hi, Spike, Midday." The mare said, not even breaking stride from her pacing around the central podium, where several of her books were lying, one or two of them left open.

"It's the middle of the night, why are you pacing like this?" Spike asked, holding up his alarm clock, which helpfully told Midday it was three in the morning on the fourth of March.
"Force of habit, I'm guessing." Midday said to herself.

Twilight suddenly turned around, an annoyed expression on her face.
"Frankly I don't know how you can sleep at a time like this!" she declared.

"Closing my eyes and thinking about making cupcakes usually helps" Midday said. Twilight took no note of this, and walked over to the two of them. She looked worried.
"It's awful, it's horrible, it's tragic" she proclaimed. Spike and Midday looked at each other.

"What's wrong?" they asked. Twilight's horn glowed and a calendar leapt into Spike's hands. He looked at the large number four on it. Twilight had clearly gone to a lot of attention make sure it stood out.
"Now you do see what's wrong?" she said.

"We forgot to celebrate Arbor Day?" Spike asked weakly.
"No, the problem" Twilight rushed over to one of her open books and started flipping through it before rushing over to the dragon and the unicorn and waving a calander in their faces, "Is I just finished my schedule for the month, but I forgot to leave time to schedule for next month!" Midday felt a slight glow of satisfaction at being right, or rather she would have had she not seen Twilight's schedule-inspired panic, or fighting her eyelids, which hadn't gotten the memo she was supposed to be awake. Twilight started pacing again.

"I could move my meeting with the Ponyville Hay Board to the following Tuesday, but then I'd have to reschedule my lunch with Pinkie Pie, and you know what a nightmare she is with scheduling."
"Poor choice of words there" Midday said quietly, even though Pinkie was like a demonic entity of hatred when it came to scheduling: Demanding, near-impossible to negotiate with and almost entirely unstoppable.

"This is an absolute disaster!" Twilight yelled, "My whole year could be thrown off!"
By this point Spike and Midday were both calmly walking upstairs again. Not because they didn't care about Twilight's mental well-being, but more because after several years of experience Schedule Panic, it was routine. Normally Twilight would burn herself out during the night and fall asleep at her desk, before coming up with a simple solution when she woke up again.

"See, that's why I barely plan ahead." Midday explained to the small dragon, who just chuckled. There was a frustrated groan from behind them.
"So, any good dreams lately?" The royal blue mare asked as they walked through the door to upstairs.

*****

Night passed, as it did, and all the ponies of Ponyville slept peacefully (save Twilight Sparkle, naturally), and all of Equestria beyond that, under the watchful protection from nightmares, and the things that went bump in the night, from Princess Luna.

*****

Midday was awoken by a faint scratching noise, and awoke to see Twilight calmly working away at her desk, occasionaly muttering or exclaiming in triumph or sighing. She looked up to see the sun slowly arching it's way across the sky. Then she looked over to the clock by her bed, which told her it was only half past five. She closed her eyes again.

There was a series of scratching noises, followed by a pause, then an exasperated hiss, a fast scraping noise and then more scratching.
Midday lay there for a moment, before rolling out of her bed, picking up the pillows, and then walking downstairs as calmly as possible.

*****

Elsewhere.
Imagine a staircase. A really, really long staircase that seems to go on forever, just spiralling down, and down, and down, and down and further down, until you start to wonder why you aren't bursting into flames, or why everything suddenly feels so cold for some reason, and then you come to a vast cavern, at the end of which lay a door, which seemed to exude cold.
Not that Princess Luna felt cold, since being a Princess (and due to a lucky coin-toss, princess of the Winds and Water) meant she rarely felt cold, and it would have had to have been beyond the range of most mortals to feed. She looked about the vast cavern, playful concern on her brow. She whistled into the gloom.

"Here, boy."
In her magic's grip was held a large (roughly the size of a large bathtub, or a small swimming pool) plastic bowl, filled with all manner of unpleasant smelling foods regularly delivered at night by the finest Griffon deliverymen. It was meat, though Luna hadn't really checked what brand of meat it was, she was fairly certain that it's intended recipient didn't care what he was eating. The cavern remained still, bits of etheral fog wrapping around her slippers (Even for a pony resistant to the cold, wearing metal shoes in a freezing cold cavern wasn't up there on the list of Great Ideas for the Ages).

Luna frowned. She whistled again, longer and louder this time. Nothing continued happening.
"Here, Kirby. Here, boy." There was no noise, save the slight echo of her voice.

"Din-dins!" She said, though not at the volume she was used to using, what with all those bits of advice Cadance had been giving her. She was puzzled, and gently set the large bowl down, and walked around it.
"Kirby?" she asked to the darkness, her horn glowing slightly. She looked about, her wings flapping slightly. She looked back to the stairs, which were quite large. Large enough enough for several ponies to walk it side by side. Large enough, perhaps, a voice in her said, for a giant three-headed dog.

A few seconds later the ever-graceful Princess of the Night was soaring upwards through the cavern, and eventually out into the early morning sky, just outside Canterlot. The two Princesses had debated (not bickered, as some pundits had speculated. Princesses did not bicker.) about whether it was truly a good idea to place a portal to the underworld itself near their castle and centre of government, to which Luna had pointed about that anything that got past a giant three-headed dog and the Eternal Staircase (they'd been in a sarcastic mood that decade) wasn't going to be in much shape to fight two alicorns, and if it got past them, then a bunch of mortal ponies throwing sticks and bits of metal at it weren't going to be much use, so if something got past Cerberus, the two sisters would have at least been close enough to know about it.

*****

Princess Celestia was just beginning her day, with a report from the hard-working (if slightly over-caffeineated) Royal Public Relations department, when the door slammed open, and Luna dramatically swept past a rather stubborn collection of guards, who had decided that they were guarding the throne room against everything, and since everything did include Celestia's younger sister, they were duty-bound to stop her. Somehow.
"Luna? This is hi-" Celestia didn't get much further as the younger Princess began to speak.

"WOE! OH LAMENTATIONS! SISTER, I BRING DIRE NEWS! THE GATES OF TARTARUS STAND UNGUARDED, AND ALL MANNER OF EVIL THREATENS TO LOOSE ITSELF UPON THE WORLD!"
For a moment, nopony said anything, merely staring at anywhere but each other's eyes. Celestia fortunately chose to cough slightly, and smiled one of her more reassuring smiles.

"If you will excuse us, my sister and I must attend to other matters for a moment" she said, summoning the castle staff to escort the Public Relations officials to one of the many waiting rooms, where they could drink tea and coffee to their heart's content. Celestia turned to look at Luna, who was still wearing her slippers, and looked like she'd been about to take a nap, as she often did during the day.
"What is it, sister?"

Luna whispered something. Celestia fought the urge to raise an eyebrow. While Luna had, over the last year, managed to shed herself of the Traditional Canterlot Voice, she still spoke in more formal tones when emotional, and when truly emotional, she went straight back to shouting enough to break windows. However, the whispering was almost unheard of from Luna.
"Sorry?"

"Kirby's missing" Luna said, now loud enough to be heard. For a moment, Princess Celestia was genuinely confused. She knew all of the ponies who dwelt and worked within her castle by name, from the highest guard (although since he was engaged to her niece, and she was officiating the wedding, this wasn't a surprise) to the lowliest dish-washer, and she'd never heard of a 'Kirby' before. Then she realised Luna wasn't talking about a pony. (When the word moment is used, this is in the seconds of roughly under a few seconds. For an immortal being, a few seconds can feel like hours, and hours like seconds. Just like regular ponies, really)

"You mean Cerberus?" Luna nodded. That made sense, since Luna had always been fond of animals, much as she always been fond of other ponies, it was just that most of them tended to sleep through her night as well. She had previously been fond of cats, but between the whole Nightmare Moon incident, and a dreadful occasion involving Philomena, Luna had gone completely off felines.
Questions teamed through Celestia's head, eventually she decided to go for an easy one.

"And you've checked everywhere? He isn't sleeping in one of the spare ballrooms?" Luna fixed her with a look that indicated she had, in fact, checked everywhere. Quite possibly more than twice.
"Well, shall I tell the guards to look out for him? After all, he's the size of a small house, so it's not like he can stay hidden for long."

"'kay." Luna said, apparently smiling at the thought of the dog trying to hide itself, and somehow succeeding. Celestia walked over to her sister.
"You just go get some rest" she said, gently nudging Luna with her wings. The younger alicorn slowly took to the air and flew off in the direction of her observatory. Celestia shook her head, and started trying to think of a way to phrase the missing dog flyers.

*****

Just outside Ponyville, there was a set of hills. They were relatively nondescript things, green, grassy, occasionaly brown, nice for looking at the stars at from, fun to slide down when it was snowing. Nothing important ever happened to hills, usually, save being moved to make space for mountains or houses, which meant a lot of time got bottled up, just waiting to be used, for something, for anything, first kisses, fights, spats, awkward first encounters, scabbed knees, dropped ice cream, this sort of time wasn't fussy, not like its pushy up-town neighbours, only saving itself for Fixed Points and Historical Facts and the like. Fixed Points don't tend to happen to hills, and it was the same with this one. A Fixed Point was not about to happen to it.
Time had something much better in store.

The first thing that happened was a slight rustling, despite the complete absence of wind, and then... the Noise. Some ponies who had heard it (and would go on to hear it) would claim that despite its' rough, grinding nature, it still had something beautiful about it, some intrinsicly brilliant quality that just was.
It was the noise of a time machine landing. It was shaped like a box, in the most blue shade of blue there ever was and would ever be. It proclaimed itself to be a 'Police Telephone Box'. After a few seconds of the beautiful noise, there was a heavy clunk. Then there was the creak of old doors opening, and a head emerged from the door, sniffing at the air. The mouth of this head opened.

"See? Told you! Ponyville, just as you left it." The pony stepped out, and the first thing that would be noticable about this stallion (Beside the odd accent, and the hair, and the chin) was the bowtie.
There was a small 'huh' noise, as a blonde-maned mare with grey fur and bubbles for a Cutie Mark stepped out, appearing to admire the scenery for the first time in forever. The first thing noticable about this mare were her eyes (and stop staring!), followed by the kindly smile.

"You were right." She smiled. The stallion gave a mildly smug smile.
"We're home?" A smaller voice said, and a unicorn filly practically bounced out of the box, which didn't look anywhere near enough to fit a full-grown mare and stallion and a filly.

"Of course. You asked me to take you somewhere and back by 'tomorrow morning'. Here we are, tomorrow morning." The stallion said, patting the box slightly. The mare walked over to the stallion and kissed him, to which he looked amazingly embarrased, especially once the filly giggled.
"Thank you, Doctor." Ditzy Doo said. "For everything."

*****

Midday was just starting breakfast when Spike came downstairs, shaking his head.
"She's still at it?" Midday asked. Spike nodded, glumly, before sitting on the raised stool he normally occupied.

"She's not normally this bad." He sighed, before leaning in towards Midday. "Is she as bad about this in your time?" he said at a whisper, in case Twilight was listening.
Midday tilted her head. "Depends on her mood. Though to be fair, the next twenty-odd years do give her time to improve her scheduling tactics."

She suddenly felt an itching sensation in her horn, and an odd static feeling, and the dishes in the sink were rattling.
"Something wrong?" asked Spike. Midday looked at him.

"She hasn't decided to skip sleeping, has she?" They exchanged glances, both apparently considering the problem of a sleep-addled Twilight Sparkle praciticing magic. Spike was imagining another brawl between everypony in town. Midday was just thinking of a massive crater with a few bits of smoking pony remains lying about.
The rattling stopped. Neither Spike or Midday looked reassured by this. They quickly rushed out of the kitchen and up the stairs, Midday bashing the door down to find- she stopped, and stared in confusion.

Standing in front of them was a clearly sleep-deprived Twilight Sparkle, and by the fireplace was... another Twilight Sparkle, only this one was wearing a torn black body-suit, and an eye-patch over her right eye, and there was a bandage over her head. And worse was her mane. The normaly well-manicured and maintained mane was bent... and looked like it had been set on fire. Numerous alternatives rushed through Midday's mind, but as the mare opened her eyes, and Midday noticed the massive bags under her eyes. Then she remembered an old tale her mother had told her, one she'd dismissed as being made-up (A viewpoint that had long since fallen apart, especially once Pinkie had told her that was what really happened). This was the Twilight from Next Tuesday, which was still the past to Midday, even though it was the future relative to Future Twilight and-... Midday sighed.

'This is going to need a program' she thought.
Meanwhile, Current Past Twilight seemed excited. "You're you, but I'm me too. How can there be two 'me's? It's not scientifically possible." She jabbed Next Tuesday's Twilight with a hoof "You are not scientifically possible."

"She must be possible, she's happening." Midday observed, rolling her eyes. Both Twilight's ignored her.
"Twilight, please! I have a very important message to you from the future!"

Current Past Twilight (or Past Past Twilight, perhaps, to compare to Future Past Twilight, which actually sounded pretty good to Midday for some reason) gasped in joy, or curiosity. It was hard to tell where that ended for Twilight.
"You're from the future?!"

"That's right" Future Past Twilight said solemnly, "Now, listen-"
"What happened to you?" Current Past Twilight said, circling the battered mare, "The future must be awful."

"Please!" Future Past Twilight said, pleadingly, "I don't have much time!"
Current Past Twilight scratched her hoof, and frowned. "Is there some sort of epic pony war in the future or something?"

Midday found herself fighting down a laugh, and finally noticed Spike just staring in utter confusion at the scene in front of him.
"Actually, I'm from next Tuesday morning." Future Past Twilight said, before seeming to remember something, "But that's not important right now!"

"I can't believe time travel is really possible! How did you" Twilight paused and laughed, "I mean, I, figure this out?"
Future Past Twilight frowned, "The time travel spells are in the Canterlot Archives. But that's not-" Midday felt a great swell of pity for Twilight Sparkle as she watched the proceedings, all too aware of the temporal paradox. Curent Past Twilight looked giddy (although that was probably the lack of sleep working against her).
"Really? Where? I've never seen them!" She sounded almost hurt by that realisation that there was something in the Canterlot Royal Archives she hadn't read yet, and that she hadn't even known that there was something she hadn't read.

"They're in the Star Swirl the Bearded Wing" Future Past Twilight said, shooting a look at Midday as she did so, which made the mare take a step back. "Now you have to listen to-"
"Is time-travel fun, or does it hurt?" Current Past Twilight squeaked, "I have so many questio-" Future Past Twilight jammed a hoof in her past self's mouth.

"I have something important to tell you about the future, and I only have a fews seconds so you have got to listen!" Future Past Twilight frowned, "Whatever you do, don-" Suddenly a glow became to surround her, and wind began to whip around the room, and then there was a bright flash and a sound like a thundercrack, and the once-and-future Twilight was gone. The Twilight of the immediate present just looked concerned.

"Future Twilight?" She stared down at the scorch mark on the floor, "Oh no" she whispered. She looked up at Midday and Spike.
"What was she trying to warn me about? Her clothes, her mane, and that scar..." She tutted, "Oh, what a mess she is!... I mean, I am!... or will be!" She gasped.

"She must want me to prevent whatever horrible thing happened in the future."
"She wants you to prevent whatever happened by next Tuesday? Bit of a deadline." Midday said. Twilight just stared at her and Spike.

"C'mon" she declared, "We have to warn everypony." And she rushed downstairs before Midday could say anything. Behind her, she heard Trixie stirring.
"Wh- what's going on?" The mare asked, blearily. Midday turned to look at Spike.

"You okay?" She asked the dragon.
"Two... Twilights?" he whimpered. She shook her head and lifted him onto her back.

"COME ON!" Twilight yelled from downstairs.

*****

Celestia finally relaxed. It was her first break of the day, the nicest fifteen minutes she would have all morning. She quickly realised all too late what she'd done, just as there was a gentle knock on the door, and it opened just slightly. A familiar etheral-maned head poked into the room.
"No, Luna. We haven't found him yet." She said, calmly. Luna nodded sadly. Her head slowly disappeared again.

*****

Back in Ponyville, Ditzy walked through the town confidently, Dinky resting on her back. Or rather, Dinky was supposed to be resting on her back, but she couldn't help but notice ponies pointing and staring and whispering at her and her mother. Dinky was smarter than she looked, and she was certain she could hear them saying her name as well as her mother's... impolite nickname.

*****

Five minutes ago, in the box belonging to the Doctor, the stallion flicked a switch, there was the beginning of the wonderful noise of his machine, his TARDIS, his se-... his beautiful girl, preparing to fly. Then it stopped. He frowned, paused, then nudged the switch back and forth. Nothing happened. He batted a hoof at the screen connected to the central terminal, the one that told him the date. True, he was awful at time-keeping, but he'd promised to Ditzy and Dinky to bring them back the day after they'd left. He'd promised. He scowled at the machinery. Then he kicked it.
A few seconds later, his hoof really really smarting, the Doctor rushed out of the TARDIS towards Ponyville.

*****

Twilight and Midday raced through the streets of Ponyville, Spike holding onto Midday's hair for dear life. Twilight had explained she was going to find everypony, gather them together and 'future-proof' Equestria. Midday just nodded, and ran after her, though Twilight had looked slightly bothered by that, she said nothing. They had searched everywhere, but Rarity and Pinkie Pie weren't in their stores, but apparently Pinkie and Fluttershy had been gathering supplies on the edge of town. And while they were running, Midday saw something that made her stop dead, which managed to catapault Spike clear off her head, although by good fortune he managed to land on Twilight.

"Twilight, stop!" she yelled, to which the mare did, though not sharp enough to throw Spike from her back.
"What?" she asked. Midday pointed, to where a confused-looking grey-furred mare with blonde hair and bubbles for a Cutie Mark was walking along the road, and Midday could see a hoof or two sticking out from her back.

"It's Ditzy!" She declared, before rushing over to the pegasus and smiling broadly, before hugging the mare.
"Where were you?" She asked. Ditzy stared at her, then over to Twilight, who was slowly approaching her.

"What do you mean, 'where was I'?" she asked, tilting her head. Midday couldn't see it, but Twilight was staring at her hooves.
"What?" The mare asked. Possible options ran through Midday's head, and while she didn't like the answer she got, she decided to ask it anyway.

"Ditzy... what's the date?" The mare looked uncertain.
"The sixteenth of January." She said, her eyes moving from Midday to Twilight. There was a clattering noise, as a familiar-looking brown-coated stallion ran up to Ditzy looking unbelievably nervous.

"Hello, sorry, Ditzy... I might have got the date wrong." He said. Ditzy stared at her, which meant both her eyes were focused on the same spot, and strangely enough that was worrying.
"How. Long. Have I been gone?" she asked, the little filly on her back looking terrified of the sudden change in her mother.

"Almost two months." Midday said. There was a moment as the mild-mannered mailmare took in what she heard.
"WHAT."
The Doctor looked sheepish, and muttered an apology. Ditzy simply glared at him, her mouth opening and closing several times, until she finally managed to say something.

"Seven. Weeks?! How did you manage to... I-... You-...!" She looked to Dinky, then back to the numerous gathered ponies who were staring at her, and then Midday noticed she was quivering. The stallion looked at her.
"I am sorry, Ditzy, I ju-" He stopped, and then started walking away. Midday found herself hugging Ditzy.

"Hey, it's alright." She said, "You're back, and you're with us, and you're safe. 'S all that matters."
"Seven weeks" the mare repeated. Midday looked at Dinky, who looked confused.

"What happened?" Midday asked. Ditzy just smiled slightly.
"We met at Hearth's Warming. You'd never believe me if I told you."

"I just say a version of Twilight Sparkle from two days into the future show up via time-travel, and I once heard Princess Luna sing in the Traditional Canterlot Voice. There's not really much I won't believe."
"Well, there was this army of snow ponies, you see..." Midday was aware that Twilight had walked off to tell everypony about her future-self, which also conveniently distracted the ponies who were giving Ditzy some very suspect looks. Ditzy described the strange, illogical tale of how she met the pony who called himself the Doctor, which apparently had involved Princess Luna, snow-ponies that ate ponies, and something Ditzy wasn't sure what.

"That's weird." Midday finally said. "But I still believe you."
"Story's not over yet." Ditzy said, as ponies around them went to work begining the disaster-proofing of Equestria.

"See, it started just after what I did to the town hall... I was trying to get on with my work, but I went to pick up Dinky from school, and..." Tears began to well up in the mare's eyes, and Midday noticed the fortuitous arrival of Trixie. The mare approached them.
"Ditzy? Where have you been?" She smiled. Midday raised an eyebrow. First today had Twilight accepting the concept of time-travel, then Ditzy and Dinky had returned, and now Trixie was happy to see somepony. This didn't seem right to her.

"Hey, Trixie, do you mind taking care of Dinky for a while?" Midday asked. Trixie looked from her, down to the sad and confused looking little filly. She smiled.
"Trixie shall do her best." She motioned for Dinky to follow after her. The filly looked to Ditzy, who just nodded, then suddenly looked at Trixie with a fierce expression.

"If anything happens to her, I will be very cross with you" She said, her voice calm but underscored with just the right amount of subtle menace. The showmare looked alarmed, but still led the little unicorn away. Ditzy watched, smiling, as the two walked down the streets.
"You know, every time I've made a mistake in my life, all the bad choices I've made, and I see Dinky, and suddenly I find myself thinking I'd do it all over again, just for her." Ditzy said, sighing contentedly.

"So, what happened next, after you saw Dinky?"
Ditzy looked like she'd been slashed through the heart. "Dinky's growing up. She's not stupid, and she knew ponies were talking about me, after what I did to the town hall, and... she doesn't have a lot of friends, not ones her own age, I don't think. She's never invited any over, and I know why. She doesn't want to risk overworking me just for her friends, and..." She sniffed. "We were walking home, and this brilliant, kind madpony, the Doctor showed up. He said some things that didn't make sense, and then he noticed Dinky was crying. He asked us... he asked us if we wanted to go somewhere, just for a while. He said he had a time machine, anywhere we wanted to go he would take us, and I just- he just seemed so nice, and so we accepted. And he showed us to that box he's always travelling around in, and it actually was bigger on the inside, like he'd said." She stopped and looked almost embarrassed.

"So, Dinky and I, we're in this magnificent machine, and we don't know what to say, so he smiles and said he'd choose for us. And there was this noise, this... wonderful noise, like the universe turning, and then it stopped, and he walked out of the door. We just stood there, not sure what to do, but we eventually decided to see whether he was just playing a joke on us. And we stepped outside and we saw paradise." She smiled slightly as she recalled the events, "Everywhere we looked shone in the sun, everything was made of crystals, an entire beautiful city that seemed to stretch on forever, and at the center there was a massive castle, like a great mountain carved out out of more crystal than I ever thought existed, reaching into the heavens." Midday's jaw dropped as she recognised what the mailmare was describing. There was a small sniff from the mare.

"I could smell the incense floating in the air, the wonderful smells of all sorts of wonders I had never known, and then there was this wave, this energy that washed over us like a wave made of joy, and bliss, that I just wanted to hold on to forever, and never let go of. Then I asked him why he was doing this for us, and he looked so hurt and lost, I just didn't know what to do. And he said it was so that Dinky was 'happy now, because she's going to be unhappy later.' That was why. So that my little girl felt happy. And then we left, and returned here and he turned out to be almost two months off-date, and now everypony probably thinks I tried to run away with Dinky in case somepony tried to take her from me."

Midday stared at Dinky as she finished that statement and went silent. She hugged the mare tightly.
"Nopony will take her from you." Was all she said.

"Can you promise that?" Ditzy asked. Midday looked at her.
"I don't need to. I mean it." She stood up, and after the shock of realising she'd sat down, motioned for the (likely now ex-) mailmare to follow.

*****

"Have you any luck finding him?"
"Still no, Luna."

*****

Midday's plan had been to make sure the Mayor understood the situation about where Ditzy and Dinky had gone, then find somepony to give character testimonial so that nopony would try to send Dinky into foster care. It turned out they needn't have bothered, though Ditzy discovered she hadn't been on paid vacation, and was docked the pay for the weeks she was missing. She just vowed to work harder, to which someponies had remarked whether it was actually possible.

"Ditzy's back!" Pinkie cheered, and began to rush off to throw a party when a familiar aura grabbed her. It took Pinkie several seconds to stop running in place.
"No, Pinkie, we can't throw any parties until we are absolutely sure Equestria is safe!" Twilight Sparkle declared. Everypony looked uncertain, but eventually agreed to wait until Twilight Sparkle declared the all-clear, though Midday did lean in towards the party planner.

"Hey, Pinkie, could you possibly find a way to make Ditzy a bunch of muffins for me?"
"Okie-Dokie-Lokie, one box of apology muffins on your account." The mare smiled, bouncing away before Midday could ask how she knew. She considered it and realised the answer was, and always was going to be 'She's Pinkie Pie'.

*****

The Doctor paced around the console room, glaring at the machinery.
"Why won't you do anything?" He muttered, "I check the blinkie-bits, looked at the wibbly stuff, I've torn the whole zig-zag plotter out and replaced it, so why aren't you flying? Eh?" He placed a hoof against the central column. "What is it? What's wrong?" There was a beeping noise, and he looked at the display screen, and the words flashing against the frame.

"Oh no" he whispered. "No, no, no." Once more the Doctor rushed outside, before rushing back in to grab the small silvery device sitting idly on the console. On the screen, the words 'meta-crisis' continued to flash on and off.

*****

Some hours of sweaty, bone-breaking list-checking later, and Twilight stood triumphant. The dam had been given a good checking, the water tower refilled, sidewalks de-gummed, bridges repaired, and Pinkie's hair more or less tamed. Every potential disaster in Ponyville, and all across Equestria had been pre-solved (Save Midday's back giving out from carrying all the checklists, since she'd been assigned the function of Checklist Carrier).

"Excellent." Twilight smiled, looking at the list once more, "We've done everything on this list, but still..." She paused, looking at the nervous faces of her friends, "Future Twilight looked like she'd been through a horrible ordeal. I just have this nagging fealing we should be looking for something bigger than loose bolts and leaky pipes."
"Like what?" Midday asked. Before she could even scold herself for saying something so blatantly foolish, there was a massive impact of a giant, three-headed dog landing right in front of them, before roaring and barking and howling at everything.

"Big dog." The royal blue unicorn uttered as she looked up. And up. And up.
"Okay, everypony" Pinkie Pie declared, her voice clear and her face serious, "Follow my lead!"

She then began screaming and running away, with everypony else joining in. Midday just stared at the giant dog, which she presumed was the one that had sniffed her as she wandered blithely into the Underworld when she was younger, which was in the future so- She leapt out of the way of a massive paw.
'Creature first, working out time-travel later' she told herself. She saw Twilight preparing to zap the creature with magic, and began to move towards her. Magic wasn't going to do squat against a creature designed to guard the Underworld. In fact, of all stories about the giant dog the only beings ever counted as having gotten past the creature were Hurricane (In a gross exaggeration of his admitedly impressive abilities) and the unnamed King of the Seaponies. However, as Midday prepared to move Twilight from being stomped on by a giant dog (Which obviously wouldn't have killed her, but most certainly was going to hurt her a lot), she heard an incredibly soft voice say something.

"Hello there." It was Fluttershy, and she was flying, and talking to the giant, bad-tempered looking three-headed dog, "Who's the cute widdle three-headed doggie?" The dog seemed to agree, ever rolling over onto its back and allowing Fluttershy to scratch its stomach.
"Wow." Twilight Sparkle uttered, "I knew you were good with dogs, but this... is amazing." Fluttershy turned to smile at Twilight.

"Aw, he's just a big furry guy who got out of his yard, that's all." She turned to the dog, "Right, Cerberus?" She then proceeded to interrogate the dog as to whether he was a 'good boy' or not, until Pinkie Pie came screaming past.
"Pinkie Pie" Twilight said, stopping the panicing party mare in her tracks. She started smiling again, as she bounced over towards Twilight.

"Yes, Twilight?"
"Do you have a ball I could borrow?" Pinkie nodded and walked over to a nearby tree and stuck her hoof into it.

"I have balls stashed all over Ponyville" She beamed, fishing a brightly coloured ball out, "In case of ball emergency." Twilight, to her credit (And Midday's surprise) didn't even seem to react to that, though considering the mare had been around Pinkie Pie for around two years now, it wasn't really a surprise. Twilight levitated the ball in front of Cerberus's face, and lead the large dog out of the town. As she did, she heard Twilight utter
"I'll be back as soon as I've returned him to the gates of Tartarus. Once he's back home, there'll be no disaster."

There were several cheers, although Spike stopped when he noticed Midday was not among them.
"Why aren't you cheering?" he asked. She looked at him.
"It's time-travel, Spike. If there is no 'disaster' then Twilight won't travel back in time." She frowned. "I should probably have tried telling her that before she rushed out of the house this morning."

Spike looked at the now distant form of Twilight and her new furry friend. "Probably. But would it have worked?"
"I am reasonably confident in my understanding of time to understand that we can't change what we've already seen. Twilight's eye is going to get injured, and she's going to end up looking like she's been through a war, and then she's gonna travel back in time." Spike opened his mouth to say something else, then looked confused, while Midday walked over to the nearby Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"Hey, girls, do you mind doing something for me?" she asked. The three fillies exchanged looks.
"Okay." Scootaloo said, hesitantly.

"Do you know Dinky?"
"Yeah, we know Dinky, but we don't talk to her much." Apple Bloom said, sounding almost guilty.

"We thought she'd gone missing, so we tried looking for her." Sweetie Belle added. Midday smiled at that.
"Good to know. Now, it's come to my attention that poor Dinky has what doctors would call... lack of friends. Do you three know anypony who would be willing to make friends with Dinky?"

The three fillies exchanged glances. "You mean us, right?" Scootaloo asked.
"Yes."

"Of course." They said as one, with identical grins.
"Glad to hear it." She said, turning to leave.

*****

"Dinky!" Ditzy cried, as she found the filly sitting on a stage with Trixie. The two appeared to be getting on well, but the filly leapt from the stage when she saw her mother.
"Mom!" She declared, "Trixie's been showing me all kind's of magic tricks"

"That's nice, muffin." Ditzy smiled. She looked up at Trixie.
"Thank you, for looking after my daughter for a while." The showmare blushed.

"Well, Trixie... just wished to be helpful, is all."
"I heard you tried looking for me while I was gone." Ditzy smiled. Trixie pulled her hat over her eyes.

"Yes, yes I did. I was concerned, is all. You aren't the sort of pony to randomly disappear."
"Thank you." Ditzy said again, and she could swear Trixie started coughing.

"I'm alright. Trixie is alright, no need to worry about her." the mare said quickly. "Have a lovely day."
"Don't worry, we will." Ditzy said. Dinky waved to the showmare as they walked away, but fortunately she didn't hear the muttering something under her breath, before producing a handkerchief and noisily blowing her nose.

*****

"Oh" The Doctor said, following the readings from his trusted screwdriver through Ponyville. Using the device was a bit tricky when he didn't have thumbs or fingers, but he was persevering, mainly because giving up would be far worse, especially at the moment. Then he got a reading from the screwdriver. "This is extremely not good."
He looked around the street he was in. "This is so incredibly far from good."

*****

"Okay." Twilight Sparkle said, feeling tired and sore and slightly hungry after her long journey, "Now you go down there, and stay, understand me?" The dog looked at her, or rather the ball floating in her magical grip. She looked at it, and then tossed it to the dog, who happily grabbed it and rushed off down the long, seemingly endless stairway. Twilight looked about. She was near Canterlot, and she smiled, as that would ease her travel time.

Provided she had any identity on her, or money, but she seemed to be lacking both, and she didn't feel up to walking to the nearest bank or her parent's house, and she didn't want to use any more magic anyway, in case she needed it before Next Tuesday. Her mind quickly did the calculations, and determined that it was a long way back to Ponyville.
She started walking.

*****

Midday had suggested Spike sleep on the larger bed that night, but the baby dragon had declined, not wanting to sleep anywhere but his usual basket. Midday had paused at that, and frowned, but the dragon was quite insistant, so she calmly accepted it.
She slept uneasily that night, dreaming of a world burning, and raised voices screaming, and she was certain one was her own. Which made it far worse when she, unable to sleep, heard Spike wake up and declare he'd just had the best night's sleep in weeks.
By the time the two made it downstairs, Twilight returned, looking weary, but satisfied, and also slathered in mud.

"Hey" Midday said quietly. "How'd it go with Cerberus?"

Twilight smiled. "Great. I got him back before any of the evil creatures could escape." Spike beamed, and was about to say something when he suddenly coughed up a scroll, which bounced against Twilight's face before dropping to the ground. She yelped as her hoof instantly touched her cheek. Midday could see what had caused it but Spike hadn't, being far more interested in the scroll.
"What's the big deal" He said, "It's just a lost dog flyer. I guess the Princesses haven't heard we found Cerberus yet."

*****

"Kirby! There you are you big silly, naughty dog. Where did you think you were?!" Luna roared at the large dog, which actually looked embarrased, "You had me so worried! What were you thinking? Bad dog!" She finished.
The dog looked at her, with three sets of the largest puppy-dog eyes ever achieved. It even held up a paw as if it were injured.

"Oh, no!" Luna continued, "We are not falling for it this time, Kirby! We are not going to be brought around or bought with your looking pathetic act!" She stared at the dog for several long minutes. Her frown vanished.
"I can't stay mad at you, can I?" She sighed, and started scratching the dog's ear. "Who'sa good boy, then? Who's mommy's best dog, huh? Who is? Is it you, I think it is, yes it is!"

Far up above, Celestia heard the sound of her younger sister talking in baby-talk to a dog several times her size, and shook her head, before summoning Shining Armor to tell him his men no longer had to search for any giant dogs (Which also left the Guard Captain wondering whether the whole 'giant dog' thing was one of Celestia's elaborate pranks.)

Author's Note

And we'll leave it there for today.
Because we only have so much space.
(And it's gonna get weirder from here!)

A Distinctly Average Paradox

Yesterday had been a strange day for Ponyville, and for the inhabitants of the Golden Oaks library in particular. Twilight Sparkle had become convinced, due to a visit from herself from the future (by a few days) that some great disaster awaited Equestria, and had managed to convince everypony to 'future-proof' everything (Or, as it turned out, everything in Ponyville), right before Cerberus, the three-headed underworld guarding dog, had appeared. Not to mention the entire situation with Ditzy and Dinky Doo, and the mysterious madpony (and quite possibly pathological liar) who called himself the Doctor (Or Time Turner, or Star Swirl the not-bearded-anymore-but-nevermind), who apparently had access to time travel. Twilight had managed to spend most of the day returning the giant dog back to his owner (One Princess Luna, she who raised the moon and watched the night), returning the next morning completely unscathed, until Spike had belched up a flyer into her face, giving her a paper cut. The purple unicorn was currently engaged in nervously examining the 'wound' in a mirror.

"Come on, Twilight" Spike said, "You really need to toughen up!" Said the dragon who had stashed poorly written songs and poems about Rarity (He'd had trouble finding something that rhymed with beauty.)
"Just clean it out and you'll be fine."

Midday Eclipse looked at Spike. The little dragon clearly missed the point, which was that Twilight had been convinced she'd prevented the Great Disaster of Next Tuesday and was now back to freaking out.
"The cut's in the exact same spot as the scar on future Twilight's cheek! We haven't changed the future at all! The disaster is still coming!"

*****

Last night, two ponies walked down the scenic Drury Lane of Ponyville. Well, scenic might not have been the best word, considering it was exactly like every other street in Ponyville, save one truly important distinction: It was the home of Ditzy Doo, generally considered to be the best postal worker anywhere, and the best mother anywhere, especially in the eyes of her daughter Dinky, mainly because no-one dared say Dinky was wrong (It was said she could do puppy-dog eyes better than all three of the Cutie Mark Crusaders at once). The mare had spent much of her day trying to make up for the several weeks lost because of time-travel. She had returned to the post office trying to find a way to ask for her job back, only to find her boss had just assumed that after the unfortunate near-levelling of Ponyville's town hall at her hooves (and flank) she'd gone on leave, but had simply forgotten to request it. He had then proceeded to point out Ditzy only ever went off work when she was either too ill to stand, or when Dinky was ill, neither of which were regular occurences. The two entered their house, which felt incredibly strange to Ditzy, even though from her perspective she'd been gone all of a few hours. She looked about, and noticed a small gift-wrapped box in bright colours, the sure sign of a visit from Pinkie. Strangely enough, Ditzy was certain she could guess who had requested Pinkie send the gift. She shook her head, and vowed to have a talk with that pony in the morning. She looked at Dinky, who was still smiling and cheerful, which was good, since the whole reason the odd stallion who called himself the Doctor had offered them one journey through time was because Dinky had thought her mother was going to lose her job because of the incident with the town hall. She wondered about the strange place the Doctor had taken them, with all those odd ponies who looked almost like they were made of, and if the nature of everything else in that place had been any indication probably were, made of crystal. She suddenly felt incredibly tired, but made a note to return the box (which doubtless contained muffins) to the library, and ask Twilight Sparkle if she knew anything about ponies made of minerals.

Somewhere outside Ditzy's house, a pony was running around with a small silver device in his mouth. There was a high-pitched warbling noise as the device did its work. This pony, who was called the Doctor (And the Oncoming Storm, the Bringer of Darkness, and sometimes for expediency's sake 'Hey, You!') was looking for something, something very specific that he alone in the world would recognise. The problem was that it was very dark, and he was ever-so-slightly lost. He'd already ran into several things during the night, including one particularly rude cat.

*****

Twilight Sparkle was not given to unduly panic. She wasn't. She was the student of Princess Celestia, bearer of the Element of Magic (Which, she had noted on several occasions, could probably have chosen a more practical form to manifest in than a giant crown... thingy), the most powerful unicorn alive, and incredibly clever. So her panic was simply the result of her analysing all available evidence and reaching the most satisfactory conclusion. And she'd never had to deal with temporal paradox before. Nopony'd even written a book on it. How was she supposed to deal with one if she didn't know what to expect?

It should be made clear that Twilight Sparkle had gone a whole day without sleep, and therefore her usual calm and logical approach to problems had become... anything but. Midday Eclipse did consider zapping the mare as she paced enough to begin wearing a groove into the floor, but then realised given Twilight's current fear of Next Tuesday, she probably had several spells for magical defense ready, and decided not to risk it, or space and time by preventing Twilight Sparkle from trying to time-travel. Then she noticed Twilight was still theorising.

"If the disaster wasn't cause by Cerberus getting loose, then what could it possibly be?"
Spike just laughed. "I don't know." Then he turned serious. "Maybe you should give the pacing a rest, you've worn a groove into the floor."

Twilight frowned and shook her head. "I don't have time for one of your lectures, Spike! This is serious!"
The dragon and the royal blue unicorn exchanged glances. Midday said nothing, merely raising an eyebrow.

"I did everything I could think of to change the future. But it didn't work." Realisation hit Twilight, "So maybe it's not what I do... maybe it's what I don't do!" She moved over to one of the bookcases.
"If I stand right here and don't move a muscle until Tuesday, I can't possibly do whatever it is Future Twilight warned me not to do."
Midday was slightly sleep-deprived, due to some rather alarming nightmares, so she was also not on her usual form, and so the idea did make sense to her, although since she had heard the tale of the Horror of Next Tuesday when she was younger, she knew that Future Past Twilight was just trying to tell herself to relax, and not worry herself silly about something she had no control over.

Even though worrying herself silly was practically half of Twilight Sparkle's life. Midday almost smiled, before remembering that it was this sort of behaviour that was going to lead to one of the worst days of her life.
'Soon', a part of her said. She ignored it, as she had the last few months whenever it tried to point out she was stuck in the past, and whatever the good qualities of it were it was still not where she was supposed to be. She usually ignored it via cake, and Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie was good for blocking things out.

Midday just nodded, then noticed the sly look on Spike's face.
"Really?" the little purple and green dragon said. "So, not matter what happens... you're not gonna move a muscle, huh?" Twilight's eyes darted, and Midday could see the mare was already beginning to regret her decision, and the regret was increasing at a rate even Rainbow Dash would have labelled as 'too fast'.

The little dragon walked towards the door to the kitchen, still smiling. "So you won't mind if I..." He walked through the doors, and Midday sighed a good-humoured sigh. She did view Spike as a brother, and right now the little dragon was working hard to act like a brother. Just not a responsible one.
"Eat an entire tub of ice cream!" the dragon declared, returning with a medium-sized bucket of ice cream (Strawberry flavour, by the looks of it) and a spoon. Twilight was beginning to twitch. Midday watched as Spike took a huge scoop of ice cream and felt the need to act.

"Smaller bites, Spike!" she admonished. The dragon looked at her, which meant he wasn't paying attention to the positioning of the spoon relative to his face. A scoop of ice cream landed on his cheek. For a second both dragon and ponies stared at this, until a long, forked tounge zipped out and dragged the ice cream into Spike's mouth. The dragon stared defiantly at Midday, and took another scoop out. Somehow the dragon was managing to make eating ice cream look like a revolutionary act.
"So good!" Spike said. Twilight was beginning to sweat.

"Spike, stop!" She said, through clenched teeth. Midday admired her literal-minded and stubborn dedication to her vow, which had afflicted all members of the family since eight generations ago, during the twenty-seven minutes where Sparklingshine was head of the house, and before a brave servant beaned her with a bag of mixed vegetables. "Think of the stomach ache!"
"Stomach ache? That's Future Spike's problem." Spike said confidently, looking towards Midday as he said it.

"What?" The royal blue unicorn uttered.
Spike looked confused by the mare's remark. "C'mon, Future Spike's a jerk" He said casually. Midday resisted the urge to facehoof, or kick Spike for that remark. However, the dragon continued eating. Then Midday's horn glowed. The tub of ice cream was wrapped in the reddish purple of her magic, and ripped out of Spike's claws.

"Hey!" The dragon remarked. Midday fixed him with a stare.
"No, Spike." She said, firmly, and without knowing it doing a really good impression of Twilight's best 'mom' voice. The dragon frowned.

"It's my ice cream" he pouted.
"You've had enough ice cream. Have something sensible to eat" she suggested. "Especially since you haven't had any breakfast."
Twilight's eyes moved over to Spike, shocked and appalled. Spike looked at both ponies, and sagged.

"Fine, fine. I'll go eat something." He slouched into the kitchen, and Midday nodded approvingly. Then she realised Spike still had the spoon he'd been carrying.
"SPIKE!"

Twilight Sparkle stood still as she heard commotion and whispered voices bickering through the door, followed by the sound of a plate smashing. Spike came rushing back into the main room, clutching a fresh bucket of ice cream to his chest. Midday suddenly appeared in front of him, and the little dragon quickly swerved to avoid her, which unfortunately meant he slammed into one of the shelves. Fortunately the tub of ice cream largely keep him from harm, it did knock the wind out of him, causing him to fall over, and as he did, he belched. And the flames headed towards Twilight, who did not react in time. Midday rushed through the door, to find Spike staring in horror at Twilight. She looked, and winced at the sight. And then Rainbow Dash just happened to appear.

*****

Ditzy walked calmly along the streets of Ponyville, carrying the box of what was almost assuredly muffins. She wasn't entirely certain as to the reason why the royal blue unicorn had Pinkie Pie deliver them, but if she had to guess it was because the mare felt guilty about what happened to Ditzy for some reason. As she walked, she was aware of a strange noise, a high pitched noise that seemed to get closer to her with each step. She stopped, and waited, noticing as it got louder, and she saw why. A stallion was wandering down the streets, a familiar brown-furred stallion who didn't seem to notice where he was going, and he was walking towards her. She tensed, without even realising it. He waved his strange device over her, frowned, then looked at her.
"Oh." He said. "Hello."

"Doctor." She said calmly, smiling slightly.
"Ditzy, tell me, you haven't seen a Pony-Time Lord Meta-Crisis about, have you?"

She blinked at that, and slowly shook her head.
"No. I don't think so. Would I have noticed?"

"I don't know, how often do you see a pony with all the knowledge and abilities of a Time-Lord?" He frowned, "Yes you would have seen it." He grimmaced. "But why can't I see it? Why, Ditzy? Why?"
An idea occured to Ditzy, despite all common sense telling her it was probably not the best idea.

"Twilight Sparkle might be able to help you. She normally knows all sorts."
"And where's she when she's at home?" He asked.

"Normally in the library." At the word library, his face light up, and a truly adorable smile came across his face. Then it instantly vanished, and he broken into a run. Ditzy stood still for a moment before some previously undiscovered sense of curiosity (and not inconsiderable concern for Twilight) about what the self-proclaimed madpony would do.

*****

Rainbow Dash had only returned to the library because she'd been meaning to report that the last pegasus had returned with the all-clear, and because her bedside lamp was still broken and she wanted to read Daring Do. She had found Spike standing holding a tub of ice cream staring in shock at Twilight Sparkle, and more specifically her mane, which was incredibly badly burnt, and for some reason twisted out of shape. Midday Eclipse and Spike were bickering.

"It was your fault, you chased me!" The dragon said.
"You shouldn't have been eating ice cream!" Midday retorted.

"Why not?!"
"Because it's bad for you, that's why!"

"Says who?"
To Rainbow Dash's mind, it looked really, really like two siblings arguing, but the rational part of her mind (Which was currently the only bit still firing on all cylinders) dismissed this notion (Just because it was rational didn't mean it didn't suffer from the inherent problem of belonging to Rainbow Dash). Twilight just twitched slightly.

"Knock it off!" She yelled, before looking at Spike. "Show me." She hissed. The little dragon scratched his foot against the floor. Rainbow Dash rubbed a hoof against the back of her head and smiled nervously.
"I'm not sure that's such that's a-"

"Show me!" Instantly Spike quickly grabbed the mirror Twilight had been examining the paper-cut with, and pushed it in front of Twilight.
"Oh no!" Twilight said, "This is the same haircut Future Twilight had"

Rainbow Dash, never one to let an awkward situation pass by uncommented on, spoke up.
"Y'know... it really doesn't look too bad" she smiled, nervously.

"Would you have a haircut like that, Rainbow?" Midday asked. Rainbow Dash look at her.
"No way!" Instantly her eyes went wide, "I mean, not that it doesn't suit you Twilight" The mare just glowered.

"I don't care how it looks! It's just another sign that the future hasn't changed!" She sighed, "Not doing anything hasn't changed the future either! I wish there were a way to know what was going to happen so I could stop it!"
Strangely enough, it was Spike who spoke up first. "You wanna see the future? I might know somepony who can help"

*****

Midday remained in the library while Spike led Twilight off to see whoever it was that he claimed could see the future, though Midday could guess who it was quite easily, even without knowing the part Pinkie Pie played in the story. Rainbow Dash had followed after them, but probably wasn't going to stick with them, and Trixie had only recently woken up, before saying she was going out to practice again. Midday had rolled her eyes at that. Trixie was always practicing, never actually putting on a show, just sleeping most of the day away and disappearing for long stretches of time. So Midday found herself slowly falling asleep when the door slammed open and a brown-furred stallion rushed in, holding a strange device in his mouth like a pen, though this sonic screwdriver seemed to be green instead of the traditiona-

'Sonic what now?' She said, as the pony advanced on her. She could see Ditzy slowly walking through the door with a box held in her mouth, a box she knew contained muffins, since she'd asked Pinkie to make some for Ditzy the other day, and if Ditzy was here with a box then it was almost certainly the one she'd asked Pinkie to make. The stallion advanced on her and put his hooves on her head. She stared at him.
"What are you doing?" She asked. He frowned.

"Just checking for something I might have left here last time." He said, absent-mindedly. She suddenly felt like he was going through her mind, with something specific as its target, not caring what memories he uncovered. She could feel old emotions, long bottled up, beginning to return, memories she'd long since ignored. She stared at him, his expression one of what appeared to be concern, but then his expression changed.
"Found you" He said. There was an odd feeling, like something Midday hadn't even been aware of being pulled out of her mind. For a moment she stood there.

"What was that?" She asked. The stallion looked at her, and seemed to consider something.
"When I went through your head, the first time we met, some things of mine may have gotten stuck inside your head. 'Course, on their own they wouldn't have done much, but if there had been the right spark..." He suddenly looked guilty.

"If there had been the right spark, what?"
"Your mind would have become..." His jaw shifted slightly and he looked about the room, "Still, isn't going to happen anymore." He smiled, before turning towards the door. Midday watched as he left, and stared at Ditzy.

"Hi" she said, weakly. The mare gently placed the muffins on one of the desks.
"Thank you for the muffins, but it's really not neccessary." She smiled. Midday stared at the box, not sure what to say.

"Why'd you ask Pinkie to make them for me?" Ditzy asked, walking over to her.
"I just thought..." Midday frowned, and contemplated this, whether it was an idea to tell Ditzy she understood the way the mare was feeling, more or less, but just shrugged. "I thought it was the right thing to do, an apology for the town hall thing."

To her surprise, Ditzy just laughed. "Midday, you aren't responsible for what happened, and you didn't have to hire Pinkie to bake some muffins to make me feel better."
"Yeah, I know, but-" She looked down at the floor, "I just wanted to help."

Ditzy walked over to her, "And that's admirable, wanting to help others, but you aren't responsible for everypony's welfare, and you don't need to be."
Midday opened her mouth to respond to that, and stopped. She looked down at her hooves as she realised she'd been poking about a lot in a lot of affairs lately. "J's trying to help." She said quietly. There was several moments of silence.

"Muffin? Cures what ails you" Ditzy asked. Midday looked at the small box with pastries in it. She nodded and took a bite. She looked at Ditzy, who just looked almost offensively cheerful.
"Y'know, Dinky's really lucky to have a mom like you." She said after a few bites. Ditzy tilted her head.

"I've always seen it as the other way around." She looked around the room, "I've made mistakes. I've done things I'll always be upset with myself for, but Dinky... Dinky makes absolutely everything worthwile. If I didn't have her, I honestly don't know what I'd do." Midday smiled. She tried not to make some unsubtle remark about her own relationsip with her mother.
Then the door to the library swung open again and the brown-furred pony rushed in, a giddy grin on his face.

"Sorry to burst in again, but I couldn't help seeing that somepony's time-travelled here recently."

*****

Twilight Sparkle and Spike walked back from their appointment with the Mysterious Madame Pinkie, who in fact turned out to be Pinkie Pie pretending to be a fortune-teller, meaning all Twilight had gotten for her efforts in trying to discover the disaster awaiting everypony was a nasty concussion, which wasn't helping her sleep-deprived, terror-addled mind. However, she argued (even as she kept finding it difficult to walk in a straight line) that her mind was still as sharp as ever, and already it was rushing away with a plan to, in her own words, monitor everything. Spike had fallen silent at that, wondering whether it was an idea to contact Princess Celestia, or the hospital staff, or the lovely ponies at the Ponyville Home for the Mentally Interesting. However, Twilight didn't look like she was going crazy, like she had during the Smarty-Pants incident.

The pony and the unicorn walked up to the library doors and opened them, to find... Ditzy, calmly reading a book Pinkie Pie had donated named Cooking the Medival Waye, while Midday and the pony who called himself the Doctor were looking at a chalkboard.
"What's going on?" Twilight asked. In an instant the Doctor was waving a strange green light in her face, before humming.

"Okay, the magical signature definetely matches her, so it was her who she met." He looked at Twilight, "You've got a future, isn't that good?"
"What?" Twilight asked.

"He's been like that for the last ten minutes." Midday said, "We're trying to figure out what's going on with the whole 'time-travel' thing. Well, I say 'we', mostly just me while he reads history books and laughs."
"I can't help it!" He exclaimed, "They're just so... wrong."

"What." Twilight Sparkle said. The Doctor just smiled politely, in the way of someone who hasn't realised what they've stepped in isn't mud (Or at least, not exclusively mud).
"Anyway, from the look of it, it looks like one of my old spells that I wrote up when I was young. Was there a big flash of light and some wind?"

"Yes" Twilight Sparkle said. The pony just nodded at this.
"Thought as much. Little temporal loop thing, usually just used for party when you want more drink but couldn't be bothered to go 'round the shops to get some." He tilted his head slightly, "In honesty, not my most brilliant move ever, gotta say, mainly because whoever used it just ended up picking fights with themselves. Or worse." He coughed, and his face went red.

"Worse?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "What could be-... Oh. Oh! Oh!" She started blushing as well, and so did Ditzy when she realised what'd been said. Only Spike remained unafflicted, because he was still a baby dragon, and also still thinking of ice cream.
"And you made this spell?"

"He says he did." Midday said, "But bearing in mind he keeps insisting he's Star Swirl, which is just nonsense." Twilight noticed the Doctor was frowning. Twilight couldn't see it, but from the tone of what she was saying, she could imagine there was a grin on Midday's face as she followed up her statement.
"Why, it's as ludicrous as swapping somepony's Cutie Mark."

"Oh, I was working on a spell for that, got a bit distracted with a-" He didn't finish, since there was the sound of chalk dropping to the ground, followed by utter silence in the library. The next thing the Doctor knew an enraged mare was right in his face, glaring down her nose at him.
"You bastard!" she hissed. "You complete, utter- Do you have any idea what you did? The damage you inflicted?! You couldn't have checked to see whether your diary was still there?!"

"I tried to go back for it. But I never found it."
"Princess. Celestia." Midday hissed through gritted teeth. It wasn't really a full explanation, but she was incredibly angry and far beyond caring about making contextual sense. Occasionaly her eyes darted over to Twilight. Then she felt magic wrapping around her, and she was slowly levitated away from the pony.

"I'm not going to pretend to understand what your issues with Star Swirl are" Twilight Sparkle said, "Not now, not here, not when we've got a disaster staring us straight in the face, okay?" She deposited Midday on the ground, "Now, either you two figure out a way to co-exist, or I put one of you in a time-out, okay?"
Behind her, an impressed Ditzy raised an eyebrow.

"No eyebrows, Ditzy" Twilight said, causing the mare to feel startled.
"How di-" Midday asked, before realising that somepony who was taught by Princess Celestia probably could predict when somepony was going to raise an eyebrow. She looked over at the Doctor.

"Sorry for attacking you." She said, after a few minutes.
"Sorry." He muttered. For a few seconds neither of them said anything, as Twilight started instructing Spike to gather up as much graph paper as he could find.

"Did you really know Princess Platinum?" she asked, her curiosity finally winning out.
"Yes." He said. A grin spread across Midday's face.

"Cool."

*****

The rest of the night, Twilight spend monitoring everything, to which end she converted the bedroom into a makeshift lab, removed the beds (She said she'd put them 'elsewhere'), and somehow managed to get Midday and the Doctor swept up into it. Midday couldn't help but notice that neither she or the time-traveller had put up much objection. But then, she noted, Twilight Sparkle had a strange way of getting ponies to do as she asked. Neither pony put much effort into it, as it turned out, for the same reason, because they both knew it was a temporal loop. Eventually, Twilight stopped observing the Horsehead Nebula (as she proclaimed it to be) to glower at them.

"Why aren't you bothered? Why aren't you two panicking?" She said with what sounded almost like pride - and something else, irritation perhaps. "Why aren't you arguing, or saying what I'm doing is impossible? Why are you just doing whatever I say and taking it so... calmly?"
Midday was the first to react, and she just shrugged. "Because I do. I've always been like this. Maybe it's because my mother tried to raise me to be sensible, maybe it's because after the things I've seen and done I can't really be as afraid of something like this. I don't know. But then, pretty much every story that's ever been written about prophecies and such tells us that trying to run away from something that's going to happen just makes it happen worse."

"Time can be rewritten." The Doctor said from the other side of the room, having moved while nopony was looking at him.
"Says who?" Midday asked. He smiled again.

"Me" he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Twilight shook her head and went back to monitoring everything, while Midday tried, largely without success, to pry the ice-cream from Spike. At one point she even joined in the ice-cream eating. At one point Spike looked up at her.

"What?" She asked. He looked almost ashamed of him.
"Nothing." He said quickly. Midday frowned.

"Spike, what is it?"
"Well, it's just... have you been sleeping alright?" He asked. She opened her mouth to say something but found herself unable to speak.

"Why do you ask?" She eventually managed to say. Spike looked over to where Twilight appeared to be examining a chart.
"It's just... some nights you've been... saying stuff in your sleep. And sometimes you make the room shake. I think that's when you're having nightmares." He said quietly. "Really bad ones."

Midday looked at him. She hadn't been sleeping properly, that was true, and there had been a lot of nightmares instead of dreams. She had assumed it was a temporary thing, but they'd been getting worse since the visit to Canterlot. And she could guess why. Guilt, her best and oldest friend from how often she encountered it.
She just looked at Spike, trying to think of something reassuring to say, but she couldn't think of anything. Twilight walked past them. "Everything alright?" She asked.

"Yeah." Spike smiled, to which Twilight nodded.
"Good, now could you, Spike, check the graphs, while Midday, can you check the telescope for a moment?" She said as she rushed toward the bathroom.

*****

Some hours later, just as Midday was fighting to stay awake, Pinkie Pie arrived. Midday and Spike waved, while Twilight muttered something to herself. Dinky had gone home, Trixie had taken one look at the remodelled bedroom, shaken her head and walked back out again, and the Doctor had just vanished. The normally jubilant party pony was visibly unnerved by Twilight's current obsession.
"Hey Pinkie." Spike said. The mare walked through the room, which was covered in scattered bits of paper and graphs and diagrams, and for some reason Twilight had bothered writing an equation on time dilation. Midday had examined it and felt a small amount of familial pride that even without sleep it was still accurate, as far as she could determine.

Pinkie 'oohed' as she looked about the room.
"Twilight's really serious about finding out about that cool birthday present, isn't she?" She said.

"Birthday present?" Midday asked.
"Yeah. She went to visit Madame Pinkie to ask her about the future, and Madame Pinkie said she'd get a cool birthday present." Midday just stared at Pinkie as she said all this. She briefly considered asking Pinkie whether she was actually aware she was Madame Pinkie, just to see how Pinkie would react. Then she thought better of it. Pinkie looked over at Twilight, who was writing something down in a book, before walking over and nudging her.

"Are you okay?"
The mare looked up and smiled. "Ah, Pinkie, I'm glad you're here." She dragged the mare over to a telescope, "Could you help me recallibrate the apetures on the nine and quarter catadioptric telescopes?"

Pinkie stared at the telescope, then back to Twilight. "Sure!" She smiled, before turning back to stare at the telescope. Twilight, meanwhile had walked over to one of her diagrams. "So, I was thinking, after I went to see Madame Pinkie and the flowerpot landed on my head" She motioned to the obvious bandage over her forehead, "See the bandage, just like the bandage from the future."
"From Tuesday." Midday pointed out, earning her a glare from Twilight for interrupting.

"I had an epiphany after that flowerpot. Doing things didn't work, not doing things didn't work, and I couldn't predict the future either, so I had only one choice: Monitor everything." Twilight was now leaning on Pinkie's face. The poor mare looked distressed, possibly because Twilight wasn't blinking as much as she should have.
"Because that makes perfect sense." Midday said, mostly to herself.

"Does to me." Pinkie beamed, nervously.
"That way, no matter what happens in the future, I'll be ready!" Twilight said triumphantly, Midday decided not to say anything, especially not related to clones, chaos deities, or switching Cutie Marks. She walked over to the larger telescope, "I thought I saw something last night in the Horsehead Nebula, but after staring at it for three hours I realised I was wrong!"

"Our coffee supply is now dangerously low, by the way." Midday observed, on seeing Pinkie about to say something. "Go on, ask her when she slept."
"When did you sleep?" Pinkie asked. Perhaps because she considered Pinkie a friend, Midday regarded the mare as slightly more sane than the average pony did. Anypony who had the foresight to stash items all over Ponyville was not by any definition insane, but the fact that Pinkie Pie was the one speaking in a calm and slow fashion was still worrying. Especially when Midday noted she'd never actually seen her mother acting anywhere near her current level of caffeine-fueled madness. That had practically annihilated her ability to sleep all on its own.

"Oh, I didn't sleep." Twilight said, casually, "I haven't slept since Future Twilight was here." She hopped onto some books and started scribbling on a piece of paper lying next to them. "There are only three days left until next Tuesday, I can sleep all I want after that!"
Spike, Midday and Pinkie exchanged looks. Spike, who was still eating his ice cream, looked at Twilight.
"You've been awake too long, Twilight." He said, glancing at Midday, who was still unwilling to use her becalming spell until she was sure the temporal loop was closed.

"Yeah" Pinkie said, "Tuesday's not three days from now. Tuesday's tomorrow!"
Twilight gasped and rushed up to the telescope she'd asked Pinkie to calibrate. Midday could already guess what was about to happen, the same way a person who sees a bunch of pebbles bouncing past them on a mountain knows what's about to happen.

Sure enough, there was a scream from Twilight. "My eye!" Midday quickly fought off her fatigue and rushed over to Twilight, examining her eye.
"Okay, it's okay Twilie, no sign of permanent damage, from what I can tell, but I'd recommend giving your eye some rest. And, you know, seeing a trained medical professional when we're done here" Pinkie meanwhile had rushed over to the fireplace.

"Don't worry, Twilight, I have eyepatches kept all over Ponyville, in case of eyepatch emergency." She said, putting the eyepatch over Twilight's damaged eye. "There. Now you look like a pirate! A really sleepy pirate, with a bad haircut." Twilight rushed over to a mirror, and instantly was filled with terror.

"The eye patch...! Another sign! Nearly all the signs have come true!" She rushed over to the chalkboard where she'd drawn a checklist of 'signposts' for Future Twilight. Only the torn outfit she'd been wearing was missing. "I haven't done a thing to prevent the catastrophe! If tuesday's tomorrow, and the disaster happens by Tuesday morning, then there's only one solution."
Midday did not feel any confidence at Twilight's attitude, and the mare's next statement didn't help.

"I'll just have to... stop time!"
There was the sound of the doorbell, and Midday walked downstairs to find the Doctor on the front doorstep.

"Where'd you go off to?" She asked, as he walked past.
"Checking around, got a little bored." He looked serious. "Why are the prices of bananas on this planet so insane?" She stared at him, and he sighed, as if telling the truth was an inconvenience.

"Somepony's messing with time. And time is my business."
"That'd be mom. She wants to destroy time so that it won't be Tuesday."

There was a brief pause as neither pony blinked, and Midday became accutely aware she still needed sleep.
"Anyway... upstairs." Midday said, before smiling awkwardly.

*****

It took some time to convince the Doctor that Twilight was not, in fact trying to blow up time as part of collaboration with a mad scientist. Midday noted that whatever a 'dahleck' was, it sounded vaguely Griffon-y (although she was fairly certain that even the most stereotypical mad Griffin scientist didn't want to blow up all existance), but once he did he tried to explain to Twilight how what she was doing was impossible.
"Don't bother." Spike and Midday suggested. Twilight sighed.

"Look, trying to stop time completely is... it's impossible. Trust me, as the only Time Lord in the room (or anywhere) speaking, completely impossible."
Twilight contemplated. "I'm still going to try." She said. Midday sighed.

"To be fair, if anypony could make a spell to stop time, it is her. Element of Magic, remember? She is magic, for all intents and purposes." She paused. "Future Twilight said she got her spells from the Star Swirl the Bearded wing of the Canterlot library. What would happen if Present Twilight doesn't go there now?"
The Doctor thought about this. "This conversation wouldn't have happened, and we'll all get nasty headaches." He finally said.

"But what's this got to do with Twilight's birthday present?" Pinkie asked.

*****

Twilight decided to get some rest, and managed to return the beds from wherever she'd put them, but Midday didn't feel like sleeping, not after the nightmares she'd been having.
'Or is it just nightmare?' She wondered. She decided to go talk to the Doctor. A question in her mind had been sitting quietly, but now Twilight was asleep it had returned with a vengeance, and she was determined to talk to him. She looked all over town, eventually finding him inside a small blue box screaming abuse at it.

"Something wrong with your box?" She asked. He paused, and swivelled to look at her.
"Yeah, something. She won't take off. I've done everything, but she just... sits here."

Midday raised an eyebrow.
"I thought the meta-crisis was why she wasn't going, but apparently, I was wrong. So now I'm stuck, here. Again. As a pony. Without hands. Or a horn."

"I had something I wanted to ask you about that, by the way." He looked quizically at her.
"Last time we met, you said she wouldn't take off becasue 'the paradox was too strong', what happened with that?" He looked embarrassed.

"Twelve hundred years, flying a barely-working time capsule, I can't be right every time. I went back and tried again." He concluded. He looked and Midday, and back to the box, and frowned.
"Well, I'll figure out why she isn't working sooner or later." He said, smiling slightly. She shuffled her hooves.

"Doctor, about the other day, I'm sorry. About getting angry at you, or Star-Swirl... it's just..." She bit her lip, and looked around. "Celestia used that journal as part of a plan of hers. And it nearly ruined the lives of my mother's friends, and... it ruined my mother's life."
He raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"Well, she's... going to live forever. When I'm fifty, she's going to look like a twenty year old. At her friends funerals, she's going to look like a twenty-year old. At-a..." She stopped, suddenly feeling breathless, "At my funeral, she's going to look like a twenty year old. And, by the way, this isn't some egocentric thing about not wanting to die, it's just... it's a lot of things. The last time we talked, we really didn't get on, and every day I'm here, in the past, I'm worried that the last memory she's going to have of me is just before I got zapped to the past is me trying to apologise, the last memory she'll have of me, forever. And ever. And I can see it in your eyes. You know exactly what that feels like." She said, looking at him. He looked uncertain.

"So, for all this time, I've blamed you, because it's easier than trying to blame Celestia, who was just trying to reward her student, or my mother, who... well, she was a bit clueless with her spellcasting, but... I can't blame her because she's my mother. I blamed you, blamed Star-Swirl the Bearded because you had no involvement in it. You just didn't finish a spell, and now... I have to watch my mother's heart break for me, and everypony she'll meet." She had been expecting tears, but for whatever reason, there weren't. She had been expecting to sound like she was more than just out of breath, but she didn't. She looked at him, his face expressionless.

"Anyway, I'll leave you to your box." She said, walking away. She didn't see or hear the Doctor pointing his screwdriver towards her, or his concerned frown.

She wandered back to the library, and wondered whether she wanted to go back to the library and sit around there again. She remembered what her other-dimensional counterpart had said, about needing to socialise. In her defence, she'd always been terrible at making friends. She stopped walking, and turned to walk towards a different part of town.

****

"Welcome to Carousel Boutique, wh- Oh, Midday, hello" Rarity smiled, as the royal blue mare walked through the door, "I never would've expected you to be here." Midday just smiled back.
"Well, I'm just waiting for Twilight to finish her nap, I thought I'd come talk to you, seeing as we haven't really interacted very much recently. Or, actually, at all" Rarity looked slightly flattered.

"That's... not entirely true, dear." The fashionista said.
"True, I suppose. So, how's business?" A glint came into Rarity's eyes.

"Going quite well, right now, as a matter of fact. Summer is the part season, so everypony wants dresses fixed up, or shirts reseamed, so I've been keeping quite busy, especially... after what 'happened', shall we say, to my esteemed competition, Generous Embrace." Rarity walked over to one of her mannequins, and started placing fabrics on it.

"And of course, there's been these wonderful rumours travelling all over Equestria of an important wedding in Canterlot. Apparently Shining Armor himself is marrying his longtime beau in the summer." Rarity sighed, and Midday could see her staring straight ahead for a moment. "To be young, and in love..."
"Rarity" Midday said, suppressing a chuckle, "You are young."

"It was a figure of speech." She retorted, "And there's apparently a royal wedding. Can you imagine it? A royal wedding, which means Pinkie will doubtless have dozens of street parties planned."
"Street parties?" Midday asked. Rarity looked at her, and nodded.

"Yes, apparently some years ago, back when Applejack's brother was young, there was all manner of street parties, celebrating a coronation of all things. Of course, you'd probably be a bit too young to remember such things." Her polite grin seemed to flicker, "You did say you were eighteen, yes?"
"Yes." Rarity gave no response to this, and just nodded.

"And doubtless, Twilight will get invited to her brother's wedding, if it happens, and she'll need a dress." Midday could see where this conversation was about to go, and Rarity's horn glowed, revealing a purple and green dress.
"What do you think?" Rarity said, her smile now incredibly eager. Midday stared at it for a moment.

"I think she'll like it." Rarity nodded.
"Of course, everypony loves to be married in summer, for the chance of a lovely dance in the cool of evening, with a silvery moon behind you, in the strong, muscular arms of your beloved..."

"Rarity, careful or you'll start drooling." A ball of wool bounced off her head.
"Have a care, Midday Eclipse, or I'll use you as a mannequin."

A slight pause came as Rarity started assembling fabrics.
"So, Rarity, have you designed the dresses for the others yet, or are they still in the works?"

"Still in the-" Rarity stopped speaking and turned to look at Midday, threateningly pointing her sowing needle at her. "Don't get clever with me, young lady. You are in my store, after all."
"Bet you'd love to design a wedding dress" Midday said quickly. Rarity nodded.

"Yes. I would." She shook her head, "I mean, I do, on occasion design wedding dresses, but... not as many as I'd like."
"And not for the ponies you'd like?" Midday asked. Rarity's eyes flickered.

"Yes, actually. I have actually been going over rough designs for each of the girls, but... aside from Pinkie Pie, and perhaps, just perhaps Fluttershy, I honestly doubt I'll ever have a chance to use them."
"Does that include me, or Trixie, by any chance?"

Rarity glanced about nervously, as if hoping for somepony to arrive and distract her. Nopony arrived.
"Actually, Midday, I suppose you wouldn't mind if I tried out one of my designs on you? You're about the right size and colour for testing it out, you see."

"I suppose I could." Midday said.

*****

It was an unusual dress, and a rather lovely shade of blue that was just a few shades off from her mane.
"Midday?" Rarity asked. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah..." She said, staring at herself. It was a really lovely shade of blue, she thought. And it went so well with her. She wondered if Rarity hadn't done that on purpose. She had heard of love-at-first sight, seen its effects, but she didn't know it could work with dresses.
She walked out of the changing rooms. "How much does it cost?" She asked. A light went on in Rarity's eyes.

*****

As it turned out, haggling with Rarity was an unusual experience. She was the Bearer of the Element of Generosity, after all, and therefore didn't have it in her to haggle, while Midday was convinced the dress was worth far more than Rarity claimed it was. They eventually reached a compromise, after half an hour of bickering. Midday walked away from it convinced she still should've paid more, though she asked Rarity to keep the dress, since she didn't have anywhere to put it.
"Perhaps you could wear it for your birthday party." Rarity said, before shaking her head. "No, wait, I forgot, dresses don't tend to survive Pinkie's parties. Silly me."

"If it's any consolation, Rarity, it probably won't get much use. My birthdays usually lean towards unpleasant, and I don't think any amount of Pinkie will change that." She smiled slightly before leaving the dress with Rarity.

*****

She spent much of the day doing similar things, helping Pinkie prepare special 'disaster' cupcakes, along with special 'no-disaster' cupcakes (Just in case, Pinkie said), watching Rainbow Dash perform some interesting tricks alongside Fluttershy, helping Applejack move some of the new apples around, along with keeping some rabbits that didn't belong to Fluttershy out of the garden, talking with Carrot Top, and surprisingly, watching Trixie and Dinky practicing for a performance, which Trixie defensively stated would be 'soon'. At around eight in the evening, Pinkie managed to find her (Apparently without even asking) and told her Twilight was ready for 'the Plan' as Pinkie called it.

*****

The three mares, and one dragon, sat in the darkened library (until Twilight told Spike to turn the lights back on), staring at a picture of the Royal Canterlot Library.
"Pretty" Pinkie observed, as Twilight handed out form-fitting outfits that were the right size for all four of them.

"So, we're doing what now?" Midday asked.
"I'm glad you asked that, Midday" Twilight said, as Spike went back to eating his ice cream. Midday wouldn't have been surprised if he was somehow keeping the whole of the Equestrian ice cream concern afloats with his insatiable appetite.

"We will reached Canterlot at ten P.M, and will, using a combination of cunning and subterfuge, enter the Royal Canterlot Library, and make our way to the highly secretive Star Swirl the Bearded wing."
"That's the whole plan? Walk in there, and find a grand total of one spell?" Midday asked as she struggled her way into the tight-fitting outfit, which seemed to compress her mane entirely.

"Yes." Twilight smiled eagerly at the prospect of reading subject material she'd not seen before. It was one of those infectious bouts of eagerness she had.
"Well, let's get going then." Midday smiled. The group turned, ready to leave.

Only Trixie was standing in the doorway, her eyes wide.
"What in Equestria are you four wearing?"

*****

After a few seconds trying to bluff Trixie, which ultimately failed, the four made their way to the train station, Spike still eating his ice cream, despite numerous suggestions that he stop.
"Three ponies and a dragon, sneaking about in order to forcibly gain entrance to a library, just to get access to a single spell, it's like something out of a book" Midday said. Twilight muttered something about 'quality' that she couldn't catch.

They were most of the way to the train station when they saw a familiar pair of ponies walking about. One had wings, a kind smile and blonde hair, the one had a bowtie.
"And where are you four sneaking off to?" He asked.

"Canterlot" Pinkie smiled.
"And you're dressed like that, why?"

Pinkie frowned. "Hey, Twilight, why are we wearing these things?"
"A) Stealth, B) because otherwise we'll all get 'nasty headaches'" Midday said.

"I thought we were wearing them for fun..." the pink mare said
"And you're bringing her along, why?" Ditzy asked, a tiny smile on her face.

"She livens up the monotony." Midday shrugged. Twilight just moved past them.
"We'll come with you" The Doctor said.

"You and Ditzy are together?" Midday asked, as the now five ponies and one dragon continued moving.
"No, just... we got to talking, about things. About my life, and Dinky, and other things."

"Completely boring and normal things that have nothing to do with going anywhere." The Doctor said quickly. Pinkie cheered at this.

*****

Waiting for the train with Pinkie turned out to be easier than Midday had been expecting, and once they were on the train, it was actually the Doctor who started speaking a mile a minute.
"This is nice. Never been on a train before, not in this body at any rate, but then, I've got a time machine, so why would I need trains, unless I was going to big myself up to people which... it's not very intimidating, is it? 'I travel in time and space, and trains!" He said, derisively.

Midday looked over at Twilight, who was still glancing at the sky, and the moon beginning to move through it.
"You okay, Twilight?" She asked. The mare looked at her.

"I feel a bit better for sleeping" she said, calmly.
"So, you're... not still planning to stop time, then?" Midday said hopefully. Twilight looked at her like she was mad.

"Then how would I prevent Tuesday?" She asked. Midday sighed.
"Well, how about we talk about something else then?"

"Like how Fluttershy managed to tame Cerberus?" Twilight said, "Which I didn't think she could do. She's normally so timid."
Midday found herself thinking back to what she'd said to Fluttershy some days ago, back when Twilight was still organising her schedule.
"Fluttershy's stronger than she thinks" she said quietly. Twilight looked at her.

"Midday, stop implying Fluttershy writes Daring Do. I'm well aware that she does."
Midday suddenly felt like her seat had been kicked out from under her.

"What?"
"When I was young I sent a letter to her when I read the first Daring Do book. I didn't realise it at first when I met her because she was so shy, but after a while, I realised it was her. That, and I remembered her signature."

Midday stared at her. For a moment she tried to think of something to say, but she couldn't.
"I guess Fluttershy asked you to keep this quiet, same as she did to me." Twilight nodded.

"But I would have anyway. She's my friend. And it was after all that nonsense with Photo Finish."
"Who?" Midday asked. Twilight just smiled good-naturedly at her.

"You'd know her when you saw her." She said.
Meanwhile, Pinkie asked the Doctor several questions a minute. Midday turned to see that and something occured to her.

"Ditzy?" The mare looked at her.
"Yes?"

"If you're here, where's Dinky?"
"Don't worry, she's with a friend."

*****

Fluttershy looked at the book. She had mixed feelings on it. She loved it, and disliked it (She couldn't bring herself to hate her own creation), she praised it and she ignored it. Given a choice she would rather have just left it on the bookshelf, but Dinky had asked to read it. And strangely enough, Dinky had been followed about by the three most enthusiastic fillies in all Ponyville, possibly Equestria, who had detailed to Fluttershy how exactly their school had been contacted and told that they were part of a special competition, with the winners getting a prize of attending a 'once-in-a-liftime' event. Fluttershy wasn't sure what that meant, but it sounded innocent enough. She lifted the book, and slowly made her way upstairs to the spare bedroom where the four fillies were lying in bed, looking innocently cheerful. She cleared her throat.
"Daring Do, and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone, chapter one..."

*****

The train slowed to a half, and the five ponies and one dragon alighted onto the station. They began walking, Twilight making an effort to walk casually, which like all attempts to be casual, failed.
"Okay" Twilight said once she was sure they were out of the sight of the Royal Guards, "The Royal Canterlot Library is right over there. Let's move!"

Midday coughed politely. Twilight turned to face her.
"I think perhaps we should split up. Two ponies and a dragon sneaking into the most guarded library in Equestria is one thing, but five ponies and a dragon? We'd stand out like tail extensions." Twilight looked at her.

"Point taken. So, what, how should we do this?"
"Well, I think... you, Pinkie and Spike, and then me, Ditzy and the good Doctor here."

Twilight's brow furrowed as she weighed options.
"Okay" she said, eventually "We'll meet you inside."

"So how are we going to get inside?" Ditzy asked as Twilight, Pinkie and Spike moved away. "Those guards don't look very friendly."
Midday's horn glowed, and the outfit warped and shifted into an smart looking shirt and tie combination.
"Appearances can be deceiving" she smiled.

*****

Getting past the guards proved easy enough, since Midday claimed she was doing some late night research, while the Doctor flashed a piece of paper at them, and they let him in. The three ponies walked through the darkened corridors. Every few moments the Doctor grinned.
"I have a library named after me." He kept repeating. He looked at Midday, then looked away. She noticed this and walked over to him.

"What is it?" She said. He shifted slightly.
"Are you going to tell her?"

She frowned.
"Excuse me?"

He looked at her, and his gaze seemed impossible for her to avoid.
"Are you going to tell Twilight Sparkle?"

She looked away. "How di-"
"Your memories are incredibly strong, I couldn't help but notice the ones about her, I really couldn't. But I didn't look at them, just... noticed. Are you going to tell her?" Midday looked at Ditzy, who was apparently not paying attention to any of their conversation, walking on some way ahead, not really looking at anything.

"I... actually, I was thinking of telling her on my birthday. I mean, my birthdays usually have something horrible happen, so I decided I'd remove some of the guesswork this time."
He said nothing to that. His thoughts were apparently on the fact that he had a library again. They kept walking, walking past the occasional guard who looked at them but said nothing. They eventually found the door to the Star Swirl the Beared wing on the library. The Doctor looked disappointed.

"Bit small." He pouted.
"Where're Twilight and Pinkie Pie?" Ditzy asked.

"Good question." Midday said, "I think most likely is that they're still outside." She looked at the window directly opposite the door. She lifted it open, and looked out into the slightly dark night, where she could just barely see a bright pink blob moving about. She lit up her horn, using it as a flashlight.
"Look, Twilight, Midday found us!" Pinkie cried out, followed by the sound of Twilight trying to shush her. Midday leaned back in, and waited. Some seventeen minutes later, Twilight, Pinkie Pie and Spike entered through the window. Twilight looked triumphant until she saw Midday, Ditzy and the Doctor standing there.

"How did you get in so easily?" She asked.
"The front door." Midday said, rolling her eyes.

"Now all we have to do is find the Star S-"
Midday pointed at the door. "You did actually get some sleep, right Twilight? You weren't double-checking the history of Canterlot architecture or something?"

The mare grinned slightly at that. Midday looked at her.
"Seriously?"

Twilight wasn't paying attention, merely examining the lock. "Now all we have to do i-"
The Doctor pointed his screwdriver at the door. After a few seconds there was a small 'click' and he nudged the door open. Midday stared it the device.

"So, that's a screwdriver?"
"Sonic screwdriver" he said.

"And it opens doors."
"It does other things" he said defensively. "I mean, yeah, it opens doors, but it heals scabs, re-attaches barbed wire, fixes lightbulbs... detects stuff. Doesn't do wood. Or hairdryers." He frowned.

"'Doesn't do wood'? What does that mean?"
"Anythink made of wood, this thing won't have any effect on it. Bit of problem there, been trying to fix it." He said sheepishly.

*****

Twilight looked at all the scrolls, her mind both awed at the sheer volume of material, and astounded at the lack of care in organising them. She fought the urge to get started on organising the shelves. She had other things to do. Then she walked past a conviniently placed mirror. Her first thought was wondering who put a mirror in a library, the second was the realisation of a horrible truth. Her hair was burnt and twisted, she had an eyepath, a bandage across her forehead, and she was wearing an outfit designed for stealth that was torn and scratched
"Look!" She announced, "I look just like Future Twilight... the last sign has come true!" She said grimly.

"And that's bad right?" Pinkie asked.
"No, just means we're acting out the temporal loop. Nothing wrong with that, unless you try to understand the ontological paradox, which..." Midday stopped, "Ignore the paradox!"

"Oh, don't worry 'bout paradox. Worry about the poor filing in this place." The Doctor said from somewhere deep in the library. Another question occured to Midday.
"Hey, whatever happened to 'time can be re-written', by the way?"

"Well, once you know about it, it can't be changed, becomes fixed. So stay away from ominous prophecies."
"Way ahead of you. Way ahead"

"Will you two knock it off?" Twilight said, "It's almost Tuesday morning! The disaster could happen at any moment."
"But, how do we find the time stopping spell?" Asked Spike, "There must be a million scrolls in here."

"Seven hundred thousand, nine hundred and eighty five." Ditzy said immediately. Everypony stared at her.
"I counted." She said, at everypony's astonished looks. Twilight looked about nervously.

"We'll have to search them all."
And so they split up, everypony taking a shelf. Midday noticed Pinkie constantly glancing at whatever scrolls she looked at, before tossing them away. She felt a slight burn of indignation at Pinkie's lax treatment of the books.

"Pinkie, you are reading these things, right?"
"Yeah. I can read really quickly." The mare smiled, looking at one book, and skimming through it.

"What's an angel?" she asked. Midday looked at her.
"It's all through this book, and it keeps saying 'don't blink'. It's the first thing this book says, 'don't blink', followed by all sorts of nonsense about statues." She tossed the book away, "That guy needed a better girlfriend."

Midday paused for a moment, before her mind helpfull came to the rescue with the remind of 'That's just Pinkie'. She went back to reading, and noticed at one point the spell she'd used to age herself by four years. She considered burning it, and thought better of it, just tossing it away. She was still Twilight Sparkle's daughter after all. She was pretty sure she was biologically programmed to be unable to harm any book. Every few seconds she thought she could hear Spike snoring gently, before grunting as he woke up.
Then she heard bird song, and noticed there had been a sudden increase in the amount of sunshine.

"Twilight, it's over!" Spike declared, "It's Tuesday morning!"
"No!" Twilight said. "Tuesday morning, the disaster! Incoming!" Midday watched as the battered mare braced herself.

Then, nothing happened. Or nothing out of the ordinary happened. Birds continued to sing, the trees outside waved in a gentle breeze, clouds wafted lazily overhead.
"I dunno, Twilight." Spike said, looking out the window, "I don't... see any disasters. Looks like a pretty nice day."

The Doctor sniffed slightly. "Might be a bit of wind later." He said, "Temperature stays in the medium all day, some clouds in the evening, perhaps."
It was a nice day, and a very lovely sunrise, althought the view from Canterlot was practically designed to look beautiful. And then, one of the strangest moments in Midday's life happened. Princess Celestia walked past, barely blinking at the sight of five ponies and one dragon, three of which were dressed for infiltration, and two of whom were dressed like librarians.

"Good morning, Twilight" she smiled, "Love the new hairstyle. Well, happy Tuesday!" And then she walked right past them, humming to herself. Twilight just blinked.
"Why isn't anypony surprised to see me here?"

"Because you're always in a library?" Midday suggested.
"Is it possible there never was a disaster?"

"Quite possibly." The Doctor said.
"That I've just been making myself frantic over... nothing?!"

"Well... it would hardly be the first time, would it?" Midday said. Spike looked about.
"I don't get it. If Future Twilight wasn't warning you about a disaster, then what was she trying to tell you?"

"Oh, isn't it obvious?" Midday said. Everypony looked at her. "You was trying to tell yourself to not worry."
Twilight stared at her for a moment. "Yeah, that makes sense." She sighed wearily.

"I can't believe I got all worked up over that. I mean, look at what's happened, I look... ridiculous."
"Well, a bit of sleep, and maybe a visit to Rarity, and you'll be looking like you soon enough." Midday smiled. Twilight nodded.

"And it's all because I couldn't stop worrying and let the future handle itself." She looked determined, "Well, not anymore. From now on, I'm going to solve problems as they come, and stop worrying about every little thing."
Midday shook her head. "I'd love to believe that, I really would."

"That's great!" Spike said. "Does this mean there won't be any late night pacing?"
"No more late night pacing." Twilight smiled. "If only I'd learnt this lesson earlier, we wouldn't have gone through all this."

"At least we got a mildly entertaining story out of it." Midday said. Then Pinkie rushed over to them.
"Twilight, Twilight! I found something! It doesn't stop time, but it lets you go back in time. It says you can go back once, and only for a few moments. Does that help?"

The Doctor looked at it, and smiled. "My handwriting. Or hoofwriting, I should say. Or hornwriting. Goodness, that takes me back."
Twilight took it and looked it over. She seemed to like what she found.

"Pinke, you're a genius!" The mare cheered at this. Everypony looked at Midday.
"What?"

"I just thought you were going to make a sarcastic remark, or something." Twilight said. Midday looked at her in confusion.
"Twilight, Pinkie Pie is probably a genius, I mean, she made a cannon that shoots parties."

"And a cannon that shoots cake!" Pinkie said, thought she wasn't smiling, "Now, if I could build a cannon that shoots cakes that works, that'd be super-duper fun!"
Twilight looked at the scroll. "Now I can go back and tell past Twilight she doesn't need to go berserk with worry about a disaster that's never gonna come!" Her horn glowed, and there was a massive flare of magic, wind whirled dramatically, and after a bright flash, she disappeared.

"Sorry, wasn't listening there, was she trying to change the past?" The Doctor asked. Midday nodded.
"To be fair to her, she hasn't gotten sleep in days, so she's not at the top of her game." She looked about.

"Where'd Ditzy go?"
"I'm over here." The mailmare announced, "Just found an interesting book is all. Tell me, do these sort of things usually happen to you?"

"No." The Doctor said, "I usually have much more fun things happening to me. Gods and monsters and everything inbetween, all of time and space to see, always more to do."
"Sounds interesting." Midday said.

"You could come with me if you like. I've always got space." She looked at him, and shook her head.
"No thanks. I've had enough time travel for one life." She smiled. Any further discussion was interrupted by a roar of wind, and another flash of light as Twilight returned.

"-aste your time..." She looked about the room, and realised where she was, "Worrying... about." She groaned.
"I can't believe I did that."

"Did you tell her about the cool birthday present?" Pinkie smiled.
"Nice try, Twilight, but you can't really complain. It's a temporal loop, you had to go back in time or otherwise you wouldn't go back in time. Or you could've just taken a note or something." Midday paused, wondering whether a note would have survived the trip, although considering her saddlebags had survived, a piece of paper probably would have as well.

"I can't believe past me is going to spend all that time freaking out about a problem that doesn't even exist!" Twilight groaned again. Pinkie just nudged her.
"Don't worry about it!" She smiled, "It's past Twilight's problem now."

Twilight thought about this, and giggled. "I guess you're right Pinkie."
Suddenly, there was a strange groaning noise, as Spike collapsed holding onto his stomach.

"My stomach!" He exclaimed, "I think it's all that ice cream... I thought it would be future Spike's problem, but now I am futue Spike." He groaned. Midday shook her head and lifted him onto her back, as Twilight and Pinkie giggled.
"Let's go home, everypony." Twilight said.

*****

Ditzy watched as everypony walked out, finishing the sentence she was reading, and set down the book. She'd never heard of it before, but it was an interesting one.
'The Song of Stars', she thought, 'What an odd title'. She looked at the stallion who she'd travelled with, and considered what he'd said, and thought about asking him something when they got back to Ponyville.

*****

A few minutes after they were gone, a pony appeared to complain about the noise level, finding several discarded scrolls and books. He'd been camly studying the stars upstairs, but now that morning had come he was just trying to get some sleep. He shook his head, which had no effect on his already dishevelled ginger mane. He looked at the mess, and decided to be helpful and clean up the mess. Comet Chaser may not have been a librarian, but he didn't want anypony to get into trouble for something that wasn't their fault if he could help it.

Author's Note

I didn't mean for that bit with Rarity, I just thought I hadn't really done much with her.
(The chapter's title comes from the Pirates of Penzance. I had the idea that instead of sneaking in, Twinkle decided to mess with Twilight's head, and one or two whispered sentences to Pinkie Pie later, and everypony's singing opera at full volume. As Twilight just stares in horror, a guard walks past, then just dismisses the sight in front of him.
Then I chickened out. Such is life.)

Flashback the Eighth: Shining Sapphire

The Crystal Empire has seen a lot of things in their time. They had seen love turn back the cold, they had seen evil at depths that could not be imagined, they had seen alicorns at war, they had cheered at the final demise of Sombra. Miracles and horrors and all that came inbetween, the Crystal Ponies would say they had seen those. But they weren't jaded. The years under Sombra had caused them forget how to smile for a time, but eventually they managed once more. The Crystal Heart had shone once more, and so, when their rulers, Princess Cadance, and her husband Shining Armor had announced that Cadance was with foal, the Crystal Ponies had practically gone wild with joy for the couple. And they had waited on baited breath when Cadance had gone into labour.

*****

"..." Cadance looked at the small pair of eyes staring back at her. Shining Armor apparently seemed to agree. The unicorn was naturally white, so the fact that he had paled was even more impressive.
"She's beautiful" Cadance smiled. The newborn gurgled. Inquisitive blue-purple eyes stared at the world in front of them.

"Are we sure she's real?" Shining Armor said, too focused on the little pink and blue foal in front of him to really care whether he was making sense.
"She's got your hair." Cadance noted. There were a few tufts of the same sapphire blue hair that Shining Armor had, although Cadance was certain that she could see some strands of violet in there as well.

"She is beautiful," Shining Armor said. "What're we going to call her?"
Cadance looked at her husband, if only for a few seconds, in case their foal tried to walk away while her back was turned. In the silence, they could hear the distant sounds of the entire city celebrating.

"What about... Shining Sapphire?"

*****

Shining Sapphire, aged five
"Another book?" Shining Armor smiled, "I'm pretty sure this one isn't for kids her age." He shook his head.
"I'm going to have to have a talk with Twilie at some point. I mean, we have a whole library here, and at least three reading rooms in the castle. I'm fairly certain we're well-stocked for books." He said, shifting slightly and looking at the massive amount of gifts, many of which had been sent by parents from within the city, and only a few from friends and family.

"It's one of her favourites, Shiney." Cadance smiled, looking occasionaly at the filly nudging the inflatable bath turtle somepony had sent, occasionally worrying whether it was going to spray some powder that would make Shining Sapphire sneeze or itch for hours. It didn't, only giving a small squeak. Satisfied that Rainbow Dash's gift posed no threat, she went back to picking up the wrapping paper.
"And I think she's probably a bit focused on raising her own filly. Apparently Twilight Twinkle the second is quite the trouble-maker." She smiled playfully. "Probably takes after her uncle."

Shining Armor dropped the mass of wrapping paper he was carrying in shock, or pretend shock. As the two grown-ups teased each other, a little filly propped open the book she'd found, and looked at it.
It was love at first sight. Her mother would later find the filly asleep next to the book, and have flashbacks to look after another book-loving pony.

*****

From the first reading of The Beginning Of Magical Theory, young Shining Sapphire took joy in reading, eagerly pouring through whatever she could find. So much so that everypony was sure her Cutie Mark was going to be something to do with reading books, and despite her parents most sincere efforts, it proved difficult to drag the filly away from reading for very long, and the Princess and her husband didn't bother hiring a tutor, or at least not after the first time they tried, when Shining Sapphire flew rings around the pony they hired (Though not literally, since she was only a filly). From there, the royal couple decided it was probably an idea to just ask Twilight Sparkle for advice on how to educate a filly. They recieved an extremely long essay detailing exactly how to go about best educating their daughter.

"She's been incredibly specific" Shining Armor frowned as he scanned the list.
"I'm pretty sure most foals don't even know about these things." He added.

"She's not 'most foals'." Cadance pointed out.

*****

However, as the months, and then years went by, they began to get a faint inkling of concern for their daughter, who shunned social interaction, almost exactly like a certain other pony they both knew well, and whenever they brought it up, the usually cheerful and good-natured filly became incredibly quiet and reserved.
"Perhaps not such a great idea to let her stay indoors at the time, then" Shining Armor had remarked. This led to Cadance sending an invitation to her sister in-law to visit the Crystal Empire. Once the mare accepted, a strange change overcame Cadance. Whereas normally she was the more sensible of the couple (although considering Shining Armor's usually calm and rational behaviour, this wasn't saying much) she became incredibly restless and fussy. Eventually Shining Armor summoned the courage to ask why.

"Because I'm finally meeting my niece!" Cadance had responded in a sing-song voice. Every time Twilight Sparkle had visited in the last few years, which hadn't been often, she'd been unable, or unwilling, to bring her daughter, which had always passed without comment, though all parties involved were quietly agreed that it was a shame. Shining Armor had to admit he was looking forward to seeing his niece, though he was trying to hold on to his reputation as a tough, stoic and dashing character. This had only succeeded because the nursery staff had been 'persuaded' not to tell anypony he'd been reading books to his daughter when she was little.

*****

The day of the arrival of Princess Twilight Sparkle and Twilight Twinkle came, and Shining Sapphire had somehow managed to go without any knowledge of the arrival of her aunt and cousin, merely spending most of her time reading complicated mathematics books, and occasionaly checking to see whether she actually had any magic yet. She didn't, but being all of nine years old, she didn't really expect to have much magic for a few more years. She had calmly woken up, and gotten on with her studying, though she was vaguely certain she could hear fanfare from outside. She ignored it and went back to reading trigonometry. After a while she was certain she could hear a noise, a repetitive tapping noise. Almost like hooves. She looked about. The noise had stopped.

She leaned back in her chair, and reopened the book. After a few seconds she looked up at the clock. It was almost lunchtime. She gave this some thought.
"Maybe a few more minutes studying," she said eventually, "Then I can go eat."

Then she heard the sound of hooves moving against the crystaline floor. Shining Armor and Cadance had tried to get most of the floor covered in carpet, since one's hoofsteps echoing everywhere did get wearing after a while, but there was only so much carpet they could put down.
Shining Sapphire turned to look at the door. She couldn't see anypony. She slid out of her chair and walked over to the door, her wings flapping slightly as she moved. She looked around the corridor, brushing a loose lock of hair out of her face, but could see no sign of anypony.

"Hello?" She called out. There was no response. She gave this some consideration, and decided she had been hearing things. She walked back over to her chair and sat down, until she became aware of a scrabbling noise behind her.
"Hi" A tiny voice said. She looked up, to see a small royal blue coloured face looking at her with burnt orange eyes that seemed completely filled with intrigue and curiosity. The face belonged to a unicorn (whom she could now see had blue hair with what appeared to be two orange streaks going through it) who was just small enough to be perched on the head of the chair without falling off. She yelped, and leapt out of her chair. The filly didn't seem bothered by this, and jumped onto the table she'd been keeping her books on
.
"What'cha reading?" She asked, scanning the book, levitating it so she could get a look at the cover. At this, Shining Sapphire felt a pang of scientific intrigue. This filly, who was by all appearances younger than her, could use magic, and without any strain? And then she noticed the Cutie Mark, of a moon blocking out the light of a sun. She recognised that from a book she'd found.
"Tri...gon...metry?" The filly said. Shining Sapphire felt confusion as to that. How could she not know what trigonometry was, if she could use magic and had a Cutie Mark already?

"Sounds boring" the filly declared. She looked at Shining Sapphire, and she noticed the filly's eyes daring towards her wings.
"I'm Twilight Twinkle" she smiled. Shining Sapphire said nothing.

"Hello?" The filly said. Then there was the sudden sound of hoofsteps, and voices, one of which Shining Sapphire noticed was her mother, the other she couldn't quite place.
"You didn't see me!" The filly hissed, before scrambling under the table. Shining Sapphire felt motivated to help this filly, for reasons she wasn't quite sure of, though there was something familiar about her appearance. She rushed over to her desk and tried to look like she was reading.

"Shining Sapphire?" She heard her mother say. She turned to see her standing in the doorway, with an annoyed looking purple mare behind her, whom Shining Sapphire recognised as her aunt Princess Twilight Sparkle.
"Yes, mother?" She said, quickly placing a hoof over the book she was reading.

"Have you seen a unicorn filly about? She has blue hair with orange streaks, orange eyes, incredibly hyperactive?"
Shining Sapphire was fairly certain the little filly was staring at her. She shuffled in her seat.
"No" she said, smiling at her mother. Aunt Twilight walked into the room, her eyes noting the large bookcases and the ladder Shining Sapphire used to reach her books, before darting towards the desk.

"Twinkle? Are you in here?" There was naturally no response from the filly. "You have until the count of three, or I will be cross." There was still no response. Twilight Sparkle began to count.
"One... Two..." A small smile began to appear on her face, "Two and a quarter... Two and a half..." She stop, and sighed.

"Fine, no dessert."
There was an almighty 'no' from under the desk.

"Fudge" said a small voice, as Twilight Twinkle appeared. Shining Sapphire giggled at the look on the little filly's face.
"Did you just fib, Shining Sapphire?" Cadance asked, trying desperately to look stern. The nine year-old smiled nervously.

"Perhaps. A bit." Cadance just shook her head.
"Come on, you two, lunch." Shining Sapphire's wings tensed, and she looked at her books.

"But... mom... studying."
"Lunch." Cadance said, in a tone that while unthreatening left no room for discussion. The young princess slipped off her seat and followed after her mother, while the Twilights talked about 'wandering off'. Shining Sapphire noted the younger filly was still staring at her.

*****

At the lunchtable, while Shining Armor, the elder Twilight and her mother engaged in conversation, the two fillies began talking, or rather Shining Sapphire talked, while Twilight Twinkle asked a dozen and one questions, most of which the mare couldn't answer. From what she could gather, Twilight Twinkle really, really, really wanted to go on adventures and explore, and was studying all sorts of things she would need to survive going on these adventures. She even explained, though not in much detail, how she had wandered into the legendary Everfree Forest. Apparently her father heard that, because he nearly choked on what he was eating at the exact same time Twinkle said so.

"YOU DID WHAT?"
"Shining..."

"Sorry, Cadance. You did what?!"
"Yes. She walked into the Everfree Forest yesterday. Managed to get herself completely lost, as well" Twilight Sparkle sighed.

"I didn't get lost, mom, I just... couldn't figure out which way I was supposed to go." The filly said, her voice never wavering from its cheerful tone.
"You know," Cadance said, "Perhaps later on, you could show Twilight Twinkle around the city, Sapphy."

The royal blue unicorn smiled at the embarrasing nickname she'd just been passed on a silver platter. Twilight Sparkle, for her part, look genuinely excited about seeing the city once more.

*****

As it turned out, Shining Sapphire found Twilight Twinkle rather entertaining, mainly because of the filly's relentless cheerfulness, although that managed to stop when Shining Sapphire expressed confusion about 'pranks'. At that point the filly had been bouncing up and down on Shining Sapphire's bed, but when the pink pony had said she had no idea what a prank was, she'd stopped, her jaw hanging open. For a few seconds, at any rate, after which she started detailing the best ways to design a Cunning Prank, as she so claimed. However, they couldn't decide on who to prank, since neither were willing to prank Cadance, or Shining Armor, or Twilight Sparkle, and both knew (in very general terms) that the majority of Crystal Ponies were still traumatised from Sombra's actions, so they decided not to risk doing anything to them. Eventually they decided to pass on the pranking. When the Twilights finally had to leave, Shining Sapphire actually left her room to say goodbye, something her parents privately took note of.

*****

Shining Sapphire, aged eleven
Luna paced the halls of Canterlot Castle, the guard following nervously behind her. She eventually reached a hallway.
"Be advised, your target is of unknown intent and dangerous skill. Be wary, do not go anywhere alone" she said. One brave guard, who would later recieve a small pay raise, dared speak up.

"But what about you, your highness?"
Luna didn't answer that. She had chosen to miss out on one of her sister's banquets, mainly because she knew it would have been boring, but she was beginning to wonder if that had been the right idea after all, and whether she and her sister could have had a good laugh about it afterward. The alicorn sniffed the air, and motioned for the guards to split up. She walked down a lone hallway, and stopped when she heard an echoing giggle. She looked about, but could see no sign of her prey. Then she swore she saw a flash of pink. Her magic lanced out, striking near where she'd seen the target.

There was a shattering noise as the spell hit a mirror, which instantly broke. Luna frowned. Her targets had somehow installed a massive mirror. She was aware of a screaming noise. She paused to fix the mirror, and then dashed down the hallway.

*****

"This isn't my idea of a fun job." One of the guard pouted.
"What would be? Lookin' after Blueblood?" His partner said.

"No, no. Don't get me wrong, I hate Blueblood as much as the next guy, but... I've heard stories..."
The first guard's copper coloured friend stared at him. "Stories? Really?"

"Yeah, I mean-" He didn't get any further, as they heard a loud clanging noise, followed by what sounded like running... well, not running water. Running water didn't sound like what they were hearing. Their eyes went wide when they saw what was approaching.
"CUSTARD!" The two guards screamed, as it washed over them.

*****

One by one, similar fates befell all the guard Luna had brought along with her. Being caught in a rope trap, falling through disguised holes in the floor, and in one case being frozen solid. Luna paced the hallways, following her target. After a short while her mood, already at a low, reached a peak.
"Show yourselves right now!" She boomed. There was the sound of something launching, and she swivelled on the spot to see a round object heading toward her, too fast even for her to move.

There was a damp, crunchy splat of pie on face, followed by a sharp yell.
"Get evil Aunty Lulu!" Luna recognised that one as being Shining Sapphire. Her horn glowed and there was an almost comical noise of a pony bouncing off her hastily summoned shield. Using more of her magic, Luna summoned a napkin to wipe off the pie, noting with some annoyance that clearly Shining Sapphire and her cousin had done some studying, unless they'd chosen her favourite brand entirely by chance.

"Children." She said, seeing there was now a smaller royal blue filly lying next to Shining Sapphire. "I assume you two can explain why you felt the need to humiliate half of my guard."
"We were studying pranking," Shining Sapphire explained, "But it was my decision to... well, use you as a test subject because the more serious the victim behaves, the funnier the resultant comedy."

Luna's only response was to look stern, while on the inside she felt incredibly confused. From all she'd heard, Shining Sapphire did nothing like this, normally staying near books and reading through the day, never doing anything like this. She looked at Twilight Twinkle.
"Did you tell her about this, Twilight Twinkle?" she said, slowly. The little filly's eyes darted from Luna to her cousin.

"No," she squeaked. "I told Sapphy about pranking but she's the one who came up with most of these ideas." The filly covered her mouth with her hooves. Luna's gaze moved over the two fillies.
"I see." She stood there for a while. "Return to your rooms, and do not wander off again, or..." She tried to think of a suitable threat.

"I shall tell your parents." The two fillies looked suitably alarmed. "Now run along." The two fillies ran as fast as they could.

*****

"Told you that wasn't smart." Shining Sapphire said.
"Fun though," Twilight Twinkle said. "And I think Princess Luna didn't mind."

"But how did you convince me to go along with it?" The pink filly asked, her wings flapping fast enough to look like a hummingbird's wings (Though since her wings were not yet fully grown, this was really all they could do).
"Because I needed somepony to help make sure the traps worked. After all, I'm going to be an adventurer one day, and I need to know all sorts of things about traps." The filly smiled, "No matter what anypony says."

Shining Sapphire stared at her cousin, taken aback by the sudden defiant streak in her. Then a thought occured to the nine year-old.
"But, don't you already have your Cutie Mark?" She asked. Twilight Twinkle stared at her.

"Yeah, I do, but... I have no idea how I got it, and I don't know what it means. So I wanna be an explorer" Shining Sapphire considered this. To a full-grown pony, this wouldn't make much sense, but she was only nine, even if she was incredibly smart for her age. "And I needed to see whether my magic could do those things." At which point the filly skipped across the room, smiling. Shining Sapphire shook her head.

*****

Shining Sapphire, aged thirteen
Learning how to fly had been difficult. Her mother had been encouraging, and tried to remind the filly to go easy on her wings, rather than racing about the castle, and she'd been largely willing to listen, but once she started flying it became far too much fun to consider stopping. At least until she'd been told Twilight Twinkle was coming for another visit, at which point she'd become incredibly excitable, to the extent of not being able to even read a book. And she couldn't wait to tell her cousin she had her wings and her Cutie Mark. When she heard the arrival fan-fare however, she'd been in her room trying to read a book, and had rushed down to the front steps to greet her cousin only to find she wasn't there.

"Probably up in her guest room by now, your highness." One of the guards on the front door said, to which she smiled and rushed off again, running as fast as her legs could carry her, until at one point, running up one of the flights of steps, she actually burst into flight, due to her wings beginning to flap, and strangely it all seemed quite natural. As she flew she was certain she could hear voices.
"-ou glad you came along?" That was Twinkie, she could tell. She flapped her wings, and was surprised to find she was still flying in the air, and decided to see if she could sneak up on the mare.

"Yes." A voice responded, the voice of a colt, she noted. "The sights, the sounds, the view. It's all so breathtaking. Everywhere I look... I see more radiant beauty." Shining Sapphire flew closer, and saw the colt standing next to her cousin. He was quite tall for his age, assuming he was in fact the same age as Twinkle, and almost as tall as her, though he did seem a bit shocked by the view from the window. To Shining Sapphire, it was just the sun going down, as it always did, but he was clearly awed, as the light gleamed off of every surface, making the city change from its normal blue colours to more majestic shades of red and orange. There was a smirk on Shining Sapphire's face.

"Well, don't look behind you then. Because there's nothing beautiful there."
Shining Sapphire frowned and tried to think of the most witty retort her intellect could manage. However, her intellect seemed to have disappeared, and all she could think of to say as she set down was "Ouch", delivered in the most deapan manner possible. And then she was aware she had her glasses on.

"Hey, Saphy," Twinkle said as she walked over to the mare and embraced her. "Guess you finally got out of those book?"
She bristled. Technically speaking she'd chosen to see her cousin, even if she was certain her parents had told her to say hello to her over-active cousin.
"Father said I had to get some fresh air." She noticed her eyes were going toward Twinkle's friend, who had rather unusual golden-brown fur, and very bright blue eyes.

"Who's your friend?" She asked. To her surprised, he bowed, and spoke in an extremely quiet tone.
"I'm... Whisper Wind." She smiled, as she felt a warm feeling spread across her cheeks.

"Charmed" she said, her voice breaking slightly as she said it. She honestly didn't know why.

*****

Dinner proved interesting, as she listened to Whisper Wind describe every detail of life in Ponyville, waking up, looking after the animals his mother cared for, school, cooking a meal himself, homework, and other normal everyday things. Meanwhile, Twilight Twinkle seemed to be focused intently on her uncle. The next day, Shining Sapphire found out why. When she woke up, she saw the ponies who usually styled her mane in the morning (Despite her really strenuous objections, which struck even her as unusual) smiling. When she asked, they had (eventually) explained that young Twilight Twinkle (who they presumed was a Princess, even without wings or a crown) was following His Grace Shining Armor about, asking him to teach her how to fight, despite his strong objections. She shook her head, and after being let free from their insidious hair-styling clutches, went in search of breakfast. She found her mother and her aunt talking, and smiling.

"Good morning, Sapphy." Her mother had said, and Twilight Sparkle had just waved, in-between eating at least three sandwiches. From the look of it, her aunt had been up all night, and possibly all morning. She noticed Whisper Wind keeping a good distance away from both mares. Shining Sapphire wasn't quite sure what was going on with the colt, but he seemed nervous about being anywhere near them. So she decided to sit next to him and keep him company.
'Hold on. Why are we doing this?' a voice in her head said.

'Because he looks lonely, and miserable, and he said this was the first time he's been away from Ponyville' She told herself. This seemed good enough reasoning to her, although if she was talking to herself, she probably wasn't as reasonable as she thought.
She wasn't aware that she was grinning like a madpony at him. He was. As was her mother.

*****

After several extremely awkward minutes of breakfast, and the castle staff plunging through the depths of the massive pantries to find cereal, the filly and colt found themselves mysteriously alone, Twilight Sparkle and Cadance having vanished into thin air. There were muttered statements, and the two walked about the castle, avoiding talking about anything. Or almost anything.
"So... Whisper... do you li-"

"Yes."
"You didn't know what I was going to say."

"Sorry."
"So how long have you know Twinkie?"

"A few years, now."
She nodded, and he didn't press further. Then she looked out of the window to see her father running from an annoyed looking blue filly. What on earth could she been doing that would bother him that much?

*****

"Please?"
"No!"
"Please?"
"No!"
"Please?"
"No!"

*****

She noticed Whisper had vanished, and frowned. She wandered through the castle until she reached her room, and sat there. She sighed, and went back to reading.
After a while she heard hoofsteps, and saw her mother looking at her with barely controlled mirth.

"You might want to see this" she said. Shining Sapphire raised an eyebrow and followed her mother to a balcony, where her aunt, and Whisper Wind were both staring at something. She looked out over the balcony to see a truly insane sight. Twilight Twinkle was trying to climb up a large pole which for some reason had an arrow stuck in the top of it. Meanwhile, Shining Armor had found a group of guards with nothing better to do than sing.

"You know, I can't remember the last time I heard him sing." Twilight Sparkle noted. Shining Sapphire could only think of how catchy the tune was, and that according to one of the books in her room, it was apparently a ritual part of training Guard recruits.

*****

The rest of Twinkle's visit couldn't really compare to watching her father leading the guards in singing a full musical number, but Shining Sapphire did wonder about Whisper Wind's unwillingness to socialise, and the fact that he seemed really nervous about her, even when she accompained them back to the train station. She tried to ignore the way she blushed around him, hoping it would go away soon enough. It wasn't as if she couldn't talk to boys, she found herself saying.

*****

Shining Sapphire, aged fourteen
She wasn't entirely sure how she'd been enlisted for the camping trip, she honestly wasn't. The best guess was probably because her parents kept telling her she needed to go out, needed to do things with ponies her own age, even though she was a) a Princess, and therefore most of the Crystal Ponies would feel intimidated by her, and b) still amazingly shy. But, unlike Whisper Wind or Twilight Twinkle, she actually enjoyed the camping trip, even when they got lost, even when they had no idea where they were. She'd read about the flora and fauna of Equestria, but until that day, she'd never had a chance to see it. She found herself leaning towards one when Twilight Twinkle spoke up.

"Don't sniff that one, by the way." The royal blue mare said, pointing at the flower she was about to sniff. She looked at her younger cousin.
"Why not?"

"Causes nightmarish trots" She then proceeded to launch into a clarification on the distinction between the disease and the group of ponies who lived south of the Shetlands, before trying to assemble a tent. As it turned out, of all of them, only Whisper Wind was capable of assembling his without trouble.
Then, as the two ponies were bickering, the Timberwolves arrived.

Shining Sapphire could easily have guessed that Twilight Twinkle didn't know about them, or that they'd wandered into the creatures' territory, and in all fairness, neither had she, but it was Shining Sapphire who would later deem the quest the 'Camping Trip from Tartarus', a title the other two agreed with. She had been escorted home by her mother after what had happened, despite her attempts to try and see Wisp, since Twilight Sparkle was more concerned about her niece than she was her daughter, who had been grounded for her part in Whisper Wind's injuries, although Shining Sapphire was certain that if Twinkle hadn't felt guilty about what happened, she wouldn't have gone along with it.

*****

Life back at the Crystal Empire suddenly seemed boring after returning though, and Shining Sapphire found even her books seemed less interesting, perhaps because she had read all of them inside and out. And she couldn't stop worrying about Whisper.
"Well," her mother had said after one sigh too many, "If you're concerned, why not write to him? I'm sure he'd probably appreciate hearing from somepony he knows while in hospital."

So Shining Sapphire quickly found a quill, some ink, and a pen and got about writing a letter. After several fumbling attempts, she finally managed to write her first correspondence.

"Hello Whisper Wind
How are you?
From, Shining Sapphire."

"That's a bit on the short side, isn't it?" her father said, causing her to jolt slightly. She tried to look calm, and traced a hoof against her writing desk.
"Well, I didn't really know what to ask" she muttered. There was something about the look on her father's face that she didn't recognise. It wasn't that he found the situation funny, he seemed almost... proud of her for some reason. She smiled at him, and he smiled back.

The next week she recieved a letter in return from the pegasus, which simply said

"To Shining Sapphire,
I am doing well.
From, Whisper Wind, Ponyville"

She frowned, and looked at the letter. Then she checked the other side. She had honestly been expecting more than that. But he had responded, so that was something at least. She smiled, and rushed up to her room to write another letter.

*****

A few months later, her mother burst into Shining Sapphire's bedroom (A difference one, since the old one had felt a bit small, and cramped to her tastes, and the new one had a balcony, and by a strange coincidence, a larger bed) to inform her that Twilight Twinkle had suffered a terrible accident. As it turned out, she'd somehow aged herself by four years, and though Twilight Sparkle refused to comment on the matter, Shining Sapphire was fairly certain the filly had done it in an attempt to gain wings.

She didn't mind travelling all the way to Canterlot, and was overjoyed to see her cousin alive and... well, alive was the only way she felt she could describe Twilight Twinkle, who seemed unusually annoyed, right from the word go.
"Hello." Shining Sapphire said as she entered. Twilight Twinkle looked at her, and for a moment those burnt orange eyes seemed like they belonged to a different pony altogether.

"Hey" she said. Shining Sapphire stared at her cousin, who now looked like she was sixteen, instead of twelve, and was having trouble getting use to her attempts to walk. And she didn't even have any wings, after all her efforts.
"Suits you." Shining Sapphire remarked, then winced when she realised what she'd said, though Twinkle didn't seem to notice, or care if she did. For a few seconds there was an awkward silence, brought on by the fact that she wasn't sure what to say.

"So what's it like?"
"Like I've got an alarm clock going off inside my head for some reason. And I'm finding it really difficult to walk right now, because everything's the wrong height. Really irritating, and I'm pretty sure my mom's pissed at me." Shining Sapphire gapsed. She wasn't sure if she was gasping at the way Twinkle had said it, the fact that the mare and her mother weren't getting on, or that it was bad enough that she felt confidant in saying it, or that she was apparently telling the truth.

"How're you?" Twilight Twinkle said. She shrugged.
"I've gotten pretty good at casting constructs. Apparently my barriers are as good as my dad's." She smiled eagerly, "And I'm actually getting pretty good at talking to ponies at home without tripping over myself."

Twilight Twinkle gave no indication of hearing her, just staring out of the window. After a few moments, Shining Sapphire stood up.
"I'll just let you get some rest then." She stopped to look at Twilight Twinkle again. There was something in the mare's eyes that she didn't like. But she felt confident that her cousin was unlikely to do anything rash.

*****

The years passed, and she and Wisp found themselves beginning an odd correspondance where they simply detailed their days, his usual routine in Ponyville, and the ever-increasing Pie family, the exploits of the Apples, the joy of living in a city which was home to the Sweet Bell fan-club (who were apparently as loud as their idol, but nowhere near as melodic). She detailed the daily routine of waking up and being atteneded to by hoof by the castle servants, the locals ponies, the way when the Crystal Heart pulsed everypony would turn to crystal, and the fact that apparently the permanent cold outside the city was beginning to slack off, apparently as a result of the Crystal Heart, uncovering some of the old cities of the past, and all the archeological wonders that lay within. She actually found herself counting down the time to the stallion's letters. The only possible dampner of her schedule was the way she occasionaly saw her mother smiling at her, and when she asked her what was causing her to smile, she would invariably respond with "Just looking at you". Then came the strangest moment Shining Sapphire had in years.

*****

Shining Sapphire, aged seventeen
Apparently her mother decided it was an idea to visit Canterlot, on suggestion from Princess Celestia herself, and Shining Sapphire was brought along, since the ruler of all Equestria apparently wanted to meet her niece's daughter, having had very little chance to do so. However, this meant acquainting Shining Sapphire with something she'd never experienced before. Dressmaking.
"Oh my goodness! Your Highness! Your Grace! Your other Highness!" The purple-haired mare exclaimed, bowing before them. Shining Sapphire recognised her as Rarity, the bearer of the Element of Generosity, and a famous fashion designer (Apparently responsible for styling her mother's hair for famous state occasions, though strangely Shining Sapphire couldn't recall seeing ever having seen her before).

The fashionista continued squealing like a teenager over every facet of her appearance, which alarmed Shining Sapphire. She was aware that by ponies standards, she was frankly amazingly good-looking (though she leaned more towards describing herself as cute), but she didn't like it being called attention to, mainly because every Heart and Hooves day several letters had been sent from ponies throughout the empire, and even some from other places, some of which had actually been... well...
She shook her head, and noticed the mare was still fawning over her. She looked to her mother, who was just smirking, not unlike her aunt sometimes did.

"Why are you doing this to me?" she whispered.
"Well, sooner or later you were going to have to endure this sort of thing, sweetheart. Be thankful your father and I have managed to delay it for as long as we have."

She looked confused. "What does that mean?"
"Well, dear, you are a Princess. You are required to show up to do things you won't enjoy. I know it's not what you'd rather do, but there are ways you can make it enjoyable. Perhaps you could bring somepony you're friends with to where we're going, like your cousin, or that pony you've been exchanging letters with."

"Wisp? He'll never go to a fancy ball. He doesn't like those things."
"Are you sure?" Shining Sapphire looked at the fashion designer, who was carefully designing a dress for her with all speed. She considered her options. Going to a... ball, or perhaps even a gala alone, where there would doubtless be ponies who would want to speak to the Lesser Princess of the Crystal Empire, or have somepony to ward off potential danger. She nodded, and rushed out of the door.

It took Rarity all of ten minutes to realise the pony she wanted to design a dress for first was gone, being as she was 'In the Zone'.

*****

Shining Sapphire was considered a Princess, even if she was sure she didn't feel like one, on the grounds that she was an alicorn, and could therefore fly much faster than almost any pegasus (save perhaps the captain of the Royal Guard, or her protege in the Wonderbolts), or so the theory went. In practice, however, reaching Ponyville took more than a few minutes. Finding the house belonging to mayor Fluttershy took longer, and she noticed nopony seemed astonished at the bright pink alicorn touching down in the central square. She looked about, remembering only that Whisper had stated his house was next to the famed Everfree Forest (which her parents had told her to never, ever ever go into). She continued scanning the area, and noticed a plum-coloured, blond-maned pony walking past. This one seemed as good as any to talk to.

"Excuse me," she said, catching the pony's attention despite accidentally starting at a near-whisper, "Could you point me in the direction of the Mayor's house?"
The pony stared at her with deep green eyes, which looked like they were contemplating some deep mystery.

"Eyup" the pony said, before pointing towards a small winding dirt road.
"Can't miss it." The pony added. Shining Sapphire smiled and nodded.

"Thank you" She smiled, before soaring off. The pony just watched. Lil' McIntosh had seen several strange things, but a Princess landing out of nowhere looking for Fluttershy was a new one.

*****

She rushed down the road, and was aware of her heart beating incredibly fast, so she stopped, and camly tried to get her mane back under control. She smiled, and walked up to the house. It was incredibly small, especially for a mayoral residence, she noted, but there were the unmistakable signs of a hen-house, and rabbit warrens, and several birds nests. She knocked politely on the door, and waited for a few seconds. Eventually the door opened, revealing a golden-brown face with bright blue eyes.
"Shining Sapphire?!" The stallion asked, "What are you doing in Ponyville?"

She smiled, and couldn't help staring at him. All of him. The last time she'd seen him he was a rather thin and malnourished looking pony, but now he was, to not put too fine a point on it, really good-looking, in an unconventional sort of way.
"I... was... that is..." she stuttered, before admonishing herself for acting like a little schoolfilly.

'I am Shining Sapphire, daughter of Princess Cadance. To Hay with life if I can't talk to a single stallion pegasus'. She looked up at him.
"I was in the local area and I decided to stop by and ask if you wished to... 'hang out' with me for a few hours" She smiled, though she was unsure if she was using the accurate terms. Living in a city which had been displaced by a thousand years did extremely odd things to linguistics. It had apparently even taken her mother and father (and an expert party planner) several months to explain to them in precise detail the nature of the word 'fun'.

"'Hang out'?" The stallion said, raising an eyebrow. "And where would we be 'hanging out'?"
"In Canterlot." She smiled again. His reaction was less than encouraging. "Please? I don't want to go to some horrible ball or gala or... shindig all by myself in some ridiculous dress. Please? I'm asking you as a friend. Help me."

He looked conflicted, and there was something else on his face she couldn't figure out, hesitancy, she suspected. There she heard a voice from indoors. His head turned, and then he looked back to her.
"Excuse me a moment." She stood there for a few moments, and a few moments more, and then the door opened, and Whisper Wind walked out, looking strangely pale, bordering on disturbed.

"Shining Sapphire, I would be delighted to assist you" he said, in a strangely unemotional voice.

*****

The flight back took longer than the flight there, though only by a few minutes, since Canterlot wasn't exactly a day's journey from Ponyville. Shining Sapphire had presumed that her 'bodyguard' wouldn't be able to keep pace with her, even if he hadn't been the son of the notoriously shy mayor of Ponyville, but as it turned out he was faster than he appeared. She actually found herself laughing. The Crystal Empire had a few pegasi in it, but very few of them were inclined toward racing with a Princess. They landed in front of Rarity's store, smiling.

"You're good." Shining Sapphire smiled. The pegasus looked sheepish.
"Thank you. I rarely go that fast." he said quietly. "Actually, I don't really fly anywhere, very much."
Shining Sapphire stared at him for a moment, then knocked on the door, and was dragged inside by a large pale purple claw.

*****

"Stop fussing, dear. You're making it harder than it should be." Rarity sighed.
"Should it even be hard at all?" she asked.

"No," Rarity said curtly, "That's how difficult you are being."
"I can't help it. I'm fairly certain whatever you're trying to put on me isn't designed for real ponies. Especially not ones with lungs!"

"How in the world can you be the daughter of Cadance and Shining Armor?"
"I'm normally a lot more polite. But I'm not normally told I have to go to a ball, or gala, or shindig, or whatever it is againt my own will."

"Strange..." the fashion designer said.
"What?"

"Well, from the way your mother painted it, you didn't need much convincing. And by the way you keep smiling, I'd say you're looking forward to it."
She became aware she had been smiling, and if she had known any way of doing so, would have cursed.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about" she heard herself remark.
"No, I don't suppose you do." Rarity smiled warmly, apparently remembering something from her past.

"Although I'm sure there are plenty of young stallions and mares who would give anything for a young Princess to ask them to go to a dance with her."

*****

Whisper Wind sat nervously near Shining Armor and Cadance, who didn't seen at all interested in him. As part of his heritage, unwilingly inherited from his biological mother, he could tell what they were feeling, in broad terms, and so he knew they weren't about to go into Protective Parent Mode, though he didn't dare try and look further into it, in case they noted. He found himself thinking back on what his mother had said that had persuaded him to go with Shining Sapphire.

~~~~~

Fluttershy stared at her son, who felt nervous about the princess standing on his front doorstep. He was fairly certain he was the same age as her, but since there was only one pony who knew when his birthday was, or more exactly when he had been born, as evidenced by the cards constantly sent on every birthday signed in green ink, which often gave him pause as to where she was getting the cards from. Regardless, he was still unsure about her. Yes, she was pretty, incredibly so, but he wasn't sure how he felt, which for a being who fed on emotions, was almost funny.
"Do you know?" his mother asked. He blinked.

"Know what?"
"Do you know?" she repeated, more sternly this time.

"Know what?" she frowned.
"Do you know?!" Then he got it, he got what she was implying. Horror filled his mind as he realised what she was saying, and where he'd learnt it. He still hadn't thanked Mrs Pie for that, mainly because of her small militia of children.

"Yes!" he yelped, "Yes! I live in the same town as Pinkie Pie, of course I know!"
Fluttershy nodded. If any of her old friends had seen her, they would have been terrified as the calm manner at which she brought her son to hysterics so quickly.

"Good. Now, then, Windy" she said, using her preferred version of his name, "When a young..." She leaned to look out the window.
"When a young, beautiful mare comes to your doorstep, asking you to go to a dance with you, you should really, really, really say 'yes'."

He blinked. Then he saw the knowing smirk on his mother's face.
"Chances like this don't come along every day."

"Yes, but... she's Princess Cadance's-" He stopped dead as his mother stared at him. It wasn't an actual Stare, but it still took the nerve out of his statement. Shining Sapphire was definitely pretty, and she was just asking him as a friend. He wondered, not for the first time, how Twilight Twinkle lived never being able to say 'no' to the word please.

"Yes, m'm. Going with her to Canterlot."

~~~~~

Whisper Wind noticed Cadance was staring at him.
"Yes?" He coughed when he realised what he'd said, "Yes, Your Highness?"

"You just look familiar" she said calmly. It was surprising how alike she looked to her daughter, only older, and with different hair. He wondered if he looked anything like his biological father, whoever he was, and whether or not that was a good thing.
"Well, my mother was a bridesmaid at your wedding. And I have visited your castle before. Your Highness" He shuffled nervously. She nodded.

"Yes, that's it. I forgot." There was an odd smile on her face, and while he didn't always look at how ponies were feeling, he could've sworn there was a subtle hint of amusement.
A few minutes later, and the curtain to the designing room opened, revealing Shining Sapphire. Whisper Wind's jaw dropped without even realising it.

For one of Rarity's dressed, it was surprisingly lacking in gemstones, but it did certainly highlight the young mare's figure, in a tasteful fashion, and the combinations of purples and blues managed to do a good job of it, along with the occasional bit of cream. Shining Sapphire would later note that it looked a lot like her mother's hair-colour, which Rarity claimed was an utter coincidence. Her hair had been delicately styled into a rather impressive bun, instead of hanging loose as it usually did.
Then Rarity noticed Whisper Wind, and grabbed him. "No going unclothed for you!"

*****

Ten minutes later, after finding a suitable tuxedo (and matching bowtie) for the young stallion, he walked the young mare up to the castle where the party (Or gala, or dance, or whatever) was going to occur, both hoping they'd learn what it was once they got there.
"So, what's your plan for once we get there?" he asked. She looked at him.

"Well... if you don't want to be with me, all I suppose I can ask for is just one dance?"
"You did invite me." He pointed out, "And I am your guest. But what if some other pony wishes to dance with you?"

She said nothing, only smiling. The fact that she was clearly feeling hopeful occured to Wisp as he looked at her.

*****

Part of the benefit of being a changeling is being able to tell what somepony is feeling, if only in the most basic sense. Part of being the daughter of a pony whose special talent was nuturing and spreading love was that Shining Sapphire was capable of knowing if somepony felt love, though she wasn't actually aware of that particular power of hers yet, believing she'd merely acquired a modified version of her father's spell-casting.

*****

The two entered the main hallway, to see that it was in fact a ball, although they couldn't tell for what. It was apparently just the sort of ball the nobility of Canterlot had sometimes. Shining Sapphire watched as her parents walked over to where Princess Celestia was standing, apart from the party-goers. Briefly she wondered if there was some scheme going on, or whether Discord was playing some game with her head. She would probably have dismissed those thoughts anyway (Discord wasn't the sort of being who went around throwing teens in awkward situations), had it not been for the doorpony.
"HER HIGHNESS PRINCESS SHINING SAPPHIRE OF THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE, AND GUEST!"

She looked at the pony. "His name is Whisper Wind" she informed him, taking a strange joy from seeing the cobalt-blue pony looking shocked. She shook her head for good measure.
"You don't need to make a fuss over me. I'm quite fine with being just 'guest'" The gold-brown stallion said. She looked at him.

"So what do you want to do now?" she asked. He looked about.
"I don't know, I've never been to a ball before. Is it anything like a shindig?" He asked, nervously.

"I honestly wouldn't know."
Both of them glanced around the room, wings occasionally ruffling.

"Shall we just split up for a while?" She suggested, though for some reason that didn't sound like a good idea to her.

*****

Princess Celestia looked at the bright pink young mare talking nervously with the golden-brown pegasus, or at least the stallion who looked like a golden-brown pegasus.
"Isn't that Fluttershy's son?" she asked. Cadance looked over toward the two ponies.

"Yes. Apparently my daughter has been exchanging letters with him for some years now."
Celestia just nodded, taking another sip from her glass of red wine.

"Interesting. They seem quite nervous for such firm friends."
Cadance tilted her head. "It is quite curious, auntie."

"Have you heard from Twilight Sparkle lately?"
Cadance looked at the elder alicorn. "No. But I have heard... unnerving things from her parents. Apparently she and Twilight Twinkle have been arguing."

"Yes" Celestia said solemnly. She looked impassive on the outside, but Cadance could tell, even without her knowledge of all forms of love, that her aunt still, even after all the years since Cadance had foalsat the eager little filly, saw Twilight Sparkle as a surrogate daughter, and the arguments the two were having were breaking her heart.
"Do you think they will mend the damage?" Cadance asked. Celestia took a larger drink from her glass.

"In time, perhaps. I do not know. I have not met Twilight Twinkle, but..." She looked uncertain. "Twilight Sparkle is a grown mare." She said eventually, and went silent on the matter. Cadance looked to her husband, who was still slowly eating a small salad. She had been told he wasn't allowed large amounts of cheese by the kitchen staff, and knew there had been frequent occasions where he'd raided the massive pantries of the castle at night sometimes. He saw her looking at him, and smiled warmly. She smiled back.

"Love you" he said, before going back to his salad.

*****

Wisp stared at the odd collection of tiny snacks in front of him. He knew a few things about fancy parties, but he didn't know about food. He leaned in and picked up one object in his mouth. He didn't like eating out for that reason. Eating with his mouth, instead of using his magic. But if there was anywhere he didn't want to be outed as a Changeling, and a Changeling Prince at that, then it certainly wasn't anywhere near three ponies who had the most reason to hate him, if not the Canterlot elite, whom he heard could hold a grudge for millenia. He also wondered if he was eating the right things, or whether regular ponies tasted what he was sampling differently, and whether that would be a giveaway to his true nature.
'If pressed, I'll just say I'm from the countryside' And then he eat the tiny snack, spitting out the toothpick when he was done.

He decided to stick to sandwiches for the rest of the evening.

*****

After twenty minutes, Shining Sapphire appeared, as he was going through the fifteenth sandwich, not because he was ravenously hungry, more because the things were so tiny.
"Wisp" she said. He looked up. She was holding a forehoof up.

"Can you dance with me?" He almost choked on his sandwich.
"What?"

"There's this complete idiot who keeps looking at me, and I think he wants to dance with me, so please, can you help... ward him off?"
He looked at her and smiled. "What's wrong with just saying no?"

"Ah. Well, that would be 'unladylike'."
"Then isn't what you're do-" she shook her head.

"No. This is the Proper way to do it. First I shall make him jealous. Then I will break his heart."
Whisper Wind considered the logic, not to mention the implications, of her statement, then thought back to his mother's advice. He raised no objection as he led the pink mare to the dance floor. As he did he noticed her Cutie Mark, and realised he hadn't really noticed it before. It was a heart, like her mother's, but on a shield like her father's, and the heart was pink instead of blue. Deciding to keep his theories about the differing colours for later, he led her onto the dance floor.

"Do you know how to dance?" he whispered, noticing a lot of ponies were staring at them. She smiled back, which really brought out her eyes to Whisper.
"I'm a Princess. Even if I didn't, I'm fairly certain it'd be second nature."

*****

They didn't dance with any specific rythm in mind, and there were several times when Shining Sapphire led the dancing instead of him. There was something she found strangely attractive about his fumbling attempts to dance. In fairness, he wasn't bad, just inexperienced. After a few aborted attempts he seemed to get better, and they began dancing, began really dancing, the sort of way ponies did just before breaking out into song, when instinct and adrenaline took over, and the mind went to somewhere warm and fuzzy and didn't leave till the drinks bill came. Some ponies even applauded as they walked off the dance floor.

*****

"Did you see that?" Shining Armor said.
"Yes. Mouth closed, dear." Cadance smiled. Shining Armor couldn't help but notice something alarming about his wife's smile. It still looked as unimaginably lovely as it had when he'd first met her, but there was a subtle difference in it that looked really like the one Princess Celestia had on her face at the moment. He felt incredibly concerned at that moment.

*****

"Wow" The two teenagers both said, before glancing nervously at anywhere but their dance partner. They had both felt incredibly warm, and gone outside into a topiary garden to 'cool down'. The problem was they hadn't consulted each other on their plan.
"That was..." Whisper Wind started.

"Yes" Shining Sapphire said quickly.
"One dance" He said numbly.

"Yes."
"One dance" he repeated. She turned to look at him, and it felt both incredibly painful, and yet so right to her.

"You were... good." She said, before looking over at an interesting piece of topiary that looked like a shrubbery.
"You were-" he coughed slightly, his wings shuffling. "You were beautiful. AMAZING, I mean. Amazing. Yes. I mean you are beautiful, but-" He suddenly went straight through red and out the other side. Then he took off flying. Shining Sapphire just sat there for a minute, the word replaying in her mind.

'Beautiful'. She smiled, and suddenly the entire garden seemed to grow lighter.
"He said I'm beautiful" she said to the pony walking up behind her. Princess Luna raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so?"

*****

Due to the extensive distance between Canterlot and the Crystal Empire, Cadance and Shining Armor decided to stay at Canterlot Castle, even being given Cadance's old room, which had undergone only minor modifications in the years since she was a teenager, in that the bed was now a King-sized bed, which Shining Armor wryly observed as they entered, right after noting the abscence of almost anything bright pink. Shining Sapphire had been given a totally non-descript room with a lovely view of the city, and the moon hanging in the sky.

Sleep did not come easy to the mare, and she lay on the incredibly soft bed feeling like it was too warm to be reasonably comfortable, despite the window being open and the room not actually very warm. She rolled and tossed, and turned and even tried going for a walk around the castle, only to find her legs were shaking a lot. She tried every other trick she knew of, even counting sheep, but that just made her think of the lambs back home, and the numerous farmers there.
She frowned in the darkness, waiting to see if she would fall asleep. As she did an odd tune she didn't recognise came into her mind. In an attempt to ignore it, or drive it out of her mind altogether she got out of the bed, and she started walking about the room, and as she did, she realised she was thinking about only one thing, and one pony. A smile broke across her face, then she began giggling. Then she began laughing.

*****

Elsewhere in the palace, Cadance smiled to herself. Shining Armor had been woken from his sleep by the faint sound of singing, and he wasn't the only one.
"And why are we smiling, Mi Amore Cadenza?" He asked. She looked at him and smiled innocently.

"I don't know what you mean, Shining Armor" she said, in the quiet and dark.
"I've seen that smile on you before. What did you do?"

"I... might have given two certain ponies a gentle nudge towards happiness."
"Isn't that what your aunt did with us?" he said, trying to raise an eyebrow as it did.

"Love conquers all" Cadance smiled, as she turned over again and tried to get to sleep, leaving Shining Armor awake, still able to hear the distant noise. He glanced over toward the nearest clock.
"It's after three now," he noted, "she ought to be in bed."

"Let her be" Cadance muttered.

*****

Shining Sapphire couldn't help herself. She bounced and danced across the room, not caring if anypony heard her at that point. She couldn't find herself caring about anything at that point. All she could think about was Wisp.
"He loves me!" she declared, bouncing onto the bed.

"He loves me!" she added, trying to determine how it sounded.
"He loves me!" she squeaked, still bouncing.

"He! Loves! Me!"
And at that final yell, she fell back onto the bed, falling asleep before she hit the matress, a warm smile on her face.

*****

The next morning, the atmosphere at the breakfast table of Canterlot Castle was strange indeed. Shining Sapphire was skipping, and humming, and 'good morning' everypony she met. It was the tell-tale sign of only one thing. She merrily ate her way through breakfast, and bounced out of the hall, leaving Celestia, in a rare moment not seen in years, dumbfounded.

*****

Whisper Wind, meanwhile, had gone home, and quietly gone to bed without any fuss. Or tried to. He spent half the night trying to figure out what he was feeling. He felt a pang of... alarm, and joy at the same time when he realised what he was feeling, and also a great amount of fear, though he couldn't understand why. He felt like his stomach was filled, ready to burst.

*****

The citizens of Ponyville first heard a noise, a strange high-pitched noise, followed by an unusual wind, then bent and swayed trees. They wondered if something was about to attack their city, until they saw the large pink and blue blurr pass overhead, the noise apparently emanating from it.

*****

Whisper Wind had gotten up, cleaned his face, brushed his teeth, and gotten ready for a completely normal and ordinary day. His mother kept glancing at him with what looked like worry, or at the very least concern. Then there was a knocking on the door. He opened it to find Shining Sapphire standing there, trying to look calm and failing miserably.
"Wisp!" She broke into a smiled and embraced him. "I need to talk to you." He was aware of the sound of a newspaper folding, followed by the sound of his mother gently fleeing the house.

"I want to talk about last night" Shining Sapphire said. He stared at her, trying to remain dispassionate, and failing miserably.
"I gu-"

"I love you!" she said. It was strangely anti-climactic to hear that, but she sounded like she meant it. He looked at his hoofs.
"I can't" He said. She stared blankly at him. "I can't, it's just... there's something you need to know about me." He steeled himself, telling himself he could survive whatever happened next.

"I'm a Changeling" he stated. He wasn't really expecting a replay of what happened when he told Twilight Twinkle who he was, and he felt he didn't deserve so lucky a break.
"Really?" She stared at him, clearly taken aback. "Can I see what... Changeling You looks like?"

He blinked at her. He had honestly, in spite of everything he knew about Shining Sapphire, been expecting screaming, or violence, or his head shoved on a spike and displayed to Cadance and Shining Armor. He wasn't entirely sure why, but he was willing to blame Mrs Pie for her oddly timed ramblings when he'd been thinking about his feelings for Shining Sapphire before.
He let his horn appear first, then he let the golden-brown melt away, revealing the charcoal grey underneath. He gave a slight stretch in the sun. Shining Sapphire's jaw hung open.

"Hello, again" she smiled.
"You aren't... mad? I've lied to you all this time, and you fell in love with a disguise." She stared at him.

"I fell in love with you. You, Whisper Wind, so no 'Oh, we cannot be together' nonsense. No whining about 'not deserving' a mare like me, I won't have any of that." She said, leaning in towards him. "I love you."
He looked at the mare, and the love he could see practically ready to explode in her. He opened his mouth, only for her to shush her.

"Remember who my mom is? I know already. That's why I didn't ask, you'll notice" she said, leaning in closer.
Needless to say, they kissed. Neither would admit it, but they almost expected Cadance to suddenly fly out of a nearby bush cackling madly as she went, possibly remarking something like 'works every time'.

*****

Because of certain issues in their lives, Wisp could only visit during the holidays, apparently his mother was in an overly-protective mood at the time, and Shining Sapphire could not spend all her time down in Ponyville, even if her parents knew of, and implicity approved, their relationship, so the mare returned to her home, promising to write.

Then she saw Twilight Twinkle again. Shining Sapphire had heard rumours, stories, all manner of things, about how the mare had some sort of mental breakdown after a rampage by Discord she mercifully seemed to have missed. Whisper Wind explained to her what the reason was. She believed her father had been 'erased' by the Draconequus. And as a result of this, the mood between the two Twilights had turned outright frozen, with the two barely speaking to each other. She hadn't believed what Wisp (as she'd started calling him) had said about her cousin, but then she came to visit for the summer, and she suddenly did.

Gone was the sweet, cheerful filly who had wanted to explore the world, and who always seemed happy to meet anypony. Gone was the slightly older filly who wouldn't have minded some wings, and perhaps some time spent with her mother, rather than her immediate family. In her place was a mare who seemed... disinterested. When she'd greeted her cousin on the platform just outside the city, it had felt like Twilight Twinkle was going through the motions, and the minute she let slip her concerns about the mare's behaviour, she became increasingly sullen. Shining Sapphire was surprised her coat hadn't gone all monochrome from the way she was acting. She tried to talk to the mare about her current activities, but she didn't make much progress.

"So, how are things? How's Aunt Sparkle?" She asked cautiously, using the cutesy-sounding nickname she'd once given the purple alicorn.
"Don't know. Haven't seen her in months."

"Doesn't she write to you, at university?"
"Probably."

Shining Sapphire looked over to her mother and father, who looked worried, but said nothing. The serving staff at the dinner table looked like they were being forced to overhear things they shouldn't have, and Shining Sapphire didn't blame them.
"Are you enjoying your meal?" Cadance asked.

"Yeah, it's good." She said, smiling just enough as she did, before going back to scowling. After a few minutes of silence she asked if she was excused from the dinner table, and left. Shining Sapphire wanted to talk to her, wanted to say something, something like reminding Twilight Twinkle her mother still cared, but she didn't know whether the mare would take offense or not. After a few weeks, the time came for Twilight Twinkle to leave, despite her not having done much.

"This went by too quickly." Shining Sapphire said.
"Doesn't it always?" Twinkle said, smiling what almost looked like genuine happiness. "Stay safe."

Shining Sapphire smiled back. "You too."
The royal blue mare turned to leave, and Shining Sapphire couldn't stop herself.

"Twinkie?" The mare turned to look at her.
"You know if you've got any problems, you can just tell us. We're your family" she said. There was something in the mare's eyes as she looked at her cousin.

"Got it" she muttered.
"Your mother loves you." The young princess heard her mother say. "You will remember it, before the end."

*****

For the next few months Sapphire and Wisp exchanged letters wondering about intervening in the affairs of the senior and junior Twilights, until one day Wisp sent a curiously frantic letter explaining something dire. Apparently her cousin had a crush on him. She sent a letter back explaining she didn't know how he expected her to react, and that it was for him to handle. For the next few letters, she noticed they got increasingly strange and fragmented, and shorter. Eventually Wisp came for a visit, but he looked incredibly weary.
"I've not been sleeping well" he said quietly. She tried to carry him, but he calmly explained he was capable of walking. And then they got to talking.

"Is it about... her?"
"You mean my birth mother?"

"Yes" she said, trying not to let her anger about the Changeling Queen stand out. It wasn't because of what that being had done to her father, but more that she was apparently trying to use her own son as a pawn in some game, even after giving him up.
"Have you considered living here?" she asked. He looked about nervously.

"Here? In the Crystal Empire? With the mare and stallion who have the most reason of anypony in Equestria to object?"
"Bearing in mind," she smiled, "I think it's safe to say my mom had some part in us getting together. And if there's one thing my mom is okay with, it's love." She paused as they walked through one of the many corridors of the castle.

"If you really want to be afraid of them, you could propose to me." He stared wide-eyed at her.
"Just a suggestion" she sighed. He actually looked like he was considering it for a moment.

"But then my mother's minions would follow me here. It would put the Crystal Ponies at risk. I can't ask them to risk their lives for me."
"What risk? We've got the Crystal Heart. If it can zap... The Bringer of Despair, I think it can stop a few Changelings. Or gorge them silly." The two imagined an army of overfed Changelings, lying around in the sun asking for indigestion tablets, and laughed.

"Maybe... maybe when I get home I'll ask my mother. As long your parents don't decide to lock you up for dating an evil Changeling." She frowned at him.
"Your sense of humour needs work" she said calmly.

*****

She waited a few weeks after he was gone before approaching her mother. She decided it would be better to talk to her parents privately, rather than together, and to her mother first.
"Mom?" Her mother was sitting on a small sofa in one of the massive halls that had been dubbed the castle drawing room, even though there was nothing about the design of the room that had lead it to that. It just seemed like a good place to put sofas and carpets.

"Yes dear?" She smiled. Sapphire scuffed her hoof against the floor. Her mother had suggested she wore shoes, but she'd not really felt up to shoe-wearing at her age.
"Would it be alright if... if Wisp came to stay with us?" She looked at her mother, who smiled slightly.

"Of course."
"For more than a few weeks?"

Cadance paused. "Yes." She said eventually, though there was an edge of alarm in there.
"A lot more."

Cadance looked at her daughter, with eyes that seemed to say 'Don't try and outsmart me, I'm your mother. I can see through your soul'. She got off the sofa and walked over to Shining Sapphire.
"Really?" She asked. The mare nodded, and her mother smiled.

"That's completely alright. Why did you feel the need t-" She frowned and looked at Shining Sapphire, apparently having constructed a reason why.
"What's the secret?"

"Promise me you won't get mad, or angry, or tell dad?"
"You do realise that I will now probably do at least one of those things?" She said. Shining Sapphire couldn't remember when she last saw her mother angry, or ever. She felt incredibly small all of a sudden.

"Wisp's mother isn't Fluttershy. She... well, you've met her. Before you married dad."
For a few seconds her mother gave this some thought. Then her eyes went wide.

"It's alright, he's not evil! He doesn't even like her!" Shining Sapphire said quickly, "And he doesn't need to force-feed or anything. He said they just absorb emotions like... the way flowers absorb sunlight. And he's really kind and sweet, and you know that because you've met him, and you did help put us together and I think right now you already knew all of this."
Her mother paused, staring at her daughter.

"I knew most of it. I knew he was a changeling, but I didn't know he was... her son. But..." She put a hoof to her chin. "It's your choice. You are both grown ponies, and... I can't blame a child for the actions of a parent."
Then something occured to her. "What of the other Changelings?"

"He thinks he can probably convince them to change their ways, or that the Crystal Heart will overfeed them. He's not sure on that. But... I do love him, and I want to be with him for as long as possible." She said, well aware of what that statement meant. Her mother looked out of the window, seeing the wide rolling blues and greens of the city and the hills beyond. For a few moments she was silent.
"I'll have to think of a way to break this to your father." She said. "Or should we save that until the wedding?" Shining Sapphire blushed.

"Or until after his first grandchild is born?"
"MOM!" Shining Sapphire said, at her mother's grin. "Not funny!"

"Can you really blame me, though?" She said, as she walked over to her daughter.
"Yeah. I can. You've been hanging around Aunt Celly for too long."

"No, I just remember what it was like being your age." She smiled, as mother and daughter hugged.

*****

Later, Shining Sapphire and her mother sent a letter to Wisp explaining he was allowed to stay with them. They recieved no reply back. Shining Sapphire's mood grew more and more pensive as the days, weeks and months went on. Then, one day she woke up to find her mother and father weren't present. She found a note left by her bedside, explaining that there had been reports of a Cold Drake being discovered moving about one of the ruined cities that had been uncovered out in the tundra, and Cadance had been forced to ask him (Literally ask him) to move away from the ruins. This left the not-so-young twenty year old waiting around the castle for the next few days looking for something to do, for somepony, anypony to talk to. For some reason, she felt a strange feeling in the air, as if something was waiting to happen, a tension that sucked the enjoyment out of everything, even re-reading all her notes from Wisp, or looking at pictures of herself and Twilight Twinkle when they were young, or dancing badly to her favourite music. She even found herself sitting on the throne, randomly tapping it with a hoof, with nopony even asking she not sit on it. Then she heard the distant fanfare of flugelhorns being played almost half-well.

"Presenting her highness" Shining Sapphire wasn't sure how the greeter managed to make the lack of capitals obvious in that statement, "Twilight Twinkle." Shining Sapphire leapt up from the throne with joy at that, eager to see her cousin. As it turned out, the mare wasn't there yet, merely approaching. And then she noticed something as she saw the now-eighteen year old mare approach, there was a thing, a feeling, a thought on the tip of her tounge that she recognised.
"Something's wrong..." She said. She quickly began to ran down the steps toward her cousin.

She was twenty years old. Only twenty.

Author's Note

Had serious writer's block writing this one. So if this chapter feels really disjointed, you'll know why.
When I first started thinking up this story, there was no Shining Sapphire. She just sort of appeared at about chapter four. I reasoned that perhaps Twilight Twinkle had more reasons for running away from home than some arguments with her mother, and an awkward situation with a Changeling, and so she sort of filled this strange void.
One more flashback left. Hopefully it won't be anywhere near as long as this one, but there were a few things that needed including.

Flashback the Ninth: How It All Began

It was a lovely day toward the end of spring. The sun hung in the sky, warm and open and inviting, and many ponies were spending the day relaxing, or not taking their work quite so seriously.

In Canterlot, in the castle of their royal majesties, Princesses Celestia and Luna, in one of the smaller gardens that the average castle just sort of acquires over the centuries, two mares were having a long-due reunion.

Or they had been. Princess Twilight Sparkle hadn't been saying much, leaving Celestia to do most of the speaking for both of them. After several minutes of hoping her former student would explain herself, she finally set down the cup of tea she'd been drinking.

"What is it, Twilight?" The mare just looked at her, and smiled faintly.

"Nothing, Princess- Celestia." She corrected herself, years of habit still going strong.

Celestia frowned. She had been hearing rumours, the same as everypony else, about incidents between Twilight Sparkle and Twilight Twinkle. She also knew Twilight Sparkle, and even though it had been years since they were teacher and student, the mare still found it difficult to keep secrets from her.

"It's just... I'm thinking about my daughter."

Celestia said nothing, waiting for Twilight to continue.

"I'm losing her." She said, and there was a horrifying tone in her voice, one of heartbreak and defeat. "Every step I make, every choice I follow seems to upset her further. Ever since what happened with Discord, and everything that followed... I can't seem to do anything right by her. I try to do something nice for her and... she just hates me for it. I try to give her space, and room to grow and she refuses to talk to me and-and-"

She stopped. Celestia could see clearly that Twilight was trying her hardest not to cry.

"I can't do it. I couldn't even raise my daughter properly. I tried and I couldn't, and she just hates me." Celestia just stood up, walked around the table and sat next to her former pupil.

After a while of just sitting there, she finally spoke.

"Twilight?" There was a sniff, and the little alicorn looked up at her.

"Who am I?"

Twilight Sparkle blinked, and for a moment she looked exactly as she had when she was little, and her mind raced a million miles a minute trying to solve a logical problem.

"Is this a test?" she asked quietly. Now it was exactly like when she was little. Celestia just smiled.

"I am Princess Celestia, I am the guiding light of the entirety of Equestria, I raise the sun in the morning and lower it in the evening. I have guided my little ponies since so long ago." She looked at Twilight Sparkle, and her smiled changed.

"I have seen so much, been so much. I have been a guard, a cook, a doctor, an athlete, an awful painter" There was a little giggle from her lips as she remember that incident. "I once got so bored of raising the sun and moon I once disappeared to a tiny little hamlet, and met a lovely young stallion. We even married, and eventually adopted several foals, and I loved each and every one of them, and I wept when they passed."

She looked up at the sky, the clouds lazily floating about in the sky, listening for the occasional call of a phoenix soaring through the air as Philomena searched for food.

"I've watched entire cities vanish from existance, seen works of art so beautiful that life seemed pale and colourless next to them. I have been the idol and the fancy of millions, I have broken more hearts than I could ever imagine, I have watched mad gods weep. I stood alone for a thousand years hating myself for not noticing what my sister went through. I have... I have heard the most moving songs sung in languages so old no-one remembers they ever existed, I have seen the beauty of creation and I have seen the horrors of destruction and death. I have fought gods, and monsters and the darkest nightmares of the soul." She didn't realise it, but she was beginning to shout halfway through her rant, and most noticably, there was a single tear moving down her cheek. She looked down at the awestruck (and mildly terrified) pony staring up at her.

"And... I have been your guide, your teacher, your mother, your guardian, and your student. I have watched you stumble, and fall, and make mistakes, I have watched you perform miracles I could not have hoped for in my wildest dreams." She knelt next to her former student, and smiled the warmest possible smile of all smiles she could muster.

"So believe me, even just for five minutes, when I say this in all confidence: You still have a chance to make things right with her. She will forgive you. All you have to do is try once more."

And at that she stood up. Twilight Sparkle blinked, and shook her head.

"But I... what about the Changelings? Who will deal with them?"

Celestia just stared at her.

"Your daughter comes first. The rest of us can handle a few Changelings"

Twilight Sparkle shuffled slightly.
"I don't know where she is. I don't know where to look."

"Just take some time, Twilight Sparkle. Give it some thought, and you'll figure it out" She suddenly stopped smiling. "Oh, but I've gone on for so long, I'm afraid I do have things I must attend to."

Twilight Sparkle didn't see her disappear. One minute she was there, the next she was not. She sat, not drinking the tea that had now gone cold, and just thought. She thought about everything her daughter and her had been arguing about, about this father she claimed did not exist. It didn't seem logical to her. She was certain she knew how her daughter had been born, but... on the other hoof, she wasn't so sure she was anymore. Twinkle had been so insistant, and perhaps... perhaps..

She began thinking of a way to organise a vacation schedule, and decided to return to Ponyville.

After attending to some affairs in the city, of course.

*****

Twilight Twinkle, aged eighteen
The Crystal City, heart of the once mighty Crystal Empire, was always impressive, regardless of the time of year. The sprawling streets filled with amicable ponies of the most varied colours, even by Equestria's already impressive standards, the lovely scents and smells of market-places, the glimmer of everything in the sunlight, the way the Crystal Palace seemed like a mountain (If a lonely mountain) stretching on into the heavens, the occasional noise of little sheep bleating in the distance (No birds resided in the Crystal City, for some reason). Some who visited it said the city was like paradise, which in all fairness wasn't a stretch of the imagination.

But today, there was an odd tension in the air. As if reality itself had taken a drawn breath. Some put it down to an irrational fear that while Princess Cadance and her husband were gone, some terrible disaster would fall upon the city. These claims had been dismissed as nonsense.

Currenly the only royalty in the city was Princess Shining Sapphire, the Lesser Princess, though the title was not given in any sort of derision, or scorn. She was by all accounts quite lovely and personable, if incredibly shy and awkward, which had explained why she'd spent most of her life indoors.

Right now Shining Sapphire was rushing down the steps of the Crystal Palace. Most castle architects would probably have complained about these steps, of which there were only a few. At least one pundit had speculated all the steps had been placed elsewhere in the castle, which led to some amusement at the discovery of the Endless Stairwell leading all the way up to the peak of the castle.

Shining Sapphire was rushing toward her cousin, Twilight Twinkle, though not entirely out of joy. There was a noticable aura of concern about her as she swept past the guards standing on duty. As she got closer, this concern became more valid, at the haggard look of her cousin, whose normal royal blue fur looked slightly off. And she was staring at Shining Sapphire in an odd (and the guards would have noted, disturbing) fashion.

"Twinkie!" The twenty year old mare beamed, "It's so good to see you again."

"Hello." the mare said, her voice devoid of emotion. She looked at the castle, as if sizing it up.

"You have no idea what it's been like here for the last few days, I mean first there's the fact that mom and dad are elsewher-"

"Where, elsewhere?" her cousin asked. Shining Sapphire stared for a moment.

"Elsewhere. Dealing with an ice dragon or something. I didn't even know they could breath ice. It's not in any book, but then we ponies do keep away f-"

"Wisp's dead." The mare said. For a few seconds there was a horrible silence.

"W-... what?" Shining Sapphire felt suddenly confused and frightened. For some reason every part of her was screaming at her to run. And now her cousin was saying her boyfriend (or was he more than that, considering how close they were? She honestly wasn't sure)

"Whisper Wind is dead." The mare repeated. Shining Sapphire looked at the mare, and realised something. Twilight Twinkle wasn't staring at her, she was glaring at her.

"And it's your fault!" Twilight Twinkle's horn glowed, and there was a blast of horrific red energy, which knocked the two guards out. Shining Sapphire was not granted such a luxury.

The pink and blue mare soared through the door, the blast having been strong enough to throw her straight into the massive crystal throne. She slammed into it, and was granted a horrific stabbing pain that felt a lot like one of her wings breaking.

"YOUR FAULT!" Came a wild scream. Shining Sapphire was not a fighter. She was not a caster. She was no great warrior, with no experience dealing with horrible monsters. So, faced with an enraged pony screaming at her, she decided to flee.

*****

No, stop, stop this!

Twilight Twinkle'd body smiled, as it looked about the throne room, ignoring the screaming little voice in its head. Shining Sapphire appeared to have fled.

Why are you doing this?!

The voice was that of Twilight Twinkle. Her body shook its head.

'Oh, Twilight Twinkle. I was certain I explained this to you. You have only yourself to blame for what happens next. After all, you let us in, you opened the door to us. I am you. I am every whispered thought, every muted opinion, every buried iota of rage. I am your Nightmare.'

You're a freaking drama queen possessing my body.

'I can't help having inherited your... attributes. And I didn't 'possess' you, you let me in. It's how it works. I can't just take your body. You have to let us in.'

...That's a crappy explanation.

'I'm the personification of all your negative thoughts and opinions, using you as a host to create terror, because my fellow nightmares shall grow stronger from it. And also, because we can. But we can't just walk in and take you, we had to get you to come around to our way of thinking. We've been working at you for a while.'

So you're the reason my mother and I have been arguing so much!

'No. That was all you. But it really helped us get a foothold'

... Why go for me, then? What's so great about me?

'You really don't have a clue, do you? Are you certain you're Twilight Sparkle's daughter? You're the most powerful unicorn alive. It's almost a shame really that I have to do this. We could be wonderful together. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to get back to trying to kill your cousin.'

Don't you dare! Don't you dare!

The mare walked about the throne room, scanning it impassively.

"Shining Sapphire." She called out, "Oh, Shining Sapphire, come out come out wh-"

A bright pink burst of energy struck her in the back. She hissed, and looked about the room, but could see no signs of the mare.

"Pretending to be my cousin? Bad move"

The Nightmare-in-pony-form scoffed. "Please, Sapphy. You've never fought in your life. You've never had to struggle for anything, getting it handed to you on a silver plate. How do you think you can fight me?"

There was a slight pause, followed by several bright pink bolts appearing from nowhere and slamming into the mare, who hissed and spat at each one.

"Have you got a name, by the way? And don't-" There was another bolt of energy, "-claim to be my cousin again, because we both know that's not the case."

"Alright, my name... my name..." The mare paused, "How about 'Nightmare Eclipse'?"

Wow. That name sucks!

"Really? You don't look like a Nightmare." Shining Sapphire called out, and this time a large pink net descended on the mare.

"Give me a moment." The newly re-named entity smiled, as the bright pink energy construct sank on top of her. There was a bright flash as magic met with magic, and standing in the place of Twilight Twinkle was a taller, thinner mare, her royal blue fur now barely distinguishable from the black of night. Her mane and tail were now larger, thicker, and wilder. The normal orange stripes in her hair were now darker, more bronze than orange. Her horn was taller, and sharper, her ears more pronounced. Then she opened her eye, which now glowed in an unearthly orange fashion, to say nothing of how they looked more like those of a dragon. Her Cutie Mark had changed as well, now a bright red sun was blazing across a charred moon.

"Seriously? That's what you look like?" Shining Sapphire's voice echoed, followed by the sound of her laughing.

"Shut up!" The mare roared, her voice sounding a like an older, more husky, perhaps at a stetch more seductive version of Twilight Twinkle. "Shut up, you thief! You stole Wisp from me! You stole him and you don't deserve him!"

"And you do, then? Or, Twilight Twinkle, since you insist on being her?"

"YES! He is MINE!" She roared, blasting magic in every direction. There was a pained gasp, and Shining Sapphire ran from the room, a noticable burn along her flank making her begin to limp.

"I deserve him! I deserve wings! I deserve praise, instead of scorn and being ignored! What have you ever done to deserve them?!"

Wow. Such a moving performance. Way to repeat every whiny thought I've ever had.

'Oh shut up' Nightmare fumed, 'You don't have a say in this anymore. In fact, just for that, I think I'm going to kill that stupid fat dragon you call a brother once we're done here.'

The mare stalked the corridors, following the echoing hoofsteps of Shining Sapphire.

"Stop running, Sapphy. Don't try and fight this. Trust me, you're just a filly. You can't win. Don't make this into a scene."

'Trust me'?

"Seriously?" The mare's voice echoed, a brief hint of mirth following it. "Twilight Twinkle never asks anypony to trust her. She doesn't need to. She already knows we do, even if it doesn't seem like it. Because we're her family, and we'll always be there for her. Even in the darkest night."

Nightmare Eclipse scoffed.
"What a load of manure. Where were you when Twilight Sparkle said she had no daughter? Where were you when she refused to believe her daughter had a father? Where were you when your cousin needed you most? Making out with that Changeling filth?!"

There was another pause, as the two wound up inside what looked a ballroom.

"I know what you're trying to do." Shining Sapphire said, "You're trying to make me angry. And you've succeeded."
There was a flutter of wings and the mare appeared in front of Nightmare Eclipse, her horn glowing brightly, even as the pony beneath it strained. There was an almighty flash of magic. When it cleared a royal blue mare was lying some distance away from her, faint trails of darkness emenating from her.

"Twinkie?" Shining Sapphire asked, hopefully. She gingerly walked over to the mare.

"Sapphy?" Her cousin whimpered. The princess smiled. And then, the illusion of Twinkle faded out. Sapphire's smile followed.

"Surp-ise!" Nightmare Eclipse laughed, blasting the mare backward with a lance of strange orange energy. The blast threw the mare straight through the wall, and out into the streets of the city. Nightmare Eclipse stood up, and stretched as the illusion melted away.

"Can't believe she fell for that."

Stop this! Stop this NOW! Whatever you want just leave! You've had your fun! Stop trying to kill her!

Nightmare Eclipse smiled. "But where's the fun in going back to the cold, and the dark? Especially when you're such a juicy supply of buried emotions. All that buried anger, and misery, and misplaced entitlement. And all that effort you're throwing into fighting my influence right now? Thanks for the snack!"

She began to walk, slowly of course, or otherwise there was no point being evil, toward where she'd blasted the pink alicorn. A thought occured to the creature, as to how Shining Sapphire could take so much punishment.

Because she's a Twilight. Even if not in name, by blood. And we're fighters.

*****

Shining Sapphire struggled to get to her hooves. Her head was swimming, and she was fairly certain she had a concussion. Actually, given the series of pains in her entire body, a concussion was the least of her worries. One of her wings wasn't working properly, and she was fairly certain one of her legs had gone the same way.
She tried to focus through the pain, and the horror, and the fear. It wasn't working. Her thoughts were racing. Wisp was dead, Twilight Twinkle, her cousin, her sister in-all-but-name was mad or possessed or goodness knew what and trying to kill her, and she didn't even have the time to proccess either of those thoughts. She felt tears on her cheeks, and ignored them.

She saw the twisted mockery of her cousin approaching, smiling a cruel smile. The mare's horn glowed, and she tried to summon a shield spell. The blast of magic ripped through it like it wasn't there, hurling the mare through the wall of the small warehouse they were in. Or was it a barracks? She wasn't sure.

"Goodness, cousin, you are a glutton for punishment. Most ponies would probably be dead by now. But I suppose you've got your mom's stubbornness. Why can't you just lay down and die? Can't you just do that for me?"

Another blast of love was her response, straight into the mare's face, to which the creature hissed and spat.

"Right. That is it. Time to die" She growled. Her horn glowed a savage colour, getting brighter, and brighter.

Then the mare was tackled by several muscular ponies.

*****

The Crystal Ponies may not have been aware of everything that had occured when their city had been displaced by a thousand years, and as a result some of the older ones seemed a bit 'spacey' compared to the next average Equestrian, but they weren't stupid. They blamed themselves for what Sombra had managed to get away with, and each one had privately vowed that if they got the chance they would not let another ramping madpony hurt them again. So naturally, when they saw one raving mare throwing their beloved Lesser Princess around with glee, they quickly tackled her to the floor.

"RELEASE ME, YOU IDIOTS! SHE DESERVES THIS!" The mare roared, throwing several of them in every direction, save the ones who'd already been thrown back by her screaming.

Shining Sapphire watched this, and an extremely welcome idea came to mind. She summoned what little magic she could muster through the pain, and waited for the Nightmare to get to her hooves. As she did, she thought of Wisp, of his smile, of dancing with him, of the feel of him, of how being around him had been. She thought of her cousin, of pranking Princess Luna, of talking about absolutely nothing important, of talking about Canterlot, and her dream to be an explorer.

Nightmare Eclipse returned to her hooves, just as an incredibly strong blast of magic hit her in the face. She screamed as it did.

"I HATE YOU! IHATEYOUIHATEYOUIHATEYOU!" She waited for her eyes to clear, before seeing the slowly retreating form of the mare, heading back toward the palace. An awful grin crossed her face. Shining Sapphire was limping, and wouldn't be able to get far, not without her wings.

Shining Sapphire stopped in front of the massive heart shaped gem, the aptly-named Crystal Heart, a beacon for the love and hope and joy of the entire Crystal Empire, rediscovered by her aunt Twilight Sparkle, and by Spike, who she supposed was a form of cousin to her, since Twilight Sparkle had hatched his egg. She laid a hoof on it, and she could have sworn she felt her pain dim slightly, as something inside it responded to her touch.

'Please...' She thought, 'Lend me your strength. Just for this one moment. Just give the strength to save her.'
Nightmare Eclipse stopped a few hooves from her, and began to laugh again.

"Time's up, cousin. Are you ready?"

There was an odd hum from the Crystal Heart, which began to glow, and then Princess Shining Sapphire began to do so as well.

"Citizens of the Crystal Empire, lend me your stength!" She declared, "Lend me your love! Help me save my cousin."

"What are you doing?" Nightmare Eclipse roared. Shining Sapphire turned to face her, her hair, despite having turned into the immaculately styled fashions of a Crystal Pony, also looked etheral, not unlike the manes of Celestia and Luna.

"Really? You don't think a pony powered by love can't draw on the love of an entire nation?" She declared, "Sure, it's not the Elements of Harmony, but I think this will do in a pinch!"

Inside Nightmare Eclipse's mind, Twilight Twinkle was practically screaming for her cousin to fire. The dark-coated mare's horn glowed, and then...

There was a bright light, which seemed to wash over the panicked crowd like a wave, and if anypony had been listening, a scream.

*****

Twilight Twinkle opened her eyes, briefly pausing to note she still had them. She smiled briefly as she noted there were no voices whispering in her ears, no screams of fury. She saw where she was. Right next to a bright blue heart that hummed in a strange fashion, and just a few hooves away from her was a broken, crumpled form of pink and blue.

"Sapphy!" She cried, getting to her hooves and rushing over to the mare. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was shallow. Twilight Twinkle didn't pride herself on any medical knowledge, but she knew Shining Sapphire wasn't in a good shape.

"Sapphy, stay with me, come on, stay awake" There was a slight moan from the mare.

"Twinkie?" She muttered, "'s... that you?" A smile overtook her face.

"Where've you been? Was... worried 'bout you..." She coughed.

"Wielding power of... Crystal Heart. Tell me cousin, what'd you think? Been thinking about that one f'r years... didn't know if it'd work..." She tried to move.

"Everypony okay?" She asked, her voice quieter. Twinkle looked about. She wasn't entirely sure, but from what she'd seen nopony else had been attacked by her possessed self. She saw Shining Sapphire's eyes beginning to close.

"Hey, no, no. No sleep, Sapphy."

"'m really tired... never liked being called 'Sapphy'. 'cept by you an'..." She went quiet. She was still breathing, but she wasn't speaking.

*****

Twilight Twinkle didn't really process the next few minutes. She knew some ponies arrived, and lifted Shining Sapphire away, she knew she stayed with her, despite their attempts to discourage her, and she knew they arrived at the only hospital in the city quickly enough, she just didn't register it on any level. She sat in the main foyer, as various medical staff rushed about like Pinkie Pie on several gallons of coffee mixed with sugar. After a while, she had no idea how long, she was aware of snippets of conversation.

"-adly injured!"

"Severe burns"

"-nal bleeding"

"-ind the damn specialists?!"

"Where're her parents?!"

"Not expected to last the night"

That last one shook her out of her own thoughts, and she noticed as she did a pony was approaching her. He looked like a humourless sort, with a clipboard, a stern expression and a tie. She was also aware of a sensation in her back, moving along her spine towards her horn, one that she hadn't felt in years. She knew what it meant.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but I was wondering if I could ask you some questions?" The pony said, in a surprisingly gentle voice.
Shocked by the statement, a reaction brought on by reading all the wrong sorts of books, she looked up in terror. Before she could even begin thinking of what to say in her response, she felt the build-up of magic. There was a sudden flash of light, followed by a noise that sounded like 'bloink', and she was gone.

*****

Ponyville. Midday. As far as later spring noons went, this one was pretty average. True, there were no huge parties going on, mainly because Pinkie Pie was apparently taking it easy until her new foal was born, but the weather was fair and the winds were standing still. It was actually really relaxing, the sort of day spent in a loved one's embrace, or looking at clouds, just generally having a good time.

There was a brillaint build-up of light, followed by a loud 'bloink' noise, and a royal blue mare was deposited in the middle of the Ponyville town square. Then there was quiet again, save for the sound of an incredibly deep breath.

Twilight Twinkle lay there for a moment, not thinking about any one subject, her mind leaping from thought to thought to thought.

"'m sorry." She said quietly. Her front hoof moved back and forth, not really doing anything. She tried standing up and getting indoors, but her legs didn't seem to work. Actually, on consideration, nothing seemed to work. She just kept muttering that she was sorry for a few minutes.

After a while a shadow fell across her.

"Are you alright?" A mare's voice asked. That gave her a small motivation to look up. She saw a mare dressed mainly in white looking at her, her face framed by ginger hair and a puzzled, but disinterested, expression.

Twilight Twinkle gave this question far more thought than it really needed. After several minutes of debating, including whether to ask the mare to lock her up, she decided on a solution.

"I'll live." she responded, without any emotion. The ginger mare, who had a Cutie Mark of an hourglass nodded, content with this.

"Then I'll let you get on with living. I'm sure you know what you're doing." She said, calmly. "I've learnt not to meddle in the affairs of others years ago." she added, though it sounded like she was saying it to herself. She began to walk away.

"There isn't an ounce of curiosity in me." The ginger mare stated to the world.

Twilight Twinkle went back to hating herself. Until there was the sound of rapid hoofsteps, and the ginger mare returned with a smile on her face.

"Actually, sorry to bother you again, but do you need some help getting up?"

Twilight Twinkle considered this, giving her hoof an experimental twitch.

"Yes." she finally said. The mare helped her to her hoofs, and smiled, which flickered when Twinkle had trouble standing.

"Do you want me to help you get somewhere?"

"Yes, home. Looks like a giant tree." The mare frowned, and looked about.

"I think I know the way." She smiled. As the two walked along she turned to the mare.

"By the way, I'm..." She frowned, "Well, it doesn't matter, really. But most people just call me the Doctor. Or 'hey, you' sometimes, or 'Halt'. Halt's a good one, haven't had anyone yell a good 'halt' at me in years. Not that I miss adventuring"
As the mare continued to babble about nothing in particular, a thought came to Twilight Twinkle. She wasn't sure where it came from, but it seemed like a good idea, an incredibly good idea, better than trying to get forgiveness for what she'd done from her mother.

'Run. And keep running. And don't stop until you're far from here'

She nodded at that thought. It was a good idea. All she needed to pull it off was time.

*****

The Crystal City saw the return of Princess Cadance, who had apparently felt what had happened to her daughter, and the Crystal Heart, even several hundred miles away, and it was a terrifying sight to behold.

"WHERE IS SHE? WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?!" She boomed, making several ponies cower in shock. One pony bravely informed her of what had happened (or at least gave her the cliff-notes version), and she rushed to the hospital. She was quickly shown to the room her daughter was being kept in.

"We've done what we can to fix the injuries, but... they were quite extensive." The doctor informed her, "We'll do our best, but frankly, we're not sure if she'll wake up at this point."

There was a noise from Cadance, a noise that drove the stallion talking to her to swear off his job forever afterward. It was the noise of a mother's heart breaking, as she just stared at the sleeping form of her daughter. However, before he did, the stallion coughed.

"She said we were to tell you something..." he said in the quiet, "That... 'Twinkie's lost. So lost, and she doesn't even realise it'" Princess Cadance's stare didn't leave her daughter.

"That's- that's all she said." Cadance just nodded, but said nothing. She just sat there, staring. After a while, she began to weep.

One Week

The walk back to the train station from the Royal Canterlot Archives was almost completely quiet, except when Spike occasionaly groaned from his upset stomach. Twilight Sparkle looked incredibly tired, the fear and adrenalin that had pushed her through the last few days had vanished, and there were several occasions where she looked like she was five seconds from just falling on her face. Pinkie Pie just bounced along, humming something that seemed to change tune every five minutes or so. Ditzy Doo kept staring at either Midday or the Doctor, who seemed to be focused mainly on his own thoughts, though she could swear he was keeping strangely close to her.

*****

Once they got back to Ponyville, Pinkie hopped away, still humming. Ditzy headed off toward Fluttershy's house, while the Doctor just vanished. Midday lifted the small groaning dragon onto her back, while making sure Twilight Sparkle didn't pass out, which she looked like she would do at any moment.

Once they got back to the library, which was devoid of any showboating unicorns Midday noticed, briefly wondering what the mare was up to at that moment, before lifting Spike onto a cushion to groan further. The little dragon looked like he was about to pass out as well, even with his stomach pains. She turned her head to see Twilight shakily making her way up the stairs, still wearing the badly torn spy outfit and eyepatch and bandage from the other day. Midday followed after her, watching and making sure Twilight went to bed instead of reading. As the mare slowly climbed into her bed a smile came across Midday's face.

"Now Twilight, I don't want to see you waking up in ten minutes trying to do some studying. You get some sleep."
Twilight mumbled something as her eyes closed, and not even after a few seconds, she was out like a light. Midday just stood there, looking around at the room, still covered in scattered notes and books and charts from the other night. She felt the urge to say something, and decided eventually to just put a blanket over the mare.

'Sweet dreams, mom' she thought, as she walked out of the room, a faint snoring noise just barely reaching her ears. She walked downstairs and saw Spike, also sleeping, a tiny smile on his face, although at the moment he was probably dreaming of anything but ice cream.

A thought occured to Midday and she went downstairs to fetch a bucket just in case Spike's stomach woke him up again.

*****

Meanwhile, several hundred miles from Ponyville, in the tiny town of Dodge Junction, a bright red pony named Dust Bowl was happily minding his own business, attending to the usual affairs of his day. Until he saw a familiar sight walking the streets, a deep blue coloured stallion with bright orange hair, and the Cutie Mark of several stars walking past the street.

He rushed over to the pony.

"Comet Chaser?" He asked. The pony looked up at him and smiled.

"Morning, Dusty" he said calmly.

"What are you still doing here? I thought you said you were gonna go to Ponyville?"
Comet Chaser looked down at his hooves.

"I was" he said, quietly. "But... I don't know. I got second thoughts. Maybe I shouldn't."

"Why not?"
He looked up at his friend. "Well, the place is just crazy, and it's right next to the Everfree Forest, and the other day, Cerberus attacked it."

Dust Bowl shook his head. "You're scared of meeting this mare, right?"

"No. No, I'm not scared" He said, his orange eyes shifting wildly.
"Maybe nervous, perhaps, but not scared."

Dust Bowl frowned. He'd know Comet Chaser for a while now, he liked the guy, even if he was a bit nerdy and had a tendency to ramble on about things Dust Bowl had absolutely no understanding about, but Dust Bowl was the sort of pony who liked everypony he met, the town funster, in a sense (though in a town like Dodge Junction he wouldn't ever get away with the sort of insanity that Pinkie Pie would get away with in Ponyville). But right now he was annoyed at Comet Chaser, who had spent the last few months mooning over some pony he'd been dreaming about, and then a few weeks ago, a mare matching the one he'd been thinking about had shown up. He remembered his friend eagerly declaring he was going to go to Ponyville, once he'd asked that lady Cherry Jubilee about the mare, how he'd sworn he was going to track her down and find out her mystery...

And apparently that was all horse-apples.

"Okay, CC, I'm going to tell you something" The dust-red pony frowned, and when he spoke it was clearly and distinctly, "You are an idiot."

The ameuteur astronomer stared at him.

"Look, I... don't believe in destiny, or fate, or whatever it's called," the pony continued, defying all sense, since common knowledge was that a Cutie Mark was a sign of fate in action (which like all widely believed things was largely wrong), "But the way I see it, you clearly are meant to find this mare. If you're having dreams about this mare, and there's a version of her running around in the real world, then I'd have to say it's probably a really good idea to go find her, right?"

The two stallions stared at each other for a moment, neither saying anything.

"Just give it a try, buddy. Just get on the train, and go to Ponyville and find her!"

Comet Chaser opened his mouth, but Dust Bowl's glare shut him up.

"Nuh-uh. You. Train. Go. Now. Ponyville." He said. The blue pony stared at him for a few seconds more. Then he turned and headed in the direction of the train station.

"Clever boy" Dust Bowl said, turning and planning to head back to the small saloon he ran, not the main salt-lick in Dodge Junction, but certainly the most cheerful. Then he stopped, and decided to follow his friend to the train station, just in case.

*****

Back in Ponyville, and a pensive Time Lord stared at the screen, his mood growing steadily more and more irritated.

"This isn't possible" he frowned. He had followed the pony calling herself Midday Eclipse because, as far as his not-inconsiderable mind could determine, she was the reason the TARDIS wouldn't fly anywhere, though it wouldn't say why. He'd scanned her in every fashion he knew of, and a few he'd made up, even gone looking through her head, and found nothing. As far as he could tell, she was just an average, ridiculously powerful unicorn. And yet the TARDIS wouldn't let him leave, simply because of her.

He was aware of a knocking noise on the front door, and sat there for a moment, staring at it. He decided to see who it was, and opened the door. Standing there was a grey-furred, blonde-maned mare with a Cutie Mark of bubbles, smiling at him.

"Hello?" he asked. She smiled at him.

"Doctor" she nodded, "I was wondering if you wanted to talk about something"

He stared at her. The mare seemed nice, an average sort of completely normal pony who just happened to have stabismus. She was not a world-breaker, or an heir to a mighty empire, a universal anomaly or a little child whose home had become connected to an interdimensional prison. She was just a mailmare with a little girl to look after. But there was something about her he could easily understand, the long buried desire to see more. And from all appearances, he'd woken that desire.

"Alright" he said eventually, smiling slightly.

*****

As it turned out, Spike had needed the bucket Midday had placed next to him. As the mare moved about, opening the windows and hoping the smell would disappear eventually. After a while Spike spoke up.

"I'm never eating ice cream again..." he muttered, before looking up at Midday, who was sitting on the comfy chair near the window.

"Never say never" she smiled wryly. After that, the day proceeded apace, with Trixie eventually returning to the library at lunchtime, smiling as she went.

"Somepony's in a good mood" Midday said. Trixie just turned her smile on the unicorn.

"Of course, Trixie feels on top of the world, like she could do anything."
For a few seconds after that she just grinned. Spike and Midday exchanged looks.

"Go on" Midday said. Trixie just laughed.

"You'll see. Tomorrow, you will see." And at that she walked through into the kitchen.

"What was that all about?" Spike asked, before leaning over the bucket again.

"Guess we'll see tomorrow" Midday shrugged.

*****

The rest of the day passed without incident, save the Cutie Mark Crusaders making another attempt to get their Cutie Marks, which had resulted in them being catapaulted halfway across town somehow, though nopony was willing to ask where they'd got a book on siege warfare.

*****

The next morning, Midday and Spike were woken up by Trixie excitedly dancing downstairs. Midday rubbed some sleep out of her eyes, and turned to look at the still slumbering form of Twilight Sparkle, only apparently in her slumber someone had placed Smarty Pants inbetween her hooves, and it seemed Twilight had noticed, since she was holding the doll close to her in her slumber.

"How long's she going to sleep for?" Spike asked. Midday looked at him and shrugged.

"She'll wake up when she wakes up. Now come on, I want to see what's got Trixie acting like a foal on Hearth's Warming eve."

The two walked downstairs, only to find no trace of the mare. The spare keys belonging to her were gone, and they found a note lying on one of the work desks. Spike looked at it.

"Just says to show up at the park after lunchtime. Doesn't say anything else" He frowned.
Spike and Midday had breakfast in silence, before the mare said she was going outside for a walk. Spike just nodded, having realised last night that with Twilight asleep all day he could probably do whatever he felt like. Then his smile vanished.

"Midday?" He asked. She stopped, halfway out the door, and stared at him. He looked nervous about something.

"Why don't you just tell her?"
She blinked, before realising what he meant. She closed the door and walked back over to him.

"Because... the longer you put it off, the angrier Twilight's going to be when she learns."

"I know, Spike" she said, calmly, quietly, "I'm working up to it. I'll tell her on my birthday. I promise."
Spike thought about this for a moment, and seemed to agree with the idea.

"Okay. That's in a few days right?" He asked.

"Yeah. A few days" She said calmly.

*****

Midday only managed to walk for about ten minutes when a certain pink pony started bouncing around her.

"Hey, Midday! It's so great out isn't it?" Pinkie smiled, before something occured to her.

"By the way, I need to know if there's anything you'd like for your birthday party because it's not a birthday party until you're enjoying yourself and you can't enjoy yourself if it's not exactly how you want it a-"

"Yeah, Pinkie, but I was just wondering if it could be..." she tried to think of the best way to phrase things to Pinkie, "I don't know, a small afair?"
Pinkie stared at her for a moment, her smile still there but there was something in her eyes, and it was worrying.

"Okay" the mare said eventually, "Now..." Her smile returned in an instant.
"Are we talking fifty ponies small, thirty-five, twenty, or are we going to go smaller than that, because any smaller and it's not really going to be a party, I me-"

Midday just laughed, though not at Pinkie, but because of. There was something truly infectious about the mare's good mood, and her eagerness and her smile.

"You know what, Pinkie?" she said, "How about you figure out the details, and get back to me, okay? Or make it a surprise?"

Pinkie considered this, then her smile grew. "Okie-dokie-lokie, I'll make it the biggest, surprise-iest surprise you'll ever see!"

And with that she bounced away, her smile wide and her mind no doubt racing with a dozen different ideas on what was a suitable surprise for a birthday part. Midday wondered whether she should have told Pinkie to leave out any crocodiles or spiked drinks.

Just for a moment, she found herself thinking that perhaps this birthday would be alright, for once.

*****

Just before lunchtime she returned to the library, to find Spike sitting, reading a newspaper to himself. Or, as it turned out, a tabloid, which this week lacked any speculation as to whether anypony was Celestia or Luna's secret lovechild. Instead it was covered in speculation on the nature of Shining Armor and Cadance's wedding, which hadn't actually been announced, and from what Midday could remember, there had been a media blackout on the whole thing. So much so that the tabloids weren't actually sure who it was who was getting married, and had managed to out-do themselves in rampant speculation. One or two of them even questioned whether Celestia was the one getting married.
Midday ducked into the kitchen, partially because she was hungry, and also because it would stop her thinking about Shining Armor, Cadance or Changelings.

Halfway through her sandwhich, Twilight descended from upstairs, looking better than she had in days. Her bandage had been removed, her outfit had been discarded (and possibly destroyed, especially if it had been given to Rarity for repairs), and her eyepatch was gone, revealing her eye to have healed completely. She also smelt like she'd just been in the shower.

"Good afternoon" she smiled, as she walked over to the stove.

"Afternoon" Midday said, finishing off her sandwich.

"Anything planned for the day?" the mare asked. Midday shook her head.

"Nothing. Except, perhaps checking out whatever it is that Trixie has planned, which I'd say could only be one thing."
"And what's that?" Twilight asked, as she took a bite out of her daisy sandwich.

*****

The two ponies, and one dragon, stared at the small stand in front of them. Well, actually it wasn't in front of them, there was a medium-sized crowd inbetween them and the stand.

"Where'd all these ponies come from?" Twilight asked. Midday looked about, and found Rainbow Dash sitting near the back.

"Rainbow Dash" she called out. The mare looked over at her, and waved an almost casual hoof at her. The two hadn't spoken since the trip to Canterlot, but Rainbow Dash seemed to have stepped off of her suspicions of Midday, or perhaps she'd just stopped caring, considering this younger Rainbow Dash seemed almost impossible to keep the attention of. Either way, she seemed disinterested in Midday.

'About time' she found herself thinking.

"Hey" Rainbow Dash grunted, "Come to check out whatever's going on?" she smiled.

"You wouldn't happen to know why everypony's here would you?" Midday asked. Rainbow Dash looked at her.

"Well, there were all these flyers around town, telling everypony to show up here. And Scootaloo and her friends being 'Cutie Mark Crusaders Town Criers', telling everypony to show up today."

The mare grinned. "I think they're getting a bit low on ideas."

Midday just shook her head. "Then explain why they're right over there, handing out ice cream"

Rainbow Dash, Twilight and Spike's heads all turned to see three fillies that were indeed handing out free foods, like they were at a Wonderbolts show or something. Midday's attention was taken up by a thing stallion on the other side of the crowd handing out odd-looking things that could have been mistaken for food, who was staring at the three ponies with a calculating look.

(It is of course a proven universal constant that wherever there is a crowd big enough, a being of the relevant local species will be there to sell product at cut-throat prices, even among species that have no monetary system. What scientists have not yet proven is how they stay in business.)

"So" Twilight asked, "Is Trixie about to do what I think she's about to do?"

Spike looked at her.

"You don't think she is?"

Ever since she'd taken over a new leaf, Trixie had been proclaiming that she would return to the stage 'soon enough', that she just needed to fine-tune her act, and she would be restored to her former glory. After a few months of that, even Rainbow Dash had stopped making sarcastic jibes, but it seemed that Trixie had finally decided she was going to put word into action.

"LADIES, AND GENTLEPONIES" A familiar voiced boomed, silencing the crowd of ponies.

"She is" Twilight said, audibly impressed.

"YOU HAVE SAT IN WONDER FOR TOO LONG!" the voice continued, as Rainbow Dash guffawed, tucking into a box of popcorn she'd procured from the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"NOW, BEHOLD THE RESTORATION OF THE ONE, THE ONLY, THE AMAZING AND STUPEFYING!" there was a pause, followed by the sound of a drumroll.

"THE INCOMPARABLE, GREAT AND POWERFUL TRRRIXIE!"

The mare leapt out onto the stage, and was met with almost total silence, save for a few polite hoof-stamps. She seemed to take this in stride, however.

"Trixie admits there were ponies she wrong in her first visit to this wonderful town, but this will be a show unlike any you have seen before! Cast all your previous knowledge about Trixie from your mind, and watch..." her voice went quiet...

"In awe!" Fireworks soared into the sky, as she reared onto her hind legs.

*****

It was... different that Midday had heard of. She started off with small sleighs of hand, a few illusions and tricks, nothing truly serious. Then something she paused, and appeared contemplative.

"Now, Trixie's next act will require a volunteer" her voice went serious and quiet, "But... no, nopony could be brave enough to volunteer for what Trixie has in mind."

This was apparently a cue, as a small voice piped up.

"I'll do it!" A tiny grey hoof shot into the air. Trixie beamed.

"Perfect."

Up onto the stage rushed a unicorn filly, beaming away like the sun. Midday recognised this manner of act. Trixie was supposed to choose somepony out of the crowd, although there was never any choice, the partner was pre-chosen. And for whatever reason she'd chosen Dinky, of all ponies.

"AMETHYST!" the recognisable voice of Dinky echoed. All ponies turned to look at who she was yelling at, a startled looking magenta unicorn mare who from the sound of it was Dinky's sister (or half-sister), Amethyst Sparkler.

"Don't look at me" She said defensively, "I had no idea about this."

"Do not worry, young Dinky, Trixie can assure you" The magician said slyly, "That she knows exactly what she is doing."

The filly looked like she was struggling to keep some vast secret to herself, and barely succeeding. Trixie moved toward the litte filly. Midday could only see one side of her face, but she could guess there was a lot of whispering and winking that only a few in the front rows would see.

It was the oldest trick in the book, as far as stage magicians were concerned, the Trixie she'd learnt from had said: Make a heck of a lot of noise in one corner of the stage while you disappear the pony in the other (and then Trixie had muttered something about tigers out of nowhere, and refused to elaborate).

*****

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, a train slowly came to a halt at the station. Ponies began to alight, including one with deep blue fur and orange hair, and a Cutie Mark of several stars.

He stopped, and sniffed in the scent of apples, and another scent he couldn't recognise. He set his jaw, and began to walk. He wasn't really sure of where to find the mare he was looking for, but he'd find her.

*****

Trixie's little show went on for a while. Everypony recognised, more or less, that it was nothing more than a warm-up, probably because while Trixie had managed to regain her bombastic attitude, she wasn't feeling entirely confidant in it. Dinky had been disappeared by a simple trap-door, and Trixie resumed, showing off new magics, including a convincing illusion of an Ursa Minor which she zapped with a bolt of lightning.

"No messing about levitating water towers for this mare!" She had declared, looking straight at Twilight Sparkle as she said that. There were a few laughs from the crowd.

Eventually the show finished, and the crowd dispersed, Twilight, Midday and Spike remaining to talk to Trixie. Midday noticed the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Ditzy waiting as well, and decided not to question what they weren't doing at school on a Wednesday.

"That was interesting" Twilight said, and Trixie bowed.

"I was taking it slowly. After all, a good magician doesn't reveal all her tricks in advance."
She looked about the small stage, and a grin went across her face.

"What did you think of that Ursa Minor? Pretty convincing right?"
Twilight opened her mouth to make a remark about scale... and then didn't.

"Impressive, especially considering the last illusions I saw you make on stage were..." she looked about, nervously, but Trixie waved a hoof.

"Don't worry, Trixie knows her old work was sub-par. This is a new Trixie, all-new and amazing and ready to take life by the horn. With my brilliant assistant, of course" She nodded towards Dinky.

"We're going to have a talk about that" said Ditzy, approaching the mare. Trixie grinned sheepishly.

"Trixie can explain everything" she said quickly.

"Then start talking" Ditzy said, her voice never raising

"I think we should go." Midday whispered to Twilight, who looked back at her.

"I think you might be right."

They walked away, Dinky and the Cutie Mark Crusaders rushing past them, giggling slightly. Behind them, Ditzy Doo and Trixie had a long discussion about Dinky. Midday watched as the fillies rushed about, completely cheerful, and remembered what Ditzy had said, how she wasn't sure whether Dinky had any friends her own age. It looked like the Cutie Mark Crusaders were doing their best to fix that.

*****

Ponyville wasn't usually active on a Wednesday, so Twilight went to Sugarcube Corner while Spike rushed back to the library. Midday decided to accompany Twilight, mainly because she felt like she had nothing better to do.

"Goodness" Twilight exclaimed, stopping in her tracks, "I'd almost forgotten."

"Forgotten what?" Midday asked. Twilight looked at her, her eyes blazing with the look of a Twilight Sparkle who was prepared to study something.

"It's almost the time of the dragon migration. And it's going to pass by Ponyville" She squeaked eagerly, "These are once in a lifetime opportunities" she said, beginning to bounce slightly in her step.

"Not for you" Midday muttered, as the two walked into Sugarcube Corner. Mrs Cake was minding the store today.

"Twilight Sparkle, good afternoon" she smiled.

"Good afternoon, Mrs Cake, how are things?"

The mare smiled an uneasy smile. From the looks of it, she wasn't getting enough sleep with Pound and Pumpkin around.

"Well, the little ones are having a nap right now, and Pinkie appears to be planning an upcoming party, so right now everything's quite quiet" Twilight looked at a selection of cakes on display, nodding slightly.

"Although..." The mare's voice went quiet, "Actually Twilight, there was a pony looking for you earlier."
Sugarcube Corner was usually busy, but on a lovely day in March, most ponies would rather sit out in the fields rather than staying inside, and it was slightly after lunchtime, when most ponies were full already, so Mrs Cake's statement was loud enough for Midday to hear.

"Really?" Twilight asked. Normally the ponies who came to her door wanting to be her apprentice knew where she lived already, so this pony was obviously different. Midday felt a strange tension in the air.

"Yes. And I know you have a lot of ponies showing up on your doorstep these days" Mrs Cake shot a glance at Midday as she said this, "But this one was so unusual. He was carrying a drawing of you and asking if anypony knew where you lived. I wasn't sure what to do, so I just said I had no idea and sent him on his way."

Midday listened to this, and felt incredibly nervous. "What did he look like?" she asked, her voice incredibly low.

Mrs Cake shuffled slightly. "Actually, dear, he looked similar to you. Deep blue fur, orange hair, orange eyes."

Midday paused. Something didn't sound right about all of this, about any of what she was hearing. A pony who looked like her was asking for Twilight Sparkle, in Ponyville. She quickly rushed outside, ignoring Twilight as she tried to ask what was going on.

She stood outside, staring into the sky, thinking about when she'd attacked Discord, how he'd gotten angry, and done...
Nothing. He'd done nothing. Hadn't he? She looked about the streets. She was aware she was forgetting something and it was incredibly important. In her memories a phantom voice without a source started speaking.

She kept walking along the street, without aim or purpose, just thinking to herself, until she saw him. A stallion, probably in his late thirties, holding a piece of paper via magic and asking passers-by if he'd seen the pony on it. He had deep blue fur, though nowhere near as deep as Midday, bright orange hair, the exact same shade as the two stripes running through Midday's hair, orange eyes that were a few shades off from her own, and a Cutie Mark of several stars.

It wasn't possible, something inside her head said. It was completely impossible. And then it came roaring out of her mind, as if cutting through layers of memory.

A pony shattering into dust in the wind. Yelling with her mother, her descent into the Underworld itself to look for him. And there he was. Standing there, completely alive and well.

It was impossible, her thoughts screamed. He couldn't be there. It made no logistical sense whatsoever. But she was staring at him and he was there.

Then he turned, looking confused and alone and a bit frightened, and as he turned she began to stride towards him.
He couldn't be there, she told herself, so she had to find out why.

'Later' she told herself. Right now she was going to make absolutely sure it was him.

Her legs began to beat against the ground and a wide smile went across her face, as she ran towards him.

*****

Comet Chaser sighed, gently folding his picture. Whoever the mystery mare he was looking for was, nopony in Ponyville had seen her. He'd even checked what seemed like the local hang-out for everypony in town, and he was certain the middle-aged mare there had recognised the pony in his picture. He looked up at the sky, and thought about the dream he'd had, of sitting on a hill-top with a mare sitting next to him, just calmly looking at the stars, and how he'd woken up feeling tears on his cheek, and how it had felt so real.

'But' he told himself, 'perhaps it was just a dream.'

He was aware of a strange noise, and turned to see a mare rushing toward him, before skidding to a halt. She looked like she was in the middle of a psychological episode, and he considered whether it was an idea to ask whether she knew the pony he was looking for or not.

Then he noticed she looked an awful lot like him, how she had blue fur (but slightly deeper), and orange eyes (though these were darker) and a curious Cutie Mark. And she was staring at him, straight at him, as if he was about to spontaneously explode.

"H-hello?" he said, shakily. She lifted up a shaking hoof and lightly prodded him. A smile instantly began to move across her face.

"Is s-" he didn't finish. She suddenly grabbed him, still smiling and said something that took him completely by surprise.

"Daddy!"

Author's Note

Did I just write that? (I think I just wrote that.)
Anyway, let the confusion begin.

One More Week

She stared at him. He couldn't have been real, but there he was. He couldn't have been real, but she was looking right at him, afraid that if she looked away for even an instant he'd vanish again.

"H-hello?" he stuttered, and his voice was the exact same.

Slowly, noticing she was beginning to shake, she lifted a hoof up and gave him a gentle prod. There was the feel of fur on hoof. She looked at him again, just to make sure. He had the blue fur, the orange hair, orange eyes, the exact same Cutie Mark.

A tiny, incredibly brave part of her suggested he wasn't really the pony she thought he was, that what she was seeing was completely and utterly impossible, and was quickly beaten down by the rest of her mind. She could feel it. It was him. It was her father. Numerous emotions began to swell in Midday Eclipse, including some she had not felt for a long time.

"Is s-" the pony started to say before she couldn't keep it in. She didn't care if anypony in the street was staring at her as she opened her mouth and yelled it to the world.

"Daddy!" She quickly embraced him.

A few seconds passed where she realised he wasn't hugging back.

"... what?"

She blinked. She stared at the pony again.

"I'm sorry, but have we met?"

She stared. There was a horrid feeling in her stomach like she'd been kicked, and what little rationality she had left vanished.

"Dad, it's me. It's me. Remember?"
He looked like he was too afraid to just run.

"I'm afraid I don't kn-"

"Cutie Mark when I was five? Nightmare Night? I was dressed up as Princess Luna? All those times I got into fights for having a Cutie Mark years before anypony else? All those times I kept asking why I didn't have wings when mom did? Dad, it's me!"

"I really don't know what you're talking about. I just came here looking for a pony" he said, levitating the picture in front of Midday. She ignored it and frowned, quickly rushing through explanations before reaching the one that made the most sense to her.

"This must be one of his games. One of his sick little attempts at humour" she hissed.

He just nodded. "Uh-huh" he said, wondering if the mare was an escapee from a nearby medical institution.

"You are Comet Chaser. You had a crush on my mom since almost the minute you first saw her, you were from a family of recluses dating all the way back to Mimic herself. You and my mom met on a small hill just outside this town, and you fought over a telescope! Don't you remember? Us, attacking Discord? I managed to hurt him and he... he did something to you and..." the mare now looked like she was on the point of hysterics, and felt like it as well, "And then everypony said you didn't exist and I looked everywhere and I tried so hard and it just made mom angry and-"

"Eight" he said.

Midday Eclipse looked up at him. He looked confused, like he wasn't even sure what he was saying.

"When you were eight... you wanted to be... an adventurer. And... one day you ran off, while your mother was shopping and got on the first train you could find."
Midday looked at him, expectantly.

"You wound up in Ponyville," he laughed, before looking confused again, "And if it hadn't been for Pinkie Pie and her family, we would have torn half of Canterlot to pieces looking for you. How do I know this?" he asked, a noticable amount of fear in his voice.

"Because..." Midday had to admit to herself she wasn't sure what was going on, but she was determined to try and make the most of it.
"Because Discord couldn't get rid of you. He tried and he couldn't get rid of you" she smiled. She stepped towards him and he took a step back, fear in his eyes.

"It's me" she said quietly. "Dad, please. It's me"

She looked about the town, ponies beginning to stare at the scene in front of them.

"Remember? Your little Twinkie?" she said, trying not to look too embarrassed as saying her own nickname out-loud.

"There was a fight" the deep blue stallion said slowly. "There was fight, and you were there... and I was there, and..."

A look of horror crossed his face. "I thought I was going to die. I was prepared to die. And then... I... I didn't and I woke up... but that was all a dream" he said quietly.

"I never had a daughter, or that life. That was a dream, so why do you know what happened?" he frowned. Inside his mind, several strange things were happening, and then, there was something like a switch being pressed, a light turning on, a curtain pulling back. Knowledge he hadn't known was there came running into his mind.

He looked at the nervous and trembling mare in front of him, as he tried to process the sudden influx of knowledge that was going through his mind.

"I know your face..." he said, quietly. She looked up at him, and now it was her turn to look confused.
For a moment, the stallion and the mare looked at each other, neither saying anything. Then a smile grew across their faces. Then they embraced again, tightly.
"Twinkle!"
"Dad!"
For a while, neither said anything at all, just occasionaly checking the other was still there, in case they vanished suddenly. After a while they both felt the other's tears on their neck.

*****

The two ponies walked quietly along the streets of Ponyville, neither saying anything, although this might have been because of what Midday had said.

"If you turn out to be a shapeshifter, or a version from another universe, or Discord trying to play with my head, I'll end you" she had calmly informed him.

That, and neither of them was entirely sure what to say. They just walked along, neither looking at anything in particular.

Finally, Midday broke the silence.
"So... dad..."

"You want to know what happened?" he asked, before looking about, "To be honest, I'm not sure. One minute, I was with you, and Discord was about to squish me like I was a mildly overweight packet of ketchup, the next... I woke up in Dodge Junction. And I have no idea how I got there. Just a whole 'nother life, like I'd woken up from a dream or something."

"And?" Midday asked.

"And for a while, things were alright. I was a part-time astronomer, and I taught math at the local school." He stopped because Midday had broken down into guffaws.

"You? A teacher? Really?" She asked between laughs.

"I think I did alright" he said, defensively.

"And for a while, that was life, just sitting around, doing nothing, save talking with a few ponies around town. And then a few weeks ago I just had this sort of... dream, or vision, of your mother, and then I heard she'd visited Dodge Junction just the other day."

"A few weeks ago?" Midday mused, "That must have been when Applejack ran off and we came looking for her."

"Twinkie" he stared, before she looked at him.

"Don't call me that. I'm not her right now, I'm..." Over the months she'd been in the past, she'd gotten use to that ridiculous moniker of hers, but now she had to try and say it to her own father.

"Midday Eclipse" she half-muttered. A bemused smirk passed his grin.

"Don't you say a word" she said upon seeing it. He pretended to look shocked.

"I didn't say anything."

"Keep it that way. Anyway, what was it you were about to say?"

He stopped, and looked about. They were now going past the bit of Ponyville that on weekends was host to the farmer's market.

"What happened after Discord? Why are you running around with a different name? And why exactly are we in the past?"

She smiled nervously, and pawed at the ground. "Well, that's... a bit of a long story, and I should probably fill you in on some of the specifics about what happened after Discord... vanished you" she looked about, "But not here"

*****

The two stood in a large open field, just on the outskirts of Ponyville, Midday looking about.
"This is as good a place as any" she said. "Just be warned, you probably won't like what I tell you. Actually, there are large parts of it you won't like."

So she told him about everything that happened after Discord's rampage, of how the situation between Twilight Sparkle and Twilight Twinkle got steadily worse and worse, of going to university, including the Oatmeal Incident, of the horrific argument in Rarity's Boutique, and the horribly awkward situation between herself and Whisper Wind, and then she stopped on mentioning Shining Sapphire.

"So... Fluttershy's son and Shiny Heiny's kid" her father said, apparently giving this some though. "Yeah, I could see that. They'd made a pretty cute couple. Although, knowing kids these days they'll probably get married as quick as possible, before his real mom comes looking."

Then he noticed the look of Midday's face.
"There probably isn't going to be a wedding" she said, as if she was choking back something. He looked at her.

"What happened, Twinkie?"

So she told him, in as full detail as she could manage, of how Whisper Wind had been abducted, how she went off to try and rescue him, only to be responsible for the Changelings finding him again, how she believed that meant he'd been killed, and how this had resulted in Nightmare Eclipse, and what then happened to Shining Sapphire. She kept stopping, and pausing, and notably refused to distinguish between herself and Nightmare Eclipse.
He said nothing at that, simply staring straight ahead.

"So, after that I wound up in Ponyville, and... my first act was to try and run away, because I figured the minute Fluttershy learnt what happened she'd try and kill me, and after what I did to Shining Sapphire, I was probably going to be thrown into a dungeon, or banished, or something. So I had this local madpony fix-up one of those scrolls for early learning ponies, a teleporting scroll, and I figured I'd go somewhere like Appleloosa, or Dodge Junction and... something went wrong."
He still said nothing, but he looked at her, his eyes not betraying a hint of emotion.

"Maybe it was because I was mildly hungover, or because of my nerves, or being blasted with the Crystal Heart, or just because I didn't read the instructions properly, and there was this light show and... well, I wound up here, in the past, just a few days after Nightmare Night. I didn't even realise this at first, I just thought I'd only teleported a few feet, and since mom had shown up just as I had been about to vanish, I thought there was no point trying to hide. And then I met Spike."

She shook her head. "So once I figured out I was in the past, I tried to figure out a way to get home. That was all I wanted, to get home. And I was so stupid, and arrogant, I thought there was a simple quick-step solution, that I could just click my hooves together, throw something together, and that'd be it. And I quickly ran out of options at the library, and after managing to antagonise Rainbow Dash I figured I was already in trouble, so I threw Trixie at her while I tried to come up with options."

"Trixie?" he finally asked, with notable distaste, "Really?"

"Trixie. So that happened, and then... for about two weeks there wasn't really anything. And then I did something foolish, dad. I did something really stupid."

He looked at her, and the expression on her face was something new, something he'd not seen yet in his daughter's whole range of expressions.
"You see, Apple Bloom stole some Heart's Desire from a zebra, in order to get a Cutie Mark, and... I thought I could use it to find a spell to get home. Instead it gave me a spell to another universe" she shuffled slightly, and went silent.

"And?"

"I don't want to talk about it." The tone of her voice gave no indication she was going to change her mind.

"But I did eventually meet the me from that universe, who was... weird."

"Weird? Weird, how?"

"Well, she pretended to be cheerful, but I think, I really think there was something wrong with her. She told me barely anything about herself, only the bare minimum of her backstory. She went back in time on purpose, and there was the way she smiled... she wasn't smiling with her eyes..." she went silent again.

He nodded slowly. "So after this... trans-dimensional mix-up, you returned to your respective universes and you didn't try finding another spell? What happened that was so bad you won't risk trying again?"
She said nothing.

"Or is it that you're afraid of what will happen if you return?"

"I'm not afraid of that. I'm afraid of being forgiven for what I did to Sapphy" she said quietly. "And I can't go home, not while there's still things that need adressed here."

"Like what? What's so important that it needs you to help out? What's so important that this time's Twilight Sparkle and her friends can't handle it?"

"Because..." she said, "Because there things they don't know about, and they might change what's going to be. I need to stay, if only to make sure nothing happens to anypony because of me"
They sat there for a moment, neither saying anything.

"So, apart from dimension-hopping, changing the course of Trixie's life, what else have you been up to?"
"Well..." Midday said, "I got my mind swapped with Rainbow Dash's, I found out who wrote Daring Do, had a nice chat with Princess Luna, was briefly a superhero, threw a piano at Trixie (which led to the mind-swapping), and... tried to give a motivational speech to Fluttershy"

Comet Chaser blinked in confusion. "You threw a piano at Trixie? A whole piano?"

"Yes. Well, there were also three plants and a table cloth, but yes. A piano" she said, her face a mask of seriousness.

He smiled, and then started laughing. "Really? I thought your mother and I raised you better than that"

"I think I've been allowed some back-payments of immaturity" she said, trying not to smile herself.

After a few moments there was silence again, save a small wind blowing about.

"So now what?" Midday asked. He sighed.

"I don't know. I mean, I've probably got some money lying in a bank somewhere, and I could probably find something to do in Canterlot while you look for a way home"

"In Canterlot?" Midday felt like she'd been given an electric shock, "Why not here, in Ponyville?"

Suddenly he looked far older, and incredibly tired, and she realised what she'd said wrong. "Twinkie, you know why not. Not here, not with her"

Midday raised a hoof toward him.
"But... I just found you again. Three years, dad, and I just found you again, and you're already planning to leave."

He looked at her, his bright orange eyes filled with sadness, and placed his hooves over hers "Twinkie... Twilight, look at me. I can't stay here, and spend every day risking the chance of seeing the most brilliant mare I ever met and not wanting to be with her. I can't. I'm nowhere near strong enough for that. I'm nowhere near as strong as you"

He stood up, and looked into the sky, with the clouds wafting by lazily.

"So, who else knows about you?" he asked, after a moment.

"Well... there's Spike, obviously, then Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, y'know, filly Sonic Boom, a stallion that calls himself the Doctor, and Princesses Celestia and Luna. Beyond that, Rainbow Dash and Rarity have their suspicions, Applejack's grandmother seems to have figured it out (somehow), Fluttershy, Applejack and Pinkie Pie probably could figure it out if they gave it a bit of effort, and granma Velvet apparently has an inkling, which means grandpa Night Light does as well, and aunt Cadance probably could tell there was something off about me when I ran into her the other week"

"So, that just leaves your mother then" he said, raising an eyebrow. She pretended to look annoyed at him.

"Before you say it, I do plan on telling her on my birthday. Which, due to time-travel isn't actually the day I turn nineteen, but since Pinkie Pie has started planning... well, you get the idea."

*****

Some fifteen minutes later, and the two were standing on the platform of Ponyville's train station. Midday was looking at her hooves.

"I wish you could stay" she whispered, for the fifth time in as many minutes. He looked at her.
"But we know I can't. But I'm only an hour away by train" he smiled gently. She nodded. Then his smile vanished.

"What?" Midday asked.

"You're making a face" he said.

"Am I?"

"Yes. It's almost like your mother's 'I'm-worried-about-something-and-doing-a-poor-job-hiding-it' face. So what is it?"
She looked about.

"Something doesn't smell right about this, dad. I tried to find a way to bring you back and didn't succeed, then I stop trying, wind up going back in time by accident, and here you are, alive and well. How? Why?" she frowned.
Comet Chaser sighed, and looked about.

"Maybe the reason is quite simple. Maybe you brought me back" Midday looked at him like he'd started saying fish made excellent hats, but he continued before she could say anything "Maybe the power of your love and your mother's love was just strong enough to drag me back from oblivion, or non-existance. Maybe Discord had a change of heart, or couldn't truly erase a pony from existance. Or maybe... maybe it's just proof that there are miracles. I don't know. But I'm here, and you're here, and I'm not going to question it, Twinkie. I'm just going to believe my daughter did it, because she's cleverer than she gives herself credit for"

A train slowly pulled into the station behind them.
"And because I know that if she's anything like her mother, she'll figure why sooner or later, without me getting in her way and distracting her all the time."

"Dad?"

"Yes, honey?"

"How come mom never got diabetes just from being around us?" Midday smirked. He shook his head and tousled her hair. The two hugged again.

"Look after yourself dad. And stay out of trouble. I'll call you if I figure out a way out of this mess."

"Be careful, sweetheart. Even if you are clever, I still worry about you sometimes."

"Dad!"

He leaned back out.
"What? I'm your father. I'm required to worry about you. Even when you're doing the worrying for both of us."

Midday frowned, and gave him a small kick. "Get on that train already, before I kick you back to Canterlot!"
He did, and turned to smile at her one more time. She stood, watching as the train left, still smiling. Once the train was out of sight she turned back to face Ponyville.

Thoughts occured to her, her mind racing with possible means as to why he was there, and what connotations this had. Then another thought occured to her. She had her father back. And suddenly nothing else seemed to matter. She looked at the library, just barely visible over the buildings of Ponyville. And an idea occured to her.

*****

Twilight was calmly reading through the Art of Camoflauge, and had only just noted how quiet everything was, when the door to the library slammed open.

"TWILIGHT!" Midday Eclipse yelled, "Fetch the girls and tell 'em we're all going out and it's all on me!"
As she rushed up the stairs past Twilight, the mare could help but notice the large grin on Midday's face.

"What's going on?" she asked quietly. Midday turned to face her.

"I found my father" she replied.

For a moment, Twilight Sparkle wondered if perhaps Midday Eclipse had just suffered Cutie Mark Failure, or gone mad, or was drunk, but then decided that if the mare wanted to be cheerful, that was her perogative. Then she remembered what the royal blue mare had said about her father, and began to feel even more concerned for her.

Then she decided those thoughts could wait, as long as Midday was apparently happy.

*****

(Twenty-two years from now)
Princess Celestia stalked the Hall of Windows, the hallway in which all the various defining moments in Equestrian history were recorded, such as the First fall of Discord, the Fall of the Crystal Empire, the Reforging of Harmony, and Twilight Sparkle's coronation. Nopony had ever seemed to notice that despite the number of windows, the room never increased in size or length. She'd even invited top scientists to try and figure out the mystery during some of the low points of waiting a thousand years for Luna, or when Twilight Sparkle had been away on family vacation. Sometimes she would stare at the windows for hours, just letting time pass, ruminating on the past.

She scanned the hallway, not even sure if what she sought was there. She frowned.

"Show yourself" she said, quietly, in a tone that had once made an entire army turn and run, minutes after bragging that they could've taken one depressed alicorn.

There was utter silence in the room, the light betraying no secrets, but she was now sure what she was looking for was in the room.

Celestia had told her former pupil not even ten minutes before that she had 'things' to attend to. What she hadn't told Twilight Sparkle was that these 'things' did partially concern the young mare.

Celestia was slow to anger, usually. Once, a drunken pony had screamed at her for hours about how she was ruining Equestria, and was not suited to be monarch, and she had calmly nodded, and finished her tea, quietly cleared her throat, and walked away, leaving everypony who had witnessed this to catch her breath. The pony in question disappeared, and some of her more dedicated serviceponies had reported that he'd fled to a tiny seaside village and never touched a drop again. However, if there was one thing, one tiny thing that brought her full fury to the fore, it was somepony trying to harm just one of her ponies, and whether they agreed or not, everypony was one of her little ponies.

"Discord! Show yourself and explain what you did to Twilight Sparkle and her daughter right now!" she said, in the exact same tone as before.

There was... not quite a noise, but something that could've been mistaken for a noise if viewed from a higher dimension, and a mis-matched creature slowly appeared out of the wall, dressed as a butler, and he was smiling.

"You rang?"

Author's Note

When I paint myself into a corner, I do the only sane thing.
Smash through the wall behind me.

Family Matters

Since Ponyville was not known for its active nightlife, the eventual result of Midday's declaration that they go out was eight ponies and one dragon sitting in a restaurant, and for the most part they were eating calmly. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash had been content to slob out until Rarity made her feelings on such acts clear, at fork point. Midday noticed Twilight Sparkle was staring at her, or trying not to. Fluttershy seemed unusually nervous about something, though she was still eating her meal.

"So why exactly were we all invited out for this meal?" Rarity eventually asked.

Midday just smiled. "I felt like celebrating, is why"

"You said you'd found your father" Twilight said, after a small pause.

Midday turned to look at her, and nodded.

"And you couldn't at least introduce us?" Rarity asked.

"He had places he needed to be" Midday said quietly, "So he couldn't stick around"

"A shame" Rarity smiled.

"What does he do for a living?" Fluttershy asked.

Midday gave this some thought, "Well, right now he's really between jobs, but he used to be an astronomer. Or am I thinking of astrophysicists?"

"So how come he's between jobs, then? Did somepony blame him for something that wasn't actually his fault?" Trixie asked, shooting a glance at Twilight as she said this.

"No. Discord did... something to him. And by something I mean I'm not sure what happened, and that's the best I've been able to narrow it down to" she looked at the confused glances everypony was giving her, "Anyway, long story short: He's back, somehow. So I'm feeling cheerful"

"Okay then" Fluttershy said, before returning to her meal.

The rest of the meal passed without incident, save Pinkie Pie agonising over dessert, wondering which selection of ice cream to eat, and Rarity yelping when she saw the word 'cheese'.

"I thought you were gonna go see a shrink about that" Rainbow Dash frowned.

"Well, I was," Rarity said as she tried to catch her breath, "But things occured. And then more things. And the occasional shennanigan," a nervous smile went across her face, "But I am getting better about it. So I believe I will have the cheese board, and nothing will stop me."

And nopony tried to, though Pinkie did take a few slices of cheese while Rarity wasn't looking.

*****

Eventually, they finished their meal, with Midday paying for the whole thing, and they all set off home. Midday noticed Twilight looking excited.

"You're still thinking about the dragons, aren't you?" she asked. Twilight turned to look at her.

"Of course I am. It's an incredible opportunity for studying, and I'm-" Horror flashed across Twilight's face, "I'm still not prepared. And it begins tomorrow!" she yelped and rushed out of the door, leaving Midday, Spike and Trixie.

"So, Trixie, how did things go between you and Ditzy?" Midday asked. The showmare looked about.

"They went... okay. We had a talk about things, and eventually she was okay with Dinky being on stage" Trixie smiled as Midday just stared at her. "She was accepting. She was hesitant, but eventually decided it was Dinky's decision, and I had to tell her she wasn't in any danger at any point, but she seemed to be understanding after that."
Trixie coughed, and muttered something under her breath.

"Not that Trixie's going to have a chance for a show while there's a Dragon Migration going on. Not that Trixie can blame anypony for that" She quickly added, before sighing.

"Giant creatures ruin any show" she muttered darkly, "Which is why Trixie is most assuredly not stepping hoof outside until this migration has passed by Ponyville"

*****

The rest of the day passed without much incident, save Twilight looking through every book she could find on camoflauge. The next morning, Twilight woke everypony up in her excitement about the dragon migration.

Midday came downstairs to find Twilight going over a checklist, and shook her head at the sight, and after breakfast found her just finishing off the triple-checking of her checklist. She looked up at Midday and smiled.

"Are you ready?" she asked. Midday nodded.

"It's a shame Trixie isn't feeling alright" Twilight said, and on seeing Midday's confused looks explained, "Trixie said she wasn't feeling well enough to get out of bed, which is regrettable, because I thought that she'd really enjoy joining in."
She sighed, and rolled up her checklist. Midday decided not to mention Trixie's comments from yesterday.

"Spike!" Twilight called out, "Are you ready?"

"Just a moment" the dragon responded from the kitchen, "These cupcakes are being difficult. I might be a while."

Twilight stood there, thinking about this. "Well, you know where we'll be when they're ready" she said, turning to leave, Midday following after.

"Where will we be?" she asked, having avoided listening to most of Twilight's preparations due to her elation at having her father back.

"Just outside town. I thought I told you that."

*****

The two ponies walked through town, passing by Sugarcube Corner and Carousel Boutique. Rarity had informed them she required Pinkie immediately hopped out of the door and rushed ahead of them, pausing only to warn Midday not to enter her apartment above the store.

"Why would I go inside?"

"So that you can discover the awesome surprises I have planned for your birthday party, of course."

"But I'm not going to" Midday said. Pinkie frowned at her and leaned in closely. Her breath smelt of peppermints.

"You just keep it that way!" She said quietly, before smiling and bouncing away. "See you at the trench"

They continued onward to the outside of town, where they found Applejack and Pinkie Pie arguing over two entirely identical shovels, and Rainbow Dash looking incredibly impatient. Twilight Sparkle looked around, and frowned.

"Where's Fluttershy?" she asked. Rainbow Dash shrugged.

"She said she'd show up, but I'm gettin' worried. It's been five minutes, and her house is just over there" she said, pointing a hoof to a small hill, beyond which was the Everfree Forest and just in front of that, Fluttershy's house.

Twilight pondered Rainbow Dash's information. "Do you think we should go investigate, and make sure Fluttershy's okay?"
Rainbow Dash nodded, and the two mares set off toward her house.

Midday turned to watch as Pinkie Pie and Applejack agreed on which shovel to use, and began digging.

Some seven minutes later, Twilight and Rainbow Dash returned, Rainbow Dash looking and sounding notably winded.

"Guessin' Fluttershy didn't want to watch the dragons, huh?" Applejack asked. Rainbow Dash just muttered something under her breath.

"Fluttershy just attacked Rainbow Dash and ran off" Twilight said, "I didn't know she was so... assertive."
Pinkie Pie and Midday exchanged knowing looks.

"What did she do?" Applejack asked.

"Kicked the crud out of me" Rainbow Dash groaned. Midday just shook her head.

"Let that be a lesson to you: Don't try and make Fluttershy do something she doesn't want to do."

"We were trying to do something nice for her" Twilight said. A thought occured to Midday, and she turned back to the two mares.

"Were you trying to drag her out of her house?"

Rainbow Dash looked almost sheepish. "Kinda..."

"Well, we probably won't be seeing her for the next week, then" Midday said solemnly.

"No matter" Twilight said calmly, "She's made her choice, for better or worse, and we'll just have to make do without her. Now then..." her horn glowed, and her saddlebags, which she had left by Midday before she and Rainbow Dash had gone to try and talk to Fluttershy, removing several drab piles of folded clothing, along with a few pairs of binoculars.

After putting on the camouflage gear, they spent several minutes testing out the binoculars, the only real noise being Rainbow Dash's occasional groaning and wincing, and Pinkie Pie giggling due to her holding her set of binoculars the wrong way around.

"I don't see any dragons" Twilight eventually said, albeit quietly.

"Me neither" Applejack added.

"Ne neither neither" Pinkie chimed.

"Shoot! You don't think we missed them, do you?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I think you probably would've noticed if you had. Dragons aren't exactly easy to miss" Midday smirked.

"We're probably just early" Twilight mused, before smiling, "And I'm glad we are. This way, we can watch every moment of the migration without bringing any unwanted attention to ourselves"

And at that point, Rarity arrived. A red carpet rolled towards the very edge of the makeshift trench, trumpets began to sound, and then the mare appeared wearing... Midday wasn't sure what exactly she was wearing, but whatever it was, it was unlikely to blend in anywhere but a catwalk. She was too stunned to facehoof, and from the looks of it, she wasn't the only pony taken aback.

"What do you think?" Rarity asked, "Am I the toast of the trench or what?"

"You'll be the toast alright, when the dragons see you parading around in that get-up" Applejack said.

"Only a comedy toast, methinks" Midday chimed.

Twilight smiled gently, "You look... nice, Rarity, but could you maybe look nice down here in the trench with us?"

Rarity looked at her, and scoffed. "Nice is an understatement, I look fabulous! Who says camouflage has to be drab?"

"Camouflage: noun, and sometimes a verb; to disguise something in order to mislead somepony (or something), often somepony (or thing) percieved as a threat. In other words, everything your wardrobe is not!" Midday sighed, "Not that it matters, because dragons have excellent eyesight, and will probably notice a bunch of brightly-coloured ponies trying to watch them anyway, regardless of whether we're wearing disguises or not." She looked at the alarmed and hurt look on Rarity's face.

"Thought it does look nice" she added. Then Pinkie Pie started making some noise.

"Ahoy, maties!" She whispered in an entirely out-of-place accent, "Dragons ho!"

Six pairs of eyes turned toward the sky, and the air was filled with the sound of leather wings beating, and the occasional distant roar and snarl of dragons jockeying for space, and occasionally bumping into each other. There were numerous 'oohs' and 'ahhs'.

"Amazing!" Twilight breathed.

Rainbow Dash just scoffed as she watched the dragons show off to each other. "Pretty lame move. Is that all they've got?"
Her question was rewarded by a jet of flame which passed right over the trench. Applejack looked at the startled pegasus.
"What do ya think of that 'move', Rainbow Dash? Still think they're lame?"

Rainbow Dash twitched slightly, before trying to rub the ash from the flames off of her face. "Not so much. The word 'fierce' comes to mind"

"And formidable" Rarity breathed in an awed tone.
"And super-duper-scary!" Pinkie Pie squeaked from the corner of the trench, where she was curled into a ball. This gave Midday some pause, since she honestly couldn't tell if Pinkie Pie was genuinely scared, actually scared but exaggerating for comic effect, or not scared at all and just pretending completely. Then Midday saw a scaly, clawed hand placed a cupcake on top of Pinkie's hoof.

"Yeah," Spike laughed, "Us dragons are definetely a force to be reckoned with."

"Hey, Spike" Midday smiled. The dragon waved back to her. Rainbow Dash however was laughing at what Spike had said.

"Yeah, right, Spike. That's one of the scariest aprons I've ever seen!" Applejack and Pinkie Pie giggled. Spike looked like he was trying to ignore Rainbow Dash's taunts.

"What's wrong with an apron?" he asked, "You won't be laughing when you spill blueberries over your scales." He paused and shook his head.

"Feathers," he amended, "That's one tought stain!"

Rainbow Dash just laughed again. "One tough stain against one lame dragon"
At this Midday had a flashback to being taunted by pegasi at various points throughout her childhood, and without even realising it gave Rainbow Dash a sharp kick.

"What the hay was that for?!" Rainbow Dash growled.

"If you can't say anything nice, then keep your mouth shut" Midday growled back. The two stared each other down while Spike just looked down at his feet.

"Quite," Rarity said, after a while, "Spike's style is unique. He doesn't have to look like other dragons"

"Or act like them" Twilight nodded. Spike looked confused.

"I don't act like other dragons?" he asked quietly. Before Midday could say anything, Pinkie Pie joined in the conversation.

"Oh, not even close!" she said with her usual cheeriness. This didn't cheer Spike up, which Applejack at least noticed.

"But why would you want to, Spike?"

Rarity walked over to him, smiling brightly, "Yes. You've got something those dreadfully fierce dragons can only dream of"
Spike looked up at her as she started trying to tousle his spikes, and Midday was certain he wasn't looking forward to whatever Rarity was about to say next.

"What's that?" he asked, at which point Rarity pressed her hooves against his cheeks.

"The cutest chubby-wubby little cheeks" at which point Spike began to blush.

"Cute?!" he said, sounding increasingly mortified, "Dragons aren't supposed to be cute!" he looked about at the six ponies.
"Right?"

Midday shrugged. "Depends on who's asking. Pretty sure Luna finds the average dragon cute."

Twilight looked at her. "What could you possibly be basing that on?"

"Well, that was her dog that nearly ate part of Ponyville just the other day."
There was a small noise from Applejack. "That would make sense, 'specially after what happened on Nightmare Night..."

Rarity, meanwhile, was still fussing over Spike's blush, which seemed to be spreading all over his face, which was becoming unbelievably red.

"Oh, sweetie," Rarity continued, "You are turning the most delightful shade of red, it is most becoming"

At this, Spike turned and walked out of the trench, for a split second turning back to look, and running faster as he saw five ponies smile at him. Rarity opened his mouth to say something, but then Midday spoke up.

"Rarity, if you say another sentence I swear I will turn everything in your store into plaid leg-warmers"
Rarity turned to look at her with her mouth hanging open, "You wouldn't!" she hissed.

"That wasn't really a sentence, so I'll let it pass" she said calmly, "Now stop embarrassing Spike"
Rarity bit her lip, as Midday walked past her.

"And if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go talk to him. Enjoy watching your dragons, ladies" she said calmly.

*****

She returned to the library to find Spike sitting and staring at a mirror. He didn't seem to notice her approach.

"Hey, Spike" she said quietly. He jumped at that.

"Hey" he smiled, but it quickly vanished.

"I'm alright" he said after a while, "You don't need to worry about me. I'm fine."

Midday looked at him. "Is this some old-timey definition of 'alright' I'm not aware of, or does the meaning change in the next twenty-two years?"

"I'll be fine, really" he insisted, his voice wavering.
Midday nudged him.

"But... I don't even know where I'm from. I don't know anything about the dragons who hatched my egg. All my life I've been around ponies, and the only other dragon I met tried to eat me."

Midday looked at the little purple and green dragon, who looked seconds away from breaking into tears.

"Rainbow Dash was right. I am lame" he sighed, "Just a lame baby dragon."
Midday stood up, and glanced down at him.

"Spike, you are not 'lame'" he looked up at her, and frowned.

She sighed.
"I wish I could say more. I wish I could tell you about some of the things I've heard about what you'll go on to do, but... time-travel and all that. But you aren't 'lame' to me, or Twilight. And definitely not Rarity, even if she does have a really counter-productive way of showing it"

Spike looked up at her, and frowned. "But I haven't done whatever it is you've heard about Future-Spike yet, so they don't count yet, so I am lame" he huffed. Midday frowned, and rubbed a hoof against her head.

"Well, if I can't pep-talk you into feeling better, then do you want to go get some ice cream or something, see if that might help?"

"Don't eat ice cream anymore" the little dragon muttered. Midday raised an eyebrow. Spike had sworn off ice cream after managing to eat several metric tons of the stuff over half a week, then becoming violently sick afterward, and it looked like he was sticking to that promise.

"Really? You're not tempted, just a little bit?"

There was a pause. "No" Spike said.

"Not even for a huge serving of Rocky Road? or mint and chocolate chip? or Cloudsdale Rainbow, with all seven flavours?" she asked, slowly.
"... No."

"Not at all? Not for a second?"
Spike was trembling slightly. Then he threw up his hands. "Fine, yes, I would like some ice cream"

"If you insist" Midday smirked, turning toward the door.

"You're evil" Spike said.

"I'm your little sister, Spike. I'm required to annoy you into doing what I want to do. And what I want to do is see you being cheerful. So it's a win-win situation. A victory for the morally ambiguous mare" she smiled. Spike tried not to look like he was smiling.

*****

Ten minutes later, and they were in Sugarcube Corner, Spike eating an incredibly large serving of ice cream, while Midday just ate a small pie. She wasn't really hungry, but there is only so long she could stare at Spike eating a massive serving of ice cream (which for whatever reason wasn't melting in the mild spring winter). After a few minutes Midday noticed a bright yellow pony wearing a dowdy sweater-vest, sunglasses and an utterly out-of-place hat that did nothing to hide her obvious wings, and bright pink mane and tail, or the highly visible Cutie Mark of three butterflies.

So of course Midday waved to her, and Fluttershy quickly made her way over.
"What's with the disguise, Fluttershy?"

"Oh, well, I hadn't actually ran very far. I think that might have been because I ran into the Everfree and got... lost. And I didn't want Twilight and Rainbow Dash to worry about me" Fluttershy sighed.
"'Lost'?"

"Lost" the pegasus said firmly, and Midday decided not to enquire further. Then Fluttershy looked around.

"Is Rainbow Dash okay? I might have hurt her a lot, but she was incredibly insistant I attend the dragon migration"

"You didn't miss much" Spike muttered inbetween mouthfuls of ice-cream. Fluttershy looked at Midday, who looked to Spike, who looked back at her.

"Don't ask" Midday eventually said, "But Rainbow Dash will probably tell you. Or at least give you the general idea, more or less"

"I hope I didn't cause too much worry. Maybe I should go find Twilight and apologise to her" Fluttershy said, looking out of the window. Then there was a distant roar from a dragon.

"Maybe later" she squeaked.

*****

Eventually Midday and Spike returned to the library to find Twilight waiting. Upon entering the door, Twilight grabbed Spike and started nuzzling him.

"Hey, there's my number one assistant!" she smiled.

"Hey, Twilight" Spike smiled.

"The girls and I all felt incredibly bad about what happened back at the trench, so for the rest of the day, whatever you want to do, we'll do that instead."

Spike looked over to Midday and just gently pushed Twilight away. "That's alright, Twilight. I'm not bothered about what happened, and you don't need to do anything to make it up for me"

Twilight looked uncertainly between Spike and Midday. "Okay... if you insist" she said, hesitantly.

*****

For the next few hours, everything seemed to be okay, with Spike helping Twilight sort her notes on the Dragon Migration. However, after a while Spike kept sighing increasingly notable sighs, occasionaly asking out loud where he came from, who he was supposed to be, and other similar questions, and each time Twilight could only respond with the same three words: "I don't know", becoming both more and less sympathetic toward Spike with each question. His questions continued on, through the day, past lunch, past dinner, all the way through the afternoon, and the evening, and far beyond his bed-time. And so it was, as the moon lazily moved along the night sky, Spike kept pondering, and his pondering was keeping both Midday and Twilight awake (Trixie's status at that point Midday could not determine, but she wasn't making any noise, so she was probably awake).

"What am I? Where am I from? Who am I supposed to be?"

There was an irritated groan from Twilight, who had tried to block Spike's monologuing with a pillow over her head, to no avail. "I don't know!" she snapped.

"For the last time, Spike, you were given to me as an egg! I don't know who found you, or where they found you."
There was a tiny pause. "Really?" Spike asked, "That's all you know?"

Twilight's expression, just barely visible in the moonlight, shifted. "I'm sorry, Spike."

Spike slouched out of his basket.

"That doesn't tell me anything about who I am! I need answers!" he walked across the room to a mirror, "I feel like I'm... I'm looking at a complete stranger"

There was a small sigh from the dragon as he curled into a ball. Both Midday and Twilight walked over to him. They stared at each other.

"Why don't we do some late-night research?" Twilight suggested, "See what we can find out."
Spike looked up at her, then over to Midday.

"Really?" he asked, "You'd do that?"

"Of course" both mares said at once, before staring at each other. Twilight recovered first.

"I'm sure we can find something"

"Do it downstairs, for the love of Celestia, downstairs!" Moaned Trixie.

*****

However, despite Twilight's assurances, and determination, they did not find anything relating to dragons. Or rather, they found nothing useful or constructive, however they did learn that dragons were large reptilian apex predators that could fly (except when they couldn't), breath fire (or sometimes ice, or things that made one wish they were being incinerated), gathered hordes of gold (and jewels and assorted finery. Except when they did) and laid eggs.

"Nothing" Twilight sighed as she set down another book, "Nothing in this one either!"

She set it down on the double-check pile. Spike frowned.
"Nothing at all about dragons? This is getting ridiculous!"

Twilight lifted another book and scanned it, "I know! It's hard to believe, but ponies know next to nothing about dragons"

"Except the ones who know too much" Midday said, cautiously putting down a book on qillins.

"Do not read this book" she said to the confused looks on Twilight and Spike's face.

"Apparently dragons are too big and scary to try to talk or study!"

"What are they afraid of? Laceration? Disintegration? Incineration?" Midday shook her head, "I blame not studying the appropriate children's literature" she said, as she eyed the row of Daring Do books.

There was a small sniff, and both mares looked to see Spike with his head buried in his arms, tears plainly visible on his face.

"I wonder if dragons cry..." he said. In an instant both mares were upon him, Twilight levitating a handkerchief over to wipe the tears away, though Spike quickly batted it away and walked off.

"It's okay, Twilight," he said, turning to face them and looking resolute, "I'm going to find out who I am if it's the last thing I do!"

Any further discussion between the three of them was interrupted by Rarity and Rainbow Dash opening the front door.
"Hey guys!" they smiled. Midday looked past them to see clear sunny skies outside.

"Huh. It's morning. We studied the whole night through" Midday observed. Spike meanwhile was startled from their sudden appearance, leaping into the triple-check pile.

"You wanna join us for breakfast?" Rainbow Dash asked, making Midday wonder how in the world that agreement had been made, considering Rainbow Dash wasn't usually awake until after ten in the morning.

There was a small rumble from Twilight Sparkle's stomach. "That sounds great" she smiled, "I'm famished"

Spike, meanwhile had walked over to the door, and examined the sky, completely clear of dragons at that moment.
"Count me out. I've got to get an early start!"

Rarity blinked. "An early start?"

He turned back to face the four mares. "Yes! I'm going on a quest of self-discovery! I need to learn what it means to be a dragon! And the only way I'm gonna do that is if I join the dragon migration!"

Identical exclamations of 'what' came from all four mares, as Spike fetched a medium-sized stick.

"Spike, that's nonsense talk!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "I know you're a dragon, but those dragons mean business!"
Spike ignored her, fetching a small polka-dot blanket.

"They're big, and tough, and scary!" Considering Rainbow Dash hadn't even expressed fear of Discord (at least according to most accounts), this was saying a lot for her fear of them, especially after the fact that she'd once kicked a full-grown dragon in the face.

"And I'm small, and meek... and I like to wear aprons" Spike said, with a notable tone of distaste, "See? That's exactly why I need to spend time with them"

Rainbow Dash's expression was alarmingly soft. "All I'm saying is, you could get hurt" she said, quietly.

Spike had by now taken a sandwich out of a cupboard, and placed it in the centre of the piece of cloth, and was beginning to tie it around the stick. Rarity walked over to Spike.

"Darling," she said, "This time I really do have to agree with Rainbow Dash" she began to tousle Spike's spines, "I don't want those big, ugly, nasty dragons to hurt one scale on your cutesy-wutesy head!"

Spike finished tying up his bindle. "I'm sorry, but I've made up my mind"
And at that he began to walk toward the door. Rarity grabbed Rainbow Dash.

"Quick, do something!" she wailed, "Stop him before it's too late!"

Rainbow Dash soared over to Spike and bit down on the bindle, resulting in a small tug-o-war between dragon and pegasus, which Rainbow Dash won. Until the bindle was grabbed by Twilight's magic and floated back to the dragon.

"Really?" Spike asked quietly.

Rainbow Dash looked in shocked confusion at Twilight. "Don't tell me you think he should go?"

Twilight looked from Rainbow Dash to Spike. "Yes" she said.

"Spike. I couldn't answer your questions" she looked pained at what she said next, "My books couldn't either. I understand why you want to look elsewhere. I truly believe you need to go on this quest" her voice began to falter slightly.
"And we have no right to stop you."

Rarity considered this. "I suppose not" she said, reluctantly.

"I still say you're nutty" Rainbow Dash smiled, "but hey, I've done lots of nutty things"

"We know" everypony said, causing Rainbow Dash to growl under her breath.

Spike turned to Midday. "Aren't you going to say anything?" he asked. Midday looked at him.

"Can I change your mind?" she said quietly. Spike looked down at his feet. "Then, no."

"Well then," Twilight said, "I guess this is good-bye, Spike."
The two embraced. "We can't wait to hear about it when you return"

Rainbow Dash nodded. "Yeah, we hope your trip-"
"Quest" Twilight corrected her.

"- your quest," Rainbow Dash said without missing a beat, "answers some of your pesky 'Who am I?' questions"

Spike smiled. "Thanks everypony. I know it will."

At which point the dragon set off, three of the four mares waving to him as he went. The reason Midday was not waving was because she wasn't there, having surreptitiously slipped out after him.

*****

Spike slowly walked down the streets, looking at the many buildings he'd come to see as his regular haunts as he walked by, and feeling his heart grow increasingly heavy. He'd only been living in Ponyville for two years, and it had felt like home from almost the first day he'd been there. He began to wonder whether he would ever see Ponyville again, ever hear the noise of the Cutie Mark Crusaders trying to scrounge victory from their latest disaster, Pinkie Pie's usually ditties as she worked, all the normal background noises of the average day in Ponyville. Speaking of background noises, he noticed the sound of hoofsteps behind him, and turned to see Midday coming up behind him.

"Hey" she said.
"What?" he asked, not breaking stride.

"I thought I'd walk you up to the edge of Ponyville" she said, smiling a tiny smile. The two continued walking, Midday's pace slowing so that Spike could keep pace with her.

"Nice day" Midday said. Spike nodded.

"Got everything you need?" she asked. Spike looked up at her.

"Yeah, I'm prepared for anything"

"Good."
Eventually the two reached the border of Ponyville, and turned to each other.

"Here we are" Spike said.

"Yeah."

"Guess this is it."

"Guess so" Midday said, before kneeling next to Spike.

He smiled. "Before I go, do you have advice you feel like giving?"

She paused, and considered this. "Well, always keep your wits about you, stay safe, and no matter what, don't panic."

The little dragon hugged her. "Thanks for this" there was a pause before he added, "little sister."

"Wishing you all the luck in the world, big brother."
For a moment, Midday considered placing a tracking charm on his back, until she noticed the faint, spidery glow of one already on his back, and she smiled as she leaned out.

"Goodbye, Twinkie." She smiled slightly at his use of her nickname, then he turned away.

He stood there for a moment, looking at the wide stretching lands before him, going on into the distance. He slowly raised one leg, and then placed in down in front of himself. He then moved his other leg, then moved his right leg again, then his left leg, then right, then left, right, left, and so on.

Then Midday turned and headed back into town to find Twilight, Rarity and Rainbow Dash.

*****

"What... exactly am I looking at?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"It's a dragon!" Rarity pouted, "Is it not obvious?"

"What kinda messed up dragons have you been looking at? Or did Sweetie Belle design this thing?"
Rarity glowered at her, and turned to Twilight Sparkle, who was examining the dragon disguise. Rarity had been hoping to design something that looked like a proper, traditional dragon, but time constraints, and some insisting, had resulted in the strange, gem-encrusted design she had produced, with a single pink bow around the 'neck' to indicate gender. She had been hoping to gain Fluttershy's expertise for some help, but thanks to Twilight and Rainbow Dash's slightly overzealous attempts to get her to watch the dragon migration, she'd 'vanished' (which meant she was probably at Zecora's, but nopony wanted to go bother Fluttershy, just in case she took issue with such an act, or found somewhere else to hide that they didn't know about). They had asked Pinkie Pie and Applejack if they wanted to help recover Spike, but they'd refused (Pinkie going on a strange bent about how she could not just go 'sauntering off into the blue', while Applejack had just politely declined).

"Well, it's going to have to do" Twilight said, clearly fighting down the urge to point out the many inaccuracies of the model.
"The dragons are gonna take one look at us, and 'whoompf'!" Rainbow Dash declared, "We're a half-price griffon barbecue! They'd have to be stupid to not notice such a stupid disguise"

Rarity muttered something under her breath that sounded amazingly like the words 'Mare Do Well'.

Then the door opened, though before Rarity could sound off her usual greeting, Midday Eclipse entered.

"I thought you'd be ready by now" she said. The three mares exchanged looks.

"What do you mean by that?" Rarity smiled, innocently.

"You mean you don't have a plan for following Spike to where the dragons are congregating?"

"Of course we do" Twilight said, "And we appreciate your offer to help."

"Now, are we ready?"

"Almost" Rarity said, "I just need one thing"

Her horn glowed, and a small saddlebag floated over to the mare, and a small box floated into that, followed by a tea cup, and a spoon.

"Now, we are ready" she smiled, as Rainbow Dash facehoofed.

*****

The effort of the four mares to follow Spike's trail was not as much trouble as they had assumed, what with Twilight's tracking spell, and the fact that Spike, for all his determination, was still a baby dragon, meaning he couldn't go very far or very fast, not for very long, and he kept stopping every now and then to eat. Breakfasts, second breakfasts, elevenses, afternoon tea, dinner, supper, and assorted snack times. Quite often, they'd had to stop and wait, just in case they overtook him.

Of course, following after Spike in a homemade dragon costume also proved to have difficulties, right from the first few steps. Midday had been unable to resist the urge to hum a tune as they started walking.

"Do you need to hum that?" Rainbow Dash asked after a few minutes.

"What, you don't like it?"

"No."
So Midday did not hum. For a while, at least. Then she started humming a slightly different tune as Ponyville sank behind the horizon. It was a tune that started off quiet, but then quickly built into large, dramatic tune.

"You know," Rarity said as they climbed a hill, "I think I preferred the first one."

"I kinda like this one more" Rainbow Dash said, "It is a kinda cool one. Sounds really epic."

"You should hear it performed." Midday laughed.
And so their journey continued onward, the landscape seeming to strangely alter after the shortest distances. One moment they were walking along grassy plains, then there was the occasional large outcrop of rocks every now and then, followed by more plains, followed by rocks, followed by a forest, where the first complication arose.
It began to rain.

"You did waterproof this thing, right?" Midday asked.

"Of course I did," Rarity said, with a notable air of offense.

"Rainbow Dash? Why don't you do something about this... deluge?"

"It's just rain, Rarity. Keep your panties on"

"Midday?" the fashion designer asked in the sweetest possible voice she could manage.
"Yeah?"

"Would you kindly flick Rainbow Dash's ear for me?"
"Why?"

"Because I'm a lady, and besides which I can't possibly do it with you in-between me"
Midday decided to let the 'lady' remark pass, and took on a weary air to her voice as she said, "Rarity, it is raining. And the rain is going to continue to rain until the rain stops. And I'm not gonna bother Rainbow Dash just because you want me to."

"Can we behave like grown-ups?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "Please?"

"But, mom! Why did I have to sit between these two? They're the ones being childish!"

"I'll turn this dragon around if I have to!" Twilight responded angrily, before pausing and adding, "I have honestly no idea why I said that."

And so they continued, with the rain quickly letting off some time later, and the forest giving way to more plains, with, as Rainbow Dash observed, more rocks. Midday was quick to point out that while the rocks were hardly original, they were at least scenic rocks. Rainbow Dash did not seem to appreciate that.

When they stopped at nightfall, they removed the cumbersome dragon costume, which due to its design could be turned into makeshift tents or sleeping bags, depending on who slept where, with each pony taking shifts where one of them stayed asleep and the other four slept. This continued for days, as they ascended incredibly steep (and cloudy) mountains, with only the occasional avalanche brought on by Rarity pouting about snow soaking her hooves, they travelled along winding rivers that Twilight couldn't identify, which nearly drove the poor mare to madness trying, and when they were done with the river, their path continued on through an incredible forest that, while nowhere near as expansive as the Everfree, was still quite a trek, with them having to stop during the night, as well as endure Rarity complaining about moths.

"Moths?" Rainbow Dash asked, batting one away from the fire, "Really?"

"They are ghastly things" Rarity said, shooing one away from her side. Twilight meanwhile seemed engrossed by the distant sound of birds calling.

"I think I've heard that sound before" she said.

"Sounds like a bird of prey" Midday observed, "And it'd have to be a pretty big one"

"What do these horrible moths eat when then don't get pony?" Rarity asked, as several of them swarmed around her.
The next morning, their path took them out of the massive forest, and Midday was certain in the distance she could see a tiny purple and green speck, moving toward several large volcanoes.

Catching up to Spike proved easy enough, even in the disguise. Staying behind him and out of sight, slightly less so, however, they managed to ascend the peak of one of the volcanoes, and all the way up the slope, Rainbow Dash felt the need to point out they were something the griffons called a 'sausage'.

"This costume is fabulous," Rarity said, "One of my finer creations."

"I doubt that" Midday said.

They were all shushed by Twilight. "We'll never pass as a dragon if they hear four voices coming out of one dragon!"
The mare shuffled slightly, "Now, come on, let's go"

*****

So the four mares slowly made their way down into the basin of the volcano, to find Spike associating with the worst possible sort of dragon he could possibly have chosen.
Teenage dragons.

"Oh, Belgium" Midday said to herself.

There was one dragon, in deep crimson, who appeared to be the ringleader of the group, who was currently mocking Spike for hailing from Ponyville, calling him 'half-pony'. Midday had to fight down the urge to point out he obviously looked nothing like a qillin, much less a baby qillin.

"Who, me?" Spike asked, "I'm not part pony! I'm all dragon, see?"
At this point he gave out an endearingly pathetic attempt at a roar, which of course the lead dragon seized upon.

"Or maybe you're a pony in a dragon costume" he grinned, although considering the size of his teeth, Midday wasn't sure whether grinning was just his natural expression.

The other dragons seemed to find this incredibly hilarious, and one, who seemed to be able to see despite his eyes being covered, wrapped his arm out the disguise's 'neck'. Twilight, who was playing the part of the head and neck of the disguise, tried to lower her voice in order to sound more 'dragon-y'.

Spike and the lead dragon meanwhile, had decided a way to prove Spike was a 'real' dragon. A belching contest. Midday could pracitcally feel Rarity's ice-cold disapproval, especially since she was standing right next to the mare.

The dragons began belching up impressive plumes of flame in blues, and greens, and classical orange, the last of which scorched over the head of the disguise, and Midday silently thanked Rarity for remembering to fire-proof her design, unlike a certain other Rarity-designed outfit Midday had been in that had been destroyed by dragonfire.

Then Spike tried to belch, which resulted in a small scroll bearing the royal seal. The lead dragon snatched it up, and managed to surpass Midday's expectations of him by beginning to read it, though he went straight back to form by laughing again after a few seconds. Midday was aware of a new burning smell that didn't belong to the volcano or the dragons, but which was coming from her mane and tail.

"Get this guys! Spike's pen-pals with a namby-pamby pony princess!"
At this, from the sound of it, he scrunched up the report and threw it into the lava. Midday could hear the horrified gasp from Twilight.

"How can he just throw that away?! That letter could be something important!"
Fortunately Rainbow Dash stepped up, "You can't worry about that now, Twilight. We're here to help Spike!"

"I know, I know" Twilight said, though Rainbow Dash didn't look convinced.

"There's no reason to disrespect Princess Celestia that way!" Twilight hissed.

"Twilight, I can assure you, you are not the only pony in this dragon who wants to hurt that idiot out there. But I would advise not doing so right now" Midday said, strongly resisting the urge to try and do something incredibly violent to the lead dragon for what he'd said, although more on the grounds that he'd tarred all the Princesses of Equestria under the same brush, regardless of how Midday felt about Celestia herself.

Then they heard the lead dragon say, "Maybe tail wrestling is more your speed"

Four mares exchanged nervous glances as best as they could.

*****

The dragons quickly set about splitting up into groups, then wrapping their tails around the others' and wrestling with them. This led to a clear problem.

"We can't let Spikey-wikey wrestle one of them!" Rarity pointed out, "He'll get clobbered!"
The four mares nodded.

"Let's go" Twilight said. Carefully, they walked over to behind Spike.

"I challenge Spike to a tail-wrestling contest!" Twilight declared.

There was a short pause, punctuated by the lead dragon asking who they were.
"I think he's Crackle's cousin" the strangely non-sight impaired dragon said, motioning toward a distant dragon that happened to be a dead ringer for Rarity's disguise. The mare, upon seeing the incredibly bizarre looking creature, made a triumphant hoof-pump of accuracy.

The explanation seemed to suit the teenaged dragons, and they allowed the tail-wrestling between Spike and 'Crackle's cousin' to proceed. Which of course meant the three mares put the barest effort into making it look like they were trying to win. Still, the other dragons did cheer when Spike 'won'.

"I can't believe your plan worked" Rarity smiled to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash smiled, though there was little of her usual confidence or smugness behind it.

And at that point they heard Spike holler as he tried to tail-wrestle an actual dragon, and therefore be hurled some distance as a result.

*****

The next thing the dragons tried was called 'King of the Hoard', wherein the dragons fought to see who could get to and stay on top of a small hoard of treasure. Spike, much to his credit, did well at that, being small and fast enough to move out of the way of the larger dragons, with some interferance from the mares, though he was unable to retain control of his horde, slipping off of the pile. Then the dragon ringleader mentioned something called 'Lava Cannonball'.

*****

Lava cannonball, as it turned out, was exactly what it sounded like: Dragons leaping into a lava pit from a great height.

"Shouldn't we... I don't know, do something?" Midday asked. Twilight shook her head. The dragons had been willing to leave 'Crackle's cousin' down on the ground. From the way they were acting, it was entirely possible they thought the 'dragon' was liable to randomly attack them if they tried to make 'her' do anything.

"Spike's on his own this time" Twilight said quietly. One by one the older dragons began diving into the lava, which of course had absolutely no effect on them, leaving only Spike, who seemed to be more than a little bit put off by the height from which he had to dive.

"What's wrong, Spike?" the lead dragon called out, "You afraid the lava will hurt your soft pony hide?"

The dragons began laughing, and this seemed to be enough to motivate Spike to jump.
He screamed as he plummeted toward the lava, which turned out to be absolutely nothing like water, and the little dragon landed face-down in it, and didn't move for several seconds.
There was a strange silence between the dragons.

"Was... I that bad?" Spike asked once he could move again.
"No, dude," the lead dragon said, "that was awesome! No pony could live through a belly-flop like that! You are one tought little dragon"

"Well," Midday said to herself, "Now we have a firm grasp of the obvious"
Rarity quickly shushed her, as the dragons led Spike away. The mares once again looked nervous.

*****

The dragons quickly set up a small ceremony, not to disimilar to a royal knighting ceremony, though it was incredibly unlikely that the lead dragon, with his dislike of 'namby-pamby' ponies, actually knew that.

"Spike, by belly flopping so hard, you have proven yourself worthy" the lead dragon announced, "I hereby dub you 'rookie dragon', and will now perform the initiation ritual"

At which point he lifted Spike up and gave him a vicious noogie.
"Now, let's party dragon style!"

Partying dragon style turned out to consist mainly of eating as many gems as possible, headbutting each other, body-slamming each other, and generally trying to inflict as much pain as possible. Some dragons occasionaly tossed gems toward 'Crackle's cousin', and the gems were handed to Rarity, while Midday and Rainbow Dash imitated belching sounds, leaving Twilight to generated small plumes of flame. Eventually, though the dragons grew weary of injuring each other and stuffing their faces, and since they were keeping near Spike, the mares heard his remark to the lead dragon.

"Man, was that a great party"

The lead dragon looked at him, "Great? Maybe by Ponyville standards"

"Stick with us Spike. We've still got plenty to teach you about being a dragon"

Spike looked back to the red dragon, "I'm not going anywhere. The way I feel right now, I could hang out with you guys forever!"

"Forever?!" All four mares repeated.

"Spikey-wikey is going to stay with these awful dragons? Forever?" Rarity wailed, albeit at a greatly reduced volume.

Twilight looked like she was on the verge of tears. "Oh no," she whispered, "this is terrible!"

Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, just sounded defeated, "I should've stopped him back at the library when I had the chance!"

"No," Twilight said, "Rainbow Dash, this is all my fault! I encouraged him to go!"

Outside the dragons began talking again, while Midday was focusing on her own internal guilt. Just like Twilight and Rainbow Dash, she was blaming herself.

'Because you could've stopped him. Should've stopped him from leaving. But you didn't even try, did you? Did you?!' she ignored that eerily angry voice in her head, fighting it back down.

"Girls, we can either blame ourselves till the cows come home, or we can try and put our heads together to find a way to get Spike back" she hissed.

"Can we blame ourselves afterwards?" Rainbow Dash deadpanned.

"We have another problem" Rarity said, motioning her head. Twilight turned to look.

"Oh, no. They took Spike!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "We gotta go after them!"

And at that, the pegasus took to the air. Without bothering to get out of the costume. Fortunately none of the dragons were still around to witness such a peculiar sight.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight yelped, "Stop! We can't fly!"

"And you're ruining my fabulous costume!" Rarity thoughtfully added.

"Which we do need to convince the dragons we are one of them"

"I'm sorry" Rainbow Dash sighed, "But we gotta help Spike!"
There was a moment of silence before Twilight spoke.

"Well, we'll just have to hoof it!"

They slowly turned the costume as Twilight followed the direction Spike had been taken, the tracking charm on the little dragon still going strong.

*****

Eventually, the charm led the mares back into the forest they'd been through only the other night. Rarity had been listening to the dragons talking, and had heard them mentioning doing something to some phoenixes they'd found.

"Phoenixes!" Twilight exclaimed with joy, "I knew I'd heard those calls before! Philomena!"

"Philo-who?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Princess Celestia's phoenix? Remember? Last year? Fluttershy thought she was sick, when she was just old? And then you pranked two of the guards?"

Rainbow Dash nodded, and grinned as she remembered. "I liked that bird. She had a sense of humour. Not like some ponies I've met" she said, shooting a glance at Midday.

"Completely ignoring you, Dashie." She smiled, "Do you know, I've never met a phoenix."

"Day of firsts" Rarity said.

"Hey, Twilight," Rainbow Dash asked, "What exactly are those jerks gonna do to a phoenix anyhow?"

"Well..." Twilight paused, as whetever she was thinking of began to alarm her, "Let's just get there before Spike's made to do something he'll regret" she said firmly.

*****

"No! It's just a defenseless egg, like I was! And I'm not gonna let you hurt it!"

The four mares, running as fast as they could, arrived to find Spike holding a small orange and yellow egg, as the leader of the dragons (Garble, as Spike later explained his name was) menacingly loomed toward Spike. They quickly rushed behind him, and discarded Rarity's costume, all four of them assuming confrontational poses, with Midday preparing several spells designed mainly for the purposes of keeping the dragons away from them.

"Nopony's gonna lay a claw on him!" Rainbow Dash yelled

"That's right!" Twilight added.

"Fighting's not really my thing," Rarity said calmly, though she was still standing on her hand legs, looking prepared to fight, "I'm more into fashion. But" her tone suddenly became threatening, "I'll rip you to pieces if you touch one scale on his cute little head!"

Midday just looked at the dragons, and tilted her head. "Yeah, I'm not really going to do the whole threatening thing. Although, if you like I could point out that I could make your head explode if I wanted to"

The dragons had been laughing up until she'd said that, in an eerily calm fashion. One or two of them looked nervous, and began whispering to each other.

"Oh, you're so scary!" Garble said mockingly, "Spike! Are these namby-pamb-" he didn't get much further as Midday's horn began to glow.

"Feel that? That strange pressure in your head? That's a magical force-field, courtesy of moi. Now then, I suggest you let us leave right now, with Spike and that egg he's carrying, or I'll do something I really don't want to do again, something I said I wouldn't let myself be defined by."

Garble growled and snarled at her, and began to take in a deep breath.

"So be it." She said, before turning to the others.

"You know what to do" she said. They nodded.

Spike turned to look at Garble, "This is what we ponies do when confronted by jerky dragons" he took a deep breath,
and increased his grip on the egg.

"RUN AWAY!"

They did, the dragons chasing after them for a few moments, until they ran into Midday's force-fields. The mare laughed as there was a satisfying 'clunk' and the dragons collapsed into each other.

Once they were sure they were far enough from the dragons, Twilight managed to teleport them.

"That was... not how I had expected it to go" Rarity said, standing close to Spike.

"Yeah, that was a close one. Thanks, you guys" he smiled.

"Of course," Twilight smiled, "What're friends for?"

Spike just kept smiling, and looked at Midday. "You're more than friends. You're my family"

Midday rolled her eyes at the obvious statement as the four ponies and one dragon embraced. Then she looked about and saw dim lights on the horizon, and noticed they were just outside one of the exits of the Everfree Forest. She decided not to comment on how far Twilight must have teleported them.

"Now let's go home" Twilight said.

*****

The return to Ponyville was quiet, although they did pass by Pinkie Pie, who had fallen asleep waiting for them to return to Ponyville, and after a while decided it was best to let her remain asleep, lest she wake everypony in town up. Rainbow Dash and Rarity returned to their residences, while Twilight and Midday returned to the library, with an increasingly asleep Spike on Twilight's back.

"Something occured to me," Midday said, not very loudly, but enough to startle Twilight, "I believe today was the eighteenth, which makes it also the nineteen, seeing as it's already after midnight. One more day until my birthday. Doesn't time fly when you're travelling."

"It's a shame Spike didn't find out who he was" Twilight said.

"It's more of a shame he just didn't meet any nice dragons. Besides, I think Spike already knows who he is."

"'m still awake here" mumbled the little dragon, as he tried to keep his eyes open. The two mares smiled at that.

Once inside the library, the two mares made their way to their beds, Twilight gently setting Spike down in his basket, while Twilight placed the egg on a smaller basket, mumbling something about making a proper nest in the morning.

As Midday clambered into her bed, she looked over at Twilight, and considered just telling her absolutely everything about herself. She bit her lip.

"Twilight..." she said, in the gloom, she could just barely see the mare's eyes turned to face her.

"Yes, Midday?"
'Just tell her' Midday thought, 'just tell her, now!'

"... Goodnight, Twilight. See you in the morning"

"Goodnight, Midday"
Both mares were asleep in minutes.

*****

The next morning, Midday was woken by Pinkie Pie asking why she hadn't been informed as to when her friends had returned to Ponyville, and was then informed that this had damaged Pinkie Pie's partying schedule for the day, and before Twilight could shoo Pinkie out of the room so Spike could get some sleep, told Midday not to worry about her birthday party. Midday shook her head and laughed, before Twilight's head poked back into the room.

"Just because Spike gets a day off doesn't mean you do" the mare said sternly.

"Do I get a day off tomorrow?" Midday asked.

"Perhaps" Twilight said, though there was a noticable smile.

Midday sat there for a moment, then rolled out of bed, noticing the small egg which sat in a small basket on a desk, the basket apparently having been made by Rarity, judging by its design.

She frowned. She couldn't remember Spike ever having had a phoenix chick as a pet, nor of her mother recounting anything to do with a baby phoenix. She stared at it, as if expecting it to do something, or indeed anything.
It wriggled slightly, but nothing more.

Midday went downstairs for breakfast, but not before looking at the sleeping form of Spike, a smile quite evident on the dragon's face. Her horn glowed, and his blanket readjusted itself over the dragon.

"Th'nks" the little dragon mumbled, apparently still asleep.

Midday looked at the contentment on Spike's face, and then realised she hadn't eaten in hours, and rushed downstairs for breakfast. But not before she said one last thing.

"Good to have you back, brother."

Author's Note

Twilight Twinkle seems kinda content with her life as it is.
So what birthday present do you get for a pony who has everything?
(How did they do all that stuff in that costume? I don't know. Magic, I'm guessing)

Happy Birthday, Twilight Twinkle

Twilight Sparkle frowned. She paced, carefully taking in the scene around and in front of her. Nearby, Spike held a note-pad and a quill. She tilted her head, noting a patch of burnt moss near her hoof.

"Looks like there was a struggle" she said. Spike instantly began to write down what she'd said.

"Which means she saw it coming... and fought back... That accounts for the grooves." She nodded back to the obvious tracks in the dirt.

"But it apparently wasn't enough."

"Is she going to be okay?" Spike asked. Twilight tried to gather her thoughts, and looked back to the dragon, who was glancing past her leg. Behind that, there was a small crowd of ponies gawking at the scene.

Twilight turned to look at the sight before her, of a royal blue mare just... standing completely still, her breathing slow and calm, like she was merely sleeping, despite the odd plant currently stuck to the mare. It almost resembled a blueberry, were it not for the numerous tendrils wrapped around the mare, including around her neck and fore-legs. Twilight, and Pinkie Pie had both tried removing the vines, only for them to twine themselves tighter around the mare. Pinkie had gone to fetch help, which was apparently why so many ponies had shown up to the outskirts of the Everfree Forest to see what had happened to Midday Eclipse.

Twilight stared at the mare, and then back to the evidence around her, as her mind ran through the alternatives, trying to determine what had happened to her.

*****

Earlier that day
It was night-time, which meant she was supposed to be asleep. Supposed. Meant. Asleep, she thought to herself. Midday sighed. She could hear soft mutterings from Trixie's bed, the showmare worn out after a hard day's being sarcasting, finding new ways to cast illusions and eating odd lunchs. She could hear the tiny rumble of Spike, and the total abscence of noise from Peewee, the newborn phoenix chick. Twilight had been uncertain about keeping the little phoenix, but when Spike pointed out the danger of setting a baby bird loose in the world, Twilight had capitulated, though she had seemed uncertain, mentioning she wasn't certain Spike was 'old enough for the responsibility'.

She rolled over in her bed, looking at the clock next to her. Then she looked up at the ceiling again, and frowned. It was long after midnight, and therefore technically the twentieth of March, her birthday. In the darkness, she grinned.

"Happy birthday, Twinkie" she whispered.

She lay there for a while, hoping to get to sleep. Waiting. And waiting. And waiting.
And waiting.

*****

As she went outside she was aware of a small amount of sunlight beginning to appear. It was quiet, and peaceful, with only the distant sound of birdsong. As she walked she found herself remembering her father was still in Canterlot. She wondered if he'd start mailing her on whether she'd found a way home.

It occured to her that in several months she hadn't been looking for a time-travel spell, or even thought about getting one. Ever since the... incident with the Heart's Desire, in fact.

She saw the sun begin to rise, and stopped to watch. Then she saw she was by the Everfree Forest. She'd managed to walk all the way from the library to by the forest without realising it.

'Must be more tired than I thought' she mused, before turning around. Then she heard the rustling noise.
She turned again, to see an odd plant nearby, which seemed almost to be moving. It looked like a blueberry, though it was a dark purple colour. Something about it seemed familiar, but she'd read that book by Professor Snails when she was younger, the one her mother had given her for her birthday, the one about dangerous fauna and how to avoid them, and she couldn't recall anything like what she was looking at.

However, it was from the Everfree, and the Everfree... well, the Everfree, her mother had once said, wasn't really a forest, not really, it w-

A root shot out of the ground and lunged at her. She jumped, and the root almost seemed confused, before lunging for her again. Her horn glowed, and a small ball of fire spat at the root. For a second it flailed, and then she heard a noise behind her, turning to see another root. She quickly summoned a shield spell, and the root smashed against it just as it suddenly dropped down to the ground.

Then she whipped around to see the odd blueberry plant right next to her, and th-
Darkness took her, and there were voices...

*****

The first sign that something wasn't right was that there was no sign of Midday. Her bed had been left empty, and there was no note, no nothing. Pinkie Pie showed up soon after, annoyed that Midday hadn't shown up to her surprise birthday party, before speculating as to whether the mare would show up at all, and the two decided to search for her. After asking at Rarity's, and unintentionally soliciting the help of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, they found her standing by the edge of the Everfree, with the strange plant stuck to her.

Twilight heard noise, as several ponies pushed through the throng, including Applejack and one of the hospital nurses, who took one look at Midday and shook her head.

"I don't know why you bothered asking for me," she said, as she looked at the unmoving form of Midday, "I'm not really qualified to deal with plants."

"Is it okay to move her?" Twilight asked, looking toward the crowd of ponies, still whispering and muttering to each other, "It's just that I think it would be best to get her indoors."

The nurse frowned. "Well, she appears stable, so it's probably an idea to get her indoors, yes."

Twilight lifted the mare, and stared at Midday, who looked at peace, despite the vines around her legs, preventing her knees from bending, and wondered what could possibly have been going through the mare's mind at that moment.

*****

There was darkness. And voices

"Twilight...?" one voice chimed.
"Twilight?"

She was aware of a nudging feeling against her cheek.

"Twinkle?!" that voice was incredibly familiar, and it took her mind a second to realise what was wrong. Ponies were calling her Twilight Twinkle.

But of course they were. That was her name, wasn't it?

She opened her eyes to see three faces staring at her. One was Mayor Fluttershy, the other was her mother, and the other was Whisper Wind.

"What-?" she said, before there was a sigh.

"You're lucky we found you in time" Fluttershy smiled, "A few more minutes and who knows what that nasty plant could've done to you."

"Plant?" she asked. Fluttershy nodded, and indicated a small pile of cinders by Twilight Sparkle's hooves.

"How... long was I out for?" she asked. Memories came rushing back to her, like she'd just woken up.

She'd ran into the Everfree Forest, just because she could, despite Whisper Wind telling her not to, despite her mother explaining that she was only going to be talking with Fluttershy for a few minutes. And she'd managed to get herself lost incredibly quickly, at which point the plant had attacked her.

"Only a few minutes" her mother said, smiling a worried smile. Midday... Twilight Twinkle rubbed her head. It sure hadn't felt like she'd been asleep for a few minutes, it had felt like years. Even as it was all slipping away, she could remember fragments of it, and looked at Whisper Wind.

"Thanks" she smiled, before looking at her mother.

"I won't run off again, mom." the mare laughed, and shook her head. This felt familiar. She'd done that in the dream, hadn't she? But it all felt so different.

"What a way to start a holiday" Twilight Sparkle said, turning to leave the forest, Twilight Twinkle, Whisper Wind and his mother following after. Then Twinkle remembered, and looked at Wisp... Whisper Wind, who seemed oddly nervous about something.

The Twilights parted ways with the pegasi, and began walking toward the train station in the distance. Occasionaly Twilight Sparkle looked toward the filly struggling to keep up with her. Every now and then Twilight Twinkle tripped, since for some reason her legs didn't seem to be working in the way she expected them to.

"You're being really quiet" Twilight Sparkle observed. Two little burnt orange eyes turned to her.

"Yeah, just... thinking. I had a really weird dream while I was out" the mare tilted her head, before stopping.

"Are you alright, dear?" the filly nodded, smiling slightly.

"Do you want me to carry you?" Twilight Sparkle asked. Twilight Twinkle thought about this. It did seem fun.

"Yeah" she smiled, before being lifted by her mother's magic. As the mare continued walking, Twilight Twinkle nestled down between her wings, and all the strange alternate memories were slowly filed away to be remembered later, but several truly nightmarish ones were standing out.

"Mom?" the little filly said.

"Yes?"

"I love you"

She couldn't see it, but she knew her mother was smiling. "I love you too, Twilight Twinkle. You're the best daughter I could've asked for. Even if you do run off a lot."

"Won't do it again" the filly said, "Promise."

*****

Twilight Sparkle sighed, as she scanned through her books. She had been looking for a plant that matched the one she was staring at, and so far had found nothing, while Midday Eclipse remained immobile, the plant seeming to do nothing. Pinkie Pie and Spike, meanwhile were rattling off suggestions for what the plant was doing, each one getting more and more alarming.

"Maybe it'll turn her into some sort of hideous giant plant monster, and Princess Celestia will have to burn her to a crisp!" Spike said. Pinkie shook her head.

"No, it'll use her as a mobile seed dispenser. When everypony goes near, she'll shoot spores into them, spreading the infection!"

"Or it'll turn her into a half-pony, half-plant being, who wants to destroy all ponies and let plants take over the world, constantly battling Luna every few months for highly arbitrary reasons!"

And with each one Twilight grew more and more irritated, until finally Pinkie said the most disturbing one.
"Maybe it's secretly laying its eggs in her stomach, and then when it's done, it'll drop off, and everything will seem fine until at breakfast she starts shaking and convulsing, and a hideous phallic-plant monster will shoot out of her, and slowly kill everypony in town!"

"ENOUGH!" Twilight roared, glaring at the two of them for a moment, before restraining herself. She looked at Pinkie. "How about, Pinkie, instead of pointless speculation, you ask around town for anypony who might now anything about... that?"

The pink mare's smile seemed to flicker for a moment, before she nodded, and sauntered out of the door. Spike just stood there, looking at Twilight.

The mare frowned. She honestly wasn't sure why she was so concerned about Midday. From all appearances the royal blue unicorn was alright, physically, but for some reason she couldn't help but feel worried for her. She realised Spike was saying something.

"Sorry" she said.
The little dragon looked embarrassed about something. "I was just thinking, maybe we should try and contact her dad, or something, maybe he'd be able to help, but I-I guess not..."

Twilight shook her head. "It's an idea, but we don't know where he is or how to contact him" she looked over at the mare, as if afraid that looking away would cause the mare to stop breathing.

"She's so secretive. She's been here for months, and she's barely said anything about herself. I mean, we know that's she's from Canterlot, she was an accountant, although I don't think I've ever seen her doing any accounting, she knows the Princesses, or at least she knows Luna well enough to talk to her. Oh, and her parents had at least a passing interest in astronomy, though from the sound of it they're broken up."

She put a hoof against her chin. "She doesn't act like a pony from a broken home, thought. And she mentioned her mother was successful. She's willing to help others without much in the way of complaint, has a tendency toward self-deprication. So who is she? What could possibly be so dangerous she won't tell us?"

Spike looked nervously about. "Maybe we should ask Princess Celestia about this plant. I mean, if anypony knows about it, she would?"

"On the day of the March equinox?" Twilight shook her head, "She'll be far too busy!"

Spike shrugged, "It was an idea."

"I doubt Princess Celestia will drop everything she's doing just because one of my friends has been attacked by a plant" Twilight said, though Spike was certain Princess Celestia was exactly the sort of pony who would abandon a March equinox party just to get a plant off of somepony, even before getting to who Midday was.
The two sat there for a moment.

"So, what do we do?" asked Spike, "What can we do?"

An idea occured to Twilight. "We can find her father! Perhaps he can help us!" she smiled.

Spike looked confused. "How?"

"Simple, we find her emergency contact details."

Spike considered this, and frowned. He was incredibly certain he could guess who those ponies were. He looked at Midday again, and remembered the mare had promised to tell Twilight the truth about herself. A thought occured to the dragon, and he rushed upstairs, Twilight too engrossed in her books to notice. He rushed over to the small desk where Peewee was sleeping, and taking great care not to disrupt the tiny phoenix, began looking for something useful, something that would've helped with their current situation.

And then it occured to Spike that something was seriously wrong with the current situation, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

*****

The years passed for Twilight Twinkle, along a much different path. She did not instantly run off on arrival at the Crystal Palace, meaning she did not meet Shining Sapphire in the same fashion, and they did not get into discussions of pranks and subsequently did not proceed to throw a pie at Princess Luna. Nor the disastrous incident with the camping trip occur. In fact, for the most part Twilight Twinkle was quiet and studious, save for when some obnoxious ponies began to taunt her about not having wings, at which point the young unicorn reacted violently. However, after being scolded for lashing out, Twilight Twinkle tried to talk to her mother about why she didn't have wings, but the mare had simply smiled.

"You don't need wings, Twinkle. You are just fine the way you are" she smiled.

"Okay..." the filly said, uncertainly, "But I was kinda wondering why I don't have wings."

Twilight Sparkle looked hesitant. "Well, in order to have wings, you'd need to earn them."

Twilight Twinkle blinked. "Oh" she said quietly. Twilight Sparkle smiled gently at the filly.

"But I am sure that if anypony is capable of getting herself wings, it's you."

The filly smiled back. "Thanks mom."

The two embraced, before Twilight Sparkle just added, "Now go get some sleep, dear"

"'kay"

*****

Spike frowned. He had found something, a small notebook which turned out to be almost empty, and contained nothing. He sighed, and returned downstairs, to find Twilight still going through her books. The mare looked up at Spike.

"Anything?" she asked. Spike shook his head. Twilight frowned.

"Me neither. I can't understand it, this town is right next to the Everfree Forest. You'd think somepony would know about this plant," the mare scowled at her book, "But I can't find anything. These books are just... useless!"

She threw the book she was reading across the room and collapsed. Spike walked over to her and patted her, gently.

"You'll figure it out" he said quietly, "Just like you always do."

Twilight smiled. "Thank you, Spike" she looked over to the unmoving form of Midday. "But I'm not sure how exactly I'm supposed to solve this one. And where is Pinkie Pie?"

*****

Ponyville's premier (and in fact, only) party planner made her way toward Sweet Apple Acres, having quickly determined that if anypony knew anything about weird, freaky, odd, pony-attacking plants, it was probably somepony in the Apple family. As she made her way toward the farm-house she noticed Applejack going about her daily routine, though the mare seemed to be occasionaly glancing at something.

"Good morning, Applejack!" Pinkie Pie beamed. The farmer looked up at her.

"Hiya, Pinkie Pie. What brings you over here?"

"Well Midday's been attacked by a weird plant in the Everfree which made her miss her surprise birthday party and Twilight can't figure out what it is and was wondering if you could tell her what sort of plant it could be?"

Applejack pondered for a moment. "Ah don't think ah'm gonna be much help there, Pinkie. 'sides, ah gotta keep an eye on McIntosh. He keeps... zoning out fer some reason lately."

Both mares turned to look at Big McIntosh, who was calmly moving several large bushels of apples about, occasionaly pausing and making wistful sighing noises, while staring in the direction of Ponyville.

"Ah suggest askin' Flutters-" Pinkie raced off toward Fluttershy's cottage. She couldn't believe she hadn't thought of asking Fluttershy first, then Applejack second, since Fluttershy practically lived next to the Everfree Forest. In fact, Fluttershy did live next to the Everfree Forest, so Pinkie Pie still wasn't sure why she hadn't ask Fluttershy in the first place, followed by asking Applejack.

"Wait... did I need to ask Applejack at all?" Pinkie produced an abacus, and after a few moments calculation, decided she hadn't needed to ask Applejack about the strange plant, but that it was nice to keep her in the loop.

*****

Twilight and Spike continued pouring through the books, with Twilight occasionaly double- and triple-checking some books, neither finding any evidence of the missing book. Then, after some time there was a knocking on the door, and Twilight opened it, expecting Pinkie Pie, and whoever she'd fetched. All she saw was a tall, gangly mailstallion, holding a letter.

"Letter for Midday Eclipse" he said, handing the letter over to Twilight. The mare took it, and examined it. Spike looked over to her, and noticed she was smiling.

"What?" he asked.

"It's from her father. He's just asking if she's doing well, enquiring about her life in Ponyville, and informing her about his new residence in Canterlot" she set the letter down. "Now we can ask him to come to Ponyville and try and help us"

Spike felt a sudden pang of alarm, although he wasn't sure exactly whether it was because of meeting Midday's father, or because of any awkwardness there would be upon the stallion meeting Twilight.

Then there was another knock at the door, and Twilight opened it to find Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy standing there.

"Hi Twilight! I fetched Fluttershy, like you asked me to" Pinkie Pie smiled. The pegasus walked over to Midday and began to examine the odd plant, nudging it slightly, at which point it began to constrict tighter.

"Don't do that!" Twilight said. Fluttershy shuffled backward, and the plant's grip loosened.

"I probably should've told you not to do that sooner" Twilight sighed. "Sorry"
Fluttershy nodded, and resumed her examining, taking effort not to touch the plant any further.

"Do you think the plant does anything else when it does that, aside from just getting tighter?" Spike asked. Twilight shook her heard.

"Who knows?"

*****

It had happened quite suddenly, while Twilight Twinkle was in Ponyville, not doing anything more than talking with Whisper Wind. She wasn't sure, but she thought she rather liked the young stallion somewhat, with his golden-brown fur and deep, soulful blue eyes. And then, all of a sudden her horn had started generating magic, a massive storm of energy had began to swirl around her, and the next thing she knew, there was a bright flash and she'd blanked out.
When she woke up, she was in a hospital room, with her mother was nearby, looking at her, and beside her was Whisper, whose face was one of unbelievable worry.

She was suddenly embraced by her mother. "You're alright!" the mare said.

The fifteen year-old gently pushed her back. "Of course I am, but what's going on?" she asked.
Then she felt it, the odd sensation on her back, and she turned her head to see it.

Jutting out of her back was a pair of royal blue wings. She stared at them, and they fluttered. She tried to get a feel of them, no easy task since her legs weren't designed to bend in such a fashion, but then she heard her mother laughing.

"Yes, Twinkle, they are quite real. You do in fact have wings."

She smiled, and gave them an experimental flap. Then another. "I can fly" she said, in a hushed voice. Then something occured to her, and she turned to look at Twilight Sparkle.

"Doesn't this kinda mean that I'm... well..."
Her mother smiled, and Twilight Twinkle couldn't help but notice there was a very visible amount of pride in it.

"But... how? This doesn't really make any sense!" the young mare exclaimed, "I mean, don't get me wrong, I really like these wings, but... why am I a Princess?!"

Twilight Sparkle just smiled. "You didn't think with a Cutie Mark like yours, you'd just be a regular unicorn all your life, did you? You were meant for great things. And this is just another step along the way."

Twilight Twinkle stared at her. "Have you been into Miss Applejack's home brews, mom?"

The mare just laughed, and looked at Whisper Wind, then back to her daughter, and then suddenly walked out of the room. She looked out of the window.

"Me... a Princess..." she murmured, staring at her wings in her reflection. "This doesn't seem right..."

"Doesn't it?" Whisper Wind asked.

"Well, my mom does have a point. Ponies who get their Cutie Mark when they're five don't just fade into the background, or something, but still... A Princess. An actual, factual Princess. Me."

She looked at Whisper Wind, who smiled gently, but he seemed nervous about something. A few months ago, the pony had informed her he was in fact a Changeling, and she had instantly accepted this, yet now he seemed to be handling the sudden change in status quo with more difficulty than she was.

"I'm happy for you" he said, in the quiet. "You've gotten what you always wanted, then?"

She thought about this, staring at Wisp. She frowned, and then looked at her friend.
"Well... not everything" she shrugged, "After all, I don't exactly have the love of a good stallion right now..." she looked at Wisp, who seemed oddly nervous.

"Though I suppose I can wait for that one for a while..." she smirked.

*****

The coronation transpired without incident, as Twilight Twinkle tried not to think about how she looked in the strange gown that she apparently really did have to wear, just like Princess Celestia, or Princess Luna, or her mother, or Shining Sapphire (who looked amazingly uncomfortable in hers).

The air was filled with trumpeting, cheering and confetti, the ponies of Canterlot apparently not minding whether or not she'd actually done anything to deserve wings, and some seemed to be viewing it as something that should've happened anyway.

The crown that was rested on her head featured an exact replica of her own Cutie Mark, and felt... actually, it felt like a small lightweight piece of metal, that is to say, not heavy at all.
The only problem was that she then had to give a speech.

*****

Spike paced as Fluttershy continued analysing the mysterious plant, until eventually Fluttershy finally spoke up.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can tell what this plant actually is. But, then, I'm not really an expert in this sort of thing"
Pinkie Pie just bounced over to her. "That's okay, Fluttershy. Right, Twilight?"

There was no response from Twilight.

The two mares and one dragon looked around.

"W-where'd she go?" Spike asked. Pinkie waved a hoof.

"I know, I know! She said she was going to go get Rainbow Dash to fetch Midday's father to see if he could help us with this nasty plant, or in case something goes wrong. Spike, why are you going pale?"

"No reason" the dragon said, before rushing toward the door.

*****

Rainbow Dash was at that moment resting on a cloud, enjoying a nice day's relaxing. She had secretly been meaning to attend Midday Eclipse's party, if only for the free cake and dancing. She'd been trying to get comfortable, shuffling about on her cloud when she heard something. Somepony was calling for her, and she recognised the voice. It was Twilight.

"Hey," she called out, "What's up Twilight?"

"I'd like to ask you something" the mare yelled to her.

"Ask away" Twilight lifted a small note toward Rainbow Dash.

"Could you travel to Canterlot, to this place and find the pony who lives there and ask him to travel to Ponyville?"

"What's this about?" Rainbow Dash asked, "Has Pinkie Pie gotten into Applejack's basement again? Did Rarity accidentaly sew her mane into one of her dresses?"

Twilight just stared at her, before slowly saying, "No, Midday's been attacked by an odd plant, and I thought it might be an idea to contact her father."

Rainbow Dash stared back. "Why?"

"In case something happens. Rainbow Dash, please. I don't know how to get the plant off of her and... I just think he should know."

Rainbow Dash considered this, and looked at Twilight Sparkle. She seemed to be unusually wound up by these goings on, which meant only one thing: she hadn't been able to find a solution in her books, and was now worried.

"Yeah, okay," Rainbow Dash said, not entirely sure she got Twilight's logic, "I'll go fetch him, Twilight."

"Thanks, Rainbow Dash" Twilight said, as the pegasus shot off into the air, wondering whether she should've suggested the mare use some manner of restrain or caution when talking to the pony. She dismissed these thoughts, and turned back to the library.

*****

She honestly wasn't sure how it had happened, but Twilight Twinkle had found herself fighting alongside Whisper Wind against the Changeling Queen, who for whatever reason had tried to invade Equestria, starting with Ponyville, which was quite the mistake seeing as several national heroes lived there, and it was only a few moments away from Canterlot by flight. So, Twilight Twinkle and Whisper Wind had faced the Changeling Queen directly, as she screamed all the while about how she was going to destroy Whisper Wind. After several hours of dramatic fighting, the two ponies utilised their magic, blasting the Changeling Queen with a strange beam of magic of bright pink that sealed the mare inside a giant garishly pink crystal. The instant they had done this, the entire Changeling army stopped fighting, and swarmed toward Whisper Wind, each buzzing in some strange language. Twinkle stood next to Whisper Wind, who sighed.

"What's going on?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"It is quite simple," the golden brown pegasus sighed, "Since I just... deposed my mother, that technically makes me the ruler of the Changelings."

Cadance said nothing, merely looking hesitantly at him, while Shining Sapphire just looked confused, before raising an eyebrow.

"So... that makes you... king of the Changelings?" she asked. Twilight Twinkle turned to look at him, and he turned to look at her, his large blue eyes filled with... did she see regret in them?

"Yes. I suppose it does. But..." he looked around at the Changelings, each bowing before him reverently.

"I don't know if I can do this."
Twilight Twinkle looked down at her hooves, and then nuzzled him, not caring about the several ponies staring at her.

"I think you can. I know you can, Wisp."

She smiled at him, and he smiled back.
"But you don't have to do it alone" she pointed out. For a moment then he looked confused, then a light dawned on his face.

*****

Twilight Twinkle lay calmly in her bed, and smiled. Whisper Wind had asked her to... he'd asker her to...
No, she couldn't wrap her head around the idea, of what he had asked, and that she'd actually managed to say yes.

She sat up in her bed, looking at what lay just a few feet away from her bed, made by the finest dress-maker in all of Canterlot, nay, all Equestria, and her sister in-law had outdone herself with this work.

She was technically supposed to be asleep, but even five hours before the most important moment of her life, she couldn't sleep. Who would, in her situation?

She also couldn't help but remember what her aunt had told her of her wedding day, and a tune began to sound in her head, as she approached the dress, raising a hoof to examine it. A smile went across her lips, and then her mouth began to move.

"This day is going to be perfect...

The kind of day I've dreamed of since I was small..."

Princess Celestia had somehow managed to jockey her way into ministering the wedding, though Twinkle had to spent some time in the rehearsal trying to correct her constant proclamation that she was pronouncing them 'filly and gentlecolt', eventually getting Luna and her mother drawn into the argument, though Celestia finally aquised.

The wedding itself was in fact perfect. No detail was left untouched, no disasters occured, no bridesmaids were brainwashed, only cajoled via Shining Sapphire asking very nicely.

Celestia smiled one of her usual gentle smiles as she lowered the strange obsidian crown of the Changelings (which had been delivered by a group of Changelings).

"I know pronounce you both King and Queen of the Changelings, and husband and wife. You ma-" she was cut off by the two kissing, and after a few seconds the crowd decided to applause anyway.

*****

Twilight Sparkle opened the door to the library to find Spike staring at her. And Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, and Applejack, and next to her, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and Rarity, and Trixie, who had been glowering at Rarity for whatever reason.

"Spike?" Twilight asked, "Why are all these ponies here?"

"Well, Trixie stays in the spare bed, Applejack came her because she heard Midday's in trouble, Rarity came hear because she heard gossip about town, and Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo just... showed up."

"We were at Rarity's, and she doesn't trust us to stay in the store after we tried to look after Opalescence" Sweetie Belle said quietly.

Scootaloo nodded. "And we were worried about her as well."
Twilight shook her head, not sure whether to ask everypony to go elsewhere, and decided against it.

"Did you find anything out about the plant?" she asked. Fluttershy just meekly shook her head, before adding a tiny 'sorry'.

Twilight looked to everypony else. The only pony who didn't say anything was Trixie, who was eating what appeared to be that odd honey-flavoured cereal Spike enjoyed... only covered in chilli sauce. And sitting in what almost looked like water. Then she noticed that Spike seemed incredibly nervous.

"What is it, Spike?" in the sudden quiet, all eyes turned to the dragon, who tried smiling, only to look like somepony had dropped a lead-lined safe on his foot.

"Well, it's nothing, but... don't get mad, but..." he coughed.

"While you were gone, Snips and Snails came to the library, looking for Trixie, and Snails managed to figure out what the plant was."

For a moment, Twilight didn't say anything. "Snails..." she said.
"Which one's he?"

"The thin yellow one that puberty seems to be taking its issues out on" Trixie said, inbetween her strange-smelling breakfast cereal. Rarity shot a glare at her, thought the showpony didn't seem to notice or care.

"So... you're saying Snails managed to identify this plant, when all my books couldn't?"

Spike briefly considered pointing out that Twilight hadn't looked through all her books, and that her attention to detail declined dramatically when she was concerned, and then thought better of it, thought Twilight was staring at him.

"So what did he say, then?"

"Well, he identified the plant, after which Trixie gave them some money to get rid of them," Spike grinned, "And... well, try not to get annoyed, but-"

"Spike, now that you've said that I'm quite certain I will be annoyed by whatever you say."

"I sent Princess Celestia a letter if she knew what it was" he said hurriedly.
"And?" Twilight asked, her voice incredibly calm. She wasn't annoyed that Spike had informed Princess Celestia, but she was annoyed that she'd therefore just sent Rainbow Dash on a wild goose chase.

"Haven't got a reply yet."
Then, Spike suddenly began to convulse, at which Twilight took a step back, remembering the last time she'd been hit by one of Spike's flames. A small scroll appeared in the middle of the flames, and Spike grabbed it, breaking the seal and opening it.

"Well?" Twilight asked, "What does it say?"

Spike's eyes went wide, then focused, then wide again, and he slowly turned the note to Twilight.

"What does it say, Twilight?" Appplejack asked.
Twilight lowered the paper, her face slightly pale, and showed everypony.

Spike,

We know of the Black Mercy.

You must hurry!

Find a way to get that plant off of her quickly,

Now, before it's too late!

Every second you waste will lead to further disaster!

Princesses Celestia and Luna

P.S. provided all goes well, tell Midday Eclipse I said hello.

"But..." Rarity said slowly, "She hasn't actually said how to remove the cursed thing."

"Or why it's so important we get the thing off of her."

"Maybe it's sucking out her bodily fluids!" Scootaloo declared.

"That's just silly" Pinkie Pie said calmly.

"Black Mercy..." Twilight frowned. "I think I've read about that on-"
She went silent and her face went pale, as she remembered an old lesson she'd recieved.

"Oh no" she whispered.
Everypony stared at her.

"What?" Rarity asked.

"How long has it been, do you think, since this plant attached itself to her?" Twilight asked.

"Well... since you and Pinkie Pie were the first to find her, and that was first thing in the morning... she'd probably been there for hours."

"So... what does this plant do?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Grants you your greatest desires or wishes."

"What's so bad about that?" asked Sweetie Belle.
The grown-ups exchanged nervous and uncertain glances, not sure of who exactly to explain the differences between the dreams of anypony over eighteen with anypony under the age of fourteen.

"Hey, you three! There's some free cake over at Sugarcube Corner!" Pinkie Pie cheered, "And I need some help with cleaning it up!"

As Pinkie Pie more-or-less shoved the three fillies out of the room, everypony else (and Spike) grew steadily nervous.
"So... what's she dreamin' of?"

*****

Twilight Twinkle was fighting the near-overwhelming urge to fall asleep. It had been a long, tiring journey that had just ended in a lot of pain and screaming, but she was still smiling, especiall as she looked at the tiny bundle held between her legs.

"Your Highness..." the nurse said, "Highnesses" she added on seeing Whisper Wind.

"May I introduce your daughter."

Author's Note

Writer's block kinda bad on this one.
Sorry about that.

Happy Birthday, Twilight Twinkle Part Two

Twilight Twinkle, Queen of the Changelings (by marriage to their king), looked down at the tiny form in her legs, its tiny little eyes staring out at the world, with its tiny little hooves which were so much smaller than any one of her own.

"She has your eyes" she said to Whisper Wind, who was standing next to the bed she was sitting on. He looked at the newborn foal, and her tiny bright blue eyes.

"She does" there was a tiny gurgle from the newborn, and Twinkle's smile, already at dangerous levels, began to grow.

"What should we call her?" she asked her husband. The two exchanged looks before staring back to the tiny newborn, with her tiny blue eyes, the miniscule horn sticking out of her forehead, her fur a mixture of her mother's dark blue and her father's charcoal grey, however for whatever reason her barely there mane and tail were lilac.

"How about... Lilac Velvet?" Whisper Wind asked. Twilight Twinkle tilted her head, biting her lip for good measure.

"Lilac Velet?" she repeated, frowning. "I don't know, dear..."
She paused in thought for a while, and realised she was drawing a blank. "But then, I can't really think of anything better, myself."

For a few moments she looked at the now slumbering little shape in front of her, and was aware she could feel a tiny heartbeat coming from the foal, making her giggle slightly as it occured to her she was staring at her daughter. Her daughter, she thought.

"Well, if she doesn't like it, she can always have a Cutiecenera when she's older and change her name" she said, trying not to shrug, fearing that doing so would mean she'd drop her daughter, causing the little thing to shatter like glass. She briefly lamenting her apparently inherited lack of skill with names.

'Like calling myself Midday Ecli-... when did I do that?' she looked around, at her husband, who was still staring at their daughter, at the two nearby changelings trying very hard to look invisible, and doing a passable job at that, and down to the newly-named foal, trying to remember when she'd called herself such a stupid name.

"Lilac Velvet" she said, holding the foal closer to herself, as her confusion melted away. Nothing seemed to matter anymore, other than her.
"Hello" she whispered.

Some weeks later
Twilight Twinkle was aware of hoofsteps behind her, and ignored them, focusing only on the object before her. As she sat there, still focusing, she was aware of warm breath on her neck. Had she not been sitting down, she would have been flicking her tail at the offending party.

"How long have you been up?" she heard a voice from behind her say.

"Don't know. What time is it?"

"Three in the morning"

"Then about four hours" she said. She was aware of a sighing behind her.

"You haven't actually gone to sleep yet, have you?"
There was a small pause as Twilight Twinkle thought of the best response to that.

"No" she eventually decided to say. She could practically feel Whisper Wind's stare on her back.

"Honey, I'm fairly certain our daughter will not disappear if you look away for more than a few seconds" he said, placing a hoof on her back, and massaging her.
She looked at the cot in front of her, and the slumbering pony within.

"I know that," she said, trying not to sound exasperated, "I just..."

She placed one of her hooves on the cot, looking around the room. Since they lived in the changeling's castle, most of the rooms did not lend themselves toward being bright or airy, but after some searching they'd managed to find a room that was on the whole more brighter and cheerful looking than most. It didn't seem to bother little Lilac, who only occasionaly twitched in her sleep.

"She's just very beautiful."

She felt Whisper lean in closer, "Like her mother. Or at least like her mother when's she's had some sleep."
She turned and jabbed him with a hoof, fighting down the urge to yawn as she did.

"Fine, fine, you win, I'll go to bed and let the guards look after her" she said, shooting a glance at the two changelings standing nearby. While the changelings didn't usually seem to get nervous, one of them did seem somewhat panicked, and saluted as she glowered at him, much to the confusion of the one standing next to him.

She followed him back to the massive bedroom, which had apparently once been the dwelling of the Changeling Queen, and it was noticable, since the room was far more opulent than anywhere else in the castle, though on 'inheriting' the residence from the mare, Whisper Wind had quickly removed almost everything he'd found in the room, refusing to inform his wife what he'd found. However, the incredibly large bed he had preserved, though even the other changelings weren't sure where it had come from.

As Twilight Twinkle lay down on the bed, reminding herself not to fall asleep on her wings, lest she suffer pins and needles again, she looked over to her husband, who was already fully asleep. She smirked, and then sat down.

Then she heard the voices.

"-an't understand how I'm supposed to remove it"

"Have you tried acid, or smooth jazz, or tempting it with delicious cake?"

"That isn't helping, Pinkie dear"

"You'd think they'd give us s-"

Twilight Twinkle shot up, looking about the room. After a few seconds Whisper Wind shifted and looked at her.

"What's wrong?" he asked. She turned to look at him, then looked around the room.

"Nothing, nothing" she said, laying back down. She was just hearing things and needed sleep, she told herself.

Though she wasn't going to stop worrying about her daughter.

*****

Twilight Sparkle frowned. She wasn't angry, and after the incident with time-travel, she wasn't afraid, but she was deeply concerned about Midday Eclipse, who had been attacked by a strange plant named the Black Mercy (which Pinkie had noted sounded like a rock band), and though Spike had asked the Princesses about this, their response had been much less than helpful, merely telling Twilight to remove the plant, though without any instructions on how to achieve such a thing.

For a moment, Twilight wondered if that was because Princess Celestia had faith that she would find a solution on her own. Or perhaps they'd just forgotten how to deal with the problem.

Speaking of problems, she was finding it hard to concentrate as everypony in the room, currently consisting of Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Trixie, Spike and Pinkie Pie, who had returned from distracting the Cutie Mark Crusaders from getting involved via means of leftover birthday cake (for the massive surprise birthday party Pinkie had planned for Midday Eclipse, which Pinkie had reluctantly postponed. Not cancelled, as Twilight had mistakenly assumed, just put on hold). Each pony was trying, in their own way, to help figure out a way to remove the plant. Unfortunately this had descended into petty bickering between Applejack, Rarity and Trixie, while Spike and Pinkie Pie were playing some card game or another on their own, while Fluttershy believed she was staying out of everypony else's way. Then something occured to Twilight Sparkle.

She'd sent Rainbow Dash to Canterlot to fetch Midday's father from Canterlot, on the grounds that he might have been able to help.

'That... might not have been the smartest choice I will ever make' she thought. She sat there for a moment, before going back to reading, assured that whatever Rainbow Dash did, it was unlikely to result in untold disaster.
'Hopefully'.

*****

Rainbow Dash soared through the air, pushing herself at speeds of incredibly fast toward the mountainside city of Canterlot. After a few minutes of flying she reached the city, and landed in a wide open plaza, and looked around, at which point she realised she didn't actually know where she was supposed to look.

She frowed, and shifted her jaw as she pondered her situation.

'Crud'. She looked about for a convinient Royal Guard she could ask, and could see none. That didn't make much sense, Canterlot was usually filled with guards, so why weren't they there at the moment, when she needed their help?

"Why are we doing this again?" Gilded Sheath asked as they stared at a massive wall with paint on it.

"To see who gets to guard the boss's wedding" the mare next to him whispered, as behind them a pony with bright green fur was catapulted out of the room.

Three seconds later, both Sheath and the mare sitting next to him were found unfit to guard Shining Armor's wedding. It would later occur to the captain of the guard that it might not have been the best idea to let Luna choose the selection process, even if she was his superior.

Rainbow Dash slammed a hoof against the ground, as she realised this would require desperation tactics, borrowed from the Book of Pinkie.
Which meant she'd go ask, or annoy, a stranger into helping her.

She confindently set off down the street, and a few moments later found a stallion with bright blue calmly looking at some flowers. She walked up to the stallion.

"Hey!" she called out. He turned around, and a part of Rainbow Dash noted that he looked really familiar, "Do you know how to find this place?" she asked, showing him the location of the house she was supposed to be looking for, which she had drawn onto her leg so she wouldn't forget.

"Yeah, I know how to find that place" the large, well-muscled stallion said, slowly. He quickly ran out a long description of how to find the place, Rainbow Dash just nodding and going 'okay' every few seconds until he was done.

She stood there, glancing about. The stallion stared at her, and then gave her a much shorter set of instructions.
"Thanks" she muttered, before setting off again. As she was halfway to her destination, she realised who the pony had been.

She'd just asked a pony she had a poster of (hidden under bed, of course) for directions.

*****

For Twilight Twinkle, the few short months of looking after Lilac seemed to pass eerily quickly, and soon the little filly was rushing about around the castle, driving the poor changelings assigned to looking after her to distraction.

And also, driving Twilight Twinkle to sleepless panic, since the foal developed a knack for getting out of her cot without using her wings, which due to her youth were barely stubs, or magic, again due to the fact that she was seven months old. However, the most she ever did was try and make her way to her parents' bed.

"How does she keep doing that?" Whisper Wind moaned as Twilight Twinkle and Lilac interacted.

"Because," Twilight Twinkle said, "She's just as clever as her parents. Even if she hasn't managed to get control over her bladder yet."

There was a small pause as the tiny foal's face scrunched up.
"I noticed" Whisper Wind sighed.

Both ponies got up from the bed to fetch the diapers, only to result in an argument over who was going to fetch them, which was fortunately solved by a changeling conviniently appearing with several.

So, as Twilight Twinkle began the arduous task of changing the diaper of an over-active little filly, the unexpected happened.

"Doo-pah" the foal squeaked. It took Twinkle a second to realise what had just happened, as she stared at the purple and grey filly, who seemed annoyed that her mother had stopped changing the soiled underwear.

"WISP!" she said, not yelling for fear of alarming Lilac, though feeling incredibly excited all the same. In a few seconds the stallion appeared, looking like he'd almost had a heart attack.

"What?" he said hurriedly.

"She spoke!" Twinkle beamed, before frowning and finding herself adding, "Well... she verbalised, but still. It counts!"
The filly just looked up at her parents, her bright blue eyes unblinking.

"Di-pah" she squeaked, sounding mildly irritated.

"Oh, yes" Twinkle blushed, as she remembered the awful stench being inflicted on her daughter "Sorry sweetie."

"You know," Whisper Wind said, "You don't need to look after her every second of every day."

"I do know that, thank you very much, dear." she turned and lifted the soiled garment away from her, "But isn't that part of the reason why you love me?"

"Well, that and your intelligence and beauty"
Twilight Twinkle smiled at him, then turned to Lilac, who was looking incredibly pleased to not be sharing her behind with soiled undergarments.

"Good answer, you smooth-talker. And better me than Shining Sapphire."
There were a few seconds where both grown ponies looked confused.

"Shining Sapphire, and me? Are you feeling alright, dear?"
Twinkle frowned, as she tried to determine why she said that.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine. Probably just didn't get enough sleep."
There was a small series of gurgles, before both ponies looked to where Lilac was, which was currently trying to jump onto her parent's bed.

"Honey, stop her before she trai-...Oh. Too late, I guess."
The two ponies stared at the slumbering little foal, who seemed completely unaware of the mess she'd just caused, and was quite prepared for a nap.

"Well, at least she's figuring out how to speak" Twinkle sighed, though her mirth was undercut by a slight amount of nervousness. Why had she just said what she'd said, about Shining Sapphire?

*****

Rainbow Dash looked around the street. She was fairly certain she was in the right place, if what she'd been told by Shining Armor was correct.

She'd spoken to Shining Armor, she told herself. She actually got to speak to him. She was so going to tell Rarity that when she got back. True, she wasn't the little teenager who'd been more than a little bit fond of him when she was younger, but still, she'd spoke to him, without even realising it.

She shook her head. Twilight had asked her to fetch somepony, and regardless of how she felt about Midday Eclipse, which she would have reluctantly admitted she wasn't really sure on herself, she wasn't going to leave a pony hanging, even if she was kinda freaky-weird.

She looked about, and examined the address she'd scrawled onto her leg, and then knocked on the door. For a few moments, nothing happened.
Then there was the sound of hoofsteps, and the door opened.

Rainbow Dash stared at the pony in front of her, with his dark blue fur, bright orange hair and equally orange eyes. For whatever reason, he looked like he'd seen a ghost.

"Yes?" he asked.

"You Midday Eclipse's old man?" she asked. For a moment he looked confused, and then nodded.

"Yes..." he said.

"Good," Rainbow Dash had been almost possibly just slightly annoyed at the fact that she might have gotten the wrong house, "'cuz she needs your help."

"Why?" he asked, "What's happened?"

"Some weird plant thing attacked her, or something, so I need you to come with me to Ponyville."
For a moment, there was an odd look Rainbow Dash didn't recognise, and then he hung his head.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot."
Rainbow Dash frowned, "And why the hay not? She's your daughter, and she's in trouble!"

"I..." he looked about, at anywhere but Rainbow Dash's Stare-level glaring, "I can't explain."

For a moment, Rainbow Dash kept staring at him. "Yeah, no, that ain't gonna fly with me, chump. And I don't care how sad you look, or how many 'oh-I-can't-explain-myself' you throw at me, I'm getting you to Ponyville even if I hafta knock you out, and carry you on my back!"

He stared at her for a moment, looking alarmed, then strangely he seemed to accept this, like it was an everyday occurance.

"Alright," he said, "If you insist."

*****

Twilight Sparkle sighed, placing another book down, having been frustrated by her lack of success with another book.
"This is getting... intolerable" she sighed.

"Well, we can't magic it off, covering it in mustard didn't work," Spike said.

"It was only a suggestion! Trixie had no idea whether you'd be mad enough to try it!"

"Play music at it didn't work" Pinkie helpfully chimed, "And I really thought Vinyl's best stuff would work."

"No matter Pinkie Pie, and I'm sure Rarity will return soon enough" Twilight said. The fashion designer had practically smashed through the wall in her haste to escape Vinyl Scratch's sample record, which hadn't been as awful as she'd been proclaiming it would be. Though Twilight would have agreed with the mare that it was really loud. She was actually slightly amazed the windows were still there.

"Anypony else got any ideas?" Applejack sighed.

"We could ask the Princesses again" Pinkie Pie said. Twilight shook her head.

"No, we can't. If they knew how to remove this plant, they'd have said so" she spoke with utter assuranty. Everypony stared at the unmoving mare in front of them.

"You know," Pinkie said quietly, "I though she was really going to enjoy her surprise party. I put a lot of effort into it. There was going to be cake, and dancing, and music and games, and punch and pinatas and pin-the-tail-on-the-pony."
There was a tiny sigh from the mare, whose mane was beginning to look deflated, "And now she's all coma-y and she'll never see the awesome party I made for her, and a party's not a party until everypony's there and enjoying themselves, especially if it's their party."

Applejack walked over to Pinkie Pie. "Ah'm sure she'll have the chance to enjoy it, Pinkie. Who doesn't love one of your parties?"

Pinkie Pie's smile returned, "That's because Pinkie Pie's parties are the best in the whole of Ponyville! And that's because of all the love baked into every single cake, because everypony should be smiling at a party, and if somepony isn't smiling, I will find out why and make a way for them to start smiling! Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!"
Then there was a moment of quiet.

"That was... informative" Twilight Sparkle said, "But it still doesn't help us with this plant-based problem."

"We'll find a way" Pinkie Pie said, "Even if it takes us a while"
There was a sudden noise, and everypony looked around in surprise. Twilight Sparkle blushed.

"Oh, I forgot to eat. I've been so busy trying to find out about this plant... I must have forgotten to eat. Sorry everypony."

"Well then, take a lunch-break, or a snack break. We'll let you know if anything changes" Fluttershy spoke up. Applejack leapt.

"Sorry, Fluttershy. Kinda forgot you were there, you were keeping so quiet."

"Sorry, Applejack" Fluttershy said, before shuffling slightly on seeing everypony looking at her.

*****

Meanwhile, in Canterlot, as Rainbow Dash and Comet Chaser walked toward the train station (the unicorn doubted Rainbow Dash's ability to fly all the way back to Ponyville carrying a full-grown pony on her back, and was not enthusiastic when Rainbow Dash offered to prove she could), they passed by a pony. This pony was a late-night worker at the Royal Achives, and as a result frequently worked late hours, and as a result, when he saw a stallion with deep blue fur, orange hair, orange eyes and a Cutie Mark just like his, he was not sure what to make of what happened. His first thought was that he was hallucinating, though he quickly realised this wasn't the case.

In an instant, his mind was overtaken by speculation, and a curiosity he hadn't realised he had sprang to life, and he decided to follow the pony and see what happened, ignoring his family's tradition for staying at home and not bothering anypony. And as he did, a tiny part of young Comet Chaser's mind began to wonder why it had been so important his family stay hidden.
After all, he thought, one tiny little spark of curiosity never hurt anypony.

*****

Twilight Twinkle sighed, relaxing in the mildly warm sun, while in the distance her aunt and her daughter chased each other about.

"She seems to have her mother's energy" Shining Sapphire smirked.

"You don't know the half of it" Twilight Twinkle laughed, "She's only four, and yet she insists on rushing about everywhere. It's insane."

She lay back, "It's hard enough having to manage an entire country of Changelings without worrying whether or not she's about to try and fly. I'm beginning to see what I put my own mother through now."

There was a slight pause, broken only by the giggles coming from Cadance as she pretended to be wrestled to the ground by the filly.

"How is she, by the way?" Shining Sapphire asked. Twinkle shrugged.

"Good, good. She occasionaly stops by, but I think she's a bit weirded-out by the castle."

"Well, that castle is a bit weird, Twinkie."

"You should've seen it when we moved in" Twinkle said. The two mares paused for a moment before grinning.

"So..." Shining Sapphire said, adjusting her sunglasses.

"So..."

"She started talking yet?"

"Oh, she's started talking, alright," Twinkle suddenly looked alarmed, "And she's not slowing down, either. It's really scary sometimes. She's like her grandmother when she gets started. But it is really adorable."

Shining Sapphire glanced at her. "So, you'd say you're happy, then?"

Twinkle smiled, "Well... I suppose I do have everything I ever wanted. Although, I could do without the immortality, or being a princess, and the slightly creepy castle, or having to do all manner of boring, queen-y stuff. But do you know what makes every boring speech worthwile, Sapphy?"

"I think I can guess" The young mare said, as they turned to see Cadance giving Lilac a piggy-back ride.

"The fact that at the end of the day, I'm married to a wonderful stallion, and have the most brilliant daughter there will ever be waiting for me."

Shining Sapphire stared at her. "Well, you are her mother, so I suppose you're required to say mushy stuff about her. Though if I get diabetes, I'm blaming you for that."

"I didn't picture you as a cynic"

"I'm not a cynic," Shining Sapphire gasped with false outrage, "But I'm pretty sure even Pinkie Pie herself would think you're overdoing the whole sunny-and-cheerful routine."

"I'm allowed to be cheerful."

"Then dial it down before you make the Crystal Heart explode, or something."
Twilight Twinkle suddenly found herself thinking of screaming, and a feeling like something was being ripped from her.

"Twinkie? What is it?"
She looked at Shining Sapphire.
Lying on the ground, breathing shallow, smiling weakly at her.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. I'm fine," she said, setting down the drink she was carrying. Lilac seemed to notice and walked over.

"Mommy? What's wrong?"
She looked down at the tiny foal, whose hairstyle usually ignored any stylists' attempts to do anything to it, just hanging in an almost Fluttershy-like fashion. She looked at the filly's innocence-filled blue eyes, and smiled.

"Nothing, sweetie. Mommy just mistimed when to breath while drinking, that's all" she realised she was breathing irregularly, and was certain she could hear voices that seemed both incredibly close and impossibly far.

"Come on, Lilac," Cadance said, "I think there might be some ice cream left somewhere in the kitchens."
The distraction worked perfectly, as no little child dared resist the allure of forbidden ice cream.

Twilight Twinkle lay down, trying to get her breathing under control. For some reason, she felt like something was weighing down on her chest.

*****

As the train pulled in to Ponyville station, Comet Chaser felt his heart beginning to beat wildly. Every step from the train station felt like he was moving through sludge, despite Rainbow Dash's impatient shoving and arguing. That was actually distracting him slightly, thinking on how different the mare seemed to the one he'd met, and yet how similar she seemed at the same time. In fact, Ponyville did look practically the same, despite the fact that it was also much smaller.

But, as the two walked through the town, toward the library, thoughts occured to the stallion, and he began to seize up. Fear gripped his very soul as he realised the very thing he'd been trying to avoid was about to come true. He was about to meet her.

"Something wrong?" Rainbow Dash asked. He looked up at her, and realised he was sweating, indeed sweating profusely.

"Just worried about my daughter, is all" he said, which was true. He was as he had been ever since the day she'd been born and had nightmares of finding an empty bed where his daughter should've been, and of course he would always been worried for her, no matter how powerful her magics were, or what she was doing, but even more alarming was the thought of a problem Twilight Sparkle couldn't solve.

He walked slowly toward the door of the library, and strange visions swirled in his mind of being led down a grimly lit corridor toward a foreboding chair, for some reason. He stopped, and remembering a technique he'd seen Twilight Sparkle use many times, took several deep breaths.

'You can do this' he told himself, 'Just remember, she is not the mare you know. Just try not to do anything stupid'

*****

Twilight sat, trying to think of anything left to think of, having shushed Spike several times already for trying to be helpful. She didn't blame the dragon for trying, but he was really distracting her from thinking, which right now was extremely critical, and then the front door opened. She prepared to yell that she was busy, when Rainbow Dash entered, looking triumphant.

"Mission accomplished, Twilight. Found her dad."
Behind her appeared a stallion who looked, actually, quite similar in many respects to the immobile mare standing nearby. He had similarly coloured fur, and the bright orange of his mane was exactly like the two stripes going through Midday's hair, and his eyes were a lighter shade of orange than his, and then there was his Cutie Mark, which featured several stars in a constellation, though she wasn't entirely certain which one it was.

And when his eyes met her, there was a sudden shift. Years seemed to melt away from his face, and he broke out a truly incredibly smile, before suddenly hugging her.
There were a few awkward seconds where nothing happened, at which point he retracted, coughing nervously.

"I... sorry. I'm sorry, but for a minute I mistook you for... somepony else" he said, blushing and coughing a lot as he did.
"Sorry" he added after a second. Twilight Sparkle just stared at him.

"Well, that's okay" Twilight said, awkwardly. She looked over to Midday. Her brain quickly shifted into gear as she prepared to explain what was happening.

"Your... daughter was attacked by a mysterious plant on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. Unfortunately, since so few ponies ever dare go in there, we have no record of this plant in the library, though we did recieve a communique from Princess Celestia informing us to remove the plant, it was unusually quiet on the subject of how to do so."

The stallion looked at the motionless form of his daughter, and his jaw dropped. Then he frowned, and seemed to recognise it.

"Yes, I know what this is. It's called a Black Mercy. It's called that because it doesn't really... attack you, in a sense, it just latches on to you and makes you live out your greatest, deepest desires and fantasies, and if I know my daughter, her fantasies would be enough to feed this weed for decades," he looked around the library, and there was a sudden look in his eyes, like he was a second away from weeping, "And before you ask, I know about it because it's in a book my daughter learnt to read from. Can't remember the title, but her mother gave her it for her birthday."

He smiled slightly, "She wanted to be an explorer, and we said she couldn't until she knew what was out there. She read through every book she could get her hooves on, and her passion didn't dim for a moment"

His smile flickered, "There is only one way to get this thing off of her. She has to fight the illusion. And she's smart, she's incredibly smart. Just like her mother, actually, so stubborn sometimes," he frowned.
"I think this horrible thing probably had to throw something serious at her to keep her in its illusion."

"Like what?" Applejack asked. His expression harded.

"I shouldn't like to contemplate. I just want my daughter safe."

"So, can we help get it off of her?" Fluttershy asked. He looked at her, and considered this. Nopony mentioned it, but he almost looked like he was flinching every time somepony in the room spoke for whatever reason, though everypony but Fluttershy just assumed he was simply shy.

"Yes... at least, I think so. If you talk to her, it might help... snap her out of it."
He shook his head. "I don't know, I'm an astronomer, I don't really do this sort of thing. Just..." he looked about the room, occasionaly glancing at Spike.

"I'm not going to be much help here" he said quietly, before walking out of the library.

For a few moments nobody said anything, then Trixie spoke up.
"Am I the only one who didn't expect him to be anything like that? I'll take those odds looks as a yes, then."

Spike looked about, "I'm going to go talk to him, see if he's alright"
Twilight nodded, "Very kind of you, Spike"

*****

Twilight Twinkle hadn't been feeling herself for some months. Nopony was sure why. The finest doctors in Equestria had examined her, and found her to be completely healthy, aside from needing more sleep.

Eventually, Wisp suggested she take a visit to Ponyville, which had sounded like a good idea to both ponies, though he'd been unable to clear his schedule from all the diplomatic visits that seemed to fill his time lately.

Therefore, Twilight Twinkle and little Lilac, now a slightly over-active seven year old travelled to Ponyville to see Fluttershy. For the young princess, it was utterly strange. The Changelings lived out in the middle of a blasted wasteland, despite Twinkle and Wisp's best efforts to beautify the area. For some reason Changelings didn't seem to have much luck growing plants, despite some of them making very spirited efforts.

To the young filly, it was like the world had exploded into colour. Even the browns and greys looked brighter and more alive.

"Is everwhere like this, mom?" she asked.

"In what way?"

"So... beautiful" the filly said in awe.

"Some of it" Twilight Twinkle said, "And some of it is even better."

A smile crept across her face. "When I was your age, my mother, your grandmother, took me to see a rainforest. It was... there were really no words for it. Not any that do it full justice. Just imagine massive, massive trees, stretching on forever. And this rainforest, it was soaked in magic for whatever reason, and when moisture got caught in the air, it would just float there. You could actually stick your hoof out, and see light caught in the rain as it fell."

She looked down at her daughter, her young mind desperately trying to figure out how that worked.
"Now, Ponyville isn't quite as beautiful as a rainforest, of course, but... it has a beauty of its own. A gentle, simple beauty, that comes from the ordinary and the everyday things. It doesn't need huge amounts of magic, it doesn't need artisans or castles or massive cliffside waterfalls like Canterlot, it doesn't need a huge scenic ocean right next to it. Ponyville just is."

Lilac Velvet stared at her. "Are you feeling alright, mom?"
The mare smiled at that, then proceeded just to laugh. The filly looked confused.

"What?"
"Nothing, Lil. You were just being very sweet, is all."

"Okay..." Twinkle paused. Was her daughter being cynical, all of a sudden?
As the train ground to a halt, and the two ponies stepped out onto the platform, she was sure she could hear an odd voice speaking in her head, half-mumbling.

"And I just wanted you to know... what you said a few weeks ago... I thought about it, and thank you for saying that. I don't really know if it's true, but... you clearly do. Thank you. Nopony's ever really said something like that to me. Not in those words. So... thank you, Midday"

Twinkle rubbed the side of her head, nudging the small crown balanced on her head as she did. She felt a small hoof on her leg.
"Mommy? Are you okay?"

She looked down at the little pony, fear noticable in her bright blue eyes.

"Yes... I'm alright." she looked about. Either Fluttershy would be in her office, or looking after her animals.
"Come on" she said quietly.

*****

Spike searched Ponyville, before finding Comet Chaser sitting on a small hill just outside the town. He didn't seem to notice Spike as he approached.

"Hey," the little dragon said. He looked at Spike, and nodded.

"My daughter told me you knew about the whole... time-travel thing" he said calmly. Spike nodded.

"Guess she sees you as being like an older brother, then."
Spike nodded again. A strangely sad look passed across the pony's face.

"I think she always wanted a sibling, a sister or a brother, not sure which. I think that's why she got on so well with her cousin. They were practically sisters anyway."

He stared up at the pleasant mid-afternoon sky. "We just never had... the time, I guess. H-her mother and I. Never had the time."

He looked down at Spike. "How does she do it? How has she survived every day looking at them, and not... not gone mad."
He closed his eyes. "I look at that mare, and I can't help but see her. My Twilight. The mare I fell in love with, the mare I dated, courted. I look at her and I remember dancing, at our wedding, her tripping over her legs as we danced, despite Rarity helping to teach her how to dance 'properly'. And I can't stop myself thinking about her, and then she went and smiled exactly like my Twilight."

He paused for a moment. "Sorry, Spike. Was there something you want to say before I start whining again?"

"Well, I was kinda gonna ask you why you left, but... I think Midday- I think she doesn't like it either, but that she just keeps going, because like you said, Twilight and her, they're really stubborn when they want to be."

He looked at the middle-aged pony, a question suddenly occured to him. "You don't know Future Spike, do you?"
"No. Sorry."

Spike sighed, "I think he's a jerk, then. Not wanting to know his little sister. Sometimes, she can be annoying, but... at times, she does act so like Twilight it can actually be scary. And she's got this weird hero complex. She wants, needs to help everypony she meets. And sometimes... sometimes she just... stares at Twilight, and she doesn't look anywhere near as old as she should. And she looks... kinda lost."

Comet Chaser nodded, then something occured to him. "Spike?"
"Yeah?"

"Did you come here to try and talk me into going back to the library?"

"Yeah. Because even if you can't look this Twilight in the face, your daughter still needs you. And if your Twilight Sparkle was here, she'd be doing everything she could to help, even if she didn't think she could do it"

"Are you trying to guilt-trip me by saying what the mare I married would do?"

"A bit."
"A bit" he repeated, "A bit. Nice try, Spike" he said, quietly, before frowning. "And you are right. She would. Which means I must."

He stood up, and turned toward the library. "Otherwise I don't deserve either of them"

*****

Twilight Twinkle had found her pace slowed, ever moreso than her energetic daughter's. Something just didn't feel entirely right with what was going on. She looked about, not sure what she was looking for. She was fairly certain she could hear distant voices.

"So we've got the job of supplying Cloudsdale with all the water for Equestria this year. Actually, I'm really hoping we break the current record for wind power, because that would be way awesome. I mean, I've already broken speed-records, and saved the world, but everypony in Ponyville breaking a world record would be way awesome.

"Rainbow Dash, ya ain't supposed to yammer on 'bout world records!"

"But he said 'talk'."

"Then let me have a go."

She suddenly found herself feeling lost, the streets of Ponyville seeming labyrinthine, and the sky seemed to be going strangely dark.

"Mom?" she heard Lilac call out, though she couldn't tell from where. She looked ahead, and started walking. The air felt entirely wrong, and her legs felt incredibly heavy.
"Mom? Mommy? Where did you go?"

*****

The door opened, and everypony turned to see Spike return with Comet Chaser, both looking steadfastly determined.

"Anything?" he asked. Twilight Sparkle shook her head.
The stallion and Spike exchanged looks.

"Um, excuse me?" Fluttershy spoke up.

"Have you tried yet, Twilight?"

The librarian looked confused.
"Me? No. Would it help?"

"Well, she's sleeping in your house, and I'm guessing she sometimes helps out around the place, correct?"

"Sometimes. But why would that-?"

"Everypony?" Fluttershy said in the background.

"Just give it a try. It can't possibly hurt."

"Twilight!" Fluttershy said, though she said it loud enough to grab the mare's attention.

"What?" Twilight, Spike and Comet Chaser asked as one (to mutual embarrassment).

"She's frowning."
Indeed, there was a noticable downward curve to her mouth and her eyes appeared tense.

"She's frowning because she's beginning to fight it" Comet Chaser smiled, rushing over to her.

"So... what should I say?" Twilight asked, feeling oddly nervous.

"Something, anything. Use that brilliant brain of yours, and think" he said, rolling his eyes.

*****

Twilight Twinkle was standing on a hill, one that offered a full view of Ponyville, the one her parents had met on, in fact. She'd began her trip there feeling incredibly cheerful, but now, there was a knot in her stomach, and she felt like the world had stopped making sense completely. Behind her she heard the sound of a child struggling to breath. She looked to see Lilac trying to make her way up the hill, her tiny little wings flapping as she went, her tidily arranged lilac hair wild and disarrayed.

"Mommy? Mommy, what's wrong? Why aren't we seeing Granma Fluttershy?"
She looked down at the small child, and winced as she tried to think of what to say.

"Lilac, dear, sweetie, I... I don't know. I just... have you ever had a feeling? This huge... no, no you wouldn't. Too young" she said weakly. She knelt down to look closely at the little filly.

"I'm sorry, I must sound like I'm losing my mind, mustn't I? Look at you, Lilac Velvet. My own creation, my little girl. You know, I honestly couldn't believe it when I first saw you, so tiny, so utterly peaceful. I could see every moment in your life, stretching out in front of me. The minute you learnt to walk, learnt to speak, your first day of school, the day you learnt to fly. And you were so beautiful, and I knew you always would be."

She looked up at the sky, which had turned an ominous grey colour.
"Mom? You're... you're scaring me" Lilac whispered, nudging her leg. "What's going on?"

Her mother looked at her, tears beginning to move down her face, and just by instinct she found herself holding the filly tightly to herself.
"I love you dear, your mother loves you, and she always has, more than anything. You know that, right?"

"Mommy?"

"I love you so much, Lil. Forever and always. But, I'm sorry. You aren't real."
Then the world went dark, and there were voices.

*****

The assembled ponies gasped as the Black Mercy fell off of Midday, before quickly being caught in both Twilight Sparkle and Comet Chaser's magic.

"Quick, Spike!" they both yelled, "BURN IT!"
The little dragon was ahead of them in that respect, incinerating the plant instantly. Whatever it survived, it couldn't handle dragon-flame.

"Look!" Fluttershy said, eagerly, "She's waking up"
Everypony looked in silence as the mare's eyes opened, and took in her surroundings. For an instant there was a look of blind terror on her face.

"She's alright!" Pinkie cheered.
Midday looked down at her hooves, and then Spike noticed she was trembling, indeed shaking madly. Her mouth hung open for a moment, and if anypony had been paying attention they would have realised that was because she was breathing in.

"Midday?" Spike asked, cautiously.

"Lilac..." she whimpered.
And then, Pinkie Pie had the misfortune of being the pony to speak first.

"Who?" she asked, in genuine confusion.
Midday's face suddenly shifted, tears beginning to move down her cheeks, and she started making odd noises.

"Sweetie," her father said, and normally she might have wondered why he was there, but not at the moment, "Just calm down, please, an-"

Then she screamed. And she kept on screaming. Fluttershy, Applejack and Trixie, by dint of being behind her, were lucky, but Pinkie Pie, Twilight, Comet Chaser and Spike were thrown against the wall by the sheer force of her scream. It was the worst sort of scream to hear, one of the purest hurt, rage and sorrow. It was the sound of somepony's heart breaking.
It continued for several seconds, in fact it continued for half a minute before she finally stopped.

There was a tiny gasp of horror from the mare, who suddenly looked several years younger, and then her horn glowed and she vanished from the room with a small 'bloink' sound.

For a few moments nopony said anything, not sure what to say.

"Where did she go?" Spike asked.

*****

Many miles away, in the exact middle of the Everfree forest laid the remains of the old castle of the Princesses, where the Elements of Harmony had been kept inert since the fall of Luna. There was an eerie silence to the place, since no animal seemed to go near the ruins, meaning all there was in the castle was dust, and some old vines.
And one collapsed royal blue pony.

Midday Eclipse, or Twilight Twinkle, sat there for several long minutes, waiting for the crying to start. It didn't come. She didn't seem to be able to cry, so she just sat there, on the verge of thinking thoughts no-one should ever think.

After a few moments, she was aware of the sound of hoof-fall. Slowly she opened her eyes, to see a pair of bright blue eyes staring back at her, and beyond that a charcoal grey coat.

She opened her mouth to try and say something. All she got out was "You're not real."
The pony shrugged, and finally said, "Yes. I'm not real. This just seemed like the best way to get your attention."

"My attention?" Midday hissed.

"Yes. You see, 'mom'... I am actually your mind trying to warn the rest of you."

"Warn me? Warn me of what?"
The pony, who in fact looked like a full-grown mare looked about.

"Well, in case it's not honestly clear, you are in a bad place, and... I know you're hurt, and angry, but... it's not about to get any better, I'm afraid."

"Do tell."
"I know, you feel like your heart's been ripped from you, but... there's a bigger problem."

"What?"

Me.
Midday's eyes went wide, and the illusion of Lilac Velvet vanished. "I know that voice. But it can't be..."

Oh, but it really can, Twinkie-winkie. And it is.

"It can't... Sapphy destroyed you. She destroyed you."

"Well, Twilight Twinkle, let's run through everything in chronological order. Let's see, you thought your late, lamented cousin destroyed me using that trick with the Crystal Heart, right? Wrong. That just really, really hurt. After all, it wasn't exactly the Elements of Harmony. So I decided to hide, deep in the corners of your mind while I recovered."

There was a strange noise, and Midday realised she was chuckling.
"Now, if your idiot cousin had zapped me with the Elements of Harmony? That would have done it, but... alas. And then you went and ended up in the past, which, by the way? Not my fault, but OH WOW, has it really helped."

There was a pause, "Now then, you remember after that little accident with the memory potion, that idiot with the bad clothing came along? And then later on he said bits of his mind ended up in yours? That was me. Ooohh, the self-loathing that 'pony' had, so delicious. Such knowledge, as well. Shame I didn't get through all of it, but alas."

Midday frowned, trying to stand, but for some reason her legs didn't work.
"Now, you can't go blaming all your problems on me, Midden, because actually? Most of those were just you. I was still asleep. But the whole thing about forgetting your daddy-dearest? That was me, I did that, to fuel your despair. After all, I'm a Nightmare. Misery and terror are my food and drink, strife the air I breath, and ill-will my life's blood."

There was another pause.
"Where was I? Oh yes, now then, that whole 'walk about town in the middle of the night' stuff? Me, again. And forgetting the BM? Me, also. And look at you now. Too miserable to even think a coherant sentence. I doubt you could even summon a snowflake right now. And also? Teleporting to the place where Nightmare Moon was born and eventually died? Really stupid, girl."

Midday was still trying to get to her hooves.
"And now we come to the best bit of my little monologue. Those legs you're trying to use? Yeah. That ain't gonna happen. You see, I'm about to go back to Ponyville, and because of stupid Cadenza's daughter zapping me, I'm gonna kill someone you care about. Maybe that stupid chubby dragon, or that annoying apple-farmer you've been getting on with so much. Or maybe just everypony I find. Yeah, that sounds good. That'd make you feel guilty, right? Because you always do. And by the way, just as a point of curiosity, you know why you've not been able to break the spell that made you four years older than you should be? That would be because of me. I've been in you since at least a bit before then. Isn't that interesting?"

There was a sound like a giggle.
'Yeah, you aren't going to be killing anypony. I've been planning since you took over me all those months ago. You won't be going anywhere.'

There was a pause, in which Midday was fairly certain she could practically feel the etheral facehoof.
"Oh, Twinkie, Twinkie, Twinkie, do you really, honestly think I'd just explain all this stuff if I really, honestly thought there was the slightest possible chance you could do anything to stop me?"

Midday suddenly felt a strange tingling sensation, and realised her mouth was moving while she wasn't speaking.
"I've been in control of this pathetic sack of meat you call a body since the plant sunk its meat-hooks into you. You are trapped in my head, trying to speak with my mouth, trying to cast with my magic. And here's the kicker: I'm about to cast a spell that's about to evict your whiny little mind from your body"

Her horn glowed, and there was a strange noise, like a faint and distant scream. Then, Midday's body stood up, smiling, and spoke with a radically different voice.

"Goodbye, Twilight Twinkle. Hello again, Nightmare Eclipse."
She looked down at her hooves, and frowned.

"Something just doesn't feel right though." She smirked, and then her horn glowed. In an instant her body warped and shifted and stretched, until her fur was pitch-dark, the orange in her hair darker, her eyes glowing and slitted, and the sun on her stolen Cutie Mark blood-red over a scorched moon.

"Ah, so much better. Except... something is still missing."

She frowned, and tore a chunk of rock out of a wall, her horn blasting it until it turned into a obsidian crown, which she examined.
"Yes, this will do" she said, before placing it on her head.
"And now, to Ponyville."

Author's Note

Next time: Not everypony is going to make it

Terrible as the Dawn

As the sun began its downward descent in the sky, a bright pink filly walked home, alone, feeling on the whole more cheerful than not. For Diamond Tiara, the day had been good. The Cutie Dork Crusaders hadn't shown up at school, she'd almost managed to mend things with Silver Spoon, and tomorrow... she smiled. Tomorrow was allowance day. Perhaps tomorrow she'd actually say something nice to Silver Spoon, if nopony annoyed her.

Not that it was her fault she'd not been getting on with Spoony. It was those stupid dorks, Apple Bloom, Something Bell and whatsername, and worse of all that stupid Midday Eclipse. They'd been driving Silver Spoon away from her, no matter how much she tried to get her fellow filly how much she meant to her.

She smiled at the thought of making things up with Silver Spoon. For all that the filly was kinda stupid a lot of the time, Diamond Tiara did need her brains, especially for homework. So tomorrow, she'd say something nice to her, and Silver Spoon would remember who her real friend was.

Diamond Tiara's good mood ended when she walked into something, not having noticed it while thinking. Actually, she'd walked into somepony.
A tall, incredibly dark mare, with a noticeable dark orange stripe going through her mane, and a Cutie Mark of a red sun over a wasteland, whose glowing, slitted orange eyes stared at the little filly like she was something that was usually scraped off her shoes.

"Watch where y-" Diamond Tiara started to say, when the mare's eyes narrowed, and suddenly the filly found herself flying through the air, aware of a sudden horrible feeling in her barrel. Pain. And lots of it.
She hit the ground and bounced, aware that her usual headgear (purchased at discount from Ameythyst Sparkler's store, though she'd never tell a soul that) was no longer on her head. She was also much more keenly aware that breathing seemed difficult.

The mare loomed over her, those horrible eyes just glowing, and then there was another sudden feeling of more pain than Diamond Tiara could ever imagine.

The mare stepped over her, continuing on toward Ponyvile.
Diamond Tiara tried getting to her hooves.
No good, she thought. Hurt. Bad. Scared. Dad. Mom. Money. Hurt. Nice day. Dad. Daddy. Mother. Money. Cold. Pain. Money. Mom. Dad.
Silver Spoon.
Good day.
Good bye.

*****

Nightmare Eclipse stared at the minature filly-scaled tiara at her feet, as behind her she heard the sound of Diamond Tiara slumping over.
For a few minutes, she stood there, waiting. Waiting for a voice to scream in her head that she would pay for what she had done, screaming defiance and revenge on her for hurting a filly, even one as obnoxious as Disgustingly Rich.
None came. The only thoughts in her head were her own. She smiled, and then crushed the tiara.
Then she resumed walking toward Ponyville.

*****

The first thing everypony noticed was the fact that everything went incredibly dark, despite it being only two in the afternoon. And once they made their way outside, they saw why.
The sun and the moon were being dragged across the sky, until the moon was placed in front of the moon. Then, a strange red force-field appeared, one that seemed to cover the entire town.

Instantly, everypony made their way to the center of town, save the Apples, and the school-kids, who were quickly sequestered in the school-house. Twilight Sparkle was the first to speak up, informing everypony that what was transpiring was not the work of Princess Celestia or Princess Luna, and quickly told every pegasus to take to the sky to see if they could find anything.

As a result, Rainbow Dash and Cloud Kicker were the first two to spot Nightmare, casually walking down Ponyville's main street, and Rainbow Dash wisely surmised that a pony with glowing orange eyes, with a black and red colourscheme wasn't, in her words 'walking around looking for somepony to sell cookies to'.

As a result, the entirety of Ponyville's weather-patrol attacked Nightmare at once, and in around five minutes, all seventeen of them were either unconcious or lying on the ground, most of them by Cloud Kicker's prone form being used as a club.

Then, strangely enough, the mayor of Ponyville declared Nightmare Eclipse stop.
"Explain who you are, and what you want!" she said. The mare stared at the mayor, looking confused for a moment, before finally deciding upon an answer she liked.

"Well, it's quite simple really. I'm in an extremely bad mood, and looking for someone to take it out on. And I thought while I was at it, this town would make a nice summer home for me."

"Wait!" a voice declared, belonging to Twilight Sparkle, "Midday? Is that you?"
The mare bared her teeth, and stomped a hoof against the ground.
"THAT. IS NOT MY NAME!" she yelled. "I am Nightmare Eclipse. 'Midday Eclipse' is gone. And she will not be returning."

The mare sighed, and took a deep breath.
"Now then," she said in a voice that sounded like she was trying to sound polite, "Either you let me vent my rage, then supplicate yourselves before me, or... else."

There was a slight pause.
"You... already know what we're gonna say..." Rainbow Dash groaned from behind Nightmare, "We're... gonna tell you to go bu-"

Nightmare's horn glowed, she swirled around to face the pegasus, and a violent red burst of energy hit Rainbow Dash, throwing the battered pegasus several feet through the air.

"Unfortunate" the mare said after a few seconds. She turned back to see almost everypony in Ponyville glowering at her.
"Path of most resistance, then?"
"GET HER!" somepony, quite possibly Bon-Bon or Cloud Kicker, yelled.

*****

In the distance, Applejack and Big MacIntosh rushed toward Sweet Apple Acres, fear driving them faster than they thought possible, even as they heard the noise coming from downtown.

They rushed through the front door of the family house, the house of the Apples, which some said was as old as Ponyville itself, which was in fact nonsense (it was in fact older than Ponyville, they just didn't like making a fuss about it).

"What's goin' on out there?" they heard somepony ask, a young somepony. Immediately the fear of the Apple siblings dissipated.

"Apple Bloom," Applejack smiled nervously, "Is Granny home?"

"Yeah, but she-"

"Apple Bloom, you wake Granny Smith up, and you get her down to the cellar, y' hear me?" Big MacIntosh said.

"Okay," the filly said nervously, "But why?"

"Apple Bloom, you do what your big brother says, and don't argue, y'hear?"

"What's goin' on outside?" all three ponies hear Granny Smith yell from upstairs.
Applejack and her big brother looked nervously at each other, as if waiting for the other to speak first.

"Big of a fracas downtown, Granny. We just want yah to get down to the basement where it's safe, 'til this all blows over."
Then they heard something that made them break out in a cold sweat.

"Is there a fight downtown?" Applejack slowly turned her head to see Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle staring at them in confusion, both wearing their Sweetie Belle-designed capes.
"Oh, horseapples" Big MacIntosh uttered.

*****

Outside the dome seperating Ponyville from the rest of the world, two sets of eyes examined the scene playing out below them.

"Can we not do anything?" Luna asked. Celestia shook her head.

"Unless you've got any magics you've been keeping a secret from me, Luna, I honestly doubt it. Whoever is casting this force-field is ludicrously strong. And any stronger magic would reduce everything in a several mile radius to cinders, which would be... unhelpful."

Both mares had been trying for several minutes to lower the force-field, but by all appearances they hadn't been able to dent it, and their frustration at this situation was evident to each other.

"We'll just have to believe Twilight Sparkle can deal with whoever is foolish enough to attack her" Luna said, quietly.

"Twilight Sparkle isn't the pony I'm worried about" Celestia said.

*****

Twilight Sparkle watched the carnage unfold. Rainbow Dash wasn't moving, but from the looks of it the brash pegasus was just unconcious. Rarity had tried to subdue the rampaging mare by burying her in last season's clothing, only for the mare to burn her way through them, Pinkie Pie had vanished without a word, though Twilight was fairly certain she'd seen Pinkie heading toward Sugarcube Corner, just as Applejack had gone to her farm, which really only left Fluttershy. And herself of course. Oh, and Trixie, who was noticable in her abscence, though she was certain there was a good reason for that.

She had been hoping the Princesses would turn up, preferably with the Elements of Harmony, so that they could be used to stop Nightmare Eclipse. She was fairly certain whatever it was that had caused this sudden transformation in the young mare was because of whatever she'd experienced under the spell of the Black Mercy.

She sighed. Without the Elements of Harmony, there was only one course of action. She turned, and headed away from the edge of the forcefield back toward downtown, trying to think of the most appropriate magic spell she could use.

*****

If Nightmare Eclipse was a sterotypical sort of monstrous killer, and she was fairly certain she was through the haze of confusion her stolen body was in, then in the middle of the fight she found herself in, she would have proclaimed nopony could stand against her. Actually, this obviously wasn't true. A lot of ponies were standing against her, it was just that she kept knocking them down. Especially Rainbow Dash, who she was certain she'd already hit several times by now. Then she realised she was having fun.

Up until Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash slammed into her. She could practically feel Fluttershy's Stare on her.
"That tickles" she said, glowing back at Fluttershy, and managing to throw the pegasus off of her with a solid kick of her hind legs.

"But what did you expect? I'm not some cringing cockatrice, or dragon or manticore. I am a Nightmare!"
"Shut up!" Rainbow Dash responded, hitting her in the face.

"Goodness, Rainbow Miriam Dash, I'd actually forgotten you were there. Sort of like the Wonderbolts, am I right? And I'm not talking about the Gala, I'm talking about when you saved them from becoming a bunch of craters beneath Cloudsdale. Did they sign you up for membership right there and then? Can't imagine why" she said, in an eerily-polite tone.

"They didn't forget! Spitfire recognised me at the Gala! I'm gonna be a Wonderbolt soon enough!" the mare hissed, punctuating each statement with another blow to the face, "That's my dream. Not that I'd expect some idiot calling herself 'Nightmare' to know squat about dreams"

Then, Nightmare Eclipse laughed. It was a cruel and mocking laugh many would-be overlords would've killed for. "Your dream is a joke, Rainbow Dash. You are a joke. You're the cosmic punchline, a walking comedy act. The reason you're not a Wonderbolt is because the world's laughing at you behind your back, Rainbow Dash."

Her eyes flashed, and suddenly Rainbow Dash was wracked by red lightning. "And I'm laughing right in your face"

And with a casual flick of her hoof, she punted the pegasus off of her, making her smash through a wall of a house behind her.

Nightmare flexed her neck. "Anypony else care to go next?"

"HEY, Black Snooty!" a certain party pony proclaimed, "Laugh this one off!"

There was a small 'phut' noise, followed by a brief whistling noise, and Nightmare Eclipse turned to just briefly see a cake hurtling toward her face. It impacted with a damp splat.

For a few seconds, everypony stared at the sight of the insane rampaging mare just standing completely still as a cake very slowly began to slide off of her face.

"What. The. Hay?" groaned a badly battered Bon-Bon, from near the pink mare.

"Cake cannon!" Pinkie Pie grinned triumphantly, as she hefted a large green cannon off of her shoulder, "Delicious, and effective! Reloading's awful though."

Then, as the cake fell to the ground, breaking apart on impact, everypony was aware of a strange, indeed almost horrible noise. Nightmare Eclipse was laughing, shaking off most of what remained of the cake, save for a small smidgen of jam on her nose.

"Hey," Pinkie smiled, "At least you've got a sense of humour!"

Then the mare's horn glowed, and from out of nowhere a grand piano slammed into Pinkie Pie. And then it lifted away from her, before collapsing completely.
"Heh" the dark mare smirked.

"Gotta make 'em laugh..." Pinkie Pie groaned, before passing out.

Nightmare Eclipse looked about, at the numerous ponies littering the ground around her, and stretched slightly, getting a feel of the number of bruises, scratches, aches, and pains. She was mildly aware the body she was in hadn't actually had much sleep recently.

She looked about, and realised a few ponies weren't there, and just as she was about to comment upon this, something slammed into her. A large red thing.

"Oh, Mr MacIntosh, I'm so glad you could make it!" she smiled, as the farm-pony kicked her straight through the wall of somepony's house, and the wall behind that, and the wall beyond that.

"You came to my town," Big MacIntosh said, his voice filled with barely restrained anger, "You hurt my neighbours, my friends, my family. Usin' a young girl's body to do who knows what? I can tell what you are. You're a monster."

He walked over toward Nightmare, who was struggling to get to her hooves.
'What a kick that man's got' she thought to herself.

"So, yeah. I don't like fighting if ah can help it, and I don't really don' wanna fight a mare, but you're lookin' for a fight, and ah think it'd be impolite not to kick your head in."

He aimed a kick at the mare, and then, there was the sudden sound of hoof on hoof, and underneath the small thunderclap there was a barely audible 'crack'. Big MacIntosh winced, until he realised what had just made that noise. Which was his leg.
And Nightmare Eclipse was laughing again.

"What's the joke?" Big MacIntosh asked. The mare turned to look at him, smiling wickedly as she did.

"You. Sorry," she said as she began to titter, "You are the joke, and the joke is you. But, you see, that's not why I'm laughing"

She slowly shoved his leg back, and turned to face him.
"I'm laughing, Big MacIntosh, because you're not holding back. And I was."

Applejack was just catching up to Big MacIntosh, having stopped to make sure her friends were okay, when she was aware of a loud noise, and found Nightmare Eclipse standing over her brother, a horrific grin on her face.

She stared in horror and revulsion at the mare, and was suddenly aware she could hear somepony screaming, followed seconds later by a purple blur rushing past her head, and saw the strange sight of Cheerilee laying into Nightmare Eclipse as she screamed obscenities at the mare.

Then Applejack leapt after the mare. As she did, Twilight Sparkle and one of the local nurses rushed over to Big MacIntosh.

"Is he-?" Twilight asked. The nurse shook her head.

"Yes" she said without pause, or even looking at Twilight, "And I'm pretty certain unless you can revive the dead, you won't be much help to him."

Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it again. She gently held one of MacIntosh's hooves between her own, not sure what else to do.

"He's not awake, you know" the nurse said. "And aren't you going to do something about that mare that his sister and would-be girlfriend are laying into?"

"Not yet," Twilight said, "I can't risk taking a shot until everypony else is out of the way."

She didn't add that with her familiarity with what happened to Luna and Nightmare Moon, she was afraid of hurting Midday in the process as well. She was also a bit alarmed at the fact that Midday apparently possessed the power to move the sun and the moon at once, and that it didn't seem to be slowing her down at all to keep them in the same place. She frowned. She made a note to ask Midday about that once everything was over.
If either of them were still alive at the end of this nasty affair.

*****

Nightmare Eclipse was quite strong, but strong enough to fight two enraged earth ponies trying as hard as they could to hurt her? Evidently not. She frowned. She had the forcefield up and was holding the moon and sun together as a show of force, but now she was beginning to wonder if that was a bit too much effort.

She sighed, and focused her magic on Cheerilee first, blasting the mare head over hoof, the mare landing in a heap in a flowershop window. Then she turned to Applejack, who suddenly showed surprising dexterity, wrapping around her.

"Don't think ah won't try an' hurt ya, girl. Just give up right now, an' ah'll only beat ya senseless."

"Tempting offer, Applejack. But..." Nightmare Eclipse grinned, "You know what, I'd like to know something about you before we go on. After all, I, or I suppose 'Midday Eclipse' heard about what happened to your parents, so I am wondering... how do you feel about your little sister?"

She could practically feel Applejack's glower on her neck. "What? Yer takin' time out to ask twenty questions in a fight? You think you can just go pickin' about in mah head?"

She suddenly shuffled slightly, and found her mouth beginning to move against her will, "Ah might... occasionaly feel a bit angry at Apple Bloom. An' jealous of Big Mac, 'cuz he knew 'em longer than I did. An'... NO!" she yelled, suddenly slackening her grip on the mare, tears welling in her eyes.

"Ah don't... ah don't...." she strained, struggling to bite down words she couldn't stop herself from saying, "Ah look at Apple Bloom, and ah hate her 'cuz it's her fault my maw and paw ain't around and I hate myself for hating her, because she's my little sister and she didn't cause it but it is her fault an-"

Applejack suddenly stopped as a small purple beam of energy lanced from Nightmare's horn. Her eyes drooped, and she began to collapse slowly.
Behind Nightmare Eclipse, Twilight Sparkle took aim.

"Okay, five out of six Elements of Harmony dealt with. Anypony else want to stop me?" she asked to the air.

"Well," a voice said, cutting through the quiet with a noticable air of barely restrain smugness, "I was just going to sit back and let everypony else deal with you. But you're the reason I'm stuck here, so I suppose that leaves me."

Nightmare Eclipse turned to look, at the stallion trying to adjust his bowtie, and for a moment, she looked amazed.

"I was beginning to wonder if you'd show up, Doctor" she smiled, still talking in the oddly calm and polite tone, with just the barest hint of mockery.

The stallion just smiled and laughed, briefly waving the small cylindrical device in his mouth at her. "H-okay, you're a Nightmare, an Abstract entity, feeding off the negative emotions of your target, using her as a meat puppet in order to..." he stopped, tilting his head from side to side, "Create more fear and terror, I'm guessing, but you found the emotions too strong, too volatile. Possessing a teenager, always leads to that, doesn't it?"

The mare just glowered at him. "Oh, hurrah, Doctor. Pat yourself on the back, another creature of the abstract figured out, day saved and you run back to your old time machine. Time Lord" she spat.

He stared at her for a moment, the strange giddy excitement that had been there a moment ago utterly gone. Nightmare Eclipse just smiled.

"Oh, yes, I know who you are. What you are. Remember when you went into this head? You woke me up, Doctor, rummaging through the back of this girl's mind, knocking on every door."

His expression dropped. "Oh, come now, Doctor, you didn't think those bits of your mind just happened to end up in my head, did you? What was it that young girl said? Something about doors opening both ways? So now what do you do? Threaten me? Claim to give me one chance before doing something clever and brave and handsome, then swaggering away like usual?"

"Yes" he said, his voice as calm as the eye of the storm, "One chance. That's all you get, because I will protect these ponies from you, with-"

"With your life if you have to, last of the Time Lords, unlimited rice pudding, and so on, and so forth" Nightmare Eclipse yawned, as she circled around him, "So, Doctor, do you think I'd be here if I could honestly just leave?"

For a moment neither pony said anything, and then the mare's expression shifted, "So, Last of the Time Lords, the Oncoming Storm, here's my counter-offer: You have one chance. To run. Isn't that one of your favourite words? Run? So run. Leave. Go. Let whatever happens next happen. Or else..."

A wicked smile went across her face, "Because, as Applejack has just learnt, if I asked you a question, you would be... compelled to answer, and to answer truthfully."

The stallion's face paled, and Nightmare Eclipse looked at him. "This isn't a threat, Doctor. We Nightmares think very highly of you. You bring fear to the fearless, to those who hacked fear out of themselves. We... well," she grinned, "We Nightmares are some of your biggest fans."

She stopped pacing around him, and nodded. "Run, Doctor."

And then, to his own horror, he turned, and began to walk away. And as he did, the mare smiled, and laughed.

"Doctor Who?" At which point his pace increased, and Nightmare Eclipse's laughter grew.

"Do you see? I just drove away the last Time Lord. Is there anypony left who can stop me?"

And then a massive blast of energy struck her, and after a few seconds she fell over.
"Yes. There is."

Twilight Sparkle slowly approached the fallen form of Nightmare Eclipse, her horn lit and prepared for another blast, though she was confident the first was enough to subdue almost anypony..

"You really love the sound of your own voice, don't you? Is this a trait of all Nightmares, by the way, because I would really like to contrast you with the entity that possessed Princess Luna."

As she approached Nightmare Eclipse, the dark of her fur seemed to slough off, revealing royal blue beneath.
"Twilight!" the mare cried out, "Please... you've got to-... got to stop her, before she makes me kill anypony else!"

Twilight Sparkle paused as she looked at the mare, desperation and fear in her eyes, which now looked like normal eyes.
"Midday?"

Then a broad, toothy grin spread across the mare's face.

"Boo!" she hissed, before blasting Twilight Sparkle with a burst of magic that glowed sickly green. As Nightmare Eclipse stood up, dispelling the disguise of Midday Eclipse, she shook her head.

"Twice. Twice, I have done that. I guess it does run in the family. Although, I can't really do anything serious to you, I guess" she said, advancing toward Twilight Sparkle, who was twitching violently as she tried to stand.

"Although I suppose destroying everything you ever struggled for would be alright. I don't know, what do you think?" she said, as she leaned in to the mare.

"Shall we start with a simple truth? Yes. Let's start with 'Midday Eclipse'," she smiled, "Now, you already know that's not her real name, so would you like to know what her real name is? Would you?"
Twilight Sparkle gave no response, just staring at her with a mixture of fear and disgust,

"For you see, her real name is Tw-"
Suddenly a heavy book slammed against Nightmare Eclipse's head, and she frowned. She looked at Twilight, as if expecting the mare to confirm that had just happened, and then looked over to see who'd thrown it.

An odd smile went across her face.
Standing a short distance away was a young stallion, roughly the same age as Twilight Sparkle, and with deep blue fur, and orange hair.

Nightmare Eclipse stared, tilting her head. For a moment she wasn't sure what to say.

"...Alright. I can honestly say I was not expecting you."

"L-leave her alone!" the young stallion said, trying desperately to look like he understood what was going on.

"Oh, tall dark and handsome scientist, coming to the rescue of the cute librarian without thought to his own safety. This one's a keeper" Nightmare Eclipse smirked, before turning to Twilight, and then recalling something.

"Oh, Twilight Sparkle," she whispered in awe, "You just created a temporal paradox again."

She turned and moved toward the young stallion. "Comet Chaser, isn't it? Last of the House of Starcatcher, bit reclusive, and you're a bit shy, aren't you? And do you know why, exactly your house is so reclusive? So that nopony can abuse your heritage for their own means. The living descendant of Mimic herself, Mimic the Great and Powerful, pupil of Starswirl the Beared. Do you really think you can stop me? Really?"
He looked at her, his bright orange eyes meeting her stare, despite his trembling.

"Brave, but also really, really stupid. Look at you. You're a scientist, not a mage. And frankly, even if you were, the amount of Mimic's blood left in you is almost so little as makes no difference. So, that said... What can you do?"
He pondered this, then smiled. "This!"

His horn flashed brightly, an old spell almost every book-loving foal learnt immediately after learning how to cast magic. As Nightmare Eclipse waited for her eyesight to come back, he rushed over to Twilight Sparkle and lifted her onto her hooves.

"Can you walk?" he asked. She nodded, feeling, for the first time in a long while, incredibly confused, though she was willing to blame this on concussion from hitting the ground so hard. The two ponies began to move, slowly, as Twilight tried to ignore the bright pink elephant in the room he represented.

"Go on then!" Nightmare Eclipse hissed, "Run! All of you! You cannot fight me! I am a Nightmare, and I will get what I want, and nopony shall stop me!"

Suddenly there was a sudden whistling noise, and another bright flash, and the feeling of her flank being set on fire. Nightmare Eclipse whirled around to find the source of what had just struck her.
"Who dares?"

There was a rumble over-head, and she looked up to see a dark cloud over her head. She quickly tried to move, when a lightning bolt slammed into the crown atop her head, passing through to the rest of her body.
Then she heard the laughter, the strange echoing laughter.

"I dare. You have faced the rest, now you shall face... the best!"
A small spray of fireworks slammed into Nightmare Eclipse's face.

Suddenly, there was a puff of smoke, and a mare appeared, wearing a purple hat, and a matching cape with stylised stars and moons on it. She bowed, removing her hat to reveal silvery-blue hair that seemed to flow oddly. Then the mare spoke, her voice having a noticable two-toned effect to it.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie will face you, Nightmare Eclipse."

Author's Note

I think I'm gonna need to go change the rating on this thing...

Nightmare's End

The entity naming itself Nightmare Eclipse stared at the sight in front of her, of Trixie Lulamoon, defiantly proclaiming she would face the mare, when everypony in Ponyville had tried. Knowing the mare, her history, her behaviour and ignoring the fact that her hair was billowing without cause, and the odd tone to her voice, Nightmare Eclipse did one thing.
She laughed.

"You're kidding," she looked at the mare, who was replacing her hat, still grinning.

"You're... kidding, right?"
Trixie just tilted her head, and smiled. "Completely serious" she said.

And then Nightmare Eclipse realised something, why Trixie's voice sounded so odd. There was another pony speaking alongside her. And it was Twilight Twinkle.

"What?" she asked, dumfounded. "That is not... how... wh-?"

She paused, "I tore your mind from your body and cast you into oblivion. How in Nightmare's blasphemous name are you in Trixie's body?"

"Well..." the mare smiled, "It's not a long story..."

~~~~~

So, Midday Eclipse, formerly known as Twilight Twinkle, found herself thinking, this is non-existance. Kinda empty.
Okay, so I don't seem to have physical presence, that's a bit of a problem. And I'm still massively traumatised over that illusion. But... I don't feel it. Althought I suppose I need a body to really feel emotions, and mine's been taken by some sort of abstract entity.

Who lured me into this situation in the first place. Or so she claims.

Maybe I've just gone completely mad. That would explain a lot, really. Temporary madness, even. Disassociation from reality or something. Though, I don't feel mad.

So, am I just going to float her in this endless blank void? No. Okay then, time to make some sort of checklist.

First off: get a body, second: get my body back and stop Nightmare Eclipse, third: fix whatever damage Nightmare's sure to inflict, fourth: any other stuff, to be determined and dealt with.

And I have no idea how to get to a body. Or even how to possess someone. Still, I'll probably figure it out as I go along.
It'd be really nice if I had my magic right now.

~~~~~

Trixie had seen the sky go dark, and heard everypony but Spike and Midday's father rush out to investigate what was going on, and had decided she would try and protect the library alongside them.

Well, she stated to herself that she would try and protect the library. Then she heard the noises. There was a lot of crashing, a few screams, the odd obscenity, and one odd 'phut' noise. Then she was aware of a strange feeling in her horn.

Trixie.
She looked about, trying to figure out where the voice had come from. Then she realised it wasn't really a voice. More of a thought.

"Midday? Is that you?"
Yes.

A dozen questions ran through Trixie's mind, and she wasn't honestly sure which one to ask first.
"What's going on?" she asked, making a note to face-hoof when she was done.

"I mean what is happening outside, and what are you currently doing?"

Well, if you ask: A semi-demonic abstract entity has possessed me, and is apparently on the super-powered equivalent of a childish rampage. You see, it's sort of born of all my negative thoughts, my desire for recognition and attention, all that stuff. Think Nightmare Moon, but many orders less lovable. And to do this, she threw my... spirit, my soul, out of my body so that I wouldn't distract her, or fight her.

Trixie paused. "And... do you have some sort of clever plan for dealing with her?"
There was an odd pause from the 'thought' of Midday Eclipse.

Yes. I do have a plan. Of sorts. But to do that, I need to ask something of you, Trixie.

"Which is?"
I need to borrow you. Your body.

Trixie stared straight ahead for a moment, brow furrowing. "You... what now?"

You remember that mind-switching spell you used on me and Rainbow Dash? I need you to cast that, but without the 'switching' bit. You'd still have your body, but I'd be along for the ride.

"Can't I just try and put your mind back into your body?"
If you think you can get close enough to my body, then survive long enough to finish the spell without being bludgeoned with a piano, then go ahead. I'll just... exist here, making no noise, pretending I don't exist.

"What would happen if your mind and mine are together?"
Not sure. I think either our minds would remain seperate, but still able to work together, or it'd be a sort of fusion.

"That doesn't sound enticing to Trixie," the mare said, glancing out of the window, and immediately not liking what she saw. There was a pause, as the thought apparently strained to come up with ideas.

Well, our minds would merge, so you'd have all my magical knowledge. And there is a very faint possibility that your own magical potential would be boosted by my presence.

Trixie considered this. "Tempting. Tempting. But you're asking me to fight a pony who, by the sound of it, is every bit as mad and powerful as Nightmare Moon. And the thing is, Trixie just got a new lease on life. She's a big fan of living."

Trixie, please. This is important. More important than our survival. We have to stop her, and we have to do it now!
Trixie paused, frowning.
"Why you? Why does it have to be you who defeats her?"

Because it's my fault. Because I couldn't save just one pony before, and I will not let that happen again!
A new question occured to Trixie.

"If I do this, can you promise Trixie that she'll survive?"
The etheral mare did nothing.

"Thought not. But..." she was aware of the fact that it had gone deadly quiet outside, "We don't really have a choice, do we? Let's do this."

Suddenly, there was a feeling of something pouring into Trixie, years of knowledge and thoughts and memory swirling through her head, things she'd never even considered.
Suddenly she felt like being heroic.

~~~~~

"And then we came out here, and then we zapped you, and then Trixie doesn't know what happened" the blue mare grinned.

"Of course, I should really thank you, Nightmare. I was in a bit of a need to vent some frustrations" Midday's voice said, "and I am very good at beating myself up."

In an instant, both mares lashed out with bursts of magic, one bright blue, the other dark orange, clashing and smashing together.

*****

Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle ran toward Sugarcube Corner, where most of Ponyville was lying dazed and battered, a few medical personal moving amongst them. She noticed the horrified look on the face of the pony next to her, who happened to look exactly like a younger version of Comet Chaser, who openly admitted he was Midday Eclipse's father.

Twilight fought down the urge to question that in depth, instead looking for signs of her friends. Fluttershy, she saw instantly. The mare was sitting next to an unconcious Rarity, who had been taken out of the fight with the so-called Nightmare Eclipse incredibly quickly, and a much-less unconcious Rainbow Dash. Strangely enough, Fluttershy looked practically squeaky-clean.

"Please, Rainbow, stop moving. You're very badly hurt" Fluttershy said, as the mare batted away Fluttershy's attempt to aid her.

"Don't care. Gotta stop her."

"Fluttershy!" Twilight called out, the mare looked up at her, "Are you alright?"
The pegasus looked almost embarrassed. "Yes, actually. Aside from a bruise where Nightmare Eclipse kicked me, I'm fine."

Twilight Sparkle frowned. "Really?"
Fluttershy nodded glumly. "She didn't seem that interested in fighting me, though. Probably because I wouldn't really be much of a challenge to her."

"Hey, don't get like that, 'shy," Rainbow Dash groaned, "You lept in there like a guard, or something."

Twilight looked around. "Where's Pinkie Pie?"
"I'm okay!"

Twilight turned to see Pinkie Pie, a bandage around her head and a few band-aids on her face, smiling, though not as brightly as usual.

"I though she hit you with a piano... repeatedly" Fluttershy said slowly. Pinkie nodded.

"Shameless retcon, in my favour" the party mare smiled, turning to face absolutely nopony as she said it, "I'd been saving those for the wedding, too."
Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and the younger Comet Chaser exchanged nervous glances.

"Is she... always like this?" the stallion asked. Twilight just looked into Pinkie Pie's eyes.
"Pinkie, could you just follow my hoof with your eyes for a moment?"

She waved a hoof in front of Pinkie Pie's face. The mare's smile kept going, as she followed Twilight's hoof perfectly.
"You're still you, Pinkie Pie" she said, to which Pinkie's smiled increased fractionally.

"So... how bad is it?" Rainbow Dash asked, "Are we talking Discord-bad, Smarty Pants-bad, or are we at Lyra's Thumb Quest-bad?"

"I though nopony was gonna mention that one again" they heard Bon-Bon sigh irritably, as a nurse examined the confectioner.
"Hey, you went along with it!" Rainbow Dash snapped.

"I think we're in a whole new shade of bad," Twilight frowned, "Princess Celestia and Luna can't get through the barrier Nightmare's created, which means we can't use the Elements of Harmony to free Midday from her possession, and-"
There was a sudden noise as Trixie hurtled through the air, though just before she landed her horn glowed, and she floated in the air for all of three seconds, before calmly dusting herself off.

"Nullify gravity spell. Been wanting to use that one for years!" she grinned, though that quickly vanished as she turned to see everypony staring at her in shock.

"Okay, Trixie's speaking with Midday's voice. I've clearly just gone mad" Rainbow Dash muttered.
Trixie opened her mouth to say something, then frowned, looking irritated at something.

"Don't worry, everypony, I have a plan for stopping Nightmare" she declared, her voice suddenly gaining an odd echo.
She turned to look at the approaching mare, eyes still glowing wickedly.
"I'll try to be quick about it," she added, throwing herself at the mare.

*****

"My word," Nightmare Eclipse laughed as she took another blast of magic, "you honestly thought you could stop me just by borrowing the body of a showmare who can barely summon a tiny lightning bolt?"

She shot a blast of magic at Trixie, "What was your plan, dear Twinkie? Make me laugh myself into non-existance?"

The bolt of energy hovered in front of Trixie's body, and then seemed to dissipate. The mare glowered at the Nightmare.
"I managed to fight off all your idiotic friends and family, I made the last Time Lord run in fear of me! I will not go back to the cold and dark."

The beam of energy turned around, and smashed into the mare, who simply glowered further once she got onto her hooves.
"You cannot stop me, 'Midday Trixie' or 'Trixie Eclipse' or whatever foolish nickname you are calling yourself. I am Nightmare Eclipse. I am your nightmare! Your past sins given flesh, your inner d-"

Another bolt of lightning blasted the mare. Trixie's body shook her head.
"You're annoying. You're some nasty thoughts that got an idea above their station. And you are trying to fight me," she said, Trixie's voice vanishing, "With my own magic. I'll let you figure out how clever that idea was."

Nightmare Eclipse charged at her, grappling with the mare and dislodging Trixie's hat.
"I don't need magic to hurt you. I am a Nightmare! All I'd need to tear down your world is words. Six of them."
Midday headbutted her, and her horn glowed a bright purple colour.

"I only need one, 'Nightmare Eclipse'. You see, you've been running on negative emotions. My jealousy, envy, greed, arrogance, fear, misery. I think it's time we try something else."
Nightmare Eclipse looked afraid, for a moment.

"Feel."
There was a small noise, as a thin beam of energy lanced out of Trixie's horn, zipping and arcing randomly through the air, until it hit the mare dead center.

Nightmare Eclipse screamed as she experienced a whole life-time worth of positive emotions, and collapsed.

"Yeah, I may not be as good at emotional magic as my aunt, but I can do a passable immitation of it."

Then Nightmare Eclipse stood up, and both Trixie and Midday were aware of a curious burning smell.
At which point the mare's mane burst into flame.

*****

Elsewhere in Ponyville, a pair of feet carried a somewhat rotound body as fast as they could. Of course, Spike's path from the library had be stalled by the fact that he had stopped to try and see whether Applejack and Cheerilee were alright, and the fact that he was carrying a book of fairy tales, an incredibly heavy tome for a small dragon, and the fact that he wasn't sure where Midday-in-Trixie's body was, though he quickly managed to realise how to find her.

He also wasn't sure why the mare... mares... whatever, had needed the book he was carrying, but she-they had calmly explained that the book was essential to getting rid of this Nightmare Eclipse character, and that was good enough for Spike. Though he was begining to question whether it was sensible leaving Midday's father in the library on his own.

*****

"All you've done is made me ANGRY!" Nightmare Eclipse roared, launching a dozen blasts of magic at Trixie, the mares managing to deflect them all or seemingly absorb them.

"What did you think it was going to do? Make me rethink my every deed? Give up and surrender?" she launched another blast of magic, which Midday-in-Trixie deflected right back at her.

"No, actually," the mare said calmly, "It was more of a distraction. I just needed your attention."

She looked at Nightmare Eclipse and smiled warmly. "You see, you threw me out of my mind, when you did I realised something. All these years, since I got my Cutie Mark even, my power's been suppressed. Psychological barriers designed to prevent me from using all the power at my command, which probably explains why I couldn't teleport, no matter how hard I tried. So thanks, for revealing that to me. And by the way? Have you looked at your hooves?"

The mare looked down, to see an odd series of glyphs surrounding her. Midday-in-Trixie smiled. "That is a binding circle. Bit of a rushed job, but it'll do. Now, I just need to wait for Spike to get here, and we can talk about what to do with you."

"Do with her?" Trixie yelled, "We should destroy her, now. Put her down like the rabid animal she is!"

"Trixie," Midday said, her voice sounding barely calm, "We're in the same head. Can you see what I'm thinking?"

There was a brief pause, and then a grin spread across Trixie's face. Nightmare Eclipse suddenly felt a great swell of fear in herself. Then it was replaced by more anger.

"I will not return to the cold and nothingness! I will not! I am you! If you cast me out, I will find my way back and take what I deserve to have from this world once more! I will take what the world owes me, even if I have to step over corpses to do it!"

"See Trixie, now she's just falling back on the thoughts that drew her to me. All my little bursts of petty envy," Midday-in-Trixe sighed. Then Nightmare Eclipse glowered at her.

"Those six words I mentioned, child of Twilight?" a cruel grin crossed her lips, "Guess. What. Happened. To. Diamond. Tiara"

For a moment, the fusion of Trixie and Midday stared in horror, then glared at her. She opened her mouth to say something, and then Spike appeared, waving a heavy book.
"Midday! (or Trixie, or Trixie Midday, or whatever...)" he tossed the book, and the mare caught it, smiling sweetly at Nightmare Eclipse.

"So, Nightmare. I think we're just about finished trying to blast each other with magic that won't work, so I just have one last question, and then we'll be done. Do you know what this is?"

The mare looked at the book, which proclaimed itself to be The Big Booke of Children's Faire Tales.
Then she saw Trixie's horn glowing almost violently.

"See, I prepared for almost any fight when I was younger, as you probably forgot. And that includes ghosts, which means I'm about to exorcise you from me, because I studied that sort of thing. Guess what I'm going to do next?"

"Scream as I possess Trixie and destroy both your souls?" the mare said, glowering and summoning all her magic to her.
"No... But that'd spoil the story for you" Miday smiled, before closing her eyes. After a few moments her horn began to glow an eerie etheral colour.

At which point Twilight Sparkle, along with several other ponies arrived. They stared at the sight of Trixie having apparently contained the rampaging monster, and beginning to cast something.

Then they watched as Nightmare Eclipse seemed to bend and shift, and then they heard as she started screaming and ranting and spitting, and then... there was an unusual sound.

They watched as the form of Midday Eclipse shrank, as her coat turned royal blue once more, her mane back to being blue with orange, and her Cutie Mark went back to that of a solar eclipse. A dark crown slid off her head, and landed unceremoniously in the dirt. The glow on the mare's horn vanished, and her eyes closed, and the mare's body slumped over.

The sky suddenly changed, as the magical barrier above the town vanished, and the Princesses quickly restored the sun and moon to their proper place. The gather ponies began to smile. And then they saw the black shade above the collapsed form of Midday Eclipse, ranting and raving.

Then, Trixie's horn started glowing differently, and a beam of strange orange and blue light seemed to sink into the hovering shade, dragging it toward an open book.
"What are you doing?!" Twilight asked, though nopony heard her above the noise of the shade's railing, and the odd hissing of the beam.

After a few moments Trixie's magic seemed to falter, and the shade began laughing.
"What's wrong, little ponies?" it sneered, "Is your stamina beginning to wear, as it did in the desert? Face it, you'll fail. Like you failed your cousin, and her boyfriend, and that ridiculous made-up daughter of yours!"

For a moment, nothing happened, and then several more beams lanced from Trixie's horn, dragging the shadow closer to the book. And suddenly, it seemed afraid.
Then, as it reached the book, there was an almighty thunderclap, a tiny scream, and the book slammed shut.

For a few moments, the fusion of Midday and Trixie stood there, her hair, which had been flowing without cause, stopped moving, and the mare sat still for a moment. Then she looked over toward Midday's body, and walked over toward it. She examined the crown for a moment, and then with a swift, vicious movement, crushed it beneath her hoof.

"Trixie is never doing that again" the mare muttered, and a few seconds passed before they heard her say, with Midday's voice, "Likewise."

Then she turned to look at the assembled ponies of Ponyville, or at least the few ponies who weren't unconcious, or tending to somepony else. Then they heard a noise, and looked up to see an incredibly welcome sight.
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna flying over-head.

*****

The two Princess had quickly gotten the Royal Guard to gather up anypony around town who was injured, along with a few sent to find what had happened to the children. Several ponies were wandering about, looking confuse and terrified, trying to help out in any way they could. Midday-in-Trixie had picked up her own body, which without anypony actually in it was just working on automatic, like it was just asleep. She took note of the fact that her body looked exactly like it was supposed to.

Then she noticed Twilight Sparkle glowering at her. And she wasn't the only one.
"Okay, start explaining" the mare said, her voice incredibly cold. Behind her, Midday and Trixie noticed the Princesses looking extremely interested.

"Where would you like me to start?" she asked. Twilight looked uncertain for a moment.
"Well, what's the reason behind your voice?"

"We merged minds. Trixie and Midday Eclipse, using a variant of the mind-switching spell used on Rainbow Dash."
"So who am I speaking to right now?" Twilight asked.
"Both of us. And neither" she tried smiling, but on seeing Twilight's irritated expression, bit her lip, "That is the most fitting answer we can give. I am Midday Eclipse, and I am also Trixie. Our minds are supposed to be seperate but there are some bits of our mind that overlap, or merge."

Twilight nodded slowly. "Alright, next question: what did you do to Nightmare Eclipse? Did you destroy her?"
The mare shook her head, "No. I'm not a pony-destroying sort of mare. I gave her exactly what she wanted, what she felt she deserved, which is also in a sense what Midday wants."

"Which is?" Luna asked.
"A good life, with friends, adventures, excitement, friendship, all that sort. It's a prison, but it's a really nice one. ... perhaps I could explain this a bit better."

"You could" Trixie spoke up.
"You see, Nightmare Eclipse is a creature of the abstract, so... I figured sealing her inside a book would be the ideal punishment. You know the theory that stories have a power of their own, correct?"
Princess Celestia nodded.

"Well, I figured if I imprisoned her in the book, it would force her to conform to its rules and universe, though since she wasn't in the story when it was written, she'll probably cause a few changes."
Midday was certain she could see a faint curl to Luna's mouth, and Celestia's eyebrow raise very slightly.

"Much better punishment than destroying her with the Elements of Harmony" Midday said, "And potentially interesting."
Twilight nodded, a noticable gleam of curiosity in her eyes, which quickly vanished, replaced by irritation.

"And can you explain why there is a pony who looks exactly like your father running around, Midday?"
Both Midday and Trixie felt a cold chill going down their spine.

'Actually,' Midday heard Trixie think, 'are you going to explain that to her? Because I've been seeing your thoughts, and wow. Trixie thought she had seen everything today'

Midday shuffled slightly. "I... well, I can... that is..." she smiled awkwardly. Then she decided to try and distract Twilight.
"Is everypony accounted for?" she asked. Twilight glowered again, but then her expression shifted.

"Almost. Most of the injuries weren't that severe. Pinkie Pie seems to have just... shrugged off hers, but apart from Rainbow Dash, everypony will recover soon enough. Except Big MacIntosh."
Midday suddenly felt a deep chill in her mind. "What... happened to Big MacIntosh?" she asked, quietly.

Twilight said nothing. Midday looked about.
'Okay,' Trixie thought, 'the blind panic is scaring me. Can we not do that? The blind panic?'

Midday looked about, and saw Applejack and Cheerilee sitting next to the senior Apple sibling.
"He's alive, by the way," Twilight said, "For now. But the doctors say he has a week at the most."

Then the entire square was filled with a horrible, singular noise, and everypony turned to look as one Filthy Rich entered the square, rushing madly as he carried a small pink filly on his back.

There was a horrified gasp from Luna.
"Sister..." she said, directing Celestia's attention to the sight. Then there was an equally horrified gasp from Celestia. Then, Twilight, and both Princesses turned to look at Midday.
Who had vanished.

*****

On the outskirts of Ponyville, a blue-furred mare was coughing and wheezing, barely able to stand.
'This can't. This can't. Can't. Can't can't can't be happening. Can't be happening' Midday thought.
'Not happening. Make it go away go away go away'

Trixie's thought remained silent, the psychological equivalent of staring at one's feet. Then there was a singular thought in the mare's head.

'No'.
"No" she stated, getting to her hooves, as her legs shaked furiously.
'I will not have this. This did not happen and it will not happen'

Her horn glowed as she began concentrat.
'What are you doing?' Trixie's mind asked.

"I'm going to make it so that the last hour didn't happen. I refuse to let this have happened!"
"But... you can't change time" Trixie said, "Not even with the strongest magic."

"Time can be rewritten. And I am the scion of the two most powerful magical families alive! My mother could rewrite destiny! I can move the sun and the moon! I just subverted a living idea and stuffed it into a damn book! So I am going to rewrite time, put destiny back on track, no matter what!"
"But... that's insane, and stupid. It's happened, and you can't change time!"

There was a pause, and the glow of Trixie's horn dimmed.
"Trixie..." Midday said, quietly, "a pony died today. A filly. Somepony's little girl. And she wasn't supposed to. And Big MacIntosh, somepony's son, somepony's brother is going to die. And he isn't supposed to. He's supposed to live, and fall in love, and marry, and then there'll be Lillian MacIntosh, not die! Are you honestly saying that if there was even the slighest possibility of saving them, you wouldn't take it?"

For a moment, Trixie said nothing. "But... she'd Diamond Tiara. And I am in your head, just as you're in mine, and I can see what you know, Twilight Twinkle. Cute name, by the way. You know Diamond Tiara will grow up, and she's not going to change for the better, or even at all. She's always going to act like a stupid spoilt brat who doesn't deserve half of the life she's been given. Even if you told her you saved her life, she'd never care, never say 'thank you'."

"Your point, Trixie?" Midday said, a subtle trace of anger in her voice.
"If Applejack's brother wasn't dying as well, would you really waste time trying to save her?"

"Yes" Midday said instantly.
"And you can see what I'm thinking, Trixie, so you know exactly why, deep down, I would always say 'yes'."

Trixie could, in fact see why she would say 'yes'. Because Twilight Twinkle actually believed there was a chance Diamond Tiara could change, even slightly. And then even if she wouldn't, she was still somepony's daughter. Somepony's child.

"Alright..." Trixie said, quietly, "before we do this, what will happen once we're done?"

"We'll all wake up where we should've been before Nightmare Eclipse appeared, only without her taint on my soul, none of this will have happened. Nopony will die because of me"

"Okay, then" Trixie said, before pausing. Midday could feel the thoughts bubbling on the back of Trixie's tounge.

"I'm sorry, Twinkle. About Lilac."

"Thanks, Trixie"
And then the mares, feeling almost like one pony instead of two, began to channel all their magic.

*****

A short while into their magic casting, several ponies ran toward them. Twilight Sparkle, the Comet Chaser from Midday's timeline, an extremely terrified looking Doctor, and both Princesses. Trixie's eyes were closed and magic was swirling around her.

"What are you doing?" Princess Celestia demanded.

"Fixing the damage I caused today" Midday said, calmly. She was aware of the trilling of the Doctor's screwdriver.

"You're trying to... unwrite time," he gasped, before suddenly becoming furious, "Stop this! Stop this now!"

"I can't, Doctor. A little girl is dead because of me. Two girls no longer exist because of me."

"But... you can't 'unwrite' time!" Twilight Sparkle said, "That's completely impossible and there is no spell for it."

"We're making our own," Trixie and Midday said as one.

"My mom had the goods, and since I remember how I got my Cutie Mark, I can say with all confidence I have enough magic to create this spell!"

Luna shook her head. "You cannot do this. You cannot. You are trying to use a force you canno-"
"Cutie Mark Switching spell" Midday and Trixie hissed.

"But... a spell like this should take forever to practice and create. There are rules!" Twilight yelled.

"Magic only happens when you decide to do it. It's meant to make something specific that you want to happen happen. Your words, to Pinkie Pie" the mare smiled. "And what I want to happen if for the last hour to have not happened"

As she'd spoken, a look had dawned on Twilight's face.
"Midday... who are you? Tell me who you are!"

"I ca-"

"Tell me! Where did you come from?" the mare screamed over the noise, "Why is there a younger version of your father? Why can't you just tell me who and what you are?"

The trilling of the Doctor's screwdriver continued, as he looked over to Celestia and Luna. Then he looked to Trixie.

"Okay, you two. It's strong enough n-"
And the world went white.

*****

Midday Eclipse felt like she was falling, through an endless darkness, and then, there was silence. Brilliant, terrifying silence. And darkness.

She opened her eyes. The sun was hanging low in the afternoon sky. She looked around to see she was lying on her stomach in the ruins of the ancient palace of Old Canterlot.

She looked at her hooves, which were the familiar shade of royal blue.
"Legs, check" she said.

"Voice, mine, check" she nodded, then raised a hoof to her horn.
"Horn, poiny."

She sat there for a moment, and waited.

"Heart, still shattered" she sighed, trying to think of anything but a charcoal coloured filly with bright blue eyes smiling at her.

She stood up, noting her legs didn't feel right. She frowned, and looked at a small rock lying nearby. She focused her magic on it, and was rewarded with a small shower of sparks from the tip of her horn.

She frowned, and nodded silently at the sign of severely drained magic. She realised she needed sleep, actual sleep, followed by more sleep. She started walking, ignoring the mild screams of muscles that had been forced to stay perfectly still for several hours.

"I hate sleeping standing up" she muttered.

*****

As she finally got out of the Everfree Forest, Midday noted the sun begin to drift downward across the sky, and a short distance in front of her, a pinky filly with a small aura of general disdain surrounding her, walking down the path.

She nodded, and walked back into town, hoping that she'd see Big MacIntosh while she was there.
And as she did, she wondered what had happened to that book she'd put Nightmare Eclipse in.

For some reason, she kept thinking of a song she'd heard Star Song writing once, and that mildly annoying refrain, which always got stuck in her mind.
'Close your eyes and make a wish...'

*****

There was darkness. Far too much of it. She felt trapped. Incredibly trapped and scared. And after a while she got used to darkness. And then she heard voices. There was an odd shuffling noise, and suddenly there was a bright light, and several odd creatures staring at her.

"Goodness! A pony in a box!" one of them squeaked. She was bright pink, and looked strangely familiar.

"Who would put a pony in a box?" another asked.

"To keep her safe? That's what I do with my socks" a mint-green one said.

"Has anyone considered asking the poor girl how she ended up in the box?" this one had a strange accent completely unlike the others, and even by the current standard was gaudily coloured, as if she couldn't have decided what colour to be. "And also, where her truly dashing mane is styled."

"Do you have a name, darling?" the rainbow one asked.

She paused to admit she didn't know, and she couldn't really think of a good name, but there was one in her head at the moment, and whoever she was, it seemed having a silly name was better than none at all.

"I think my name is... Twinkleshine?"

*****

Ditzy Doo slowly closed the book she was reading, and carefully nudged it back into its shelf on the library. She looked about at the 'room' she'd found while exploring the place, well, she called it a room, even when it was the size of a cathedral. She then wondered what possible interest a time-travelling alien could have had in a children's fairy tale book.

But then, she was just a mailmare. Perhaps on some other planet that book was considered a masterpiece. Or perhaps it held significant value to the Doctor. She considered asking him, but decided it wasn't right to go asking personal questions when they'd only just met.

*****

Midday shook her head. It was a book on fairy tales that had been rewritten and now had a new pony inhabiting the tales.
'It'll probably turn up' she thought.

Author's Note

I didn't want to make Pinkie break the fourth wall (like Lyra and humans jokes, I'm not entirely in favour of them), but the moment seemed right.
And goodness... everypony lives.
(Note: Twinkle could not pull that time-warping spell off normally. She was holding on to some of the magic Nightmare threw at her, and put it into the time-wrap spell.)
Also: I can assure you no chapter after this will be anywhere near as grim as these last two were

Revelations and Reunions

The library door creaked open, and eight heads turned to see Midday Eclipse return, clearly fighting down the weariness in her.

"Hey!" Pinkie smiled, "You're back and you're okay and not screaming anymore and for some reason look four years younger and now we can throw your birthday party!"

Midday Eclipse stared at Pinkie Pie, and smiled slightly. "Hey, Pinkie Pie" she said, quietly, fighting her eyelids in a desperate battle to stay awake (a reminder that she was A; magically drained, and B; a pony who'd been awake for far too long), "Sorry to burst your bubble Pinkie, but can we... possibly move it to tomorrow? I'm not really feeling up to partying right now"

Pinkie Pie's smile suddenly turned upside-down, "But I had the party hats ready and everything"

"Hey!" Trixie declared as she realised there was a paper party hat on underneath her usual hat, "How in the world did you...(No, no, Trixie, that way madness lies...)"
Midday noticed her father glancing at her, "What happened to you?"

Midday considered explaining everything that had happened in a single day, that she'd been attacked by a plant, lived out her ludicrously improbable dream life, managed to bring herself out of it, and the sheer trauma of that had apparently revived the Nightmare entity which had apparently survived her cousin's last-ditch attempt at dispelling the creature, at which point she'd been thrown out of her own body, leaving Nightmare Eclipse free to rampage across Ponyville, starting with foal-murder, and moving on to severely injure almost everypony in town, until she'd managed to return by sharing a body with Trixie, sealed the Nightmare in a book, and then decided to reverse time to undo almost all of those events.
Oh, and she'd managed to forget there was a younger version of her father in Ponyville at that very moment.

'Perhaps it would be easier if I just went insane right now. Right now. Right now' she thought, waiting for a moment to see if she had.

"It's a very long story. But on the plus side, I know look like I'm actually eighteen, and not twenty-two!" she smiled. Pinkie frowned.

"Oh yeah. I thought you just changed your shirt."
Midday stared at Pinkie Pie for a moment, and then shook her head. Spike walked over to her, looking concerned.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked.
She opened her mouth to say something, then stopped. She tried to say something, say anything. After a few tries she sighed.

"I didn't say I was okay, Spike" she said, cursing her near-inability to lie. Then she looked over to her father, noting that there was one thing she could fix.

"Dad, can I speak with you outside for a moment?"
He looked surprised, and then nodded, following after Midday as the mare headed outside. The door closed behind him, and there was silence for a few moments, until Trixie spoke up.

"She came back just to go outside? That doesn't make sense."
Twilight Sparkle said nothing, merely wondering why she'd been so concerned about Comet Chaser leaving. Then she dismissed it, when she saw Pinkie Pie handing out slices of cake.

"-therwise it'll go off, so I might as well get rid of this cake and make a new one for her tomorrow!" the town's premier party-planner said.

*****

Midday and her father walked along the streets of Ponyville, the mare saying nothing.
"So... what happened to you? Sweetie, sweetie, slow down" her father said, "You know I can't keep up with you, not at my age."

She turned, to see a sardonic smile on his face. Then it vanished.
"What's wrong?" he asked. She shook her head.

"It... hasn't been a good day for me, dad" she took a deep breath, "But that's not why I dragged you outside."
"What is then?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, we have a problem. Actually," she said on thinking that statement through, "We have two problems. The first is that due to circumstances I would rather not explain, I have drained my magic to a dangerous extent, which means finding a spell to get both of us home isn't going to mean much even if I find one."

She waited a moment, before smirking ever-so-slight, "The second, and much direr problem is that you are in Ponyville"
Her father stared at her for a moment, before he raised an eyebrow.

"You mean the version of me that is from this time, right?"
"Yes."

He made a small noise. "But I didn't travel to Ponyville before the day I met your mother."
Then he seemed to realise something. "Oh, I think I know how this happened. He must have seen me at some point and followed me here today."

Midday resisted the urge to facehoof. Her father looked at her.
"So, how are we going to find him? Or me, as it were"

Midday gave this some thought, "Wander aimlessly around town."
"Oh, so there is a plan" he smiled, "Thank Luna."

The two began wandering aimlessly through the town, and after a few minutes came to the market-place, where Midday saw a reassuring sight, that of Big MacIntosh alive and well and talking to none other than Cheerilee.

A few seconds later, Midday realised she'd rushed over to the stallion and had started hugging him.
"Afternoon?" she heard the large pony ask, nervously. She quickly realised what she'd done and slid off of him.

"Sorry, Mr MacIntosh. Just... glad to see you today" she smiled nervously. For a moment the stallion stared at him, before shrugging.

"Clearly."
Midday was aware that Cheerilee was staring at her with a fierce intensity, and then she frowned.

"Have either of you two seen a young stallion, sort'a got the same colour fur as me? Disregarding the one behind me" she added when she saw Cheerilee begin to speak.
"I don't think so" Cheerilee said.

"Nope. Sorry" Big MacIntosh said. Midday just smiled.
"Well, thanks anyway."

She walked back over to her father, confusion all over her face. "What was that about?" he asked.
"Remember what I said a few minutes ago? Very long story."

"Is it related to why you can't use magic and look like your actual age?"
"Yes" she said after a pause. Then a chilling thought occured to her, that while she had sealed Nightmare Eclipse in a book, while having poured enough magic onto the entity to make her forget who and what she really was, the book had logically been affected by the spell she and Trixie had cast.

'So is it still in the library?' she thought. Then, quite suddenly a large book slammed down in front of her and her father's path. It was in fact the fairy-tale book she'd shoved Nightmare Eclipse into. She looked about, to see a brown-coated stallion staring at her. Or was that glaring?

She looked at her father. "Excuse me a moment, I've just remembered something I have to do."
"I'll just wait here then" he said, before trying to look casual. Midday walked over to the Doctor.

"Hello" she smiled. He looked at her.
"You re-wrote time" he said, his tone flat and unemotional, though his eyes kept daring about time.

"Yeah. I did. How did-"
"My people invented time-travel. A teenager rewinding time by an hour isn't really going to do anything to me" he said, a noticable amount of smugness in his voice.

"So, you took that book while nopony was looking so that you could... what, exactly?"
"Well, curiosity mostly," he leaned in, "I wanted to see what happened to the book as it was rewritten."

"And?"
He shifted his jaw. "Not sure yet. A mind-wiped living idea with a bad attitude against the power of a dozen fairy tales. Might get a bit messy."

He gave a conspiratorial wink.
"Nice work sealing her in that book by the way."

Midday smiled slightly, "Well, I was just making it up as I went along. And I didn't have an ectoplasmic containment unit," she frowned before adding, "Although... would that work on a sentient idea?"

The Doctor scratched his head. "I don't know. I honestly don't know. But, the TARDIS isn't being so grumpy anymore, so that's good."

He smiled before saying, "You know, turns out she didn't want to let you onboard because she was afraid of the Nightmare in you."

Midday suddenly glowered at him, "Are you saying you knew, you knew that thing was inside me, and it never occured to you to mention it?"

He looked embarrassed. "Yes, sorry."
Midday glared at him, until whatever logic she had left that wasn't screaming at her to go to sleep kicked in. "I'm guessing if you did that might've made things worse, or something?"

"Or somethink" he nodded, before shrugging, "I honestly don't know. I wasn't around the last time there was a Nightmare in town. And I don't think I want to face one again."

He suddenly looked incredibly nervous, and shuddered, though Midday was too preoccupied with a train of thought to notice.
"Doctor... your 'TARDIS' thing..."

"Not a thing. It's just the TARDIS. My TARDIS" he said, shuffling slightly, "In case you heard otherwise. I am not her Time Lord."
Midday just stared, "You said it could 'go anywhere', right?"

"Anywhere in time and space. And a few places that aren't anywhere at all" he said proudly.
"So... it can cross universes and time-lines?"

He gave a derivise snort, as if this were such an obvious question it didn't need asking, "Of course."
A small smile went across Midday's face. "Can I ask a favour of you, then?"

He looked at her, frowning. "A favour?"
"A favour..."

*****

A few minutes later, Midday walked back to where her father was standing, smiling.
"What is it?" Comet Chaser asked. She looked at him, an odd gleam in her eyes.

"Just... dealing with an important problem" she smiled. He stared at her.
"Okay. I have good news, by the way" he said, calmly. She tilted her head.

"Really?"
"Yes. I have found past-me."

"Where?" Midday asked. He pointed a hoof, to where a slightly nervous-looking stallion was standing, examining some flowers outside a flower shop.

"The long search is over" he deadpanned. The two ponies exchanged glances, then strode over toward the younger Comet Chaser. He didn't notice them.
Midday gave a small cough, and he looked up. A second later his eyes went wide with shock.

"Hello" Midday smiled pointing at her father, "This is you from the future, and I'm your daughter with Twilight Sparkle."
The pony fell over, though fortunately the direction he fell in missed the flower-stand by a full ninety degrees.

"Very helpful, dear" Comet Chaser sighed, before looking at her, "What in the name of Luna inspired you to do that?"
She shrugged. "It seemed right."

*****

The young Comet Chaser awoke in a dimly-lit room that smelt incredibly like frosting only to find the duplicate of himself and the young mare staring at him.
"What-" he said, before the other him spoke up.

"Hello," he said calmly, "I know you're probably a bit alarmed by what's going on. Yes, I am you. I am, from your perspective, roughly eighteen years into the future. This," he nodded to the young mare, who looked eerily familiar, "Is my daughter, from roughly twenty-two years into the future."

The older him bit his lip, before adding, "Time-travel, sort of. Bit weird, bit confusing. Now then, what are you doing in Ponyville?"

"Well..." the younger Comet Chaser's brain was running around in circles trying to figure out what was happening to it, and the logic it prized so highly, "I saw you running around Canterlot, and since you look exactly like an older version of me, I got suspicious and so I decided to see what you were doing, so I followed you here to Ponyville"
Then he looked down at the floor, "And I got completely lost in ten minutes."

"What I was doing," the older Comet Chaser said, "Was getting dragged over here to suffer torture, to see my daughter suffering from an ailment I could not cure, and having to look at a younger version of the mare I swore to spend the rest of my life with while I did so, with her having almost no idea who I am."

A look spread across the younger stallion's face. "I get married? And have a daughter?"
"Perhaps," Midday said. "Though considering everything that's happened, and what's probably going to happen, you might not."

"Or," she said, walking over to him, "It might happen differently. Because now you know who you end up with, and the end result of that, so you might not put as much effort into wooing her, or you might have the wrong motive for doing so. You get how that works?"

The younger stallion stared at her in concentration. "Or what if I feel unwilling to follow what feels like a pre-set script? That by knowing my own future, I have no choice in the matter, that I must find this mare, even without knowing a thing about her?"

"And you two aren't supposed to meet yet" the older him said, "Not for a good few years. Heck, you don't even know she exists yet, do you?"

The stallion stared blankly at them. "No. No I don't. But now I know her name, so... what should I do?"
Midday and her father exchanged looks. Then he turned to his younger self.

"Go home. Go back to your life, and your job. The time is not right for you two to meet. Not yet. Do you understand?"
He nodded, slowly.
"Okay, then," Midday smiled, "That's one disaster that has been averted today."

*****

The two ponies followed him back to the train station, nopony saying anything, although the younger stallion kept finding himself glancing at Midday, before quickly glancing away in case the mare took offense.

As he stepped onto the train, he noticed the older version of himself staring intently at him, which felt very strange, and he noticed they were not leaving, as if concerned he'd try and do something foolish.

After several minutes the train began to pull out of the station, and he watched as the two ponies, their faces eerily unemotional, slowly shrank into the distance, and then he turned around, and then... he smiled.

A pony sitting opposite him suddenly felt nervous, and looked at him.
"You alright, son?" the pony asked. Comet Chaser looked at him.
"Yeah. Why?"

"You're smilin' like a loon."

He nodded, and realised he didn't mind being told that, "Yeah. I guess I am."
"How come?" the old stallion asked. Comet Chaser wasn't trying to grin, but he honestly couldn't help himself.

"I'm gonna be a dad."

*****

Midday and her father watched the train disappear, before the young mare turned to her father.
"So," she said, "Is he going to do something stupid, or is he actually going to behave himself?"

The stallion smirked. "Difficult to say with me. After all, I did some very foolish things when I was young."
"Such as?" Midday asked.

He frowned. "Do you really think I would tell my impressionable daughter the sorts of things her old man got up to when he was 'courting' her mother?"
Midday just stared at him. He saw the odd look in her eyes, and for a split second, he could have sworn his daughter look much older than she should've been.

"Twinkie?" he asked, noticing the very beginning of a tear in her eyes, "What is it?"
There was a second where she said nothing, just staring into space.

"I'll tell you later" she said quietly, "When we get home."
Then, she slowly began to smile again. He saw that, and a thought occured to him.

"What is it?"
She looked surprised, "Didn't I mention? I found a way home. Although," her voice trailed off, "It's a bit risky, and once we get home... there might still be problems..."

He smiled warmly, "You mean with your mother?"
She looked down at her hooves,"And after what I've done."

"What Nightmare Eclipse did."
"Yeah, that too."

They were getting close to the library at that point.
"Well, 'Midday', I don't really have anything to gather, but there are a few things I'd like to do before I go, and I'm guessing you'll probably want to say goodbye to everypony."

She smiled slightly. "Yes. Goodbyes. Just meet me back here when you're done, and we'll go sort this out."
He turned to go, stopped and turned around.

"You... are going to tell her, right?" he said. Midday tilted her head in confusion.
"Her. In there. She deserves to know by now."

"I was going to tell her today," Midday said quietly, "But then... with everything that's happened..."

She didn't finish that statement. She would've liked to have said that she didn't feel emotionally capable of doing so, but she knew if she did, her father would insist she tell Twilight Sparkle who she was. And at that moment, half-dead from exhaustion of body and soul, she didn't feel up to the challenge.
And because if she did say so, he'd notice the wording she'd liked to have used.

Her father sighed. "I'll probably be fifteen minutes."
And then he turned and headed in the direction of the post office.

*****

The door to the library opened, and Midday found Twilight and Spike eating birthday cake and wearing the silly paper hats.

"You're back!" Spike said. Midday nodded, smiling slightly at the cheerful grin on Spike's face.

"Would you like some cake?" she heard Fluttershy ask, "Since it is your birthday, and your birthday cake, but Pinkie Pie said it wasn't right to leave cake just lying about unused, and we might have had some of it. Sorry."

"It's a un-birthday party!" Pinkie Pie beamed, from behind Midday, "Since you didn't want to celebrate your birthday party today, I thought to myself 'Pinkie, you said there would be a party and cake today, so get going with it' and I don't like to be made a liar, so I decided to call it an 'un-birthday party', so it is a sort of birthday party, but it isn't but it is but it isn't and I've gone cross-eyed" she said, as her eyes did indeed cross.

Midday smiled, and Pinkie Pie just stared at her.
"What?" she asked.

"Sorry Pinkie, you were being funny, and I smiled," she placed a hoof on the mare's shoulder, "I needed that."
Pinkie Pie just smiled back. "Yes, you did. Your eyes look all sad, by the way."

*****

Comet Chaser calmly placed the envelope into the slot, and stood there for a moment. What he was doing was a dangerous risk. A gamble, perhaps. He wasn't really one for risk, or danger, even though Twilight Sparkle had told him just being around her was likely to increase the chances of odd things happening to him.

But, what was life without a bit of risk? And it wasn't like he was truly doing anything dangerous, just giving a pony who needed it some help.

He then looked at the formally-worded thank-you and goodbye letter to Dust Bowl. He dryly noted he owed that young colt more than he could ever repay. Much more.

He turned and walked out of the post office, and back to the library, and as he did, he tried not to think of the fact that Twilight Sparkle, his Twilight Sparkle, the mare who he'd married, apparently didn't remember him.

*****

Midday sat, watching at the deep blue-furred stallion approached. As he did, he looked at Midday.
"So, you told her?" he asked. Midday just looked at him, and smiled meekly. Then he noticed something.

"Don't you have anything you want to bring?"
"Nothing that can't be replaced" she said, quietly.

"So... if your magic is drained, how are we going to get home?"
Midday stood up, and silently walked past him. He turned to follow her, and her path led out toward the edge of town, where on top of a hill stood a strange box that was the bluest shade of blue Comet Chaser had ever seen. He looked at his daughter, who calmly walked up to the door and knocked on it. After a few seconds a head stuck out of it, that of a grey-furred mare who was noticably wall-eyed. He recognised her.

"Hello, Ditzy" Midday said slowly, "Is... he there?"
Ditzy nodded. "Hold on a moment, and I'll get him."

After a short while, a brown stallion with an hourglass Cutie Mark leapt out, beaming away.
"Hello," he smiled, walking over to Comet Chaser, "I'm the Doctor, or Time Turner, some ponies call me, and certainly not Star-Swirl the Bearded. Anyway, you must be Twilight Twinkle's father, nice to meet you. I'm your means of getting home."

"You?" Comet Chaser asked, "In a little blue box?"
The Doctor smiled, it was the sort of smile that made ravenous beasts nervous.

"Little?" he said, derisvely. "This old girl's anything but little."
He patted a hoof against the box, "It's okay, sexy, he didn't mean anything by it."

Midday stared at the box, "You know, every time I've gone near this thing, something odd has happened to it. You aren't just pulling my leg with this thing, are you?"
The Doctor turned to look at her. "No, you can go inside."

She stared skeptically at him. "Go on," he smiled, "You won't regret it."
She looked at it, bit her lip, and walked inside. A few seconds later she reappeared, and then circled the box. She stared at it for several seconds, then at the Doctor, then back to the box, then back to him.

"That's..." she said, breathlessly. He grinned an unbelievably smug grin.
"Yeah."

"Dimensionally transcendental" she whispered. His eyes went wide, as she pressed her hooves on the box.
"This thing is beautiful!" she turned to look at him, "But how do you fit the outside around it?"

"Good, isn't it?" he smiled, "And do you want to see something better?"
She grinned giddily, despite the fact that she was seconds away from falling asleep there and then.

The Doctor ushered Comet Chaser onboard, and as he did, he saw what Midday had seen.
Inside the box was a whole room, and beyond that, he could tell there were more rooms, whole corridors even. The room he was currently in was a brightly lit room, with a strange console that looked like it was designed by a child with dreams of becoming an interior designer, pieced together out of whatever was at hand. The floor was made of glass, showing an odd basin beneath, and in the center was a massive cylinder around which the console was placed.

"So..." he asked, nervously, "This is going to get my daughter and me back to our own time?"
The Doctor grinned. "Should do, if I get the date right."

"But... how?"
The Doctor ignored him, and moved toward a large switch, nudging Ditzy out of the way as he did. He flicked it, and then...

There was a noise, a noise unlike any Comet Chaser had ever heard. A brilliant, insane, strange noise, both weird and beautiful and mysterious all at once.
It was the sound of the last TARDIS in flight, the sound of the universe.

Unfortunately, it was then that he noticed something.
"Twinkie?" he asked, looking about the room. He saw his daughter, and she was beginning to blur and fade.

"Sorry dad, I'm... not actually going home yet" she said, her voice low and sad, "There are... things I need to take care of first. I can't leave yet. Not without knowing certain ponies are safe. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but..." her after-image began to fade completely.
"You would've tried to stop me, and I need to make sure of something..."

He stared in horror as the image of his daughter vanished, and as he realised the look in the pony he'd barely recognised as his little girl.
The sound stopped, and there was a large clunk as Ditzy opened the door, which creaked as it did. He wandered over to the door. Outside lay Ponyville, looking almost exactly as it should have. He turned to look at the Doctor.

"Can you take me back?" he asked. The stallion stared at him.
"No. She was incredibly insistant on that matter. And do you know how much energy it takes to move across universes?" he said, stroking the console with a hoof, "I couldn't do this for everypony, I'm just doing this because you were displaced on purpose."

Then an odd look passed across his face, "And she did ask nicely. That might've helped."
Comet Chaser looked outside. "So, what do I do? Just wander into town, act like nothing ever happened?"

The Doctor sighed, frowned and then walked over to him. "Honestly? I don't know. Do whatever you think works. It's your life."
Comet Chaser frowned, and looked at the town in front of him. "Okay," he said, "Here I go"

"Good luck" Ditzy smiled. He strode out, and quickly made his way toward the town. Ditzy gently closed the door.

"We're following him, right?" she asked. He just smiled, grabbing the screwdriver next to him.

"Yeah" he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

*****

Comet Chaser looked around at Ponyville. From his point of view, it had only been a few years. Only a few years, and everything seemed the same, yet strangely different. He frowned as he noticed a small gathering of pink-maned ponies, all excitedly talking amongst themselves. He kept walking, moving toward the library, which had a lot of guards standing around it, he noticed, and none of them looked friendly. He paused, wondering if approaching was the right idea.

'What if she doesn't remember me? What if she doesn't believe it's me?'
He stood there, and then finally decided on what to do. He was going to see his wife, and nopony was going to stop him.

*****

Twilight Sparkle sat there, drinking what was probably the fourteenth cup of tea Fluttershy had handed her at a pace that made glaciers seem like fun-loving maniacs, just staring at the floor. She was aware of somepony knocking at the door, despite Fluttershy's insistance that she be left undisturbed. She hadn't really agreed to that, but after several hours examining the scene upstairs she'd run out of ideas. She also had to go reassure Vanilla Pie she wasn't angry at him, and reassure Pinkie she wasn't angry at her son and that there was no need for an Apology Party.

The knocking was still going on. She looked about, and then decided to answer it herself, walking over to the door. She opened the door to see a stallion standing there, trying and failing to look calm.

"Hello?" she said, before noting he had blue fur, orange hair and orange eyes, just like another pony she knew.
"Do I know you?" she asked, noticing the utterly destroyed look on his face.

"Yes," he said, "You should."
She stared at him blankly for a moment, and while she did feel strangely nervous, she felt something else as well.

"Who are you?"
He sighed, and looked about. "You really don't remember me, do you?"

Twilight Sparkle stared at him, scutinising every detail of his face. There was an odd feeling in her stomach.
He sighed, "She told me you wouldn't, but... I guess I needed to see."

"I'm sorry, but I'm really not sure what's going on," Twilight said, feeling increasingly on edge, "Who told you what?"
He looked at her. "Who do you think?" he asked. She gasped.

"You know where Twinkle is?" she said, unaware she was smiling as she did.

"Yes" he said quietly.

Twilight Sparkle nodded, "Is she... alright?"
He paused, giving his answer some thought.

"She's safe."

"Safe? That doesn't actually sound reassuring" Twilight frowned. He just nodded. Twilight suddenly shook her head.
"Can you tell me what happened to her? Why did she just... vanish?"

He stared at her, and there was something in his eyes, like he was fighting back some urge.
"She was trying to teleport. Something she's never been able to do, ever since she was little. And we both know why that is, don't we?"

Twilight stared at him. "What. Happened. To. My daughter" she hissed.
He walked over to one of the bookshelves, "She managed to travel through time. Roughly twenty-two years and an even number of months. And she's safe."

There was a slight pause as Twilight Sparkle frowned at him. He looked at her.
"Nothing about me looks familiar, does it? You don't recognise my voice?"

Twilight sighed, "I don't mean to be rude, mister...?"
"Comet Chaser," he said quietly.

"Mister Comet Chaser, but I don't know you, and while I am a bit alarmed at how much you resemble my daughter, I am more concerned about why she was trying to teleport, and why she's in the past."

"I can tell. But you shouldn't worry about her. You always worry about her, but... she's not a little girl anymore. She's a grown mare and she is more than capable of looking after herself. And it's not exactly as if she's alone. She did wind up in the Ponyville of the past, after all."
Twilight Sparkle stared at him, wondering why he was talking with such familiarity about her.

"If I did know you," she asked, cautiously, wondering where Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy had gotten to, "Where would I know you from?"

"Eighteen years ago. Ponyville, the little tiny hill just outside town you liked to watch the stars on. Most of your friends were busy. Pinkie Pie was foalsitting the Cake twins, Applejack was out of town, Rainbow Dash was off training to be a Wonderbolt and Fluttershy and Rarity-"

"Had scheduling conflicts. I know. I remember that night," Twilight said, and then she noticed the hopeful grin on the stallion's face, "But I remember being there, alone."

"I had come to Ponyville to observe the stars and had chosen that tiny hill to do so, which was when I bumped into you. And then we got into an argument about 'the best spot on the hill', and it took us over an hour to finally come to a compromise, and spent the rest of the evening fighting over who got to use the telescope. That was how we met."

Twilight Sparkle frowned. "No. I spent that evening up on the hill alone" she said, though for some reason she wasn't so sure.

Now that she thought about it, the last several years of her life didn't make sense. Twinkle had said she had a father, and she'd been so insistant. But what had she dismissed her daughter's claims so readily?
"So... what happened after that?" she asked, hesitantly.

"Well, there was a period of courting, and dating and so on. Most of it unbelievably awkward and such, and there were all those times you saved my life from disasters or accidents. I mean, some of them you were saving Ponyville and / or Equestria as a whole, but the general point stands."

Comet Chaser smiled as he remembered something, then he looked at Twilight. "So you honestly don't remember the cheesiest declaration of love ever made?" he asked.
Twilight shook her head. "I think I'd remember that."

He gave a sad chuckle. "Well, I honestly don't know what I'd been thinking at the time, but... I took you out for a date, you know, fancy meal, clumsy dancing, the usual sort of thing, and then... well, I might have asked you to close your eyes, while I led you to the big observatory, the one by the Royal Canterlot Archives. You see, I might have asked Princess Luna, very very nicely, if she would be so kind as to give the night sky a bit of a temporary cosmetic alteration."
Twilight Sparkle found herself grinning, though she honestly wasn't sure why.

"And what happened then? Did you woo me with a romantic phrase made out of stars?"
He blushed, and for no reason she could understand, she found it actually adorable to see a stallion in his late-thirties (or at least he looked like he was in his late thirties, possibly he was older) acting like a teenager with a bad crush.

"Well, I'd asked Luna to move the stars about to say... 'I love you, Twilight Sparkle'."
For a moment neither pony said anything, Twilight just staring at him in disbelief.

"And... then you yelled at me for that, because I'd gotten rid of 'our' constellation. Which you had never mentioned before. And we might have started arguing, and looking back on it, we weren't arguining about anything in particular, just... yelling, really."

Then his blush increased. "And by this point we were standing really close to one another, and we might have kissed. And then we started making out."
Twilight stared at him, her eyes wide in shock, mostly because of the almost manic smile on his face. Then Comet Chaser looked at her.

"You don't remember any of this, do you?" he said quietly. Twilight stared at him. For a few seconds she wasn't sure what to say.
"No. No, I... sorry. I don't remember any of this."

He just nodded. "Twinkie said you didn't remember. She said you two had been arguing for some time about this."
"Yes," Twilight said solemnly, "We have. Strange, actually, it all seemed so important at the time, but now... now my daughter is gone and I don't even know why she felt the need to run."

He stared at her. "You mean... you don't know yet? You haven't heard anything from the Crystal Empire?"
"No," Twilight said, "And Fluttershy, that's the mayor of Ponyville by the way, has been distracted with what's happened to her son."

"He's alive, as well."
"How do you know?" Twilight said, suspicion suddenly swelling in her.

"Twinkle found him. But apparently the Changelings caught up with him, but the last time she checked, he was still alive."
"And how does she know all this?"

He shuffled, and then sighed, "I think it would probably be better if she explained it, when she came back."
He looked around the library, "Anyway, I'll just... just go. That's what I'll do."

And before Twilight Sparkle could say anything, he walked out of the door. Twilight was aware of the door to the kitchen opening, and Fluttershy looking into the room.
"Who was that?" she asked, quietly.

For a moment, Twilight Sparkle didn't respond, as her mind faced an internal war. She knew him. He knew her, and he knew Twilight Twinkle, her daughter. He said they were married, and for some reason, this sounded... right. She frowned, and then... it was like a curtain had been pulled away from her eyes. And she remembered.

She remembered so much, she remembered seeing the inky purple night sky, with a dozen stars aligned in a message to her, courtesy of Princess Luna, which had led to... an ailse, a dress, vows. She remembered all of those, of seeing her daughter for the first time ever, of looking at him, and the two of them smiling madly.

She turned to look at Fluttershy, and laughed, only just aware of tears on her cheek.
And then she rushed out through the door.

*****

Comet Chaser walked slowly down the streets, staring absently at everything he walked past. He ran, he thought to himself. He couldn't even bare to look at her, couldn't stand the fact that for the second time in twenty-four hours, he'd had to look at her and have her looking back, not knowing who he was.

And as he walked past another small cafe, he suddenly thought to himself 'no'.
'No. I am going to go back, and I am going to tell her how much she means to me, and I am not going to stop until she remembers!'

And as he turned around he was tackled by a large purple tangle of legs and wings.
"Right. Hello, dear" he said awkwardly, to the mare on top of him.

"It's you," she whispered, and he noticed she was hugging him unbelievably close.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I forgot you and I didn't even know, and she tried to tell me and I wouldn't listen."

He tried to free his forelegs from under her, but couldn't. He saw the tears on Twilight Sparkle's face though.
"It's alright, dear. It wasn't your fault."

She looked at him, and smiled. Then a thought occured to him.
"Honey, do you mind, perhaps moving a bit? It's just that you're... cutting of the circulation to my legs."

"In a minute," she said quietly, "Just give me a minute. Just to make sure you're real."
He smiled warmly, as he noted the cool spring air and that fact that he had his wife back, so suddenly loss of circulation in his legs didn't seem so bad.

"Take all the time you need, dear."

*****

A short distance away, a stallion and a mailmare watched the scene in front of them, and turned to each other.
"Nothing is ever completely forgotten" The Doctor smiled. Then he looked around, and saw a ginger mare with a similar brown coat to his own, and a Cutie Mark of an hourglass. His expression dropped as he saw the look of outright loathing she was giving him.

"I think we've seen enough" he said, "Come along, Ditzy."
The mare watched as alicorn and unicorn unsteadily got to their hooves, still staring at the other in disbelief, and smiled at the sight.

*****

Midday stood, waiting for the box to return, or for something to happen, for anything. She could feel a slight chill of the late afternoon wind, and sighed.

After twenty minutes of waiting, she turned around and started back down the hill. And then she heard it again, that noise, that strange, beautiful haunting noise, followed by the small clunk and odd creak of hinges. She turned to see a mad-pony wearing a bowtie and grinning at her.

"So, everything went okay?" she asked. He grinned.
"There was crying and hugging, and I think I saw a bit of kissing" he frowned, "So yes, I did as you asked."

She smiled gently. "Thank you, Doctor."
He looked about, and frowned, "But what about you? How does Twilight Twinkle plan to get home?"

She looked at him, "I'll find a way. Somehow. Thanks for getting my father back to where he belongs."
"Well, that's me. The Doctor, sorter out of paradoxes, here to help. All that stuff."

She nodded, and then nodded to Ditzy, before turning back toward Ponyville.
"You are going to tell her, right?" Ditzy asked. Midday turned to look at her, and noticed the mild irritation on Ditzy's face.

"You said you were going to tell her today. Are you?" the mailmare spoke.
"I'll tell her tomorrow" Midday said. The Doctor just smirked.

"Never do today what you can put off 'till tomorrow. Time isn't the boss of you, but you'd know that, right?"
Midday looked at him. "Bye, Doctor. Try not to get into trouble out there. And..." she stopped, and smiled at him, "Try and stay out of my life for a while, please?"

*****

The two ponies watched as Midday walked away, before the Doctor tilted his head, and looked at Midday.
"What now?" Ditzy asked.

"Well, I've got a box that can go anywhere in time and space, no demons to fight here, and I'm getting a bit bored of seeing events pass in the right order" The Doctor said. Ditzy stared straight ahead at the clouds wafting in the late afternoon sky.
"So that offer about travelling with you, it's still valid, right?"

"Of course" he smiled. Then a thought occured to Ditzy.
"Could Dinky come with us? I don't really want to leave her on her own, even if it is with Amethyst."

He just looked at her, his expression momentarily one of worry, but then his smile returned. "Yeah, you can bring her. I can show her things her teachers would never think of, wonders no-one else in the universe can witness. The Eye of Orion, the magnificent Alingment of the Seven Holiest Cities, one devoted to each virtue. Anywhere you want to go or can think of, or places you never could imagine in your maddest dreams. Places where the sky sings, worlds dream, cities made of hope, places where love burns brighter than the stars and-"
He paused.

"The tea's getting cold" he turned and rushed into the box.
Ditzy Doo smiled, before unfurling her wings, and setting off toward the town herself.

Twenty minutes later, a mad-man, a mailpony and her daughter were gone, travelling on in the strange box of the bluest blue there every was.

Ditzy, Dinky and the Doctor, in the TARDIS.
Next stop, everywhere.

*****

Midday Eclipse slowly walked toward the library, finding each step harder and harder, the world getting blurier with each step. At some point, she realised, she must have started crying, but she didn't feel it.

She walked past Twilight Sparkle, and Spike. They were probably saying something, but she didn't hear them, just making her way slowly up the stairs, toward the bed.

She crawled into it, barely able to tell whether she was actually sitting on it at all, and her eyes were closed before she'd even hit the pillow.

*****

In Canterlot, the next morning, the young version of Comet Chaser found a letter written to himself in familiar writing. He stared at it with incredulity.

To Comet Chaser

From, Comet Chaser

I am taking an awful risk doing this, but I feel it is only fair to give you some advice.

So here it is:

She likes daisy sandwiches, reading, and being with her friends.

And for the love of sanity, learn to dance!

All my love to long ago

Author's Note

I honestly didn't, when I set out writing this thing, expect the last of the time-lords to have the role he did. I honestly didn't. He was supposed to be a background character, and yet almost every other chapter, there he was.
So this is me, getting him out of the way. For good. Completely. Won't be seeing him again.
Next time: Twilight Sparkle learns a horrible truth.

Three Little Words

Neither Twilight Sparkle or Spike had noticed anything odd when Midday Eclipse returned to the library without saying a word, and had found nothing incongrous about the fact that she instantly made her way upstairs and fell asleep, and neither had bothered asking the other why she looked like she'd been crying. They quickly went back to their usual routine, with Spike occasionaly taking moments off to check on Peewee. Twilight had pointed out to Spike that the baby phoenix actually had parents he needed to be returned to, but Spike had convinced her to let them keep Peewee until the baby phoenix was old enough to travel. Eventually, they wrapped up the normal affairs of the day, which mostly consisted of Twilight studying everything she could about weather systems, and went to bed.

The next morning, Twilight woke up and went about her daily routine, and as she did, noted Midday was still fast asleep. For a moment, she considered waking the mare, before deciding that after whatever the mare had gone through yesterday, she doubtless required extra sleep. Then she heard Trixie yawning.

"I had the strangest dream," the showmare mumbled, "I was fighting a Nightmare, and winning. And then there was something about that really muscle-y brother of Applejack's."
Twilight Sparkle stared at Trixie, "Please don't elaborate, Trixie."

"Wasn't gonna" she muttered.
And so, for the next few hours, everything went as normal as it usually did on a Wednesday, though as time went on Twilight became increasingly concerned at Midday not waking up. Finally, after lunch-time, she marched upstairs, strode over to the still slumbering form of Midday, and then gently nudged her with a hoof.

Nothing happened. The mare continued resting, giving no indication she'd ever felt what had just happened.
"Midday?" Twilight asked, nudging her with a touch more force. There was still no response.
"Midday?"

She rushed toward the door to downstairs.
"SPIKE!"

"Yeah?" she heard the little dragon ask.
"I need you to go fetch a doctor!"

*****

Spike quickly did as he was instructed, and the royal blue mare was quickly taken to Ponyville General Hospital, and after a nerve racking period of several minutes (Twilight wasn't sure how long), a doctor appeared looking concerned. Twilight stood up to ask him what was going on, and he simply frowned.

"I'm afraid your friend has suffered a massive depeletion to her magic. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, and she would begin to recover almost immediately, but for whatever reason, her magic isn't recovering. For now, the most we can do is keep her on magical support and wait."

Twilight quickly made her way to the room the mare was resting in, Spike following alongside her. She saw the mare resting, on the usual mucus green coloured bed-sheets, wearing the usual mucus green coloured hospital gown, and noted that Rarity would probably have a word to say about the clash between the awful green and the mare's royal blue fur. She smiled at the thought, and noticed Spike was staring at her.

"Sorry, Spike, my mind just wandered there for a moment."
The little dragon looked at the strange variety of machines sitting around the mare, including one that was filled with a strange greenish-purple light.

"What are all these?" he asked.
"Well, most of these machines tell the doctors and nurses how Midday is feeling, that one there analyses her blood pressure, her heart-rate, and a few other things. Those cylinders, don't touch them by the way," Spike quickly drew his hand back, "Are filled with magic, as a form of supplement to her own depleted reserves."

She looked at another strange device, "And that one over there is designed to keep in a calm state, because otherwise..."
Spike just looked up at Twilight, who was frowning. "Well, I'm sure you can guess the reason why."

Spike gave that some thought, and eventually nodded.
"I guess, yeah."

He turned to look at Midday. He wasn't sure why, but seeing the mare just lying there, barely moving and her expression unchanging felt horribly wrong to him.
"So... how long do we wait?" he asked.

"I don't know," Twilight said quietly.

*****

Thanks to the speed of gossip, which in Ponyville was a speed easily labelled as 'too fast for its own good', ponies across town quickly heard that Midday Eclipse had apparently fallen unconcious without warning, and that for whatever reason she looked four years younger than usual. And then there was something about barrels of pickles, and dishwashers.

So it was that the next day, when Twilight Sparkle went to the hospital, six more ponies followed after her, causing the nurses to shoot the group filthy looks, in the manner of all nurses whose main purpose in life is to inflict pain and discomfort, rather that care and actual comfort.

Rainbow Dash spent the entire journey up to Midday's room repeating that she had only come because she was talking to Fluttershy when the mare heard, which nopony seemed to notice.
Rarity, on seeing the immobile form of Midday did not in fact make any remarks about the mucus green coverings on the mare, instead looking confused.

"Why exactly does she look like an eighteen year old?" she asked.
"Because she... is eighteen?" Fluttershy said, quietly. Twilight just hummed.

"I did think it had something to do with her draining her magic, but now I'm not certain. But after she disappeared after we got that plant off of her, she just returned an hour later, looking like this."
"I see," Rarity said, before something occured to her, "And I recall hearing that you met her father. What was he like?"

Twilight shrugged. "Strange. I mean, he was actually quite like Midday, he always looked like he was upset about something."
"Don't forget the way he hugged you when he entered the library" Pinkie smiled, "That was super-duper weird."

Twilight's expression indicated she hadn't forgotten that. "Another mystery about the mare."
"Pardon?" Applejack asked. Twilight frowned and turned to look at them.

"Nothing about her makes sense. For one thing, her name isn't really 'Midday Eclipse'"
"Well, duh" Rainbow Dash deadpanned, "It's such a phoney, made-up name."

"She's got almost the exact same colouration to her fur as her father, which just happens, apparently to resemble that of the usual colouration of the House of Starcatcher. She can't teleport, except when she can. She knows Princess Celestia, maybe not personally but the Princess knows of her enough to ask me to look after her, and she's obviously not some accountant. Has anypony even seen her perform any accounting? Ever?"

All six ponies, and Spike, shook their heads when they realised that they hadn't.
"And she definitely knows Princess Luna well enough, to sing with her," Twilight said, an odd tone sinking into her voice, "She hates Star-Swirl the Bearded, until she doesn't just because she talks with a random madpony who claims he was Star-Swirl, and then... there's her Cutie Mark."

Applejack frowned, "Everypony keeps secrets, Twilight. So why are you so hot an' bothered about this?"
"Indeed," Rarity said, though she was certain she knew why Applejack was saying that, even if nopony else was, "You almost seem to be taking this personally."

"Maybe I am! It's like when you're working on a problem, and no matter how hard you try you can't figure out the solution. That's what this is for me. There is something about this mare I cannot understand and it's driving me to distraction"

"Twilight," Fluttershy said, "You should probably calm down, before somepony decides to remove you from the hospital for disturbing patients."
"Fine, let them! I don't care, I just want her to trust us enough to tell us the truth!"

*****

Five minutes, and some rather painful hoof-jabs from some nurses later, Twilight continued fuming outside, muttering darkly to herself.
"You know, that's the first time Trixie has ever been thrown out of a hospital. What an exhilarating experience that was, and I hope to repeat it in the near-future."

Twilight Sparkle ignored her, and sat down on a convinient nearby bench. Spike walked over to her, and patted her gently on the leg.
"You know," he said quietly, "Midday was mentioning to me, that she was going to tell you something yesterday. Actually, she'd been saying it for a while, now. And then that weird plant got her, and then this."

Twilight Sparkle sighed. "I'm doing it again, aren't I?" she moaned, "I'm just getting worked up over nothing. Again. Even when I promised I wouldn't."
The six ponies shared nervous looks. "Well, maybe you are," Fluttershy said, before wincing slightly when Twilight glowered at her.

"What I mean is, you promised yourself you wouldn't, but in the end you can't really help doing that, because it's part of what makes you... you. You can't simply just declare 'today I will be better' and assume that everything will be different just with a click of your tounge. And perhaps, one day you might get worked up over what just looks like nothing, and it'll turn out to be really important."

Twilight just looked angry, "And by that point, nopony will listen to me."
Applejack froze, as she recalled what Midday had said to her back at Dodge Junction, and the reason the young mare had held a poor opinion of Applejack, and at that moment, Applejack felt a sudden clarity about what she had to say next.
"That ain't gonna happen. Ever."

Twilight looked up at Applejack, who had managed to speak with cast-iron assuranity. "You may be a bit... nutty when you're annoyed, and you do sometimes shoot yer mouth off without thinkin', but you never get worked up 'bout nuthin'. 'cept 'course the whole Smarty Pants thing, but that's one tiny mistake, and you're the only pony still holdin' that against ya. If you think there's a problem, you tell us, loud and clear, and if we don' listen, then you keep on tryin' until we do listen."

In the sudden quiet, everypony could hear Rainbow Dash's muted 'huh'.
Twilight paused for a moment, and smiled. "Thanks, Applejack."

"Ain't nothing."
"(Trixie may require a barf bag in a moment if these speeches continue)"

Twilight stood up. "You know what? You're right. Like Spike said, she was going to tell me something yesterday. And if that was who she really is, okay then, and if it wasn't, that doesn't matter, because if it's important that she tell us who she is, she will, no matter how long it takes. All we have to do is wait for her to recover, and be there when she does."

*****

However, the very next morning, Twilight returned to the hospital only to recieve some disturbing news.
"For whatever reason, she will not wake up. No matter what spells we cast on her, she will not awake."

Twilight and her friends stared at the mare, listening to the steady beat of her heart-beat.
"This is terrible," Rarity said, "Just terrible."

Twilight Sparkle frowned, and turned to the doctor.
"Why won't she wake up?"

"I honestly couldn't say, myself, but if I had to guess, it might perhaps be because something inside her is keeping her from waking."
At which point he politely excused himself, leaving the seven mares to stare at Midday.

"Something inside keeping her from waking?" Rainbow Dash asked, "Like what?"
"Good question" Rarity sighed, "But alas, there is no way we can tell. She will have to bring herself out on her own."

"No" Twilight said firmly, before turning and heading out of the room. A few moments later everyone else followed after her.

*****

Some forty-five minutes of careful examination of every book in the library by all seven ponies, Twilight just frowned.
"Nothing. Not a single spell that can help us."

"What was it you were looking for?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight shook her head.
"I don't know, just something, anything that could let us help Midday."

Then there was a small cough, and all eyes in the room turned to look at Spike.
"We... could just ask Princess Celestia to send somepony. I bet she'd know something about this sort of thing."

For a moment Twilight gave this some thought, and then bounded over to Spike.
"Of course, that's it! Spike, you're a genius!"

The little dragon blushed.
"Well... yeah."

So, Twilight Sparkle quickly had Spike transcribe a letter to the Princess, explaining the problem and asking if there was somepony she could find that would help. Her response was unsual.

"Dear Twilight Sparkle"
Spike read out, frowning as his gaze went down the letter,

"This is a serious problem you speak of, thankfully

I do know of a pony who can lend you assistance,

and they shall arrive in Ponyville within the hour.

Assuming, of course, I can wake her up."

"What does that mean?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Roughly forty minutes later, Spike belched up a letter informing Twilight that the 'specialist' was due to arrive.

The seven ponies and one dragon quickly filed outside, and looked about.
"So, is she coming via on those cool flying carriages or something?" Pinkie Pie asked, "Or is she getting sent via a box fired by catapult, or maybe carried by a whole bunch of bats!"

There was a short pause, before Rarity dared ask "Why bats, exactly, Pinkie Pie?"
The party pony shrugged. "Well, because Rarity, th-"

Suddenly she started twitching, and instantly six ponies leapt away from her.
"What is it?" Fluttershy asked.

"I think..." Pinkie said as she continued twitching, "It's an imminent Princess arriving"
They were suddenly looked around, before Applejack finally saw something.

"Hey, what's that?"
She was facing in the direction of Canterlot, and her pointed hoof was aimed at a rapidly approaching dot, which very quickly turned out to be a rapidly approaching pony, with a dark blue coat, and an etheral mane, who managed to land with a surprising amount of grace in front of the library.

"Princess Luna!" Twilight gasped. Instantly all but her were bowed in respect (Trixie and Applejack even removing their hats), though Luna looked mildly put out by that.
"Twilight Sparkle" she nodded. Then the looks of respect changed completely into one of surprise.

This might have had everything to do with the fact that when Luna had last visited Ponyville, she had yet to come to terms with modern Equestria speaking habits, and as a result tended to sound loud and kind of angry whenever she spoke, along with her archaic speaking terms, all of which had made her attempts to interact with Ponyville's inhabitants a struggle. Now however she sounded... completely different. She sounded quiet, calm, and composed, and ever-so-slightly cheerful.

"Did... something happen to your voice?" Rainbow Dash asked. Luna looked at her.
"My voice?"

"It sounds... different...-y" Pinkie Pie said, edging backwards when Luna turned her gaze on her, remembering all the things she'd done that might result in spiders in her bathtub, or even worse, an octopus in her bathtub, as opposed to a tiny alligator in her bathtub, which was perfectly alright.

"Ah," Luna said, before sighing, and taking a deep breath.

"THOU WOULDST PREFER'T IF WE TALKED LIKE THIS ONCE MORE?" she boomed, dislodging bits of rooftop and tree.
"... no?" Pinkie squeaked from behind her mane.

"Poetic as it may be, it doesn't suit me anymore. Plus, it really begins to hurt the throat after a while, which may have been why my sister disposed of it" she said, before smiling, "And now, I believe there was a problem you require aid wi-"

"Your Highness!" a voice cried out, and everypony turned to see a small gathering of curious (and mildly alarmed) ponies approaching Luna, with Ponyville's mayor at the front of it.
"We had no idea you would be in Ponyville" the mare said, but Luna cut her off before she could speak.

"That is because I am not here on state business, I have merely to Ponyville so that I may render assistance to my sister's student."
A few quick glances were exchanged between everypony as Luna seemed to slip back into a more formal tone of voice, to which Rarity merely raised an eyebrow.

"I see," the mayor said, nervously, "Well, if there is anything I can do, please, do not hesitate to contact my office, which is loc-"
"Rest assured, I am quite aware of where your office lies, good mayor. I remember it quite well from whence I last came here."

The mayor smiled awkardly, apparently struggling to determine whether she'd been insulted, or had caused insult "Okay, good. I'll just... get back to work. Your Highness."
The group of ponies stared at Luna, before apparently deciding as one that she wasn't about to start throwing pumpkins at anypony anymore.

"What was that?" Rainbow Dash whispered. Luna look quizically at her.
"What do you mean, Rainbow Dash?"

"One minute you're all 'I don't speak like that anymore', then you're all stuffy, like Twilight after she's seen a blackboard."
Luna just raised an eyebrow, while Twilight silently muttered about blackboards.
"Give it some thought, Rainbow Dash, and you'll understand why. Now then, what has befallen young Midday?"

*****

Luna was quickly led to the Ponyville hospital, and then to the beds, the nurses jaws dropping when they saw her walk past. Upon arrival at the room Midday was being kept in, Luna began to examine her, occasionaly giving a small hum.
"Oh" she exclaimed after several minutes.

"Oh?" Trixie asked, "What's 'oh'? Is this a good 'oh' or a bad 'oh'?"
"I believe I will leave that to you to determine, Trixie Lulamoon."

"Ix-nay on the ulamoon-Lay" the mare said through clenched teeth, even as she felt shocked that Luna knew her second name.
"So, what is it? What's wrong?" Spike asked. Luna's expression was leaden.

"Something inside her mind is preventing young Midday from waking. She is... for want of a better explanation, trapped in her mind, inside a dream."
"Is there a way to get her out?" Twilight asked. Luna looked to the young mare, and then down to Midday.

"Yes. But depending on what is in there, it may be difficult."
"How so?" Rarity asked.

"I am sure you all have realised she is hardly an ordinary pony. Her mind is capable of actively resisting my prescence, and at the moment I believe for whatever reason, she has... retreated into herself."
"What?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"She has been placed through an emotional and physical strain, and while one has healed, the other has not. Or, more likely, it has, but she is now incapable of waking herself up."
"So... what does that mean?" Fluttershy asked.

"It means I am about to ask you to do something that poses terrible risk. I will require you to travel inside her mind."

*****

It had taken several minutes of arguing with the hospital staff before Luna could get Midday discharged from the Ponyville hospital, and the convinient discovery that apparently she had named Twilight, then Rarity as her emergency contacts. Eventually, however, Midday was placed on top of her usual bed, which had been placed in the center of the bedroom, at which point Luna had requested scented candles be placed around the room.

"Why, if you don't mind my asking?" Fluttershy said.
"Because if one is to cast forbidden magics in a risky experiment," Luna smiled, "It is best done Properly, or not at all."
This had caused a nod of agreement from Trixie, as well as Pinkie Pie, who then wondered out loud if anypony had noticed the fact that Luna'd managed to capitalise a word mid-sentence.

"So, what now?" Rarity asked, once the scented candles were laid out.
"Stand in a circle."

They did, with Trixie and Spike abstaining.
"And, once we're inside her head, what do we do?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Search through every dreaming world, fight the evil Dream Eaters, and unlock the Seven Sleeping Keyholes!" Pinkie cheered.
"No," Luna said after a small pause, which to the observant might have looked like she was fighting down a smile, "You will know what you are looking for when you see it."

"Will we?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yes."

At this, Luna's horn began to glow, and a strange mist seemed to spread from pony to pony, and then to Midday.
"Be warned, once you are inside her mind, I will not be able to help you in any form. Though I shall say this, if you see something that looks dangerous, stay away from it, just in case."

One by one, each of the mare's eyes began to close, and they felt strangely distracted by odd thoughts and tangeants.
Then they fell asleep.

*****

Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes, getting a strange feeling beneath her hooves. Stone, from the touch. She unsteadily got to her hooves. Around her, she could see each of her friends doing the same thing.
"Where are we?" Rainbow Dash asked. Twilight looked about. It almost looked like the old Canterlot castle, only in far better condition.

"Probably not anywhere that actually exists. We're inside somepony's mind, remember?"
"So, what do we do?" Applejack asked, "Ah mean, Luna said we'd know what we're lookin' for when we find it, but... this ain't what ah was expecting."

"What, pray tell, were you expecting, Applejack?" Rarity asked. The farmpony shrugged.
"Not sure, actually. But it weren't a creepy old castle, that's for sure."

"How are we supposed to find whatever it is we're looking for?" Fluttershy asked, "We don't know where it is, or where it's located, or anything about it other than a vague hint."
Twilight frowned. "I guess we'll have to split up and look for it."

She looked around. "Presumably, if this mindscape follows dream-logic, the actual location will change as we move about the place without warning."
She looked at everypony, "Okay, so Applejack and Fluttershy, you two head up that flight of stairs," she said, pointing to where everypony noticed there was in fact a convinient flight of stairs.

"Rarity and Pinkie Pie, you two," she looked about, and noticed a corridor leading to another unknown location, "you go down that way. Which leaves-"
"Aw..." Rainbow Dash pouted, "I get stuck with the egghead?" she frowned, and then smiled.

"Fine, fine. I'll go with you."
Twilight turned to face everypony else. "Alright, everypony remember: Be careful!"

~~~~~

Rarity quickly encountered a problem as she and Pinkie Pie made their way through the strange dream-castle, one that was set aside from the fact that she didn't know where to go.
Pinkie was being quiet.

"Is everything alright, Pinkie? You're being unusually quiet"
Pinkie Pie nodded. Rarity looked about, staring at the walls, the odd purple-grey colour of the stones.

"A thought occurs. Princess Luna didn't inform us how to remove ourselves from this mindscape. How exactly will we accomplish that?"
Pinkie Pie shrugged. Rarity frowned at her.

"You know, you can speak, Pinkie Pie."
The mare shook her head, and Rarity noticed her expression was oddly blank.

"Can you speak, Pinkie Pie?"
Pinkie shook her head.

"Why not?"
Pinkie shrugged.

"Curious."
The two continued walking, Rarity occasionaly glancing towards Pinkie Pie to make sure she was still there.

~~~~~

Applejack and Fluttershy's progress was not as slow as the farmpony had expected it to be. She'd expected something akin to the long death-march from when they'd gone to confront the dragon the other year, with Fluttershy managing to slow down a hike that should only have taken a day and a half at the most by days. In fact, she'd assumed Twilight had put them together because of exactly that, but now she was beginning to wonder if there wasn't another reason for their being partnered. Either way, Fluttershy's complete calmness was beginning to annoy her slightly.

"What is it?" Fluttershy asked, politely. Applejack smiled.
"Just thinkin' about things, is all."

"Oh. Okay then" Fluttershy smiled. Applejack frowned.
"Ah'm just wonderin' why you're so calm, is all."

Fluttershy stopped and looked at her. "Well, I'm not exactly calm. We're inside the mind of a teenager with a mysterious past, who disappeared for an hour and returned looking four years younger before falling into a vegetative state, apparently from emotional trauma. And she barely reacted to anything that's happened over the last few months. I'm just good at pretending I'm calm"

There was a small pause as Applejack's mind did the legwork on this. Suddenly she found herself thinking about the hike again.
"Fluttershy, you remember when we were all climbing up that mountain to get rid of that dragon?"

Fluttershy stared blankly for a moment, before nodding, "Yes?"
"And that leaf fell on your back and you started screamin'?"

Fluttershy looked down at her hooves, "... yes."
"And that caused a rockslide?"

Fluttershy's response was too quiet for Applejack to hear. "Well, right now I feel like it's the bit just after you screamed, and everythin' went real quiet, and we all thought we were fine until we saw the pebbles."
"You think there's about to be a rockslide?" Fluttershy asked.

Applejack stared at her, and noticed an odd look on Fluttershy's face. "Were... were you tryin' to make a joke?"
"Maybe. Sorry, I'm not very good at jokes."

Applejack smirked. "Nice effort, though."
"Thanks" Fluttershy said.

~~~~~

Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked around. They had decided to see if the dream-castle had an 'outside' and had found themselves in an unusual place, standing right in front of a massive, mountainous even, edifice which appeared to be made almost entirely out of crystal.

"What is this?" Rainbow Dash asked, "And how come we're here?"
"It's dream-logic, Rainbow Dash, things aren't going to make sense."

"I guess" the pegasus said.
"We might as well see if there's a way into this thing" Twilight said. Rainbow Dash frowned.

"You ever seen anything like this before?"
"No," Twilight said, "But I've heard Midday talk about something that looked a lot like this. Some fairy-tale about dark lords, and an entire city vanishing into nothingness."

"What?" she said, on noticing Rainbow Dash's expression.
"Really? Dark lords? Who in the world actually calls themselves a 'dark lord'?" Rainbow Dash snorted, "I've seen Daring Do villains with more subtlety than that. Including that really weird one in the last book."

"Which one was that again?" Twilight asked, as they walked under the shadow of the large building, toward a flight of stairs.
"The one who talked all freaking weird. 'Jou vill show uz ze mageks!' Who the hay talks like that?"

Twilight just stared at Rainbow Dash, who had managed to avoid meeting the infamous Photo Finish, who it seemed had left a lasting effect on Fluttershy.
"You'd be surprised" she smiled.

~~~~~

Rarity sighed. Progress through the mindscape had been delayed until she had found a way to communicate with Pinkie Pie, which they solved by having Pinkie stamping her hoof. After this, they continued onward, and after a while they noticed a sudden increase of lights, and found themselves arriving in a strange room, one that was a pleasant marble design with deep red carpeting liberally covering the floor.

"Canterlot Castle?" Rarity frowned, "How unusual."
She turned her head to see the gloomy tunnelway that she and Pinkie Pie had just navigated, and felt a bit of surprise, having expected it to be completely missing. Somehow, the fact that it was still there wasn't reassuring to her.

"Pinkie Pie, do you think we should turn back or keep going?"
Pinkie tilted her head, and shrugged.

"Forward, then?"
Pinkie stomped in the affirmative.

"Forward it is, then."
The two continued onward, making their way through exactly identical rooms, until they finally found something that shocked them. A giant statue of a pony, with a horn and wings, smiling serenly. On her flank was a Cutie Mark of a crescent moon.

"Princess Luna?" Rarity asked, "But why is she here?"
"Well," a voice out of nowhere declared, "Perhaps you should just ask."

Rarity darted around, looking for the source of the voice.
"Up here" it said. Rarity looked, and saw a small blue filly staring at her.

"Midday?"
The filly looked confused, before leaping off and bouncing off of Pinkie's mane.

"No. Not exactly. Hi, Rarity!" she smiled. Rarity stared down at the filly, or what looked like a filly.
"It's because she's awesome" the filly said. Rarity stared blankly at her.

"Second best Princess in the whole wide world. Or third, maybe fourth" the filly frowned, pacing as she started muttering several things to herself, occasionaly glancing at the dumbfounded looks on Rarity's face.

"Okay, she alternates between being the second and third best Princess ever, depending on whether or not I count princesses among the Princesses."

"How... many Princesses can there be?" Rarity asked. The filly frowned at her.

"Why are you wandering around in here, anyway?"
"We were looking for you," Rarity asked, "According to Twilight you went to sleep and haven't woken up."

The filly smiled, "Oh, that's easy. You just find a handsome prince. Although those are kinda hard to find, right? And making one'd be hard, because my mom said Sapphy was a miracle anyway. And she's a girl, so that wouldn't be any help..."
Rarity stared at the filly, and realised exactly what she meant by 'making'. She turned a violent shade of pink.

"Yes, well... I... that is," she paused, coughed, and stared at the filly, "Luna said waking you up would require finding something specific, and that we'd know it when we saw it. But we've found you, so... why haven't we woken up yet?"

The filly tilted her head, "Maybe it's because I'm not what you're supposed to find. Silly Rarity, I'm just a memory echo. My mind's been fragmented while I'm asleep, so right now you're talking to a bit of my mind that's..."
The filly hummed, "Something about huddles. I don't know. I'm not the bit of my mind you're looking for."

A thought seemed to occur to her, "The others are in here as well, aren't they? Miss Dash, Miss Fluttershy, and Applejack, they're in my mind right now as well."
Rarity nodded. The filly chewed her lip.

"You aren't saying anything, Miss Pie. Are you alright?"
Rarity turned to look at Pinkie, who was just staring at the tiny Midday.

"She hasn't been able to speak since we entered your mind. You... wouldn't happen to know why, exactly?"
The filly stared at Rarity. "How should I know? I'm just an echo. Oh, that rhymes."

The filly smiled at that, before looking toward the next hall.
"Since I'm not what you're looking for, I'd suggest going that way. Or not, I don't know. But I wouldn't go back. One should never go back, only forward."

At this, the tiny filly bounced away, singing to herself. Rarity frowned and turned to Pinkie Pie.
"That was... less than helpful," Rarity sighed, "And since when were there more than two Princesses?"

Pinkie Pie made an expression that managed to indicated that not only did she not know, but that if she did, she wouldn't be able to express such a fact even if she did.

~~~~~

Applejack sighed angrily, looking around the corridor they were in. The featureless, grey corridor, with a dozen doors all painted a truly mind-sapping cream colour. It had just sprung up on them, completely without warning, and now she and Fluttershy were unable to figure out which way to go.

"Ah'm guessing one of these doors probably goes where we want to go, right?"
Fluttershy just looked at her. "I wouldn't know. I'm not really an expert on exploring the mind-scapes of teenagers."

"Is this what everypony's head is like? Contradictory and confusing? Or is it just this girl?" she gave this some thought, and eventually decided it depended on a pony by pony basis.
"Bet'cha Twilight's mind looks like her sock drawer, or something."

She was suddenly shaken from her train of thought by a horrific screaming noise from down the corridor, and turned to see Fluttershy pressed flat against one of the doors, her eyes clenched shut.
"Fluttershy!" Applejack ran over to the mare, "What is it?"

Fluttershy just raised a hoof at a door which, unlike all the other doors in the featureless, grey corridor, had a sign on it, proclaiming 'Do not ever, ever, ever open this door on pain of trauma'.
"I might have opened it" Fluttershy whimpered. Applejack just shook her head.

"Now, c'mon, Fluttershy, what could be so scary behind that door?"
"Don't open it," Fluttershy whispered. Applejack turned, and frowned at it. She was not designed to be curious, her grandmother having spent a lot of her life informing Applejack of what horrors dwelt within the Everfree, waiting for curious fillies to...

'No. Ain't gonna think 'bout what she said. And my eyes aren't made of jelly, anyway!' she thought. However, while Applejack was not curious, she was confused as to what lay behind this door that scared Fluttershy so much, especially since she'd only taken her eye off the mare for a few seconds. She pressed her hoof against the handle, and there was a small click as it opened, revealing none other than...

"Princess Celestia?" Applejack asked. Something seemed wrong. The solar diarch was calmly standing in what looked like a part of the Everfree Forest. And then Applejack realised something was truly wrong. Like ever pony ever, Applejack knew what Princess Celestia looked like, and therefore it had taken her a few seconds to realise there was something not right about the mare.

She couldn't see her eyes, and should the mare's hair have been that colour of red?
"You... dare say no to Us?" the Princess said, coldly.

"Close the door, close the door thedoorthedoor!" Fluttershy squeaked.
"Insolent FOAL!" she roared, her mane seemed to grow, and she advanced menacingly toward Applejack. The farmpony was too alarmed by the sight of an enraged Celestia advancing toward her to recognise that Fluttershy had grabbed the door-handled and slammed it shut.

Applejack slowly turned to look at Fluttershy, utterly unsure of what to say.
"Did you...?" she asked quietly, pointing to her eyes.

"What do we do now?" Fluttershy said, her eyes occasionally glancing to the door, as if expecting it to explode.
"We get as far away from that... whatever that was as our legs can take us."

So they ran, and they ran, occasionally turning down various corners, until they came to a door that was larger than all the others, and for whatever reason was painted a rather odd pink colour, with a sign above it glowing bright green and reading
'EXIT'

Fluttershy and Applejack exchanged glances, nervously looking back down the corridor, as if expecting a snarling, blood-thirtsy monster to come haring after them. Actually, both of them thought at the same time, blood-thirsty monsters would be better than an angry Celestia.

As one, they slammed against the door, which shot open, and the two plunged through it...
Onto a warm, fluffy king-sized bed.

"This is... nice" Fluttershy said.
Applejack opened her eyes and looked about. "Ah don't know. Can't say much for the decor."

Fluttershy looked around. "Oh, yes. It is a bit hideous, isn't it?"
In Applejack's opinion, it looked like it was halfway between creepy, and not creepy, resulting in it being a sort of creepy where even the person who lived there had thought it was a bit too much, and had hired some workmen to renovate the whole thing. Applejack was quickly becoming convinced fire would have been helpful in speeding the process along.

"What now?" Fluttershy asked.
"Well, ah guess we can stay here. Or... hold up, d' you hear singing?"

Fluttershy nodded. There was a long awkward pause not helped by the fact that they were lying on a four-poster bed together in a position best described as 'unfortunate'.
"Guess we should follow the music, huh?"

They quickly got off the bed, and followed the sound of singing. If Fluttershy had been focusing on the singing, and not the sheer terror that comes of seeing a snarling angry Celestia looking ready to burn anything that remotely offended her, she would have noted that despite the singer's capability, she was missing a few notes here and there. Especially since she recognised the song. More or less.

"Hush now, quiet now,
it's time to lay your sleepy head
Hush now, quiet now,
it's time to go to bed

Drifting off toward sleep,
Just put your long day behind you.
Passing into blissful slumber,
Let the land of dreams come find you."

Applejack and Fluttershy found themselves in front of another door, behind which the singing seemed to be coming from. For a moment, neither was sure what to do. Finally, Applejack raised a hoof.

"Hush now, quiet n-"

As Applejack's hoof rapped against the door, there was a pause, followed a few seconds later by a sudden blast of noise, and the sound a pony desperately scrambling to stop it.
Fluttershy and Applejack paused as they heard a familiar voice speaking.

"It's okay, 's okay, baby, go to sleep, go sleep. Mommy's here, go to sleep. Please, stop crying honey!"
After some time of muted whisperings, as the voice grew softer and softer, Applejack and Fluttershy considered leaving. Then the door handle turned, and they saw a truly strange sight.

Standing in the doorway was a mare with royal blue fur, dishevelled blue hair wrapped around a small crown, and and a pair of wings just visible beneath a deep blue coloured dressing gown. A pair of incredibly sleep-deprived eyes glowered at the two ponies, before softening.

"Applejack, Fluttershy! Hello. What brings you here at this time of night?" the pony they knew as Midday Eclipse beamed.

~~~~~

Twilight and Rainbow Dash had, from their point of view, struck gold. They'd found something. On close investigation of the strange building, they had found a pair of doors, opened them, and found an almost entirely empty throne room.
"Wow!" Rainbow Dash said, in mounting awe, "We've found a whooole lotta nothing."

Twilight looked around the incredibly blank room, noting there were some obvious holes in the wall, despite the otherwise pristine look of the room.
"I mean, you'd think whoever decorated this place would've put in, oh, I dunno, a carpet or something! Or a cool window!" her voice began to echo as it increased in volume.

"Because there's! Nothing! HERE!" she scowled as the echoes died down, "Except, you know, a throne. Woo. A big chair. Hooray. Can we go now?"
Twilight walked over to it, and shook her head. "I thought you read Daring Do, Rainbow Dash. Why would you have a room with nothing in it, in the middle of a massive palace?"

Rainbow Dash's brow furrowed. "I dunno. I mean, there was Azuhy's death-castle thing. The writer was on fire with that one. Traps disguised as all sorts of thing. I kept waking up in the night 'cuz I thought my pillow was gonna eat me."
Twilight walked around the throne, staring intently at the massive headrest.

"What?" Rainbow Dash asked. Twilight looked at her.
"I think... I've found something."

She focused, and was overjoyed to find her magic actually worked in a dream, even though she noted that made sense, since Rainbow Dash was flying about still rambling on about Fluttershy's writing.
A small beam of magic lanced from her horn, hitting the massive throne. Suddenly, the floor in front of Twilight began to fade, revealing a deep, deep dark pit.

And stairs. She leaned over the edge, and saw there were a lot of stairs.
"Huh. That's a lot of stairs" Rainbow Dash observed. Twilight looked up at her.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Rainbow Dash stared at her. "Unless you're thinking about the Wonderbolts, no."

"I think whatever it is we're looking for is down there. But it looks like a long walk."
Rainbow Dash just snorted.

"Hey, World's Fastest Pegasus at your service for quickest flight down freaky-long stairwell."
"Who in Equestria would need all these stairs?" Twilight asked as she walked over toward Rainbow Dash.

"I know. This whole place is like a fairy book land invented for eight year olds or something."
Rainbow Dash hovered into the air, and grinned.

"Hold on, egghead."
Twilight suddenly felt her stomach drop, and got the feeling she was going to be joining it in a second.

"Rainbow, wait, what are you doing?"
The pegasus hovered over the center of the stairwell. She cracked a broad grin.

"This."
Her wings stopped moving, and Twilight closed her eyes and winced, just before the two plummeted toward the bottom.
Twilight cursed herself for going along with one of Rainbow Dash's ideas, until there was a sudden feeling of Rainbow Dash righting herself, followed by a polite cough.

"Twilight? You can stop trying to break my neck. We're here."
Twilight laughed nervously, and hopped off. She and Rainbow Dash found themselves staring at a door. Twilight moved toward it, but Rainbow Dash stuck out a hoof.

"Hold up, there's no way it's going to be this easy, right?"
Twilight frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on, Twilight. Massive bunch of stairs and and right at the bottom, there's just one tiny door between us and what we're after? That isn't setting off any alarm bells in here?" she said, tapping Twilight's head.

The unicorn nodded, and her horn glowed, reaching out toward the door. There was a feeling of something struggling.
"Whoever put this here..." she groaned, "Used some pretty strong magic!"

"Maybe the evil overlord did it" Rainbow Dash smirked.
Then, there was a triumphant click, and the door swung open, and then disolved, leaving them facing...

"A brick wall," Rainbow Dash said, "I... can honestly say, wasn't expecting that."
"And why is it purple?" she added.

Twilight walked over to it, and placed a hoof on it. "It's magic" she breathed.
"Pure magic. This must be some sort of... barrier, in Midday's mind. But... the strength of this thing, Rainbow Dash. I can practically taste the magic that made it."

Her eyes glinted in an odd fashion that made Rainbow Dash feel uneasy.
"There's something behind this wall. And I'll bet it's what we're looking for. I can feel it!"

Rainbow Dash looked up at the distant light from the throne room.
"Are you sure, Twilight? I mean, what if that wall's there for a reason?"

Twilight considered this, and nodded.
"Good point. You go check elsewhere and see if there's something upstairs we missed. I'll stay here and... try and get past this wall."

~~~~~

Rarity and Pinkie had decided that following the filly was probably not the best choice of action, and instead had chosen to go an entirely different way. As a result, they had walked through a room that looked almost exactly like the Hall of Windows in Canterlot, save that they all depicted Midday in some shape or form, save one which Rarity found intensely disturbing, of a dark mare standing on top of a representation of the library, smiling a horrific smile, and when Rarity looked closer, she noted the mare had two red streaks going through her mane that looked exactly like Midday's.

"What could this mean?" she asked. Pinkie nudged her, pointing to a tiny plaque, which kindly informed Rarity what she was seeing.
"Oh my" she whispered. She looked at Pinkie, and down the small corridor.

"I think, Pinkie, we should abandon our little exploration of this mare's memories, before we find something we cannot forget."
She tried not staring at the window. Or the plaque, with the word 'Nightmare' plainly visible. Pinkie frowned at her.

"Pinkie, we cannot go backwards, but... I daren't go forward. I think our part in this adventure has petered out, and we must accept it, and wait for the others to find what they need."
"In that case," the voice of filly-Midday chimed, "You'll need somepony to show you the way out."

Rarity turned to see the filly-Midday smiling at her. "Don't worry, I wouldn't hold a grudge against you for feeling the need to opt out. Nopony made you do this, did they?"

Rarity frowned. "No, but... I feel I have been less than helpful. Doubtless Twilight and Rainbow Dash, or Applejack and Fluttershy have done far more to help than I have."
"I wouldn't know" the filly said, "But you might have done something to help, even by accident in your wandering through my mind."

Rarity frowned. "Really?"
"How should I know? I'm just a bunch of memories taped together to protect them," the filly sighed, and looked down the corridor. "The exit's just by the throne. Can't miss it."

"Thank you," Rarity said, "And we'll see you when you wake up."

And with that, the littly filly bounced away again, leaving Rarity and Pinkie looking toward the distant end of the hallway. Slowly they started moving, Rarity occasionaly glancing at what the windows displayed, noting that they all displayed events which had occured since Midday had arrived in Ponyville. There was a very curious one that depicted Midday, her fur dyed an odd lilac colour, against a bright orange background, facing another Midday with her royal blue colours, against a dark blue background, the one in lilac with her eyes open, the one in blue scowling. And then she looked up, and honestly wished she hadn't, at which point her pace quicked.

Rarity and Pinkie Pie came to a large door, with a large handlebar on it. "Should we go, though?" she asked.
Pinkie stared at her.

"I don't feel right, leaving everypony else to finish. What if they need us? Will we be able to help them?"
Pinkie just looked at Rarity, but made no other expression. Then she leaned against the door, revealing a strange, blinding glow. The two stepped through it.

*****

Rarity woke, and found herself staring at the library.
"Princess! They're awake!" she heard Trixie cry. She looked about to see a concerned look on Luna's face.

"What happened?"
Rarity sighed. "I felt I was not able to continue on my exploration of Midday's mind, and so I... stepped out."

Luna just nodded. "Quite understandable. Other ponies minds can be... unusual places. Full of dark things."
"How do you do it, then?" Rarity asked. Luna opened her mouth to say something when there was a deep gasp from Pinkie Pie.

"I can SPEAK AGAIN!" she yelled, "Oh that was so horrible not speaking and now I'm gonna have to speak even faster to make up for lost time because I couldn't speak in there even though I was trying really really really really hard! But every time I tried it was like my mouth wouldn't work so I couldn't speak and then I had to tap my hooves just to communicate and it was awful! Have you ever tried not speaking for twenty whole minutes at a time?!"

Luna just stared at Pinkie, who hadn't stopped speaking, then to Rarity.
"If you're wondering," she said, "the reason she couldn't speak would probably because time in the mind-space is... malleable. Minutes can seem like hours, hours can seem like minutes. I'd surmise that because of this, Pinkie's usual train of thought was thrown off."

Rarity gave this some thought, then turned back to look at the other slumbering mares.
"I wish I could've seen how everypony else was getting on" she sighed. "I feel so... wretched, for doing that, leaving them in there."

"But Pinkie Pie's inability to speak was clearly upsetting her. Perhaps you were subconciously acting on your desire to help her as well."
"Really?" Rarity asked. Luna looked as if she hadn't expected that response.

"Perhaps" she said, cooly.

*****

Twilight frowned as her magic made its way through the wall of pure magic in front of her. It had occured to her some minutes ago that whatever she was doing was apparently beginning to work, and also that whoever had put the barrier in place, their magic felt alarmingly familiar. Then she hit a snag. The magic was fighting back. She gritted her teeth and poured more magic into her efforts, and then more, and then more, and after a while, there was a triumphant, yet loud 'crack'. She ceased casting her magic as she watched a large crack snake its way down the middle of the wall. Then, the purple bricks began to slide sideways, revealing... another door. She cast another spell, and strangely enough, this time it opened without needing persuasion, revealing... a wide open courtyard, in the middle of night. From the look of it, it resembled a familiar square in downtown Canterlot.

But that wasn't the shock she'd been expecting. Midday had said she'd been from Canterlot, hadn't she?
Ignoring her trepidation, Twilight walked through the doorway. She wasn't sure why she felt so nervous, but there was something that didn't seem entirely right to her.

She stood in the middle of square, and looked about. There was utter quiet, and she frowned.
"Okay. I'm here. What am I supposed to see?" she muttered, looking about. Then, she looked up at the moon.
It was a lot closer and a lot larger than it should have been. And it was glowing purple.

A beam shot out from the moon, landing directly in front of her. A circle formed around Twilight's hooves, and she leapt out of the way entirely on instinct. Then she saw something.
There was a strange fog gathering around the beam, coalescing into the form of a mare. An eerily familiar-looking mare.

Twilight stared, too shocked to turn away as the mare's coat became visible, and it was a light purple. Then, a horn appeared on the mare's head, followed by hair, then a tail appeared, and then a pair of wings. Her expression changed to one of confusion, followed by outright panic as she saw the mare's hair turn blue, with a streak of pink running through it, followed by a Cutie Mark of a purple star with five smaller, barely noticable stars around it.
She slowly dragged her eyes to the mare's face, even as every part of her mind screamed not to look, to ignore what she was seeing. But she didn't.

A pair of light purple eyes stared at her with noticable regret, shame and several other things she couldn't recognise.

And then the illusionary mare began to speak.

With her voice.

~~~~~

Applejack and Fluttershy hadn't really been sure what had happened. One minute they'd been fleeing from an image that both were certain would haunt them to their graves, and then they'd fallen onto a bed, and then followed singing until they found Midday, or what looked like Midday. The mare they knew as Midday didn't have wings, or a crown, and wasn't prone to living in creepy places that were made of something they didn't know what.

And then she'd asked them something, and they were too confused to acknowledge what she said.
"What?" Applejack asked.

"I said 'would you like something to drink?' You look like you could" she smirked. She strode off, and the two meekly followed after her, until she led them to an incredibly large looking room filled with randomly placed kitchen equipment.

"Sorry about the place. Only moved in a few years ago, and the in-laws, bless their little hearts, don't quite understand eating food like we do."
She looked at the two mares, "Now, would either of you like some coffee? Tea? I'm afraid we don't really have anything like cider by the way, no adult beverages, just in case."

At this she began to rummage around through several cupboards until she found what looked like drinking glasses, and a teapot, which made a loud clunk.
"Now, the husband, I do love him, but I wish he'd tell the staff how to use a kettle" she frowned, her horn glowing as a brick emerged from it.

"A brick. In a kettle. I swear, it's like their minds are on the moon."
"Ah, Midday?" Applejack said, "We came to talk to you."

"That's nice," the mare said as she began trying to make what was probably tea.
"Midday, yer lying in bed in the Ponyville library. You haven't moved in days. You just went to sleep and didn't wake up again. Princess Luna said you were probably keeping yourself from waking up."

The mare said nothing for a while.
"I didn't used to like tea. Still don't, but... the husband, he knows his teas. Probably got that from his mother, his real mother, not his birth mother. Bit of a story behind that explanation, by the way, and I don't know all of it. Anyway, he bought this tea, and it's really good at calming the nerves, which I've really needed since... well, little Lilac came along."

"Lilac?" Fluttershy said, "that's a lovely name."
"Well, I was gonna call her something different, but then I forgot what it was. Still, anyway, this tea is brilliant, and you two look like you need a calmative."

Applejack and Fluttershy exchanged glances, then looked back at the mare as she sighed.
"Tea is the answer to all of life's problems, except the big ones, like 'Why is there no more tea, and why am I not drinking it now?' Or something like that..."

Applejack felt the discourse on tea had gone on long enough, and cleared her throat, as the mare calmly poured out a small serving of tea.
"Fluttershy?" she asked. The pegasus looked to Applejack, then back to the mare.

"Yes, please" she nodded. A small tea-cup floated over to her, and she sniffed it, apparently liking the scent. Midday walked over to them, and suddenly looked a lot older than her current appearance of a mare in her mid-to-late twenties. She gave Applejack a cup as well, and the mare, not wanting to turn down a free drink, took it.

"I..." Midday said, her eyes closed, "I couldn't sleep, that first night. I was afraid if I looked away for a minute, she'd stop breathing, or run away, or somepony would take her. I couldn't sleep the second night, the third or the fourth. I did get a bit better after that. But every night, I checked to make sure she was alright, and still there. I sang to her, I talked to her, I played with her, I read to her, even though she didn't understand the words. I carried her, I fed her, I changed her diapers, I helped teach her to speak. She was my creation. My little miracle. My daughter."

She looked over to Fluttershy, who had set the tea down. "It's very nice tea" Fluttershy said, once she was aware Midday was staring at her. Applejack nodded in agreement.
"And then... one day, she was seven. Only seven years old. And the world just... stopped. And you can guess what happened next."

Fluttershy and Applejack exchanged glances as the mare sighed. "I woke up, in that damn library, Twilight was there, my dad was there, you were there. And my daughter was just a dream. Nothing more."
Suddenly there was a noise, not quite a wail, or a sob, but it was there. Tears began to move down Midday's face.

"My little baby."
Fluttershy held the mare tightly. For a few minutes there was only the noise of Midday weeping, and Fluttershy just gently rocking her back and forth.

"And every time- every time I close my eyes, I see her, smiling. Just like she always did. She was my little girl. And I couldn't keep her. In the blink of an eye... she was gone, and she'd never been."
For a few minutes she continued sobbing, though now it sounded like she was trying to fight the tears down. Finally she gently but firmly pushed Fluttershy away from her and looked at Applejack and stared at her.

"So, after that, after having to experience my soul being torn out, and then getting see my body used as an instrument of murder, and pushing myself far beyond my limits, is it any wonder I don't want to wake up?"
Applejack stared at her. "But you have to."

Midday glowered at her. Actually, calling it a mere glower would do a disservice to it. It was a full on glare.
"Do I?" she hissed.

Applejack nodded. "It hurts, doesn't it?" she pointed to her chest, "In here."
"Yes."

"Really, really hurts."
"Yes."

"I know that it hurts. But you have to keep goin'. You mourn, but that's all. It'll suck, it will always suck, but in the end, you have to wake up and keep living your life, because they wouldn't want you to waste your life moping over them. They'd want you to live, to move on with your life, because maybe, maybe one day you'll actually feel alive again. And as long as you're alive, so are they, in our hearts and minds. And there are people out there, who need you. Maybe not right now, but at some point, they'll need you, and they need you to be strong, and alive. Because otherwise, you're insulting the people who need you, and yourself, and the memories. And that's as bad as killing them yourself."

Fluttershy and Midday stared at the farmer, who just looked down at the nearly-empty tea cup, not saying anything else.
"Applejack..." Midday said. She looked at the door to outside, her face fraught with emotions.

~~~~~

Rainbow Dash had not gotten lost. Not exactly, at any rate. True, she had gotten a bit confused by all the identical empty room, but that wasn't the same as being lost in her book. She had found nothing, and returned to the stairwell. She flew down it, finding her way eased by the fact that Twilight Sparkle wasn't choking the life out of her. However, when she reached the bottom, she found Twilight sitting, staring blankly. She felt nervous, and slowly approached the mare.

"Twilight?" she asked. There was no response. She walked around to face her. Twilight didn't seem to notice her. Rainbow Dash reached out a hoof and waved it in front of Twilight's face. The mare yelped and leapt into the air, startling Rainbow Dash.

"Sorry," Twilight said, "I didn't see you there."
"What the buck was that?" Rainbow Dash yelled, funneling her terror into annoyance.

"I was just thinking about things."
"Did you find anything?" Rainbow Dash asked, on seeing the wall was gone, just a blank face of rock.

Twilight said nothing.
"Well, we'll just keep looking, right?" Rainbow Dash smiled. Twilight nodded, absent-mindedly.

Then the world went white.

*****

Four ponies found themselves waking up in the library, none of them looking anywhere near happy or satisfied.
"What the hay just happened?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"She... woke up" Fluttershy said, though if anypony heard her they didn't indicate it.
Rainbow Dash just nodded, then looked at Twilight, who was staring intensely at Midday.

"Twilight, you alright?"
The mare smiled at Rainbow Dash, in a way that made the speedster feel concerned for the royal blue mare, who was beginning to stir on the bed.

"Hey, dashie!" A voice chimed. She turned to see Pinkie Pie carrying a small tray around her neck with some beverages on it.
"Oh, coffee!" Rainbow Dash said, "Great, 'cuz I could drink like a buffallo."

For a few moments, nopony said anything, the only noise being the chirping of the small phoenix Spike was sitting next to. Had anypony noticed, they would have seen the solemn look on Twilight Sparkle's face.

"Hey, where'd Princess Luna go?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"She went downstairs to talk with Trixie about something, left Rarity to keep an eye on things up here" Spike said, inbetween paying attention to Peewee.

Midday sloped off the bed, stretching and groaning. For a minute, she looked far older than an eighteen year-old had any right to be, and then her expression changed to totally neutral.
"Are you going to be okay?" Rarity asked. Midday nodded silently. Then she looked over at Twilight, and a cold chill ran through her veins.

And then she noticed it had gone utterly silent, everypony having apparently noticed Twilight's diamond-breaking stare.
And then she spoke.

"Twilight Twyla Twinkle..." she said, slowly, each word sounding like a thunderbolt.

"We need to talk."

And then, Midday's horn glowed brightly, and there was a bright flash followed by a small 'bloink' noise.

Always and Completely

For a few moments, there was utter quiet in the library, as Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy all stared at the spot where 'Midday Eclipse' had been standing not seconds ago. Spike meanwhile, was just staring at Twilight Sparkle, and despite the fact that he had been expecting to feel triumphant, what Twilight Sparkle had just said had made him break out in a cold sweat.

What she had said was Midday's full name.

"What?" Rarity said quietly, "The hay? Just happened?"

Twilight Sparkled looked down at her hooves, and to the untrained eye, she might have looked mildly irritated, to anypony who knew otherwise about the mare, a dozen emotions were running rampant through her,

"She's my daughter" Twilight said.

For a second, nopony said anything, all staring either at Twilight or one another. Rainbow Dash what the first to break the silence.

"You mean... aw, man..." she moaned, slamming her front hooves into her face, "I'm an idiot. I'm a bucking idiot."
Nopony said anything for several moments, though if anypony had been looking at Applejack, they would have noticed slowing mounting revulsion and panic on her face.

"She was telling the truth!" Rainbow Dash said. Suddenly there was a sharp drop in the room's temperature as she realised what she'd said. Twilight Sparkle slowly raised her head to look at her.

"What," she said, and in the sudden quiet it sounded like a whip-crack, especially with the total lack of emotion in it.

Rainbow Dash suddenly immitated a look usually only found on certain types of small mammals whose lot in life usually means ending their lives in a damp, terrified crunch. She tried smiling nervously, but that quickly collapsed under the assault of Twilight's stare.

"Well, you know how... a few weeks ago, when the kids and I went to Canterlot, we got to talking, and I asked her who she was."
"Yes?" Twilight said.

"Well, she said she was your daughter... from the future. And I thought that was completely ridiculous. Even though she does... kinda look a lot like you, and acts like you sometimes..." Rainbow Dash suddenly found herself unable to continue.
Applejack, meanwhile, had vanished.

"She told you. She was from the future" Twilight said.

"I though she was being sarcastic or something" Rainbow Dash said quietly.

Twilight just nodded, and though nopony said anything, it seemed to be a common agreement that this was more terrifying than her being angry.
"Wait," Rarity said, "Sweetie Belle and her friends were with you when she said this, correct?"

Rainbow Dash nodded, and then a second later realised what she'd just said.
"So, do they know?" Fluttershy asked, "And who else knows?"

For a moment, nopony said anything, which meant they could hear the noise of Applejack retching quite distinctly. Then, quite suddenly a though occured to everypony, and they all turned to look at Spike, who merely grinned nervously and waved at them.

"Spike," Rarity said in a voice that made the air freeze, "Did you know about this?"
He mumbled something.

"What was that?" Rarity asked.
"Might've done" he said defensively. He looked at the four ponies staring at him. "Hey, she told me, and then she made me promise not to to tell anypony, alright? I'm not on trial here."

He folded his arms and turned away. After a few seconds he checked to see if anypony was looking at him. Rarity was staring at him, and despite herself and the utter lack of humour in the current situation there was the tiniest hint of a smirk on her face.

There was a small groan as Applejack came back into the room, looking like she'd been dragged through a hedge, beaten up, and then forced given a complimentary shaking-down for her troubles.
"Applejack?" Fluttershy asked, "What is it?"

The mare stared at Fluttershy, her eyes almost lifeless, and her gaze moved to Twilight, who was still standing there, not saying anything.
"Ah don' wanna talk about it right now..."

"Are you alright, Twilight?" Rarity asked, no longer able to tolerate Twilight's quitetude. The mare looked at her.
"No, Rarity. I'm not," she walked over to a window and looked out of it.

"I feel like the world's been pulled out from under me. Now I now what's going to happen, I have no choice in the matter. It's going to happen no matter what I do, so... do I even exist, as an individual? Do I actually have free will at all any more, or am I following some pre-set plan?" she frowned and shook her head, "All I have are more questions. Questions upon questions upon questions. And the only thing I can think about right now is wings."

At this, Rainbow Dash looked almost sheepish, something Pinkie Pie noticed.
"Hey, Dashie, you've gone all pink."

Twilight looked at the pegasus. "What is it, Rainbow Dash?"
"Nothing. Nothing. Just... Midday, or Twilight junior, or whatever we're calling her now, she also told Scootaloo and her friends how she got her Cutie Mark, and..." she coughed.

"She said I had wings, didn't she?" Twilight said. Rainbow Dash looked at her.
"... yeah. How did you know?"

There were identical shocked gasps from Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie.
Twilight frowned again. "But why? Why do I have wings?"

There was a small cough from Spike, who looked like he wanted to burst into flames. "You could always ask Princess Luna. She is just downstairs, after all."

"No," a suspiciously Luna-sounding voice said, "She isn't."
Twilight looked up at her. "Princess Luna. Or would you prefer just Luna? Since we're apparently going to be equals."

Luna stared at Twilight Sparkle, and for a few seconds Pinkie tried to join in, but her staring was evidently nowhere near as good as Luna's staring.
"What happened?" Luna asked. Twilight looked straight ahead, her eyes unblinking.

"Apparently at some point I'm going to gain wings. Which is impossible, isn't it?" she turned back to Luna, "Unless there is a way to do this I was not aware of."
For a moment, Luna looked afraid and unsure. "I can neither confirm nor deny that" she said flatly.

"I see" Twilight said, looking down at her hooves. When she spoke again it was calm, but with the faintest hint of something worrying.
"Princess Celestia knows about all this, about Midday, or should I say, Twilight Twinkle? Doesn't she?"

Luna said nothing. Twilight just nodded again, looking uncertain.
"So..." Pinkie said, "What about Midday? Or Twinkle, or whatever she's called? Are we going to do something about that?"

Rainbow Dash frowned. "Why would you call her Twinkle, anyway? What's up with tha-"

"It was my grandmothers' name, on my mother's side. She passed away a few months after I got my Cutie Mark" Twilight said quietly, "Though 'Twyla', I don't know where that came from, but the alliterative name is something I-... something Future-Twilight would do."

"Wouldn't that be Future-Princess Twilight?" Pinkie asked, "I mean, if she's got wings then I bet she is a Princess, because you're already super-duper smart and powerful, so making you a Princess is really the next logical step!"

"Yeah," Twilight said, her voice distant. Fluttershy was now standing next to Applejack.
"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked quietly. Applejack shook her head.

"Ah'll explain later. Just... not right now." she said quietly, occasionaly shooting a glance at Twilight, at which point Fluttershy saw a look of unimaginable guilt on the mare's face.

"So, what do we do now?" Pinkie Pie asked. Twilight just shrugged.

"If it's all the same to everypony, I'd just like to be alone for a while," Twilight said, "I'd like to be alone right now."
Everypony exchanged glances, and quietly filed out of the room.

*****

Everypony stood awkwardly downstairs, nopony was sure what to say, save Luna, who quickly muttered something about being needed back in Canterlot. Pinkie Pie had quickly filled Trixie in on what they'd learnt.

"That's... unusual news" Trixie had remarked.
"So, what are you going to do about this?" she asked.

"Maybe we should just find her and get her to talk to Twilight?" Fluttershy said. Everypony stared at her.
"Or not, nevermind, I'll just be quiet then" she whispered.

Rarity sighed, "No, it's actually a good idea, Fluttershy, but where would we look?"

"We'll just have to look everywhere," Rarity said, "At this point I'd say that mare owes us some answers, and answers to the questions those answers raise."

"And questions to the answers to the questions the answers' questions answer!" Pinkie smiled, before frowning, "Or am I getting it mixed up somewhere?"

*****

Upstairs, Twilight stared at a piece of parchment she'd picked out. She had been meaning to write a letter to Princess Celestia, but each time she did, she couldn't focus. Her thoughts were running wild, as a thousand different feelings fought one another for supremacy. And foremost in her mind was what she'd seen in the young mare's mind. What that future version of her had said.

"Hello, Twilight. ... I made this message because right now, at this time, you're only five, and... I'm sorry, I'm not really sure what to say right now, so... maybe I should just recount what happened.
You moved the sun and the moon. You managed to do something even I couldn't do, or at the very least that I'm not certain I could do. And... (I thought this would be easier.)
I decided that it would be for the best to seal away part of your magic, until you were old enough. Until you were ready, so if you're listening to me rambling, that means you're old enough.
I can't predict the future, so I can't say what sort of mare you'll become. I don't know if you'll be angry, or accepting, or afraid. So maybe I should be clear: I didn't do this out of spite, or jealousy. I did it because I just wanted you to grow up not feeling burdened with all that power, or responsibility. I just want you to live as normal a life as possible. I just want the best for you. And more than that, I just want you to be happy, no matter what you do.
And if... if I've failed, in my duties as your mother, if I did something wrong and unforgivable, I am sorry. If you feel betrayed by what I've done, then at least know that I can understand that. But this wasn't because I don't trust you, Twinkle. I just wanted you to be able to take on your full power when you were old enough to use informed judgement, not let it ruin what are supposed to be the best days of your life.
But... whatever you do, however you respond to this message, that's your choice. Just know that I did this out of love, Twilight. And...
Twilight Twyla Twinkle, in case I don't say this enough, I love you, sweetie. You're my greatest achievement.
And I don't mind what you do with your life, provided you don't turn evil of course, just so long as you keep being brilliant.
Because I know I don't tell you that enough."

Twilight was growing aware of somepony talking to her, trying to get her attention.
"-ilight? Twilight?!"

She jolted, looking at Rarity, who had a look of concern on her face. She was also aware of the familiar scent of tea, which meant apparently Rarity was feeling stressed, though to her credit the mare was barely showing even the slightest hints of that.

"What is it?"
"Tea," Rarity said, floating what didn't look like any of Twilight's tea-cups towards her, "I thought you might like something to drink."

Twilight took it and began to drink, and had to admit it did feel relaxing. Then she noticed Rarity looking at her.
"Is something wrong, Rarity?"

"I'm worried about you, Twilight. We all are. That's all."
"What? Do you think I'm going to hurt... her if I see her again, or something like that?"

"No!" Rarity said, "It's just... well, we weren't sure what you were going to do."

Twilight nodded. "Well, I've been thinking it over. I've been thinking about a lot of things. For example, I was just thinking Princess Celestia probably will have a part in my gaining wings, and... I'm conflicted. Yes, it's exciting but... at the same time I'm terrified whether it will hurt or not, and wondering if everything, right from my gaining my Cutie Mark was just part of some plan. If that's all I am to her, just a curiosity."

Rarity stared at Twilight. "And what do you think?"
Twilight frowned. "I think I'm not sure, right now. Princess Celestia has always looked out for me, though. Maybe becoming a Princess is just my destiny."

She smiled faintly, "And I suppose there are worse things to find out about your future."
Then her smile vanished, "But I am concerned. She said she's in the past by accident, but she said her father was erased by Discord. So why was there a pony who said he was her father? Was he an actor, who just happened to look like her? Or is there something else going on there? Right now I'd just like some peace and quiet to gather my thoughts, and all I can do is think up these questions."

Rarity placed a hoof on Twilight's. "Well, we are looking for her. And we'll find her, and then we'll see about having a nice chat."
Twilight nodded, then looked at Rarity. "I don't suppose you noticed the look of guilt and self-loathing on Applejack's face while I was... freaking out, did you?"

Rarity gritted her teeth. "Yes. I did. And I have a strong suspicion it has something to do with why our little time-traveller didn't seem to like her for so long."

Then, there was the sound of hoofsteps, and Rainbow Dash burst into the room.
"Hey, Rarity! We checked everywhere and we can't find her."

"You checked everywhere?" the fashion desinger asked.
"Yeah. Pinkie and Fluttershy even double-checked, just to be sure. We haven't found her. In fact, all we've found out is that Lyra is really excited about some wedding she's going to, and that Amethyst whatsername's all depressed for some reason."

Rarity and Twilight exchanged glances.
"Where could she have gone?" Twilight asked.

*****

Meanwhile, in a suspiciously familiar place, royal blue hooves pounded against a deep blue carpet, their owner calmly making her way along a deep corridor. The ponies who saw her knew well enough to stay out of her way, for she was one of the most dangerous and enigmatic mares in all of Canterlot, and it was the worst time of day to encounter her.
She was Midnight Eclipse, and she'd just finished work, which meant anypony foolish enough to dare approach her, regardless of who they were, even Shining Armor himself, would probably be dragged to a dungeon, then exiled to some windswept island, whereupon they'd been thrown into a different dungeon.

She arrived at her destination, a small room in the massive castle, and opened the door, before entering. In Canterlot Castle, a small room was not the same as a small room in Ponyville. A small room in Ponyville was small. A small room in Canterlot was far, far larger, and would have seemed the size of a medium-sized apartment to somepony from Ponyville.
The mare sighed, and allowed her dark sapphire-blue hair to unwind from its usual bun. Then she frowned, and looked around the room.

"Whoever is there, show yourself" she said, calmly. Nopony had ever seen the mare get angry, but if they had, their fear of her would have actually lessened. Mares screaming and raging defiance as part of them was alight was perfectly normal. Mares who just nodded, and smiled, and signed banishment orders were far worse.

"Have you changed your hairstyle?" an all-too familiar voice asked. Midnight's eyes narrowed, as she remembered the Incident, as she called it, of several months ago, where'd she met a pony who looked exactly like her in every detail (save one), but differed in almost every other aspect.
"You."

An outline of a mare appeared, and to Midnight's shock, turned into an almost identical royal blue mare, with her mane tinted with two streaks of orange. The shock came from the fact that she'd been expecting the mare to be lilac, while the 'almost' came from the fact that Midnight was slightly older-looking, and the fact that her duplicate gave off a subtle aura of wrong-ness. Which, in all fairness was because she was in the wrong universe. And the wrong time.

"Me," the other unicorn grinned, before her eyes darted to Midnight's hair, "And you have changed your hairstle. Or is this how you normally look?"

Midnight frowned, "It's new" she said defensively. Her counterpart nodded.
"This wouldn't be because of a visit to anywhere would it?"

Midnight stared at her opposite number. "What do you want?"
The mare shrugged. "Nothing, nothing. Just thought I'd come visit my 'sister'."

Midnight raised an eyebrow.
"Actually, I've had a string of bad days lately and I came here so nopony would find me while I thought things out. And I wanted to visit you."

Midnight stared at the mare, numerous questions rushing through her mind. "How did you even get in here? This castle's warded against all manner of intruders."
"Told the guys at the front door I was you," the mare shrugged, "They let me through without question."

Midnight made a mental note to find out which guards had done that, and assign them a menial repetitive task to perform.
"Define 'a string of bad days'" she said, icily.

Her counterpart pretended to give this some contemplation, "Well, for my birthday, I got attacked by a plant that made me live out my dream life. Apparently all I wanted was to get on with my mom, meet a nice Changeling, get some wings and then settle down into a life of martial bliss in a mildly creepy castle. At which point I managed to make my way out of the illusion, finding out that when I thought I'd been raising my daughter, I was just doing a terrific coma immitation."

"I see," Midnight said, though her opposite glowered.
"Not done yet. Immediately thereafter, my body gets taken over by a Nightmare, who as it turns out had not been destroyed by my cousin's big heroic sacrifice play. Said Nightmare proceeded to throw me out of my body, and kill a filly."

Midnight managed to keep her jaw from dropping, though this left her unable to save her stomach.

"Meaning I had to sort-of share a body with Trixie, before yanking the thing out of my body and stuffing it in a book. Then I decided to un-do all that, and as a result of which managed to burn out most of my magic. And then I find out my father, who is in fact completely fine by the way, and has no idea what he's doing in the past, has come to Ponyville, so awkward situations with past-Twilight Sparkle all 'round, especially since the version of him from that time has followed him to Ponyville. So, after getting rid of the younger version, I had to contract the help of a mad-pony with a box to get my father home."

She paused, and Midnight wondered if she could ask a question, but the mare continued before she could speak.
"And then, by this point I'm severely sleep-deprived, emotionally broken, my body has gone back to being eighteen now there's not a Nightmare in it, and the rest of it is trying to figure out whether I had a baby or not, so everything's all insane in here, and did I mention I was magically drained? That's just one day. And I might have cut out a few sub-plots from that story."
Midnight said nothing.

"And at that point I go to bed and manage to put myself in a sort of coma, because I couldn't bring myself to accept I never had a daughter. And so my mother and her friends go through my brain, trying to wake me up, and they actually did a good job on that. The problem is, Twilight Sparkle went and found out she's my mother, somehow, and I have no idea what she did. So just about the minute I wake up from a coma, having to accept I have to accept reality, I get Twilight Sparkle saying my full name. So... I panicked. I teleported away and from there tried to figure out what I'd do next."
She sighed, and collapsed into a convinient nearby chair.

"So now I'm magically drained, in this universe, just a bit hungry, my body's confused about what it's supposed to be doing and I'm monologuing."
Midnight frowned, and nodded. She hadn't been expecting that, and then the mare spoke again.

"And did I mention I found out the whole reason I went mad and attacked my cousin turned out to be wrong?"
Midnight just stared. She'd not been expecting to hear any of that.

"But apart from that, everything's fine," she sighed, slouching backward, "How about you?"
"Me?" Midnight asked, despite the fact that they were the only two ponies in the room.

"Well, nothing much. Everything's more or less stable right now, I suppose. No major disasters, but there is talk of Shining Armor getting married."
"That's nice."

Midnight almost smiled. "It would be if he didn't think I was somehow upset by this news."
Her opposite stared at her. "Why would he think that?"

Midnight shrugged. "We work together a lot. He probably thinks underneath my cold, sullen exterior I secretly have some deeply-buried desire for him, and that I'm positively crushed by his being engaged to another mare. Except I'm really not. I swear, sometimes he's like an idiotic big brother."

"Well, to be fair you do look a lot like his little s-" the mare from the other universe went silent when she saw Midnight's glower, "Bad topic?"

"Yes."
The two sat there in silence for several moments.

"Midday," she said. The mare glowered back at her.
"Twilight? Or Twinkle? Which do you prefer, or do you have a middle name you'd rather I didn't use?"

Twilight Twinkle raised an eyebrow, which managed to convey in one gesture the words 'you too, huh?'
"I don't mind being called Twinkle," she said.

"You didn't come here because the other Twilight found out your name, did you?"
Twilight Twinkle shifted slightly. "No."

"Then why did you?"
"Honestly? I don't know. I just..." she stared out of the window, noticing the sun shining outside passing across the sky.
"I managed to fight an entity made out my hate and spite after being thrown into non-existance. I managed to seal it inside a book after wiping its mind clean, and then I managed to re-write time. And I have no idea how I did it. And I'm afraid. I think I remember now how I got my Cutie Mark and I'm utterly afraid I might not have any limits. And I'm afraid of where this path I'm on leads. Mainly because I think I can guess exactly how it ends."

Midnight just stared at her. "Twilight Sparkle knows your name now, right?"
"Yes, but I don't se-"

"And right after you learnt this, you ran away?" there was a dark expression on the mare's face.
"Yes," Twinkle said. Midnight glowered at her for a moment, and then her expression changed.

"Part of the reason I came back to this time was that I thought... well, I thought I could change time. Change what my mother did to her life, try and help her be so much better, and I... I screwed that up badly. I really did. So now I'm stuck twenty-two years into the past, with no reason to go back to my own time, and the things I do don't exactly allow me to make friends. And the closest thing I have to a friend is my uncle, and he keeps avoiding me because he thinks I've got a crush on him. So, even after the mess you've made of your life, Twyla, I do envy you. You managed to change the past, you've made friends, even if they were ponies you already knew, and you have reasons to go back to your time. In your world, things work out, more often than not. In this world, a pony who wants to make everyone smile is told to go away and grow up. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is..."

Two pairs of burnt orange eyes met, as Midnight stared at Twinkle, "If you went back and explained yourself to that mare, she'd understand, wouldn't she? She'd probably even forgive you, right? I envy that, and the opportunities it gives you. Your life may be awful, but unlike you, I can't just click my shoes together and try and fix it. I don't have that luxury, that choice."

"Midnight..." Twinkle said. The mare shook her head.
"Look at me, Twilight. Look at me, and promise you are going to go explain yourself to Twilight Sparkle. Or am I going to have to drag you to her doorstep? Because I will if I have to!"

Twilight Twinkle said nothing for a moment, just staring out the window at Canterlot. "Your universe. It's not entirely bleak, is it? I think I saw something the first time I came here. Two ponies, two fillies, in Ponyville."
"What about them?" Midnight asked. Twinkle smiled slightly.

"In my universe, they hate each other. In this universe, it looked a lot different. That universe isn't all sunshine and candy, and this universe, it's not all darkness and spite. There's still love, still hope. Just a bit buried."
Twinkle turned to face Midnight, "There is always a chance, Twilight. And if you can't see an opportunity, then you just make one."

Midnight considered this. "You really believe that?"
"Wouldn't have been able to give time a wedgie if I didn't," the mare grinned, "Now, if you'll excuse me, sister, I have promises to keep."

*****

"Well, that was a total bust," Rainbow Dash snapped. In the last half an hour, they'd tried all manner of means to find Twilight Twinkle, including a version of the spell that she'd taught them to find Applejack with, and they had found nothing. Even the Cutie Mark Crusaders had tried helping, in their own inimitable fashion, until Rarity had gently shooed them away.

"There must be something we can do," Applejack said. Twilight Sparkle shook her head.
"No. Not any more. We've used every means of detecting a pony I know of, and a couple I didn't," she said, glancing at Pinkie Pie, whose mane had deflated slightly.

"Maybe she just doesn't want to be found?" Fluttershy said. Twilight frowned.
"I guess so."

"Well, if she is your daughter," Trixie said, "She probably would know how to hide herself."
Twilight just nodded. "I suppose so."

She sighed, and looked out of the window.
"If you could talk to her," Rarity asked, "What would you say? What can you say? What do you say in this sort of situation?"

"I know what I'd say," Rainbow Dash muttered, earning her a filthy glance from Rarity, "And it's not what you'd think."
"Isn't it?"

"Rarity, I'm not gonna ask somepony from the future whether I become a Wonderbolt. I'd ask them something way more important."
The room suddenly went quiet as everypony (and Spike) turned to stare at Rainbow Dash, who actually looked bashful.

"I'd just ask whether I'm a good parent or not" she muttered.
"Would you really want to know?" asked Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash shrugged.

"If I become a crap parent, I think I'd like some fair warning. I wouldn't want to be a crap parent."
Then, Pinkie started twitching, and everypony stared at her.

"Pinkie? What is it?" Spike asked.
"I dunno. This one's new!" she squeaked as she continued shaking, "But I think it's gonna be a small doozy. Or maybe a big doozy!"

"Where?" Applejack asked as she looked about.
"Don't know. But it's gonna happen soon!"

Twilight stood up, "I think it would be best if everypony went upstairs right now."
Nopony said anything for a second, and then they all scrambled upstairs. Twilight noticed Spike had paused, and was looking at her.

"How do I look?" she asked. He smiled.
"Like Twilight Sparkle."

She smiled at this, and then Spike continued up the stairs. She turned to face the doorway. There was a gentle knocking noise. Twilight steeled herself, and opened the door.
In walked a mare with royal blue fur, blue hair with two orange streaks going through it, and a Cutie Mark of an eclipse. On seeing Twilight, the look of confidence on the mare's face vanished. In fact, as it went, it seemed to take Twilight Sparkle's confidence with it.

"Hi" Twilight said.

Twinkle looked down at her hooves. "Hey."
For a moment, both of them stood there, neither saying anything.

"So..." Twilight smiled.

"Yeah," Twinkle blurted.

"This is going to be difficult, isn't it?" Twilight sighed. Twinkle nodded.
"Funny, how you can go through a conversation in your head, and it just derails in seconds once you get to it."

"Yeah," both mares gave a small smile. Then they went back to looking at anywhere but each other.
"Twilight, I'm sor-"

"Don't," Twilight Sparkle said, "I understand why you felt the need to keep this from me. And I'm not angry about that."
"I'm still going to say sorry," Twinkle said, defiantly.

"So, why did you teleport away?"
"Shock. Mostly. I mean, I had been planning to tell you, and... I really probably should've done it a long time ago," the mare said quietly, "But... well, would you have believed me?"

"Honestly? Knowing me I probably wouldn't have, at least not without some serious evidence."
Both mares smiled awkwardly. "I had been meaning to tell you the other day, but... things happened, and then more things, and a few other things after that, and then the whole 'coma' thing."

"So..." Twilight said. Twinkle nodded.
"Yeah. I kinda bucked up, didn't I?"

"Language," Twilight smiled.
Twinkle sighed. "I'm guessing you have about a thousand questions, and a thousand and one follow-up and ancillary questions. And I suppose everypony else will want to know some things as well."

She frowned, "Has Applejack been all weird and quiet and looking like she's a second away from hurling herself off of a barn?"
"Yes, but wh-" Twinkle raised a hoof.

"It's... not a pleasant story. Also: complicated."
Twilight Sparkle frowned. "I do have questions, but I am also aware that anything I ask, you aren't required to answer, or might damage my knowledge of the future. Like, for example, meeting your father. Which you told me all about."

"I did?" the young mare exclaimed.
"Yes."

"Well," Twinkle said, "Bearing in mind, even if I do tell you about the future, how you react is up to you. Just because you know what the future holds doesn't mean your life will pan out the way it did. For example: Trixie."
"Trixie?"

"I think by this point I have diverged the timeline completely from the one I'm from, so... in my timeline, Trixie would have remained absent from Ponyville until a few months from now, when she returned and did... something."
"Something?"

Twinkle shrugged.
"Nopony ever said what it was that she did. Just that it was 'bad', and that she 'wasn't herself' and that she made up for it afterward."

"And you... prevented that?"
"I can't say. I might have just postponed it. But Trixie as she is now is much more different than the Trixie yo- my mother described to me when I was little, so...- why are you grinning?"

"Just imagining you as a filly, is all. Did I tell you all sorts of bed-time stories about my crazy time in Ponyville?"
Twinkle tilted her head back and forth. "Maybe."

For a moment Twilight looked at her hooves, and then her expression dropped.
"You don't mind being called Twinkle, do you? Or do you prefer Twilight, or Twyla?"

Twinkle bit her lip. "Yeah, not even my mother ever calls me 'Twyla'. I think she just put that there to distinguish me from great-granma. And, you know, alliteration."

Both mares grinned for a moment. "So..." Twilight said.
"There's a lot I want to ask you. A lot of questions I know I shouldn't ask, but at the same time, I honestly can't help myself."

A tiny smile appeared on Twilight's face. "I was going to ask what future-Twilight's like, but I guess I already know what the answer is."
Twinkle smiled back, "Yeah. Well, there are some differences. She tries to do the right thing, but... she's only one pony. And I was a very moody teenager. And I still am, but with hindsight, I realise I could've listened. I should've listened."

She sighed, and looked up at Twilight.
"Too late for apologies now, I suppose. Not after the things I've done."

Twilight walked over to her, and looked her in the eyes. Twinkle sniffed.
"I can't even cry. I've ran out of tears after the last few days," a small smile crossed her face, "Sorry, sorry. That was terribly melodramatic, but after everything that damn plant did to me, and everything that happened after I'm still feeling a bit emotionally raw. So I should warn you, I might just dissolve into a gooey puddle in a few minutes."

"Twinkle, how much alike am I and future-Twilight?"
"Pretty much alike."

"So, if I did something, she'd probably do the exact same in my position?"
"Yeah..."

"And would you say she's willing to give ponies another chance?"
Twinkle thought about this for a moment. "Yes."

She suddenly found herself being embraced by Twilight. "It doesn't matter what you did, Twilight Twinkle. You hear me? It doesn't matter. As long as you try to make up for it, or atone for it, it doesn't matter. Not to me."
"But-"

"It doesn't matter, Twinkie. You are forgiven, understand? Always and completely forgiven."
Twilight Twinkle paused for a moment. But only for a moment, before returning the hug.

"Thanks," she mumbled. Then she was suddenly aware of a very rapid amount of hoofsteps, followed by a sensation of being partially crushed.
"Do you girls, and Spike, mind? We're kind of having a moment."

"What, and let you hog the hugs?" Pinkie Pie said, "Never on your nelly!"
"We don't care what brought you here," Trixie said, "What we've seen speaks for itself. Okay, so you do have some issues, especially with some ponies and hats, and the occasional thrown piano, but on the whole? You're a good pony. Even if you don't want to believe that."

"You'd change your tune if you knew what I did," Twinkle frowned. Pinkie jabbed her.
"No frowning in the hug!"

"Yes, Aunt Pinkie," Twinkle smirked. There was a slight pause.
"You... see us as your aunts?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"To borrow your usual statement: duh! What did you expect?"
Emotions warred across Rainbow Dash's face, until finally they settled on acceptance. "Cool. I'm an aunt, and I'm gonna get a new flying buddy. This day just gets better and better."

"And betterer and betterererer!" Pinkie smiled, "Because you're finally awake, and we can have your birthday party!"

"But it's not actua-..." Twinkle paused and felt the empty rumbling in her stomach, "You know what? I could really do with some cake right now."

"And maybe afterwards, you could tell us a bit more about this Twilight Twinkle," Rarity said, "It feels like we've only just met."

"Actually," Rainbow Dash said slowly, "You guys know what I said earlier?"
"Oh, Rainbow Dash" Applejack sighed, "Seriously?"

"I wanna know! I can't help myself! It's eating away at me!"

"Cake first!" Pinkie Pie declared, to which nopony argued (which may have been helped by the fact that, as it transpired, some months ago Pinkie Pie had somehow found an archaic law saying anypony she invited was required by law to attend)

*****

A few moments later, as eight ponies (and one dragon) rushed to Sugarcube Corner, two ponies stared at the sight, one light blue, the other a mild orange. One had a Cutie Mark of a full moon, the other of a rising sun.

"So, Twilight Twinkle has finally revealed the truth," Luna said. Celestia nodded.
"And Twilight Sparkle has learnt the end result of your tutelage, and doesn't seem to be concerned by it."

Celestia said nothing.
"You should go speak to her, sister" Luna said calmly.

"I know."

"If she were angry at you, she would show it. And you know this, sister."

"I just don't know how to phrase it, Luna."

The younger sister leaned in toward Celestia. "Surely I don't need to tell you how to solve that problem. Just take it one step at a time, and speak from the heart, sister. And don't forget that I'm right with you, should you need me."
"Thanks, sister."

"That's what I'm here for. Now, march."

Author's Note

ehhh. Not entirely sure what I was doing during all of this.
But if I achieve even the smallest amount of feeling, then it wasn't a total waste.

Celestia's Candid Conversation

Twilight Twinkle was certain she'd been wanting a low-key party, but a medium-sized party was perfectly fine, especially since there was a lot of cake, and she was incredibly hungry. And as she began to feed on cake, she realised something. Aside from a few aches and twinges and odd sensations from her body still trying to figure out what it was doing, aside from feeling a bit drained (even after all the magic boosts from the hospital), and a small sensation of hunger, she was in high spirits. She'd told Twilight Sparkle who she was, and the mare had taken it with considerable aplomb, and so had everypony else apparently, she'd managed to get rid of that Nightmare for good, her body had been restored to how it was supposed to be, and for the last few minutes she'd noticed that she didn't feel as much doubt behind her actions as she used to, no tiny little voice knawing away at the back of her mind.

She felt like herself. And she felt good.

"Are you alright?" she heard a voice asked. She looked to see Spike staring at her. She smiled.

"Just thinking about something," she said. Spike smiled slightly.
"I should've done this a long time ago."

Spike nodded. "You should've."

She stared down at the dragon, who just stared back, an earnest smile on his face. Then she looked around the room to see everypony partying, save Applejack, who was standing in a corner looking like she wanted to be anywhere else. Twinkle frowned and walked over to her.

"Hello," she said. Applejack looked up at her.
"Hey," the farmpony said quietly. Twinkle frowned.

"Is this about what I think it's about?"
Applejack's expression changed, giving the young mare all the confirmation she needed.

"Applejack..." Twinkle said, but the mare stared at her.

"Don't."

"Seriously, Applejack. Are you going to agonise about this? What's that going to solve?"

The farmpony shook her head. "Ah ain't agonisin' about anything. I'm just tryin' to figure out how I could be that mare."

Twinkle just nodded. "Well, you aren't. You already know it's going to happen, so time will unfold differently. It just falls on everypony here to determine how differently."

Applejack paused for a moment, and the two mares looked over at Twilight, who was perusing a sample of smaller cakes Pinkie Pie had prepared.

"Shouldn't you tell her about what's gonna happen?" Applejack asked. Twinkle frowned.

"I probably should, you're right, but... if I did, if too many ponies know about what's going to happen, time might unfold in a dangerous fashion. It..." she trailed off.

"I am caught up in a tangle of what-ifs. Anything might happen. Anything could happen. I know how the wedding went in my timeline, but now, I don't know. I mean, based on what's happened so far, time is probably going to stick to its' script, but with everything that's happened..."

She looked again at Applejack. "Twilight didn't hold you at blame for what happened, Applejack, and I don't either. You were decieved, that's all."

Applejack said nothing for a moment. "Can ah have some time to figure out how to tell Twilight?" she asked.
Twinkle stared at her. "You have two weeks from tomorrow."

"That's kinda unfair," Applejack said, "You went several months without tellin' us who you are."

"Yeah, but this is more important, Applejack. And in case you're wondering, you don't actually have much time to tell her."
Applejack frowned. "Yeah, but..." realisation dawned.

"Hold up, it's only two weeks from now?"
"No. A little bit over three weeks from now. But Twilight needs fair warning, if only to stop her doing something unbelivably foolish."

"Like rushin' into a wedding rehearsal and callin' the bride evil?" Applejack asked.
"Yes. And no. I'm afraid she might force somepony's hoof if she knows too early about what's going to happen."

Applejack's expression shifted. "What do you think would happen?"
Twinkle's good mood, already vanishing, had now perform the mood equivalent of rushing to its car.

"I don't know. That's the problem. For all I know, my prescence might have altered history so completely that the... pony who caused all of this decided to avoid Equestria entirely, meaning Twilight might end up attacking her actual sister in-law."

Applejack said nothing. "Why?" she eventually asked.
"Well, imagine if somepony told you somepony else was controlling your brother, and causing him pain in the process, especially when they don't need to. Would you stay and listen to the whole explanation?"

Applejack bit her lip for a moment, and did not answer.
"Two weeks," she said after a moment, "And is Twilight the only pony you should be worried about?"

"What do you mean?" Twinkle asked. Applejack stared at her.

"Ah. Yes. I see your point," Twinkle said, suddenly finding her hooves very interesting indeed.
Applejack sighed. "Anyhow, ah got chores ah need to go an' finish."

She turned to leave, "See ya in two weeks."
Twinkle watched as Applejack left, and then saw Twilight walking over to her.

"Hey," the mare said. Twinkle smiled.

"Hi."

For a moment, neither mare said anything.

"So... are you enjoying your birthday party?"

"It's good," Twinkle said, "But I'm not actually going to turn nineteen for several more months. But no reason to tell Pinkie Pie that, or she might explode. Metaphorically, I hope."

There were mutual awkward grins from both mares.

"So..." Twilight said again.

"So..." then a thought occured to Twinkle.

"How did you find out that I was... you know?"
"Oh, did I not say?" Twilight asked, "Kinda remiss of me. Well, after you went into a coma, we got concerned, so I asked Princess Celestia if she knew anypony who could help wake you, and then Princess Luna showed up, and then she used some magical technique I've never seen to allow us to explore your mind. And Rainbow Dash and I found this massive castle, which I am guessing was the Crystal Empire you spoke of."

"Giant spire made of crystal?"
Twilight nodded.

"That's be the Crystal Palace. So, what happened next?"
"Well, we went inside and found this massive throne, and just in front of it was this massive flight of stairs going down into the ground-"

"And at the bottom was a door?"
Twilight nodded. "Yeah."

Twinkle frowned. "That's curious."
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"Well, I've never seen the Endless Stairs, as certain ponies called them. So, what happened next?"
"Well, I opened the door. And behind that was a massive wall made of magic."

An odd expression crossed Twinkle's face as Twilight continued. "And there was this really familiar feel to it, which I suppose was because it was my magic, and I tried getting past it. After a while, I did, and I found myself in Canterlot. Then this message from your... mother started playing."

"And that image of Twilight Sparkle was slightly taller and had wings?"
"Yes."

Twinkle nodded, her forehead furrowed. "What did she say?"
A blush went across Twilight's face, and she shuffled slightly.

"Ah. She said parent stuff, didn't she? I'm guessing at some point or another she said she was proud of me, or something."
"Yes..." Twilight said, until she noticed the way in which Twinkle had said it.

"You don't sound surprised."
Twinkle shook her head. "Why should I be? She's my mother. And it's exactly the sort of thing she'd do"

For a few moments, they stood there, neither saying anything. Then Twilight frowned.
"So, apart from the seven of us, who else knows about you?" she asked.

"Well... there's Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, for one. Granny Smith seems to have figured it out, although I don't dare presume as to how she managed that, though I'd guess it's similar to how Grandma Velvet figured it out."

Twilight blinked. "My mom knows?" she asked incredulously.
"Can't forget Grandad Night Light," Twinkle added.

Twilight looked annoyed as she thought this through, "Does my brother know?"
"No. But I think his... girlfriend would probably be able to figure me out pretty quickly."

"Anypony else?" Twilight said, her awkward nervousness plainly evident.
Something by the door of Sugarcube Corner caught Twinkle's eye. "Well, apart from that, no. Except Princess Celestia and Luna. By the way," she said, "Wasn't Luna in the library when I woke up?"

"Yes. But then I mentioned that Future-Twilight had wings, and she disappeared soon after. I think she thought I was angry."
"I see," Twinkle said, as she noticed Pinkie Pie bouncing toward the bright orange and light blue mares with a tray of cakes. Twilight's gaze turned toward the mare, a curious expression on her face.

The bright orange mare examined the tray of cakes, before shaking her head, and looking toward Twilight and Twinkle. Then Twinkle walked over to her.

"Hello," she said calmly. Celestia looked at her, and she was almost certain there was a look of gratitude in her eyes for some reason. Pinkie, meanwhile, on noticing Princess Celestia had no need of cakes, went elsewhere.

"Hello," Celestia said back, and Twinkle noticed something else in her eyes, though she wasn't sure she wanted to identify it.

Neither mare said anything for a moment, simply staring at each other. There was a strange sort of silence, one that seemed to absorb any noise that came near it.

Eventually, Twinkle shuffled out of the way. Celestia stared at her for a moment, and then smiled faintly. She moved toward Luna.
Celestia made her way toward Twilight.

"Twilight?" she said, gently. The unicorn practically leapt out of her skin, looking around wildly. Then she stared at the bright orange mare with a Cutie Mark of a rising sun. For a fraction of a second, she realised the mare looked incredibly similar to none other than Scootaloo. Then she realised who she was looking at, and those thoughts vanished in an instant.
"Can we talk?" Princess Celestia said.

*****

"Hello, Luna," Twinkle smiled. The mare nodded back.
"Twilight Twinkle. It's good to see you up and about."

Twinkle smirked. "Thanks. Sorry I didn't say hello when I woke up. But I got a bit startled."
Luna just nodded, "It's okay, anypony who did what you did would be worn out."

For a moment Twinkle paused. "What does that mean?"
"I think we both know what that means," Luna said, looking at Twinkle.

"You did re-write time, did you not?"
Realisation dawned on Twilight Twinkle, as did questions.

"How did y-"
"I am Luna," the mare said calmly, before pausing to consider that statement, apparently taken with how it sounded.

"That... doesn't really answer my question."
"Yes, it does," Luna said calmly.

Twinkle sighed, and shook her head.
"We are Alicorns. When one thousand years are a time-out, an hour and a half are practically nothing. Merely... an hour and a half."

Twinkle considered this. "Alright then."
The two stood there for a moment, and Twinkle looked at Luna. "So, looking forward to anything?"

"Are you referring to the wedding of Shining Armor and my niece?"
Twinkle stared at her.

"I..." Luna paused, "I would like to attend it, but..."
There was an uncertain look in her eyes.

"You don't know if you should."

"Yes."

"Even though it would mean the world to Cadance if you did."
Luna hung her head, "... yes."

"But you'd show up for the reception, claim you slept through the wedding and ask what you missed?"
Luna's mouth hung open, then it closed.

"Hate time-travel," she muttered.
Twinkle just nodded, to which Luna raised an eyebrow.

"So, you will show up at the wedding?"
Luna frowned. "I shall... see what I can do."

Twinkle smiled, "Good. Maybe Cadance might ask you to give her away?"
Luna's eyes went wide. "That's an idea."

At that moment, a small snack-laden plate hovered inbetween them.
"Anypony like anything to eat?" a tiny voice chimed. Twinkle and Luna's eyes moved toward the lavendar tail jutting out from underneath it.

"Sweetie Belle?"
"Oh. Hi, miss Eclipse!" the filly said, "Pinkie Pie said we could help her hand out snacks to ponies. How are things?"

"Pretty good, all things considered. You?"
The tiny filly tried to shrug, not the best idea when carrying a plate on one's back.

"We're running low on ideas for out Cutie Marks. We need a Crusading Retreat, which is this thing where we spend all weekend thinking up new ideas. And Dinky vanished again, so we're down a member, which is a problem because Dinky was really, really smart," the filly's face drooped.

"Hope she's okay. We checked to see if she was alright, but her big sis just said she'd gone 'away'."
She scuffed her hoof against the floor, and then looked about the room, before leaning in toward Twinkle, "The other day, Silver Spoon spent all of reccess on her own. We did try to talk to her, but... she really doesn't wanna talk to us."

Twinkle felt a tiny pang of concern for Silver Spoon, "Doesn't she usually hang out with Disgustingly Rich?"
"Yeah," a familiarly-accented voice said, "but they keep arguin' all the time now. It's kinda scary. Scootaloo thought they were gonna start fightin' or something."

"That would've been awesome," said the last of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Twinkle turned to see the other two fillys also bearing trays on their backs, and for whatever reason the bow usually wore was now white instead of red. Scootaloo was eyeing the disguised Luna with suspicion, perhaps because Luna's disguise was just her, reduced in size, her fur a few shades brighter and without her horn, and her hair immobile, and looking not too far off from how Luna had apparently looked shortly after being de-Nightmared, which Scootaloo had probably seen.

Apple Bloom gave the pegasus a small kick, "What? Come on, Apple Bloom, DT's a jerk."
"That ain't the point," Apple Bloom said, leaning into Scootaloo's face.

"Then what is?" Scootaloo asked. Apple Bloom paused.
"Stalemate!" Scootaloo declared. Then her eyes darted toward Twinkle and Luna.

"So, how come you vanished the other day?" she asked, "We were gonna help, but Applejack got all weird."
"Oh, Twilight found out who I am," Twinkle said.

The three fillies cheered, causing Luna to wince.
"That was... loud," she observed. Then Scootaloo's eyes went wide.

"Hey, are you actually Princess Luna in disguise?"
Luna shuffled slightly, which given her appearance looked strangely adorable.

"Mayhap," she said slowly.
Scootaloo squeaked slightly, "Wow. You're so cool. You're like, the second-coolest pony in the world, after Rainbow Dash, obviously."

"I... am?" she blinked.
"Yeah, you took on nine undead sorcerors at once! That's kinda freaking awesome!"

"When did she do that?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Remember, what miss Eclipse was telling us?" Apple Bloom said.

"Shouldn't that be miss Twilight?" Sweetie Belle said, "Since we know her name, and Princess Luna probably does as well, right?"
"Yes. Yes, she told us our name," Luna said, mildly alarmed that they knew of her fight with Sombra's goons, and beginning to wonder whether they knew what she'd said while fighting them, fervently hoping they didn't.

"Which do you pr-" Scootaloo stopped as she turned to see Twilight Twinkle had utterly vanished, despite standing almost directly in front of them.

"How did that happen?" Sweetie Belle asked.

*****

Twilight and the disguised Princess Celestia sat on the balcony of the Ponyville library. They had decided to go there after several minutes of awkward silence. And had then stood in a silence so awkward it probably caused its' parents to die of embarrasment. Twilight had just sat and stared at the sky for a long while.

"Twilight," Celestia said, only to stop when she saw the look in the mare's eyes.

"One of us has to talk eventually" she said. She wanted to walk over to Twilight and ask her what was wrong, then tell her everything would be alright, but she had the feeling Twilight would likely brush her off.

"You know I'm going to get wings," she said, the words sounding like a thunderbolt, even though Twilight's tone was unemotional.
Celestia said nothing.

"You were going to give me wings," she added a few seconds later.
"Not exactly, Twilight Sparkle. I cannot 'give' you anything that you do not have the makings of yourself."

"So, I was just a test? Was it all just a test?"
Celestia looked at the mare, and despite the fact that she was currently the same size as Twilight Sparkle, couldn't help but feel the mare looked so much younger.

"Yes. And no."
"That's unhelpful," Twilight said quietly.

"Twilight, I cannot just rewrite biology. I cannot raise the dead, or change a pony's destiny. I will admit, when I first saw you that I did sense... a seed, the beginning of something in you, something great, and wonderful. But I had to make sure."

"So, that's why you made me your student?"
"Not entirely. It was a factor in my decision, but it was not the deciding one. I wanted to be sure you learnt how to be the best you could possibly be."

Twilight frowned, "Then why is there so little you actually taught me? You never told me to make friends until it was neccesary."
Celestia walked over toward Twilight and sat next to her. Twilight didn't move, but she still stared ahead unflichingly.

"Twilight, how many mistakes do you think I have made in my life?" she asked quietly.
"I... I don't know."

"And which mistake do you think I would claim is the worst I have ever made?"
"I... can't answer that one either," Twilight said.

"None. Each mistake is equal, Twilight. Every mistake I have ever made replays in my mind before I go to sleep each night. And there are a great many of those, none of which I will ever forget. So I will admit, there were elements," she gave a tiny laugh, containing no actual mirth in it, "of my teachings that were unmistakably flawed. But I did not teach or tell you to make friends since I honestly didn't realise you didn't want any."

"It wasn't that," Twilight said quietly, "I just thought I didn't need to."
Celestia gave a weak smile, and began to shed her illusion, "Twilight, do you want to know a secret?"

Twilight's eyes glinted, though Celestia wasn't sure if she was excited or about to cry.
"I was like that once. Back when Luna and I were young, I thought it was best if I remained detached from my subjects, distant, like the sun. And as you can imagine, that went sour very quickly."

She allowed herself a derisive grin. "Just not quick enough."
Twilight went back to staring at the sky.

"And why would you make me a Princess anyway? I'm hardly the best candidate."
"Twilight," Celestia smiled, one that was designed to be as warm and comforting as her sun, "Are you really about to tell a pony who has known you since you gained your Cutie Mark you aren't good enough to be considered a Princess?"

"I... I guess not," Twilight said, though there was a hint of a grin on her face.
"Twilight Sparkle... if I were to help you become a Princess, it was not because of some shadowy master-plan. It was because I honestly believe you are capable of so much. I have seen you grow, and I am honestly proud of what I have already seen, even with the mistakes you have made."

Celestia smiled, and a smaller smile appeared on Twilight's face.
"And I cannot wait to see where you will go from here. You will be an inspiration to so many, you will help give them an ideal to strive towards. And yes," she looked up at the sky alongside Twilight, "You will stumble, you will fall. But in time, you will rise higher still. You will accomplish so much. You will help them perform wonders."

She noticed Twilight had edged over toward her, and was leaning on her, still smiling.
"Princess Celestia?"

"Yes, my most faithful student?"
"Would you believe me if I said I thought you were going to erase my foreknowledge?"

For a moment, Celestia felt a great stabbing pain in her heart, and she stared at the concerned look on Twilight Sparkle's face.
"Do you think I am that kind of pony, Twilight Sparkle?"

"Could you, though?"
For a moment, Celestia stared at Twilight Sparkle.

"Yes" she finally said.
"Would you?"

"Never, Twilight. I would never do that to anypony."
Twilight leaned out to look at her, "While I may not agree with the fact that you do know, or how you learnt it, the fact is that you do now, and must handle that information in the way that suits you best. I cannot make the choice for you."

Twilight paused in consideration of this. "Thanks, Princess Celestia."
"That's quite alright, Twilight Sparkle."

For a few moments, both ponies stared at the clouds, just drifting past, both of them feeling much younger.
"You were never just a curiosity or a passing fantasy, Twilight Sparkle. I always cared about you."

"I know."
"You... are like a daughter to me."

There was a pause. Twilight Sparkle smiled.
"Yeah, I know. But I've kinda already got a mom."

The two giggled for a moment, before staring back into the bright blue sky again.
"So... what's Twilight Twinkle like?" Celestia asked.

Twilight contemplated this, "She's... unusual."
"Unusual?"

"Sometimes she seems so cheerful, then looks so sad. But I suppose that might be because of the time-travel. And... she tries to hide it, but she's more damaged than she lets on. And she's not as broken as she thinks she is."
Celestia said nothing.

"I must admit, she's honestly not what I expected any child of mine would be like."
She frowned, and then shifted slightly, "But then, I'm not really sure what any child of mine would be like. And I suppose... even if she is not what I would've expected, I'd be proud to... well..."

"What is it?" Celestia asked. For a moment, she did nothing, and then, Twilight gave a small smirk, which rapidly began to grow.
"I have a daughter," she grinned.

*****

A short distance away, Twilight Twinkle listened. She honestly had no idea why she'd followed Twilight and Princess Celestia, but at the time it had seemed the right thing to do. Slowly, she made her way back to Sugarcube Corner, where she found a still-disguised Luna telling modified (read: Family-friendly) versions of her exploits to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who listened in awe (more or less).

She was quickly informed by Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy that everything was alright. And the un-birthday party (and combined out-of-coma party) continued without incident, save Cloud Kicker and Pinkie Pie arguing over cake, resulting in the pegasus confusing Pinkie Pie, then running away with a slice of cake.

Later in the evening, after the Princesses returned to Canterlot, Rainbow Dash held a small seminar inside the library on the fact that Ponyville was providing Cloudsdale with the year's supply of water for all of Equestria, though for whatever reason the speedster didn't seem to recognise why Fluttershy was less than enthusiastic about this.

Sleep came easily to Twilight Twinkle that night. Until she had a strange nightmare of being chased through endless corridors by something she could not see, unable to use magic and barely able to tell where she was going.

Author's Note

Celestia frequently disappears from work to go comfort suicidal teenagers.
Usually with hugs.
And I am afraid that for the next week or so, there will be no updates, since I will be busy being on holiday against my will.
But once I return, then the end... shall begin. A bit.

All of a Flutter

Twilight Twinkle woke up late, and in hindsight realised that was probably not the best. She looked around, and saw Twilight Sparkle and Spike's beds were empty. She slowly made her way out of bed, ignoring a few small aches that still remained in her body, admiring the sounds of a Saturday morning. The calm, the peace. She quickly made her way downstairs, and found Twilight actually eating breakfast. As she walked past the mare, the word 'yellow' suddenly appeared in her mind. She looked over to Spike, who was also eating breakfast calmly. She selected a bowl, some cereal, some milk, and began eating. The word 'yellow' kept repeating in her head. It was halfway through her breakfast that she noted Twilight was staring at her. For a few moments she continued eating, before staring at Twilight.

"Grace period's over, then?" she finally said. Twilight nodded, and Twinkle realised the reason she'd been thinking of the word, 'yellow'. Twilight had a notebook sitting next to her.

"There are a few questions I wanted to ask you," Twilight said calmly, "Nothing about the future, just a few things that are confusing me."

Twinkle stared at her. Her vague sense of unease wasn't helped by the awkward smile on Twilight's face. She recognised that one instantly. It was, in a sense, the reason she'd been unable to make herself explain her actions to Twilight. That earnest, eager smile. Twinkle forced down her concern.

"I see" she said quietly, scraping a hoof against the table.
"Most of them are related, though, and I'm beginning to wonder if I shouldn't have organised them better, instead of putting them down in a stream of conciousness."

Twilight frowned and examined her notebook, her face wrought with a variety of emotions. One of which looked like irritation.

"Well, I suppose the first question I have would be, could you explain what actually happened during the situation with you and... what was her name... Midnight?"

Twinkle bit her lip, and smiled.
"That's an easy one," she said, "She's an altenate dimensional counterpart from me, with... issues."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Issues?"
"No," Twinkle shook her head, "Issues. The italics are important."

Twilight just stared at her. "Alternate dimension..." she said quietly. Her horn glowed and a quill began moving across the notebook. She looked up at Twinkle.

"That's really the only question I have from before this week that I can remember right now,"
She frowned and looked down at the notebook.

"So, what exactly was the situation with that pony who said he was your father?"
Twinkle found herself smiling nervously, "That's... I'm honestly not sure, really. I mean, yes, he was my father, but he shouldn't have been here, literally shouldn't. I just found him wandering around Ponyville the other week, with no memory of me, or his life."

She paused for a few seconds. The only sound was Spike calmly eating his way through some instant popcorn.
"Long story," Twinkle frowned, "Don't know all of it, but I'm sure I'll find out the whole story soon enough."

Twilight just stared at her. Twinkle stared back.
"Discord" she said. Twilight's mouth dropped.

"He gets free again? What happened? Did we fight, or did somepony free him?" then she shook her head.
"No, no. Don't tell me, I don't want to know that."

Twinkle just nodded. "You'd never believe me if I told you."

"I wouldn't believe somepony if they told me I was going to become a Princess," Twilight said, rubbing a hoof against her head, "I think I'm honestly beginning to hate time-travel."
She sighed, looking down at the notes.

"Okay, why do you now look like an eighteen year-old, instead of a twenty-something year old?"
Twinkle's mood changed in an instant, her mouth dropping quickly, and she looked down at her hooves again.

"That's..." she looked at Spike, who had paused in mid-mouthful and was staring at her, "That's simple enough. A spell I had cast on myself when I was younger finally wore off."
Twilight stared at her. "I see."

Twinkle couldn't help going further, "I may have cast it on myself in an attempt to gain wings. Instead, well... I aged by four years. Went from being twelve to being sixteen, and I managed to damage my relationship with my mother at the exact same time."
Twilight frowned, "I see" she said again.

She paused for a moment, looking like she was about to say something else. Then she looked down at the notepad with determination on her face, before looking back at Twinkle with an expression of curiosity on her face.
"Can you explain exactly why, over the last few days, everypony in town has said they had almost the exact same nightmare, most of which centers around you?"

Twinkle felt the bottom drop out of her stomach.

*****

Half an hour later, and everypony had been gathered in the library, or rather, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie had been gathered, and Trixie had been woken up. Rainbow Dash had been too busy preparing for the water gathering, while Fluttershy claimed she had the Pony Pox, which had been noted by all as unusual, given Fluttershy's usual good health rating. (It should be noted for posterity that Twilight Twinkle could recognise Pony Pox on sight, and had simply shook her head. Clearly, she had said to herself, Fluttershy had never tried to skip school when she was a filly.) Pinkie Pie was handing out snack foods to everypony, though due to time and budget constraints, Pinkie was handing out pretzels instead of pastries (Partially because it was before lunch-time, and because of an unaired and completely mutual distrust everypony had of Twilight's oven.)

"So, why are we here?" asked Rarity.
"It's about these nightmares you've been having," Twinkle said, before glancing at Trixie, who looked confused.

"I haven't been having nightmares," Trixie mumbled, "I've just been having really awesome dreams."
"Which nightmare's are these?" Applejack asked, "'cuz I have a lot of nightmares."

There was a quiet pause, as everypony in the room looked at Applejack, trying to figure out what to ask.
"It's about the one everypony's been having. The one that's making it impossible for you to look at me," Twinkle said calmly. Rarity smiled nervously.

"You wouldn't happen to mean the one where you're on a violent rampage?" the fashion designer said quietly. Twinkle nodded.
"The one where you keep hurting everypony? I thought that was just because I'd eaten too much cheese," Pinkie said, as everypony ignored Rarity's startled yelp.

Twilight stared at Twinkle. "That was a dream, right?" she said slowly, and slightly louder than she should have.
Twilight Twinkle stared at them.
"No. It was, I am ashamed to say, all too real."

She thought of how to phrase what she was about to say.
"There are... things," she said, "dark things, that dwell outside of what we might call the conventional realms of existance. Sentient ideas, violent phrases, hunter-seeker metaphors. Creatures of the abstract. Some of them are relatively harmless, like Discord, but there are others..."

She looked at the faces of the five ponies, and one dragon, staring at her.
"The entity you knew as Nightmare Moon was one of those, and it was drawn to Princess Luna's emotional turmoil, her anger and resentment."

"We know that," Spike said. Twinkle nodded at him.
"Nightmare Moon was not the only one of her kind. There's a whole species of abstracts who would be drawn to strong negative emotions, then feed off of them. And... one of them managed to find me."

There was another pause.
"It waited inside me, for a long time, until I had one truly awful day, and it managed to get a hold of me," she looked down at her hooves again.

"And a pony who I will never be able to repay saved me. Or at least I thought she had. Then it turned out her sacrifice had been for nothing."
She looked about. "And for a few months, stuck here in the past, I had assumed that was that, that I was me once more. And then a few days ago, I couldn't sleep. So I went for a walk, and got attacked on the edge of the Everfree by a plant I should've recognised."

"The Black Mercy," Twilight said. Twinkle nodded.
"And of course it showed me all my deep down dreams, even a few I thought I'd gotten over, which was pretty much all of them. And then the dreams ended."

Her expression went cold for a moment, "So, because of the emotional trauma of being dragged out of my little dream-land, this Nightmare, Nightmare Eclipse," she paused to let the temporary mirth at that situation sink in.
"Nightmare Eclipse returned. And proceeded to hijack my body and throw my... essence out of me, before proceeding into Ponyville to hurt everypony she could find, just because she knew it would hurt me."

"I suppose that would explain why all these shared dreams have the common imagery of being attacked by her," Twilight frowned, "But why do we not remember it?"
Twinkle stared at her, "Because it didn't happen."

There was a chorus of confused noises. Twinkle ignored them.
"After being tossed out of my own mind I found my way back, and wound up inside Trixie, of all ponies."

"What?" Rarity asked.
"I asked her, since apparently when you're a free-roaming non-terminating essence fueled mainly by the thought of righteous anger, you still can't possess ponies unless they let you."

Everypony turned to stare at Trixie.
"Not like that," Twinkle frowned.

"So, what happened next?" Spike asked.
"Well, the combination of Trixie and I, who for posterity's sake, if nothing else, needs some kind of cool nickname, kicked Nightmare's flank. And then we tore it out of me and sealed it inside a children's story book. But not before blasting it with a dozen mind-wiping spells before it went."

She sighed, "And then I got to see the aftermath of what was done using my body. I got to see every injury, bruise and broken limb. And worse, I saw..." she blanched.

For a moment, she fought down numerous urges, before finally managing to say, "I saw a truth. That what had happened could not be allowed to happen. So Trixie and I gathered up all the discarded magic we could, and used it to rewrite time. What she did never happened."

Twilight frowned and raised a hoof, evidently planning to point out how little sense that made, and decided not to bother.
"If I had to guess, I'd say the reason you keep seeing glimpses of this is because of some sort of... I don't know, temporal feedback, or something. I'm not an expert on this sort of thing. Now, Dinky on the-"

She stopped dead, and buried her face in her hooves.
"You didn't hear that," she muttered.

"So, Trixie could, in theory, take on a semi-demonic thing and win?" Trixie asked. Twinkle looked up at her.
"No. You'd have become sandwiched under a piano before you could've cast your first spell. Remember what I said after you switched my mind and Rainbow Dash's?"

Trixie paused for a moment. "Yes. That was an unusual comparison" she deapanned.
"So, whatever this Nightmare did," Applejack spoke up, "Is it the reason mah brother ain't been sleepin' well?"

Twinkle went silent. For several seconds she said nothing. This seemed to be validation for Applejack. Twilight was still staring at her.
"Twilight," she said calmly and quietly, "You are absolutely certain the Nightmare's gone from you?"

There was a small pause before Twinkle spoke. "Yes. But if you want to make absolutely sure, there is a way you can tell."

*****

Twilight quickly led everypony down to the basement, where she more-or-less shoved Twinkle into the strange device that she'd used to analyse Pinkie Pie, who merrily pointed this out.
"But if it's designed to see if Pinkie Sense exists, how can it detect a Nightmare, Twilight? I mean, unless i-" Twilight stared at Pinkie Pie.

"It can do other things, Pinkie Pie" she said, "It's a scanner. It is designed to scan. Scanning is what I designed it for."
Twinkle stared at the odd beeping instruments, and realised where she'd remembered it from. She'd seen it when she was five years old, just half an hour after getting her Cutie Mark.

After a few minutes of careful scanning, Twilight made a small 'hmm'.
"Okay, from what I can tell there's nothing to indicate there was a Nightmare lurking in you, although admittedly I'm not sure how a 'abstract entity' as you put it would show up according to these instruments. Aside from some dietary concerns, you look perfectly healthy."

"Good to know," Twinkle smiled, trying not to stare at the machine, remembering spending her first Nightmare Night in it. She also remembered how it had shut down trying to scan her magical potential, complete with almost comical clouds of smoke, regrettably only a few seconds before the loud 'pop' noise, a louder clanging noise, and the almost comical plumes of smoke. If they had been in a well-ventilated area, it might have been funny.

"Sorry," Twinkle said as they stood outside, while Spike, being smoke-proof by nature, opened every window in the building.
"Forgot that it does that" Twinkle added, while Twilight muttered under her breath.

"It survived Pinkie Pie but it can't survive you?"
"Pinkie's too... Pinkie for a machine to scan. It can't make sense of her, whereas I'm just brimming with magic."

"To be fair, Trixie understand the machine's pain. Talking to you feels a bit like jumping into a raging stream sometimes."
"Really?" Pinkie Pie said, "'cuz I've fallen in rivers before and I'm not soaking wet like I was when Rarity and I went on that trip-"

"Anypony got any more questions?" Twinkle asked, as Pinkie continued her oratory behind them.
Everypony exchanged glances, before Rarity looked at Twinkle.

"Why tell all of us, if none of it happened?" she asked.
"Maybe I just needed to tell somepony" Twinkle smiled, "And besides, you did deserve to know most of what happened."

She frowned, "Actually, 'deserve' might be the right word, but I did think you needed to know what happened. If only to put your minds at ease."
"My mind really ain't at ease" Applejack muttered, "An' ah have enough nightmares already without worryin' about time-travelling ponies doing who-knows-what to time on a whim."

"I would like to point out that it was a one-time thing," Twinkle said tersely, "I cannot rewrite time every single day. I couldn't even do it when I'm at full strength, which I'm going to admit is actually a relief."

Everypony stood there silently for a moment. "Well," Rarity said, "I suppose that does explain our shared nightmares, and I suppose I can take some relief in knowing what I keep seeing when I go to sleep."

She smiled an uncertain smile, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go catch up on some work I have to do. At my store. On the other side of town. Yes, I'll just go work on my back-orders."

And with that she walked away incredibly quickly. Applejack just nodded, and quietly walked away, and Pinkie, once she noticed everypony else was leaving, bounced away, talking about different types of fish-names as she went.
Trixie was just staring at Twinkle. "What was it like?" she asked quietly.

Twinkle stared at the strangely eager look on Trixie's face, and faltered.
"It was... strange." Trixie's expression changed to irritation.

"I'm sorry," Twinkle said, "But there isn't really any common frame of reference for what happened. As far as I know, no two ponies have ever been mind-merged before. I mean, we could hear each other's thoughts, but sometimes there were moments where our minds... overlapped, while still being seperate."

Trixie stared at her, then something occured to her, "How come only you remember these events, anyway?"
Twinkle tilted her head back and forth, "Because I caused them? I don't know. Maybe it's something to do with my being outside of time, I'm not sure. But Princess Luna said she remembered, apparently because of being an alicorn."

Twilight just raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing. Trixie, meanwhile, just rubbed a hoof against her chin.
"Interesting," she muttered. Then she looked at the library, smoke still drifting lazily out into the spring air.

"Trixie has a lot to think about," she said quietly.
Twilight and Twinkle stared at each other.

"You know," Twinkle said quietly, "This isn't how I expected today to go."
Twilight just nodded, "I can tell."

A thought seemed to occur to the unicorn, "Did something seem... 'off' about Applejack to you?"
"Yes," Twinkle said, "There is something bothering her. But let her think of a way to phrase it herself, Twilight" she added once she saw Twilight's expression shift.

Then a thought occured to her. "Wasn't there something we were supposed to be doing today?" she asked. Twilight's eyes went wide.
"Rainbow Dash!" she yelped, "The water supply!"

Twilight turned to the library. "Spike! Can you find the anemometer for me?"

*****

As it turned out, they were several minutes late to meeting Rainbow Dash on the practice field, and needless to say the mare was irritated, though she quickly cooled down once Twilight set up the anemometer, and her gaze returned to examining the numerous pegasi of Ponyville. Twinkle looked around, and noticed, hiding far away from everypony else, a quivering mass of yellow that was Fluttershy, who it seemed had be successfully de-poxed. Then Twinkle's gaze was drawn to what appeared to be a pony-shaped mass of muscles.

"What?" she asked. Spike just snorted.
"Yeah, that's Snowflake," he said, evidently trying not to stare. Any further discussion was interrupted by a pale purple pony with mint-blue hair approaching Twilight and the anemometer. Twinkle wasn't sure, but her name was either Flitter, or Cloudchaser. It wasn't helped by the fact that Cloudchaser (or Flitter) was standing right next to her sister, and even with the different hairstyles and Cutie Marks, they were still difficult to tell apart.

"What exactly does this machine do?" Cloudchaser or Flitter asked.
Twilight's face immediately glowed as she smiled the smile of a Twilight Sparkle about to impart knowledge unto others, and she quickly described what the anemometer did. The fact that everypony in the crowd looked increasingly confused from the word 'go', along with Twilight's truly adorable glee as she spoke, was truly heartbreaking.

Flitter, or Cloudchaser, turned to Twinkle and Spike. "What does it do?"
"It tells you how fast you're flying and how strong-" dragon and pony stared at each other, since neither had actually been expecting the other to speak, "- your wings are" they finished.

There was a light smattering of appreciative 'oohs' and 'aahs' from everypony, as Twilight frowned.
"That's exactly what I said," she muttered. Twinkle just stared at her, and tried to smile warmly. Then there was a cough. Twilight's head shot up, and she suddenly looked alarmingly like a teacher who'd just caught a student doing something wrong.

"Was that you again, Thunderlane?" she demanded, as she lifted a can of disinfectant spray above the crowd. Twilight Sparkle wielding an aerosol based item almost caused the entire crowd to part around Thunderlane, a boxy stallion with an impressive mohawk.

"It wasn't me!" he declared, and pointing a hoof at a mare standing next to him, who looked alarmingly familiar somehow, "It was Blossomforth."
"Don't worry, Twilight," Rainbow Dash declared as she floated over to the crowd, "Thunderlane's just cooking up an excuse to spend tornado day in bed."

Considering Rainbow Dash's statements when they'd arrived over what she was going to do to anypony who was mad enough to dare 'dash' her ambitions of breaking the world record for wing-power, along with making Ponyville look bad, she seemed to be handling this conclusion rather well. Then a cruel look passed across her face.
"Why don't you get over here and be our first test flier, Thunderlane?"

'Or maybe she isn't', Twinkle thought.
The stallion did so, but not before glowering at Blossomforth with a truly impressive Glare. He lined up a small distance away from the Twilights, Rainbow Dash and Spike. As he did, Twinkle was quite certain she heard another cough.
Thunderlane shot through the air, rushing past the anemometer, causing a small fan of it to spin. Twilight examined a small dial on the device.

"We have nine point three wing power" she declared. There were impressed mutterings from everypony, along with a truly impressive "YEAH!!!" from Snowflake, which knocked a few ponies off their hooves.
"Not bad," Rainbow Dash shrugged, "Not bad."

The mare made her way over to the starting line, and flexed. There was a sudden burst as she rocketed forward in true Rainbow Dash style. For a few seconds all Twinkle could see was a blurred outline of Rainbow Dash everywhere she lookeded. And spots. Twilight looked particularly dishevelled as she examined the anemometer.

"Sixteen point five wing power!" she announced. Twinkle considered pointing out Rainbow Dash hadn't been going at her top speed yet to the crowd, and that if she'd gone much faster there would have be a re-enactment of what happened to Twilight's scanning device, only the anemometer was not as likely to start billowing smoke everywhere.

What followed was an interesting look at the speeds of everypony in Ponyville, such as Cloud Kicker's impressive twelve, or Raindrops and her much less impressive six point seven, or Flitter and Cloud Chaser's exactly identical tens. Even Snowflake, with his alarmingly tiny wings, managed to get a three point four. Eventually, there was only one pony left to fly. And that pony was of course none other than Fluttershy, who had up until then been quietly minding her own business. She slowly made her way toward the starting line, occasionaly checking her wings to see they were still working. And then she started to fly.

For a few seconds. Then something happened and the pegasus just wafted past the anemometer, which barely seemed to move. Twilight paused before cautiously examining the meter. Rainbow Dash approached with a look of concern on her face. All three of them stared at the reading from Fluttershy's attempt, and winced at what they saw.
Nought point five.

Three mares, each of whom in their life had personally faced down a god of chaos and lived with their sanity intact, suddenly looked up at the innocent, hopeful smile on Fluttershy's face, and all three felt their souls shrivel and their courage flee. There was probably a special sort of pit in Tartarus for ponies who did what one of them would have to do, and if there wasn't, there was about to be.

Twinkle felt a hoof nudge her. "Tell her" Twilight whispered.
"No, you tell her" Rainbow Dash said between gritted teeth.

"No, you" Twilight responded.
For a moment, the three mares stared at each other, and turned to look at Fluttershy, who was still smiling. The words 'this isn't fair' came marching through their minds. After a few moments they seemed to come to a mutual unspoken agreement to tell her as a group, which in a more accurate way meant Rainbow Dash would handle it.

"Great job, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash said slowly, smiling awkwardly and shifting about in mid-air. When she spoke again, it sounded as if she was fighting herself to get the words out.
"You measured... nough point five" Rainbow Dash said.

There was an awkward pause, as Fluttershy's mouth twitched ever-so-slightly. It was the exact sort of pause that was just waiting for someone to say the exact wrong thing.
"Nought point five?" Spike said, his voice sounding much louder than it had any right to be at that moment, "Isn't th-"

He was interrupted by a royal blue hoof suddenly hitting him in the side.
"Oh, sorry Spike" Twinkle said, staring down at Spike, though he didn't seem to notice the glower being aimed at him. This might have been because Fluttershy had suddenly started glancing around her, terror evident on her face.Then she turned and ran. Rainbow Dash quickly took after her. Regrettably, everypony else had suddenly become aware of Fluttershy's breakdown, and were trying to look inconspicous (and failing miserably). As a result, what Rainbow Dash said next was heard by everypony.

"So some punks poked a little fun at you and you got stage fright, big deal. You aren't gonna quit because of that, are you?"
Fluttershy's answer was an emphatic "YES!" Rainbow Dash looked like she'd been kicked.

"But I need you!"
Fluttershy continued sobbing, "I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash. I- just - don't have the courage right now..."

And at that she continued fleeing, leaving Rainbow Dash looking furious at herself. She slowly walked back over to Twilight, as everypony else suddenly found themselves suffering a sudden attack of memory, and began training again. Rainbow Dash glowered at the world. Then she looked at Twinkle.

"So, gonna tell me how badly I bucked that up?" she muttered. Twinkle stared at her, and to where Fluttershy had run off.
"You tried, Rainbow Dash. Well, at least, it looked like you were trying."

Rainbow Dash's ears twitched. "What does that mean?" she hissed.
"Well, you don't really seem to have given Fluttershy much tought. You've known her for years, you must have known she's got confidence issues, and yet from all appearances you don't actually seem to have paid any thought to whether Fluttershy thinks she can, you just dragged her into this thing."

"Maybe that's because I've seen her flying. I know she can do this if she stops tripping over herself!"
Twinkle shook her head. "We all know that, Rainbow Dash. Even Fluttershy knows that. But you didn't offer to help her. You just say you 'needed her'. Tell me, Rainbow Dash, do you really think this tornado needs, really needs Fluttershy's contributions?"

Rainbow Dash bristled, and then suddenly looked around, and deflated, "It's not like that. I... Fluttershy would never volunteer for this sort of thing. That's why I pushed her into this, because I want to show her that she can be just as good as everypony else. I mean, yeah, it's great if she believes in herself, but she needs proof that she can be awesome even when she's not looking after animals."

She looked down at her hooves. "I believe in Fluttershy, is all. And I am trying, you k-... why are you smiling?" she asked, glowering at Twinkle.
The mare looked at Rainbow Dash. "Because. Now you're acting like the Rainbow Dash I knew."

Rainbow Dash blinked in irritated confusion. "That's... good, right?"
Twinkle nodded. "It's good. And I wouldn't worry about Fluttershy. Just focus on making sure everypony else is ready."

Rainbow Dash paused for a moment, then a thought occured to her. "If you're from the future, don't you know how this is gonna turn out?"
Twinkle paused, and tilted her head. "I might have heard the odd story."

"So, are we gonna succeed?" Rainbow Dash asked, before frowning, "Actually, never mind that, is Fluttershy going to be okay?"
"Well," Twinkle frowned, "I can't tell you about the first one, but as for your second question: No. She's going to be better than okay. She's going to be superb."

Rainbow Dash nodded, taking this in her stride, "Alright then."
She turned to look at the assemblage of pegasi, who were still praciticing, and her face became set with determination.
"Alright, you foals! Time to really start working out!"

*****

The day progressed, and once everypony was too tired to continue working out Rainbow Dash called it a day. The three ponies and Spike all looked at the notes.
"It's not a bad start," Twilight smiled, "If everypony keeps up like this, making and moving that tornado should be child's play."

Rainbow Dash nodded, "Provided everypony's there."
Then they remembered Fluttershy's absence. Rainbow Dash sighed. "I really thought she'd come back, you know."

Twilight and Rainbow stared at Twinkle, who just stared back.
"Guess we'll just have to wait and see," Twinkle said.

"I don't get it," Spike muttered. All eyes turned to him. "I thought Fluttershy could actually be a fast flyer, like what you told me about the whole thing with Discord."
Twilight looked down at her hooves, and then at Rainbow Dash, and then to Spike.

"I've been trying to understand what happened there," she said quietly, "I think though, Fluttershy's uncharacteristic speed then might have just been because of Discord tampering with the laws of physics."
"Really?" Twinkle asked, "Or do you think perhaps it was just Fluttershy ignoring all her usual hang-ups, in order to help her friends?"

Rainbow Dash just stared at Twinkle. "Let me guess, in your time, Fluttershy's managed to get past all that."

Twinkle stared back. "No. She hasn't. I don't... I don't really know Fluttershy's history. She barely mentions any of it, or even gives oblique hints, but I think... I think there are reasons why she lacks confidence, and it's not my place to speculate on them, but... in my time, my universe, she's on top of them. She hasn't gotten rid of all of them, but she is more sure of herself. That's not to say she changed completely, there are still moments where she still mumbles and mutters her way through conversations, moments when her essential Fluttershy-ness breaks through. It's just that she doesn't see giving into her fear as an option any more."

"Why not?" asked Spike. Twinkle looked at him and smiled.
"Spoilers, Spike."

Rainbow Dash just snorted. "Nice speech, but it doesn't change the fact that she's still a nervous wreck right now."
Twinkle just shrugged. "Good thing she's got friends, then."

Rainbow Dash said nothing to that, just nodding.

*****

The next morning, everypony returned to the training field, ready to continue practicing, and for a while, everything seemed to be going well.
"This is gonna be crazy awesome!" Rainbow Dash grinned, "We're gonna smash that record!"

Suddenly, there was a small uproar as a squirrel rushed into the area, heading for Twilight before chittering away.
"What did he say?" asked Spike. Twilight glanced sideways at him.

"Do I look like I speak squirrel?" she hissed. Then Spike noticed something.
"What's that?" he asked, pointing a short distance away, to what turned out to be a rapidly approaching Fluttershy, a determined look on her face. The mare landed on the starting line, and braced herself, before shooting forward.

She rushed past the anemometer, which squeaked pitifully as she did. Twilight examined the dial, followed by Twinkle followed by Fluttershy.
"Two point three," she gasped, "Two point three?!"

She looked like she was about to curl up into a ball and cry, "That has to be some kind of mistake. I worked so hard!"
Rainbow Dash tried to give Fluttershy a hug, while Twilight just tried to look supportive.

"Fluttershy, that's a huge improvement!"
"You did awesome!" Rainbow Dash added.

Twinkle nodded, "Pretty sure that's an improvement of... I don't know, about three hundred and fifty percent? Maybe three sixty."
Fluttershy didn't seem to care.

"I thought I'd gotten over my nerves," Fluttershy whispered, "But they still got the best of me! There's no way I'll fly with ten wingpower tomorrow."
Rainbow Dash just smiled gently, "So you won't fly with ten wingpower. Every bit counts" she added, trying to sound helpful.

"How would you feel if everypony was flying with ten wingpower and you were only flying with two point five?" she asked quietly.
"I'd be happy that I could fly at all" Twinkle muttered to herself, before noticing the confused look on Spike's face. Evidently the little dragon was about to 'correct' Fluttershy. Suddenly, her leg jabbed out, jolting the oblivious Spike.

"Oh. Sorry about that, Spike" she said as he glowered at her. Then she turned back to Fluttershy, who was still quivering.
"You were at nought point five yesterday, Fluttershy. The fact that you've improved this much in one day is really impressive."

Fluttershy broke out into sobbing again. "It's humilating!" she wailed. She shook her head and looked at Rainbow Dash.
"I'm sorry, I just can't do it." And with that, she disappeared again, leaving everypony staring at Rainbow Dash, who just stared at the retreating form of Fluttershy. Spike, meanwhile was checking the list of ponies.

"It's okay, Rainbow Dash," he said cheerfully, "You've still got plenty of wing power for your tornado. You'll be able to lift tons of water up to Cloudsdale."
Rainbow Dash's entire body language told Twinkle that the last thing Rainbow Dash was thinking of was the tornado. She sighed and pulled her sports cap over her face.

"If only there was some way to lift Fluttershy out of the dumps," she sighed.
Twinkle looked about, "Well, somepony could talk to her."

Rainbow Dash turned to look at her. Once again, the crowd of ponies in attendance started finding their hooves really fascinating.
"Yeah. Guess somepony should" Rainbow Dash said. She looked about at the dozens of ponies all trying to look like they weren't paying attention.

Twinkle and Rainbow Dash stared each other down. "I'll go" they both said, before glowering at one another.
"No, I'm going" Rainbow Dash said. Twinkle raised an eyebrow.

"Alright, I'll help you."
"No, I'm going alone. I don't need your help."
"Fluttershy does, though."

Rainbow Dash paused. "Fine, fine, we'll go talk to her together then."
The two set off toward Fluttershy's house, but not before Rainbow Dash stared at the assembled pegasi, who were still staring.

"I don't recall telling anypony to stop" she said calmly. There was a sudden flurry of activity as the speedster and Twinkle walked away.
"You're not gonna make one of your speeches, are you?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I'll try and make it a small one," Twinkle said, which got a very tiny smile out of Rainbow Dash.

*****

Once they arrived at Fluttershy's house, they encountered a problem.
"Go away" they heard her cry out. Rainbow Dash and Twinkle exchanged glances.

"Come on, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash said, "You know we aren't going to do that."
There was a moment of silence.

"We just want to talk to you" Rainbow Dash said. There was a tiny sniffle.
"Look, Fluttershy, I get that you want to be alone, but that's not really going to help anypony."

"Neither is my pathetic wing power" Fluttershy mumbled.
Rainbow Dash and Twinkle exchanged glances, and Twinkle was fairly certain that if it was any other pony, at any other time, Rainbow Dash would've smashed the door down, even if that did run the risk of a frying pan to the face.

"Fluttershy, can you please just open the door? It's kinda stupid just standing here talking to a door."
There was a pause. A few seconds later the handle slowly turned, and the two mares looked down to see an unbelievably angry Angel staring at them, though when his eyes turned to Twinkle there was a noticable element of concern, or possibly alarm. Then he slammed the door shut.

"I hate that rabbit" Rainbow Dash muttered under her breath. There was the sound of hoofsteps, and soon every curtain in Fluttershy's house was pulled shut. The two mares looked at each other.
"Guess Fluttersy doesn't want to talk" Twinkle said, nudging the door with her hoof. "And he's locked the door."

She tilted her head to the side. "I've never been locked out by a rabbit before"
Rainbow Dash just snorted, and reared. Then a small blue light shot from Twinkle's horn, followed by her calmly opening the door. This had the unfortunate side effect of meaning Rainbow Dash's attempt to kick the door open failed, and she fell over.

"Maybe tell me the next time you're gonna do that?" she snapped. Twinkle sighed, and then looked at the one-rabbit barricade in their way. She looked at Angel, stared him right in the eye.
"Your loyalty to Fluttershy's inspiring, fuzz-butt, but here's the thing: We said we were going to talk to Fluttershy. We are going to talk to Fluttershy."

Angel glowered at them with all his lapine might. Rainbow Dash stood up at her full height, a steely-look in her eyes.
"Rabbit. Move."

Angel paused, and then slowly stepped out of the way, giving both mares a look that indicated he didn't care about the size differential between them, and that the minute he felt it was time for them to leave, he was going to make them leave.

The two mares walked past him, up to Fluttershy's room, where the mare was sitting on her bed, not moving.
"Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash said, quietly, as she walked over to the bed and sat next to her. Twinkle stood by the door, resisting the urge to try and hug Fluttershy.

"Rainbow Dash" she mumbled.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, you don't want to talk to anypony. That's okay, we'll just sit here, and not say anything then."
Fluttershy looked up at Rainbow Dash, then over to Twilight Twinkle.

"But she's standing up" she said quietly, pointing a hoof at Twinkle.
There was a pause. "Sorry" Fluttershy muttered, "I was trying to make a joke."

She looked up at Rainbow Dash, "I'm sorry I won't be able to help with the tornado, Rainbow Dash. I know how much it means to you."
Rainbow Dash's expression was difficult to determine, but eventually she just gave a small smile, "It'll work out, Fluttershy."

"I don't understand why you thought I could help, though" Fluttershy said, "Even with all that exercise, I'm still a lousy flier."
Twinkle gave a small cough, "Fluttershy, you can't really expect to just become an awesome flier in the space of one day's worth of training. The fact that you managed an improvement of three hundred and sixty percent is still really impressive."

Fluttershy looked down at her hooves, contemplating this for a moment.
"Okay, so you aren't particularly fast, and are in fact slower even that that really disturbingly muscled guy, but... but..." she frowned as she realised something, "I was going somewhere with that."

Fluttershy looked up at her for a moment. "You said I was stronger than I thought. Do you really still believe that?"
Rainbow Dash turned to look at Twinkle.

"No" the royal blue mare said, "I don't believe it. I know it. We all do."
Rainbow Dash nodded. "Fluttershy, I'm not asking you to help with the tornado. I just want to make sure you're going to be okay. I was wrong to force you into joining in, but I... really did think you'd be great at it. And I still do. But..." she slid off the bed, and walked over to the window, opening the curtains.

"I'm sorry I put you through all this, Fluttershy. I swear I didn't know you'd get this upset."
Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash, as warm sunlight made its way into the room.

"That's okay," she said, "I really do appreciate that you thought of me. Even if I am completely unsuited to weather production."
Rainbow Dash shook her head, "Fluttershy..."

"If it isn't too much of a problem," she said quietly, "I wouldn't mind some time alone right now. There are some things I'd like to think about."
Rainbow Dash nodded, "Alright. You know where I'm gonna be all afternoon."

And with that Rainbow Dash walked out of the room and down the stairs. Twinkle lingered and stared at Fluttershy.
"Of course, it is possible that the anemometer really did get it wrong. Maybe you just didn't go fast enough because you didn't feel the need to go faster."

Fluttershy stared at her, before Twinkle shrugged, "But what do I know? I'm not a physicist or a physchologist. I just know stuff."
And with that she left, with a pointed slam of Fluttershy's front door from a certain irritated rabit as she left. She paused, and stared back at the small cottage, before continuing back toward the training fields.

*****

The rest of the day went without incident, save the occasional argument between Rainbow Dash and Thunderlane, who Rainbow Dash seemed convinced was out to sabotage her record-breaking attempts via coughing, leaving the Twilights to wonder if it wasn't an idea to interevene before somepony ended up in hospital, though fortunately nothing came of it. Eventually they wrapped up for the evening.

"Okay, everypony, go home, get some rest, and show up here tomorrow at..." Rainbow Dash leaned over to Twilight, "When exactly?"
"Half past eight A.M., if you could."

This produced another enthusiastic 'YEAH!' from Snowflake, and everypony soon went their seperate ways, prepared for whatever the morning would bring.

Twinkle however, couldn't help but notice Thunderlane and Blossomforth hadn't been the only ponies coughing. She also couldn't help but notice Twilight's remark regarding their chances of success, which caused a small pang of dread, especially once she saw Twilight's completely innocent expression.

"Twilight?" she said icily.
"Yes?"

"Please, in the name of sanity, stop doing that."
Twilight blinked. "Stop doing what?"

"Stop doing that. You might as well have said 'nothing can possibly go wrong', or just zapped half of the team with some spell that turns ponies into... cantelope!"
Twilight stared at her for a moment. "Honestly, Twinkle? What possible harm could come fro-" A hoof jabbed into her mouth.

"Stop it!" Twinkle yelled, not caring that she was getting strange looks from some ponies.
"Stop tempting fate, Twilight! Seriously! Stop it!"

Twinkle continued staring at her, "Alright, alright," she said eventually. The two began walking back to the library, Spike following behind them carrying the notes and the anemometer.

"But I can't wait to see the look on your face tomorrow if this goes smoothly."

*****

The next morning, the Twilights and Spike woke up early to set up a larger anemometer at the town resevoir. Shortly after the arrival of most of the pegasi in town, Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts appeared. Twinkle noted Rainbow Dash didn't even seem to have any reaction to the mare's appearance, something that striked her as curious, and also incredibly alarming. Instead, she worked on enervating all the fliers, and managed to do that quite well.

"Are we ready to do this?" she declared.
"YEAH!!!" Snowflake declared, which seemed to be the general consensus of the crowd. Then Spike noticed something. Thunderlane wasn't there. Immediately Rainbow Dash's mood soured.

"Lazy Thunderlane," she grumbled, "Where is he?! He's been trying to get out of tornado duty the whole time with his fake coughing all all. Rumble! What happened to your lazy brother?!"
All eyes turned to a small slate-coloured colt.

"He's got the feather flu," the colt said, "He's down at Ponyville hospital."
Then there was a nervous noise as Spike examined the checklist of ponies in attendance.

"He's not the only one."
Careful examination prooved that no less than eight ponies had managed to come down with feather flu, and with each one Rainbow Dash's hopes sunk further. Twilight meanwhile, carefully calculated how much wingpower had been lost from those eight ponies.

"Oh no," she gasped. Rainbow Dash leaned in toward her.
"Don't tell me we won't be able to break the windspeed record?!" she asked nervously.

"No," Twilight said, to which Rainbow Dash sighed, until Twilight added, "You might not have enough wing power to create a tornado powerful enough to lift the water to Cloudsdale!"

At this, Rainbow Dash fell backward, managing to slam into Twinkle, who noted the mare was slightly heavier than she looked. For a few moments she just lay there, staring into the sky.

"Well..." Spike said nervously, "Should we pack up?"
Rainbow Dash got to her feet, her jaw clenched.

"No, of course not," she frowned, "Forget the record. Cloudsdale still needs water!"
She turned to face the crowd of pegasi, and placed a set of goggles over her eyes.

"Okay, everypony!" she declared, "Let's give it all we've got! On the sound of the horn, we take off!"
Spike walked over to a medium-sized large horn, as Twinkle handed Twilight a pair of goggles of her own.

"You're gonna need it" she pointed out. Twilight took them, and then tapped a small switch on the device, before nodding to Spike, who blew into the horn. As he did, every pegasus in Ponyville, both amazingly small and freakishly large took to the air, and began flying in a circle. As they did, wind began to pick up, and the needle of the anemometer began to move.

"You really think they're going to make it to eight hundred wing power?" Spike yelled.
"I sure hope so!" Twilight said in response, staring as the needle began to climb, and the wind began to increase. In quick succession, the reading went up to five hundred. Then Twinkle noticed a familiar pony trying to make her way through the sudden wind.

"Twilight!" she declared, "Look!"
It would perhaps have helped if she'd used a hoof to indicate what exactly Twilight was supposed to be looking at, but she was using those to maintain a grip on the device.

"Fluttershy?!" Twilight said, "What are you doing here?"
Fluttershy's response was difficult to pick out over the roar of wind, "I figured, even if I couldn't help Rainbow Dash out, the least I could do was offer moral support!"

"That's nice of you!" Twinkle said, not entirely sure if she'd heard Fluttershy correctly.
"She sure could use it, considered eight pegasi are sick with feather flu!"

"Oh no!" Fluttershy gasped, "That's terrible news!"
Twinkle, meanwhile, was keeping an eye on the team of pegasi, several of whom seemed to be faltering. And then, almost suddenly, they were scattered in every direction. Most of the pegasi landed relatively softly. Rainbow Dash, however, did not, managing to collide with a tree.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twinkle called out.
"Are you okay?" Twilight added. There was a low groan from the speedster.

"I'm fine!" said Rainbow Tree. Twilight looked over to the anemometer, as the needle quickly sank back to zero.
"You were so close to the eight hundred wing power minimum," she said, her voice filled with regret, "I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash."

The mare ripped herself out of the tree and marched over toward Fluttershy. "We've got to try again!" she declared, taking off into the sky.

"But you've already pushed your crew to their limit!" Twilight said, glancing at the sprawled forms of a dozen pegasi, none of whom seemed to suffer any serious injuries. She grabbed Rainbow Dash's tail in her magic, and dragged her back to the ground, causing the speedster to yelp slightly.

"If you break apart again, somepony could get hurt! You should quit it, it's not safe!"
Rainbow Dash looked at the varied pegasi, most of whom were now back on their hooves, and groaning slightly. She scowled.

"No!" she declared, cold determination in her voice as she grabbed Twilight and shook her, "One more time! I've gotta know we gave it our all!"
She turned to the assembled ponies, "If I'm going down, I'm going down flying! C'mon ponies, let's make this happen!"

This got another enthusiastic 'YEAH' from Snowflake, and a few cheers from everypony else. Twinkle just raised an eyebrow at Rainbow Dash's declaration.

"Now there's a pony I'd follow," she said to herself. Spike blew the horn, and the assembled pegasi took to the air again, going much faster than before. Quickly, the Twilights, Spike and Fluttershy were all clinging to the device, as above Rainbow Dash shouted instructions to her fellow pegasi. Twilight stared at the read-out with growing trepidation.

"Seven hundred and fifty wingpower!" she yelled.
Spike yelped out, "That's when they fell apart last time."

Fluttershy whimpered, as the wind stung her eyes. Twinkle noted the probably demonic rabbit Angel clinging to her mane.
"I'm too nervous to look!" the pegasus declared.

"Seven hundred and ninety five!" Twilight announced, cautious optimism in her voice, "We are so close!"
Above them, the water swirled, as a dozen blurs swarmed around it, Rainbow Dash's voice faintly audible over the roar of the wind. Twilight and Twinkle stared at the read-out, which had now fixed, aside from the occasional twitch. Then they looked at each other, and the same thought crossed their mind.

"Fluttershy, we need you!" Twinkle said.
"I won't make a difference!" she wailed.

"You will!" Twinkle retorted. Fluttershy stared at her.
"My measly two point three wingpower is still too little!" she said, tears being ripped from her eyes by the wind.

"I don't know if they've got any more in them!" Spike helpfully declared.
"Fluttershy," Twinkle said, ignoring the wind and speaking softly, "You can do this. You are one of the strongest mares I have ever met. You are one of the most awesome ponies I will ever know. Remember what I said? I still mean it. You are strong, and even if you don't believe that, just believe in yourself, just for five minutes. You can do this!"

Fluttershy's eyes darted from Twinkle, to Twilight, to the tornado. Twilight nodded. Fluttershy stared at her, and then looked up at the tornado, and gulped. She took a pair of goggles Twilight floated to her, and slowly made her way to the edge of the tornado, setting down Angel before she went.

Twilight Twinkle did not usually see herself as a vindictive mare, but seeing the little rabbit get blown away was actually kind of funny, if cruel. Then she heard a startled yelp as Fluttershy was dragged into the tornado.
For a few seconds, nothing happened, and the anemometer started moving. Twilight and Twinkle's eyes went wide as they noticed the tell-tale sign that Fluttershy was supplying a touch more than a mere two point three horsepower.

"She's doing it! Seven ninety eight!" Twilight declared triumphantly, "She surpassed her best wing power numbers!"
"Of course she is!" Twinkle yelled over the wind. She was fairly certain she was laughing, perhaps even manically. Then, the anemometer began to beep loudly, as the tornado went faster, and faster, ponies beginning to drop out of it one by one. Then, it happened. The water beneath the tornado ripped into the air, and shot up into the sky, heading toward Cloudsdale.

Twilight started hugging Twinkle and Spike in excitement, "She did it! She did it! They all did it!" she beamed triumphantly. Spike quickly broke off to blow the all-clear horn, and a dozen pegasi sighed and cheered with relief. Strangely enough, Snowflake did not make his feelings known this time. Rainbow Dash stood looking triumphant, until she looked around, and then up, to see Fluttershy still flying rapidly in circles. She quickly rushed up to the mare to tell her the good news, while Twilight continued dancing and cheering. Twinkle put a hoof on her shoulder, and Twilight looked about, grinning nervously.

"Guess you were right," Twinkle said, before pausing, and adding, "More or less."
Twilight looked at her, "Did you know Fluttershy would show up?" she asked.

Twinkle smirked. "Yeah. Of course I did. I just didn't think it would be that impressive."
She looked over at Rainbow Dash, who was passing off the praise to Fluttershy, and gave a small laugh.

"You know, when I first saw this Rainbow Dash, I was amazed. She was almost nothing like the one I knew. Brash, arrogant, crass. But now look at her. She's really improving."
Twilight just grinned. "I think you had a bad first impression. Rainbow Dash isn't the Element of Loyalty for nothing, you know."

Twinkle just grinned, "I am aware of that. I am also aware of how much deeper Fluttershy's capacity for compassion goes. More than even she is."
Twilight stared at the mare, and noticed an odd look in her eyes, and a strange edge to her smile.

"Twinkle -"
"Let's hear it for Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash declared, at which point everypony, Twinkle included, began cheering.

With the water safely delivered to Cloudsdale, everypony turned and headed toward Ponyville for the celebration party. As they did, Twilight stared at Twinkle, who had gone back to smiling, joining in with the congratulatory chanting.
"Fluttershy, Fluttershy! Fluttershy can really fly!"

Twilight felt a growing amount of disconcertion, and made a note to ask Twinkle what she'd meant later on. After the party of course. Suspicions were no excuse to ruin a good party.

'After all, she's 'my' daughter,' she thought, 'What could she possibly have done that was so awful?'

*****

The Crystal Empire, twenty-two years from 'now', one universe away.
(Three days after Nightmare Eclipse's attack)

Among the great horrors of everyday tragedies, seeing a grown-up cry was one of them. Seeing Fluttershy cry, by general consensus, was considered a top contender for Worst Thing You Will Ever See. Somehow, the sight of Princess Mia Amore Cadenza not crying at the sight of her daughter not moving was almost, if not exactly, as bad. It was the utter silence, which seemed to absorb all other noises, including the slow rythmic beat of princess Shining Sapphire's heartbeat being monitored.

A few short hours after the incident, Cadance has recieved a notification, and had instantly blasted her way through the air, leaving Shining Armor and a dozen stunned archaeologists wondering what had just happened. She had flown at ludicrous speeds back to the Crystal Empire, and with none of her usual decorum or restraint had demanded to see her daughter. The doctors carefully explained that even with the best of their skills, the young mare's survival was a fifty-fifty chance, even before they mentioned she had gone into a coma.

And so it was that Shining Armor finally returned to the Crystal Empire some hours later to find his wife sitting, immobile and just... staring at their daughter. She hadn't said anything then, and he hadn't even known what to think, just nodding as the situation was described to him.

Unfortunately for Shining Armor, while his wife was an alicorn, and could go without rest or sustenance for some time if she chose, he was just a unicorn, and needed sleep, and food. Every now and then a member of the hospital staff left a cup of tea near the young princess in case Cadance felt the need to drink, but nopony ever saw her drink any. Regardless, the cup still seemed to drain, which satisfied the hospital staff.

And so for two days she sat, staring. At about seventeen minutes past eleven, she was aware, vaguely, at least, of Shining Armor's entrance into the room, and of a faint nuzzling on her cheek.
"Cady..." she heard him say, before the silence reasserted itself. What could he say?

"I can't," she whispered, "I still can't believe it."
She looked at him, "Somepony hurt our daughter, Shining Armor, and nopony will tell me why. Nopony seems to know. And it's my fault."

He looked startled. "How can you say that?"
"Because! I was the one who said she'd be alright if we left her on her own! I could have protected her! Should have! I'm her mother. It's what I'm supposed t-to do!"

She suddenly felt like her legs were going to give out. Fortunately Shining Armor stepped in and allowed her to lean on him.
"And I can't even help her. All my powers, all my knowledge. And all I can do is stare, and watch our daughter slip away."

There was another absence of noise. "I can't do anything and I just feel so... so useless!"
She felt a hoof on her shoulder, and she felt the warmth of Shining Armor's fur against her. He still said nothing, and he didn't need to.

"Apparently she managed to wield the power of the Crystal Heart," he said quietly, trying to change the conversation. A smile briefly flickered across Cadance's lips.
"She was always smart."

"Like her mother, then."
There was another bout of silence. "She had a coltfriend" Cadance said, in the quiet.

"Really?" Shining Armor said, in an unsurpised fashion.
"Lovely young stallion by the name of Whisper Wind. You know, Fluttershy's son."

Shining Armor frowned, and then nodded, "Guess that would explain why he kept visiting her."
"He was going to move in, she said. They had it all arranged. She's in love with him, Shiney."

"Oh?" he raised an eyebrow.
Cadance paused. She considered telling Shining Armor the truth, and a small battle raged inside her, until she eventually reached a decision.

"There's something I should probably tell you about you Whisper Wind."
For a moment she said nothing, trying to think of the best way to phrase what she was about to say.

"He's... not exactly an average pony" she said haltingly.
"Okay..." Shining Armor said.

"In fact, he's... well, he's-"
Any further discussion was forestalled by a pony knocking on the door. Both ponies looked up to see a pony dressed in the livery of the Guard.

"Your Highnesses!" he saluted, "There is a situation outside."
"A situation?" Shining Armor asked, "What is it?"

"I think, sir," the stallion said, "It would be best if Your Highnesses were to see for yourself."

*****

The guard led them to a shocking site. Standing in front of the Crystal Palace were a group of ponies, staring defiantly at the guards surrounding them. It was a bit uncertain whether the guards were trying to stop anypony attacking them, or prevent them attacking ponies. Guarding was being done, and that was good enough for them.

The reason they were guarding them was because of who the ponies were, or more accurately, what. There were uniformly charcoal grey, with bright blue eyes that seemed to lack irises, and translucent wings that glinted in the sunlight. They were Changelings.

One of them, the one that seemed to be the leader, was carrying a large... something, on its back. In all, there were approximately twenty of them, and they looked nervous at the sight of Shining Armor and Cadance, and not without reason. However, the leader bowed.

"Your Highness, Princess Mia Amore Cadenza, and Your Grace Shining Armor, of the Crystal Empire," he said, in a voice that did not seem to suit his muscular frame, leading onlookers to wonder if it actually was his voice, especially since it sounded like he wasn't used to using it, "I humbly request sanctuary, and assistance."

Cadance frowned. "Assistance?" she asked, walking over to the lead stallion. The smaller changelings shuffled together, still looking nervous, though their leader seemed unafraid.
"What assistance are you asking for?"

"Medical aid, and protection," he said calmly. Cadance looked at Shining Armor, and wished she hadn't, not that she could blame him for what he seemed to be thinking, even if she didn't approve of it.
"You... don't seem to require medical aid" she commented. She could have sworn she saw a curve to the changeling's mouth.

"My... troops are not the ones who require the aid," he said, and at that his horn glowed, and the strange thing on his back moved. Several parts moved, and Cadance releasied she'd been staring at a pile of blankets, wrapped around a pony.
Or at least, what was left of a pony. It was another changeling, taller, and with notable rusty-brown hair. His eyes were closed, and his breathing incredibly shallow, which might have had something to do with the massive amount of injuries to his person. From the looks of it, somepony had been venting their frustration upon him.

Cadance stared at the prone pony, and then, she noticed something. A faint spark in him that seemed to be keeping him alive. It was love. And then, and she wasn't quite sure how, she recognised how it was. She instantly wheeled toward one of the guards.
"Show these ponies to the hosptial. Tell the staff to use whatever means they know of to keep this young stallion alive."

Shining Armor stared at her, "Cady, should we discu-"
"No. No discussion. We're helping these ponies, Shining Armor. Understand?"

He stared at her. For a minute, Cadance found herself actually hoping he argued, or got angry. Instead he just nodded.
"As you wish."

Cadance smiled at him, and he gave a weak smile back. Then she turned to the lead changeling.
"Now then, what's this about 'protection'?"

"Because her higness is doubtless following after us, and will stop at nothing until she has reclaimed her son, and achieved what she sees as her rightful vengeneance upon you and your husband."

Author's Note

It is with a heavy heart I must announce that while I have returned, we have now entered the final part of the story.
And because I love ominous foreshadowing:
The Wedding is coming.

The Daily Grind

After the celebration party for creating the tornado wrapped up, Twinkle and Spike returned to the library, mainly because Spike had to check up on Peewee.

"What exactly are you feeding him, anyway?" she asked, as the phoenix chick flittered briefly about the room. Spike looked suddenly sheepish.

"Well, I kinda had to check and see what I was feeding him," the dragon said, "Which wasn't easy because most ponies don't know anything about phoenixes..."

He frowned as he stared at the ceiling, where Peewee was desperately trying to stay in the air, "What is the plural of phoenix, anyway?"

Twinkle paused. "Probably just phoenix. Or phoenixes, or phoenii. I don't know, I'm not a structural linguist."
Spike just nodded, "So, I asked Princess Celestia if she knew anything about what to feed a phoenix."

He smiled brightly for a moment, as Peewee landed back in his nest, while Twinkle just stared at him.
"And?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Spike looked a bit confused and looked up at her.

"Well, apparently a phoenix eats things like meat. You know, gerbils, mice..." he looked suddenly nervous, "Rabbits."
Twinkle just stared at Peewee, who had apparently decided it was time to go back to sleep.

"I've been seeing if worms are alright, and he seems to like them" Spike said, looking proud with himself.
"You haven't told Fluttershy about any of this, have you?"

Spike looked at her, "Yes," he said in a complete deadpan, "I should tell Fluttershy I've been feeding worms to a phoenix chick, because that'll work out really well."

Twinkle stared at Spike with a look that suggested the little dragon had given perhaps a bit too much thought as to what Fluttershy's reaction would be.
"I don't think she'd react that badly," Twinkle said, "After all, what about the birds she looks after, and that bear?"

Spike's expression changed. "Oh, yeah" he said, staring down at his feet.
"Forgot about the bear" he muttered. For a few minutes nothing happened, save the occasional noise from the slumbering phoenix. Then he looked up at Twinkle, and a thought seemed to have occurred to him. He motioned for her to come closer, in case anypony was listening in, despite the fact that only Spike, Twinkle and Peewee were in the room, Trixie evidently having woken up before lunchtime.

"I was gonna see if Peewee likes ice-cream" he whispered conspiratorially. Twinkle stared at him, then over to the slumbering bird, then back to Spike.

"I thought you'd gone off ice cream" she eventually said. Spike stared back at her as if she'd just suggested Pinkie Pie had decided to become a lawyer, or that Applejack had turned into a supervillain.

"No," he said, "What, did you think I went off ice cream just because of one stomach ache?"
"And the mess." Twinkle helpfully reminded him. Spike's expression indicated he hadn't forgotten the mess, or that he'd been the one who had to clean it up. Even now his nose was wrinkling at the memory.

"Yeah, that too" he muttered, before recovering, "But it's just ice cream. It can't be bad for him, right?"
"I... don't think a digestive system used to handling meats is going to handle ice cream, Spike. Especially not the amount you eat in one sitting."

Spike frowned in irritation, then he looked at Peewee. He suddenly sighed. "I wish I could keep him, but Twilight says I've gotta return him to his real family."
Twinkle stared at Spike's expression, which seemed to shift repeatedly, and noticed his fists were clenched. She bit her lip, and nudged him. He looked up at her.

"I mean, I get it, I do. He belongs with his family but..." he looked down at his feet, "Why do I still feel like this?"
Twinkle sat next to him.

"Spike..." she said quietly, before realising she wasn't sure of what else to say. He looked at her, then back to Peewee.
"It'll be alright, little big brother," she added, trying to smile warmly, "You can still see him, after he's returned to his parents. And you're the first thing he ever saw, you're like his... surrogate dad. He'll always remember you."

Spike said nothing. Then, he very slowly sat down next to Twinkle. For a few moments both of them sat together.
Then there was a low moan from Spike.
"What is it?" Twinkle asked.

"I was gonna show him what it was like being with ponies," Spike said, dabbing at his eyes, "And I was g- I was gonna be cool."
She smiled at him. "You are cool, Spike. You're the coolest big brother I could want."

Spike sniffled, "You mean it?" he asked.
Twinkle nodded, before frowning. "Okay, you are kinda insensitive, like you were with Fluttershy the other day, but apart from that? Coolest big brother ever."

There was a another pause.
"Am I cooler than Shining Armor?"

Twinkle smiled slightly, "Oh, yeah. Way cooler."
Spike stared at her. "You're just saying that," he said, "Nopony would ever say I'm cooler than Shining Armor."

"Spike," Twinkle said with a sudden sterness that spooked even her, "If it weren't for you..."
She paused, and considered what to say, "If it weren't for you I wouldn't have been born. You're a cooler big brother, and you are definitely cooler than Shining Armor."

Spike looked at her in disbelief, "How much cooler?"
Twinkle's smile turned playful. "Well, there are points off for the whole Fluttershy thin-"

"You know Twilight already gave me the whole lecture for upsetting Fluttershy, right?"
"I know, Spike. I was there when she started crying. I was there when Twilight gave you the whole lecture on 'tact'. "

Spike stared at her for a moment, before sighing again and wiping a few more tears out of his eyes.
"Oh, yeah," he said, before smiling at Twinkle.

"Anyway," she said, "You are cooler than Shining Armor. Not by much, I'll admit, but just enough to count."
She smiled at him.

"Thanks" he mumbled.
"Feeling better?" she asked. He shrugged.

"I'm okay," he said, trying to seem nonchalant. Twinkle looked at him.
"You sure?"

He paused.
"I'll be okay," he amended.

"Are you going to be okay?" he asked. Twinkle looked at him.
"What do you mean?" she asked. Spike stared at her.

"You don't really look okay, and you haven't told anypony what happened to you when you got attacked by that plant."
Her expression suddenly dropped, her stomach clenched, and her mood soured.
"I really don't want to talk about that" she said, woodenly.

"Why not?" Spike asked, his face the dragonification of innocence.
"Spike, I really don't want to talk about it," she stressed. Spike considered this.

"Yeah, but... why?"
"Making me really uncomfortable, Spike!" she hissed. The dragon took a step away from her, before saying "Sorry."
She kept taking deep breaths, and then stood up, before walking down the stairs, and then out of the front door.

*****

Twinkle's walk eventually led to her sitting on a bench, staring at the clouds, which there seemed to be a lot of at the moment, doubtless due to Cloudsdale's weather ponies trying to make up for lost time. She lay there for a moment, until she heard hoofsteps.

"Hey," a familiar voice said. Twinkle opened an eye, and once she got over the minor irritation of almost being asleep until she saw the pony looking at her.
"Hey, Twilight."

"What are you doing?" Twilight asked. Twinkle shrugged.
"Sitting on a bench, trying not to fall asleep."

There was a pause before she added, "Failing miserably."
She opened both eyes and looked at Twilight, "What's up?"

Twilight blinked in confusion. "Nothing. Nothing's up. I just wondered what you were doing."
Twinkle tried sitting up, and after a few attempts managed to succeed. "Well, if you're here I'm guessing the party ended, and we're back to the usual routine, then?"

Twilight just nodded. Twinkle smiled. "Nice day for it, then."
Twilight looked up at the sky, "It is actually a nice day, isn't it?"

"'s been nice for a while," Twinkle said, before a thought occurred to her, one that chilled her to the bone.
"How long has it been since the last 'incident' with the CMC?" she asked. Twilight gave this some consideration.

"A while, I think."
Twnkle nodded slowly, before smiling. "A while. Guess that means we're probably past due some of their usual mayhem."

She slowly slouched off the bench. She noticed Twilight was looking at her.
"What?"

"I was just wondering," Twilight asked, "Why were you talking with Spitfire while you were at the celebration?"
Twinkle tried to look nonchalant. "I was just asking her about the Wonderbolts and their upcoming schedule."

Twilight raised an eyebrow as the two began walking along, in the sort of aimless fashion of two ponies with nothing to do on a Monday afternoon.
"And?" Twilight asked when Twinkle proved unforthcoming.

"Well, the majority of the team are staying away from Canterlot right now. Apparently there's this big event that's coming up, and nopony anywhere would be mad enough to try and get in its way" she said, staring at Twilight with a look best described as 'pointed'.

"I've not heard of it," Twilight said, "But then, what with all the time helping to supervise with the water preparations, and everything else that's been happening," she shot Twinkle an equally-pointed glance at this, "I haven't had time to check up on the latest news."

Twinkle said nothing, as the two continued walking, before Twilight spoke up.
"Then again, apparently Lyra's been telling anypony she can that she's been invited to a wedding in Canterlot."

Twinkle looked up at the sky, "Nice weather for a wedding" she observed.
Twilight nodded in agreement. Then something occured to her.

"Surely you'd know if something really important was about to happen."
Twinkle smiled nervously, though the smile faded in quick order. "Yes. I may not know everything about this time, but I do know..."

There was a pause, as she looked up at the clouds again, then back to Twilight, and tried to smile again, "Twilight?"
"Yes?"
She paused for a moment, and tried to think of something, anything to say. A warning, a caution, careful advice about dancing lessons, anything. But she couldn't focus.

Mainly because she was still thinking of Lilac.
"You know I'm always here for you, right?" she eventually said.

Twilight stared at her in concern for a second, "Of course."
She smiled gently, as the two continued walking.

*****

Meanwhile, in the hideout of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, two mud-soaked fillies stared at Apple Bloom in confusion.
"What ah meant was we should write for the paper!" she explained, before pointing to a poster of a filly carrying the stereotypical journalistic equipment.

"We can get our Cutie Marks as journalists!"

*****

When the Twilights returned to the library they found Trixie idly scanning through a newspaper, which raised several eyebrows between both ponies. There was an awkward pause as eye darted from pony to pony.
"What exactly is going on?" Twilight asked.

"... Nothing" Trixie smiled, before lifting the newspaper in front of her face.
"Oh, look," she exclaimed, with about as much forced cheerfulness could be placed into a sentence, "Sports. Haven't read that in a while."

"Trixie..." Twilight said, sternly. The newspaper slowly lowered, revealing an embarrased look on Trixie's face. She sighed.
"If you must know, Trixie was looking for somewhere to live."

There was a pause, punctuated by the slow ticking of a clock.
"You're moving out?" Twinkle asked. Trixie rolled her eyes.

"It's either that or I keep sleeping in Twilight's spare bed. This was only supposed to be a temporary thing anyway, right?"
Both Twilights exchanged glances indicating that neither had actually given the issue much thought.

"Of course, Trixie's attempts at doing so are being hampered somewhat due to a lack of houses available to a pony with Trixie's current level of income. Which is zilch."
Twilight smiled, "Well, Trixie, if you need any help with that, just ask."

"So eager to get rid of me?" Trixie asked, in mock-offense.
"No," Twilight said, blinking in confusion, "Of course not. Why would I want to get rid of you?"

Trixie stared at Twilight, who stared back. There were several moments where nopony said anything.
"Nevermind," Trixie said, "If I do require assistance looking for a house, I shall ask you."

And with that Twilight left the room, leaving Trixie and Twinkle staring at each other.
"What?" Trixie asked.

"Nothing" Twinkle said, "Just... surprised, is all."
Trixie raised an eyebrow. "Surprised? Really? You aren't going to throw some dramatic speech about friendship at me?"

The two ponies stood there for a moment.
"She's probably thinking of writing a letter to Celestia right now, isn't she?" Trixie asked.

Twinkle nodded. Trixie gave this due consideration, and then both mares grinned.
"Does she still do this in your time?"

Twinkle bit her lip. "Not to my knowledge. Althought..." she said, rubbing a hoof against her chin, "Now that I think about it... she probably does"
The two mares grinned slightly. This quickly devolved into giggling, which, when Twilight returned turned into them rolling about on the floor laughing. Later on, neither was rightly able to identify why exactly they'd been laughing so much, but at the time, that hadn't mattered. They laughed until they could not laugh any further.

******

The rest of the day passed without much in the way of incident, along with the next day as well. Indeed, it seemed as if all of Ponyville had gone quiet. Indeed, one might have said almost too quiet, were they not aware of the hazards of remarking that events were too quiet.

It was in fact Spike who first made the remark, as Twilight, Twinkle and Trixie were all lounging about in a field one afternoon. As it had been a slow day, Twilight had suggested going out for a picnic, and with that done, everypony had taken to sitting and staring at the sky.

"Really quiet today, huh?"
There was a pause. "Hey, yeah, it is quiet" Trixie observed.

"Hey, Twilight?" Spike asked.
"Yes?" she said, from an astrophysics book she was 'correcting'.

"How come we don't hang out like this more often?"
"Mostly the weather, Spike. And we have been distracted by other things" she said, smiling at him as she did. He nodded at this, and went back to staring at the sky.

Twinkle, meanwhile, found herself summoning illusionary falcons, which swooped and stooped in the air, until Trixie decided to join in, summoning an illusionary dragon to chase her falcons. What followed was a strange fight between the two illusions, which seemed to be heading toward a draw, ending when they heard somepony rushing toward them.

"Twilight!" a voice cried out. It was Rarity, but she didn't sound like she was anxious, or concerned. In fact she sounded excited. Twinkle looked up and saw Rarity carrying a newspaper behind her.
"What is it, Rarity?" Twilight asked. The mare grinned at her.

"Well," Rarity said, "I was just sitting there in the boutique, brainstorming and trying to think of new ideas for a dress, when I found this just hanging out of Sweetie Belle's saddlebag, and-"

"Hold up," Twinkle said, "Were you looking through your little sister's stuff?"
There was a silence awkward enough for a whole army as Rarity grinned sheepishly.

"... Maybe" she said, before making a truly heroic rebound, "Anyway, I found this."
She unfurled the newspaper, and brandished it at them, and the first thing Twinkle noted was the spelling errors.

She made a noise of disgust.
"What is Cheerilee teaching those kids? How do they not know how to spell 'exclusive'?" she asked. Rarity stared at her in surprise. Twinkle stared back, and then she noticed Rarity's hoof, indicating a picture next to the badly-misspelt words. It had two colts, one bright blue and one lemon yellow, stuck to each other by bubblegum.

Twinkle stared at it for a moment, then to Rarity, who was grinning at Twilight.
"Two foals with gum on their butt," she said, "So what?"

Rarity looked confused. "'So what?' Isn't this one of the most hilarious things you've ever seen? Look at them!"
Twinkle looked again. She heard a snort from Trixie and a guffaw from Spike, but otherwise all she saw were two colts stuck to each other with gum.

"And the way this foal writes," Rarity said, "It's so dynamic."
Twinkle looked up at Rarity. "Did you seriously just say 'dynamic'? With a straight face, no less?"

Rarity didn't seem to notice that, "Whoever this 'Gabby Gums' is, she is extraordinary."
"Gabby who?" Twilight asked, examining the paper again and frowning.

"That's the name of the pony who wrote it, Twilight," Rarity said, "Although I must confess I do not know who this pony is."
Twilight looked up, "Maybe Pinkie knows who she is."

Rarity sighed, "I did try asking Sweetie Belle if she knew who this Gabby child is, but she just waltzed off while I was speaking to her. The nerve of that young lady."

A thought occured to Rarity, "I suppose I could ask Pinkie Pie if she knows this 'Gabby Gums', but I did ask the Cakes and apparently she's busy."

Then a thought walked into Twinkle's mind, "Rarity," she asked.
"Yes?"

"Are we the first ponies you've shown this... article to?"
Rarity gritted her teeth, and then smiled again, "Yes."

Both Twilights stared at her. She crumpled. "Well, I might have shown it to some other ponies on the way here, and while I was enquiring as to your whereabouts."
"And?" Twilight asked.

"They couldn't stop laughing," Rarity grinned, "And who could blame them? This is so much better than the usual rubbish of the Ponyville Express. I was thinking of finding a way of having this delivered regularly."
"Really?" Twinkle asked. Rarity paused, giving the question some thought.

"Yes. I think I shall," she she said, "After all, it is free, and I happen to think it's quite amusing."
And with that she turned and walked away.

For a moment, nopony said anything.
"Sometimes that mare scares me," Trixie eventually said, "Although, that picture was funny, wasn't it?"

Twinkle found herself agreeing, though somewhat reluctantly. However, for some reason she couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding about the newest aspect of the Foal Free Press, which was not helped by the fact that two days later, while fetching groceries, she saw a newstand proclaiming that it was carrying the school newspaper, and the fact that there was a smaller sign underneath it informing everypony that it was sold out. She shook her head at this and returned to the library. When she got back she saw a strange sight.

Twilight and Spike were both eagerly reading the Foal Free Press.
"Not you two too," she said. There was a sudden shuffling, as Twilight looked mildly guilty.

"I wasn't reading Gabby Gums!" she declared instantly.
"Right," Twinkle said calmly, as she made her way into the kitchen. There was a scrambling of hooves, as Twilight followed her.

"And what's wrong with reading a gossip column? It's not like anypony's really being hurt, it's just... harmless gossip."
Twinkle said nothing, just placing groceries in their appropriate place, noting Twilight's eyes darting about, making sure everything was where they were supposed to be. Twinkle's expression hardened.

"You are asking me what harm comes from gossip?" she said quietly, turning to stare at Twilight, "You are really asking me what harm could come from gossip?"
Twilight blinked in confusion. "I... don't understand."

Twinkle stared at her for a moment, "Oh, yes. Sorry. I forgot you lived in a big castle for most of your childhood, and were therefore shielded from the usual result of being a pony in the public view. You know, what with being the personal student of Celestia and everything."

"I still don't follow" Twilight said after a moment. Twinkle took a deep breath.
"What I'm saying, and utterly failing to convey, is that as your daughter, there was a lot of speculation about me when I was a child, and despite some valiant efforts from a lot of ponies, I did get exposed to some of them, which, while I was usually smart enough to ignore them, did cause the occasional problems."

She sighed, and then slouched, "I don't like gossip. I don't think it's harmless, and I don't think it's funny. And yes, right now 'Gabby Gums' is just showing silly everyday things like Pumpkin and Pound Cake crying, but soon it'll get out of hand."

She frowned, and sat down on one of the small stools in the kitchen, before looking at Twilight.
"You're wondering who Gabby Gums is, right?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow, "You know who Gabby Gums is?" she hit herself on the head with a hoof, "What am I saying, of course you do, you're from the future."
Twinkle just stared at her, "Actually, no I don't. I don't know who she is. Probably because 'Gabby Gums' doesn't exist."

Twilight paused. "Oh, yes, that would explain why nopony's heard of her before, not even Pinkie Pie knew."
"You've seen Pinkie Pie lately?" Twinkle asked. Twilight nodded.

"That's weird. I haven't seen her."
"She's been busy lately" Twilight said, "There's this big baking competition sometime next week, and Sugarcube Corner's been asked to provide an entry."

"Wouldn't that be 'entrée'?" she asked. Twilight stared at her.
"Seriously?"

"You just wish you'd thought of that."
"I really don't" she said, though the fact that she was grinning suggested otherwise.

They sat there for a moment.
"You really think this Gabby Gums column is going to lead to disaster?" Twilight asked. Twinkle frowned.

"I wouldn't say 'disaster', but I do think that somepony, or ponies, are going to be seriously hurt by the time this passes."
Twilight stood there for a moment, considering this. "Okay."

Then she looked at Twinkle, "By the way, everypony's going to the spa in a few days. Are you going to want to join us? You look like you could use some relaxation."

"Do I?" Twinkle asked, "That's news to me."
"Well..." Twilight looked down at her hooves, "You haven't been getting as much sleep as you should lately, and Spike told me about what happened the other day."

Twinkle blinked. "What? What happened?"
"He said you just randomly stormed out in the middle of a conversation. Is there something bothering you?"

Twinkle shifted slightly. "I've just got a lot on my mind right now, is all."
Twilight nodded, "Then come to the spa with us. Try and relax a bit."

"I might just" Twinkle smirked.
Twilight turned toward the door, and stopped, and looked at Twinkle with concern.

"You know, if there is something the matter, you only need to say the word, and we'd try and help."
"I do know, Twilight."

The mare smiled, but there was something else in her expression that gave Twinkle pause.

*****

The days passed, and Twinkle found her boredom being supplanted by concern about the presence of the Foal Free Press. Wherever she went, there it was, or somepony was talking about it, or spreading information about it. And with each day her concern grew, and while she tried to reassure herself that no harm could come from a group of foals being foals, this cautious optimism vanished when she saw the name of the paper's editor, one Diamond Tiara.

Her mood did not improve on arrival at the spa, where she saw a truly alarming sight.
Rarity had managed to arrive at the spa early, and was calmly perusing what appeared to be an evening edition of the FFP.

"What." Twinkle said, at the sight. Rarity looked up from her newspaper.
"Hello, Twilights. Would either of you care for something to read?" she said, not waiting for an answer and levitating three copies towards them. Twinkle batted one away with a hoof.

"No" she said. Rarity looked at her for a moment, then shrugged. Twilight calmly took one, and settled down on one bench. Twinkle, meanwhile, just stared at it.
"You don't have to be worried," Rarity said, "It's perfectly harmless, and these ponies are professionals."

"I didn't say I was worried," Twinkle smiled, "And this may surprise you, Rarity, but I have been to a spa before."
The fashion-designer raised an eyebrow, "That would perhaps explain why you were dyed that lilac colour when you first showed up."

Something occured to Twilight, and she turned to look at Twinkle, "Why were you dyed that colour?"
Twinkle hopped onto the bench, and tried to get comfortable, "Do you know, I'm not really sure. It just seemed the sort of thing to do. I think it was because I didn't want anypony to recognise me, and then get into trouble because somepony found my picture in a trashy gossip magazine."

Rarity gave a small hum, and for a while there was utter quiet, as everypony began relaxing, and enjoying themselves. Twinkle soon found herself being massaged, and to her mild surprise, enjoying it.

"Somepony's looking like they're enjoying themself" Applejack smirked.
"Yeah, I guess I am" Twinkle grinned back, then a thought occurred to her.

"Hey, where's Trixie? Didn't she say she was coming here?"
There was a sudden silence, and she couldn't help but notice Applejack's eyes slowly moving toward the newspaper she was reading.

"Why do I get the feeling I probably not going to enjoy the answer to this question?" she sighed.
"You guys!" the familiar voice of Rainbow Dash called out, as the mare raced into the room, startling Spike in the process, causing the cucumber slices the dragon had over his eyes to fly out, landing on Rainbow Dash's face. Strangely enough, she didn't even seem to acknowledge this, as she brandished a newspaper on the floor.

"The new Gabby Gums just came out!" she declared excitedly, "The Great and Powerful Trixie's secrets revealed!"
There was a new awkward silence, one that was obviously the previous one's bigger, more learned sibling. Everypony started looking at the lighting, or the walls, as if just noticing them for the first time.

Rarity was the first to break it, "We've... already read that one, darling" she said awkwardly.
"Have you, Rarity?" Twinkle asked, her voice a dangerous fusion of sickly sweet and icy cold, "That's extremely interesting."

Rarity looked at Twinkle, "Oh, come now, Twilight, it's hardly anything shocking. It's just a bit of..." she seemed to wilt at Twinkle's Stare, "harmless... gossip?"
"I haven't read this Gabby Gums yet" Rainbow Dash opined, flexing in just the right way to dislodge one of the cucumbers from her eye and into her mouth. From the looks of it, the vegetable didn't have time to touch the sides before Spike reached over and yanked it out of Rainbow Dash's mouth.

"Well do it quietly, will ya?" he said, brushing the cucumber off mildly before replacing it over his eye, "Some of us are trying to unwind."
"That's... disgusting" Twinkle frowned.

"Some of us aren't having much luck, getting all worked up over nothing" Rarity smirked. Twinkle's head shot back to look at the mare.
"How am I worked up just because Trixie's not shown up at the same time the FFP is proclaiming to reveal all her secrets?" Twinkle asked.

"You're the one making the fuss about it. Maybe Trixie is just off practicing her routine, or something like that."
Twinkle frowned, but said nothing. There was a small noise from Twilight.

"I like Gabby Gums," she said, "But don't you think she can be a bit little... mean?"
Applejack grinned, "She's not mean, Twilight, she's a hoot."

"Unless you're Trixie" Twinkle said, loud enough for everypony to hear.
"Oh, calm down," Rarity smiled, "It doesn't say anything slanderous."

Twilight brandished her copy, "Look at this."
Everypony looked. Twinkle, despite herself, grinned at the sight of Celestia deliberately mugging for a camera as she held a massive slice of cake aloft.

"'Celestia, just like us?'" Twilight read out.
"To be fair, that is the image she'd like to present" Twinkle said, "And she's eating more cake than any single pony could reasonably endure, that's hardly acting like your average po-ny..." she winced off as the massuse hit a sensative area.

"Gabby Gums doesn't respect anypony's privacy" Twilight frowned.
"And if Celestia felt even slightly bothered by that," Twinkle said, fairly certain she'd just seen a camera in the corner of her eye, "That camerapony would have been in some hot water."

"I'm in some hot water!" Pinkie Pie chimed from the large tub she and Fluttershy were soaking in, "And it's so great."
"Lighten up, Twilight, and Twilight," Rarity scoffed, "There's nothing in here but harmless gossip."

There was a sudden shift in the temperature, and Spike was aware of a strange burning smell, which he noted was coming from Twinkle.
"What... did you say?" she asked quietly. Rarity smiled.

"Just harmless gossip" Rarity repeated. Twinkle nodded.
"Right, okay. Harmless, sure. So, if it was about your 'relationship' with your business rival, one G. Embrace (deceased), you wouldn't mind, then?"

Rarity shuffled, "I didn't have a 'relationship' with her. We were rivals. Nothing more."
Twinkle nodded, before staring at Rarity, "So, when does the gossip stop being harmless, Rarity? When does it become wrong? This pony (or ponies, more likely) is being paid to make things up. When does that start being harmful? How many ponies would have to be hurt for it to be wrong? One? Ten? A hundred? How many ponies does it take?" she hissed.

Rarity stared at Twinkle, "Why are you acting like this?" she asked quietly.
"Probably because I was never the pony making rumours at school. I was the sort on the recieving end. It's a lot less fun to be on the recieving end, Rarity."

There was an awkward silence as nervous glances were exchanged.
"I... sorry," Rarity said, "I didn't realise you felt this strongly on the subject."

"I don't, usually," Twinkle said, "Normally I don't really care, I just..." she paused as the masseuse continued.
"I think this appointment came along at the right time," she said, involuntarily grinning as she did. There was a giggle from Pinkie Pie.

"Listen to this one," the party pony proclaimed, splashing water about as she moved across the giant tub, "'Mayor, not naturally gray!' The mayor, in a mane dyeing scandal, who wouldn't wanna read that?"
She brandished the paper showing a panicked mayor desperately applying hair dye to a clearly rose-pink mane.

"Well, the mayor, for one. I mean, it looks a lot like the photographer wasn't supposed to be in her home at the time" Twinkle said, "So that picture's not been taken with her consent."

"I agree," Twilight said, "With Twilight Twinkle, I think. Mainly because I can't help but feel sorry for the ponies focused in these columns, it's gotta be a little embarrassing."
"Frankly, I'm amazed Cheerilee lets her students get away with so much" Twinkle frowned, "Especially since she could get herself into a lot of trouble with the wrong article. It'd be a shame if somepony were to 'over-react' to all this 'harmless gossip', wouldn't it?"

"Why would they?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"You'd want to be interviewed by Gabby Gums?" Twilight asked. Rainbow Dash grinned.

"Are you kidding? Do you know how awesome it would be to have your name in the paper?"
Behind Rainbow Dash, Twinkle was certain she could see a cream-coloured shape moving about, and shook her head.

"Rainbow Dash," Rarity called out, "Won't you join me for one of these delicious hooficures?"
The speedster looked skeptical, "Did you forget who you're talking to? The day I get a hooficure is that day I turn in my daredevil license."

"Just give it a try" Rarity sighed, "Trust me, even you will enjoy them."
Rainbow Dash frowned in apprehension, "It's that good, huh?"

She gave this some though, staring down at her hooves. "Maybe just one hoof."
She made her way over to the bed besides Rarity and laid back, before seeing one of the spa attendants approaching, at which point she winced. The pony got closer, and closer, and closer...

And then Rainbow Dash shot up into the air. "Forget it!" she yelped, "I don't like ponies touching my hooves."
She flew back to her newspaper and stared at it. If there was one thing that could be said about Rainbow Dash, it was that when she got an idea in her head, she never let it go.

"Man, I'd love it if Gabby Gums did a story on me" she sighed.
"She did one on me" Spike said, with an air of nonchalance that was immediately destroyed by his being swarmed by six extremely eager ponies. He smiled nervously at their manic grins.

"What did you talk about?" Rarity asked.
He smiled nervously again.

"Oh, hay," he proclaimed, "Look at the time, I've gotta go home and feed Peewee!"
And with that he leapt over Rainbow Dash's head and rushed for the door.

"Didn't know the little guy could move that fast" Rainbow Dash said.
Meanwhile, Twinkle sat there still enjoying her massage.

"Haven't felt this relaxed in years," she murmured, "Not since my honeymoon..."
She was aware of the return of the silence, and the fact that everypony was staring at her. She carefully analysed her previous statement.

"Oh, Belgium" she muttered.
Everypony stared at her for several moments.

"You... never mentioned you were married before" Rarity eventually got out.
Twilight Twinkle bit her lip. "Well, there is a reason for that..." she said.

"It's 'cuz of that weird thing with the plant from your birthday, right?" Applejack said.
Twinkle smiled, grateful for the free foothold in her sudden mental quagmire. "Yes! That's exactly why. The plant showed me my greatest desire, and apparently part and parcel of those desires was getting married to this colt I... had a crush on."

"'Had'?" Rarity asked, raising an eyebrow in delight.
"Had. It's not complicated. I had a crush on him, but he wasn't interested in me, so it went nowhere. Not much to tell, really."

Rarity frowned with the disappointed air of a pony who had been expecting titillation.
"What was he like? If it isn't too much to ask" Fluttershy asked, causing Twinkle to jump, mainly because she'd forgotten Fluttershy was there. She scrambled for words to think of to describe him.

"He's quiet, nice, friendly. Selfless but slightly awkward around most ponies. Has a bit of trouble with telling a young mare he's not interested in her. I would say he is, very slightly, a bit of a mother's boy, though. Or he can't cook, though considering who his mother is, that's unlikely."

"This guy's mother's one of us right? She is, isn't she. She is!" Pinkie Pie beamed, "Which one of us is it?"
Twinkle stared at Pinkie Pie, "No, Pinkie. She isn't."

She felt slightly unsure about that. Technically, what she'd said was the truth, but if she knew anything about Fluttershy and Wisp, she knew they wouldn't have seen it the same way.
She shuffled slightly as she noticed the massage had stopped. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd really like to change the subject."

Pinkie Pie immediately seized upon the lull to talk about the up-coming National Dessert Competition, at length. As she did, Twinkle made a note to seek out a certain trio of fillies at some point, and have a long talk with them. She noted that she should've been feeling concerned about their behaviour, but at that moment, she felt too relaxed.
And then she started thinking about Lilac again, at which point her good mood vanished.

****

Eventually, their business at the spa concluded, and the two Twilights slowly walked back toward the library.
"So, did you enjoy the spa?" Twilight said. Twinkle just nodded.

"Aside from the bickering, and talking about what that plant did to me? Yes. It was good. And I do feel more relaxed now."
Twilight smiled, which then flickered when she saw the look on Twinkle's face.

"What is it?" she asked. Twinkle stared at her.
"I..." she paused, and looked down at her hooves, "I was just thinking about things. A lot of things, actually."

"Such as?"
"Nothing you need to worry about," she said, "Not right now."

Twilight looked at her, but said nothing.
The walk back to the library was without incident, but once they arrived at the library, they noticed something wrong. Trixie was sitting in the chair, staring out of the window, her expression utterly blank.

"Trixie," Twinkle smiled, "What is it?"
"Nothing," she muttered, "Nothing at all."

Twinkle stared at Trixie. "Trixie, what is it? You can tell us"
The mare shuffled slightly. "Nothing. I'm not angry."

Twinkle felt her stomach drop out. Trixie continued.
"I wasn't angry when I saw the Foal Free Press proclaiming it revealed 'the secrets of the Great and Powerful Trixie'. I wasn't angry when I saw everypony staring and whispering behind my back, and I certainly wasn't angry when I saw Rainbow Dash flying toward the spa with a copy of the FFP. The spa Twilight told me everypony was going to, and invited me to come along."

Twinkle bit her lip, turning to look at Twilight, who was staring at her hooves.
"I'm not angry," Trixie re-iterated, "But I am hurt."

"I'm sorry," Twilight said, "I... I didn't..."
Trixie just stared, her eyes hidden by the brim of her hat.

"I thought we were friends" she said quietly.
"Trixie, I really didn't mean anything by it. We just thought it was harmless gossip" Twinkle stared at Twilight, who looked like she was disgusted with herself for saying those words.

"Whatever" Trixie muttered, slouching off the chair and moving towards the stairs. She slammed the door after she went through it, leaving Twilight and Twinkle standing there.
"Harmless gossip" Twinkle said, her voice leaden. She stared at Twilight, who was looking down at her hooves.

"Now, are we going to go talk to her, or what?" Twilight's head shot up, as Twinkle walked over to her.
"I do know you. You aren't the sort to let Trixie remain unhappy so long as there's still the smallest chance you can make things right" she said, trying not to smirk or grin as she did. Twilight stared at her.

"That's not fair," she frowned, "You already know how I'm going to act."
"Twilight, I'm pretty sure Trixie knows how you're going to act. Now then," she jabbed Twilight with her hoof, "Stop standing there with your mouth open and go and apologise."

Twilight frowned at her, and then walked past towards the stairs, Twinkle following after. As she walked up the stairs she wondered where Spike was, but dismissed this.
They found Trixie sitting on her bed, with a tiny orange blob next to her, happily chriping.

"Trixie?" Twilight asked, knocking on the doorway as she entered. The mare looked at her, but said nothing.
"I wanted to say that I really am sorry, for reading what Gabby Gums wrote about you," Twilight said, "I have no excuse for my actions."

Trixie stared at her, then stared at Twinkle. "Aren't you going to try and apologise to Trixie? Maybe give one of your little speeches?"
"Me?" Twinkle asked, "No. No speeches. Why would I? I don't read Gabby Gums' column."

Trixie stared at her, before turning back to Twilight. "You're sorry?" she asked, coolly.
Twilight nodded. "But, I didn't read it because it said it was about you, I just read it because... well, because it's Gabby Gums." There was a pause, as Twilight looked at Trixie, "I do think she's beginning to get out of hoof."

"(Beginning?)" Twinkle muttered, just loud enough for her to hear.
"So... I am sorry for hurting your feelings, Trixie, and I know the others will be as well, if you talked to them."

"I wouldn't put to much faith in Rainbow Dash or Rarity being too sorry, if I were you. Rarity seems unwilling to accept that there's anything wrong with the fact that everypony's reading a gossip column in a children's newspaper, and Rainbow Dash... is Rainbow Dash."

Twinkle looked and saw Twilight staring at her. "What?"
"Well, in addition to that harsh, cynical and accurate remark about Rainbow Dash, you keep mentioning the fact that it's a children's newspaper. What's up with that?"

"'What's up with that?' I find it disturbing. Don't you find it disturbing?"
Twilight just stared at her, "Do you have some sort of obsessive tendencies I should know about?"

"I am not obsessed, I'm just concerned by the tendency of Ponyvilleians to read a newspaper designed and intended for foals!"
"Stop shouting" Twilight said calmly, in a voice that was alarmingly close to her best 'mom' voice.

"I'm not shouting! I'm just really annoyed by it" she paused at that, before frowning, and muttering something unladylike. Twilight turned to look at Trixie, who was just staring wide-eyed at the scene she'd just gotten a front-row scene to (which, incidentally, was mirrored on Peewee's face, inasmuch as a bird can look alarmed at witnessing two ponies yelling at each other over newspapers)

"So, anyway, Trixie. I'm sorry I didn't take your feelings into consideration on reading Gabby Gums."
The mare stared at Twinkle for a few seconds, before her eyes moved back to Twilight.

"Sorry, what? I was just... watching whatever that was."
She turned to look at Twilight and grinned, "Can I work you two into my act? I reckon ponies woud love it."

Twinkle just buried her face in her hooves, "At least somepony's cheered up."
Trixie shrugged, "Not entirely, but that whatever-that-was helped. That, and the fact that I have realised dear Gabby Gums is probably going to do articles on the rest of you."

Twilight's eyes went wide. "She is?"
Trixie just raised an eyebrow at her. Twilight's expression dropped.

"She is."
"Turnabout's fair play, Twilight" Trixie grinned maliciously.

Twinkle shook her head and made her way downstairs, where she found Spike replacing several books.
"Hey, Spike," she said, making the dragon leap.

"Sorry, I was... kind of expecting you to be Pinkie Pie."
Twinkle gave this some thought, "What, you were expecting her to hound you until you give up the secret of Gabby Gums?"

Spike blushed, "Kinda."
Twinkle just grinned, and after a few seconds Spike grinned as well.

"So, Spike, you met Gabby Gums, in person?"
He nodded, and then stared at her. "And I'm not telling you who she is, so don't bother trying to wring it out of me. I promised I wouldn't tell anypony about her."

"That's okay, Spike," Twinkle said, helping to move some books into Twilight's current designated arrangement for books, "I'm quite certain I know who 'she' is."

Spike chuckled, "Yeah, I guess you would. They probably told you all about it when you were growing up, or something, right?"
There was a pause, and Spike turned to stare at Twilight Twinkle's triumphant smile. "I just told you, didn't I?" he sighed.

"No" Twinkle said, "But you have confirmed my suspicions. The 'they' really helped though, because there's only one 'they' I could possibly know of who'd be foalhardy enough to do everything Gabby Gums has been doing."

She gave this some thought, "You see, I was thinking to myself, 'Gee, Diamond Tiara is editor of the Foal Free Press, and what pony would be foalish enough to stick around when Diamond Tiara's involved in something. Why, obviously it would be three ponies so desperate to get their Cutie Marks they'd do anything for them'. By which I do of course mean Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo."

Spike stared glumly at his feet. "I promised them I wouldn't tell anypony who Gabby Gums was. Now Pinkie Pie's probably going to hunt me down."
Twinkle stared around the room. "I think if you had actually broken a promise, she'd shown up by now. Besides, it doesn't count if I figure it out, does it?"

Spike gave this some thought, "Doesn't it?" he asked, his voice full of hope. Twinkle just smirked.
"Don't worry, Spike, I don't think Pinkie Pie would do anything serious even if she did find out. She'd probably just... ask you some questions.

"Really?" Spike asked, glancing about the room. Twinkle understood his current panic. Pinkie Pie's strange tendency to appear out of nowhere was already legendary, even in what she considered the past. She'd never seen it for herself, at least not before her arrival in the past.

"I don't know. That doesn't sound like something I would do. Do you really think I would do something like that, because I don't." a suspiciously familiar voice said. Twinkle stared at Spike.

"She's right behind me, isn't she?"
"Nope, I'm right next to you!" Pinkie Pie smiled. Twilight Twinkle could see the mare's toothy (and oddly well-maintained) smile very clearly. Her mind, meanwhile, was trying to figure out how Pinkie Pie had gotten in without making any noise, despite the rest of her pointing out the first truth of Pinkie Pie. She just was.

"Spike, did you break a promise?" she asked sternly, leaning in toward the dragon. He smiled nervously.
"Sort of. I mean," he gulped, "I wasn't meaning to, but I sort of did, and I'm really sorry and I won't do it again!"

Pinkie Pie leaned back out, and looked regretful, "See that you don't, Spike, or I'll be upset with you."
And with that her smile returned, "You'll be at Sugarcube Corner on Sunday, right?"

Spike nodded, to which Pinkie's smile increased.
"Goody" she said, and then she bounced out of the door, closing it gently behind her, and as was usual with Pinkie Pie, left Twinkle and Spike just standing there staring.

"She really does just mean that she'll be upset, right?" Spike asked, nervously.
"Considering Pinkie Pie, it's probably safe to assume the answer is yes" Twinkle sighed. Then her thoughts turned to the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"What?" Spike asked. Twinkle shook her head.
"I think it's probably an idea to get in touch with the girls, before they do something they'll regret."

Spike frowned. From the looks of it, he was trying to think of a way to sound supportive of the trio, but considering their usual tendencies, it seemed to be giving him some strain.
"Like what?" he asked. Twinkle bit her lip.

"Probably best not to think about it, Spike. I should probably find them before they do something they'll regret..."
"On your own?" Spike asked.

"Are you offering to help?"
He shrugged, "So long as I don't have to carry anything heavy, yeah."

"We're only looking for three highly visible fillies, Spike. I honestly doubt there'll be much heavy lifting."
His expression changed, "You say that now, and next thing you know, I'm carrying a whole roll of parchment, three puppies, some guard armor, and twenty-eight books."

Twinkle stared at him with a bemused expression. "Long story. Don't ask" he muttered.
She walked towards the door, Spike following after her.

*****

Two hours later, as the two walked through Ponyville, Twinkle found herself getting increasingly frustrated. Searching the school had proved fruitless, checking at Sweet Apple Acres had proved fruitless, and neither knew where Rarity and Sweetie Belle's parents resided, which made that pointless.

"Couldn't we just go from door to door and check?" Spike asked.
"Because that would be incredibly time-consuming, and I don't really want to spend my evening searching through all of Ponyville for Sweetie Belle's parents, especially since we don't know if she's even at her parent's house."

She gave an irritated sigh.
"What about Scootaloo's house?" Spike asked. There was a pause.

"Which is... where, exactly?" Twinkle asked. Spike gave this some thought. And then he gave it some more thought.
"... I could've sworn she told me at some point" he muttered, "She must have. And I know I met her mother..."

Twinkle felt a pang of curiosity at this, "Really? What does she look like?"
Spike's expression changed. "That's weird... just slipped my mind. Sorry," he sighed, "Drawing a great big blank on Scootaloo, her house, the whereabouts of, finding and or locating."

Twinkle stared at him, and grinned. "Well, nevermind. I'm sure they'll turn up sooner or later."
She looked at the setting sun, "I suppose we might as well go home, then."

"I guess," Spike said, smiling gently, "After all, what's the worst that could happen?"
She glared at him. "What?"

"Spike, seriously, don't ask 'what's the worst that could happen', unless you really, really want to find out what the worst possible thing that could happen is. Especially where Diamond Tiara and the Cutie Mark Crusaders are involved."

"So, what do you think is going to happen?" he asked, cautiously.
"I think you're going to get into some trouble" she said solemnly.

*****

That Sunday, everypony gathered in Sugarcube Corner, save Rainbow Dash, and to Twinkle's mild annoyance she noticed everypony came bearing copies of the Foal Free Press, save herself, Trixie and Twilight. Applejack showed up last, and from the very instant she stepped into the room, it was clear she was furious.

"Have you seen this?" she declared, through a mouthful of newspaper, "Have y'all seen this?!"
She threw the paper on the floor, and kicked it open to the Gabby Gums section, which by now had apparently been expanded to several pages. Twinkle leaned over Trixie's shoulder to see an image of Applejack resting again a tree, her hat over her eyes.

"'Applejack, asleep on the job!' she angrily read out, before turning to everypony else, "Can y'all believe this?!"
She turned back to the paper, and jabbed a hoof at the column opposite, "And this one - 'Big Macintosh - What's he hidin'?"

There was a picture of a startled Big Macintosh with his Smarty Pants doll between his forelimbs. Twilight looked up at Twinkle, who just smiled as innocently as possible.
"What?" she mouthed. Twilight just grinned, and shook her head.

"Who the hay does Gabby Gums think she is?" Applejack demanded.
Twilight Twinkle opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by Twilight Sparkle speaking first. The mare had spotted a less-than-flattering photo of her snoring, and she began to scrutinise the page, her expression growing more outraged with each moment.

"Listen to this one, 'Twilight Sparkle: I was a Canterlot snob. A well-placed scaly source-" Twinkle and Spike exchanged glances. Spike looked like he'd just been placed on a guillotine block, "- close to the prissy pony says Twilight Sparkle thinks Ponyville is nothing but muddy roads and low-class rubes'"

She turned to Spike and yelled, "How could you say such a thing?!"
"I didn't! Gabby Gums made that up! I never said anything like that!" Behind Twilight's shoulder, Trixie was scanning the discarded newspaper, silently relishing the sight.

"Everypony, please," Rarity said from the table she was sitting at, Pinkie Pie sitting across from her, with Fluttershy watching them from over the counter, "She's just a harmless schoolpony engaged in some harmless gossip. You're really making too big a deal over this."
Twilight stepped forward, before Twinkle cut her off.

"'Harmless gossip?'" she asked, her voice icy cold. Rarity looked at her, "Rarity, she's writing, or possibly being made to write, outright lies! That's not harmless, or gossip. And I will thank you not to utter anything so mind-bogglingly idiotic again in my presence."

Rarity stared at her, and then gently chuckled, "There is absolutely no need to get so worked up about this. It isn't as if she's printed anything ab-" she cut off when she saw the deapan glares from Applejack, Trixie, Spike and both Twilights.
"It is not. Harmless" Twinkle hissed.

Behind her, Trixie flipped over the page, and then her eyes went wide in shock, and her glance turned toward Fluttershy. She nudged Applejack, and the farmpony turned to look at what the showmare was indicating.
"Gabby Gums prints whatever she wants!" Twilight pointed out, as behind her Applejack gave out a very audible, 'uh-oh'. Twilight levitated the previous day's copy of the FFP in front of Rarity.

"She doesn't care whose reputation she destroys!" Twinkle looked at the image currently on display, which was Fluttershy, with her back to the camera-pony, with arrows pointing to her tail, "'Fluttershy has tail extensions!'"
At this, Fluttershy's face changed, and she sank out of sight, her eyes trembling. A few seconds later there was a scuttling noise from behind the counter.

"Wait," Trixie declared, "She does have tail extensions?!"
"Well, there's another childhood idol destroyed in front of me" Twinkle muttered, ignoring the odd look she got from everypony.

Twilight changed the page, and read out another headline, this one connected to a photo of Pinkie Pie dancing in a punch bowl with a lampshade on her head, "'Pinkie Pie is an out-of-control party animal!'"
"WHAT?!" Pinkie shrieked, before diving across the room and staring at the paper.

"You know," Twinkle mused, "Despite my objections towards her actions, I do appreciate Gabby Gums' ability to spin this pictures wildly out of context. She must have an impressive imagination."
"It's true!" Pinkie wailed behind them, tears gushing from her eyes, "I do have a problem!"

Trixie suddenly found herself being weapt on by the mare. Twilight, sensing she was on a roll, flipped the page again.
"Look! According to this one, the Cakes are braking up!"

"We are?!" Mrs Cake asked from behind the counter, as she and her husband walked in carrying an assortment of cakes, exchanging mutually confused glances.
Then there was an almight crash as a pile of newspapers flew into the room, a set of sky blue limbs just barely visible underneath. The pile landed in the corner, and a bleary-eyed Rainbow Dash emerged from it.

"Well," she said, "My life is officially over. Gabby Gums has made it to Cloudsdale."
She nudged an already open paper toward Twilight, showing Rainbow Dash's abortive attempt at a hooficure.

"'Rainbow Dash: Speed demon or super-softie?'" Twilight read out, before looking at Rainbow Dash.
"I grabbed up as many copies as I could, but it's too late!" she burst out into tears, "I'm a laughing stock!" she wailed.

Everypony (Or rather, everypony who wasn't Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy or Rarity) stared at Rarity, who had a look of infuriating indifference. Twinkle looked at Trixie, who had casually read ahead in order to distract herself from the still-sobbing Pinkie, and she couldn't help but see the almost cruel smile spreading across Trixie's face.

"See, Rarity?" Twinkle heard Twilight say, "Your so-called 'harmless gossip' can be very harmful!"
Twinkle shuffled over toward the newspaper Trixie was scanning, and saw what she was smiling about, and despite everything, she couldn't help but feel amused, if slightly sorry for Rarity. Until the mare spoke again.

"Honestly, you ponies have no sense of humour," Rarity sighed, "So she tweaks a few ponies every now and then, maybe they de-"
"If you say what I think you're planning on saying, I will tell you every detail about the future that will horrify you, starting with your greatest mistakes!" Twinkle quickly shot out. Applejack gave a small horrified gasp at the last segment. Rarity, for her part, looked hesitant.

"Perhaps my statement was... somewhat hasty" she said, noticing she had just managed to upset everypony in the room, "But these are hardly life-ending things that are being said."
"I can't study friendship if everypony in town thinks I'm a snob and won't talk to me."

"Good thing only a foolish, ill-tempered and gullible pony would believe these things" Twinkle frowned, "Except this one about Rarity, of course."
There was a sudden moment of quiet, as Rarity's face began to immitate that of the sort of creature whose lives usually ended in a damp crunch. Slowly, she turned the page of her newspaper. Her eyes went wide.

"I'll DESTROY HER!" she yelled, leaning back dramatically, before leaning back in to analyse the article, "'The Drama Queen Diares'... she's reprinted my diary! How could Gabby Gums get access to my diary?!" she wailed.

"Honestly, Rarity" Twinkle said, almost deadpan, "You have no sense of humour. Maybe you deserve this."
Rarity blinked for a few seconds, before slowly crushing the newspaper between her hooves. "Destroy her..." she hissed.

Pinkie Pie had stopped crying by now, and was analysing the article. She made a small noise of intrigue. "It's even got the bit about your mini-break with that ex-rival of yours, Generous Embrace" she smiled.

Rarity's expression went into a strange mixture of confusion and blood-rage. "Mini-break?" she said, her ears twitching violently, "Pinkie, she held me captive and tortured me! With cheese! And we shared that shower out of neccesity!"
There was a sudden pause as everypony exchanged glances. Trixie spoke first.

"That explains so much, and so very, very, very little."
Twilight just frowned, a natural leadership seeming to exude from her as she spoke, "We've got to put a stop to this once and for all!"

"Why?" Twinkle cut in, "I mean, 'Gabby Gums' doesn't exactly have many ponies to spread gossip about."
"There's you" Twilight pointed out, "Imagine if she found out about you."

There was another pause, "Yeah, Twilight, fairly certain 'she' knows already."
"You know who she is, don't you?" asked Rarity, before the fashion-designer rushed over to her. "Tell!"

Twinkle stared at Rarity, "No. Why don't we calmly use our brains to figure it out, instead?"
Rarity stared at her, "But she could be anypony!"

Twilight, meanwhile, just shook her head, "Sweetie Belle's on the newspaper staff, maybe she knows who Gabby Gums really..."
There were a few seconds as Twilight's mind filled in the figurative jigsaw puzzle.

"Rarity?" she asked, as the colour drained from her face, "Sweetie Belle, she'd probably know where you keep your diary, am I correct?"
Rarity gasped, "My sister would never associate with anypony as ghastly as Gabby Gu-"

Twinkle coughed, loudly. Rarity stared at her, and then to Twilight.
"Oh, no" she said quietly, "Don't say that. I resent that implication. Why, she's the most innocent-"

"Ignoring the incident with the catapult, and the prank war" Twinkle muttered, before she started wondering where that catapult had gone, now that she gave it some thought. After all, it wasn't as if it had just walked away...
"How did they get all the tree sap on the ceiling, by the way?" Trixie cut in. Twinkle frowned, filing away her concerns over the catapult for later.

"I have no idea. And I've done some very crazy things in my life, so that's saying something."
"The. Most. Innocent, most lovely pony in all of Equestria!" Rarity said fiercely.

"Who, along with her friends, is near-insanely devoted towards getting her Cutie Mark, and utterly heedless of the consequences of her actions when 'crusading'."
Twinkle glanced at the newspaper, "Of course, this is utterly unlike them, which leads me to the conclusion that those three are perhaps being pressured into doing this by somepony. Somepony in a position of power, perhaps."

"That'd be Diamond Tiara, then" Fluttershy said. Everypony stared at her.
"What?" she asked. It was difficult staring at Fluttershy, especially when she looked like she was about to burst into tears, as she did at that moment. Twinkle didn't feel up to speculating about the amount of willpower she was using to hold them back.

"You sound really sure of yourself" Rainbow Dash noted, with a not inconsiderate amount of what sounded like sisterly pride.
"I am sure," Fluttershy said, sounding almost spooked for saying it, "Diamond Tiara is the editor of this newspaper, which means it's her job to make sure they follow the standards and practices of the newspaper. If they aren't, she isn't doing her job properly, which might actually be worse."

Practically everypony stared at Fluttershy, who just blinked in confusion, "But, I could just be completely wrong" she mumbled.
"No, Fluttershy," Twilight said, "That's it! All we need to do is talk to those three about about their actions."

There was a small chorus of agreements, and one 'eyup' from Applejack. Twinkle edged over to the mare.
"Applejack, are you alright?"

"Eyup" the mare said.
Twinkle gave this some thought. "Really?"

"Eyup."
"And you aren't just to shocked at the fact that your baby sister had a part in all this and are unable to speak?"

Applejack's mouth twitched and she hung her head. "Yup."
Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, looked like a barely controlled cyclone of irritation. Twinkle decided not to bother trying to talk her down, and looked at Fluttershy, who was looking less and less emotionally stable by the minute.

"Okay, then" Rarity announced, "I shall have a talk with Sweetie Belle, after ascertaining the whereabouts of my diary, and then I shall have a conversation with the young lady about certain subjects she obviously isn't being taught at school."
Everypony nodded, though Twinkle noted nopony looked absolutely sure about.

And on the walk back to the library, both Twilight and Trixie, she noticed, were walking incredibly fast. And there were certainly a lot of ponies glancing suspiciously at the two mares. She looked at Spike, who was walking incredibly close to Twilight. He was also glancing at the ponies, none of whom looked happy to see Twilight. Some were even whispering to each other. Twinkle couldn't help but notice she was trailing behind Twilight and Trixie by then.

'No, I'm not trailing behind,' she thought to herself, 'They're just walking much faster than usual'. She glanced at the varied ponies of Ponyville, who looked at her the same way cats sized up potential targets. She quickly trotted after Twilight.

*****

Rarity and Sweetie Belle exchanged stares. A battle of wills was waged between the sisters, which eventually ended in a draw, as Rarity leaned in to her sister. Their argument, like so many before, had been brief and volatile. And then Sweetie Belle had mentioned that she and her friends had just been trying to get their Cutie Marks, and it had all slid into place for Rarity. Her anger evaporated, as she turned and looked at her sister.

"Do you really think that writing nasty things and making everypony feel horrible is your destiny?" she asked. Sweetie Belle stared down at her hooves.
"Well," her little sister said, "When you put it that way..."

Rarity smiled, and after a few seconds, Sweetie Belle smiled back.
"Thanks, Rarity."

And with that the filly rushed out of the room. Rarity smiled, and stood there, basking in her victory. All alone, with nothing to do and nopony to talk to, or brag to.
A few seconds later she rushed downstairs to find a copy of the Ponyville Express lying by the door. She stared at it, and sighed.

'I'm going to miss Gabby Gums' she thought.
Five minutes beyond that she was pouring through a small pile of back issues of the Foal Free Press she'd gathered over the last week.

*****

Twinkle woke up, stretched, and yawned. She brushed her teeth, and made her way downstairs.
"Morning!" she smiled cheerfully at Twilight, who said nothing. Twinkle walked past her and into the kitchen.

Then she walked back out into the main room, and saw the look on Twilight's face.
"Is... something wrong?" she asked. Twilight looked at her.

"No, I'm just... taking it easy today. Relaxing, and reading up on..." she slowly looked at the book she was reading.
"'The Giant Rat of Sumaretra'" she grinned, and then paused, her smile replaced with a look of utter confusion as what she'd apparently said occured to her, and checked the title again.

"Yes, that's (apparently) what I'm reading" she smiled. Twinkle stared at her. Twilight stared back, still grinning.
"Alright, then" Twinkle said.

After her breakfast she walked back into the main room, and sat down for a few moments.
"So, are there any plans for today?" she asked.

"No" Twilight said instantly.
"Okay," Twinkle said hestitantly, "Not even going to Sugarcube Corner to talk with Pinkie Pie about that giant cake she's making?"

"No."
"Twilight, is something the matter?" that got Twilight's attention. The mare looked up at her.
"Nothing's the matter, I'm just enjoying this book, and want to stay indoors to finish it in peace and quiet, okay?"

Twinkle nodded slowly, noting the odd look on Twilight's face.

*****

Some three hours later, and Twilight Twinkle found herself sitting, staring, and casting images of illusionary birds again, mainly to pass the time. As she did, she noted to some small amount of pleasue she was no longer thinking about Lilac, especially the filly's smile, her eager bouncing gait, the way she'd frequently woken her up in the mornings...

Twinkle frowned, and then moved to scowling, staring up at the clouds. She wasn't thinking about Lilac, that was certainly true. She couldn't stop thinking about the date, though, and Shining Armor, and Applejack, and a dozen other things, so it was perhaps no surprise she didn't notice the Cutie Mark Crusaders approaching her.

"Miss... Twilight?" she heard Apple Bloom say. Slowly she turned to look at the young mare, and tried smiling.
"Apple Bloom. What's got you running about at lunchtime?"

Then she noticed the miserable looks on the filly's face, and those of her companions.
"Is something wrong?" she asked. The three fillies looked at each other.

"We were just wondering... if you would let us do a story on you?" Apple Bloom asked.
"A story? Me? Thanks, but no thanks girls. I've already got one, and I'm quite certain it's nearly at the end."

There was an awkward pause, before Scootaloo spoke up, "No, we mean a Gabby Gums story."
"Are you alright?" Sweetie Belle asked. Twinkle looked at her.

"It's just... you look kinda... sad" Sweetie Belle said. Twinkle just nodded.
"It's not something you'd want to hear. And more to the point, you're still doing Gabby Gums stuff? Didn't your sisters slash role models have a talk with you?"

"They did," Sweetie Belle said, "But... we can't quit now."
Twinkle felt concerned, "What do you mean you can't quit?"

The look on the girls' faces was alarming, "Are you being made to do this?"
"... no" Apple Bloom said, "We ain't bein' blackmailed into still bein' Gabby Gums."

"Yeah," Sweetie Belle nodded, "It's just that nopony wants to tell us anything about themselves anymore."
"We only just finished drying off from the raincloud Rainbow Dash emptied on us" Scootaloo said.

Twinkle just nodded, "She took your article a bit hard. Nopony holds a grudge like Rainbow Dash"
"Told you" Scootaloo said to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. A thought occured to Twinkle.

"How come you three didn't do an article on me?"
"We did," Apple Bloom said quietly, "It's todays article. We kinda said you... might be related to one of the Princesses."

Twinkle found herself grinning at this, "Well, you wouldn't be making that one up, in a manner of speaking, though nopony'd ever believe you."
"'specially not anymore," Apple Bloom said quietly, "Rainbow Dash made it rain on us, Fluttershy can't speak 'cuz she's crying so much, and that rabbit of hers won't let us in, we haven't seen Pinkie Pie all day, miss Twilight set up a forcefield around the library-"

"She did?" Twinkle asked, before standing on the bench and craning her neck. Just visible over the roofs of Ponyville was a forefield around the library.
"I think you three might have upset a few ponies with that article on her as well" she said quietly. Then she saw the truly miserable look on Apple Bloom's face, "An' Big Macintosh told us t' go away..."

While it was a known fact that there wasn't anything as heart-rending as watching Fluttershy cry (at least, nothing that didn't border on unethically cruel to even think of), the Cutie Mark Crusaders looking miserable was a close contender.
Then something Apple Bloom had said set off warning lights in Twinkle's mind.

"Sorry," she said, "Run that by me again, Big Macintosh did what?" she said, her voice as cold as death.
Apple Bloom looked up at her, "He said he didn' want to talk to us, and then he told us to 'go away'."

"I see," Twinkle said, in a tone than made all three fillies take a step back, before smiling a smile that made them take another step back, "Tell me, girls, did he even ask why you were still trying to get a story off of him?"

"Well," Apple Bloom suddenly felt incredibly small, "No."
Twinkle's face changed. In an instant, her smile vanished. Her pupils shrank, and all three fillies became aware of a burning sensation.

"He didn't even ask... he just yelled at you?" she asked, her voice as calm as the eye of a hurricane.
"Maybe?" Sweetie Belle said.

"That..." Twinkle paused, and then her mane and tail burst into flame, "NO!" she snarled.
"I will not have it! I will not!" she said, and she turned in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. The CMC watched as the mare marched toward Sweet Apple Acres.

"Your mane's on fire!" Scootaloo pointed out, her mind grabbing onto whatever it could in that moment. Twilight Twinkle didn't seem to hear her.
"What are you going to do?"

"I will! Not! Have! It!" Twinkle repeated, blazing fury driving her slightly-starved self toward Sweet Apple Acres, "No big brother yells at his little sister while I am here! Not on my watch!"

*****

It was almost lunchtime at Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack stood up and sniffed the air.
"D'you smell that?" she asked her big brother.

"Smell's like something burning" he noted.
Applejack looked about, "Go check on Granny, make sure somethin' ain't happened to her."

Big Macintosh raised an eyebrow, managing in an instant to non-verbally state his opinion on what Applejack was implying, but he still turned and headed toward the farmhouse anyway. Applejack wandered onto the small dirt path that lead to town, and then she saw it. A pony-shaped aura of flame was approaching the farm, and in front of it, three terrified looking fillies rushing ahead of her. Applejack stared at the sight.

"What'n tarnation?" she asked. She looked at the three fillies as they approached.
"Apple Bloom, wha-"

"We don't know! We were just talkin' to her, and she just burst into flames and started yellin'! Ah think she's gonna hurt Big Macintosh."
Applejack stared at the approaching firey spectre, who was slowly walking closer, then back to Apple Bloom. "What did you do?" she asked.

"Nuthin'! We were jus' talking with miss Twilight Twinkle about how everypony's all mad at us about being Gabby Gums, and then she just went up in flames."
Applejack continued staring, and after a few seconds, a cold thought came into her mind.

"Apple Bloom, don' worry, it ain't your fault.."
She slowly walked toward the fiery mare, noting that no matter how much the young mare's mane blazed, her trees seemed fine.

She stood in front of Twilight Twinkle, and shored herself up.
"Afternoon, Twilight Twinkle, what brings you here?"

The mare's eyes turned on her, and Applejack flinched, remembering what she'd seen during the strange journey into Twilight Twinkle's mind.
For a minute, nothing happened, and then the mare took a deep breath.

"BEN DAVIS MACINTOSH!" Twilight Twinkle roared, "COME OUT AND FACE JUDGEMENT LIKE A STALLION!"
Applejack was certain she could see some apples falling off theirs trees as the mare yelled. Then, slowly, the fires seemed to dim, her hair going back to the usual purple-blue it normally was.

Big Macintosh slowly approached, and Applejack decided to shelve her curiosity over where Twilight Twinkle had learnt her big brother's real name.
"Yes?" he said. The mare stared at him with an icy fury.

"Did you... yell at your little sister?"
Big Macintosh did seem afraid, though there was an interesting reaction in his eyes. "Eyup."

"And why," Twilight Twinkle said slowly, "Did you do this?"
He looked sheepish, "'cuz I was angry at her."

"I see. And do you think, Ben Davis Macintosh, you had to yell at her?"
He said nothing, and Applejack stared at Twinkle's truly alarming smile.

"No, m'm. I was upset at the actions of her, and her friends and what they'd written, and ah wasn't willing to listen to their side of the story."
Twinkle stared at him with a truly terrifying stare. "So, I save your life, and I saved hers, and you both hurt Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. And while I expect that from a brat like Disgustingly Rich, I do not expect it from you."

"Now, hold on," Applejack said, not entirely certain about what she'd just heard the mare say, "Apple Bloom an' her friends-"
"Are being pressured into doing this, by Diamond Tiara" Twinkle snapped, before shuffling, and giving a nervous smile.

"Sorry, angry. Apple Bloom said her big brother yelled at her, and everypony turned on her without willing to see reason, and, well, I just saw red. Actually, you're lucky my anger had time to burn off, I don't know what I might have done otherwise."

Applejack just nodded, "We gotta tell Twilight about... that thing you told me about, then" she said, glancing at the confused face of her big brother.
"Later," Twinkle nodded, "Right now, making sure everypony listens to their apologies would be an idea."

Applejack turned to look at the Cutie Mark Crusaders, "You girls are sorry for what you did?"
"Yes" they instantly said as one.

"We should've said something earlier, we knew what we were doing was wrong," Scootaloo said, "But... we thought that if it meant we could get our Cutie Marks, maybe it didn't matter, so long as it was what everypony wanted."
"And we did want to write nicer stuff, like our interview with Spike, but..."

"Diamond Tiara" Applejack said. She sighed.
"You should've told somepony. Is it really worth yer Cutie Mark if you upset everypony in town?"

"No," the fillies said as one.
"And if you don't enjoy it," Twinkle said, "Then why bother doing it? You choose your Cutie Mark, you define it, not the other way around."

Six eyes stared at her. "What?"
"Didn't you get your Cutie Mark when you were five, and have no idea how you got it?" Scootaloo asked. Twinkle nodded.

"I still have no idea how that happened. All I really remember is that I was wrestling with a bar of chocolate at the time..."
She paused in recollection, and then shook her head, "Anyway, have you learnt your lesson?" she asked.

The three fillies nodded. Twinkle smiled.
"Wonderful."

Then the three fillies huddled together, and turned back to face Applejack and Twinkle, grinning eagerly.
"In fact, we've got a plan for solving the Gabby Gums problem once and for all!" Sweetie Belle smiled. At this, the three fillies rushed off in the direction of their clubhouse. Once they were out of sight, Twinkle slumped.

"Are you alright?" Applejack asked.
"Getting angry when I'm already magically drained, really takes it out of you," Twinkle muttered, "Plus, I can't think of the right way to begin a conversation with Twilight about... you know what."

Applejack nodded, "Ah've been giving it some thought, and ah don't know, should we maybe just tell her together?"
Twinkle considered this. "Yeah. But after that dessert competition, otherwise we're going to spend the whole time having awkward conversations with each other throught the whole thing, and it won't be any fun for Pinkie."

"No kidding" Applejack said, pawing at the ground. Then she started thinking about Diamond Tiara.
She frowned, "How come ah never noticed? All this time, and ah never noticed? Ya'd think seein' her yell at my little sis in front of everypony would've been a clue! Ah must be the world's worst sister, ever!"

Twinkle just groaned as she stood up, "Can't believe you just said that."
"Ah'm supposed to be looking out for her" Applejack said, "What kind'a sister am a-"

Big Macintosh loomed over her. "Calm down" he said gently.
Applejack took a deep breath, "Bit hard to be calm when you've just seen a young mare shake off bein' on fire like it weren't nothing."

"Sorry about that" Twinkle said, "I was probably going to burst sooner or later. Those three just... removed some of the guesswork."
She stared at Big Macintosh, "Nothing personal, just a bit of bad family history. Plus, did it not occur to you to just talk to them?"

"I'm already feelin' guilty," Big Macintosh said, "Don't need to add more guilt."
"Well, then I shall leave, and see if I can't get Twilight to remove that forcefield she's got around the library" Twinkle frowned as recollection came to her, "And you might want to talk to Fluttershy. I'm pretty sure she's probably crying her heart out right now."

*****

As it turned out, the difficulty with removing the forcefield around the library was getting Twilight's attention, though fortunately Twinkle was able to get the attention of Spike, who brought the concerns about the forcefield to Twilight, who dropped it.

"What was that all about?" Twinkle asked. Twilght just muttered and stared at her hooves.
"If this is because you're afraid of another attack of the Gabby Gums trio, don't worry. That's being dealt with."

Twilight smiled, "That's good."
Twinkle stared at her, and found herself smiling as well. Twilight's good moods were almost infectious, sometimes.

The rest of the day passed largely without incident, save Spike showing the latest edition of the Foal Free Press, which proclaimed 'Secret love-child of Nightmare Moon living with Twilight Sparkle?', followed by a small section of speculation as to how Twinkle was 'clearly' Nightmare Moon's daughter, somehow, which had resulted in Twinkle finding herself laughing for quiet some time.

"Those three have a pretty active imagination" she eventually said.

The next morning, Twilight and Twinkle were both eating breakfast when there was a knocking at the door. Twilight made her way over to it, and opened it, to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders holding a newspaper between them and smiling. Twilight examined it, and after she did, smiled at the trio.

"Apology accepted" she said.

*****

Later that day, everypony met up in Sugarcube Corner once more, and there was not a single copy of the Foal Free Press in sight, which cheered Twinkle up to no end, and apparently it had the same effect on everypony else (although Twinkle wasn't entirely certain Rarity was completely over her gossip addiction).

"So, what happened to Diamond Tiara?" Rarity asked. Her little sister grinned.
"Well, when Cheerilee found out about what Diamond Tiara had been doing, she said she couldn't be editor of the paper anymore, and she put Featherweight in charge."

"That's nice" Rarity said.
"But, we decided we're not gonna work on the newspaper anymore" Scootaloo said.

"You aren't?" Rainbow Dash asked. The fillies nodded.
"We talked it over, and we agreed it's a lot more fun readin' the news than making it" Apple Bloom said, before pausing, "Well, not that we did any real reporting, but ya get the point."

There was a general chorus of nods.
"Shame, though" Scootaloo said, "I kinda wanted to see what Featherweight would be like as an editor, even if he is freaky-quiet."

She glanced at Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle's expressions, "But yeah, we all agreed to quit."
There was a pause, as everypony shuffled about nervously.

"So, anything else happen today?" Twinkle asked.
There was a small chorus of 'nos'. Silence fell over the room.

"What about you, Pinkie Pie?" Spike asked.
The pasty chef shook her head, "No, I've been too busy preparing for the super-secret National Dessert Competition to think of anything else."

Then she gasped, and her eyes brightened, "Hey, are you guys excited for the National Dessert Competition? I know I am, and I can't wait for when you see the super-secret entry the Cakes have made that I can't tell you guys about because I promised I wouldn't but you're going to find out about tomorrow but I'm so excited about it and I can't wait and I want to tell you all right now by I said I wouldn't but I'm just so excited."

"Anypony want to guess as to how long this'll last?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Shouldn't be more than a few minutes" Applejack said.

Twinkle wasn't focusing on the strange flow on Pinkie's statements, most of which were about why she couldn't tell anypony anything about whatever it was the Cakes had made, mainly because it would apparently spoil the surprise.
She looked over at Applejack, who just looked back, firm resolution in the mare's eyes. Then she looked at Twilight, who was just smiling good-naturedly, at which point her soul sank.

'This', she thought, 'is going to be harder than I thought'.

Author's Note

Sorry this is so late. The writers' block came back, stronger than before, (and on a few occasions the warm weather made my computer freak out, thus erasing some of my work. Not much, but enough to set me back by several minutes).
(Note: The Ben Davis is a type of apple that has, on occasion, been cross-bred with the Macintosh. Apparently it tastes like cork. And now, you know.)

You are Cordially Invited

I am Twilight Twinkle, daughter of Princess Twilight Sparkle and Comet Chaser. Some might say I almost deserved that name, others that I hadn't done anything to earn it.
This is the story of how I managed to time-travel, completely by accident. This is the story of how I met a mare called Twilight Sparkle, and her friends. I wish I could say it was some epic tale of war, and heroism, and making the difficult choices. But it isn't. It's the story of how a teenager screwed up over and over again.
It's a long story, with pranks, and japes, petty insults, unfortunate choices. It's been so long, and I'm not the same pony I was when it began, and I'm not sure whether that's a good or bad thing now.
And here is how it ended, with the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, and Shining Armor.
And that began almost a week before then, as I told Twilight Sparkle a horrible truth.

Twilight Twinkle stared at the seven ponies (and one dragon, and his phoenix) in front of her. Rainbow Dash and Rarity were looking at each other in confusion, while Pinkie Pie was just sitting and staring back, a box of popcorn between her legs.
"Yes?" Twilight Sparkle asked. Twinkle shook her head.

"Sorry," she mumbled, "Still trying to think of the best way to phrase this."
She frowned, and clenched her jaw. It was far too late to turn back at this point, and she was fairly certain that even if she was offered the chance, she wouldn't take it.

"Your brother is getting married" she said. There was a sudden pause as everypony (save Applejack, who was standing away from everypony else, and had covered her face with her hat) turned to look at Twilight.
"A wedding?" Trixie asked, "I love wedding. DRINKS ALL ROUND!" she declared, rearing onto her hind legs. She looked at Twinkle. "No?"

"Congratulations" Rarity said, after a pause. Twilight frowned.
"What?" she asked, "And he didn't tell me?"

"Hold on to that one," Twinkle said, "Because we've got a lot of ground to cover, and only so many days left."
"Who's he tying the knot with?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"That would be one pony by the name of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza."
"WHO THE HOOF IS THAT?!" Twilight yelled suddenly. "Sorry" she quickly added.

"I've heard that name" Rainbow Dash said, slowly. Rarity turned to look at her, and raised an eyebrow.
"Where? When? In what capacity?" she asked.

"Your little sister and her friends met her, on the day me and Rainbow Dash went to see that Wonderbolts show."
"Oh, yeah," Rainbow Dash said, before realisation sunk in. "You mean she exists?"

"Canterlot's worst kept hidden secret: the third Princess" Twinkle said, "Everypony knows she exists, but nopony ever mentions it because..." she frowned, giving this some thought.
"Well, because it's Canterlot. Why make a fuss?"

Twilight was staring ahead into space. "Did you say 'Cadenza'?" she asked, her voice incredibly quiet and her eyes wide.
Twinkle nodded, and as everypony looked Twilight's mouth quickly became a bizarre mixture of a broad smile and utter confusion.

"Cadance? Shiney's marrying Cadance?" she said, incredibly loudly. She grinned, and then began hopping around in a circle.
"She was Twilight's foalsitter" Twinkle explained as Twilight continued hopping, chanting to herself. Rarity's eyes went wide, and then a sly grin overcame her face. Quickly the fashion designer's hoof moved to her face and wrenched her mouth back into a rigid mask of impassiveness.

"And before you ask, Rarity, it is one of those childhood meeting things."
Rarity suddenly showed an alarming degree of self-control by not swooning, or even uttering any comment about it being 'romantic'. Then, Twilight stopped.

"Actually, that does... huh" she said, as she started apparently recalling things. "Okay... wow, how did I not notice that?!"
Twinkle decided to ignore the obvious comeback.

"So, what's the bad news going to be?" Fluttershy asked. Twinkle just grimmaced.
"I'm getting to that," she said. Twilight stared at her, then looked over to Applejack, and her smile vanished, replaced with concern.

"Bearing in mind," Twinkle said, "Everything I know of what followed is second-hoof at best, and not from unbiased sources. You see, in my timeline, you didn't learn of these upcoming nuptials until a few days from now."
There was a sudden silence as everypony in the room stared at her. "From Princess Celestia sending you a message asking you to help with the wedding. Shining Armor never sent any letter telling you."

"He what?!" Twilight snapped. "He couldn't be bothered to tell me personally? He let his boss tell me?"
She suddenly lowered her voice, "'Hey, Twilight, I just thought you should know I'm making a big decision that changes everything. Oh, well, nevermind, you'll find out when you get the invitation.'"

Everypony stared at Twilight with concern.
"That was terrible," Spike said, "You didn't sound anything like him."

"So," Rarity asked, turning back to Twinkle, "'help with the wedding', you said."
"Yeah. And here's where logic is clearly edging its way towards the door. You see, Rarity, you and Pinkie Pie are the only ponies for whom Celestia's decision-making process makes sense."

Rarity's eyes went wide, and a delighted grin overcame her face. "I get to help make the dress!" she squeaked, "I... dress... wedding... royal, Canterl-" she collapsed, though there was a pillow directly beneath where her head landed.
"And the brides-maids dresses as well. All eight of them."

"Eight?" Pinkie Pie asked, inbetween a mouthful of popcorn.
"Getting to that" Twinkle said.

"You, Pinkie Pie, were asked to plan the reception."
"Hold up," Rainbow Dash said, "Pinkie Pie was chosen... for a royal wedding reception? Really? Was the Princess looking for a repeat of the Grand Galloping Gala or something?"

"I've never planned a reception before" Pinkie Pie said, her voice hushed. Then she grinned, and cheered.
"As for everypony else... well, Applejack, who to my knowledge has no experience with such things, was put in charge of catering."

Everypony looked at Applejack. After a few seconds she stared back, and bristled.
"Hey, ah can bake. No need to go lookin' at me like that."

"No offense, Applejack dear, but it does seem... incongruous for you to be in charge of catering" Rarity said.
"Wouldn't Pinkie Pie be the better choice?" Twilight asked. Twinkle shrugged.

"Ah can see ah'm among friends here" Applejack muttered.
"Fluttershy was chosen to be in charge of music."

"What?" Fluttershy asked, "You mean, me, and my animal friends were providing the wedding march?"
She seemed to shrink, "Well, that's nice, but isn't there some orchestra that Princess Celestia wasn't using? I wouldn't want to put anypony out of a job."

"And Rainbow Dash-"
"Let me guess, I was in charge of security, or something. Nopony ruins a wedding on my watch!" she declared proudly. There was a small pause.

"No, your job was providing a Sonic Rainboom after the "I do's"."
Rainbow Dash nodded, "That's cool" she said. Then something occurred to her.

"Wait, hold up. Everypony else gets to have a big part in this big fancy wedding, and all I get to do is make one rainboom? I could do that in my sleep!"
She looked hurt, "How come I don't get to help? I mean, not that this wedding doesn't sound awesome, but... one Rainboom? That's all?"

Everypony looked at Twinkle. "So," Trixie asked, "I'm guessing from your mood, this wedding did not go off without as much as a single hitch? Were there shenanigans? Mischief? Hijinks? Perhaps even, dare I say... wackiness?"
"Did I tear my brother's head off for not telling me he was getting married, to Cadance, of all ponies?" Twilight asked.

There was a noise as Rarity woke, and righted herself, while beside her, Pinkie Pie was scribbling away in a notebook.
Twinkle frowned. "Wacky hijinks would probably have been nice" she said. She sighed, and looked at Twilight.

"The reason Shining Armor didn't tell you he's getting married, aside from the fact that apart from being noble, dashing, and generally a brilliant guy, he is a bit of a, and I use the technical term here, 'doofus'."
Twilight paused as she gave this some thought. "Maybe a little bit" she eventually accepted.

"And he wasn't entirely himself" Twinkle said. She paused for a moment.
"And as for Cadance... well, this is where things get unpleasant."

"Had she turned into a jerk since she last saw Twilight?" Spike asked.
"No, Spike" Twinkle said, "She... that is..."

"Yes?" Rarity asked.
"She'd been replaced by a shapeshifter who feeds on emotions, a Changeling, who had been drawn to Equestria by all the love and harmony everypony feels, and Shining's love for Cadance in particular."

"And somehow my brother didn't notice?" Twilight asked.
"Well, that might have had something to do with the mind-control" Twinkle muttered. Twilight's expression suddenly shifted into overblown fury.

"What?" she hissed. Twinkle raised a hoof.
"Don't you dare go anywhere!" she said quickly. Twilight stared right back.

"If my brother's in da-"
"If you rush in there without a plan, just intent of fighting this monster and getting your brother back, you will A) Lose, and quickly, and badly, and B) Endanger Cadance, and I will not have that."

"How will she lose? She's the most powerful pony alive" Trixie asked.
"And she'd be against a pony fueled by True Love. And I can assure you, not even Celestia herself is more powerful than True Love."

There was a pause. "Oh, my" Fluttershy whispered. Everypony looked at her.
"Celestia tried to fight this Changeling at some point, didn't she?"

Twinkle nodded slowly.
"Alright, so tell us what happened after we went to Canterlot."

"You were the first to encounter Not-Cadance, and she... was apparently anything but subtle, apparently somehow having forgotten you, and..." Twinkle blushed.
"Well, that thing of yours."

Twilight paused for a moment, before blushing and smiling nervously. "Oh yeah, that."
"That, what exactly?" Rarity asked.

"Long story" Twilight quickly blurted out.
There was a small laugh from Spike. Twilight glared daggers at him.

"Sorry" he muttered, though from where Twinkle was sitting, he sure didn't look sorry.
"Of course, you weren't exactly in the best of moods about this whole wedding in the first place, what with the not-being-told thing, and... well, from what I was told nopony seemed to grasp that you felt upset about this."

"Question!" Trixie said, "Does this wedding have anything to do with that massive purple barrier we saw? The one that made you freak out, or whatever it was you did, this morning?"
"Yes. Apparently a 'threat' was made against Canterlot, and Princess Celestia demanded an increase in security. Due to his skill with forcefields, Shining Armor was put in charge of it. And apparently this taxing task was giving him some nasty headaches."

"And... it didn't occur to him just to go see a doctor?" Rarity asked. Twinkle rolled her eyes.
"It's that wonderful tendency of everypony in the family to be tenacious to a fault. He wouldn't take a minute off his job, even if he could barely walk in a straight line. And he had 'Cadance' on hand to heal him."

"So, you meet Shining Armor, you're concerned, and then you see Cadance, who doesn't remember you, isn't interested in talking with you, and you start feeling just a bit concerned."
"You don't say," Twilight said, her face a rictus of concentration.

"So, you go to check in on Applejack's apple-related reception foodstuffs" Twinkle said, everypony looking at Applejack with bemusement.
"Apples? Colour Trixie surprised. Not."

"What's wrong with apples?" the farmer asked. Trixie shrugged.
"Don't you ever get... tired of them? Haven't you ever tried a nice carrot dipped in chili sauce? Or corn on the cob, fried in chocolate?"

Pinkie Pie, well-know for her iron stomach, looked like she was having a hard time finding that appetising.
"I like my apples just fine and dandy, thank you very much" Applejack said coldly. Trixie shrugged.

"Anyway," Twinkle coughed, "At this point 'Princess Mi Amore Cadenza' walks in, and makes pretend she likes Applejack's food. By which I mean she hurls it into the bin the minute Applejack's back is turned. And this repeats itself throughout the day, 'Cadenza' showing up in the middle of Twilight talking to her friends about her suspicions, being demanding and, in some cases, rude. Although, admittedly, Pinkie, grown-up ponies don't usually play childrens games at a reception."

"What do they do?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"I am reliably informed that they dance" Twinkle said, before shaking her head. "Anyway, the end of day one, everypony meets up at a little cafe to discuss things. And here's where the problems start."

"Problems?" Fluttershy asked.
"Twilight, by this point, is convinced Cadance is unpleasant, and indeed, the first thing she says is that Cadance is clearly the 'worst-bride-to-be ever'. To which you six respond in shock."

"Six?" Pinkie Pie asked, looking up from her notebook again.
"Trixie wouldn't have been there." Twinkle sighed.

"Because I'd still have been planning my doubtless overly elaborate attempt at revenge on Twilight, of course, since I'm only here because of Twinkie over there stealing my hat."
"Correct. Anyway, Twilight points out Cadance has been demaning and rude, and Rarity, bearer of the Element of Generosity, points out that, hey, a lady has the right to ask whatever she wants for her wedding preparations. Applejack, meanwhile, just assumes Cadance was trying to spare her feelings. And apparently she decided not to bother asking Pinkie Pie if she noticed Cadance calling her planned reception to be 'for six year-olds'."

Rainbow Dash raised a hoof, "What about me? You know, Element of Loyalty and everything."
"Apparently you were too worn out from practicing your rainboom to pay attention to anything. Actually, I'm not sure you had any interaction with 'Cadance', anyway."

"That answers that" Rainbow Dash muttered.
"And then, Rarity offered that Cadance, who I have never seen be so much as angry, and whose talent is encouraging and strengthening love, was simply acting like a jerk out of 'nerves'. Apparently Twilight's reaction was that she was just an 'awful pony'."

Twinkle sighed, before staring at Applejack. "I'm afraid at this point I'm going to start getting noticably more aggravated. And I am very sorry, everypony, but this won't be pleasant. Applejack, you see, leaned in to the conversation with the suggestion of Twilight being 'a tiny bit possessive of her brother.'"
There was a noise from Applejack that sounded amazingly like a vulgar euphemism. Twinkle frowned.

"Actually, Applejack, you've got a massive family, don't you? Haven't you ever been to a wedding?"
"No." Applejack intoned, looking up at everypony else, "Most of my family lives too far away, and Granny Smith ain't... she ain't up to travelling."

There was a pause, as everypony gave that some thought, then they turned back to Twinkle. "So, what happened next?" Spike asked.
"Twilight went to talk to Shining Armor. And she'd barely said anything before Cadance appeared, which isn't much of a surprise, considering they lived in the same house."

"Wait, he moved in with her (Or more likely she moved in with him)?" Twilight asked. "How long has he been seeing her? And how the hay did I not notice this?"
"Anyway, Twilight overhears the two arguing, another giveaway that something's wrong."

"How so?" Rarity asked, "After all, everypony argues sooner or later."
Twinkle shook her head. "Cadance and Shining Armor don't. They're the sort of couple who seem to have absolutely no problems whatsoever, and are just so perfectly in synch, it's actually a little terrifying. True Love, after all. Plus, I'm pretty sure Shining Armor would rather zap himself than dare hurt Cadance's feelings."

She coughed, "Anyway, Twilight then watches as 'Cadance' starts zapping Shining Armor with a weird green-glowing magic. Twilight, care to point out the problem there?"
"Yes, Cadance's magical aura is blue."

"Hold on," Rainbow Dash asked, "This Cadance, she's what, exactly, to Princess Celestia?"
"Niece."

"So, Princess Celestia didn't notice she's changed, like, completely?"
"She was probably busy. Royal weddings are kinda hectic, lot of paperwork and such. Lot of important ponies wanting access, look, I don't know, I wasn't there, Rainbow."

Twinkle stared down at her hooves. "Sorry," she muttered, "But what happens next is just the tip of a massive bit of coprolite."
"Language" Pinkie Pie said sternly.

"What happened next?" Twilight asked.
"You saw your brother being brainwashed, which apparently was what was causing the headaches, and rushed to tell everypony that Cadance was evil. And what you found was..." she trailed off.

"What? Had we been brainwashed as well?" Fluttershy asked. Twinkle sighed.
"Not exactly" she paused, and rolled her eyes, "Sorry about that, but no. You hadn't. Instead, Twilight found you all wearing dresses. Brides-maid dresses."

"Uh-oh" Rainbow Dash muttered.
"Let me guess," Rarity said, "It turns out this deceptive Cadance's other bridesmaids (since you mentioned there were eight where there are but five of us) had proven unsuited for the task. Just... out of curiosity, who were the other three?"

"Well, I only know one of them, and that's Lyra Heartstrings."
There was a sudden pause. "You're telling us that Lyra, who barely does anything," Rarity said slowly, "Got to be a bridesmaid at a royal wedding?"

"That's not fair!" she wailed, before burying her face in the cushion. Everypony waited for her to finish before she looked up. "Do go on" she said.
"Would I be right in guessing," Fluttershy said, "That at this point nopony was willing to entertain Twilight's concerns?"

Twinkle nodded. "Yes. Not that it's entirely shocking, I mean," she looked over at Twilight, whose expression was grim, "you do have a history of overreacting."
She turned to look at everypony else, "But you would think that Twilight Sparkle's friends would be at least willing to hear her out, before declaring Princess Cadance an 'absolute gem'."

Rarity looked like she wanted to burst into flames at that point.
"Not that Twilight actually told anypony what she'd seen Cadance doing to Shining Armor. Apparently she concluded that you wouldn't listen to her at all at that point."

She frowned, "And here's the absolute worst part of the story. The wedding rehearsal. Fluttershy, could you hug Twilight for me?"
Fluttershy stared at her for a moment, and then slowly walked over to her. "It'll be okay" she said, as Twilight just stared straight ahead, not responding.

"So, the next morning, Celestia is going over what will happen in the ceremony, and Twilight is nowhere to be seen. And then Twilight shows up, and she's in a bad mood."
Twinkle took a deep breath, and ignored the fact that her legs were beginning to tremble slightly. She was getting worked up about it.

"She declares she will not take part in the ceremony, and that nopony else should either. She then declares that everypony present should listen to her. Now, given that Twilight has solid proof that 'Cadance' is not the most suitable choice for her brother, and the suspicious timing of Cadance's change in bridesmaids, what do you think she does next?"
Everypony's face went pale. Twinkle looked at Fluttershy, "You did at least ask if she was alright, Fluttershy. That was nice. But Twilight brushed you off, and... well..."

She stared at Twilight. "You... said that Cadance was... 'evil'."
It would, perhaps, have been nice if anypony had reacted at this point, but they didn't. No-one even looked embarrassed.

"You then went on to state Cadance had been mean to your friends, pointed out she'd done 'something' to her bridesmaids (which, by the way, is accurate), and finally that she'd been casting a spell on your brother. At which point 'Cadance' began to cry, asking why you were doing what you were doing. To which you apparently said," she coughed, and cast her voice-emutaling spell, "'Because you're evil. Evil! And if I don't stop you you're going to ruin my brother's life!'"

There were a sudden slumping noise as Twilight collapsed into herself.
"And then," Twinkle said solemnly, "Shining Armor intervened on his love's behalf."

"Oh, buck" Rainbow Dash uttered, a statement mirrored on everyone else's face.
"In short order, he quickly explained away every point you'd raised. Cadance was trying to cure his migranes, the bridesmaids were apparently just toadying up to Cadance-"

"What." Pinkie Pie uttered, "I know Lyra. She's not a toad, and she's certainly not a 'y', and since when is she an 'ing'?!"
"And the 'reason' Cadance was being a jerk? was because while he was busy with his migranes, she was in charge of the whole wedding, and was just stressed from trying to make everything perfect."

Twinkle scuffed a hoof against the floor, "I'd love to say that the remarks Shining Armor was making were the result of the brainwashing. I really would, but... I don't think they were, and he evidently didn't think so either. And after all this, he made remarks towards you which... well, I don't what he said, actually, but he stormed out after that to go comfort Cadance."

There was a sudden silence, as everypony was huddling around Twilight, save Applejack, who looked like she was an instant away from setting herself on fire.

"And then came the absolute worst part of all this."
There was a horrified gasp from Fluttershy, who seemed to have guessed what was about to happen.

"Twilight Sparkle has just managed to antagonise and alienate her brother, seen her concerns torn apart, and is begin to feel some pretty damn serious regret. So, at this point, perhaps her friends, the ponies she fought Nightmare Moon and Discord alongside, would jump into to defend her from her big brother's harsh words."

She stared at them, and then looked at Applejack. "Without a second's hestitation, somepony spoke up, and in a loud, clear voice declared: "Come on, y'all, let's go check on the Princess."" There was a clear smell of something burning filling the room.
"And at that, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Spike all walked right past her, and left her alone with Princess Celestia."

There was a whimper from Fluttershy. Rarity, meanwhile, was turning an alarming olive-green colour. Twilight, meanwhile, wasn't moving.
"Who didn't even raise her voice. She just said one thing, which... nopony seems to recall, and walked out."

She would have prefered it if there was some reaction. An overly-dramatic wail from Rarity, streams of tears from Pinkie Pie, something, anything. Accusations that she was lying, outright denial.
There was nothing.

"I think... IthinkImgonnabesick!" Rarity announced, before rushing towards the stairs leading to the bedroom, and more important the bathroom.
"Why did-? ... What did-? How could-?" Rainbow Dash shook her head, staring down at the floor.

"What happened next?" Twilight asked, her voice like a thunderbolt in the quiet.
"Not-Cadance came back. Some other things ensued."

"Such as?"
"Running, fighting. Half-baked apologies. It did all work out in the end. The real Cadance was found and the day was saved, and all was set right and you did what you are so good at. You forgave everypony."

"She what?" Rainbow Dash asked. "She actually forgave us? After that?"
"You're my friends" Twilight said quietly. "And it does sound like I gave myself a lot of rope to hang myself with."

She stared up at Twinkle, who raised a hoof.
"If you're going to thank me, don't. If you're going to ask if I have a plan, I don't. Well," she shrugged, "Not anything concrete. I have a few ideas on what I could do, but I don't know if it would make much of a difference."

She frowned, "But I couldn't live with myself if I didn't at least try. But, I should point something out. We can't take any direct action against the Changeling."
"Why the hay not?" Rainbow Dash snapped. Twinkle stared at her.

"Because, Rainbow Miriam Dash, I don't know how to get to where she put Cadance, and as long as she's the only pony who knows how to get there, she can use that as leverage. I will not risk Cadance's life."
Twilight nodded, "Or Shining Armor's."

"Or Lyra's" Pinkie Pie chimed, her voice lacking its usual energy.
"Indeed" Twinkle nodded.

Rarity walked back into the room as everypony remained quiet in thought.
"Actually," Twinkle said, looking at Rarity, "I think I have an idea of how to do this."

Twilight frowned, "Shouldn't you tell us what happened after I made a complete moron of myself?"
Twinkle stared at her. "Yes, yes, I should. But I won't. We get to planning."

*****

It wasn't the best plan ever made, but I'm not really a plan sort of pony. Charge in, zap 'em all and let Luna sort 'em out, I say. I told them that Shining Armor and Cadance drove off the Changeling Queen, althought I did perhaps miss out the mention of the army, and the singing (if that actually happened).
Didn't stop Rainbow Dash asking about what happened.

"So, how did they stop the Changeling?"
"Rainbow Dash, quit asking me that."

"Sorry, I just really want to know."
"Well, you're going to find out anyway," Twinkle said, "so just focusing on practicing that Rainboom of yours. Hey, maybe you could ask the Wonderbolts to help you."

At this, the mare's body went rigid, and she toppled over.
"Drama queen," Rarity muttered from across the room.

Applejack, meanwhile, walked over towards Twilight, who was staring out of the window in the direction of Canterlot.
"You okay?" she asked, before shaking her head and adding, "I mean, outside the obvious?"

Twilight nodded. She was more annoyed by the fact that everypony was avoiding her more than the shadow of what they would have done.
"Penny for 'em" Applejack said. Twilight stared at her.

"What?"
"Penny for your thoughts. Usual market price."

Twilight sighed, "I was just thinking about Shining Armor. We were always so close. He was my B.B.B.F.F."
There was a sudden chorus of confused noises from everypony, save Twinkle and Spike.

"Big Brother Best Friend Forever?" Twilight said. The confusion was replaced by nods and noises of understanding.
"Before I came to Ponyville, Shining Armor was the only pony I... really accepted as a friend."

"What about Cadance?" Twinkle asked. Twilight shook her head.
"Cadance was more of a big si-" she gasped in realisation, "If Cadance marries Shining Armor, she'll be my sister! Well, sister in-law!"

"Very good, Twilight Sparkle. That education from Celestia's practically paying for itself."
Twilight didn't seem to here that, as she moved about the room, not really looking at anything.

"Twilight?" Twinkle asked, "Tell me you ar-"

"When I was just a filly, I found it rather silly"

"She is" Twinkle sighed.

"To see how many other ponies I could meet,
I had my books to read, didn't know I would ever need
other ponies to make my life complete.

But there was one colt that I cared for,
I knew he would be there for me..."

Twilight paused, and a warm smile moved across her face.

"My big brother, best friends forever!
Like two peas in a pod, we did everything together!

He taught me how to fly a kite,"

Twinkle was sure she could hear a chorus repeating the words 'best friends forever'.

"We never had a single fight, (we did everything together!)
We shared our hopes, we shared our dreams."

A look of unbearable sadness settled on Twilight's face.

"I miss him more than I realised,
it seems..."

And then everypony else joined in singing the (admittedly catchy) chorus, as Twilight stared into the middle distance.

"And though he's oh, so far away,
I hoped that he would stay,
my big brother, best friend
forever...
Forever..."

Everypony stared at Twilight, and a melancholy mood settled over the room. Twinkle shook her head.
'Must resist emo thoughts!' she told herself, before fixing a beady stared at Twilight.

"He's only one hour away by train. That's hardly 'far, far away'. And at least you know where he is. I don't have a clue where my big brother's gone."
Twilight stared at her, and said nothing. Spike meanwhile, just stared down at his feet. Twinkle sighed.

"I know how that feels though. I really do. And we're all here for you. (except maybe Trixie.)"
"Hey!" Trixie yelled.

Twilight smiled weakly. Twinkle nodded.
"Okay, I think we've got everything sorted out. All we need to do now is... wait, I guess."

"For what? Why don't we just go there now?" Rainbow Dash asked.
There was a sudden quiet.

"Those arguments aside, we'll wait until tomorrow" Twinkle said, "Then we'll go to Canterlot, and light a fire under this bug's butt."
There was a chorus of "Yeahs!" to this.

"Now, then, I think I mentioned I was going to take everypony for a meal earlier, didn't I?" Twinkle said. Pinkie nodded.
"Alright, then. Shouldn't have really made a dramatic explanation, then planned a wedding on an empty stomach."

*****

There's nothing that needs to be said of that meal. We went to the most expensive place in Ponyville, celebrated, relaxed. A lot of assurances were made towards Twilight that nopony would 'betray' her this time. Applejack's mood seemed to have lifted. The only real problem came at the dessert course. You see, Pinkie Pie hadn't actually forgotten what had happened to the Marizpan Mascarpone Meringue Madness at the teeth of Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Applejack...

"What's this?" Rarity asked, as a large cake was placed in front of her. Two identical cakes were placed in front of Rainbow Dash and Applejack. There was a truly terrifying grin on Pinkie Pie's face.
"You wanted cake" she said, "You have cake. It's a gift, see."

"That's... that's real nice of ya, Pinkie Pie," Applejack said, nervously, "But... ah'm kinda full right now and..."
Pinkie's eyes began to water. "I thought you wanted cake, especially since you were so eager to eat the MMMM, after all the work the Cakes put into making it."

"I couldn't possibly eat this" Rarity said quietly. Pinkie stared at her. Rarity suppressed a shudder.
"But you liked the MMMM, didn't you?" Pinkie asked, "It was delicious, wasn't it?"

"Yeah?" Rainbow Dash said nervously, eyeing the cake as it were about to explode.
"Then surely," Pinkie Pie said, "You wouldn't object to trying some more cake that the Cakes made?"

"(I wondered where Pinkie Pie had slipped off to)" Spike muttered. Twinkle nodded. Pinkie had claimed she was going to the washroom, and had then vanished for a good long while.
"Well, I..." Rarity looked towards the Twilights or Trixie for help, or even Fluttershy, "I suppose I could... manage a few small slices, perhaps..."

"A few?" Pinkie asked, a subtle undercurrent to her voice that wasn't there before, "Rarity, you wanted cake. Now you have cake. And nopony is leaving the table until you three cake-thieving fiends eat all your cake!"
What followed was a tortous process, as over half an hour of cake-eating ensued, Pinkie not-smiling at her friends whenever they looked like they were slacking off from eating.

Eventually, they finished the cake, and in quick order collapsed.
"Did you enjoy that cake?" Pinkie said. There was a pained groan from Rainbow Dash.

"And what are you not going to do again?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"Eat cake what doesn't belong to me ever again?" Applejack muttered.

"Yes" Pinkie Pie smiled.
The bill was quickly paid for, with the resturaunt paying extra for the cakes Pinkie had brought in, and the three stricken ponies were slowly lifted up.

"I shall never look at a cake again" Rarity muttered, as they left, "Not as long as I live."
"Less hyperbolic declarations, Rarity," Twinkle said, "You've got dresses to make tomorrow."

Rarity started smiling. "So I do! That will be enjoyable, even if I am technically designing one for a horrific monster."
Twinkle looked over at Applejack, who gave a weak smile back.

"Okay, everypony," Twilight smiled, "I think we should all find something to occupy our time, and remember to get up early tomorrow."
"I'm pretty sure it's going to be a nice day tomorrow," Rainbow Dash said, "If I remember the schedule correctly."

"Shame we couldn't go for one little picnic" Rarity said.
"We could have a picnic in Canterlot" Pinkie Pie smiled, "Or we could have one before we leave."

"No time" Twilight said, "Although... we could go relax in a field for a while. Just hang out, as friends."
"Sounds good to me" Rainbow Dash said.

"I'm for it!" Trixie declared.
"If that's what everypony else wants, I don't mind" Fluttershy said.

And so, they went out to one of the fields, and sat down, with Twilight occasionaly talking about the things she and Shining Armor had done, and the occasional bit about Cadance. It was actually incredibly relaxing, and on one occasion involving a recollection involving a biscuit barrel, funny. Eventually, however, they all went their seperate ways, some of them having things they needed to do before they could go.

*****

Applejack slowly made her way toward the farm-house, feeling remarkably unencumbered, truth be told. It felt good, but, she said, she'd feel even better if she got a bit of work done today. As she got closer to the house, she was certain she could hear giggling. She saw a light pink tail sticking out from behind a tree, and a familiar voice.
Cheerille's voice. Applejack paused, and shook her head.

"-and by this point, we think we're home and dry, and then we turned around, and-... oh, helllo, Applejack" Cheerilee said. Applejack turned to face the schoolteacher.
"Afternoon, Cheerilee. Didn't 'spect to see you around here."

"Well," the mare said, blushing mildly, "MacIntosh and I were just... talking about things, weren't we?"
"Eyup" the stallion said quickly.

"And, anyway, I was... just about to leave. And go back to my house. Where I have... reports to fill in. A great many reports. Alone. With nopony to talk to. Goodbye."
And with that, Cheerilee quickly moved away. Applejack turned to look at Big MacIntosh, who said nothing. Applejack just grinned, and smiled.

"Apple Bloom's goin' to Canterlot" he said. Applejack looked at him.
"Pardon?"

"Don't remember? She said she an' her friends won a competition, or some such. Got invited to Canterlot. Big fancy thing going on there. Surprised Twilight Sparkle ain't been invited to it."
Applejack looked at him. "What?" he asked.

"Just smilin' fondly at ya, big brother" she said, as she looked over at the orchards, before glancing at him, "And wonderin' how come you ain't got a girlfriend yet."
She grinned at his alarmed expression, and tried not to break down into laughter as he quickly muttered something under his breath and walked away.

"Love you too, big brother!" she called out to his retreating form.

*****

The rest of the day passed without much in the way of incident, although Rarity and Rainbow Dash probably had to make more trips to the little fillies room than usual. Eventually, Twilight declared it was time to go to bed.
"Seriously?" Twinkle said, "Bed-time?"

"Well, we do have to get up early tomorrow, don't we? Even if we're dealing with a shape-shifting, mind-stealing monster, we still need our sleep" she said. Twinkle stared at her.
"So do you, Twilight."

She nodded. "I know."
Twinkle stared at her, "Don't you worry about Shining Armor, Twilight. I know it's difficult not to worry about him, but it's not going to do you any good going half-mad from worrying."

"Yeah" Twilight nodded.
"Now go to bed, young lady" Twinkle laughed. Twilight stared at her.

"'Young lady'? I'm older than you!"
"Just... go to sleep already!"

We laughed. I laughed, if only for a moment. As I went to sleep, I tried not to weep, or scream at myself. I should have told them sooner. Perhaps, if I had...
No. There is no point thinking on what could have been. But I do not think either of us got much sleep that night. I think perhaps the fact that I knew what Chrysalis looked like made my nightmares easier. I think I heard Twilight yelling in her sleep at one point. Yelling at Cadance.

*****

The moon slowly began to sink towards the horizon. Luna watched it beginning to move.
"Anything to report?" she heard her sister say. She turned to look.

"Nothing. Nothing out of the ordinary, at least" Luna smiled. Celestia nodded.
"Although... there have been a number of nightmares in Ponyville tonight."

Celestia frowned.
"Twilight Sparkle and her friends have been having nightmares" Luna frowned. She looked at Celestia.

"And there is... something amiss with our niece, Cadance."
Celestia said nothing, but turned to look at Luna. "Amiss?"

"I cannot see her dreams, sister. They aren't shrouded from me, they just... they aren't there. And as for Shining Armor..." Luna sighed.
"I have concerns, sister."

Celestia frowned. "I'm sure they are fine, if a bit excited about their upcoming wedding, Luna."
A rogueish grin briefly graced her face, "They are young, after all."

Luna nodded. "Does Cadance not remind you of somepony? Somepony who was often bursting into song whenever the mood struck her?"
Celestia's face betrayed nothing, but her voice told a different story. "I haven't any idea what you mean, Luna. Are you sure you haven't gotten into the cheese supplies again?"

"And besides," she added, "I find Cadance reminds me of another young pony."
Luna shook her head, "I was never that young."

"No," Celestia smiled, "you were younger."
The two stood there for a moment.

Celestia looked towards Ponyville. "Twilight Sparkle, and her friends. Do their nightmares share a common element?"
"Yes. Each of them is feeling tremendous guilt over some misdeed, but I did not pry further. Twilight Sparkle, meanwhile, is concerned about her brother. And I haven't dared look into Twilight Twinkle's nightmares"

"I was going to tell her the good news tomorrow, ask them to assist with the wedding. Cadance suggested it, the other week, a means of getting to know Twilight's friends," Celestia said, absent-mindedly.
"Sister, do you not feel something is... amiss?" Luna asked, "Outside of the your faithful student's time-travelling daughter, of course."

Celestia frowned. "Yes. Something isn't right. But..." she turned to look at Luna, "If there is a problem, then Twilight and her friends will uncover it."
Luna turned to leave, her eyes moving to the bright purple barrier above their heads, then back to her sister. "Good morning, 'Tia."

"Good morning, Luna."

*****

Everypony got up, got prepared, said goodbyes to everypony and made arrangements for the next few days, and then gathered in the library by half past eleven.
"Okay," Twinkle said, "Everypony ready?"

There was a chorus of 'yeahs'.
"I've brought my party cannon!" Pinkie cheered.

"I've brought some sewing supplies" Rarity smiled.
"Good. Okay, then, everypony."

She tried to think of something impressive to say, something that could be repeated at some later point, something bold, something dramatic.

Then she remembered they were just going to the train-station.
"Let's mosey."

There was a derisive snort from Rainbow Dash, but that was it. They quickly walked towards the train station. Every now and then Rarity made odd giggling noises. Eventually, they set off towards Canterlot, each lost in their own thought. Then Twinkle grinned, and laughed.
"What?" Twilight asked. Twinkle turned to look at her.

"Well, I was just thinking about something. Time-travel, and everything, and then I wondered if perhaps we'd get there, after all this, and find out nothing's happened at all, that for whatever reason, the Changelings haven't shown up, and Cadance is completely fine, and that massive shield is just the result of an accident."
"That would be a bit of an anti-climax" Trixie opined, "But, at least then there'd be no ridiculous drama, right?"

Twinkle nodded, and then her smile vanished as she saw the distant purple light of Shining Armor's shield spell. "That'd be nice. But I doubt that's what will happen."
She looked at Twilight. "Still, we've just gotta be rational about it, just in case."

"You mean in case this Changeling actually puts some effort into her disguise this time?" Rarity asked. Twinkle nodded.
"So no direct accusations, everypony. Just in case."

Twilight frowned. "What do you think the Changeling would do if discovered? You don't think she'd try and take hostages?"
Twinkle laid back in her seat. "I'm praying that's all she'd do."

There was a pause, before she added, "I've never been to a wedding before."
"They're pretty much the same" Trixie said, "But then, I've always been more interested in the receptions. And... 'dancing'."

For the next few minutes, all was quiet, until there was a small belch from Spike, and a small letter appeared in his hand.
"Wedding invitation" he said, handing it to Twilight, who nodded, and calmly folded it up and placed it next to her. There was a small hum from Pinkie Pie.

"I think I'm gonna need a professional for the wedding reception" she said quietly. Everypony else exchanged glances, none of them sure they wanted to know what Pinkie's statement meant.
After another few minutes, Spike belched out a larger scroll, bearing the seal of Princess Celestia. Twilight opened it, scanned it, nodded, and then set it aside. The rest of the journey continued without incident, until they came to the barrier. It felt strange, not cold, not warm. It left an odd taste in the back of the mouth. And once they were through, the train slowly began to halt. Rainbow Dash looked out of the window.

"What's with all the guards?" she asked.
"Just taking necessary precautions" Rarity said, as they walked out onto the train, "Royal weddings do bring out the strangest ponies."

At this, Pinkie Pie sneezed confetti.
"Indeed," Twinkle said, "But no matter what, when it comes to Equestria, for all our faults, we love our royalty."

They stood together on the platform, and then Rarity spoke up. "Twinkle, dear, why are the guards staring at you in that fashion?"
"Because some of them probably helped arrest me the first day I was here?" she shrugged. "Hey, it was just after the whole Discord thing, and they were a bit twitchy about a mare teleporting through the castle barriers."

"You did what now?" Twilight asked. "That... that doesn't sound possible."
Twinkle just stared at her, then turned to everypony else. "Let's just get going. We've all got work to do."

"Trixie doesn't" the showmare pointed out. Pinkie smiled.
"You can help me! Trixie and Pinkie. Hey, that really rolls of the tongue!"

There were nods, and everypony set off, the Twilights heading toward the guard quarters, as Trixie was dragged off by Pinkie Pie, looking to anypony else.
"So, what's the plan?" Twinkle asked, "With Shiney-hiney, that is?"

Twilight stared at her. "Do I want to know where that nickname came from?"
"Probably not," Twinkle grinned.

"Well, anyway, I'm going to ask him why he didn't tell me, then congratulate him."
"Ah, good plan" Twinkle nodded.

As they approached the guard quarters, Twinkle noticed a lot of them giving her filthy looks.
"I might also have maybe accidentaly landed in their mess-hall in a seperate incident" she quickly stated.

"Really?" Twilight asked.
"Yes. But it was all the way back in November. You'd think they'd have forgo-"

"HALT!" a commanding voice declared, as several spears were pointed at them.
"Who goes th- Twily!"

A familiar stallion in purple and golden armor rushed down towards Twilight, before hugging her.
"I've missed you kid."

His eyes moved to Twinkle, who just smiled and did a small curtsy. He leaned out, and then looked at Twilight.
"So what's this nonsense about you getting married?" Twilight said, "And why didn't you tell me, in person? I'm your sister, for pony's sake!"

Shining Armor looked bashful. "It's not my fault! Princess Celestia ordered a major increase in security. Didn't you see all the guards at the train station?"
"Yeah," Twinkle said, "Apparently there's some high-toned and fancy to-do of a wedding coming up. First we heard of it was yesterday."

Shining Armor stared at Twinkle, and then at Twilight. "It has nothing to do with the wedding. A threat has been made against Canterlot. We don't know who's responsible for it, but Princess Celestia has asked that I help provided additional protection."
"She didn't ask that you shut your sister out of the loop," Twinkle said, "And you know that, so spare us the 'it's-not-my-fault' song and dance."

Shining Armor glared at her for a moment, "Hello again."
He turned to look at Twilight, his expression one of brotherly concern. "Interesting company you're keeping these days."

"It's..." Twilight turned to look at Twinkle, "It's difficult to explain. And she's right. You aren't on duty twenty-four seven. You never even told me you were seeing Cadance."
Shining Armor's expression softened, "Yeah, guess I kinda did forget to mention that. I was going to, but... we haven't really been seeing much of each other lately, and I didn't want to just tell you by letter. Guess I messed up there. So I get it if you don't want to be my best mare."

Twilight paused as her brain processed this, and she turned to look at Twinkle, who just tried to raise an eyebrow. It was difficult with Twilight's expression.
"I... I'd be honoured" she smiled. Then Shining Armor looked at Twinkle again.

"Though this doesn't explain what she's doing here" he said.
"Me?" Twinkle said, "I'm helping Twilight organise the wedding. You know, that wedding of yours, to Twilight's former foalsitter."

Shining Armor grinned briefly, as he always did when thinking of Cadance, before shaking his head. "I'm guessing Princess Celestia asked you to do that" he said, "I don't know why. Everything's under control."
"I know," Twilight said, "Because you are marrying Cadance."

"Yes, I am" he nodded, doing that smile again.
"You're marrying Cadance! You're marrying Cadance!" Twilight said, beginning to hop around Shining Armor. Then she stopped. Twinkle's eyes moved to see why, and she saw a mare slowly making her way down the stairs. A mare with pear-pink fur, and instantly recognisable purple and pink hair, atop of which, just behind the horn sat a tiny tiara. However, there was no way that this mare, with her expression of practiced apathy, was Cadance.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything important" she said, as if being massively inconvinienced. Twilight turned to look at Twinkle, who was glowering daggers. Twilight walked over and, as they had agreed, began the test to confirm Cadance was who she said she was. Which meant... the Dance.
Cadance stared at Twilight the same way most ponies stared at Pinkie Pie on first meeting.

"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Cadance, it's me, Twilight!" the mare said, with a heartbreaking amount of hopeful enthusiasm.

"A-huh" the mare said, before walking past Twilight and making her way over to Shining Armor, who just wrapped a hoof around 'Cadance', smiling, as Twinkle resisted the urge to scream at him, or lunge at the evil mare next to him, or set her on fire.
"I gotta get back to my station, but Cadance will be checking in with all of you to see how things are going."

He shot another uncertain look at Twinkle before continuing, "I think I speak for both of us when I say we couldn't be more excited to see you here. Right, dear?"
'Cadance' shot them a look so blatantly aggresive it could've started its own war. "Absolutely" she hissed.

"Well," Shining Armor laughed, "I'll let you two get right to it" he said, as he took his leave, taking one last glance at Twinkle before he did. Cadance just absent-mindedly walked away, not looking at either Twilight as she went.

The two mares quickly walked out of the guards' barracks, and headed towards the castle.
"Well?" Twilight asked.

"It's not Cadance" Twinkle said.
"Certainly not."

"Let's go find the others."
They were barely halfway to the castle when Twinkle saw something.

"Ah" she uttered. Twilight glanced at her.
"What?"

"Over there" she motioned. Twilight looked. Two familiar looking ponies were walking towards them. Those two ponies being Twilight Velvet, and Night Light. And they'd seen them.

*****

From her mother's side of the family, Twilight Sparkle got her drive, her tenacity, and regrettably, the family tendency to go insane with very little provocation, and an unwillingness to listen to reason. So, it was only natural that she got her desire for calm and order, her rational mindset, from her father. Looking at Night Light, some might have assumed he never spoke at all. This wasn't true. When he wanted to be, Night Light could be a great conversationalist. It was just that his wife was more expressive, and as a result he tended to stay quiet and do most of the talking.

He was the one who had a solid guess as to who Twilight Twinkle was first, though all things considered, he only figured this out a few moments before his wife did. Like Shining Armor and Cadance, Twilight Velvet and Night Light had an amazingly uncanny rapport.

They were also bearing down on Twilights Sparkle and Twinkle like a shark on an incredbly tasty-looking dolphin.
This was sort of thrown off by Twilight Sparkle's cheerful greeting. "Mom! Dad!"

The young mare embraced them. "Can you believe it? Your big brother's getting married. To a Princess, of all things" Twilight Velvet beamed.
"My former foalsitter as well" Twilight added.

"That too. Do you still remember that dance you two had?" Twilight Velvet said, not willing to let her suspicions of the royal blue mare next to her daughter get in the way of being a mom.
"Yes, I remember" Twilight said, clearly fighting a losing war against the blush.

"So, will you be helping out at the wedding, or will you just spend all of your time catching up with Cadance?"
Twilight Sparkle's expression flickered. "No, no," she said quietly, "I'm going to be in charge of organising everything for them."

Twilight Velvet nodded in approval, before turning to look at Twilight Twinkle. "And how are you, Midday Eclipse? That is your name, is it not?"
Twilight Twinkle frowned. She was already dealing with one shapeshifting monster, and wasn't in the mood for mind-games or subterfuge.

"I think you've already got a good guess as to who I am" she said.
"Maybe we want to hear you say it" Night Light said. Twilight looked at Twinkle, who took a deep breath, and sighed.

"Sorry, granddad."
There were a few seconds where nopony said anything, and then Twilight Velvet smiled.

"Well, now I don't have to worry about grandchildren anymore."
"Mom!" Twilight said quickly.

"What? Your father and I aren't going to be around forever, and it took Shining Armor forever to actually propose to Cadance. I was afraid you were never going to find a young stallion before we kicked the bucket."
"Time-travel" Twinkle said quickly. Twilight Velvet nodded slowly.

"That'd do it, I suppose, even if it does seem slightly implausible."
Sparkle and Twinkle exchanged glances, but neither decided to comment. Twilight Velvet looked at Twinkle again.

"So, what is my granddaughter called, then?"
"Twilight Twinkle" she said. The mare looked to Twilight Sparkle, then back to Twinkle, and an odd smile went across her face.
"That's a good name," she said, her expression going through several micro-changes in an instant, "Well then, if that's all settled, my husband and I have things we need to do today, and I'm sure you two do as well. Have fun with the wedding" and with that she set off, Night Light following after her.

"That... was not how I was expecting that to go down" Twinkle said, after a while. Twilight nodded.
"Where were we going?" Twinkle asked.

"Castle" Twilight said.
The two walked in silence to the castle, the guards letting them through without a word.

"Now," Twilight said, "We just need to find the kitchens."
Then she frowned. "Which I seem to have forgotten the way to."

"Seriously?" Twinkle asked. Twilight frowned.
"Yeah."

There was a pause.
"Spike's probably going to be near the food, right?"

"Then we find Spike, and we find the kitchens" Twilight smiled.
"Marvelous plan."

"I can only be brilliant so many times in a day" Twinkle said.
"Besides, it'll probably be somewhere on the ground floor or the basements, right?"

The two began walking through the multitude of corridors, and managed to make it almost a few feet before they encounter a problem. There was the sound of a pony in distress. Without a word they rushed off, and after a few moments, found a pony in distress sitting in one of the larger halls (The one which, as it turned out, was to be used for hosting the wedding), the pony was a mare of dull grey colouration with a musical note for her Cutie Mark. Twinkle also noted the bowtie, and that something about the mare seemed familiar.

"Can we help you?" Twinkle asked. The mare looked up at them.
"I don't know. Do you have any experience with babbling bright pink demons?" she asked coolly, in an accent that would've made Rarity's look barely sophisticated.

Twilight and Twinkle exchanged glances, recognising the sound of Pinkie Pie instantly. "I can probably handle this," Twinkle said, "If you want to find Applejack."

Twilight nodded, "alright then. Good luck."
Twinkle turned to the mare. "Alright, Miss...?" she hazarded.

"Octavia" she said, politely. Twinkle nodded, then realised where she'd heard the name. She started grinning.
"The Octavia? Really? Wow!" she smiled, "It's a pleasure, it's... wow, it's an honour!"

"Thank you," the mare said hesitantly, though graciously.
Twinkle tried to reign herself in. "So, what happened?"

"Well, I was just practicing, you see. I had been told that my associates and I would be providing the music for both the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armor, and the resulting reception. And then... she appeared. The mare with the balloons for her Cutie Mark"

Octavia coughed, "I have encountered her before, and neither time resulted in anything less than total chaos. And this time, she appeared and declared she wanted to know what sort of music my associates and I played. Regrettably, they did not have the fortitude to withstand her thousand and one questions, and fled the minute she said she would have to find 'professionals'. And while I do not blame them, I will not abandon my post simply because of her arrival. I shall endure it."

There was a pause, and the mare's face drooped. "I am, however, going to kill my partner for putting me up to this."
Twinkle frowned, "I know Pinkie Pie, ma'am, and while she may be a bit... rambunctious, her special talent is organising parties. She does have the talent for organising a wedding reception. And she's not likely to produce the music herself. She'll get somepony else to fill in."

Octavia nodded. "But, if you know this pony, who would she-"
There was a sudden crash as the doors to the hall burst open, and two ponies entered. One was Pinkie Pie, grinning and carrying a dangerous amount of party supplies, including what looked like a record player, and another pony behind her, with white fur, and hair of a brilliant cobalt blue colour, with bright cyan stripes in there. There was an eager grin on her face, most of which was covered by a pair of glasses that were tinted bright purple.

"YO! YO! YO!" she declared, "DJ Pon-3 IS IN THE HOUSE!"
"Oh, bugger" Octavia sighed, burying her face in her hooves.

Then the mare noticed Octavia and rushed over to her.
"Hey, beautiful" she said, before kissing the musician, whose look of annoyance seemed largely for show, "How's work going?"

"They were going fine, up until she" Octavia pointed a hoof at Pinkie Pie, who was carefully decorating the room at a lightning pace, without so much as a balloon in sight, "showed up."
"Hey, 'Tavi, lay off Pinkie Pie. I know her, she's awesome. She said she was gonna need some help with this big wedding reception she's got going on, just asked me to lend some help."

"Oh, good" Octavia sighed.
"Just the reception?" Twinkle asked. The DJ did a double-take.

"Sorry, didn't see you there" she stuck out a hoof, "Hi. I'm Vinyl Scratch, but I operate as DJ-"
"Yeah, I... heard you say so" Twinkle said.

'And I thought Trixie was loud' she tried not to think. Then she wondered where Trixie had gotten to.
"And I see you've met my girlfrien-"

"Partner" Octavia said firmly.
"Whatevs," Vinyl said, waving a dismissive hoof, "So, you helping Pinkie with this thing, or do you just work here?"

"No, I'm sort of with Pinkie Pie. Or she's with me. Or..." she frowned, "Technically, It's somewhere inbetween. But I'm just staying out of her way and letting her work."
"Hey, Viny!" Pinkie called out, "When I'm done settting up the decorations, I'm gonna need to check your amps!"

"'kay."
She turned to Octavia, "I'm gonna go scope out the place I'm working at, maybe check my songs lists, see if I've got anything Princess-y and True Love-y on 'em. Probably not, but it never hurts to check. See ya later, gorgeous."

And with one more kiss, she headed off towards the door.
Twinkle turned to Octavia, and after a few seconds asked "You going to be alright?"

"Well, so long as I can round up my associates, convince them that this 'Pinkie Pie' will not try to make them play electric guitars and wear tye-dye, and keep their nerves intact long enough for them to play the wedding march on the day, I should be fine. And provided Vinyl doesn't drive me mad first, as well."

Twinkle stared at the retreating mare. "How did you two-?"
"It is, as they say, a long story. And I must admit, sometimes I'm not entirely sure how it all happened."

"Don't try to define love" Twinkle muttered.
"Pardon me?"

Twinkle looked at her. "Something an aunt of mine once said. I suppose she'd have know."
Then something occured to Twinkle, and despite herself, she couldn't help but comment. "Uh, by the way... you know that wedding march? I... well, that is to say..."

*****

Twilight and Applejack had been occupied in the kitchens, with Spike 'helping', mainly by playing around with the little figures of the bride and groom, while Applejack prepared the food.
"So, what exactly are you going to do with this cake?" Twilight asked. Applejack stared at her.

"Ah don't know why none of you think ah can't cook," she muttered, "Ah can cook. Ah'll cook yer shoes off."
"I didn't know apples were an ingredient of cake" Spike said, looking up from playing with the figures.

"Well, that's exactly the point. Ah'm gonna not use any apples in the cake. At all" Applejack said, giving an evil grin as she did. There was a horrified gasp from the pony behind her.
"You hush up an' get back to work, ya overactor."

The gasping pony, who Twilight vaguely recognised as one of Applejack's many, many relatives, rolled her eyes and got back to work.
"Of course, this does mean there's gonna be a lot of bite-sized apple fritters to go round."

At this point, any further conversation was forestalled by Twinkle sloping in.
She gave a small grunt as she collapsed next to Twilight.

"What happened to you?" Applejack asked.
"Apparently musicians don't like being told they've been replaced by choirs of birds."

Twilight and Applejack shared a look.
"You got something against Fluttershy's birds?"

"Well, aside from the fact that she could be helping Rarity with her 'freaky sewing knowledge', no, but I'm not certain what Celestia's thinking with that."
Twinkle paused, before adding, "Although it could just be her trying to be funny, I suppose. Though right now I'm more concerned about the fact that I didn't Pinkie Pie setting up balloons in the hall. That, and has anypony seen where Trixie went to?"

"She wasn't with Pinkie Pie?" Twilight asked. Twinkle shook her head.
"Yeah, Trixie followed us to the kitchens," Applejack said, "Then left. Said she was gonna look for a drink, or something. Ah wasn't paying attention, ah was just trying to figure out where everything is."

The Twilights watched as Applejack set about preparing the cake, a staggering amount of fritters, and for some reason, an ice sculpture.
"Applejack, why is there an ice scuplture? And more importantly, why's it in the kitchen?"

Applejack shrugged. "Don' look at me, ah'm just doin' what Twilight's checklist says."
Twilight nodded, and then looked over at Spike, who was still sitting on top of the work-surface, and worse still playing with the tiny figures of Shining Armor and Cadance. Once spotted, he quickly set them down, grinning nervously at Twilight.

Then there was a noise at the doors.
"Hiya, princess!" Applejack declared. Twinkle turned to see 'Cadance' walking into the room, looking like she was suffering from a fatal bout of ennui.

"Please, call me Princess Mi Amore Cadenza" she said, with as much haught as could possibly be mustered. Twinkle was amazed she wasn't including haitches where they didn't belong.
"Come to check what's on the menu for..." Applejack's eyes darted, "Your big day?"

"I have" she said, and for an instant she looked almost like Cadance as she smiled. Applejack picked up a plate of fritters. One was wrapped in a pale green glow, and the changeling took a bite. She looked uncertain for a few seconds.
"I... love, love, love them!" she said, smiling nervously.

"Aw, shucks" Applejack said nervously, "Nice ta hear that. Cooks like to know their work's appreciated" she said, as 'Cadance' quickly turned and left.
After a few minutes Applejack asked. "She gone?"

"Yeah" Spike nodded.
"Was she even trying?" Twilight asked, "I 'love-love-love' them? Who speaks like that?"

"Ponies suffering from love poisons?" Twinkle asked.
"An' yer saying ah would've bought that?" Applejack asked.

"Apparently. But, then, it's not like you knew she was an emotion-eating bug-being. It's not really the sort of thing you expect, is it?"
"Yeah, it's like your lodger revealing she's your daughter from the future! Who'd see that coming?" Spike laughed. Twinkle stared at him, then turned to Twilight.

"What's next on the list?"
"Rarity and the dresses."

"Sounds fun" Twinkle said. She looked at Spike, "You going to join us, or say here and play with your dolls?"
Spike glowered at her briefly, holding the tiny figures close to him. "I think I'm gonna stay here, with the food."
"Alright then" Twinkle smiled. "Have fun."

*****

It took some amount of walking to find the room Rarity was working out of, which was located in one of the smaller towers of the castle. The mare was currently in the middle of brain-storming, and therefore was utterly focused on the task at hand. Unfortunately, with the weather being incredibly lovely outside, despite the massive purple barrier in the sky, this meant, what with the warmth and the utter quiet, and their nightmares from last night, that at any minute either Twilight was likely to fall asleep.

"Well?" Rarity asked, looking over at the two mares, "Is this not simply wonderful?"
They looked at the design that graced the mannequin, which had been designed with an alicorn's physique in mind. Twinkle's mind wondered why anypony would design such a thing, although doubtless there were ponies who designed clothing for alicorns, just in case one day Princess Celestia or Luna decided to buy some, which was unlikely, given their usual dressing habits.

'Coronations notwithstanding' she added, grinning to herself at the thought of that. Then she noticed Rarity looking at her.
"It's not finished yet, of course," Rarity said, "I decided to start on the bridesmaids dresses, but I do think perhaps that Princess Cadance will just love it!"

She gave a small squeak. "I still can't believe I'm designing a wedding dress! For a royal wedding! Me!"
Twilight and Twinkle exchanged glances, and then Twinkle thought of something.

"Hey, Rarity?"
"Yes?"

"Did you bring all this with you?" she asked, motioning to the boxes of fabric lying in the corner.
"What? Oh, no, no. Well, I brought one or two things, like that dress you asked me to make and haven't worn" she said, icy disapproval seeping into her voice, "But most of these I had to ask for. I think I noticed a few items from the lovely Fancypants."

"Oh, yeah, I remember him," Twilight said, while looking over the bridesmaids dresses sitting to the side, "Do you still keep in contact?"
"Oh yes," Rarity said, "Apparently he will be attending this wedding as well. With his... 'business partner'."

Both Twilights looked at each other, to momentarily confirm they heard the small weary sigh in Rarity's voice. They had, and moved on.
"Oh," Rarity breathed, "I think Princess Cadance is going to adore this dress when it's done."

"Did I hear someone say my name?" All three mares turned to see 'Cadance' entering the room, flanked by three other ponies. Twinkle recognised Lyra, but she couldn't tell who the other two were.
"Your highness!" Rarity gasped, rushing over to 'Cadance', "Let me say what an honour it is to play such a role in this momentous occasion!"

She bowed for good measure, not-Cadance just staring at her with the look of disinterest that Twinkle was beginning to consider the Changeling's default expression.
"A-huh," she sighed, before looking up, "Is my dress ready?"

Rarity stammered, "Ah, well, almost. I have been working at it since I was given the assignment, and I think you'll be pleased with the results!" she gave an over-eager grin, as 'Cadance' examined it.
"I was hoping for someting with more beading and a longer train" she sighed. Rarity nodded, as Twinkle wondered where the mare had taken acting classes from. Then Cadance's eye fell on the bridesmaid dresses.

"And those should be a different colour."
Then the bridesmaids spoke up.

"I think they're lovely," the first one, who had a cream-coloured coat and a pink mane and tail said.
"Me too," added the second, who had a bright blue coat and a notable stripe going through her mane.

"I love them!" Lyra smiled eagerly. Twinkle looked at the dresses, guessing that the one next to the wall, which looked oddly toga-like, was probably Lyra's, which, Twinkle had to admit, did look like it would suit the musician just fine.

'Cadance' did not seem to share their opinion, glaring them into submission, before turning to Rarity.
"Make them a different colour" she said.

"Somepony's got a bug up their ass" Twinkle muttered. The mare found herself being glared at by the changeling, who then stormed out without a word, Lyra and the other two mares following after her, each looking incredibly hesitant to be the first out of the door.
After a pause Twinkle turned to look at Rarity, "'Working on it since you were given the assingment?'" she asked.

Rarity shrugged. "Well, I couldn't say I started working on designing the dresses for Lyra, whatshername and Twinkleshine first, could I?"
Twinkle paused, "Sorry, could you repeat that last name?"

"Maybe we should call her Princess Demand-y-pants" Twilight glowered. Rarity and Twinkle's expressions suddenly mirrored one anothers' as they turned to look at Twilight.
"What?" the mare asked.

"Genius-level intellect, tutored by one of the Princesses of Equestria, and that is the best remark you can come up with?!" Twinkle asked.
"Well, I do also have to remember every aspect of this wedding I'm supposed to be checking on, in addition to worrying about my brother, and whatever she's doing to him" Twilight frowned.

"What is she doing to him, anyway?"
"Feeding on his love" Twinkle said, nervously, "Admitedly, she would be feeding on his love anyway, but... from what I know of changelings, they don't need to feed directly, just by proximity, and they can, in theory at any rate, survive on regular foodstuffs, but... it'd be like expecting a bear to survive only on tofu."

"Doesn't Fluttershy have a bear she looks after?" Rarity asked, "I doubt she feeds him meat."
"That's different. The bear's probably terrified of Fluttershy being angry with him for eating meat. Or even worse, being upset."

Twinkle frowned and shook her head, before turning back to Twilight, "So, yeah, draining him of his love, violently, because she can."
Twilight frowned, and then looked at Twinkle. "Shouldn't we get the Elements of Harmony, or something, just in case?"

Twinkle gave this some thought. "I don't know. I mean, in theory, they might be useful but... her behaviour aside, she's just looking to feed her subjects, so I don't know if the Elements of Harmony would actually do anything to her. Although..."
"What?" Twilight asked.

"I suppose it might turn out to be akin to force-feeding her, and now I can't stop thinking of a bunch of changelings pleading for stomach mints."
There was an irritated sigh from Rarity, "If you two don't mind, I'd rather not have to hear the words 'force-feeding' any time soon."

"Sorry, Rarity."
"It's not like I set out to eat as much of that cake as I did..."

Twinkle opened her mouth to say something, before she found one of Twilight's hooves jammed in her mouth.
"We'll just leave you to get on with the dress then, Rarity" Twilight smiled, as she began nudging Twinkle towards the door, "While we go... check in on Pinkie Pie."

*****

They were halfway through the castle, to the hallway where Pinkie Pie had last been sighted when they found Trixie, wandering around looking confused.
"Familiar faces!" she called out, "Finally!"

"Hey, Trixie," Twinkle said, "Where've you been?"
"Lost. I can't figure out where I'm supposed to be going in this stupid castle, and I wasn't sure where everypony was, and then I needed to use the..." she trailed off.

"Anyway, not important. Found it eventually and nopony was hurt" she gave a nervous grin, "Anyway, I'll just follow you two to wherever you're headed."
"We're going to the main hall to check in on Pinkie Pie's progress."

Trixie's expression soured. Twinkle leaned in towards her.
"Don't be so gloomy, Trixie, this is important stuff. Gotta get everything right."

"I get that," Trixie sighed, "But there's only so long one can spend around a mare like Pinkie Pie before their brain starts going funny."
Twinkle just stared at her. "I don't follow."

Trixie stared at her, opened her mouth and then shook her head. "Forget it, forget I said anything" she muttered.
The three continued onwards until they found the hallway where Pinkie Pie had been working. They found the mare sitting in the main hall. She waved a hoof at them as they entered.

"Hi, Twilight, are you excited about this wedding because I am even if there is that thing we all said we wouldn't talk about but I'm just so excited I can't believe it because it's going to be the best wedding ever!"
"That's nice, Pinkie Pie. So, there are no problems?"

Pinkie Pie's ears twitched. "Well, there was the grumpy lady with the cello yelling about things, and Viny's having problems with her amplifiers, but apart from that, I'm doing super-duper-fine-a-rooney!"
"Fine-a-rooney?" Twinkle asked. Pinkie nodded.

Then there was a cough, as a slightly less than annoyed-looking 'Cadance' entered the room, absent three terrified bridesmaids. Twinkle leaned in towards Twilight.
"Do you know if Bon-Bon tagged along with Lyra?" she whispered. Twilight looked at her.

"Bon-Bon? Probably, why?"
"Just a feeling. But I think we need to start searching the basements at some point. Also: we need to find Princess Luna."

"What about Pinkie Pie?"
"- and dancing, and cakes! I think this reception's going to be brilliant! What do you think?"

Twilight, Twinkle and Trixie stared as 'Cadance' gave Pinkie's words some thought.
"It's... alright. But I don't know... could it be better?"

Pinkie frowned, and considered this. "Better... better... better how?" she asked.
"I don't know. Just..." 'Cadance' gave off an annoyed sigh, "Just make it better, okay?!"

She turned to glance briefly at the three mares, staring at Twilight like she was something to be scooped off the ground with a little shovel.
"Hey, Twilight!" Pinkie Pie called out, bouncing over to the mare, "At some point I was gonna ask if you could look over this song Viny and me were gonna play at the reception, you know, once we've gotten all the dancing out of the way and it's time for the real partying!"

"You sound like you're taking this seriously" Trixie noted. Pinkie stared at her with a glare that would have made armies flinch.
"Parties," she said, "Are serious business."

Her smile and good mood instantly returned, "So you three go off and have fun and let your aunt Pinkie Pie deal with this reception."
And with that the mare bounced away, leaving them standing there.

"So, what now?" Twinkle asked. Twilight frowned.
"Well, I don't think we need to micromanage everypony, and I don't think that not-Cadance is going to examine Rainbow Dash's flight practice, so... I don't know. Should we review the notes over everything? Why don't we warn Princess Celestia?"

"Well..." Twinkle frowned, "Twilight, I get that you think it's a good idea, but... I don't know how to find Cadance outside of the fact that she's in a massive cavern underneath the palace, but I do not know how big those caverns are, how long they stretch out for, anything. It could take hours of searching to find her, and the minute we do find her, the... imposter will probably figure it out and she might do something to Shining Armor, or her bridesmaids. As I have said already."
Then she paused, as she remembered somepony who she recalled being told about a pony who hadn't shown up to the wedding at all.

"Although... I think I know somepony whose help we can ask for" she grinned, "We just have to find her. Maybe we should just ask Celestia where she is..."
"You can" Trixie said, turning in a different direction.

"Where are you going?" Twilight asked. Trixie paused, giving this some full consideration before responding.
"For a drink."
As she walked away, Twinkle was certain she heard Trixie add "Good, long drink."

*****

Meanwhile, across town, a group of ponies hovered in stunned silence.
"Did you see-" one stated.

"Yeah" another said, one with bright orange hair poking out of her flight suit.
"She-"

"Yeah."
"And then-"

"I know."
"She's... wow."

Spitfire just nodded, agreeing with her team-mate's sentiment, if not the wording. She had been uncertain about letting the pony going by the name of Rainbow Dash practice on what was technically Wonderbolts turf, but she remembered the mare had tried to speak to her and Soarin' during the Grand Galloping Gala, so she figured allowing the mare to fly with them was a way of making up for it.

Rainbow Dash had promptly left the Wonderbolts in the dust. Soarin' currently seemed to be in a state of shock, and he wasn't the only one.
"Why don't we just give her a uniform and all quit right now?" one pony, by the name of Fleetfoot, joked, though her laughter quickly trailed off with Spitfire glaring at her.
"Sorry, boss."

*****

Elsewhere, in the castle, a concerned mare look about the fifth room she'd looked through. Seeing no sign of her quarry, she frowned. In twenty minutes she'd move on to being concerned. In half an hour, Bon-Bon would have moved into full-blown confusion, followed shortly after by rising panic.
She'd lost her Lyra.

*****

One top of one of the observation towers of Canterlot Castle, Celestia heard the approach of wings, and the sound of Shining Armor's force-field opening, then closing.
"Rest, my sister," she heard Luna say, "As always, I shall guard the night."

She tried not to roll her eyes at Luna's usual greeting, and made her leave. Luna, meanwhile, stood watch over all of Canterlot. Despite the warning, and the vigilance, there seemed to be nothing usual going on. She wasn't sure yet whether she felt safe about that or not.
There was a small cough, and Luna turned to see Twilight Twinkle staring at her.

"What is it, Twilight Twinkle?"
The mare frowned, and looked out over the city, then to Luna.

"We need to talk. About the wedding. And your part in it."

Author's Note

Yes, lot of questioning the plot of A Canterlot Wedding.
And yes, there is a lot of exposition. And talking. And chatting.
Sorry about that, but in a literary medium I couldn't think of many ways to make it interesting. And I didn't want to cut off halfway. And it gets it all out of the way.
But, if all goes according to plan, the next chapter shall have at least one fight.

Sacrifice of Angels

Princess Luna stared at Twilight Twinkle, playing over the mare's previous statement in her head.
'We need to talk. About the wedding. And your part in it.'

There was a pause as neither mare said anything. With the magical barrier above their heads, no wind made its way into Canterlot, yet Luna's mane still wafted as if brushed by an unseen wind.
"You are attending the wedding, right?" Twinkle said. Luna stared at her.

"I remembered your words of advice" she said, coolly, staring at the city beneath the tower.
"And?"

Luna shifted. "I... may be busy" she said.
"And you're going to be busy until... oh, I don't know, at least a good hour after the ceremony, correct?"

Luna stared at Twinkle, and said nothing.
"Convenient," the mare said, "Only showing up for the dancing."

Luna sighed. "I did consider asking Cadance if she would not mind me giving her away at the ceremony. But... I have been busy. Very busy. Outside Canterlot, making sure no potential threats develop while my sister plans our niece's wedding."

Then something occurred to Luna, and she turned to look at Twinkle. "And why is it Twilight Sparkle and her friends have been having such vivid nightmares lately?"
There was a noise from Twinkle that made Luna turn around, and she saw a look of concern on Twinkle's face.

"There is a problem with Cadance" she said. Luna did not comment.
"Or... sorry, I wasn't sure how to phrase this. Luna, what I tell you, you cannot tell anypony else. Not even Celestia."
Luna stared at Twinkle.

"Cadance has been replaced by a changeling, a changeling that is feeding on Shining Armor's love for her. That's why Twilight and everypony else has been having nightmares, because I told them of how events would have unfolded had I not time-travelled here."

Twinkle stared down at her hooves. Luna gave this some thought. "A changeling."
"Yes."

"Feeding on Shining Armor's love."
"Yes."

Luna frowned. This certainly explained why she could not see either of the couple's dreams, or nightmares. She resisted the temptation of questioning why she hadn't been keeping a watchful eye on her niece and her fiancé. "And you have not yet warned my sister... but you have warned me."

"That's why I'm asking you don't tell your sister, because if you do, she'll confront the changeling, and she'll lose. And I don't think there is any way she could possibly be talked out of doing anything less" Luna paused, and decided not to question this, "and... the changeling is the only one who knows how to reach where Cadance is being kept, and we do have a plan for solving that. But we don't know how the changeling would react if discovered early."

Luna nodded, before speaking. "And doubtless, you are telling me this, and making that remark about showing up late to the wedding because, in your timeline at least, that is what happened with me."
After a short pause, Twinkle gave a small nod, "So I'm told."

Luna sighed. "I suppose I had been planning to avoid the wedding. But... my sister confronts this changeling at some point, and in your timeline, she lost?"
"Yes," Twinkle nodded, "Though I am given to understand that it wasn't by much, if that helps, but it was enough to keep her out of... what followed."

"What followed?" Luna parroted, raising an eyebrow. Twinkle just nodded, but did not explain herself. There was another pause.
"And your aim... is to prevent what followed, whatever that was?" Luna asked. Twinkle shook her head.

"No, no it's too late to prevent everything that's going to happen. But the injuries inflicted will be less severe for almost everypony."
"Almost?" Luna asked, but Twinkle wasn't listening. There was an odd grin on her face, as she stared out over the city.

"You know, I... I really expected somepony from my time to have shown up by now, to try and drag me back to my own time, or something. Or for me to become violently ill, or for... for something, anything to try and stop me interfering."
Luna stared at Twinkle. "I shall attend the wedding, when it takes place, Twilight Twinkle. Thank you for informing me about... Cadance. I shall not inform my sister, but... is it all right if I drop increasingly unsubtle hints?"

Twinkle paused, and gave this some thought. "Might as well."
She turned to leave, and was almost at the door when she spoke again. "Luna?"

"Yes?"
"Stay out of my head tonight. Please."

There was something about the mares' tone that concerned Luna, but after a short stare, she nodded, and Twilight Twinkle was gone.

*****

Some fifteen minutes later, she met up with everypony else at the small corner restaurant everypony had eventually chosen to go to. She wordlessly sat down next to everypony.
"Is Princess Luna with us?" Rarity asked. Twinkle just nodded.

"That's something, at least" the fashion-designer smiled. Twinkle looked at everypony. Almost everyone looked worn out, save Rainbow Dash, who had been bearing the same wide-eyed grin on her face since they'd met up, and as far as she could tell, Rainbow hadn't bothered explaining why.
"So, what now?" Applejack asked, "We sit here, eat our meal, and... what? Wait for Princess Fakenza to come look down her nose at us?"

"We could talk?" Fluttershy suggested. There was a sudden pause as nopony could think of anything to say.
"Well," Rarity said, "I've almost finished 'Cadance's' dress. I think it is quite frankly one of my finest works."

She paused, and gave a small cough, "Of course, I am allowed to think that, am I not?"
"It's your creation" Twinkle shrugged, "You can think whatever you like about it."

"And everypony's bridesmaids dresses have been prepared, just in case she does ask us."
There was a small hum from Twinkle, "I don't know if she will" she said. Everypony (except Pinkie Pie) turned to stare at her.

"I mean that there's probably some way she can tell what emotions are like, so... she can probably see our suspicions of her. Although... on consideration..." she paused for a minute, silent in contemplative thought.
"She probably doesn't know why we're suspicious of her, directly, and she might not feel it important enough to care."

There was a moment's quiet, before Applejack stared at her. "Hey, if you're from the future, or a future, or whatever, how come you don't have some kinda spell to... de-brainwash Shining Armor or somethin'?"

Twinkle nodded. "Well, I do have some healing spells that 'might', as you put it, de-brainwash him, or at least get rid of his headache, but... I really don't know what would happen. And what if he remembers that that isn't his Cadance, and then..."
She frowned, and rubbed a hoof against her face. When she looked back, she noticed the unimpressed look on Applejack's face.

"I don't know."
She looked at everypony. "Come on then, Rarity got the ball rolling, let's keep going with what we managed today."

Applejack nodded. "Well, we've got the cake ready, got the food for the reception ready, so that's something, ah guess."
"Me and Viny have almost got her speakers ready," Pinkie Pie grinned, looking up from playing with the Shining Armor and Cadance figurines along with Spike, "I mean, we did argue a bit over how loud we wanted them to be, because her speakers are really loud, I mean super-duper loud, and I was saying we only need them a little loud because we want everypony to enjoy themselves while dancing. And we've got the song Twilight's gonna sing."

"I'm going to what now?" Twilight asked. Pinkie stared at her.
"Oh, yes, so I am. Forgot about that."

"I, uh, I haven't been having much luck with my birds. Actually, the... changeling yelled at one of them."
Everypony stared at her. "... why?" Rarity eventually asked.

"Well, he was terribly off-key" Fluttershy said, raising a forelimb, to which a bird was calmly attached. It then proceeded to eagerly produce noises that sounds like something heavy had sat on it.
"You're carrying that around, why, exactly?" Twinkle asked.

"Oh, well, I didn't want him to think I was angry at him, after all, he can't help it. He's just terribly excited about this wedding."
"'s nice" Trixie slurred, "'s all nice. Everything's nice, non?"

There was a pause as everypony present looked at Trixie, who was apparently smiling beneath the brim of her hat. Then she stuck out a hoof.
"Save 'im. He looks like he's see a ghost."

"Me?" Spike asked. Trixie lifted her head, which seemed to be taking a lot of effort, and shook it.
"No, him, over there. The dorky orange-head lookin' at us."

Suddenly everypony looked to see a stallion with deep blue fur, and bright orange hair staring at the table in what looked like alarm, or surprise. Next to his head floated a small coffee cup, which from appearances belonged to him.
"Ah" Twinkle uttered. "Yes, I forgot about him. And the fact that he lives and works here."

"Ain't that yer dad?" Applejack asked, "Only not yer dad 'cuz of the time-travel, and... ah've got a headache already."
In an instant, the deep-blue pony by the name of Comet Chaser ran.

"Should I-?" Twilight began, and Twinkle turned to look at her.
"You can if you want to. I've interfered in his life often enough" she said. "This is one romance I will not get involved with."

"What?" Fluttershy asked. Twinkle looked alarmed.
"I said that out loud, didn't I?"

She sighed, and looked at Twilight. "It's entirely your choice, Twilight."
She frowned, and paused for a long while. "If I left, would you girls-"

"Hey" Spike pointed out.
"Would you head back to the palace?"

There were exchanged glances.
"Most likely" Rarity said, "If only to allow Trixie's liver to heal."

"Ah don't know, Rarity, ah kinda like her like this."
"I'm not arguing that, Applejack, it's just... surely it can't be healthy for a mare to drink that much."

Twilight shook her head, and stood up. "I think I'll go see if I can talk with him."
"Have fun" Pinkie Pie smiled. As Twilight turned around a corner and vanished, everypony settled down.

"Hey," Rainbow Dash said, her brain apparently coming back from whatever place it had been, "Did you guys know I got to hang out with the Wonderbolts today? They let me use their stuff and everything!"

"Welcome back, Rainbow Dash" Twinkle said, as Rainbow Dash began listing her five favourite things about the Wonderbolts, her friends listening on in good humour (Well, Pinkie Pie and Spike horsing around with the wedding cake figures, but they could hear Rainbow Dash quite clearly.)

*****

Twilight galloped through the streets, following after Comet Chaser's trail. As she ran, it occurred to her that her usual routine of studying probably wasn't as conducive to developing proper leg musculature as staying in Canterlot had been. Not that she wasn't fast, but clearly this pony had a minor advantage, on top of not being as sleep-deprived as her, and the fact that he knew where he was heading, and she didn't.

She stopped to get her bearings, and then noticed something oddly familiar about where she was. Then she looked about the street, and saw it.
Shining Armor's house. She stared at it, a dozen feelings rushing through her. Did she dare talk to her brother? How could she not warn him? What if he already suspected?

She shook her head. She wasn't going to mull over possibilities. She walked over to the door and knocked. There was a small pause before a familiar face answered the door.

"Twily!" Shining Armor beamed, opening the door for her to walk in. She instantly noticed the smart uniform he was wearing, which she remembered had belonged to one of their uncles. In all fairness, it did look incredibly suited to him (which was in part due to some strategic 'adjustments'. Shining Armor was younger than their uncle had been when he'd worn it).

"Your brother's looking pretty sharp, huh?" he grinned. Twilight tried smiling, but somewhere between thought and action, the smile seemed to mutate into a concerned frown.
"Everything okay?" he asked.

"I..." she paused, looking around the room, "I just wanted to talk to you. We didn't really have much time to speak this morning, and I wanted to see how you were doing."
Shining Armor looked at her for a moment before nodding, "Yeah, I guess we didn't. I'm okay, Twily. Just feeling stretched at the moment, what with the wedding and everything."

Twilight stared at him. "Haven't you considered just... delaying the wedding, until you're sure the danger has passed? I mean, that forcefield over Canterlot's because of you, isn't it? Aren't you worried it's taking a toll on you?"
Shining Armor winced. "I did give it some thought, you know. Holding the wedding off until I was certain everything was safe."

He walked over to a small sofa on the far wall and sat down. After a few seconds Twilight sat next to him. "But, I don't think I could - could do that to Cadance. I mean, we've... we've been talking about this for so long, I think she was actually questioning if I was ever going to ask her to marry me. I can't pull out now. It'd break her heart."

He stared out of the window for a moment, his expression inscrutable. Then he looked at Twilight and gave a small grin. "Besides, I'm pretty sure if I did try and back out, Cadance or Princess Celestia would probably chase me down and drag me up the aisle anyway. Maybe even Princess Luna."

Despite everything, Twilight couldn't help but grin at her brother's attempt at humour.
"Shining, I-"

There was the sound of a pony clearing their throat, and Twilight shifted to see 'Cadance' standing at the top of the flight of stairs that lead upstairs, mostly to Shining Armor's bedroom.
How long had she been waiting, listening, Twilight wondered. Was she enjoying herself, in her stolen life, the- no, no. Not thinking about any of that, she said.

"She sure has a way of sneaking up on people" she muttered.
"Could I speak to you for a moment, dear?" 'Cadance' said, pointing towards the doors to Shining Armor's study. The stallion leaned in towards Twilight and grinned.

"Better go see what she wants."
Twilight tried not to wince, or grimace as her brother eagerly walked into the study, 'Cadance' slamming the doors behind herself. For a few seconds, Twilight heard muttered voices, followed by an odd sound. She could see an odd green glow from under the door, and gasped. She found herself heading towards the door, and then out onto the streets.

*****

As Twilight rushed through Canterlot, a pair of eyes observed her, belonging to a decidedly nervous stallion of a dark blue colouration. After a few minutes, Comet Chaser sighed, took a sip from his now cold coffee, and tried to determine where he was in relation to the Royal Canterlot Archives. This was a bit difficult, as at the moment a part of his brain which despite his best efforts when he'd been he'd been younger had not seen much use began to work incredibly fast. Another, more logical part of his brain pointed out that this was going to make working difficult.
It did agree that the mare who'd chased him was good-looking though.

*****

Twinkle looked up when the doors to the room burst open, and an utterly terrified Twilight burst in.
"Shining Armor..." she huffed, "Changeling... brainwashed... dark mag-... what are you wearing?"

"Bridesmaid dresses" Twinkle said, "Because they're bridesmaids now, apparently."
Twilight paused in thought. "How the...?"

"Well, we came here a few minutes after you left, and then not-Cadance showed up, said the other three weren't available, and that she would..." a scowl overtook the royal blue mare's face, "Love... love... love it, if they filled in for her."
"Seeing as we've been working so hard, and everything" Rarity nodded.

Twilight frowned. "But... you had time to do all this... but... I... that doesn't make any sense. I just saw 'Cadance', at Shining Armor's house."
All eyes turned to Twinkle. "She must have some ability to teleport" the mare said, after a moment.

"That might explain a few things. Or she just flew really, really fast."
"An' it didn't perhaps occur to ya to mention this?" Applejack asked.

"Because I didn't realise there was so short an amount of time between the brainwashing of Shining and Twilight's returning here. When I was being told the wonderful tale of how these events played out, nopony really specified how long all these intervals took."

Applejack opened her mouth, and then closed it again. Twinkle sighed.
"Sorry for shouting."

"That's okay."
Twilight sat by the door, and then stared at Twinkle. "How come you aren't wearing a dress, or Trixie?"

"Well" Twinkle shrugged, "Because of the plan, mostly. Trixie, on the other hoof, declined."
"Declined?"

"Oui" Trixie mumbled, from the corner, "I've been a bridesmaid before. Didn't end well. Lot of fire. Some water."
She then muttered something that sounded amazingly like the words 'not my fault'.

"So, what else did I miss?" Twilight asked. Twinkle shrugged.
"An argument between Applejack and Rarity over whether hats were allowed on wedding dresses."

"It wasn't an argument," Rarity quickly interjected, "It was a civil discussion."
"You were practically shrieking at the top of your lungs" Twinkle said.

"You exaggerate."
"Who won?" Twilight asked.

"It was a draw" Twinkle grinned.
"It was not. We just... agreed to disagree."

"No, we didn't" Applejack sighed, "You just threw a hissy-fit and stopped talking t' me."
"Rainbow Dash said she needed help making her dress more aero-dynamic!"

"Don't drag me into this."
"Do we need to argue?" Fluttershy asked.

There was a sudden pause, which was broken by a knocking at the door. Twinkle slowly made her way over to it, and slowly opened it. Standing on the other side of the door was a cream-coloured mare with a streak of pink going through her blue mare. It was Bon-Bon, and she looked distraught.

"Bon-Bon?" Pinkie Pie asked, "What brings you to Canterlot? Oh, you're probably here for the wedding with Lyra, r-... uh-oh."
"Why 'uh-oh'?" Rainbow Dash asked, with clear suspicion.

"Have you guys seen Lyra?" she asked, slowly walking into the room, as if expecting her girlfriend to be just standing there.
"I've been looking everywhere for her, all day, and I can't find her. I tried looking at all her favourite places that she told me about, I tried looking at the university, but n-nopony's seen her, and I... I don't know where she could be," she began to tremble, "And she'd never go anywhere without telling me first and I haven't seen her all morning and I just-"

Before Bon-Bon could even begin to cry Fluttershy was upon her, and Twinkle noticed everypony was looking at her.
"Do you know where she is?" Applejack asked.

"I-" Twinkle was cut off by the sheer force of Applejack's stare.
"Do you know where she is?" Applejack repeated. Twinkle sagged.

"Yes'm."
"Then why, in the name of sanity, are we still talkin'?"

"It's not that simple. If we rescue her and the other two-"
"Twinkleshine and Minuette. Or Colgate. Or that other really long name nopony ever seems to remember" Pinkie Pie chimed, "And I think somepony once called her 'Fred'."

"If we rescue them, then... we could endanger them further, and Cadance."
"You know where she is, but you won't do anything because you're afraid of what 'might' happen?" Applejack asked. Twinkle winced, and looked at Bon-Bon.

"I... I-"
"Stop makin' excuses and just try and help this mare!" Applejack said.

"I'm not m-" Twinkle trailed off, and then looked down at her hooves. There were a few minutes where she said nothing. Then she looked at Bon-Bon. Shining Armor wasn't the only pony Chrysalis had hurt.

She looked at Applejack, and then nodded.
"Alright, Bon-Bon. Let's go find Lyra."

*****

Some half an hour later, the assembled ponies had gathered in the lowest basement of Canterlot Castle, along with a group of medical professionals. That had been Twilight's idea, fetching some nurses in case the 'old' bridesmaids were in need of aid. Applejack was standing nearby with some rope, for when they found the massive pit. Nopony said anything. Twinkle stared at the door.

"What room is this?" Fluttershy asked.
"An old storage cupboard, by the looks of things," Twinkle said, "Castles like this one tend to acquire disused rooms after a while. I think somepony wrote a paper on it once."

"And how do you know they're in here?" Bon-Bon asked, "When they could be anywhere?"
Twinkle frowned. She knew the entrance to the abandoned mine beneath Canterlot Castle was somewhere in the basements, because even running full pelt there was no way Twilight and Cadance could have ran across Canterlot in the time to interrupt the ceremony otherwise, unless... unless Twilight had teleported, which, she noted, would blow her theory out of the water. She shook her head, and focused her magic, and a small beam lanced out of her horn to the door, which opened with the satisfying customary 'click'.

She slowly opened the door, revealing nothing more than an empty disused room, filled with spider's webs and dust.
And a great big rent in the floor.
"Huh. Wonder how that happened?" Applejack asked.

"Well, nopony comes down here much, I suppose after a while the floorboards just... gave out" Twinkle suggested. "I don't know. Not important."
"Lyra's down there?" Bon-Bon asked quickly, before turning to Applejack.

"Rope, now!"
Applejack just nodded. With some assistance from Rarity, Bon-Bon supplied herself with the rope and leapt down into the darkness.

After a pause, Twinkle sighed, "See, this is where I really wish I could teleport."
"I could levitate you down?" Twilight suggested. Twinkle nodded.

It was slow-going, but after a few seconds in the darkness of the cave, Twinkle was sure she could see clearly. She wondered if perhaps if that was some still-lingering gift of being possessed by a Nightmare. Then she realised it probably had more to do with those crystals reflecting the bare amount of light that came into the cave. That probably helped a lot. What she found when she touched bottom was alarming. Bon-Bon was slowly backing away from three advancing mares, each dresses as bridesmaids and their eyes glowing an unearthly green.

"Don't interfere..." they said, as one. Twinkle just stared.
"So," she said, "You try and deal with your girlfriend, I'll try and work on the other two?"

Bon-Bon nodded, and Twinkle try to manoeuvre around the mares. The ones she now recognised as Twinkleshine and Minuette (or Colgate) turned, and advanced towards her. She tried summoning something to shake off their brainwashing. They advanced quickly.

'Well, so much for the brainwashing slowing them down' she thought, as Twinkleshine aimed a kick at her. She dodged, feeling thankful at least they didn't have their magic.
"Don't interfere" Minuette repeated.

"Interfere with what, exactly?" she asked, dodging another kick.
"Don't interfere."

"Very helpful."
Meanwhile, Bon-Bon was having just as much difficulty with Lyra.

"Honey, it's me. It's Bon-Bon."
"Don't interfere" Lyra droned.

"Please, just fight it, Lyra. I know you can."
"Don't interfere."

"Lyra, ple-" she stopped as she found herself being pressed up against a particularly sharp rock. Lyra advanced, and Bon-Bon readied herself for a fight, and then realised what she had been about to do. She paled as Lyra approached. Her hooves lowered.

"Don't do this, Lyra. I can't fight you."
Lyra got closer, and closer. Bon-Bon closed her eyes, as she felt pressure against herself. She tried not to think of the mare she'd known since she was little, how they'd been best friends growing up, how she'd been devastated when Lyra went away to Canterlot to study music. How they'd reunited just hours before the arrival of Nightmare Moon. She remembered every time they'd been together, every moment they'd argued, made up, every time they'd kissed. That time they'd fought because Lyra thought she was obsessed with Fluttershy, the holiday they'd taken to Appleoosa to make up for it, how they'd both worn those silly hats they'd bought each other, and how she'd been so terrified when that seven minute fight with the buffalo had started, the time Lyra had agreed to hang out at the Rainbow Dash fan-club with her, even though she had wanted to practice her music. Suddenly, that all seemed like it was so far away. She waited.

"S-... sweetie?" a voice said. She opened her eyes. Lyra was staring at her, her eyes still glowing green, but there was something different about them.
"Yes, it's me. Your sweetie. Your Bon-Bon."

"B-... B... Bon-Bon!" in an instant, the green glow vanished, and before Bon-Bon could react there was warmth as Lyra was against her.
"Hey, hey!" the confectioner yelled, "Not in a cave, Lyra."

The mare leaned out, and looked around. "BB... why am I in a bridesmaid dress? In a cave?"
"Might have to ask her that" Bon-Bon said, pointing to the scene on the other side of the small outcropping they were standing on. She looked out toward the rest of the cave.

"How long does this place go on for?" she asked, not noticing Lyra moving toward the other two mares with some speed. There was a loud screaming noise, and the sound of two ponies falling over. Bon-Bon's head swivelled, and she saw Lyra beaming as she stood next to two collapsed mares.

"I can't say I approve of that" Twilight Twinkle muttered. Lyra just rolled her eyes.
"You didn't seem to have anything else planned."

"Alright, questions first, then we get out of this cave" Twinkle said. She turned to Lyra.
"What's the last thing you remember?"

Lyra gave this some thought. "I... we had just visited Rarity, who was designing the dresses for Cadance's wedding, and she was really angry for some reason, so we decided to give her some space. And then about half an hour later, she turned up again, said she wanted to apologise, and wanted to see how our bridesmaid dresses looked again. And we were just happy she wasn't angry with us, so we didn't question it. And then she just stared at us, and I'd swear her eyes turned green for a moment, and then... next thing I remember I'm right next to this really sexy mare."

"Lyra..." Bon-Bon sighed.
"Okay," Twinkle said, "Well, we're gonna get you to the hospital, get you examined, just in case something's happened, but I think it's a safe bet that you're alright."

She paused and turned to Lyra, "Oh, and... I would recommend not mentioning what happened with Cadance for a while. Just... keep quiet about it."
"So the mare that hurt Lyra and her friends gets to walk free?" Bon-Bon said.

Twinkle stared at her. "Not for much longer. But the situation is... difficult."
"It wasn't Cadance, was it? I mean, not really Cadance," Lyra said, "Which would explain why she was such a jerk because I know Cady, and she's not like that, ever."

"Please, just... say you don't remember what happened when asked. Just for now."
Lyra paused, staring at Twinkle. "Alright, okay."

She looked over at the prone Twinkleshine and Minuette. "What about them?"
"I can lift them out of here" Twinkle said.

"How did Lyra break free of that... whatever that was?" Bon-Bon asked. Twinkle stared at her.
"True Love, obviously."

"Yeah, I get that," Bon-Bon said, smiling at Lyra, "But how did it actually happen?"
"No, it was True Love" Twinkle said, "What were you thinking of when she broke free?"

Bon-Bon gave a bashful grin, and Twinkle shook her head, blushing as she did.
"No, no. I don't need to know. Ever. From now on, I shall save ponies, and that will be it. Yes. Yes, it will."

Twinkle walked over to the two mares and lifted them up, taking care not to bash them against the ceiling. Lyra held on tight to Bon-Bon as the mare was hoisted upwards by the rope.
"Come to Canterlot, we'll go to your friends' wedding, have a few laughs" Bon-Bon muttered.

"Oh, come on, sweetie, it's not like we're in the middle of a warzone or anything."
"I think I preferred the buffalos. And besides, you looked really cute in that hat."

"You mean I don't look cute right now?"
Twinkle rolled her eyes at this, as she carefully levitated Twinkleshine and Minuette out of sight.

*****

Some time later, the changeling queen was stalking the halls of Canterlot Castle. Something felt amiss, to her, and despite her best efforts, she wasn't able to feel calm. She was wondering if it was something to do with that girl Twilight Sparkle, or her idiotic friends. She would perhaps have felt more comfortable if these ponies didn't seem so gullible. They had all bought her disguise as Cadance hook, line and sinker. Even the vaunted Princess Celestia didn't seem to notice. It was taking a serious amount of effort not to laugh in triumph. Then she noticed something unusual. Princess Luna stalking the halls, without so much as a sample of caffeine at hoof.

"Aunt Luna" she said calmly.
"Niece" the mare nodded. Chrysalis paused, and looked at Luna.

"Is there something the matter?" she asked. Luna paused.
"Perhaps. Your bridesmaids were found on the doorstep of a system of caves. Ones we had not known existed."

She felt a rising panic. Had somepony found out about her? "Are they-?" she began. Luna shook her head.
"Two of them are in no condition to speak to any guard, and the last will require much in the way of rest. But before her slumber she stated she could not remember her assailant."

Luna shifted, "A most perplexing mystery."
"That's a shame" Chrysalis said, the same way one would discuss a paper-cut. She struggled to get her heartbeat under control.

"But, no big loss. I have already acquired new bridesmaids."
Luna looked at her. "Yes, we gathered as much. Twilight Sparkle and her friends informed us most eagerly."

Chrysalis nodded, and walked away, satisfied that those three dumb ponies weren't going to reveal her to the world.
"Cadance?" Luna called out. She turned to look at Luna.

"We were wondering... for thy wedding to your betrothed... would it be acceptable for us to... give thee away?"
Chrysalis paused, and considered this. She didn't know if she could maintain her illusion with two alicorns watching her every move, and that stupid little Twilight Sparkle, and that other mare that kept following her about.

"Oh, auntie, I'm afraid that's not really necessary," she said, trying not to giggle, "You see, Celestia is already taking part in the ceremony, and... well, that really makes your presence..." she struggled to find the right phrase.
"Surplus to requirements, really."

And with that, she turned and left, trying not to savour the moment. Everything was going splendidly. And she had a good feeling about tomorrow.

Luna frowned, waited until 'Cadance' was out of sight, and hearing, and then turned to the two mares standing next to her.
"Changeling" she said. Twilight Sparkle nodded.

"So, you wish for me to... what?"
"Post guards in the hospital where those three are being kept, just in case" Twilight Twinkle said, "Just in case she comes around hoping to silence them."

There was a pause before she added, "Though if they find Bon-Bon's staying by Lyra's side, I'd tell them not to bother trying to remove her. We need every able-bodied guard we can find right now."
Luna nodded. "Anything else?"

Twinkle paused. "No, no. Don't think so. Just be ready for when the wedding starts. And... by the way, tomorrow? You might need to deal with an angry and / or upset Celestia."
Luna frowned. "What exactly is it you plan on doing tomorrow?"

Both Twilights looked at each other. "You don't want to know" they both said.
Luna considered this, and found herself agreeing. "Very well then. Good night, Twilight Sparkle, Twilight Twinkle."

*****

Of course, actually getting to sleep that night proved... difficult. Nothing to do but sit and wait and listen to the clock in the bedroom suite tick. And tick, and tick.
And then it happened. I really have no idea why...

Twilight Twinkle frowned at the ceiling, listening to the clock strike off second after second. She sat up, and looked at the clock, which was just a few minutes away from striking eleven o'clock. She frowned. She had presumed from all the time they'd been rushing about, getting Lyra to a hospital, that it was much later than that. But no, she was staring at the clock as it ticked, and ticked, and ticked. There was only one day left until the wedding of Shining Armor and 'Princess Mi Amore Cadenza'.

One day left. She slid off the bed, and walked over to the window, eyeing the distant stars, slightly obscured by Shining Armor's barrier.

"One day more..." she sighed. She felt something begin to swell in her, deep inside her, and she barely tried to struggle as she was certain she heard music swell.

"One day more...
Another day, another destiny.
This never-ending road in front of me.
One day more...

Elsewhere, a mare stared in a mirror, admiring her stolen appearance. In it, she could see the stallion she was supposedly marrying.

"Tomorrow you'll be worlds away,
And yet with you my life has started."

Far down beneath Canterlot, in long-abandoned mines, surrounded by an unbreakable cage of gemstones and using the ground itself as a bed, a barely-moving mare sang to herself in her sleep.

"One more day all on my own,
One more day with him not knowing"

Shining Armor, believing 'Cadance' could not hear him, found himself being afflicted by the song.

"I was born to be with you,
And I swear I will be true!"

Down in the caverns again, the mare he was vowing to protect continued singing.

"What a life I might have known,
But he'll never see me there"

Cadance woke a few seconds later as she felt tears beginning to move down her cheek again.
Meanwhile, the imposter couldn't help but imagine herself moving amongst an assembled mass of her people, her disguise abandoned as she moved amongst them.

"One more day till confrontation,
we will nip it in the bud!
I will fight these little schoolgirls,
they will wet themselves with blood!"

Twilight Twinkle stared out at Canterlot, and sighed.

"One day more..."

Shining Armor turned to look at who he thought was Cadance. She smiled back with what could've been mistaken for warmth.

"I did not live until today..."

"Tomorrow you'll be worlds away.

They walked over to one another.

"And yet with you my world has started."

Down in the caves, Cadance stared up at the ceiling.

"One day more all on my own..."

As Shining Armor went to sleep, Chrysalis resumed her triumphant singing.

"One day more till confrontation,
We will nip it in the bud!
We'll be ready for these schoolgirls
Tomorrow is the judgement day!

Twinkle was certain she could hear the voices singing out against the night.

"Tomorrow we'll be far away,
Tomorrow is the judgement day.

And then, at that moment, it was like she could feel them alongside her.

"Tomorrow we'll discover,
what the lady above has in store!
One more dawn.

One more day.

One day more!"

After that... odd little bit of singing, I found that getting to sleep was easier, though I still felt like a little girl before Hearth's Warming. Only, it wasn't anything like Hearth's Warming.
And being asleep wasn't exactly much fun either.

~~~~~

Hooves made their way through the darkened castle, eyes scanning everywhere. Something was wrong. Canterlot Castle had interiors made of marble, white and glistened, not charcoal grey and burnt. And the carpet was the wrong shade of green. And was the sky supposed to be that colour of red-yellow? Probably not. Still, she felt strangely excited for some reason, and she didn't know why.

"Twinkie!" a voice cried out, "You're late!"
She found herself facing a door. A mare approached her.

"And you're still not dressed properly!"
She stared at the mare, with her blue-grey fur and her lilac mane. The mare reached out with her hooves, and there was a tearing sound. She looked at the mare somehow tore away her... it looked like her skin, almost, and threw it away. Then her horn glowed, and a small mirror appeared in front of her face.

"What do you think? No, wait, no time. Late!" the apparition of her daughter sighed, and shoved her forward, as she tried to understand why she was suddenly wearing a wedding dress.
She moved through the doors, and saw row upon row of faces staring at her. She tried to fight her legs as they moved her toward the main stand, where an unmoving shape loomed. Then she heard a voice call out.

"Twilight Twyla Twinkle, daughter of Twilight Sparkle and some nobody, you stand accused of interfering in the affairs, fates and destinies of others, and ruining True Love. And dyeing your coat lilac."
She saw the pony standing by the alter turn to face her, her bright orange eyes glowing brightly.

"You summoned me into this world, then instead of just destroying me, you wiped my mind sealed me in a vapid children's book!" Nightmare Eclipse yelled.

"You changed what would have been! You gave foreknowledge of the future without consideration for its effect!" she heard a voice that sounded eerily like Twilight Sparkle's yell.

"And you didn't bother to warn anypony of what Chrysalis would do to Shining Armor, and you had to be told to save her bridesmaids" said what seemed to be Bon-Bon.

"You refused to take Wisp's feelings into consideration" someone who sounded an awful lot like Fluttershy declared, "And led him to being reclaimed by the changelings he was trying to escape."
"And then you let a Nightmare waltz right on in and use you to kill me!" Shining Sapphire loomed, "But it's alright for you, Twinkie, 'cuz you get to run off back to the past, and have adventures, even though you already know how to get back!"

"And you ruined my friendship with Silver Spoon!" a young voice, dripping with arrogance and disgust declared. Twinkle turned to see the young mare, with a butler standing next to him carrying a platter that looked like it was made of silver, "Look what I had to do to her!"

She gave the butler a kick, and he lifted the dome off the platter, revealing the startled looking head of Silver Spoon, whose eyes turned to glare at Twinkle.
"Yeah, thanks a lot!" she snapped.

Twinkle stared at the assembled ponies, all glaring intensely at her.
"Sorry, mom" Lilac's voice called out, "But, let's be fair, you knew this had to happen sooner or later..."

"There is only one answer to this!" the unseen judge announced, before leaning in to reveal Cadance, grinning manically.
Suddenly, every assembled pony shifted, and blurred until they looked like changelings themselves.
"Death!"

They lunged...

*****

Twilight Twinkle screamed, or at least tried to, only to find herself falling off the bed. For a while she laid there, crumpled in a heap. She wasn't sure what time it was, but the sun was definitely up.
"Stars above..." she muttered. She slowly tried to disentangle herself, not sure where her legs began and the sheets ended. After a few minutes there was a knock on the door.

"Just a minute" she called out. In an instant the door opened, and Twilight walked in.
"Oh, my" Twinkle heard Fluttershy call out.

"No, no, it's alright, everypony" Twinkle sighed, "I'm just... caught. In the bed-sheets."
"Bad dreams?" Twilight asked, walking over to her.

"Do you need some help?" she asked. Twinkle paused.
"Yeah, that'd be very nice of you" she eventually mumbled.

"What time is it?" she asked.
"Not yet time for the rehearsal. But we heard noises and... well, when you said you needed a minute we figured something was wrong, because you don't wear bedclothes, and you've never really seemed concerned about your appearance, so we got concerned."

Twinkle stared at Twilight. "What do you mean, 'don't seem concerned about my appearance'?"
There was a small pause for a few seconds before she sighed. "Thanks, anyway."

"Not a problem" Twilight smiled. Then her smiled changed, "Are you coming downstairs for breakfast?"
Twinkle nodded. "Sure."

*****

Breakfast was an odd, quiet affair. Evidently Rainbow Dash wasn't used to the meal, preferring to skip it and eat only after lunchtime, which gave the pegasus some pause. For a given value of 'pause'. Both Twilights, and Spike, were situated at the head of table, by Princess Celestia, who kept looking at Twilight, no doubt expecting the mare to regale her with what she'd been learning since they'd last talked. Instead, the mare was just staring at her bowl of soup. Spike, meanwhile, was pouting because he'd had to leave the wedding cake figurines back in Twilight's room. The quiet was eventually broken by Rarity and Trixie beginning to argue over whether the mare was allowed to wear her hat and cape to the wedding.

"I will not allow it" Rarity said.
"It's my hat and I'll wear it where I want to!" Trixie snapped.

"But it's so unsuited to a wedding," Rarity pleaded, "And I could quite easily put together a suitable dress for you."
"No."

Rarity scowled with the fury of a scorned dressmaker.
"Now see here, Trixie, you-"

"No. I'm not giving up my hat and wearing one of those dresses, alright?"
"It is not 'alright'. How can you attend an event of a lifetime dressed like that?"

Trixie paused for a moment. "Because every event I attend is significant, and I am always dressed suitably for the occasion. Besides, Trixie would rather not show up than wear one of those silly... flower... head-band things."
"It's a garland!"

"Should we-?" Twinkle asked. Twilight shook her head.
"They'll get over it in a minute."

"Before or after they start fighting?" Twinkle asked.
"I don't think they'll go that f-... Spike, are you alright?"

The little dragon was staring ahead for a moment. Twilight gave him a sharp nudge with her hoof.
"Sorry, what?" he asked, "I was just thinking about... stuff."

Twilight quickly walked over to the two mares and began to try and talk them down. After she eventually managed to pacify them, everything returned to normality, until Princess Celestia informed Twilight she had appointments to keep, while reminding everypony to arrive at the main hall for the wedding rehearsal, at which point whatever good mood there had been had utterly vanished. Everypony start nervously glancing anywhere but at each other.

"So, Rarity," Trixie said quickly, "You might at least show me the dress you made, since you put so much effort into it."

*****

Time passed, eventually, and after a few short hours the time for the rehearsal arrived. The hall was ready, everypony was in place. All that was left was for me to play my part.

Twilight stared at the young mare, who was sitting outside the secondary doors leading to the hall. She seemed lost in thought.
"It's almost time" Twilight said. Twinkle looked up at her.

"Are you alright?" she asked. Twinkle paused.
"No. But I'm not going to let it stop me. Actually, I'm kind of amazed I haven't teleported away or something yet."
She laughed, "Guess I'm more drained that I thought."

She gave this some consideration before adding, "Of course, I'd still be a few weeks out from full strength anyway. And I suppose my lack of sleep hasn't been helping much."
Twinkle scuffed a hoof against the floor, almost expecting somepony to appear out of nowhere and read the riot act at her for that. She looked up at Twilight.

"Hey, Twilight?"
"Yes?"

"Before... all this, I just wanted to say something."
"Yes?"

Twinkle took a deep breath, and then tried smiling. "You did the best job you could. You know that, right?"
Twilight blinked. "You're talking about..."

"Yeah" Twinkle said, before hugging her. "I might even go as far as to say I'm the luckiest daughter in Equestria."
There was a pause, before Twinkle leaned out again. There was the sound of distant organ music.

Twilight frowned. "Twilight... is there something you aren't telling me?"
The mare looked at Twilight, her burnt orange eyes filled with a strange sadness, and then she turned away and faced the doors.

"Let's do this" she said.

*****

The plan was quite simple, really. It was thanks to Rarity and Rainbow Dash that I came up with it. Basically, if time wanted a Twilight to storm the wedding, and make an ass out of themselves, then who were we to argue? The difference was that my 'reasons' for yelling at green-eyes was going to be different.
And I suppose the nonsense reason 'Cadance' had used to get rid of her actual bridesmaids helped as well...

"No need to rush!" Princess Celestia noted, as the five mares slowly walked down the carpet, each trying not to let their nerves show.

"Then, Cadance will enter" all eyes turned to the doors, where two guardsponies were standing. Together, they opened the doors, on the other side of which stood the imposter, who slowly made her way towards where Shining Armor was standing. The stallion smiled brightly as the mare walked up to him, and the two touched horns. Perhaps if they hadn't known Cadance was an imposter, and of what they would have done if they hadn't know, the girls would have thought it was touching.

"I'll say a few words," Celestia continued, "and then we'll being with the vows."
She looked over to Shining Armor, who was still grinning like a schoolcolt, "Shining Armor, do you have the ring from the best mare?"

He turned to where Twilight should have been standing, and saw only Spike, keeping the cushion the ring should have been sitting on over his knees, while the young dragon played with the cake figurines.
"Do you?" he laughed, imitating Shining Armor (and failing), "I do!" he laughed, until he noticed everypony was staring at him.

"Hey," Shining Armor said, "Has anypony seen Twilight?"
"Oh, she's not coming" a voice called out, and in a puff of smoke, Twilight Twinkle appeared.

"She's the smart one. Not standing next to her" Twinkle said, pointing a hoof at 'Cadance'.
Shining Armor looked uncomfortable, and then turned to the clearly annoyed mare next to him.

"I'm sorry, I really don't know why she's doing this."
"Maybe we should just ignore her" 'Cadance' said, irritation rife in her words.

"Or you could listen to me. Maybe I've got something important to say."
Shining Armor rolled his eyes.

"How can you stand next to her?!" Twinkle yelled, "How can you say you will marry her?!"
The look of utter fear on the changeling queen's face was making the whole endeavour worth it, Twinkle thought.
Shining Armor, seeking to live up his name, stood in front of his 'love', glaring at Twinkle. She ignored it, and quickly tried to make her way around him.

"She's been a jerk to all of us, she barely cares about the work everypony's been doing for this wedding, she is quite obviously the one who tried to vanish her bridesmaids, and she was an ass to Princess Luna. And if all that wasn't enough, she's clearly brainwashing Shining Armor!"

With each statement she backed the changeling up against the wall. The mare glanced to everypony nervously, and then down at Twinkle.
"Or would you like to explain why he's getting those headaches?"

'And three, two, one' Twinkle thought. As if one cue, the mare's eyes closed, and she began sobbing.
"Why are you doing this to me?!" she wailed, before rushing past Twinkle.

"Because you're evil! EVIL!" Twinkle yelled, trying to restrain her inner-actor and failing, as she chased the mare out of the room, "And if I don't stop you from ruining Shining Armor's life, nopony else will!"
She turned, fully expecting to slam into the solid wall that was her uncle. She did. It hurt. She looked up, and practically winced from the ice-cold fury emanating from Shining Armor.

"Who do you think you are?" he said. "Who do you THINK you are?"
He glowered at her. "You really thought you could just barge your way in here, make a scene and get away with it because you know my little sister?!"

His eyes suddenly started to spin, until he slammed a hoof against his head.
"You want to know why my eyes have been all weird? It's because ever since I started having to perform that shielding spell, I've been getting terrible migraines. Cadance has been using her magic to heal me, because she cares about me, and knows I don't have time to go see a doctor!"

Twinkle opened her mouth to say something, but Shining Armor continued, "And I don't know where you got that nonsense about trying to vanish her bridesmaids. She was worried about their disappearance, but she replaced them because the only reason they were at this wedding was to meet Canterlot royalty."
"What a load of-"

"And I'm sorry if she didn't worship the ground you walk on. The reason she hasn't been polite to your 'friends' is because with me being so busy, she's had to make all the hard decisions, and she's completely stressed out because it's important her big day be perfect. And I am not going to let anypony disappoint her, especially not some wash-out failure, who doesn't have the sense to recognise reality staring her in the face. I don't know how you managed to become friends with my little sister, but I'd be astonished if it was because of anything other than her pity."

He growled, and then walked past her, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go comfort my bride."
He stopped by the door, "For your sake, I really hope we don't meet again."

There was a pause, before Rarity spoke up. "I think we should probably go and see where Twilight has gone to. The poor girl's probably overslept."
Quickly, all six mares and Spike walked past her, trying not to look back. She sat on the carpet, glowering as Princess Celestia stalked past. She had no idea what the mare would say to her, but she was certain it wouldn't be good.
Celestia stared at her for a moment, then slowly turned away, slamming the doors behind her as she left.

Twilight Twinkle sat, and waited a moment, then let out the longest sigh of relief she'd ever given.

So, after that unpleasantness, all that was left was to bask in victory, and wait for the changeling queen to make herself known. Which didn't take too long.

"So..." a familiar voice said, and Twilight Twinkle turned to see 'Cadance' staring at her, "How did we come to this?"

She walked over to Twinkle, and frowned. "You know, I was honestly expecting his little sister to come charging in, screaming defiance at me. She seemed the possessive type. I honestly didn't expect a love-sick little puppy to come seeking to rescue Shining Armor, though."

Twinkle stared at her.
"Nothing to say for yourself?" not-Cadance asked, "Well, it wouldn't help, much."

At this point, I am going to confess I went off-script. This mare had hurt Shining Armor. She had hurt my mother, and indirectly my mother's friends. She had hurt Celestia, and worst of all, she hurt Cadance. Not to mention she would likely go on to hurt Wisp. And... a problem I now recognise all too well is that I am, sometimes, incredibly impulsive. And here was the mare who'd hurt so much for so little, right in front of me, speaking with Cadance's voice, her face. At which point everything I was holding in flooded out.
And I just saw red.

Twilight Twinkle slowly stood, and with all the force she could muster, kicked the changeling in the face. There were a few seconds pause before the mare finally reacted.
"Ow. I almost felt that."

Twinkle followed it up with a ball of fire, which struck the mare in the face, She was certain she heard laughter.
"That's it! Put up a fight! And here I thought you little ponies were so weak and peace-loving!"

Chrysalis found the mare rearing in her face. She found herself being struck again.
"Peace-loving, yeah. Not weak" Twinkle stated. Just for good measure, she hit Chrysalis a few more times.

There was a derisive snort. "Then how come I managed to subdue that oaf Shining Armor, or those three mewling kittens without so much as a shout, then?"
There was a burning sensation, as a bolt of lightning slammed into Chrysalis' side. She felt hooves impacting with her again.

"And what about that pretty pink princess? No dignity there, all that screaming and crying!"
Twinkle aimed a hoof at Chrysalis, and then found it connecting with another hoof. It was at this point, through the rage and the rush of adrenalin, she realised her mind was screaming at her to run. This mare had managed to overpower Celestia and she was trying to punch her.

'Oh, crap' she thought, before a hoof got her mid-section, sending her flying. She hit the ground, and bounced. Chrysalis stood up and stretched.
"You knew this was coming," she said slowly, "You knew where those stupid three mares were, you knew I would be coming back here. What are you?"

She stalked over toward Twinkle. "Are you a spy? Maybe a thief? Or an assassin? Could it be that this nation of sheep has some sheep-dogs watching over them?"
She paused, as Twinkle slowly got to her hooves. "No. No that's not it, is it?"

Twinkle felt a lance of energy screaming through her head, as she heard the changeling speaking again.
"Why don't you tell me, hmm? I just wanted to talk, and all you did was attack me. Tell Cadance what you know."

Twinkle focused her thoughts, ignoring the feeling of her mind being invaded, and imagined a cast iron door, and it slamming shut, as the door suddenly glowed, with words burnt into it.
'Get Out of My Head!'

The changeling queen sprang back, as if she'd been slapped.
"My, my. Problems with somepony going through your mind before?" she grinned, before staring at Twinkle, her eyes flashing green.

"Trust me, we can fix that for you."
Twinkle saw the malicious grin flicker as she let lose a volley of energies, her mind distracted with questions as to why nopony was bothering to see what was going on. Surely the energies being let lose would have drawn somepony's attention quickly enough. Then she felt a cold trickle moving down her spine. Chrysalis had sound-proofed the room. She poured more energy out, even as she felt another part of her desperately screaming for her to flee. She couldn't fight a Changeling Queen powered by Shining Armor's love, and she certainly wasn't going to win, especially not while she was still magically drained.

She focused some more energies, shooting at the candles that illuminated the room, and some more to the curtains that were being held back, before cutting off her energies, and trying to move about the room.
Then she heard the chuckling. "Darkness? Really? You think you can hide in the darkness? I am a changeling. I am the Changeling Queen. Darkness means nothing to me, and the light is nothing but brightness. I do not need eyes to see you, little girl."

Twinkle paused, trying to hold her breath.
Then she realised her mistake. She was in the darkness, alone, and the minute she turned around, she was going to be face-to-face with a truly pissed off changeling queen.

Then she saw two bright green eyes hovering in front of her in the darkness.
"I see you"
She was aware of being kicked, incredibly hard. She was aware of being thrown through the air, and of an alarming noise and pain, lots and lots of pain. She tried standing up, but heard the sound of a hoof stomping in front of her, and then there was brightness. After the spots vanished, she saw the changeling glaring at her.

"Nighty-night!" the mare grinned, and the last thing Twinkle saw was a hoof rushing toward her.

*****

Finding Twilight had been easy enough. The mare had decided to make it look like she'd forgotten something back in her room, and use that as a reason to arrive late to the rehearsal. In quick order they set about informing her of what had transpired between Shining Armor and Twilight Twinkle.
"Oh" Twilight had said.

"Yeah, that was pretty much what I thought" Rainbow Dash said, "Only with an extra word after that."
"So, what do we do now?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight paused.

"Well, somepony will have to remain on watch near the cave until Twilight gets out of the cave,"
"Hey, Twilight, could you... I dunno, maybe not refer to Twinkle as 'Twilight'?" Rainbow Dash asked, "It's just... makes it real hard to tell who you're talking about. And it makes you sound like Trixie."

"Hey!"
"Does it?" Twilight asked. Rainbow Dash nodded.

"Well, anyway, somepony will have to watch the cave, wait until Twilight Twinkle shows up, and meanwhile the rest of us will have to find something else to do. Go over preparations for the wedding or something."
"I can do that!" Pinkie saluted.

"Meanwhile," Twilight said, "I think I would have words with my brother."
The mare walked away, leaving everypony else standing there.

"Shouldn't we try and catch up to her?" Fluttershy asked. There was a sudden silence.
"Yeah, of course we should" Rainbow Dash said firmly, "I'm not gonna sit by and let that big idiot yell at any more of my friends."

There was a sudden pause, as Rainbow Dash tried to look as nonchalant as possible.
"Guess that settles that, then" Applejack observed.

And they quickly set after Twilight.

*****

Shining Armor had been pacing the halls when he encountered Twilight. His smile at seeing his sister utterly vanished when he saw the look on her face.
"Hey, Twily, have you seen Cada-"

"No."
Shining Armor sighed. For some reason he felt incredibly tired. "What is it, Twilight?"

"Did you really yell at one of my friends?"
He sighed again. He hadn't wanted this conversation, not while there was a distraught Cadance unaccounted for. But Twilight's question demanded an answer.

"Yes. I'm sorry, but... I am under a lot of stress at the moment, and the last thing I need is some crazy-pony running in and making my fiancé cry."
He stared at Twilight. "She started accusing Cadance of being responsible for her bridesmaids disappearing, she said Cadance was the reason I've been having these headaches, when she's been trying to heal me. She was laying everything at the hooves of the mare who's been running herself ragged trying to organise this wedding before you came."

He looked at his little sister, and there was something about the way she was looking at him, as if she was almost expecting him to say something.
"Twily, seriously, is there something bothering you? You know you can tell me, right?"

Twilight nodded, and smiled weakly at him. "I just... are you sure that Cadance is the mare you fell in love with?"
Shining Armor gave this some thought, and realised what Twilight was hinting at. "If she is acting a bit different from how you remember, I'm sure it's because of stress. I've been so busy on my work I haven't really had time to talk to her much, or be of much help to her. I've been so busy on my own pain I haven't really been able to do anything for her."

He smiled warmly at Twilight, "I'll try and talk to her, see if I can't sort this whole mess out."
She looked up at him, "Shiny?"

"Yeah?"
"You know you're my B.B.B.F.F, right?"

"Yes" he said slowly, something about Twilight's tone making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
"Good. Because I just want you to know that if you ever, ever repeat what you said to her in that hall to any of my friends ever, ever again, well... B.B.B.F.F or not, you will regret it."

After saying that her expression softened, and she smiled at him. "Okay?"
He nodded dumbly. "Got it."

And with that, Twilight turned and walked away. Then he heard somepony cry out in distress.
"SHIN-ING!"
Instantly he stood up, and rushed towards the source of Cadance's voice.

*****

"Did anypony just hear that?" Applejack asked.
"Oh, yeah" Rainbow Dash sighed, "We heard it."

The group stood perfectly still in the middle of the corridor, trying to determine which way to go.
"Hey, Spike, you lived here, how come you don't know the way around?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Sorry. I don't know every corridor in the castle. Usually I just stayed in Twilight's room in case she received a package while she was out, or something."
"Hey, there she is!" Pinkie Pie declared. Everypony looked where she was pointing, and saw Twilight was indeed approaching. She looked startled.

"Hey, girls" she said, on approach, and the swift hug that followed after.
"So, you talked with your brother?" Rarity asked.

"I... I tried, but... it..." Twilight slouched, "It was difficult saying as much as I did."
Rarity nodded, before a look of concern overcame her. "What exactly did you say?"

"I tried asking him if he wasn't concerned about 'Cadance' and her behaviour, but... he's just so... in love with her. I just..."
She groaned.

"It's okay, Twilight," Fluttershy said, "At least this day ca-"
"Don't!" Rainbow Dash yelled.

"Sorry, Fluttershy, but anytime anypony in Daring Do asks whether things are gonna get worse, they get so worse!"
"Hey," Pinkie Pie said, "That's a new one."

There was a pause. "New... what, Pinkie?" Rarity asked.
"Not sure... but it's probably pretty random."

"Excuse me, but does anypony else hear that?" Fluttershy asked.
"Hear what? Ah don't hear anything?"

"It sounds like..." Fluttershy squeaked in what looked like terror.
"I know that music!" she said, before in an amazing move managing to curl into a perfect sphere.

It should perhaps be explained that everypony's current position was not too far from the main hall anyway, down one of the larger main corridors. It should also be pointed out that this wouldn't have helped them escape the pony tracking them.
"I have arrived!" declared a voice that to Twilight and Rarity was all too familiar.

"Oh... no!" Rarity gasped.
"What? What is it?" Applejack asked.

"Not her! Not now!"
Suddenly a small contingent of ponies appeared, several carrying atop them a silver-haired mare whose eyes were obscured by glasses, under which there was an expression of practiced apathy.

"It eez I, Photo Feenish, come to find de ones who vill be vwearingk the bridesmaid dresses for Princzess Cadenza!"
There were a few moments as Twilight and Rarity stared in horror, and Spike in confusion, while Pinkie Pie just stared at the new arrival like it was the most rational thing in the world, while Trixie, Applejack and Rainbow Dash all tried to make sense of what they were seeing.

"...The hay?!" Rainbow Dash eventually got out.

*****

Luna had been woken by one of her guards informing her, with some enthusiasm it had to be said, that Princess Celestia was apparently in a foul temper, and that there had been a disturbance at the wedding rehearsal. Luna had nodded, and slowly woke up to go talk to her older sister. After some searching, she found Celestia staring out at Canterlot.
"Sister?" she asked.

"There was an altercation at the wedding rehearsal" Celestia said. Luna said nothing, waiting for her sister to continue.
"And I did nothing. I did nothing as Twilight Twinkle burst in and accused Cadance of being responsible for Shining Armor's current health problems, and for the disappearance of her bridesmaids. I just stood by as Cadance fled the room, and watched as Shining Armor tore Twilight Twinkle apart."

"I presume you mean that in a verbal sense, not a physical one" Luna commented. Celestia looked at her, and then sighed. Even sitting down as she was, Celestia was still taller than Luna.
"And I was angry, Luna. Angry because of what the young mare was saying. Angry because Cadance was crying and I wasn't able to help her. Angry because I did not stop Cadance from fleeing. Angry because I was angry."

There was another sigh. "And yet... the Cadance I kn- The Cadance I thought I knew would never have run away. I haven't talked to her much lately, but I had been busy, talking with foreign diplomats who wanted to know about the wedding, dealing with all the usual paperwork, arranging matters with the Canterlot weather team so that the weather was just right for tomorrow. I had hoped that by calling in Twilight Sparkle and her friends to help it would be a way of helping Cadance, and allow her to relax, and take some of the stress off her mind."

Luna frowned. "Cadance's actions are not the result of any failure of your part, sister. I can assure you of that much."
Celestia looked at her, and then frowned. "Maybe I should just go have a talk with Cadance, and see how she's getting on."
Luna gave no indication as to whether this was a good idea of not. Celestia turned to look at her again.

"Luna, is there something the matter?"
"No," said the Princess of the Night, "Nothing is the matter. At all. It's just good that you have stopped pouting."

"You sure you are not keeping something from me?"
"Not at all. Now I have to go feed Kirby. Right now."

And with that, Luna took off into the air, leaving Celestia sitting on top of the tallest tower in Canterlot wondering what had just happened. Pouting, indeed. She hadn't been pouting, she'd just been thinking. She shook her head, and made a note to catch up to Luna at some point and ask her whether she was going to attend the wedding. And while she was on the subject of talking to ponies, she wondered if it wasn't an idea to talk to Twilight.

*****

It wasn't that being dragged into a photo-shoot of the infamous Photo Finish was bad, as such. It was more that neither Applejack or Rainbow Dash were feeling cooperative, while Fluttershy was in a full-on catatonic state, which Twilight was trying, with little success, to drag her out of, while Rarity, Spike and Pinkie Pie just went along with everything. At least until Spike was gently moved out of the way on the grounds of clearly not being a bridesmaid. And then Photo Finish saw Trixie's hat.

"No hat" she declared, and Trixie's hat was suddenly removed, despite the mare's objections. Photo Finish frowned.
"Hat." And suddenly Trixie's hat was returned.

"Different hat!" and then it was replaced with something else. Trixie just glowered, though Photo Finish didn't seem to notice or care.
Eventually, however, Photo Finish seemed to have what she was looking for, with all seven mares carefully arranged in a way that made sense only to Photo Finish.

"Wunderbar! This vill be ze sensation!" the mare said, apparently to herself.
"Can we go now?" Rainbow Dash asked, annoyed at her hair having been styled, instead of being allowed to remain in its natural (and therefore, naturally awesome) state.

Photo Finish stared at Rainbow Dash like the mare had suggested they wear fish on their heads.
"No! There must be more!"

"Ah don't like the sound of that" Applejack uttered. However, they were only held against their will for another half an hour, as Photo Finish experimented with different ways of posing everypony, utterly ignoring the distress and discomfort of the mares.
"I have done eet! I, Photo Finish, have acvuired success. I go!" she declared, and after a pause, slowly walked away, her massive entourage following after her.

"Does anypony else know what just happened?" Trixie asked.
"No" Rainbow Dash said instantly.

"Fluttershy?" Twilight asked, nudging the mare gently, "It's okay. They're gone."
"Are we sure about that?" Applejack asked slowly. "Like, really, really sure?"

"Let us hope so" Rarity sighed.
"Now then, I believe there was mention of waiting at that entrance to the mine for Twilight Twinkle to appear, was there not?"

Twilight nodded. "I was thinking we all take shifts until tomorrow. I'll volunteer for staying on-guard all day tomorrow."
"So..." Spike asked, "Who exactly is gonna volunteer to sit by a big hole for hours first?"

****

"Are you sure you don't need something? I could see if there's a pillow nearby? Or I could try and fetch some hot chocolate?" Fluttershy asked, and once again, Spike politely declined. It wasn't really fair, he told himself, being asked to go first by Rarity and Fluttershy at once. How was he, a gentlem-... gentledragon supposed to resist both of them at once? Who could?

Still, at least the guards remained outside the small storage cupboard. Something about Fluttershy made even the gruffest guards ever suddenly develop ideas of being chivalrous and gallant, which, while understandable were annoying after a while, although Fluttershy just shrugged it all off in her usual fashion.

Actually, as Spike gave it some thought, it wasn't really a 'small' storage cupboard at all. Most storage cupboards didn't have room for a small dragon and a Pegasus to sit some way apart from one another, and they could probably have fitted a chair in inside if they wanted to.
"Hope Twinkle's okay..." Spike said.

*****

Twinkle found herself jolted awake, and then after a few seconds began to really regret it, as pain blistered through her, far too much to even scream. Wherever she was it was cold and damp, and incredibly dark. There was the tiniest bit of light in the caves, but beyond that there was nothing.
'Okay, Twinkie, we have successfully antagonised the Changeling Queen enough, and have arrived down in the abandoned mine beneath Canterlot as per the overall plan. Bravo. Though perhaps a note for next time would be to avoid fighting her.'

She tried standing up, and was met with indescribable pain. She focused, and managed to get a dim light from her horn, and then saw a disturbing sight, which at least explained why it was impossible to stand up. A quick cursory medical examination revealed some more disturbing facts, but nothing immediately life-threatening.
'Indeed, bravo, Twinkie. Aside from several broken bones, it's all utter clockwork.'

She paused. 'And I'm talking to myself. Wonderful.'
She took a deep breath, and glanced about. After a few minutes she heard a high-pitched wail and laughter, and a familiar face was projected onto each face of the crystals around her.

"Welcome, little wedding crasher, to the caves beneath Canterlot!" the fake Cadance smiled.
"Once this place was home to the greedy unicorns who desired the gems that could be found inside. Now? It's your prison."

Twinkle glowered.
"I wouldn't bother calling for help. No-one can hear you, and no-one will bother to look for you either" the mare said, in-between fits of laughter.

"Most ponies have forgotten these caves even exist, which is why they are the ideal place to keep the ponies who try and interfere in my plans!" she giggled again, while Twinkle just glowered at her. After a while the mare stared at her and looked annoyed.
"You're supposed to be asking what those plans are" she gave an irritated groan, "Fine, I'll tell you anyway. 's not like you're... going anywhere."

She paused to laugh again, "That's what you get for trying to interfere with my plans for Shining Armor! But you already guessed that, one, didn't you? Oh well, it's too late for you to do anything now!"
The changeling laughed once more, and Twinkle just glared, ignoring the mare's echoing laughter.

"And one more thing: there's a secret surprise for you down there. Have fun!"
Twinkle frowned as she tried to block out the mare's voice, and dragged herself up towards one of the crystals. She stared at her reflection, and winced at the sight. She was well-aware of her magic being at a low level already, and the fight with the changeling queen hadn't helped at all. She began to wonder if she really had enough energy to escape from the mines. She wasn't sure exactly how deep down she was, but before she'd been knocked out, there had been at least a day left before the ceremony, but she had no idea how long she'd been out for. She felt tired, which might have had something to do with her lack of sleep, and the lack of air, and her injuries.

She shook her head. She wasn't about to give up. She'd survived Discord, she'd survived an angry mob, she'd fought her way out of that messed-up alternate universe, she'd fought a Nightmare and won.
'So like hay am I going to give up just because I'm magically drained, stuck in a cave and can't walk. Not while you're still up there planning to hurt Shining Armor, and not while Cadance needs help.'

She shook her head and focused what little magic she had left, aiming her horn at herself. Just before she let the magic shoot out, she noted something to herself.
'If this works, it's still gonna hurt.'

It did. It really did.

*****

Shining Armor wasn't sure what to think. He had found Cadance crying, and when he had asked her to explain what was wrong, she had said nothing, merely asking that he lead her home. Naturally, he had. Once there she had burst out into tears again.
"Oh, Shining! She... it... I..."

He held her gently. "It's okay, honey. It's okay."
After a few more sobs she finally looked up at him. "I tried talking to her, to that mare who interrupted the rehearsal, but she... she attacked me!"

"What?!"
"She called me such... such horrible names..."

Shining Armor held her closer.
"And then she ran off when I wouldn't fight back."

"It's alright, Cadance. It's alright. I'll keep you safe."
"Oh," Cadance said, suddenly no longer crying, "I know that."

Shining Armor suddenly found his headaches increasing again as magic lanced from Cadance's horn, to the point where he could not longer think straight.
"That's right, dear, don't fight it. You don't need to worry about headaches. Just let me do the thinking for you from now on. Don't you want that?"

He struggled to fight, as recollection came back to him. This wasn't his Cadance. How could he have not noticed that? It obviously wasn't, and yet he hadn't noticed. However, his headaches grew worse, and worse, and then...
Blissfulness overcame him, and he stopped fighting. He stood up, a simple smile on his face.
"I do..." he said slowly. Cadance smiled, her teeth practically glinting.

"Perfect."

*****

Comet Chaser slowly made his way through the streets of Canterlot, keeping an eye out for anypony who so much as looked like they were either purple or royal blue. What with the upcoming wedding, it was a public holiday which, while nice, left him with absolutely nothing to do, seeing as he wasn't the most socially active of ponies, especially with his work hours, which usually left little time for interacting with others anyway, save the ponies who worked the city's coffee bars, and that donut store he occasionally visited. Today he felt like seeing if Pony Joe's was open, and to his great relief, it was. And then, as he entered the store, he saw an alarming sight. While he had only gotten a brief glimpse at the varied ponies who had been with his d-... that pony from the future, he was unlikely to forget them in a hurry, which is why he was alarmed to see the bright pink mare conversing with the pony at the front desk. At least, he assumed that she was conversing, although the pony she was talking to just looked terrified. Then she turned around, somehow carrying several dozen boxes of donuts between her forelimbs, like it was perfectly normal.

And then Comet Chaser found himself asking something he hadn't expected. "Excuse me, miss, but do you need some help with that?"
"Who, me?" the stack of donuts enquired.

"Yes?" he said, before finding half a dozen donuts being foisted upon him.
"Thanks. I could've carried all these donuts but it's so nice somepony asked to help because I was trying to fetch them all for Spike because he's one little dragon who really likes his donuts and I was beginning to question whether I could carry them all back to the cupboard where we're staring at a hole." the mare set down the stack of donuts, and looked at him. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie."

He paused, taken aback by the sudden outpouring of exposition. "Hello, I'm... Comet Chaser."
"Hi there, Comet Chaser. Do you wanna help stare at a hole?"

"I... sorry?"
"There's a hole in the storage cupboard in the basement of the basement of the basement of Canterlot castle and we're all taking turns staring at it and waiting for something to come out of it and then Spike asked me to fetch some donuts for him and I said 'okay' and so all I have to do is bring these donuts back to the storage cupboard in the basement of the basement of Canterlot Castle."

Comet Chaser just nodded. Around him, numerous ponies stared, wondering if this pony would deliver them from the babbling pink demon in their midst.
"Shall we?" he suggested. Pinkie nodded, and with her usual bouncing gait, set out the door, the completely confused Comet Chaser following after. A few minutes after they left, there were relieved sighs from everypony in the store.

*****

Rarity was calmly finishing some work on Cadance's dress when she heard a faint noise behind her, and a light giggle. She returned to working, only for her blood to run cold when she realised whose giggling it w-
"HI, RARITY!"

She leapt into the air, her sewing implements discarded.
"Sweetie Belle! What the h-... eck are you doing here. In Canterlot. In the castle!"

"We're helpin' out with the wedding!" she heard Apple Bloom call out.
"Yeah!" said a third voice, belonging to Scootaloo.

"Princess Mi Amore Cadenza said we could be-" Rarity braced herself for the oncoming explosion of noise.
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS FLOWER GIRLS!!! YAY!"

Rarity shook her head and tried to gather her thoughts. "That's... very nice, girls, but it doesn't explain why you're in this room."
"I just wanted to say 'hi'" Sweetie Belle muttered, "See what you were doing."

"Well, right now I am extremely busy finishing this dress, Sweetie Belle" Rarity said, pointing to the almost finished wedding dress. 'Cadance' had burst in and made some last minute demands, and she was trying to make it look like she was complying.
"Is that Rarity for 'get out'?" Sweetie Belle asked. Rarity sighed.

"Why don't you three go and find Applejack, or Rainbow Dash, instead of distracting Rarity when she had very important work to finish?" Rarity suggested. Sweetie Belle turned to her friends, and then back to Rarity.
"'kay. Was gonna go seem them anyway, 'cuz Apple Bloom's big sister is way cooler."

"I heard that, Sweetie Belle."
"GOOD!" the filly said, before trying to slam the door behind her as she left.

"Uh, Sweetie Belle, yer tail's kinda stuck in the door" Rarity heard the muffled voice of Apple Bloom say. She rolled her eyes and went back to finishing the dress.

*****

Twilight Twinkle found her eyes opening again, and another sensation of pain. On the plus side, however, from all appearances the healing spell had worked, as she quickly determined by the fact that she could stand again. It still hurt a lot though. She tried to ignore the pain, though that didn't help. Her horn flashed, and a beam shot out from her horn. It bounced off one gemstone, then another, and another, before finally smashing into a larger one. Twinkle turned, and then held a hoof up to her horn. She hadn't realised she had that much magic left in her.

'Probably not as much as I think' she frowned. She slowly tried to make her way over to the opening, not sure whether her legs would carry her that far. Fortunately, they did. And then she saw an alarming sight.
A mare, her pearl-pink fur covered in dirt, barely moving, her purple and pink mane ragged and also dirt stained.
"Cadance!" she called out, some small part of her amazed she hadn't added anything like the word 'aunt' onto that statement.

The mare gave a low moan, and slowly opened one eye.
"Twilight...?" she uttered, only for her expression to change once she saw who it was. Twinkle felt a pang of fear. From what she could remember of Twilight's tale of the wedding, Cadance had been fully capable of conversing.

Then she heard the laughter again.
"Did something... she did something" Cadance winced, "Hurts..."

Twinkle felt the fear beginning to take hold of her. She tried to ignore it as best she could.
"Okay, Cadance, I'm going to help you. Just focus on Shining Armor, can you do that for me?"

"I'll try" Cadance gulped. Twinkle smiled, and then tried to think of a spell she could use.
"Hey, Cadance" she gently, "Sorry, me again, but I'm not sure what's afflicting you. I don't suppose you could elaborate more?"

Cadance paused, in-between shaking. "I don't know... sort of burning, everything burning..."
Twinkle paused, and considered this. 'Sounds like poison.' She quickly did a check to make sure she had a spell for counter-acting poisons.

"Alright Cadance, this might take a minute. You aren't injured anywhere else are you?"
Cadance gave no response. Twinkle frowned. "Just... hang in there. Tell me about Shining Armor."

"What?" Cadance groaned.
"Focus on your memories, your love for him, it's important Cadance."

The mare gave no response.
"Come on, tell me about Shining Armor. Wonderful, brilliant, noble Shining Armor, something, anything."

"Well, I... you know they talk about... love at first sight?"
Twinkle nodded, "I have heard of it."

"Well, we weren't exactly love at first sight... took me a while to figure out. I mean, he was cute... but I was just foalsitting his little sister."
There was a pause before Cadance added, "You look a lot like her, by the way."

"Yeah," Twinkle grinned weakly, "I've heard that before."
"Was really hoping I'd see her again..." Cadance whispered. Twinkle frowned as she tried to remember the half-dozen healing spells she had.

"Shining Armor, keep going Cadance, come on!" she hated herself instantly for yelling. She was fairly certain she could feel a tear moving down her face.
"He kept... every time we met he just said three words... 'as you wish'... didn't know what he meant..." a tiny smile moved across Cadance's face.

"Last day I looked after Twilight Sparkle... he talked with me and... it all just made sense. All of it. He said..."
"Go on, what did he say?" Twinkle said, trying to hold on to whatever self-control she had left.

"Said if he made captain he'd marry me... took him forever. Finally proposed on Hearts and Hooves day..."
"Isn't that your..." Twinkle trailed off, before she found herself grinning, "That Shining Armor."

Cadance paused. "Are you alright?"
Twinkle stared at her. "Yeah, I-..." she trailed off.

"I'm sorry, Cadance. I... I'll keep trying but I can't seem to think of anything."
"We've met before, haven't we?"

Twinkle nodded. "Yeah, we have. I... sort of landed in your boyfriend's lunch several months ago. And there was that incident where you ran into three friends of mine."
"Oh," Cadance said, "That's right. That's where we met."

Twinkle stopped. She'd run out of spells. All her healing spells were gone.

Only, that wasn't true. There was one last spell I had, only... it didn't heal a pony, exactly. But it would solve Cadance's poison problem.
Some ponies might have hesitated before using it, questioned the sanity of using a spell to transfer a poison into themselves and praying they survived long enough to fight it off. And, in hindsight it is possible Cadance might have had the ability to survive its effects, albeit in an incredibly weakened state.
But... then my impulsiveness came back.

She started muttering under her breath, placing one hoof on Cadance.
"What're you-" the mare asked. Twinkle stared at her, but continued chanting. Time seemed to slow as her chanting built up, and then, she felt it. Something cold snaking its way up her leg, and into the rest of her. There was a moment of weariness, and then more pain, and she blacked out.

Again.

*****

"So..." Comet Chaser frowned.
"We're staring at a hole."

"Yes" the mare across from him said. She was trying to look extremely interested in the book she'd brought along, and doing a good job of it.
"And... why exactly? Is the hole dangerous?"

"No, no. It just leads to a cavern nopony's seemed to know about. Which is odd, because I've been reading through the history books, and there's no mention of it. Literally no mention."
The mare stared down into the hole. "I'd love to see what's down there. Mind you, Pinkie Pie said she wanted to look down there as well, which is odd, because I never imagined Pinkie as a pony interested in caves. Rarity also wanted to know what was down there, so we figured it probably wasn't a good idea to leave her on watch, just in case."

There was a pause as Comet Chaser glanced over to Twilight Sparkle, then glanced away. The mare glowered.
"Anyway," she said, continuing, "We're keeping watch for... somepony who should be showing up down there with the pony who's supposed to be marrying my brother."

"That'd be Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, right?" he asked. Twilight stared at him.
"It's in all the newspapers. Royal Wedding, big day, such forth. Public holiday as well, which is nice, I suppose."
Twilight nodded. "I suppose."

There was another pause, as both ponies tried to avoid staring at one another.
"This is ridiculous" Twilight muttered. She swivelled to stare at Comet Chaser.

"We're both rational grown-ups, right? Not hormone-addled teenagers. We can survive being in the same room together, surely? I mean, just because in another timeline we get married and have a daughter doesn't mean we will here."
"Yes" Comet Chaser said.

"So there's no reason we cannot engage in conversation like rational, sensible ponies."
"Indeed."

There was another pause. "Though this is really awkward" Twilight muttered.
"Could be worse" Comet Chaser said, instantly regretting it. Twilight stared at him.

"How, exactly?"
"Your friends could be trying to 'help' us get together."

Twilight shook her head, "Oh no, I know my friends, and they'd never stoop to that level. At least..." she frowned, "I don't think Applejack would, or Rainbow Dash, and certainly not Trixie, but... Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy might just..."
She shook her head, "No, what am I thinking? They're my friends! They wouldn't do that."

He nodded, and frowned, hoping to change the subject. "How long have we been up for, by now?"
Twilight blinked. "A few hours. But I'm alright, I usually stay up really late anyway."

"Me too."
Twilight stared at him. "Don't do that. We are not 'bonding', or getting to know each other. None of that. No finding out we have things we both enjoy doing."

He nodded, "You're right. Celestia forbid we find out we like the same things. Could be dangerous."
Twilight stared straight ahead. "Indeed."

"So, you shall read your book, and I shall just sit here silently for however long it takes this pony to appear."
Twilight agreed, and went back to reading her book. And she certainly did not stop every few minutes to make sure he wasn't staring at her. That was not the action of a rational-minded mare like her.

The morning could not come quick enough for her.

*****

Twilight Twinkle was not surprised to find she'd passed out. She tried getting to her hooves, ignoring the serious pains as she did, and noticed Cadance staring at her.
"Thank you" the mare said. Twinkle blinked.

"For what?"
"For coming to rescue me, of course."

Twinkle considered this, and then frowned, "You look like you're in better shape than I am at this point," she said.
"Makes a mare question who's rescuing who."

They looked about, Twinkle looking up at a distant light. "How long was I out for?" she asked.
Cadance looked uncertain. "I... don't know. An hour, or two, I wasn't sure."

Twinkle ignored the burning feeling spreading through her system, though she was aware that in a while it was going to get worse.
"Alright, time for us to depart."

Cadance nodded, and the two mares headed in the direction of the light, Twinkle lagging behind Cadance, and ignoring the obvious question of how long it would be before the poison started to really effect her.

*****

Day broke over Canterlot, warm and inviting. There was a joyous mood in the air, as the day of the union of Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza had finally arrived. Down in the main area of the castle, everything was being prepared.
The hall was prepared, the orchestra (of birds) engaged, now it was time to see if the couple could dance.

Meanwhile, in one of the higher towers, in her private dressing room, one mare felt particularly joyous. As she examined a gift basket of flowers, she noted one rose in particular stood out. A sickly green glow lifted it, and gently placed the flower within immaculately styled hair. The dressmaker had clearly out-done herself, and pulled out all the stops. And as she examined her disguised self, Queen Chrysalis felt something strange begin to build up in her. All obstacles to her plans had vanished, and she was prepared to walk up the aisle. She quickly checked to make sure her room was sound-proofed as, in her head, she was certain she heard the beginning of music.

"This day is going to be perfect,
The kind of day of which I dreamed since I was small."

"Everypony will gather 'round,
Say I look lovely in my gown.
What they don't is that I have fooled them all!"

Down beneath Canterlot, two mares desperately rushed blindly through non-descript caves. One, of a deep royal blue colouration, looked mildly dizzy, and like she was having trouble focusing. The other was the true Princess Cadance, and unbeknownst to her, she was singing the same song, in a much less jubilant tone that her imposter.

"This day was going to be perfect,
The kind of day of which I dreamed since I was small."

"But instead of having cake,
with all my friends to celebrate,
my wedding bells they may not ring for me at all..."

The deceptive Cadance suddenly found herself feeling irate, and kicked at a nearby fruit-basket which contained nothing but apples.

"I could care less about the dress,
I won't partake in any cake"

"Vows, well I'll be lying when I say
that through any kind of weather I want us to be together.
The truth is I don't care for him at all!"

She felt good now, and didn't care if somepony did hear her now.

"NO, I DO NOT LOVE THE GROOM!
IN MY HEART THERE IS NO ROOM!
BUT I STILL WANT HIM TO BE ALL MINE!!!"

Once more, in the caverns, the two mares began rushing. Twilight Twinkle was finding her vision beginning to blur, though she wasn't sure if that wasn't in part because of Cadance's singing.

"Must escape before it's too late,
find some way to save the day.
Hope I'll be lying if I say"

"'I don't want to lose him,
to one who wants to use him.
Not care for love and cherish him each day.'"

Cadance noticed something, and rushed towards a mine-cart, evidently left by the last ponies who used the caverns. As she sang, she slammed against it, though she was unable to push it, and instantly collapsed. Twinkle frowned, and, ignoring the fact that her magic was practically non-existent, lifted two heavy slabs out of the box, and then lifted Cadance.

"For I oh so love the groom,
all my thoughts he does consume.
Oh, Shining Armor, I'll be there very soon!"

As she sang that last verse, Twinkle shoved the cart with what was left of her battered body's strength, ignoring the winces from still brusied body-parts. In an instant, the cart jolted, and began rocketing down a poorly-constructed track, dragging the mare along behind it. In short order, it came to a sudden stop over a massive cave, hurtling the two mares skyward. Twinkle closed her eyes, until she heard the dramatic 'PWHUMP' of Cadance's wings unfolding. She tried smiling.

Above, once more. Horns rang out. Ponies beamed in joy, and three completely innocent schoolgirls skipped ahead of her. Chrysalis continued singing, not giving even one damn who heard her now, as she made her way towards the heavily-brainwashed Shining Armor.

"Finally the moment has arrived!
For me to be one lucky bride!"

Cadance and Twinkle alighted on an outcropping, but both could hear the distant sounds of bells ringing.

"Oh, the wedding we won't make.
He'll end up marrying a fake!
Shining Armor will be-"

Chrysalis couldn't help but giggle to herself.
"Mine. All mine."

*****

Seven sets of eyes scanned the crowd nervously. Nopony seemed alarmed, or bothered by the way 'Cadance' had been smiling, and while there was nothing wrong about what everypony had heard the mare singing, there was something about the way she'd sung it that made them nervous.
That, and the fact that they all knew she was some kind of shapeshifting monster. That helped.

"C'mon, Twilight" Applejack muttered through clenched teeth, "Where are ya?"
Princess Celestia cleared her throat, allowing the crowd to quiet into a revenential hush.

"Mares and gentlecolts," she smiled warmly, "We are gathered here today-"

*****

Cadance collapsed against a rock, and moaned.
"We're never going to save him" she announced.

Twinkle scanned the cave, and quickly noticed what looked like the bright light shining in from the storage cupboard.
"Yes, we will" she insisted, pointing a hoof at the area in question. Then she and Cadance exchanged glances.

"Can't you teleport us up there?" Cadance asked. Twinkle shook her head.
"Can't teleport. And besides, I've no magic left, I'm afraid. Getting that cart to move was the last straw."

"I can't fly up there, not without leaving you here."
That was that then. Cadance was never going to leave her there, and she couldn't go anywhere. Then she remembered.

"Don't worry, I prepared for this" Twinkle sighed, "Cover your ears."
She took a deep breath.

*****

Twilight Sparkle woke up at the sound of somepony yelling her name, and cursed herself for daring to have fallen asleep, before questioning the presence of a pillow beneath her face, which she quickly batted out of the way. She rushed over to the hole and looked down. She saw nothing. She frowned and teleported down. She was greeted with a total absence of ponies.

"Over here!" a voice echoed. She turned to see a dim light emerging from a small ledge lower down. She teleported to it, and was greeted with a shocking sight.
"Cadance?!"

"Twilight Sparkle!"
The two embraced.

"You remembered me!" Twilight smiled. Cadance, despite her previous gloom, smiled right back.
"How could I forget the foal I loved to foalsit the most?"

Twinkle gave a small cough. Twilight nodded, and reached over to Cadance. There was a flash, a pop, then another flash and a pop, and they were up in the storage cupboard. A startled Comet Chaser fell out of the chair he was sitting in.
"Who-" Cadance started, before Twinkle shook her head.

"No time, wedding, now, go!"
The three mares rushed out towards the door, and after a moment's hesitation, Comet Chaser decided to follow after them.

*****

"Everything go according to plan?" Twilight asked. Twinkle glanced at her. Despite her growing pains, she was still outpacing Cadance, and that was worrying her.
"Complications arose, ensued... were overcome."

She looked at Twilight. "What about you?"
"The girls are waiting to act, and we... have other allies."

A dark blue shape swooped into view above them, then past them.
"I wanted to be the one to make a dramatic announcement" Twinkle mock-frowned.

"We're almost there!" Cadance said.
"So, what is the final part of your plan?" Twilight asked.

Twinkle stared at her. "Plan? There isn't any plan! We just get Cadance to Shining Armor and let magic happen!"

*****

Celestia was still smiling, not noticing the clearly mounting terror on the faces of the bridesmaids.
"Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, it is my pl-"

The doors slammed open, and a dark blue alicorn reared in the air, dramatic clouds behind her (because even in a serious situation, Luna was still going to be Luna).
"END THIS MADNESS!"

There were astonished gasps from the ponies lucky enough not to be at close range of Luna's yell.
"Sister, explain yourself" Celestia gasped.

"We can do that!" Twilight said, as she rushed in, Twinkle beside her, the mare glaring daggers at 'Cadance'.
"You! With the pink and wings! Get the hay away from the stallion!"

For a moment, all eyes turned to the mare in the wedding dress, and as if on cue her eyes began to water.
"Why are you doing this?" she whimpered, "Why do you have to ruin my special day?"

"Because it's not your special day!" Cadance declared as she rushed past the two mares, "It's mine!"
The false Cadance glowered in alarm, before trying to look calm. "Very clever, but you're still too late!"

Twinkle grinned. "Girls, that's your cue!"
In an instant the mare found her access to Shining Armor blocked by six angry looking mares.

"What is going on?" Celestia demanded.
"She's a changeling!" Cadance explained to the crowd, "She takes the form of somepony you love and gains power by feeding off your love for them!"

"Well, she can feed off other emotions, but... yeah, her explanation's fine" Twinkle muttered, certain she was seeing ponies who couldn't be there. And was the room supposed to be spinning like that?

The second Cadance's eyes glowed bright green, at which point similar bright green flames surrounded her. The crowd watched as the features of Cadance shattered, revealing what was underneath. Dark chitinous armor, fly-like wings, her legs, and tail suddenly had holes in them, and on her head was an blue, oily-looking mane with a jagged, sharp looking horn just in front of it. The horn also had holes in it. Then her eyes opened, and they were... actually, almost normal-looking, even if they looked more like dragon eyes than those of a pony.

The Changeling Queen stood revealed to the world, and laughed. From somewhere behind the mare, Twinkle was certain she heard a certain somepony whimper "My dress!"
"Right you are, Princess" she said, in-between laughing, with a deep voice that seemed to echo, and made Twinkle's skin crawl. Although, she noted, that might not have been the changeling, "And as queen of the changelings, it is up to me to find food for my subjects. Equestria has more love than any place I've ever encountered. My fellow changelings will be able to devour so much of it that we will gain more power than we ever dreamed of!"

Cadance just glowered at her. "They'll never get the chance! Shining Armor's protection spell will keep them from ever even reaching us."
The Changeling Queen laughed. "Oh, I doubt that." she turned to look at Shining Armor, "Isn't that right, dear?"

Shining Armor, his eyes glowing with whatever magic had been placed on him, just nodded dumbly.
Cadance scowled, and began to move toward her stallion, when the Changeling Queen stepped in front of her, horn glowing menacingly.

"Don't want to go back to the caves, now, do we?"
There was a noise from Twilight, the mare's horn glowing vibrantly. "I will smite you if you dare touch her!" the mare growled. The Changeling Queen didn't seem bothered by this, but stepped back anyway.

"Ever since I took your place, I've been feeding off Shining Armor's love for you. Every moment he grows weaker and so does his spell. Even now my minions are chipping away at it."
All eyes turned to the sky of Canterlot, where there were indeed a dozen, a hundred, no, a thousand, no, tens of thousands of black blobs, just hovering above the barrier. Some were moving in a way that indicated they were slamming into it.

Chrysalis moved over toward Shining Armor, shoving the astonished mares out of the way. "He may not be my husband, but he is under my total control! And I'm sorry to say, unable to perform his duties as captain of the royal guard!"
"That last bit needs some work" Twinkle muttered, scowling at the mare. She was finding it difficult to stand.

"Not my Shining Armor!" Cadance declared. The Changeling Queen considered this.
"You know what? You're right."

She turned to Shining Armor, and then spoke with Cadance's voice. "Shining! Help, there's an imposter trying to hurt me!"
"Oh, buck" Twinkle muttered, as Shining Armor slowly began to move toward Cadance, before being dog-piled by six mares.

"Sorry, big fella. Ain't gonna happen!" Applejack grunted. While she was putting on a stoic face, the guardpony was still unbelievably strong, and she wasn't certain what was going to happen, though the words 'Hearts and Hooves Day' were flashing in her mind.
"Meanwhile," Chrysalis laughed, "My changeling army will break through. First, we'll take Canterlot, and then, all of Equestria."

"No" a clear voice called out, and suddenly Twinkle felt her stomach plummet, "You won't."
Princess Celestia glared at Chrysalis, "You may have made it impossible for Shining Armor to perform his spell," she declared, as Twinkle turned to Luna and desperately tried to signal to the mare to not get involved.

"But now that you have so foolishly revealed yourself, I can protect my subjects from you!"
The crowd seemed to agree with Celestia on this point, but Twinkle just stared on in dread, as the mare leapt into the air, and summoned a bright beam of energy, firing it at Chrysalis.

I knew it would happen. There was no way Celestia, even if we calmly explained to her exactly why it wouldn't work, would ever not try and confront the Changeling Queen to protect her subjects. The only difference between her and Twilight is that I could have prevented Twilight from doing it, and I'd like to think I did. There was only one possible course of action left. Not even Princess Celestia was as powerful as True Love, even filtered through that witch Chrysalis, and only I could intervene. Me, absolutely devoid of magic, my body still mending itself from the beating I'd taken the day before.
There is a school of phrase, that states 'when a pony thinks they're going to die tomorrow, they usually find a way to make it happen'. I may not hold Princess Celestia in the highest respect possible, especially given her laundry list of mistakes, and I knew she was essentially going to recover, and yet...
I have regrets, yes. There are things I wish I could've done differently, things I had yet to do, but I never wanted immortality. I'd have been happy with just wings, and my parents. But...
I am who I am. I am Twilight Twinkle, and I cannot, will not ever turn my back on somepony in distress. No matter what, it seems. This is the way it is, and I accept that, without (much) hesitation or regret.
So, I gathered together what was left of my strength, and I leapt.

There was a bright flash, a burst of energy, a noise of somepony hitting the ground hard, and an utter absence of a crown falling. The six mares struggling with Shining Armor stared in horror, even as the stallion shook them off. Twilight Sparkle and Cadance stared in shock. Princess Celestia stared in shock.
"Ha!" Chrysalis declared, "Shining Armor's love is even stronger than I thought! Consuming it has made me more powerful than Celes-"

She was cut off by several pounds of enraged Luna slamming into her, the force hurling both mares out of the window, and out into the streets of Canterlot.
Twilight was the first to speak. "Twilight!"

She rushed over to the mare, hesitant to move her. She looked over to Princess Celestia.
"Is there-?"

The monarch's face gave Twilight all the explanation she needed.
"Hey," Twilight Twinkle whispered, looking up at Twilight and smiling, "Don't... don't cry, Twilight. Please, I'm really tired."

"Don't" Twilight said, "Please don't."
"'s okay... 'm alright with this, mom. 'm alright with it."

"Don't say that" Twilight insisted, "You just hold on, you hear me. We'll... we'll look after you. You'll be alright."
The mare gave a small smile, despite the evident pain of that. "Terrible liar, mom. Did..."

She winced, and groaned, and Twilight tried not to stare at the evident burns on the mare's side.
"Not first time... not first time zapped with somepony's love... kinda funny, a bit... Shining Armor... Shining..."

She strained, and then looked up at Twilight, and a small, sad smile flashed across her face. "Don't cry, mom... hate it when you cry... you've got so much.... s'much to do... you'll see... everything's gonna be jus- j-..."
There was a sudden horrible silence.

Twilight shook. She trembled. Her mane and tail burst into bright blue flames. And then the noise came. A horrible, horrible noise.
"Hey," Rainbow Dash's voice said, "Has anypony seen the weather?"

"Rainbow Dash," Rarity said, her voice trembling, "How in the world can you be focused on the weather right now?"
"Well... look."

There was something in Rainbow Dash's voice that got everypony's attention. It was terror. Plain and simple terror. And when everypony looked out the window, they saw why. It was raining, that was true.
It was raining chocolate.

Author's Note

(Yes, I know I'm taking that first song, chopping it to bits and using it vastly out of context, but... context, schmontext. Plus, the lyrics worked pretty well.)
(Note: if that bit with Celestia and Luna talking feels disjointed, that's because my computer kept spazing out and undoing that bit, and then the writer's block came back. Sorry about that.)
Am also wondering if I shouldn't have split this after the rehearsal. But... oh, well.

Off the Rails

Shining Armor advanced towards Cadance, his mind a fog. The mare stared in horror, any coherent thought lost in the fear of seeing Shining Armor moving the way he did, like a puppet on a string. She was aware that something had just happened with her aunt and the changeling queen, the one that had taken Shining Armor's mind from him, she was aware that Twilight's friends had been shaken off of Shining Armor in the ensuing chaos. He advanced, his face set with numb anger, his eyes still glowing that horrible shade of green. Then, they both heard it. Twilight Sparkle screaming, or roaring, or... was it wailing? Unrestrained pain and anguish roaring out of the mare in an instant. Then Cadance realised what noise it was. It was the sound of a pony's heart breaking. Cadance saw the look on Shining Armor's face change, and for an instant, he turned to look.

"Tw-... ily?" then he grimaced in pain for a few seconds, and collapsed to the ground. She began to move when he stood up again, and turned to look at Cadance again with his eyes fixed on her blankly, and began moving towards her. But there was something different in his eyes. And then his horn glowed. Cadance stared, and then was aware she had managed to back herself again a wall. She stared at the advancing Shining Armor, and closed her eyes. There was a sudden noise from Shining Armor, a bright flash, and after a few seconds she opened her eyes again.

Shining Armor was lying on his side, a noticeable mark from where a powerful blast of magic had hit him.
"Shining!" she yelped, rushing over to his side. She could barely hear her own thoughts over the sound of her heartbeat.
'Please be okay, please be okay, please...' she thought. A quick check revealed he was breathing, but unconscious. She sighed with relief, and then tried to get her breathing under control. Panic wasn't going to do anypony any good.
And then she saw Discord hovering above everypony's heads.

*****

Half a minute ago, Rainbow Dash had pointed out the chocolate rain. Although, on reflection, 'rain' wasn't the best definition for it. Rain would imply the chocolate was falling in a liquid form. This was more a hail of chocolate, little square chunks plummeting from the air from purple clouds that were forming around a rapidly cracking purple-pink barrier.

And then there'd been the flash of light, and Cadance yelling out as Shining Armor had somehow managed to blast himself with his own magic, and the barrier had abruptly shattered, Rapidly vanishing little shards of magic raining down upon Canterlot, followed by a seemingly endless horde of changelings, each one looking for a prospective meal. They had stopped dead on seeing the sudden chocolate hail, and briefly paused, hovering, their wings buzzing as they did, at this strange sight.

"Testing, testing, can you hear me?" a voice declared. There were muted mutterings before it continued.
"Now that's better. Hello again, Equestria. It is I, me, the one, the only. Kiss your pets goodbye and throw the kiddies in the cupboard, because Discord is back!"

The varied changelings looked around for any sign of where this strange voice was coming from, and could see nothing that was causing it. They decided to hold back and see what would happen next.

*****

All eyes of those who were left in the main hall of Canterlot Castle were drawn to the mismatched form floating above their heads.
"And I've g-..." the god of chaos frowned, and looked around at the sight beneath him. A dozen or so panicked ponies, fine, glowering band of mares who'd defeated him before, there they were, Princess Celestia, like usual, pleasant smell and flowers everywhere and-

Discord's train of though (such as a chaos entity can have a train of thought) was interrupted by a blast of magic hitting him in the stomach. He turned to see a shocking sight, that of Twilight Sparkle, head lowered and teeth bared, about to leap at him.
"Bad time?" he asked. Twilight Sparkle leapt, not getting very far before a familiar golden aura wrapped around her. However, the mare still let off several blasts of energy.

"Stop it!" Discord yelled, then he looked at where Twilight had blasted him. "You're hurting me. You're actually hurting me!That's not funny!"
"Discord!" Celestia yelled, "Un-do whatever madness you've unleashed, this instant!"

"And I missed you too, Celestia" suddenly he was standing right next to the Princess. "Have you redecorated in here? It's a bit much. And what's that buzzing noise?"
"Discord!"

"Oh, I know, Celly. You missed me so much, when I've been gone for..." he paused, then drew a watch out of a non-existent pocket and checked it, before raising an eyebrow, "Six months? My, my. You just couldn't resist me, could you?"
There was a sudden burst of heat as Celestia blasted Discord in the face.

"Leave, or be made to leave, Discord, it's up to you."
"Leave?" Discord gasped, "When I've just got back? But Celly, we haven't even celebrated yet. We could do all sorts of things. A little touch of chaos here and there, some wild dancing. We could paint the town a dozen shades of red. Or maybe green. No, no... What am I thinking? Magenta, all the way! (Maybe a bit of goldenrod)"

"DISCORD!" Celestia took to the air with all the anger she could spare, "ENOUGH! I will not have any of your nonsense, not now or ever. Now, return that mare to life and I might be persuaded to be merciful!"
Beneath them, Rarity stared slack-jawed at the sight of Celestia in anger, until she felt a hoof nudging her.

"Rarity..." a tiny voice squeaked. She turned to look at Sweetie Belle.
"Sweetie Belle, not now!"

"But-!" the filly continued, before being shushed. She looked over to Scootaloo and Apple Bloom.
"Squirt, seriously? Kinda waiting for Discord to make his move."

"Apple Bloom, quiet."
"But, Applej-"

"Hush up!"
"Return life t-... you get so poetic when you're angry, Celly."

Twilight Sparkle found herself being dropped down next to her friends. She stared ahead, not moving.
"Should we... try and get the Elements of Harmony?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight just slowly turned to stare at her. Fluttershy winced from the look on the mare's face.

"And besides," Discord said, "What makes you think I'm responsible for what happened to that pony?"
He frowned, and then turned to look out of the window. "You seem to have a bit of an infestation going o-"

He felt something slam into him, and then heard Celestia yell.
"Twilight, now! Fetch the Elements of Harmony before it's too late!"

"Twilight?" Applejack asked, when the mare gave no response.
"Applejack!" Apple Bloom repeated. The farmpony turned to look at her sister.

"Apple Bloom, ah get yer scared, but right now we got bigger fish to fry th-"
"HAS ANYPONY LOOKED OVER THERE?!" Sweetie Belle declared. She then pointed in the direction of where Twilight Twinkle's body lay. Or, where it had been. At the moment, there was only a burn in the floor in the shape of the mare's Cutie Mark.

There was a strange noise from Twilight Sparkle, who just stared at the burn, and then frowned.
"Elements" she stated. Everypony looked at her.

"Let's go."
There was a sudden burst of activity as Applejack and Rainbow Dash tossed their bridesmaid dresses into the air, while Fluttershy and Rarity gently removed theirs, while Pinkie somehow seemed to have gotten out of hers without actually moving. The seven mares moved towards the door, then stopped as Twilight noticed Cadance next to the struck Shining Armor. She gasped, and rushed over to the mare.

"What happened?" Twilight asked. Cadance looked up at the mare, startled.
"I... I don't know. I think he fought through the brainwashing and knocked himself out rather than hurt me."

There was a pause.
"Is he-"

"He's unconscious" Cadance quickly stated, and Twilight looked just slightly relieved.
"One less thing to worry about. Alright," she said, "We're just going to go fetch the Elements of Harmony, are you-?"

"Don't worry about me, Twilight Sparkle. You go do what you need to do."
Twilight paused, her mouth opening and closing for a few seconds before nodding. Then she stopped again when she found herself face-to-face with Comet Chaser.

"What?" she asked tersely.
"I'm coming with you."

"You are?" Rainbow Dash asked sceptically. "Really?"
Twilight scowled. "Can you fight?"

He paused, and gave this some thought. "I expect so. It looks like that sort of day."
"He has a point" Trixie muttered. Twilight frowned, and then nodded, and rushed past him.

Spike stood next to Cadance, and sighed.
"Guess I'll just stay here. Again."

****

Darkness. Coldness. A sensation of falling. Then quiet.
After a few seconds, there was a realisation.

'Oh. Not dead. Okay... I suppose that's good.'
Twilight Twinkle opened her eyes. It wasn't much lighter.

'Not that I'm complaining, mind you. I like living, living's good, but... death is sort of an unavoidable side-effect of taking a blast of energy when you've been badly poisoned. And, you know, dying.'
She tried standing up, and was rewarded with swift, painless movement from her joints. In fact, she felt... good. Healthy. Rested, even. She looked about. All was blue, and vaguely cloudy.

'Okay then. I was expecting grey and barren and smoky, so... this is kinda different. Not the afterlife I thought I'd be getting, at any rate.'
She paused. If this was the afterlife, wasn't there supposed to be somepony else around? Or possibly someone or something to tell her what she was supposed to do now? Or was this some form of cosmic waiting room?

She sat down and gave some thought to her situation.
'Now what?'

*****

It had been an exciting few minutes for Princess Luna and the Changeling Queen. The two had grappled for a few seconds, after which Luna had spent much of her time dodging wild blasts from the changeling, rather than confronting her head on.
"Oh, do come on out" Chrysalis sighed, as their fight took them through a row of conveniently empty buildings, "This is ridiculous."

Luna said nothing, merely trying to ascertain the best direction to attack the mare from. She was aware of a loud buzzing noise from outside.
"Listen, Luna, was it? Do you want to know something funny? I did consider replacing you. It's true, it's true! But the reason I didn't? Well, aside from Shining Armor's ever-so-tasty love for Cadance, it didn't really seem worth the effort. That's why I didn't bother studying up on you either. Why bother? Who would notice?"

Luna frowned, as her muscles began to tense. "I know what you're trying to do" she said calmly, "You're trying to make me angry."
In an instant she moved from her cover, and slammed into the changeling queen, who began laughing.

"You succeeded!" Luna growled. The two mares continued grappling, their path taking them into a large square, which while devoid of ponies was filled with tables, chairs, banners, and various other signs of a planned celebration. The two fought, smashing one of the larger tables, until Chrysalis recalled she had magic. Her horn glowed brightly. Luna grabbed the other mare in a near-death grip, only to find herself blasted back from the changeling. She slowly dragged herself to her hooves, and coughed, as the other mare approached. Then she noticed Shining Armor's barrier was gone.

"You haven't stopped me, or even slowed me down. You're the weaker of the two sisters, and we both know it, so the fact that I beat your sister so easily doesn't say much for your chances" Chrysalis frowned, "So why oh why are you smiling?"

"Well," Luna shrugged, "You do have your army, and all that stolen love you're being fuelled by, which I presume requires access to Shining Armor to maintain, and you are, without a doubt, a difficult opponent. Most of the foes I've fought were brainless brutes, or the occasional animated corpse, but there is something I have that you don't."
Luna was pacing around Chrysalis now, occasionally glancing up at the sky. The mare stared at her.

"Really? What's that? Suicidal overconfidence? I'm stronger, faster, more powerful than you, 'princess'. So why are you smiling?"
Luna grinned. "Because," she said calmly, "I brought my dog."

Chrysalis's eyes went wide, as a shadow fell across both her and her opponent, mere seconds before a massive leathery paw descended upon her like the hand of god.
Luna stared up at the three-headed dog the size of a small house and smiled. She flapped her wings and floated up toward his head, and began scratching the dog's ears.

"Good boy, Kirby. Momma's so proud of you."
She was aware of a sudden buzzing, and noticed a black cloud forming over her head. Then she noticed it wasn't a cloud, more a group of extremely angry (and hungry) changelings.

"Oh, yes. Army."
Then she smiled.

"Fun."

*****

Twilight Twinkle frowned. Sitting down and thinking hadn't been any help. At the moment, the only thing she could think of was that she had lied to Twilight.
She had lied. She had been lying there and she'd actually bothered to lie. Why?

Because she didn't want Twilight to be upset. After she'd fatally injured herself leaping in front of a blast capable of injuring alicorns.
'Good move, me' she sighed, 'That's the exact sort of rational-minded thinking I'm known for.'

It occurred to her she'd been sitting still and waiting for something to happen for minutes. She rubbed a hoof against her chin. Surely something was supposed to happen at this point? Or was she just supposed to sit in this endless void forever?
She looked around, and then saw something floating toward her. She took a step to the side, and waited. She soon saw that whatever it was, it was rectangular and displaying an image of her. Her when she was little. She noticed she'd been reaching out a hoof towards the image, and watched as it slowly passed by.

She looked about, and saw more floating towards her. This was deliberate. Someone or something was doing this. She raised an eyebrow, and then looked up.
"Okay!" she yelled, "I'm here. Whatever it is you want me to see, just show me."

There was silence, as she stared at the passing images. Her with Tw... with her mother, and with her father. Her learning magic, her first spell.
"Look, whoever you are, cut out the weird memory lane thing."

There was a rumble, and then a voice spoke.
"Twilight Twinkle. You have finally arrived. We have watched y-"

"No" Twinkle frowned, "None of that. I'm not having it. If you want to talk to me, you talk like a normal pony. No 'this is your destiny' nonsense, just talk to me!"
For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then more seconds passed, and then she was certain she heard a weary sigh.

"Fine, fine!" a voice said, one that sounded strangely familiar, "You want somepony to talk to you? You want to know what this is all about?"
She turned to see a mare she'd honestly never expected to see again in front of her, staring at her with barely-controlled disdain.

"Hello, again, great-granddaughter."

*****

Above Canterlot, the changeling army reached a decision. They could no longer hear their queen, and they were starving, and to deal with that, they would just have to ignore the chocolate rain, and whatever other madness lay down there. They descended. A few were instantly met with a raging, loud, blue-furred force of nature going by the name of Luna. If they weren't hungry, they probably would have given thought to why the mare was laughing.

*****

Getting through Canterlot was not normally so difficult, but with an invading army hovering overhead, and a mad chaos-god on the loose, making their way through the city was going to be difficult. There was chocolate covering the street, and with the lovely warm weather, some of it was beginning to melt. And Discord had evidently seen fit to repeat the trick he'd performed before whereby all fruit produce suddenly grew to several times its usual size. This had made making their way toward where the Elements of Harmony were kept difficult. Then the first changeling landed in front of Twilight. More or less. It had slammed into the pavement in front of her, and then stood up, revealing sharp fangs in its mouth. Twilight stared at it, and then shoved it out of the way. Then she noticed the seventeen other changelings.

"Not to speak ill of the dead, or nothin', but wouldn't it have been an idea for yer daughter to mention this army of Changelings, or somethin'?" Applejack groaned.
"Doesn't matter" Rainbow Dash said, "We're just gonna hafta do this the hard way."

The pegasus moved forward, only to be met with an exact duplicate of herself. For a few seconds both Dashes examined each other, and then the second pushed her back.
"Wh-" she groaned.

"Changelings" Trixie said, "Plus, the whole thing with their queen disguising herself as Cadance. Thought it would be pretty obvious."
"Thought it would be pretty obvious" sneered five Trixies.

"Okay, that's creepy, and getting old fast" Rainbow Dash scowled.
"That's creepy, and getting old fast" repeated several Rainbow Dashes.

"Don't let them distract you" Twilight spoke, "We have to get to the Elements."
Seven ponies braced themselves, and leapt. Numerous identical copies leapt as well.

*****

"Isn't it wonderful?" Discord grinned, "All this chaos. And most of it isn't even mine!"
Several incredibly brave, or just mad, changelings swarmed at him. A giant pink flyswatter appeared in his hand and he swept them into the distance.

Celestia just said nothing, just trying to catch her breath. Attempting to fry a chaos demon was tricky work when still being swarmed by evidently suicidally hungry changelings.
"Although... these bugs just don't-" one changeling grabbed onto Discord's arm. He stared at it, and raised his free hand towards it, and flicked the creature away.

"Where are these things coming from?!" he sighed. Then another bolt of magic slammed into him.
"Really, Celly? You're still trying to fight me?" he asked, giving her a level stare, "Are you sure you're feeling alright?"
She glowered at him.

"Look, Celly, we could fight, yes. We could wage war un-" another changeling attacked him. He frowned, and suddenly the changeling was covered in raspberry jam, before plummeting to the ground, a small dusty, jam-y cloud billowing from where it landed.

"Let me start again: Yes, you seem to have this strange hatred for me masking your obvious obsession with me, and I get that, but why are you attacking me, instead of focusing on these bugs attacking your ponies, while I haven't really done anything heinous to them? (yet)"
Celestia paused. Her horn, which had been glowing bright with prepared magic, dimmed, and she stared at him. Then she looked to Canterlot, as the changelings swarmed over it.

*****

Lyra's eyes slowly opened, and she yawned. Then she looked down to see the awful mucus green of the hospital issue dressing gown. She looked to her side, and noticed the vacant chair that had until recently had been Bon-Bon's current base of operations, now abandoned for unknown reasons. Despite this, Lyra still smiled, and then stretched. No doubt any minute a nurse would rush in and tell her not to, but she couldn't help it. It was what she did after waking up, right before ten minutes of showering Bon-Bon with affection. Then she noticed the strange purple barrier was gone.
"Huh."

Then she heard the buzzing noise, and saw the changelings swarming the street, and the purple clouds depositing chocolate over anypony foolish enough to be outside. She just nodded, calmly. After seeing buffalos driven to a rampaging frenzy by that utterly bizarre song of Pinkie Pie's, and having spent two years in a town that seemed to be turning into a magnet for insanity, something like this seemed to prove Lyra's belief she had gone mad. Or she was dreaming. Either way, she didn't mind. Then she heard the buzzing getting closer. She turned to see a dozen strange-looking ponies staring at her.

"Guessing you aren't here to change the bedpan" she said. Then she noticed the glowing green horns, and felt her legs begin to shake.

*****

Bon-Bon was calmly making her way back towards where Lyra had been sleeping. She had been wary initially of Lyra going into hospital along with Minuette and Twinkleshine, but the doctors had wanted to see if there were any side-effects of whatever had been used to control all three of them. Bon-Bon had successfully managed to argue that she was capable of defending her marefriend all by herself, though every now and then a guard had shown up to make sure they were alright, which was nice of them, she supposed. Then she heard the yelp, and began to run. She soon saw the collapsed guard, and briefly considered checking to make sure he was alright, but then thoughts of Lyra in danger drove her onward. She found the mare surrounded by several odd-looking ponies, each lacking manes, and of a strange charcoal-grey colour. There were a few seconds as she stared at them, then to Lyra, then back to the ponies, then back to Lyra.

"You... hurt... Lyra?" she said, her voice an eerie sort of quiet.
"You. Hurt. Lyra?" she repeated. Instantly, the changelings knew they made a mistake.

It should be noted that changelings, for whatever reason, have an ability to see how a pony feels, though the mechanics behind this are amazingly unclear, and the changelings have never told anyone why the exact reason for how it works, but the group of changelings looking at Bon-Bon could see quite clearly the mare was feeling a mixture of seething rage, and love. And it was incredibly difficult to see which was which to them.

"YOU! HURT! LYRA!" Bon-Bon yelled. She charged. Five of the changelings managed to escape, but the other four found themselves on the receiving end of a comprehensive beat-down from the confectioner.
"BB?" a voice called out as Bon-Bon moved toward changeling number four. The mare stopped her advance, and the changeling quickly rushed out of the room, not pausing to rescue its fellows. Bon-Bon stared at Lyra for an instant, and then held her close.

After a few seconds she felt Lyra returning the hug.
"It's okay, sweetie" Lyra whispered.

*****

Elsewhere, in Canterlot Castle, several changelings swarmed across one of the back-gardens, following the taste of something wonderful. Then they saw a unicorn sitting at a pair of amplifiers, her head bobbing to some tune only she could hear. They began to walk closer, and closer.
Then the mare turned to look at them, and her mouth turned slightly.

"Wow. Interesting look you guys have on. Look like you're lookin' to whup."
The mare slowly moved a pair of glasses sitting on her head over her eyes.
"Me? Well, I prefer to-"

Whatever she said next wasn't heard over the massive explosion of sound from the mare's amplifiers, which threw the changelings back. Nearby, several ponies wondered who had just yelled the word 'wub' out loud.
"Oh, babes" Vinyl Scratch grinned, patting and stroking the amplifiers, "Second best thing in my life."

"What's the first?" asked the light grey mare sitting next to her, wearing a pair of earphones and a mildly irritated expression. Vinyl just stared at her, before raising an eyebrow. Octavia raised an eyebrow in response.
Then Octavia grinned, which caused Vinyl some momentary alarm.

*****

"What have I been doing?" Celestia asked herself. She turned to look at Discord, then back to the changelings.
"I cannot let you roam free" she mused, "But I cannot let my ponies suffer."

"And we both know what choice you're going to make, don't we?" Discord grinned. She nodded. Then she glared at Discord.
"Once these changelings are dealt with, I will return for you" she said, her voice low and cold. Discord just shrugged.

"Fine, fine. I'll just sit here" he said, reclining onto a folding chair, "Maybe get some light reading done. I'm chaos, after all, and these changelings are doing a fine job spreading the word."
He lifted up a book, one that looked like the sort one could find in the average airport, and slowly opened it. He stared at Princess Celestia.

"You're still here" he noted. She just nodded, and as she left, Discord began to feel mildly curious about the odd expression there'd been on her face. Then another changeling stopped in mid-air, and rushed towards him. It was halfway towards him when a small grey marsupial landed on its head. The changeling paused, staring at the furry creature, which looked remarkably cute and cuddly. Then its mouth opened to reveal a lot of sharp teeth.

Discord stared at the changeling wrestling with the koala bear, and grinned. "Drop-bears. Gets 'em every time."
He gave this some consideration, and snapped his fingers. Above him, giant salt and pepper shakers dispensed confused and easily irritated koala bears over the entire city.

"Drop-bears for all."

*****

In the strange void, Twilight Twinkle stared at Twilight Twinkle.
"Okay," the royal blue mare said slowly, "I have to admit, I honestly wasn't expecting you."

"Who were you expecting?" the elder mare frowned, "The Creator Herself?"
"I think I was expecting a me from the future or something. Or my mom, or Celestia, saying that the last eight months were all a test or something."

Her great-grandmother gave this some thought. "No, those last eight months were very real. Not that you actually did much with them, of course."
Twinkle ignored her, and turned to stare at the images passing by. Now they were up to her years in school, such as when she first met Wisp.

"You didn't want to go back to your own time, and yet you didn't want to stay in the past. You could have changed so much, and yet you were content to sleep in a spare bed and do nothing!"
The mare frowned, and shook her head, "Aside from that nonsense with Trixie. Nice bit of time-altering there, saving that girl from doing anything stupid with ancient items of unlimited power, very nice stuff there. But apart from that? Nothing. Nada."

Twinkle found the mare looking at her, her gaze seeming to go right through the eighteen year-old. "You wanted adventure, you go it. You got to travel through time and you squandered the opportunity. Every single time!"
The mare sighed again, "Although you did save your mother and her friends from making fools of themselves, that was something, and of course by tomorrow little Sparkle will have gotten over it completely."

Twinkle said nothing, just watching one image float by. Her, Wisp, a balcony, the beautiful glow of the Crystal Empire at sunset, and Shining Sapphire. And the way the mare had reacted to Wisp's presence, plainly visible.
"Am I right in thinking your attempt to save that wedding is maybe derived from some guilt over what happened with you and that Nightmare?"

Twinkle stared at the image, reaching out a hoof to it. "Guess it doesn't matter now" she said quietly.
The elder mare said nothing, watching as the image floated away.

"Doesn't it? What if Shining Sapphire was alive? What would you do then?"
Twinkle gave this some thought. "I... I'd... I really don't know."

She frowned, as what the mare had said registered with her. "Wait... Sapphy's alive?"
As she said that, a strange feeling began to build in her. Something she hadn't felt in a long while. Hope. She was feeling hope. A smile quickly over took her face.

"She's alive!"
"Maybe, though after what that Nightmare did to her, it would take a miracle to restore her."

Twinkle just nodded.
"Miracles are what they'll need, as well" the mare muttered, "Back in that mess you made."

Twinkle stared at her. "Pardon?"
"Well, your actions, your nonsense, it unleashed Discord. So, between him and those Changelings swarming every which way, I don't think my granddaughter and her friends have much of a chance. Not with Shining Armor out of the picture for the moment..."

Twinkle walked over to the mare. "How do you even know any of this, anyway?"
The mare stared at Twinkle, and gave an odd smile that did nothing to reassure the mare.

"A good question. I know because it is what I was told, to tell you."
"By who?"

The mare paused, and then looked away. "There are... those who think perhaps there is some potential in you. You have just as much potential as your mother, though... there are differences."
"Such as?" Twinkle asked. Her great-grandmother shrugged.

"Well, you were unable to teleport. And there's how you got your Cutie Mark."
Twinkle sat down, and stared about. "I don't remember h-"

"How you got it? But you have your suspicions."
"Yes" Twinkle said, slowly, "But suspicions aren't the same as actually knowing."

The mare looked at her, "No, not really."
Twinkle shook her head, "And that doesn't matter either. What I want to know is why we're here, right now?"

Her namesake smiled at her. It wasn't a pleasant smile, all things considered.
"Because, Twilight Twyla Twinkle, you're been given a choice..."

*****

Cadance sat next to Shining Armor, every few seconds checking his breathing. It was all well and good telling yourself to be calm, but when the pony you loved was lying on the floor not moving after having been brainwashed over a period of days, it was hard to remain calm.

"Are you okay?" a tiny voice asked. She opened her eyes, ignoring her mind asking when she'd closed them, and looked at four faces staring up at her, three fillies and one dragon.
"I..." she started, and then paused.

"I was supposed to be married by now" she said quietly. Her glance moved over to the head of the room, where she was supposed to have been standing next to Shining Armor.
"I was just so ready to be married..."

The three Cutie Mark Crusaders exchanged glances.
"So, what's so great about this guy?" Scootaloo asked. Cadance stared at him.

"He's... wonderful. Kind, selfless. Noble. Devoted. Maybe not an absolute genius, sometimes a bit overly romantic, has a tendency to push himself too far and blame himself for things outside his control, but... I love him."

Each of the Cutie Mark Crusaders reacted in their own unique way. Sweetie Belle, who had heard far sappier things from Rarity, just gave a small 'aw'. Apple bloom remained quiet, and Scootaloo, who was still thoroughly convinced that cooties existed, despite a forty minute lecture from Twilight Sparkle, just looked disgusted. Spike just remained silent, feeling he was in no way qualified to comment on such matters.

"And now, all of this has happened and I..." Cadance trembled slightly, "All I can think of is that I didn't know the name of the mare who freed me from the caves."
"Y' don't?" Apple Bloom asked, "She didn't say?"

Cadance shook her head.
"Funny," Scootaloo said, "She's been telling everypony else."

"Well, sort of" Sweetie Belle said.
"I think she just sort'a stopped caring if anypony knew" Spike said.

"So, who is she?" Cadance asked.
"She's miss Twilight's daughter from the future, Twilight Twinkle" Sweetie Belle grinned.

"I think 'Midday Eclipse' was a way cooler name" Scootaloo muttered. "Sounded like a superhero."
Cadance paused, and blinked. "Sorry, but could you... repeat that?"

"She's Twilight Sparkle's daughter from the future, which..." Apple Bloom repeated, "Ah'm guessing if this guy's miss Twilight's brother, makes him her uncle, and that'd probably make you her aunt."
Cadance just sat there for a moment, thinking. "That's.... unusual news."

"Cadance!" a voice yelled out, and the mare looked over to see two ponies rushing toward her, one a deep blue, the other a light purple colour. They saw Shining Armor and gasped.
"What happened?" Twilight Velvet asked. Cadance shook her head.

"It was that changeling. She made him attack me, and then... when aunt Celestia attacked her and then... Twilight..."
Twilight Velvet looked up at the young mare with concern.
"Shining... I think he blasted himself, rather than taking the chance of hurting me."

There was a pause before Twilight Velvet face-hoofed. "Gonna need to have a talk with this young stallion before this is all over."
Night Light meanwhile was just trying to repress a severe case of the giggles. He stopped when he saw his wife glaring at him.

Cadance just hung her head low.
"What is it, dear?" Twilight Velvet asked. Cadance looked at her.

"I... all the harm that's been inflicted, just because I accepted Shining's proposal. All that's been done to your family."
There was a pause as Twilight Velvet and Night Light exchanged sceptical looks. Then they turned to look at the mare.

"You're family as well" Night Light said. Cadance looked at him, and her teary eyes blinked.
"Oh, come on," Twilight Velvet scoffed, "You helped look after Twilight when she was little, you and Shining were there for her when she really needed you. Heck, you're already family. Marriage would just make sure everypony knew."

Night Light nodded, and Cadance stared at them.
"Plus, you were in and out of the house so often when you and Shining were younger, you practically lived there."
Cadance smiled weakly, and then looked at Shining Armor, then back to his parents. Her smile grew.

*****

Elsewhere, some minutes ago.
It was one of the strangest fights in Equestrian history. Seven mares and one stallion against a small battalion of changelings, each of which had shapeshifted to look like one of their opponents. In hindsight this was perhaps not the smartest move for the changeling horde, though when you're half-mad from starvation, rational thinking and strategic planning aren't very high of the list of needs. Each pony responded in different ways, most of which involved physical retaliation. Fluttershy tried to avoid direct confrontation with any changelings, who did not have the same consideration for the mare.

"This is horrible!" Trixie wailed over the melee. Applejack just rolled her eyes.
"Then why'd ya tag along with us? Ya could've-" she paused to hit one changeling looking like her between the eyes, "-stayed back at the castle!"

"I'm pretty sure it's fractionally safer here than it is back there" Trixie responded, blasting one changeling who tried to take her hat with a large amount of electricity. She stared in astonishment, then tried to look at her horn. Then another changeling leapt at her. There was a flurry of kicks and it collapsed.

"You seem to know how'ta fight" Applejack commented. Trixie shrugged.
"Well, I suppose-" another changeling with her face, kicked "- but then, wandering about on the road a lot, and the occasional weddings back home, it almost makes sense!"

The air was filled with the squeak of Pinkie's party cannon going off, concentrated balls of confetti smashing into changelings and sending them flying.
"Pinkie?" Rainbow Dash asked, as the mare blasted several changelings away from here, "I was wondering, where do you keep that giant cannon anyway?"

Pinkie stared at her, before shaking her head, "Not important right now."
"But-"

There was another squeak from the cannon, and Rainbow Dash shook her head. Then she saw several changelings heading towards a curled up ball that looked amazingly like Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash soared over and knocked each of them over. Then found her head spinning as the previously curled up changeling stood over her, and grinned. Then a white hoof connected with it, as Rarity began unleashing a small whirlwind of hooves at everything in range.

"Rainbow, are you alright?" she asked. Rainbow Dash nodded, and groggily got to her hooves. Then she kicked out at the small grey thing heading towards Rarity's head.
"What are those?" she asked, as the creature sank its teeth into a changeling's rump.

"I have no idea, they just keep falling out of the sky," Rarity said, "But they are strangely cute. Despite the fangs and claws."
Rainbow Dash grinned. "Yeah, they are kinda..." one headed towards her, and was then blasted out of the sky by a burst of dark purple magic. Twilight Sparkle was simply moving among the changelings like she was walking through a rose garden, only blasting whatever she happened to glance at, save the Fluttershy clones, just in case. Comet Chaser remained behind her, since the mare seemed unconcerned about changelings coming from her blindside.

"Hey, friendly fire!" Applejack yelped as one blast knocked her on her side.
"Twilight, stop, stop and think!" Comet Chaser asked, before chastising himself for such a stupid statement. Twilight's expression hardened.

"I'm just dealing with these changelings" she said, her voice filled with barely controlled hostility. "It's no less than they deserve."
Comet Chaser zapped another changeling, stunning it before he kicked it. "Really? Because it looks to me like you're taking your pain out on them."

"Why shouldn't I?" the mare demanded, "They-"
"I know, I was there. I saw it" he said, his voice leaden, "But I'm not blasting changelings into unconsciousness."

"That's because you don't know how. You're just an astronomer."
"And you're a librarian."

"Future Princess, and the Element of Magic!"
"Heir to one of the oldest families in Equestria, practically predating Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!"

"And you're an astronomer."
"It was either that-" he paused to zap another changeling, "Or stay at home for the rest of my life. Starcatchers don't get to be important ponies."

"Why not?" Twilight asked, her anger momentarily gone, replaced with curiosity.
"There was deal" the stallion shrugged.

"Sounds interesting!" Twilight said, blasting another three changelings pretending to be Pinkie Pie. She was aware of a hissing and turned to hit one changeling in the face. Next to her, Comet Chaser tripped up another.
"And she was my daughter as well. At least you knew her, I only met her once."

"Really?" Twilight asked, zapping another three changelings, and one of the strange falling creatures.
"Yes, once."

There was a sudden silence as the two began blasting and hitting the changelings with increasing speed, conscious thought being discarded in favour of fluid motion, changeling after changeling after changeling. Twilight knocked one down, then another looming over an unaware Comet Chaser, sending it flying into two of its fellows. Then Comet Chaser blasted another, and another, and then, he was aware of a movement behind him, and moved, hoof flying.

It connected with Twilight Sparkle's. Time seemed to slow to a crawl, as they heard the distant noise of Rarity yelling at every changeling she attacked, as Rainbow Dash taunted the changelings attacking her, Pinkie's cannon squeaking away. It all sounded so far away, and they were right there. Twilight stared into Comet Chaser's bright orange eyes. He stared into her own purple orbs. They loomed closer, and closer, and closer-

Then they suddenly pulled out as they saw a changeling leap at them. One purple hoof and one deep blue hoof connected with the changeling.

"We should-" Comet Chaser mumbled. Twilight nodded vigorously.

"Yeah."

The fight continued on. Pinkie's cannon firing, Rarity kicking, Rainbow Dash hitting, Trixie zapping, Applejack kicking, Fluttershy tripping any changeling who dared come near. And so it repeated, blasting, firing, hitting, zapping, kicking, tripping, blasting, firing, hitting, zapping, kicking, tripping, blasting, firing, hitting, zapping, kicking, tripping. And with each one they seemed to start moving through changelings quicker. Blast, fire, hit, zap, kick, trip, blast, fire, hit, zap, kick, trip, blast, fire, hit, zap, kick, trip, blast, fire, hit, zap, kick, trip, blast, fire, hit, zap, kick, trip, blastfirehitzapkicktripblastfirehitzapkick-...

And then, that was that. It was over. Eight ponies stood triumphant, several dozen changelings sprawled around them, and several confused looking koala bears on top of that.

"That was intense" Rainbow Dash breathed, a proud grin on her face.
"Again!" Pinkie called out to one collapsed changeling.

"Come on," Twilight said, as they rushed toward the building.
They were rewarded with the sight of what seemed like hundreds of changelings flooding toward them.

"Didn't we just leave this party?" Rainbow Dash sighed.
"There's so many" Fluttershy staggered.

"Almost makes it a fair fight, then" Applejack said. "Fer them."

*****

Luna paused, catching her breath as a small swarm's worth of changelings lay around her. A shadow fell over her and she looked up, to see a hoof stretched out toward her.
"Thank you" Luna sighed, before glowering at the changelings. "Sister, do you remember that time we were held 'hostage' by that idiot... the one with-" she paused, as she tried to remember some identifying detail about that incident, "The one with the wand."

Celestia paused as she tried to recall one incident from several lifetimes worth. "I think so" she said eventually.
"This is almost as annoying" Luna sighed, "These changelings may not be very strong, but there are a lot of them, and they are very persistent. Also, irritating."

She frowned, "Also, I couldn't help but notice it was raining chocolate. Is-"
"Yes" Celestia sighed, "But for the moment he seems content to drop tiny marsupials on everyone."

Luna stared at Celestia for a moment, as if waiting for her to say something else. When she didn't, Luna continued.
"By the way, their queen is... subdued."

"Subdued?" Celestia asked, as she noticed a cloud of changelings moving toward them.
"Kirby may have stood on her."

"Stood on..." Celestia trailed off as she tried not to take satisfaction in hearing that.
"What? It's not like I could take her in a fight! I had to improvise"

"I suppose" Celestia said, before nodding toward the approaching changelings, "But we've got bigger problems now."
"Together?" Luna asked. Her sister nodded.

"And no running ahead like with Sombra."
"I didn't run ahead" Luna sniffed.

"No, you just rushed in and almost got yourself killed."
"There were only nine of them! And they were mostly undead!"

Luna glanced over towards the changelings, who were getting closer. "Sister, have you noticed something?"
"The way they've stopped advancing?" Celestia asked, "Or that sound of loud rock music coming from somewhere?"

"That too."
Then they suddenly saw an eagle's claw nonchalantly lean past their heads. Its owner snapped His fingers.

"Discord, what did you just do?" Celestia yelled at the chaos deity, who was trying to look innocent.
"Moi? Nothing! I don't know what you're talking about, and- oh, look, it's raining dogs."

Technically, one dog does not constitute rain. A large black dog hit the ground and bounced.
"Kirby!" Luna yelled, rushing over toward the three-headed dog. It gave a small whimper, and tried to lick her face.

"He's okay" Luna called out. Then she turned around to get a second look at the face her sister was making.
"What?"

"That." Celestia nodded, towards a rapidly approaching, and incredibly enraged, changeling queen.
"You're probably busy" Discord smiled. "See ya!" and with a flash, he was gone.

*****

"A choice?" Twinkle asked, watching as images of her teenaged years began wafting past.
"So I'm told" her namesake said. Twinkle gave this some thought.

"What choice?"
The mare frowned. "I say 'choice'. It doesn't really sound like one to me."

She turned to look at Twinkle. "You can either choose to move on, or you can turn back and fight alongside your friends and family... but at a cost."
Twinkle paused, and then stared at her great-grandmother's ghost.

"What cost?"
The mare paused for a moment, as if battling the urge to speak. "Your mortality."

Twinkle stared for a moment. Then she looked down at her hooves, then at the images floating by her.
"I thought I already forfeited that when I... you know, jumped in front of that attack meant for Celestia."

The mare just stared at her and shook her head. "Not really. As I understand it, you were only Mostly Dead."
Twinkle paused. She opened her mouth. She couldn't speak. She tried again.

"As I said, it's not really a choice, because we both know what you're going to choose."
Twinkle nodded. "Guess we do."

She sighed, "But... why?"
Her great-grandmother rolled her eyes. "Because. That's why. And because your life is too important to waste taking attacks meant for a pony who's suffered far worse than being zapped by a bug-lady."

"Important?" Twinkle asked incredulously.
"What was it you said when you and that girl Trixie rebooted time? 'Somepony's daughter. Somepony's child.' Does that somehow not apply to you?"

Twinkle stared at her hooves.
"You know," Twilight Twinkle senior said, "One of the things about being deceased is that I have seen you. I've seen what you are capable of, what you could do. And while there have been... problems, Twilight, I do know something. You helped bring together two ponies who should by all rights have the most reason to stay away from each other. You managed to stop a young mare from continuing down the path of self-destruction. So don't dare say you aren't important, don't dare say you cannot make a difference. Now, are you going to sit there, or are you going to embrace this gift you've been given?"

Twinkle looked up, then turned to the mare. "I thought you didn't like me."
"Oh, well," the spectral mare shrugged, "A young girl rushing into the underworld on a school night? What was I supposed to think?"

"And why are you the one who showed up here?"
The mare gave Twinkle a level stare, and a small, sad smile slipped across her face. "Because. Your grandparents are too busy being alive. Try and talk to them sometime, by the way."

Twinkle then paused, "So, what, I accept this offer of immortality, and then what?"
"You fly" the mare deadpanned.

Despite her trepidations, Twinkle couldn't help but smile. She had always wanted wings, after all, just like she'd always wanted adventures. And her great-grandmother was right. There was no way she was just going to leave everypony in trouble. "Alright then," she took a deep breath.
"I accept the offer."

There was a sudden feeling in her chest, and a small blob emerged. Then she heard a voice, not actually speaking, but as something was putting the words directly into her mind.

Twilight Twinkle. Destiny Awaits.

There was a bright light...

Author's Note

Yeah, sorry Discord isn't doing much evil.
But, hey. Chaos god. He can be chaotic just by doing nothing.
And yes, I did just do that. All of that. Because, you know, evil. (Still not sure why I used Twilight Twinkle senior. Probably because I didn't want to make up somepony new at this stage...)
(And, just so that nobody explodes from exasperation, the next chapter will not have a cliffhanger! Really.)

Unstoppable Meets Immovable

It was a lovely sunny day in Ponyville, with a mild cooling breeze helpfully supplied by the Ponyville weather team helping prevent anypony from getting too warm. Strangely enough, nopony had been looking at Canterlot, but with the distance between the two cities, they probably hadn't noticed the little black specks of the changeling army, or the bright flashes of magic from the fighting going on.

Then, quite suddenly, and with absolutely no warning, the skies shifting. Clouds formed and shook and trembled. There was an almighty burst of light and sound for one instant. There were a few seconds of utter silence.

To someone who thought they would never hear the sound of birdsong or wind ever again, the sudden bursts of sound were like a chorus. The warm sunlight was like being wrapped in a warm blanket. Twilight Twinkle raised her head and smiled. And then she began to cheer. Or at least it sounded like a cheer, it was difficult to tell what she was doing. A dozen varied emotions were rushing through her head, and very deep down there was a bit of annoyance at being in Ponyville and not Canterlot, along with amusement at being in Ponyville and not Canterlot. She couldn't hear her own thoughts, and at the moment was too excited to really think much in the way of consistent and coherent thoughts. Then some part of her noted the presence of two royal blue wings jutting out of her backside. Her cheering grew louder, and then the mare braced herself, and in an instant rocketed into the air, heading in the direction of Canterlot.

A short distance away, three ponies sitting around a table together stared at what had just happened.
"Remember when this town used to be boring?" Raindrops sighed. For a moment, the orange-maned mare next to her gave this some thought.

"Not really" Carrot Top said.
"Me neither" Cheerliee added, absent-mindedly. She hadn't really been paying attention to the conversation anyway.

"Thought not" Raindrops groaned, as in the distance a newly-minted alicorn soared toward Canterlot.

*****

The wind was in her face, her eyes were stinging, there was an army of changelings between her and everypony else, and a mad chaos deity on top of that. And she was fairly certain something was going on with her mane and tail. She also had wings, and knew her cousin was alive. Her mind was burning with a dozen new thoughts and ideas, and she felt like she could take on every changeling herself. And she had wings. She was flying, she had wings and she was alive. Canterlot was getting closer.

*****

Across the city, it was a scene of chaos. Guards tried desperately to fight the changelings swarming at them, even as Discord dropped small grey furry creatures and chocolate squares on everything. The two Princesses found themselves staring at an incredibly angry-looking changeling queen, though if either felt any concern about their own well-being, they weren't going to let it show. In Canterlot General hospital, numerous changelings found themselves on the run from a strange mint-green unicorn and her marefriend. Meanwhile, none dared approach the castle gardens, due to a large pair of amplifiers deafening any changeling who dared approach, and a phoenix that seemed to delight in vexing any changeling that came near the higher towers, but apparently had no inclination to do more.

Meanwhile, in the hall of the Elements, eight ponies faced down a small swarm of changelings. However, even though six of them were heroes of Equestria, and the other two (One Trixie Lulamoon, and one Comet Chaser) were not doing too bad, they were having trouble fighting a whole group of changelings inside incredibly cramped quarters.
Outside, had anypony been looking, they would have seen a dark blue shape approaching the city.

"Too many..." Applejack declared as the changelings began to overtake her. Pinkie Pie was bouncing around happily, almost oblivious to the fact that the changelings were after her. She didn't seem bothered about the fact that they'd managed to separate her from her party cannon. Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, was covered with at least a dozen changelings, and didn't seem to care, still shouting defiance at them. Fluttershy looked eerily calm, leading Rarity to suspect the mare had finally reached some strange area on the other side of panic. This did however leave the fashion designer open to getting mobbed by several changelings, without even a chance to yell at them.

"We can't fight them all" Trixie announced, as she tried to move from underneath a small dog-pile of changelings.
"We gotta!" Rainbow Dash yelled, even as the changelings began zapping her with magic in an attempt to subdue her. Her legs collapsed from underneath her, she tried to ignore that, still trying to stand.

"Can't give up now!" she strained, even as her legs refused to go on working under the barrage. Suddenly Rainbow Dash's mind started to feel all pink and fuzzy, things seemed to stop mattering, and she began to slump, an uncharacteristic smile crawling across her face.

There was a scrambling of hooves and a buzzing of wings as the changelings began to overtake the now tiring ponies.
"Looks like this is it..." Twilight said.

"Nice knowing all of ya" a weary Applejack called out. "Even you, Trixie. Kinda."
"Hey!"

The changelings swarmed, and Twilight found her vision obscured, meaning she only heard the loud 'bloink' sound, seconds before the amazingly bright flash, followed by a wave of force which swept the changelings off of her, while at the same time knocking her to the floor. This was exactly the same for the other seven ponies in the room. After a few seconds, they realised they could move, and slowly looked up. As their eyes focused and the light dimmed down, they saw who had created the blast, and one by one, their jaws dropped as they saw a pony standing in the middle of the room, her fur a royal blue colour, her mane a different shade of blue with two orange stripes running through it, and a Cutie Mark of an eclipse plainly visible on her flank.

"It... cannot be..." Rarity whispered.

"But... we saw you-" Rainbow Dash began, as a purple blur rushed past her head. There was a surprised grunt from Twilight Twinkle as Twilight Sparkle collided with her, holding the mare tightly. The next few seconds were quiet, save for some clearly deep breaths from Twilight.

"You're alive" the mare breathed. Twinkle just held the mare back.
"Yeah" she whispered. Pinkie Pie watched this scene, and then took a step forward, before being blocked by one orange hoof and one white.

"Don't" Applejack said, her voice as hard as iron. Pinkie just stared from Applejack to the Twilights, and then nodded.
"But how?" Twilight whispered. Twinkle just looked at her and tried smiling. For a moment she struggled to think of something to say.

"Like hay I was going to leave you in this mess I made."
There were a few seconds as Twinkle looked at Twilight. "Twilight? We do have things that need taken care of."

"I know" Twilight said in response, "But... I thought you were-"
"Me too" Twinkle responded. Then there was a cough. Twinkle looked up to see everypony staring at her.

"What?" she asked.
"You've got wings" Rarity said. Twinkle craned her neck, and gave them a small flap.

"Yes, I do."
"And I must say you are slightly taller than when we last saw you."

Everypony stared at Rarity for a moment.
"I have a good eye for measurements" she said defensively.

"So," Applejack said slowly, "Yer a Prin-"
"No."

"Why not? I-if you don't mind our asking?" Fluttershy asked.
"No crown, for one thing. And I don't want one either. (I don't want to rule)"

There was a pause as Twinkle frowned, and shook her head. "Anyway, that's not important right now. What's been going on?"
"Well, there's an army of changelings running around (which you should have mentioned, by the way), Princess Luna was last seen fighting with the Changeling Queen, and Discord has somehow managed to get free of his prison" Twilight frowned, "Oh, and Shining Armor knocked himself out somehow."

Twilight stared at Twilight for a moment. "Knocked himself out...? Really?"
She shook her head, looking for all the world like she was trying not to laugh, and then turned to look at the wall behind her. "So, you're here to get the Elements?" she asked. Twilight nodded. Twinkle turned to look at the stirring changelings.

"What are you waiting for then?"
Twilight blinked. "I... don't know how to..."

Twinkle stared at her. Twilight frowned. "But I'll see what I can do."
"The changelings are getting up" Fluttershy squeaked.

"Everypony behind me! You too, Rainbow Dash!" Twinkle declared. The mare slowly, and calmly walked over to everypony else. The changelings moved towards Twinkle. Her horn glowed, and a small wave of strange light blue energy passed over the changelings. Instantly their angry expressions vanished, and several of them sat down with strange smiles on their faces. They looked like they were about to start falling over, or telling each other they were 'their best friends', or singing rude songs about hedgehogs.

"What did you just do?" Rarity asked, staring at alarm as two changelings began to hug each other. For some reason, she found their smiling worse than their scowling. Twinkle just made a bemused expression.
"I... am not sure. Sorry," she said, "My mind is literally racing with all sorts of things right now, so I might get a bit spacey. I was just thinking I needed a spell for calming them down, and... well, this is the result."

The changelings looked at them. Where before there had been several ponies who looked like tasty supplies of emotion, now there was only a giant piñata in the place of Applejack, a fluffy cloud instead of Rainbow Dash, a pony-shaped balloon for Pinkie Pie, a talking teddy bear rather than Rarity, a kitten instead of Trixie, Comet Chaser looked like a ball of yarn, a nervous looking duckling where there should've been Fluttershy, a curious-looking lizard in place of Twinkle, and lastly, a strangely cohesive pile of bubbles representing Twilight Sparkle.

"Will they be alright?" Fluttershy asked, watching as two changelings began to hug.
Twilight Twinkle gave this some thought. "They'll probably be alright."

"Yer grinning like you've gone mad" Applejack said with consternation. Twinkle just turned to look at her.
"Far from it, Applejack. I'm just really cheerful" she looked toward Twilight, "Any luck?"

Twilight shrugged. "I don't know how this locking mechanism works. For all I know I-"
Twinkle walked over and gently moved Twilight out of the way. She lowered her head and placed her horn in front of the opening. It glowed, and a small blue light shot out, and there was a satisfying click. Then the wall slid back to reveal a jewel encrusted box. Twilight lifted the box and opened it. There sat the Elements of Harmony.

"He didn't disappear them?" Rainbow Dash asked, "Guess Dissy must be slipping."
"I don't think he is" Fluttershy mumbled. Rainbow Dash glanced at her. Behind the group, several changelings began to move toward the door.

"What? Come on, Flutters. He left the Elements of Harmony here where we could grab them, even when they're the only things th-"
Then Rainbow Dash saw Fluttershy was staring at the ceiling. She looked up, and then her expression paled.

Suddenly a very large and very heavy mattress slammed into all nine ponies.
"Seriously?!" Rarity yelled, "A mattress?"

"Hold on a moment" Twilight sighed. There was a bright flash and a pop, and then several more in quick succession. Soon eight incredibly dazed ponies were standing on top of the mattress.
"Alright, we've got the Elements, now all we need to do is find Discord and zap him" Twinkle grinned. Then her smile flickered, "By which I mean you guys need to zap him, because you're the Element bearers."

"But how exactly are we supposed to zap him?" Rarity asked, "When half of us cannot fly up him, and he's unlikely to come anywhere near us? Unless he suddenly starts feeling contrary, which... no, no," she frowned, "I'm overthinking this."
Twinkle frowned in thought. Then Pinkie stared outside.

"What is it?" Comet Chaser asked. Pinkie tilted her head.
"Dunno. But I think a piano's about to fall on somepony..."

Comet Chaser's brow furrowed as he tried to understand what had just been said. This was cut off by a sudden noise of a piano hitting the ground and smashing, which was then followed by several more.
"It's raining pianos" Rainbow Dash observed, looking out of the window.

"He's just dropping stuff on everypony" Twinkle frowned, "Maybe he's suffering chaos deity's block."
She walked over to the door and looked out into the courtyard, cautiously. She saw one smashed piano sitting in the middle of the courtyard, now devoid of the changelings which had been rampaging around it. Then she noticed the ground had been changed to a gumball like substance, and the new piano debris was beginning to bounce everywhere. She frowned, until she saw one non-bouncing smashed piano. She stared at it, and then looked about for some sign of Discord. Foiled, she walked back over to everypony else.

"I think I know how to get him down to our level" she said, "Now all we need to do is find ourselves a chaos god."
She gave this some thought, and then turned to look at everypony else. Then she looked at Comet Chaser.

"Except you. You go find somewhere out of the way" she said. He looked at her in confusion.
"Me? Why, exactly?"

"Because it's not safe" Twinkle frowned. He stared at her.
"It's raining pianos because of a chaos god, and there's a swarm of shapeshifting bug-pony things around, led by a mare capable of going hoof-to-hoof with Princess Celestia herself. Where exactly is safe?"

Twinkle stared back at him. For a moment, her expression remained blank. Then she raised an eyebrow.
"I know where."

She held out a hoof toward him, and her horn glowed. There was a bright flash and a 'bloink', and they were gone.

*****

In the main hall of Canterlot Castle, dozens of ponies had gathered. The changelings hadn't managed to enter the room, despite the wide open windows. This might have had something to do with the irate mother and father protecting their stricken son, along with his marefriend and fiancée casting a barrier to keep them out. Then everypony noticed the bright flash in the middle of the room, followed by a loud 'bloink', as a mare and a stallion appeared in the room, the stallion looking startled as dozens of ponies stared at them in confusion. The mare just shook her head.
"Teleporting. Still weird. Oh, just teleported through a shield-spell ag-"

"Hey!" came a yell as something collided with her. She looked about to see her attacker, only to realise she could feel someone's feet on her back.
"Spike?" she asked. There was a small noise from the dragon. Twinkle's horn glowed, and she lifted the little dragon off of her back, moving him in front of her face.

"You're..." he said. She gave a weak little smile.
"Yeah."

"You've..." he pointed a finger towards her wings.
"Yeah."

There were a few seconds as neither said anything, Spike just staring and smiling.
"Cool" he finally said. Then Twinkle turned to see three fillies staring slack-jawed at her. She nodded. Suddenly Scootaloo started grinning smugly.

"I knew you'd be okay" she said. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle stared at her.
"You did not!" Apple Bloom snapped. Scootaloo looked at her.

"Sure I did! Her body just up and vanished when nopony was looking. That's like a great big flashing sign! A great big 'She'll-be-back' sign!"
She noticed everypony in the room was staring at her.

"What? It happens all the time in comic books" she muttered, "No body and they're alive..."
Twinkle just smiled at that.

"So, you're a Princess now?" Sweetie Belle asked. Twinkle shook her head.
"No. Alicorn, but not a Princess."

The filly tilted her head. "What's the difference?"
"I don't have a crown."

Twinkle looked around the room. "Everypony okay, by the way?"
There was a pause before Cadance spoke up from across the room. "We're okay, at the moment at least. Nopony's seriously injured, but..." she trailed off and looked out of the window.

"Nopony's feeling very safe, or secure."
"Don't worry about Discord" Twinkle said calmly, "That's being taken care of."

She turned around to Spike and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "Look after him" she said, pointing toward Comet Chaser, "Make sure he stays out of trouble."

The four of them nodded. Twinkle smiled.
"Good to hear it."

With that, she teleported out of the room, leaving Comet Chaser surrounded by three fillies, who just stared at him, not blinking or faltering. In fact, the entire room seemed to be staring at him. He smiled nervously.

*****

Twinkle reappeared in the hallway where she'd left everypony.
"Okay," she said, "One potential problem dealt with. Now we just need to find Discord."

There was a nervous cough from Trixie.
"Don't I get an opportunity to opt out from chaos deity fighting?"

Twinkle stared at her. "No, Trixie. You don't."
"(I figured you'd say that. Good to know dying didn't change your sanity.)"

"Any other objections? Fluttershy? Rarity?"
Both mares shook their heads. Rainbow Dash stared at Fluttershy.

"You aren't afraid?"
"Oh, I am" Fluttershy said quickly, "I just didn't want to be any trouble."

"Alright, everypony, let's go find that chaos god."
The ponies quickly made their way outside, taking great effort to dodge the still-falling pianos. Rarity looked at Twilight, whose expression was troubled.

"What is it?" she asked. Twilight looked at her.
"Why did Discord leave the Elements lying around?" she asked, "Why did he not just vanish them like he did last time? Especially since they're the only things that can threaten him? Why isn't he directly trying to neutralise us immediately?"

"That one's easy" Rainbow Dash snorted, "He's not going to do the exact same thing each time. No villain ever re-uses their schemes."
There was a sudden moment as everypony considered this.

"Okay" Twilight said after a moment, "Though that still doesn't explain why he's left the Elements of Harmony sitting around for anypony to find."
"Maybe he doesn't care" Twinkle shrugged, "Maybe he's forgotten."

"Why would he forget?" Twilight asked.
"Why wouldn't he? Chaos deity. Leave reason and logic at the door" Twinkle shrugged, "Sort of like being in a conversation with Pinkie Pie."

Everypony expected the pink mare to chime in with some strange, random comment at this point, but the mare was just sitting and smiling.
"Pinkie Pie?" Fluttershy asked, "Are you okay?"

Pinkie Pie just stared at her.
"Oh, sorry Fluttershy, I was just thinking about all these smashed pianos, and where Discord keeps getting them from, I mean, he must make piano saleponies, or salesbeings, really angry if he keeps smashing all these pianos every few seconds, I mean the Cakes won't let me near a piano anymore after-"

"Hey," Trixie commented, "I think I've found him."
"-ppened with the watermelon, which I said wasn't anypony's fault it was just because Pokey didn't notice where he was dancing a-"

Everypony stared to see where Trixie was pointing, which was toward a deck chair, floating in air. Two mismatched legs were hanging from the side, kicking lazily.
"Okay, we have found ourselves one Discord" Twinkle said calmly, "Now we get his attention."

Everypony looked at the odd smile on her face as she continued, looking toward the falling pianos. "And fancy that, I know just how to go about doing that."
She turned to look at Trixie, and then smiled. The mare suddenly felt a sharp pang of terror.

"And after that is where you come in, Trixie..."

*****

Discord relaxed on his chair, watching chaos unfold as changelings spread over the city. It was wonderful, it was brilliant. Especially the fight between Celestia, her little sister and that crazy bug-lady, although he was annoyed to note that none of the three seemed to have noticed his chaos, being far too preoccupied with fighting each other. None of them seemed to have a clear advantage. It was a stalemate. He hated stalemates. This called for only one thing, for him to interfere again, like he had a few moments before. He frowned. He'd gone to all that effort to help get the bug-lady out from underneath the giant dog, and she went and repaid him by not winning a fight. He analysed the scene, and wondered if it would be improved by turning the ground into oil, or possibly butter. He shook his head. They wouldn't notice. And those stupid little changelings were destroying pianos before they could fall on top of anypony. And strangest of all, he was sure he could feel the taste of a temporal paradox moving about nearby, a ludicrously powerful one. Although given his usual thought process, he had no way of knowing whether that was actually real, or if he was just imagining it.

Had he turned around, he would have noticed something very large and expensive heading toward him at an impressive rate. Therefore, he was caught completely by surprise by a massive grand piano smashing into his head.
"Ow!" he declared, before pausing. "Who throws a piano? In this day and age?"

He frowned, and looked about.
"I see you" he hissed. He snapped his fingers and in a flash of light was standing in front of a young mare, of royal blue colouration. She was smiling eagerly.

"And you are?" he asked. "You look familiar. Weren't you one of the little ponies?"
The mare's smile vanished.

"Was that your piano?" Discord asked. The mare shrugged, and Discord noticed the wings on her backside. And then he noticed the paradox seeping off of her.
"Might have been. It's a bit hard to tell with all the pianos lying around."

Discord frowned, and wrapped his tail around her.
"Well, I hope you had fun. Now it's my turn. Any last words?"

The mare seemed distracted by something behind her.
"What in the world could that be?" she asked. Discord laughed.

"Please, young lady. I'm Discord. I invented that trick. And in case you're hoping that mare casting the illusion behind me can help" he reached out his paw to grab something. There was a small shimmer, and Trixie appeared in his paw, struggling and cursing at him in prench.
"Language, mon petite poney" he said sternly. Trixie continued cussing at him. Then he lifted up his claw and flicked her horn.

"Now let's see what it is yo-" he gulped as he saw six mares standing in front of him, bearing the Elements of Harmony. His expression was one of pant-wetting terror mixed with alarmed recognition.
"Oh, right. Those things." he frowned, "Knew I'd forgotten something..."

There was an ethereal glow, as the six Elements began to glow, each mare beginning to float into the air, Twilight staying in the middle as the others floated around her. Twinkle stared in astonishment for an instant, before remembering what was going on. In an instant she teleported over to Trixie, and then just far enough to get a good view of Discord's re-petrification.
"No!" Discord said, "Not again! I was just set to get some really good chaos going! I never sa-"

There was a blast of light, and a wave. As it washed over Twinkle, she found herself feeling warm, fuzzy thoughts. Harmony. She was feeling harmony.
Then the light died down and there was a dull 'clump' as Discord's stone imprisoned form hit the ground. There were a few more or less quiet seconds.

"Hey, those evil teddy bears are gone" Pinkie cried out with what sounded like disappointment.
Twinkle looked over to Trixie, who was struggling to catch her breath.

"Never... again" the mare breathed, "Never doing that again!"
"You did good, Trixie" Twinkle smiled, "Especially with no prep time."

Trixie paused for a minute before giving a proud smile, "Was there ever any doubt? Now, if you'll excuse Trixie, she's going to collapse for a minute while she gets her breath back."
Twinkle watched as the mare slowly slumped into a heap, and carefully walked over to the others. She paused by Discord and tapped him on the head, trying not to grin at his panicked expression.

"Don't worry, Dissy," she whispered, "You'll probably be out in a few months on good behaviour."
"That was way too easy" Rainbow Dash announced. Rarity and Applejack glared at her.

"What? I can't be the only one thinking it. Last time we threw down with this guy he picked our brains apart, and this time we just get one whammy on him and that's it?" she shook her head, "Nuh-uh. Way too easy."
"Stop complaining, Rainbow Dash" Rarity sighed. Twinkle nodded.

"Besides, if you want an actual fight, there are still several changelings running about, threatening civilians, that sort of thing."
There was a pause, during which only two sounds were clearly audible. One was the distant sound of combat, the other a strange repetitive thumping sound, which, if anypony had noticed, Pinkie seemed to be dancing in tune with.

"So, any clever ideas for dealing with the changeling queen?" Rainbow Dash asked Twinkle. The mare nodded.
"Yeah, I've got a plan. Or I had a plan, but it did sort of require Shining Armor to be awake, so now on to the backup plan."

She frowned, then looked to everypony else. "Okay, you guys head over toward the main hall, try and find some way of waking Shining Armor up."
Rainbow Dash frowned, "What about everypony else in the city?"

Twinkle looked at Rainbow Dash, "If you want to try and save somepony, you're more than welcome to try Rainbow."
Rainbow Dash looked to the rest of the group. Before she could say anything, Fluttershy spoke up.
"It's okay, Rainbow Dash. Don't worry about us and go and do whatever it is you need to do."

The mare nodded, and smiled, before a determined look took over her face "Then I'm gone!"
In an instant the pegasus shot into the air. Twinkle turned to the others.

"Anypony else got any ideas?"
Rarity looked at Twinkle. "So, what exactly are you going to do?"

Twinkle gave this some thought. "I'm going to go find the Changeling Queen. Don't worry, I do have a plan. Sort of."
"I would tell you to be careful," Twilight Sparkle sighed, "But I get the feeling you're just going to ignore me."

Twinkle tried to look offended. "Well, I am eighteen. Still," she grinned, "Nice to know we're beginning to understand each other"
"And what is your brilliant plan for dealing with the mare who can fight one on one with Princess Celestia?" Trixie asked, as Twilight facehoofed. Twinkle turned and gave this some thought.

"Put simply, I'm going to make her hungry..."

*****

Six mares rushed through the streets of Canterlot, toward the main building of the palace, noting the total absence of changelings. Strangely enough this did not make them feel any easier. As they ran along a familiar green shape appeared alongside them.
"Hey, Pinkie!" Lyra called out. Pinkie Pie turned to see Lyra and smiled.

"Lyra! Hi!" then she saw the out-of breath cream coloured mare running behind her, "Hello, Bon-Bon!"
There was a nod from Bon-Bon.
"What's going on?" Lyra asked. Pinkie frowned, though her bouncing gait did not stop for an instant.

"There's an army of changelings invading the city and we just zapped Discord after he broke free and started dropping angry furry creatures and pianos on everypony and I still want one of those creatures because even with all those teeth they looked so cute and now we're going to go try and help Twilight Sparkle's brother because he went and zapped himself because he's in love! How about you?"

"Woke up, got attacked by changelings, helped kick them out of the hospital. Had lots of fun, despite wearing hospital gowns."
Suddenly the group stopped dead as Twilight came to a halt.

"What is it?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight nodded toward a pair of guards tied together by a strange substance, several changelings hovering menacingly around them.
There were a few seconds as everypony exchanged glances. Twilight turned her gaze back to the changelings. Her horn glowed.

*****

Inside the Wonderbolts' stadium several ponies glanced towards the changeling horde. The top athletics team of Ponyville were surrounded, and no matter where they moved, there seemed to be another changeling there. The shapeshifting hadn't helped, when Spitfire had been knocked out by her own teammates not knowing which one was actually her. There had been some angry yelling once she'd woken up. Now there was just annoyance at the changelings, and at Soarin' for constantly apologising for everypony else's actions.

Then there was a thundering, and a cheering, followed by the sound of several hoof-kicks. Spitfire glanced about to see all the changelings sprawled on the ground, as above them, blocking the sun out was a strange shape.
"Everypony okay?" Rainbow Dash asked, "Yes? No? Little bit?"

"Yeah, we're okay" one pony said, "Well, a bit slimey. Those guys were drooling a bit."
Rainbow Dash nodded, "Alright."

And with that she began to take off. Then Spitfire called out.
"You're taking the fight to these changelings, right?"

Rainbow Dash nodded. "Yeah."
"Need some help?" Spitfire asked. Rainbow Dash frowned, as she gave this some thought.

"I don't, but there are other people who will."
"Then what're we waiting for?" Spitfire said, taking to the air and hovering in front of Rainbow Dash. The speedster looked for all the world like she was trying not to squeal with delight.

"Lead the way."

*****

It had been Twinkle's idea to fly. Running through Canterlot would've taken too long, and she couldn't teleport because she was certain Chrysalis was in the middle of the melee, and she wasn't exactly in any hurry to get in the middle of a fight between two alicorns again. At first she'd assumed it would be a simple idea to just follow the sound of fighting, but with Canterlot's street layout, following the noise was trickier than she assumed. She had wondered about taking to the air, but then her mind had suddenly been filled with visions of her plummeting to the ground before she had a chance to react, and while she was certain she had been more durable than the average pony even as a unicorn, she wasn't exactly eager to test out whether she was capable of surviving a fall. And of course, there was another dilemma. She hadn't exactly had a chance to learn how to fly, most of her flight towards Canterlot being driven by sheer instinct. At least in Rainbow Dash's body, she'd been in a body that was designed for flying, and knew what to do even if the mind had been engaged in other tasks.

Of course, this was offset by the fact that she was flying. She was beginning to wonder if the feeling would ever get old, even if it was difficult not spinning around as she flew, or nearly flying into buildings. True, it was incredibly terrifying, and she was probably going to hurt herself tremendously, but she did have to learn to fly.
After all, she had wings now.

*****

The two Princess glowered at their opponent, both trying to look as strong-willed as possible. Above them, the Changeling horde hovered, not daring to get between the three ponies. Chrysalis snarled at them.
"Will you just fall already? Are you really this stubborn, or just too stupid to know when you are beaten?"

"Maybe" Luna gave a small smug grin, "Maybe a little bit of both."
Chrysalis frowned. Her horn began to glow.

"I've spent too much time fooling about with you two as it is."
There was a sudden sound from behind them, and several changelings were struck by blasts of magic. Then a blue blur rushed toward the changeling queen and blasted her. The mare went flying, bouncing off the street a few times as she went.

Twinkle dropped to the ground, and stared up at the changelings. They stared back, looking almost uncertain. She looked over toward Celestia and Luna. The mares looked over toward her.
"Discord-" Celestia stated.

Twinkle cut her off, "Taken care of."
"Good" Celestia said, allowing a tiny note of relief to enter her voice, "That's one less problem to deal with, at least."

There was a noise behind them, and Twinkle turned to see the Changeling Queen getting to her feet.
"This feels familiar" she muttered. The Changeling Queen stood up, and then rushed toward Twinkle, hurtling the two down the street, past Celestia and Luna. The two Princesses then looked up to see the remaining changelings.

"COME ON THEN!" Luna yelled, despite looking like her legs were having trouble supporting the rest of her.
The changelings descended. Some of them found their descent aided by blasts of extreme heat and cold coming from the two sisters.

*****

All eyes in the main hall of Canterlot Castle turned towards the door as they opened, and a handful of ponies rushed inside. Twilight found herself being practically tackled by her parents, and Spike, while Rarity and Applejack had similar reunions with their siblings. Then Twilight looked over toward the unmoving form of Shining Armor.

"He won't wake up" Twilight Velvet said quietly. "We've tried every spell we know of, but he won't wake up."
"I tried seeing if there was something that changeling did to him," Cadance said, "some curse or hex she'd put on him, but..."

She sighed, "I'm not very good at that sort of magic. I mean, I do know a few healing spells, but nothing especially powerful. Or, it seems, useful. I'm sorry."
Twilight walked over toward Shining Armor and looked at him. "I'll see what I can do" she said, trying to smile warmly at Cadance.

*****

Twinkle was finding it hard to focus with a changeling roaring in her face. She found herself hitting an incredibly solid table, some part of her getting caught up in a tablecloth, meaning when she stopped, she was practically gift-wrapped.
"You will not stop me!" Chrysalis yelled, "You cannot stop me. All you're doing is making me really angry!"

Twinkle frowned and tried to unwrap herself from the tablecloth. The mare approached her.
"You will not stop me. You have no idea what drives me to do this."

"Feeding your subjects" Twinkle frowned, deciding to dispense with subtlety and just tearing the tablecloth in half, "But I also don't care much."
Her horn glowed violently, and the Changeling Queen was hit by a sudden blast of electricity, as Twinkle scrambled to her hooves.

"You threatened Canterlot, you hurt my family, and for no real reason other than you find it fun. I don't give a damn about your motivation" she said, aiming a blast of energy at the changeling, who managed to dodge it, "I don't care about your history, or where you came from. Nothing could ever justify what you have done."
"Small words," the changeling scowled, "Small words from a pony princess."

Several fireballs spat out from Twinkle's horn. "Not a Princess. And besides, you don't need to feed by force, and I think you know that. So what reason could you have to imprison Cadance, and to hurt Shining Armor?"
The mare dodged the fireballs, and shrugged. "Well, with Shining Armor, it was mainly so I didn't strangle the love-sick idiot every time he opened his mouth, but as for that foolish little girl? That was just because I wanted to. And the poisoning thing? That was because I could."

There were a few seconds as neither pony said anything. Twinkle just nodded. Then her mane and tail burst into flame, her coat turning a pale yellow-orange colour, and directed a massive beam of bright red energy at the changeling. There was a massive burst of fire and sound. Twinkle found herself thrown off her hooves by the force.

In the main hall of Canterlot Castle, all eyes turned towards the sight. Outside, Celestia and Luna briefly paused in their fight against the changelings as they heard the noise.

Twinkle stared at the haze. She didn't dare turn around, knowing that if she did that Chrysalis would doubtless emerge screaming her head off. She considered how close she was to the blaze and took a few steps back. Seconds seemed to blur into minutes. Until she heard the noise. It sounded like it was the hideous child of a groan and a snarl.

She stared at the flames as they whipped apart, and the Changeling Queen stood, roaring.
"Stupid little girl!" she yelled as she charged Twinkle, "All you've managed to do is make me hungry!"

She kicked out, sending Twinkle flying. The mare found herself pinned by the creature.
"And look at that. A tasty little snack to eat."

Twinkle tried to force the mare off of her, and then felt something smashing into her mind. It became difficult to focus, as she felt her thoughts slipping away. She gritted her teeth and tried to focus, her mind set on one specific set of memories.
"You want... to feed on emotions?" she winced, "Then... have your fill!"

There was a noise from Chrysalis as the changeling stepped back. A strange light was pouring from Twinkle into the mare, and the alicorn slowly rose to her hooves, trying to fight down tears building in her eyes. She felt like something was being drained out of her, out of her very heart and soul, but she just kept thinking of it.

"You have no... idea. You just inflict pain, and misery. You have never felt loss, or hurt. Just because we feel love doesn't mean we don't know loss, or grief. And I have felt those. I have felt the greatest joy I will ever feel, and pain so great it could break minds, and" she blinked, trying not to wipe tears which were now pouring from her out of her eyes, "I... I will never heal from it. But I will keep going, keep living. Never see my daughter again, no matter what happens, no matter what I do or how strong I become, and I will never forget her. But I'm not going to grieve, and I never can because I will not stop. I just going to let you feel what it's like to lose... the. Most. Precious. Things! So, come on. You want to feel love?! You can HAVE IT! TAKE IT! TAKE IT ALL!"

There was a final noise, and the light stopped. The Changeling Queen collapsed, and Twinkle found herself slouching. She felt like something had been scooped out of her, like someone had reached into her and torn her heart out. But beyond that, she couldn't feel anything. She sighed, and looked at the collapsed changeling. There was a noise, and she noticed several ponies approaching.
"Whoa" a pony wearing the familiar outfit of the Wonderbolts exclaimed, "And here I was wondering who was doing the screaming."

Rainbow Dash hovered around by Twinkle's head.
"Sorry we didn't show up sooner. We were fighting some changelings, and they all started taking off toward over there, and then we saw this weird light show and..." she trailed off.

"What happened?" the mare asked, glancing toward Twinkle.
"She tried to feed on my emotions" Twinkle said, before adding, "That was a mistake."

Rainbow Dash paused, before she glanced nervously toward the changeling, "Is she dead or what?"
There was a sudden moment as Twinkle's face contorted in confusion.

"Why would she be dead?"
"I dunno" Rainbow Dash shrugged, "But she did, like, brainwash your uncle, and all that stuff you told us about, and then she did... sort of kill you, so I figured-"

"Why would I kill her? Rainbow Dash, that- that doesn't make any sense."
Twinkle just stared to the foetal form of Chrysalis. "You don't say you're a good pony (and on balance, I'd have to say I am) and then go and kill someone. I mean," she scoffed, "That really makes no sense."

There was suddenly a warm glow as both Princesses appeared. Princess Celestia looked toward the unmoving form of Queen Chrysalis, then to Twinkle.
"Are you alright?" she asked Twinkle. The mare gave this some thought.

"Feeling emotionally numb, for the most part, but... apart from that, everything seems alright."
She shifted on her hooves, secretly thanking whatever deity was listening for qualifiers.

"I think... I'll go see what progress Twilight Sparkle's made reviving Shining Armor."
She nodded to Rainbow Dash, and then teleported out of the area.

*****

There was a bright flash as Twilight Twinkle appeared in the main hall of Canterlot Castle, looking slightly weary. Twilight Sparkle looked up to see her, and a small smile passed across her face. Then she looked concerned.
"All the changelings outside have vanished" she said, "Why?"

"Changeling Queen is down, so they're probably trying to think of a new strategy, which gives us a few minutes" Twinkle said, calmly, before looking at Shining Armor.
"That's good" Twilight said, "We've not been having much luck with Shining. Or, actually any luck at all."

Twinkle looked to everypony else, each looking concerned, as Twilight continued, "We've tried everything, but he just... won't wake up. Every single healing spell we know, and nothing has happened. It doesn't make any sense. There's no reason, literally none that could possibly explain why Shining Armor is like this, and..."
Twinkle frowned. Something on the edge of her hearing was getting her attention. Then she looked up at Cadance.

"This is... not something I ever wanted to ask, least of all you, but... does Shining Armor... snore?"
There was a small noise from Twilight Velvet, "He used to, back when he was younger, but... when he became a guard he just... stopped."

Twinkle nodded, "I see" she said calmly. Clearly neither of his parents knew about techniques the guards were taught about for not getting caught sleeping on duty. Cadance looked puzzled.
"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"

"Well, I am a bit curious as to how much sleep he's been getting. After all, maintaining that shielding spell, while simultaneously preparing for your wedding and worrying about every little detail would tire anypony out."
"Are you..." Twilight said, incredulously, "Are you actually saying Shining Armor's just fallen asleep?!"

Twinkle tried not to grin, before saying, "No. Not exactly. I mean, he did probably did have some nasty injuries, but that combined with being sleep-deprived? Waking him up would have been kinda difficult."
She gave this some thought. "He just needs a reason to wake up, is all."

"Getting married isn't reason enough?" Spike commented.
"Or the fact that the city's been attacked by Discord and Changelings?" Applejack suggested.

There was a sudden swooping noise, as several Wonderbolts and Rainbow Dash entered the room. Strangely enough, Rainbow Dash didn't seem remotely excited about being near her idols. Fluttershy and Rarity were quickly assigned to explaining the situation to the mare.
And then, any further conversation was forestalled by a strange noise from outside. Everyone rushed to the window, and saw a rapidly approaching black shape.

"Ah" Twinkle said, "That's bad."
"Bad?" Twilight asked.

"The means by which I defeated the Changeling Queen seem to have only managed to make her more dangerous."
"How?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"If I had to guess, I'd say I made her upset."
She turned to look back to Shining Armor, then to everypony else.

"Everypony out of the room" she declared. There was a pause before several ponies began to file out. Twilight and the others remained there.
"We're not going anywhere" Twilight said firmly, "Not if we can help."

Twinkle gave this some thought, trying not to focus on the rapidly approaching and incredibly angry looking changeling approaching.
"Fine. You want to help, then protect Shining Armor and Cadance."

Twilight nodded, and moved over the room to the mare. Twinkle took a step back and waited. The Changeling Queen flew into the room, her eyes wild with rage, though if one looked closely enough, she looked like she'd been crying.
"I am a Changeling Queen! I will feed on you! On all of you! There will be nothing of you left u-"

"Yeah, that's enough" Twinkle frowned. Her horn glowed, and bands of energy wrapped around the Changeling Queen, who simply kicked and screamed. Then the mare's horn glowed, and a blast of energy struck Twinkle's horn. It did hurt, though not enough to count as extremely painful, but enough to disrupt her spell. The mare began to move toward Shining Armor. Twinkle leapt, tackling the mare with enough force to send them across the room.

"Wake him up already!" Twinkle yelled.
"How?" Twilight responded. Twinkle jabbed Chrysalis with a hoof. The mare stared at her for a moment.

"Did you honestly expect that t-" she suddenly convulsed, and collapsed to the floor as.
Twinkle looked back to Shining Armor, and frowned. "Shining Armor! Cadance needs you!"

In an instant, the stallion's eyes opened, and he seemed to get to his feet without actually moving at all.
"Cadance!" he yelled in alarm. He looked about in confusion, not seeing the wide smile on Cadance's face.

"What happened? Did I miss the wedding?" he asked. Twinkle rolled her eyes, and then noticed the changeling queen getting to her hooves. Shining Armor's eyes went wide, and he stepped in front of Cadance.
"Use your spell!" Twilight yelled. Shining nodded, and tried to summon a barrier with his magic. Twinkle grabbed the Changeling Queen, and threw the mare over towards one of the windows.

Shining Armor's horn glowed weakly, and fizzed. "I can't... I don't have the strength."
He slumped, but Cadance quickly moved closer to him. "My love will give you strength!" she announced. There was a scoff from the Changeling Queen.

"What a lovely but absolu-" Twinkle cut her off with a kick.

"Enough out of you already!" she sighed. Chrysalis glared at her again, and aimed another kick. Twinkle found herself pinned against the wall, which did mean she got a good glimpse of Shining Armor and Cadance's kiss. There was a sudden rustle of wind, and a strange glow. Chrysalis paused to look, as Cadance's appearance seemed to change. Her fur and mane, which had just seconds ago been dirty and dishevelled, suddenly looked clean and immaculate again. Shining Armor and Cadance stared at each other, and then smiled. The wind picked up, and the room took on a bright pink colour as the two ponies lifted into the sky. Twinkle was fairly certain she was laughing at that moment. The couple floated into the air, and then their eyes were filled with a strange glow, which became brighter, and moved across their entire body, brighter, and warmer, and then... there was a wave of light, and when it died down, Chrysalis was gone. Twinkle was sure if she looked, she would have seen the mare being thrown into the distance. But she didn't. She was too busy looking at Shining Armor and Cadance, as the two gently settled back down onto the ground. They looked at each other. They leaned in again.

Since the invention of the kiss, there have been six kisses that were rated the most pure, the most passionate.

This was not one of those six. This one was beyond even them.

There was an awed hush after that, which was eventually broken by Rainbow Dash.
"So... we won, right?"

"Yeah" Twinkle nodded slowly, before grinning. "We won. We won."
"And what just happened?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Love happened," Twinkle said calmly, not caring what anypony thought of that statement.
"No, no, no" Twilight Sparkle said, scoffing, "That wasn't love. It was a unique energy field generated by two ponies focu...sing..." she trailed off when she saw practically everypony in the room staring at her.

"Fine," she muttered, "Love. It was love."
"Yes it was" Shining Armor said, still staring into Cadance's eyes, "We drove them away with love."

The two kissed again, before Twinkle dared move between them.
"Alright, alright, break it up you two. Much as we're all happy for you, you can't go 'round kissing each other all day."

She paused, "After all, isn't there some wedding that was supposed to happen?"
The look of surprise on their faces was truly something to behold.

"Yes, there is" said a new voice, as Princess Celestia entered the room, several more Wonderbolts following behind her. Twilight rushed over toward her. Twinkle noticed ponies beginning to filter back into the room.
"I apologise for not getting here sooner" Celestia said, "But the Changeling Queen took Princess Luna and I... by surprise."

"So... What happened to all the changelings?" Fluttershy asked.
"They got thrown out of the city" Twinkle said, "Well, the ones that were still here got thrown out, at any rate."

Fluttershy gave this some thought nodded.
"Don't worry," Twinkle sighed, "You'll probably be seeing them again soon enough."

Celestia just nodded. "Now, about that wedding..."
"Really? Can't you just give us a few minutes?" Twinkle asked, "I mean, more than half the guests have vanished, there's been a full-scale invasion, a few acts of chaos, and one sort-of resurrection. Some of us would just like a few minutes to sit down and get our breath. Maybe take tomorrow off as well."

She took a deep breath, "And that's just within the last... I dunno, half an hour? I think we've earned a few minutes rest."
"No kidding!" Trixie yelled out.

There was a small pause, as Celestia looked to Twilight and the others. Each of them looked suitably weary.
"She does have a point" Rarity said, "I wouldn't mind a chance to sit down, (maybe even have some tea...)"

There were similar noises from everypony else. Celestia looked to Cadance. The young Princess nodded.
"After today, I think we do need to make sure everypony is okay. And don't worry, auntie" she smiled, "I think I can survive waiting a bit longer."

She smiled warmly again, and Celestia just smiled. "As you wish."
Cadance went back to staring into Shining Armor's eyes, and then something occurred to her. She turned to look at Twinkle.

"Excuse me?" she asked gently. Twinkle looked up at her.
"Yes?"

"Well, it... I just wanted to say thanks for rescuing me from those caverns. And..." she glanced over toward Spike, who had re-entered the room and was now standing next to Twilight. Twinkle was not surprised to see Spike had what looked like a quill and parchment ready to go.
"It's a bit hard to believe but... You're Twilight Sparkle's daughter?"

Twinkle just nodded, at which point Cadance smiled, and suddenly hugged her.
"Nice to meet you."

Twinkle said nothing, but after the briefest second returned the hug. Then Cadance leaned back out. She seemed mildly uncertain about something. "By the way, Shining and I... we had this conversation a few days ago, and... I suppose it means he probably won, because whichever of us spoke to Twilight Sparkle first was going to ask her to be the best mare, or the maid of honour-"

"WHAT?" Twilight yelled, causing Spike to fall over in alarm, "You were?!"
She turned to glare at Shining Armor, who suddenly found himself being glared at by his parents as well.

"It's alright," Cadance said quickly, which seemed to calm Twilight, though she was still shooting death glares at Shining Armor. From the look of it, the young stallion was going to get a severe tongue-lashing from his mother later. Twinkle felt a pang of pity for him.

Cadance turned back to look at Twinkle, "So, since your..." she gave a small cough, "Your mother is already filling the part of the best mare, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind being the maid of honour?"
Twinkle blinked, as her mind replayed Cadance's statement. Suddenly the world seemed to be going distinctly blurry. She tried to respond.

"Well, I-ah, wedding, me... that is... I just..."

And then she collapsed. Conveniently enough, there happened to be a pillow just where her head had landed.

Author's Note

Note: the bit about the bubbles? Not intentional. That just happened.
Also: Yeah, Discord got taken out pretty quick. That's how you know he's last season's villain.

The Wedding of Shining Armor and Princess Cadance

There was darkness. There were noises, faint but tangible, and one that was far closer, which sounded almost like a low, guttural groan. After a few seconds Twilight Twinkle realised that was her. Recollection came to her.

'Wow. Way to be, Twinkie. Fainting just because Cadance asks you something.'

"Hey, she's awake!" she heard Rainbow Dash call out. She opened her eyes, and was rewarded with sunlight.

"Somepony tell Celestia to move the sun..." she winced, as she got to her hooves. She looked about, noticing she was still in the main hall of Canterlot Castle, then looked down at the pillow that had been beneath her head.
"What did I miss?" she asked.

"Not much" Twilight said from the other side of the room, where she was standing next to Shining Armor, the Element of Friendship noticeably absent from her head, "You were only out for a few minutes. We were just explaining... everything to Shining Armor."

"Everything?" Twinkle asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Not everything" Twilight smiled, "Just everything about today."

Twinkle nodded, "That's good. Where'd you get to?"
"Well," Shining Armor said, "They explained about the shapeshifters, and the mind-control, and Discord."

He glanced at Twilight, then back to Twinkle. "I... wanted to apologise, by the way, about what I said-"
"Don't," Twinkle sighed, "You have nothing to apologise for."

Shining Armor frowned, "I think I do. I said some... incredibly unpleasant things."
Twinkle paused, before shrugging, "True. But you had no reason to assume I was anything other than a madmare come to sabotage your wedding. And before you say it, I'm pretty sure that none of what you said was because of the brainwashing."

Shining Armor gave this some thought. "No, probably not. But I'm still going to apologise."
Twinkle paused, before eventually just shrugging again. "If you insist."

She glanced around the room. Rarity was calmly gathering up what remained of the dress she'd designed for the disguised Chrysalis. Princess Celestia and Princess Cadance were talking to Twilight Velvet and Night Light about something. Rainbow Dash was still standing around trying to look nonchalant. Meanwhile, she noticed Comet Chaser sitting near Fluttershy, his eyes occasionally darting toward Twilight Sparkle, and then to her. Trixie was sitting on her own, her hat pulled over her eyes.

"Where are-" she started.
"Pinkie Pie felt she needed to double-check her party supplies, and dragged Applejack along with her" Spike said, the little dragon still carrying a quill and checklist in case Twilight suddenly remembered that wedding she was supposed to be planning. Twinkle just nodded, then turned to look at Shining Armor.

"So, how are you feeling?" she asked. The stallion stared at her.
"Well, a little dizzy, I guess. Kinda tired, but at the same time I feel like I could do anything."

"Well, after blasting away an entire army with the sheer force of your love, I bet you would. No dizziness? Headaches? Urge to speak in monotone?"
Shining Armor just gave her an impassive look. "No."

"Alright. Do you mind if I just take a look, make sure you've not got any side effects from all that brainwashing?"
He gave this some thought. "Yes, I do mind, actually."

Twinkle looked to Twilight and raised an eyebrow, then looked back to Shining Armor. "Tough."
She walked over to the stallion, and concentrated. Her horn glowed slightly, and she opened her eyes, looking at Shining Armor, and focused on him. Her view moved closer, and closer. There were a few seconds of hums. She took a step back, and rubbed a hoof against her chin. Shining Armor looked at her.

"What is it?" he asked. She glanced at him.
"It... I..." she focused, "I'll just give it another go."

There were a few more seconds, her examination being more thorough this time. Then she looked over toward Twilight.
"I don't suppose you'd mind, Twilight, but I would like a second opinion. Could you examine Shining Armor for a moment?"
Twilight nodded. Her horn glowed as she cast the same spell as Twinkle, and began analysing Shining Armor. Her expression changed as she looked over toward Twinkle. She shook her head and then double-checked. Shining Armor was now looking between both mares.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked cautiously. Twinkle looked at him.
"No. Not 'wrong', as such" she said, slowly. She frowned.

"I think we need someone with more experience in these matters" she said. She looked over to Princess Celestia, who had been walking over toward them.
"Hey," she called out, "Celestia, I'm guessing you've got some medical experience, right?"

The diarch's expression remained carefully neutral, before she answered. "I may have some medical knowledge, yes."
"Enough to rank as a doctor?" Twinkle asked, raising an eyebrow. Celestia's expression shifted slightly.

"What is it you require?"
Twinkle looked over toward Twilight, who was staring at Shining Armor with what looked like a mixture of concern, pride, and awe.

"Well, I think Twilight and I have reached a conclusion, but I think some of us would feel safe with a third opinion."
Celestia looked to Twilight, then to Shining Armor, who was beginning to look nervous.
"Very well" Celestia said. Her horn briefly glowed. Then, after the space of a few seconds she looked visibly affected.

"I see" she finally said.
"What?" Shining Armor asked, as Cadance walked over toward him, looking concerned herself.

"Shining Armor, you are in fact back to your usual self, and there appears to be no lasting physical harm. Save from the fact that you need some rest, you are good health" Twinkle said, pausing before she added, "Which is more than can usually be said for a pony whose been zapped with seventeen separate brainwashing spells at once."

There was a sudden pause as Shining Armor's eyes shrank. "What?"
Twinkle just tilted her head, "Seventeen, by my reckoning. Wouldn't you say so, Twilight?"

The unicorn nodded. "I wasn't actually sure how many spells had been cast on you, but seventeen does seem like the likely amount."
Shining Armor just stood there as he tried to process this, his face going pale, quite a feat for a pony with white fur. "I think I need to go lie down" he mumbled, before slowly walking away. There was a pause before Cadance spoke up.

"I should probably make sure he isn't distracted by some detail from work" she said, even as she began walking after him.
There were a few silent seconds, followed by Rarity walking past with several scraps of cloth, along with the discarded bridesmaid dresses.

"If anypony needs me," she said calmly, "I will be putting some finishing touches Princess Cadance's wedding dress. And fixing Rainbow Dash's. And if there is any justice in the universe, some tea. Delicious, nourishing tea..."
The mare walked out of the room, briefly pausing to shoot Rainbow Dash a Look as she went. Despite this, Rainbow Dash just grinned, before going back to looking nonchalant.

There was a small cough from Twilight, and Twinkle turned to look at her. There was a determined look on the mare's face.
"Twilight, we need to talk" she said, before a thought occurred to her and she added, "Again."

"About what?" Twinkle asked. Twilight looked at her.
"Well, I was wondering about the fact that you can now teleport. I am assuming that your little.." she gave a small smile, "Alicorn apotheosis came with an upgrade to your magic."

Twinkle gave this some thought. "I'm not sure it has," she said, "I think that the whole... series of events just unlocked whatever it was that was stopping me from teleporting. Which I'm guessing had something to do with that message you found when you went into my mind."
"And you're feeling alright?"

Twinkle paused. "I took on an enraged changeling queen, and survived. A changeling queen wielding enough raw power to knock a Princess down. I have wings, and I can teleport, and from the looks of things, nopony was seriously injured. I'd call that a good day."
Twilight frowned. "That isn't really what I meant at all. I... I don't mean to be blunt, but you did die."

Twinkle paused for a moment, before looking down at her hooves. "Not exactly."
"Not exactly?" Twilight repeated.

"Evidently I had not passed on completely. In fact, I think, based on all available evidence I... merely lost consciousness."
There was a noise that sounded amazingly like Rainbow Dash trying to hold in laughter.
"From the wording of it, I was at extreme risk of dying, if not at death's door, but not completely dead."

Twilight stared at her in confusion.
"You were only 'mostly' dead?" Celestia asked. Twinkle just nodded slowly. For an instant Celestia expression flickered.

"It's really alarming, considering the sheer beating I'd taken at that point. Both the literal one and the fact that I was suffering from a nasty poisoning as well."
"Poisoning?" Twilight asked. Twinkle was fairly certain she heard an alarmed gasp from Fluttershy.

"Yeah, the Changeling Queen, she sort of poisoned Cadance. And then I may have transferred the poison into me, but that was only because none of my other spells were working, and I didn't know what else I could've done and-" Twinkle paused, realising she was getting unusually worked up. As she tried to get her breathing under control Luna entered the room and made her way over to Celestia.

"Discord has been re-ensconced in the gardens, sister."
Celestia gave a small nod, "Very good."

There was a tiny noise from Fluttershy, "Excuse me, your highness?"
Both sisters turned to look at Fluttershy, "It's just that, well, I mean, you looked singed."

Luna and Celestia exchanged glances, and then glanced at Luna's coat, which did have a few patches that looked noticeably darker than they should have. Luna just stared at the patches the same way one would stare at muddy footprints left by a pet.

"Oh, yes. One of those... creatures did try to set me on fire." Luna said casually, "Do not worry, Fluttershy. I have burnt before. It will heal soon enough."
Fluttershy just stared at the Princess of the Night for a few seconds, before nodding.

"Anyway, have we discussed why Twilight Twinkle has wings yet?" Luna asked.
"We were in the middle of it" Twinkle said, as behind everypony Spike had somehow acquired a small chair and had taken out a small box containing sandwiches, and had shared one with Fluttershy. Trixie had wandered over to see what was going on, and turned down Spike's offering. Luna just gave an approving nod. Twinkle gave her wings a cursory flap.

"At least, I think we were" she added after a few seconds.
"And what happened to the wedding that was supposed to take place?" Luna asked, looking about the room.

"Oh, Shining Armor's gone to get some rest and Cadance went with him, and then there was me saying we needed a while to catch our br-..." Twinkle stopped cold as a terrible thought slithered into her mind.
"What?" Twilight asked. Twinkle stared at her.

"Shining Armor" Twinkle sighed, "should probably be kept on watch in case he gets cold hooves or something."
There was a sudden pause, before Twilight dared ask the question. "Why would he get cold hooves?"

Twinkle stared at her, "Because his fiancée was replaced by a shapeshifter for several days while he was brainwashed out of his gourd. Can't imagine why a stallion would start questioning his love for somepony if he couldn't tell it had happened. You know, despite the brainwashing."

There were a few seconds of silence, as Twinkle looked to Luna, who just stared back. Twinkle raised an eyelid. Luna's brow furrowed, before she was struck with realisation.
"I was going to go talk to Princess Cadance about..." her eyes darted toward Twinkle, "Nothing in particular, I suppose I could check in on the captain of the guard while I am there."

The mare calmly made her way out of the room. There was a noise from Rainbow Dash.
"Not that all this talking hasn't been the most fun thing I've done all day, but I'm gonna go practice my rainbooms more. Unless somepony needs help learning how to use her new wings or something" the pegasus said. Twinkle suddenly found herself remembering stories she'd overheard of Rainbow Dash's... unique method of training ponies to fly.

"No thanks," she quickly stated, "I'd prefer to break them in gently."
Rainbow Dash briefly stared at her, a look of mild confusion on her face, before that vanished, and Rainbow Dash took to the air, heading out of the window.

"We'll just be going on, maybe see if we can't find something to do, without getting in anypony's way" Twilight Velvet said, Night Light moving silently behind her. The ponies paused to briefly nuzzle Twilight before leaving.
"I suppose I should probably try and find where all my bird friends went to" Fluttershy said, "Unless there's going to be a change of plan with the wedding and you don't need them anymore, which I'd understand."

And with that the mare quickly made her own way out of the room. This left the Twilights, Celestia, Spike, who by now had finished his sandwich and was trying to look sharp and alert, Trixie, and Comet Chaser.
"Spike?" Twilight called out, "Have we got the checklist for double-checking the checklist?"

"Yeah" the little dragon said cheerfully, lifting up a checklist and a quill. Twilight turned to look at him and grinned.
"Alright then. Now let's double-check this checklist" she said, in the same jovial tones. The two began to walk, and upon realising she had nothing else to do, Twinkle began to follow after them. She noticed out of the corner of her eyes Comet Chaser slowly following after.

"You don't have to follow me" Twilight said. Twinkle just scoffed.
"You're the best mare, and I'm apparently the maid of honour. Pretty sure we're supposed to work together. Plus," she added, "It's not like I've got anything better to do."

Then a thought occurred to Twinkle, and she gave a small hum.
"What is it?" Spike asked.

"I've never been to a wedding before" Twinkle noted, smiling as she did.

*****

Cadance was sitting on a chair by the fireplace in Shining Armor's house, listening to the sound of the stallion making almost no noise at all in his sleep. Convincing the stallion to remove his dress uniform before he'd passed out had seemed like a small miracle, and now he was fast asleep upstairs. Cadance sat there, trying not to think about anything in particular. She was incredibly grateful for the gentle knocking on the door. Slowly, and ignoring the small twinges from her muscles, made her way toward the door. She opened it to find Luna standing on the doorstep, trying to look calm and collected, though Cadance could see there was something troubling her aunt.

"Auntie?" she asked. Luna looked almost shocked at being addressed.
"Cadance. I was hoping to talk to you."

"Of course, come on in," Cadance smiled, "Just be careful. Shiney's getting some sleep right now."
Luna's expression shifted to one of mild confusion. She stood in the middle of the room, looking about nervously.

"Would you like something to drink?" Cadance asked, "I could make some tea if you'd like."
Luna shook her head, "I've never been one for tea, Cadance. You know that."

For a minute the mare shuffled on her hooves. "Cadance, I wanted to speak to you about..." she trailed off into mumbling. Cadance tilted toward her.

"About what?"
Luna repeated herself, as a pace too quick to be properly understood. Cadance decided to hazard a guess.

"You wanted to ask me something about the wedding?"
After a few seconds, Luna nodded. "I was just wondering, if it isn't an imposition, that is, whether I could..." she looked down at her hooves for a moment.

"If it isn't too much trouble to ask, could we perhaps give you away?"
In an instant Luna found herself being set upon and practically crushed by Cadance.

"Of course you can!" Cadance smiled, before adding, "Why in the world would you think I'd find you asking me that an imposition?"
There were a few moments as Luna's brain desperately struggled to think of an excuse. It decided on smiling nervously.

"I suppose I was just being foolish" Luna said. Cadance just grinned.
"Thank you" Luna added, before a small smile overcame her.

"Anyway, I have... other things I need to do today, so I shall leave you in peace" Luna said, turning toward the door, though not before giving one more smile.

*****

Finding Applejack and Pinkie Pie had been easy enough. The wedding cake itself was utterly untouched, though according to Applejack she was required to make a whole new batch of apple fritters, though any further discussion of why was forestalled by Pinkie Pie waving a sheet of paper in front of Twilight's face.
"What-"

"It's the song you gotta sing, at the start of the par-tay!" Pinkie said, "Me and Vinyl wrote it. She made the actual tune but I did the lyrics."
Twilight stared at it for a moment, but Pinkie Pie continued.

"But I was kinda annoyed because I was hoping to find a dance teacher who could teach you how to dance by tomorrow and they were all" her face shifted to a grimace, "And then they kicked me out, and you two still can't dance."
"I can dance" Twinkle instantly said defensively. There was a snort from Spike, along with looks of scepticism from Applejack and Pinkie Pie.

"Didn't look like it back at Twilight's birthday party" Spike laughed. Twinkle frowned at him.
"That was different, I was just-" she stopped in her tracks when she realised Twilight was staring at her.

"Nopony else was dancing with her" Twinkle muttered. There were a few awkward seconds as Twilight looked at everypony.
"What's wrong with my dancing?" she asked, confused.

"Nothing" Spike said quickly, "It's great."
"It's unique" Pinkie Pie suggested.

Twilight turned to look at Applejack, the bearer of the Element of Honesty herself, who was staring at the oven in front of her.
"Applejack," she said, her voice sickly sweet, "Dear Applejack, the most dependable of ponies. You will tell me what's wrong with my dancing, won't you?"

Applejack began to sweat. "Sorry, Twilight," she stammered, trembling as she spoke, "But ah'm checkin' on these fritters. Which ah'm cooking. Right now. Real busy."
"Those fritters?" Twilight asked. Applejack nodded vigorously.

"The ones in the oven?"
Again Applejack nodded.

"Which isn't on" Twilight noted with a leaden voice. Slowly Applejack's eyes looked at the oven.
"Consarnit" she muttered, before sighing.

"You never learnt to dance, did you?" Twinkle said out loud. Twilight turned to face her.
"Of course not. I had more important things to do."

Twinkle raised an eyebrow. "More important than dancing?" she asked, looking toward Comet Chaser as she said this. The pony didn't seem to react to her strong emphasis on her last word. Twilight meanwhile just stared at Twinkle.
"Why didn't you just say I'm not a good dancer?"

"Because I didn't want to hurt your feelings?" Twinkle suggested, before seeing the expression on Twilight's face. "Which, even if I point out it was your birthday doesn't count because of what happened afterward, which is then invalidated by what happened after what happened after that, and I'm rambling again."

There were a few seconds as nopony said anything, before Twilight shook her head. "And nopony considered just telling me that I couldn't dance?" she asked.
"If it's any consolation, I can't dance either" Comet Chaser said, quietly. Twilight just stared straight at him.

"You're doing it again" Twilight informed him, to which the stallion looked confused.
"Well, it's not like you can't teach her some of the basics, right?" Twinkle asked Pinkie Pie, who looked momentarily distracted before giving it some thought.

"I can try."
Twilight frowned at this, but raised no objections. She turned to look at Spike. "Okay, so we've checked the apple fritters" she said, "What next?"

"Check on the wedding dress" Spike informed her. Twilight's expression shifted.
"This would really be better with Cadance here" she noted, "After all, it is her wedding."

She frowned for a moment, before motioning with her hoof, "Anyway, to Rarity."
They turned to leave the room, and as they walked out of the door Twinkle noticed Spike was thinking about something.

"Hey," the little dragon spoke up, "What happened to Trixie?"
There were a few seconds as everypony suddenly found themselves noticing the absence of one Trixie.

"I thought she was right behind us" Twilight frowned, before shrugging.
"She'll probably turn up."

*****

Trixie stared at the object in front of her, not exactly sure how her search for a good drink had wound up taking her to the gardens, where a mare with an electric blue mane was more or less describing how amplifiers worked to her, with what almost sounded like motherly pride. Trixie suspected Pinkie Pie had some part in this series of events. The mare, who either called herself DJ or Vinyl Scratch, was currently waving a hoof at a panel, each of which was inlaid with rows up numbers.

"These numbers all go up to eleven. All across the board" the mare grinned.
"And?" Trixie asked.

The mare scowled, although her expression was slightly inscrutable with those glasses she insisted on wearing.
"Most amps just go up to ten" she said, with a notable amount of defensiveness in her voice.

"So, this is louder? Is it louder?" Trixie found herself asking. The mare nodded.
"Well, it's one louder. It's not ten." Vinyl added, "You see, most ponies will be playing on ten, and you're on ten, you're all the way up there, all the way up, on ten. And where can you go from there? Where?"

Trixie blinked. Evidently the mare was expecting an answer, despite the fact that Trixie's general knowledge on singing was limited to whatever she could sing in the shower.
"I don't know" she said.

"Nowhere," Vinyl nodded, "Exactly. And what do we do, if we need, like, an extra push, to really get over the cliff?"
Trixie felt she could answer that one, at least. "Put it up to eleven?"

Vinyl grinned. "Yeah, exactly. You're catching on."
A thought occurred to Trixie. "Why don't you just make ten a bit louder? Make ten the top number and make it a bit louder?"

Vinyl stared at Trixie for several seconds, moving her glasses out of the way to stare at Trixie. From the mare's expression, Trixie might as well have just asked her the meaning of life.

"These go up to eleven."

*****

As the three ponies and one dragon made their way toward Rarity's room in the castle, Twinkle couldn't help but notice Comet Chaser occasionally glancing at her. Of course, she was also glancing at him every few minutes. And she was fairly certain Twilight was glancing at both of them. Indeed, the only one of all four of them not glancing was Spike, who was in fact just staring straight ahead.

"You know," Twinkle said, "You don't need to follow us about."
"Me?" Comet Chaser asked. Twinkle just gave him the most deadpan stare she could manage.

"I'm not... okay, yeah, I suppose am following you around, but it's not like I have anything else to do. I mean, aside from going home, getting some sleep, I could do that. It's a public holiday, after all. But... I don't really feel sleepy. Which might have something to do with everything that's happened today."

Twinkle stared at him for a moment. From the sound of it, there was something he wasn't mentioning, but on seeing his expression, she decided not to question it. Not yet, at any rate.

Eventually they reached the door to Rarity's makeshift workshop, and opened it. Almost immediately upon entry Twinkle found herself seized by a bright blue glow and dragged into the middle of the room.
"Hello Rarity" she said slowly. The mare turned to glance at her. Suddenly Twinkle found herself surrounded by a whirl of measuring tape as the mare occasionally glanced at her to tut.

"The last time I took your measurements" Rarity said, "You were taller, and of course I did adjust the plans for a dress to account for your previous stature, and now you have not only increased in height again, you have wings."
Strangely enough, she didn't look or sound anything more than mildly irritated.

"Fortunately it will be a simple matter to adjust the size of the dress, though I am wondering..." the mare paused in thought, utterly ignoring the others standing by the door, "Perhaps I should just make an entirely new dress. And of course Princess Cadance's dress is ready but she is not here. So I will have to make do testing out your dress."

Twinkle opened her mouth to object to this, before she realised something. She was in fact required to be there. Even if she hadn't actually given an answer to Cadance's offer, she was still attending the wedding.
"I suppose we'll just have to wait for her" Twilight offered, looking to Spike, who just gave a casual shrug. What resulted was several minutes of everypony sitting and waiting, as Rarity worked on Twinkle's dress.

"So, what does a maid of honor actually do?" Spike asked. There were a few seconds as both Twilights exchanged uncertain glances.
"Oh, that's easy enough to explain, Spike" Rarity said, in-between staring at her creation, which Twinkle couldn't help but notice was an alarmingly familiar blue colour, "The maid of honor is the head bridesmaid, usually (ahem) the bride's sister, or best friend. As far as duties are concerned, her job is the same as the other bridesmaids, in that she is supposed to attend the wedding and provide support. And also give a speech at the reception. In some territories, such as Trotland, for example, there is no such term as 'maid of honor', and she's just the head bridesmaid. Apparently in more modern weddings, it has become a custom for any brother of the bride to function as the head attendant, which..." a noticeable look of disgust came across Rarity's face, "is probably unlikely to happen with this one."

There was a pause, before Rarity's smile returned, and she went back to her work.
"You seem to have that memorised" Twilight noted. Rarity looked up and gave a sly smile.

"Of course I do."
A thought occurred to Twinkle, "And I bet you've got your wedding all planned out, just in case."

Rarity's expression went passive, "No. Not at all."
Twinkle stared at Rarity, and after a few seconds the mare looked up at her. "Alright, maybe I do, but one can never be too prepared. Just in case."

Twinkle looked over to Spike, who was looking mildly alarmed.
"Oh," Rarity said, "I also forgot one thing. The maid of honor is apparently meant to give a speech at the reception." she looked over to Twinkle once more, "But that shouldn't be too hard for you, given your track record with such things."

"Yeah" Twinkle said nervously, "Shouldn't be too hard, even though most of those speeches were spur-of-the-moment things. And I've got about twenty-four hours to write it."
"I'm sure you'll do fine" Twilight and Comet Chaser both said, before staring at one another with mild annoyance.

"Thanks," Twinkle said quickly, trying not to laugh at their expressions.
After that, the room went silent once more, save for the occasional hum from Rarity working away. This continued for several minutes until the mare spoke up.

"And there it is" she smiled, turning to Twinkle, "Your dress is done."
Before Twinkle could go much further she found herself being practically dragged across the room by the mare, and shoved behind a screen. After a few seconds a dress was thrown at her. She examined it, and noted the familiar blue colour of the dress with alarm.
"Rarity?" she asked, "This dress looks really familiar. You didn't, by any chance-"

"No" the mare responded, "Rest assured, it is not the same dress. I just used the same material in it's construction."
Twinkle stared at it. It did look very nice. Somehow Rarity had managed to merge the design of the bridesmaid dresses with a unique design based on Twinkle. Shrugging, she quickly got dressed. After a few seconds of cursory examination, she stepped out. She quickly found herself being examined by Rarity, who eventually nodded approvingly. Then Twinkle noted the hair-brush.

"What's that for?" she asked. Rarity stared unflinchingly at her.
"Hair?" she asked. Rarity nodded.

"Hair."
Rarity turned to look at Twilight, pointing the brush at her. "And you're next by the way."

"I am?" Twilight asked. Rarity stared at her.
"Oh, yes, of course."

Styling her hair didn't take very long, though Rarity found her attempts stymied by Twinkle's passivity toward her attempts. Then Rarity grabbed Twilight, and gently nudged her behind the screen, before hoofing over another dress. A short time later, and Twilight reappeared, before getting her mane set upon by Rarity. Some vigorous styling and combing later, and Rarity took a step back, giving an approving nod, before turning to Spike and Comet Chaser.
"Well?"

"You look great" Spike said instantly. There was a small nod from Comet Chaser, who looked like his brain had gone elsewhere for some reason.
"I'd say they look lovely, myself" said Cadance. The mare was standing in the doorway, smilingly gently.

"Sorry for being so late," she continued, "I wasn't sure where you were. I tried looking in the kitchen first, and I proved unable to turn down the chef's samples of apple fritters. And the small bag of more apple fritters 'for later'. And then I met Lyra and her marefriend in the corridor..."
There were a few seconds as she looked down at her hooves, before rebounding, "Anyway, I'm here now."

"So, if you're here, who's looking after Shining Armor?" Twilight asked.
"He can look after himself, you know" Twinkle muttered.

"Your parents volunteered to watch him" Cadance said, her expression shifting mildly, though her smile didn't leave her face. "By which I mean they told me to 'stop worrying about him' and practically had me escorted from the room."
"He's only asleep" Twinkle said, "It's not like he's really going to go anywhere."

Cadance nodded, "I suppose" she said, though she sounded less than convinced. Then she looked over toward Rarity.
"Shall we?" she asked. Rarity blinked, and then seemed to remember where she was.

"Oh, yes, let's" she smiled. The two quickly walked off. Twinkle looked over toward Twilight, who looked back at her.
"What?" Twilight asked. Twinkle just blinked.

"Nothing," she quickly stated, her wings fluttering, "I was just... elsewhere."
She looked back toward Comet Chaser, who had a faraway look on his face.

"And it seems I'm not alone there" she observed. Comet Chaser's eyes darted as he noticed he was being watched.
"No, I was just thinking about... things" he said, shuffling slightly.

Twinkle said nothing at that, and tried not to grin, especially at the way Comet Chaser was most certainly not trying to look at Twilight.
After a few short minutes of awkward glancing, Rarity returned, and for the first time Twinkle noticed that her mane looked incredibly rumpled.

"Presenting" Rarity said, with a broad smile, "Her royal highness, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza!"
"Cadance is just fine, really" the mare laughed, before she stepped out. Twinkle was incredibly certain Spike's jaw had just dropped, if not Comet Chaser's as well. Actually, she was beginning to get some suspicions about her own jaw. Not that anypony would ever blame her. Cadance, after all, possessed the sort of looks that could turn the most intelligent, witty and urbane being into a dribbling, smiling mess on the floor even on an average day. At the moment, she had looks that would knock the wind out of anypony, before turning them into a dribbling, smiling mess on the floor.

"How do I look?" she asked nervously. There were several seconds of staring, as Twinkle's mind tried to rally its forces.
"You look... amazing" Twinkle said in awe. Cadance smiled at that, and Twinkle was fairly certain she heard the sound of scales hitting the floor.

"Let me see" she said. Rarity brought over a mirror. Cadance gasped, and then broke out into another smile, which quickly spread to Rarity and Twilight.
"It's beautiful! I love it!" Cadance declared. To this, Rarity and Twilight grinned in triumph.

*****

Celestia sat on the balcony of her room, looking out over the city. There was a mild breeze, but the sun was out, and she could hear birds singing, though with her hearing she wasn't one hundred percent sure whether those were birds native to the city, any of the ones from the varied gardens the castle had acquired over the centuries, or Fluttershy practicing for the wedding. At the thought of the wedding, she gave the smallest of breaths, which if carefully studied would have sounded suspiciously like a sigh.

There was a chirp from the phoenix sitting next to her. She gave a small smile. There was the sound of hoofsteps behind her.
"Is there something wrong?" Celestia asked. The hoofsteps got closer and closer.

"No, or at least, nothing that I am aware of" Luna said, as she approached her sister, and sat next to her.
"What troubles you, sister?" she asked. Celestia looked at Luna, who simply frowned.

"And don't say 'nothing', Tia. Something is quite obviously giving you concern."
Celestia stood up, and turned to look at Philomena. "It's what happened this morning, with Cadance, and the Changelings."

There were a few seconds as she said nothing, before shifting. "You knew about them, didn't you?" she asked. Her voice was clear of any emotion. She was not accusing or suspicious, just simply asking her younger sister a question.
"Yes. I knew of them. As did Twilight Sparkle, her friends and her daughter, who was the one who informed me of their presence."

Celestia's face went impassive, as she looked at Philomena. "Was there a specific reason you didn't inform me about them?"
Luna looked down at her hooves, and took a deep breath. "Tia, you are many things. Strong, noble, steadfast, patient. You are my sister, and I do love you, but..." against her will, a smile started to bloom on Luna's face, "You can be so annoyingly stubborn when you want to be. If we had told you of what had transpired with Cadance, you would have confronted that... creature on what she was doing."

Celestia looked at Luna and nodded, "Yes. I would have. Of course I would."
"And that monster had access to Shining Armor and our niece. Now imagine if she had felt threatened."

Celestia's expression went through a dozen micro-changes in an instant.
"That is why she asked us not to tell you" Luna said, calmly, "and because you would not have won that fight. And you would have tried to fight her anyway, no matter what, so don't bother trying to tell me otherwise."

For an instant a tiny smile spread across Celestia's face. Then it vanished.
"But I should've noticed Cadance had been replaced. I should have noted the complete change in her behaviour. How can I protect my subjects if I cannot protect just two of them from being harmed?"

There were a few seconds of utter silence as she looked at Luna. "I-"
"Don't apologise" Luna sighed, "I know you meant no offense, sister. And there is no point dwelling on could-have-beens and what-ifs. What happened to them was horrible, yes, but you cannot allow yourself to become stuck in a quagmire of querying as to whether you could have done something different. We failed them, yes, but if we do not attempt to make up for it, then we only fail them further, as you well know."

She glanced briefly toward the sky, before looking back to her older sister, "And if you are concerned as to whether these events have had some effect on our niece, why don't you just talk with her, instead of just sitting here?"
"Alright then," Celestia said, "If you insist, sister, I will."

"It's not as if Cadance is the sort of mare who would hold a grudge anyway" Luna pointed out. Celestia nodded.

*****

After Rarity and her dresses, the group had moved on to Fluttershy and her bird-chorus. It had been an unusual event, considering Fluttershy's usual difficulties with meeting others, and Cadance's usual friendliness, Twinkle had expected some nervous muttering, and instead the two had gotten on almost alarmingly well. It probably hadn't hurt that the birds in Fluttershy's choir swarmed over Cadance, at which point the pegasus and the Princess got into a long discussion over their favourite type of birdsong.

On seeing the two ponies talking, Twinkle felt a small stabbing pain, which she quickly, and unsuccessfully tried to shake off.
After that, they moved on, looking for Pinkie Pie. They eventually found her in the gardens, engaged in a strange, circular conversation with Vinyl Scratch and Octavia about something. Nearby to the three mares was a completely confused looking Trixie.

"What happened to you?" Twinkle asked. The showmare turned to look at her. She opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again, then frowned.
"You know, I'm not actually sure" she said, quietly.

"Hey, Twilight!" Pinkie Pie called out, bouncing over to the mare.
"I think this is gonna be the most super-enjoyable wedding that ever happened even if you don't know how to dance but that's alright because everything else is all super-spectacular and amazing and we've got everything you could need for a wedding, and I even found a band that plays both kinds of music!"

"Both kinds?" Twilight asked. Pinkie Pie nodded.
"Yuh-huh. It's gonna be so amazingly awesome I can barely wait and I'm never gonna get to sleep tonight because and I'm gonna be all smiled out because I can't stop smiling even though I couldn't stop smiling even if I wanted to because this is just going to be the best wedding ever!"

There were a few seconds as Cadance just stared at Pinkie with the usual expression of somepony who'd only just met the mare. Then she smiled.
"But you still don't know how to dance, Twilight" Pinkie said, shaking her head "But that's okay, 'cuz Auntie Pinkie has a song for that!"

There was a sudden look of shock on Twilight's face.
"Pinkie, that isn't really ne-"

But Pinkie was already singing, heedless of any attempt to stop her. Twinkle watched this scene, and tried not to laugh. After a few verses, Cadance decided to join in, much to the shock of the grey-furred mare watching from nearby. Twilight briefly looked on in alarm, before smiling as well.
"Guess that means Spike can tick another item off the checklist" Twinkle said. Twilight nodded, turning to look at Spike, who was already scribing away.

"Which means," Twilight said triumphantly, "the only things left are for Rainbow Dash to successfully achieve a rainboom tomorrow, and for the wedding to go off without a hitch."
There was a sudden silence, save for Pinkie Pie and Cadance still singing and dancing behind them, even as Vinyl Scratch removed her glasses to make sure she was seeing what she was seeing.

"Twinkle?" Twilight asked, "Are you alright?"
The mare stared at Twilight and blinked. "What is it?" she asked.

"You didn't reprimand me for 'tempting fate' again" Twilight said, giving a nervous smile, "Are you sure you're alright?"
Twinkle just gave a small smile back. "But it's not going to go wrong. Not when Twilight Sparkle's here to make sure of that."

Twilight blinked in surprise.
"What?" Twinkle asked, "Am I not allowed to be cheerful?"

Twilight shook her head, "I didn't say you weren't allowed to be cheerful. It's just not like you."
"I can be cheerful" Twinkle frowned, "I can be very cheerful."

"You don't exactly look cheerful" Comet Chaser observed, in-between staring at the two dancing, prancing pink ponies, before his expression flashed.
Twinkle shrugged.

"Well..." she trailed off, and frowned. "I..." she stated, before trailing off again. Comet Chaser tilted his head.
"Yes?" he asked. Twinkle noticed her tail flicking, and shook her head. Then she noticed Twilight looking at something.

"What?" she asked. Twilight smiled, and raised a hoof.
"Look."

Twinkle looked, to see a familiar rainbow-contrail spreading across the sky, several small blue dots following behind it.
"Guess Rainbow Dash is taking a break at the moment" Spike commented, before shrugging. "I'll just cross her off the list."
Twilight moved over toward Spike and examined the checklist, before looking up and smiling.

"Alright then. All we need to do now is wait until tomorrow morning" she glanced at Twinkle, "And hope that the wedding goes off without any hitch."
There was a sudden rumbling noise. Everypony turned to look at Twilight, who was grinning nervously.

"Sorry, I must have missed breakfast."
Twinkle tried to look serious, "Then in my capacity as a genius, I suggest we got get something to eat. Like lunch."

There was a sudden zipping noise as Trixie appeared beside them, an unnerving smile on her face.
"I am all for any eating of luncheon" she said quickly.

"Me too" Pinkie Pie beamed. Twilight prepared to question Pinkie Pie suddenly stopping her song and dance routine, and then decided not to. It was Pinkie just being Pinkie, after all. Twilight looked toward Cadance, who had by now finished dancing as well.
"Cadance, would you like to get some lunch with us?"

Instantly Cadance nodded, "I'd be delighted."

*****

Some twenty-five minutes (and some difficult signalling) later, and all four of the others had been gathered up. Twinkle couldn't help but notice Rarity and Rainbow Dash sharing giggles about the wedding. Comet Chaser was keeping as far away from Twilight as possible, while Fluttershy and Cadance continued their conversation. Pinkie and Spike were engaged in their own random discussion, while Applejack just smiled warmly. Considering the mare's tendency toward looking vaguely irritated by something, Twinkle found the smiling unsettling. Trixie and Twilight were meanwhile talking about certain types of magic, which Twinkle wasn't listening to. Every now and then her eyes would move back toward Fluttershy and Cadance talking, and then she'd find a cold chill running down her spine, and her hooves beginning to tingle in a strangely painful fashion. She focused, trying to drive those thoughts from her mind at the m-

"Princess Celestia!" she heard Twilight call out. She opened her eyes, and saw that Princess Celestia was indeed standing there, an odd smile on her face.
"Hello, Twilight Sparkle. I was wondering if perhaps I might borrow Princess Cadenza for just a moment."

Twilight looked over to Cadance, who had a mild look of confusion on her face, but otherwise seemed unsurprised.
"It's alright, Twilight. I'll catch up with you" she smiled. Everypony else kept moving, while Twilight and Twinkle looked at Celestia for a moment, before moving themselves, Twilight occasionally glancing back as she went.

"What is it?" Cadance asked, once everypony else was out of sight. Celestia looked at the young mare.
"I just wanted to talk to you, see how you were doing."

Cadance tilted her head. "Well, aside from feeling somewhat woozy, and slightly worried for Shining Armor, I feel fine, auntie. I can't really explain it, but I think it had something to do with that blast of love Shining and I created."
Celestia nodded slowly. Cadance looked at her.

"You weren't asking about my physical health, were you?" she asked. Celestia sighed.
"No. I wasn't" she looked at Cadance, her eyes betraying a noticeable hint of sadness, "Cadance, I-"

The mare held up a hoof. "Don't, auntie. Please, don't. I don't blame you for what happened, or Aunt Luna, or anypony else. I couldn't. You were not responsible for what happened with her. Or for what happened to Shining Armor."
Celestia frowned, "But I didn't notice anything had ha-"

"I'm not blaming you, auntie. Even you make mistakes, as you've told me so many times over the years."
She looked along the hallway, and ruffled her wings, "You hold yourself to a higher standard than any other pony auntie. You blame yourself for any minor pain a pony suffers, you even feel bad if somepony gets a paper-cut on your watch, but that... that part of you means you throw yourself off the metaphorical cliff if you make a mistake. But you aren't infallible, and before you say it, nopony expects you to be."

Celestia nodded.
"Although," Cadance said quietly, "That doesn't mean I'm in denial about what I went through, because I'm not. I couldn't escape from down there, auntie. Not on my own. I couldn't free myself and I was powerless as she hurt the stallion I love, and I... felt so helpless. But," she said, her voice regaining it's strength, "That still doesn't mean I'm about to start ladling out blame and scorn. The Changeling Queen has been driven away, and Shining Armor is safe, and almost nopony was hurt. And tomorrow, I can marry the pony I love with all my friends and family there, and some ponies who I honestly would never have expected to attend."

Both mares grinned at this. This might have been because Cadance's mood, now focused on the wedding again, was infectious.
"Now, please, auntie, please cheer up." the mare moved closer to Celestia and hugged her. "It's not your fault, and I will keep saying until you accept that."

After a few seconds Celestia returned the hug. Then there was a noise from Cadance, who began grinning.
"I forgot to tell you, auntie, guess what aunt Luna said!"

*****

"This is quite the nice restaurant" Rarity sighed. A problem with going to a restaurant with everypony was the difficult in finding one Rarity approved of, and one that met Rainbow Dash's peculiar standards, while at the same time not seeming too 'fancy' for Applejack's tastes, too 'snooty' for Trixie's, or too filled with staff willing to tell Pinkie Pie she was making a scene. The one they had chosen seemed pleasant enough, and the staff had barely raised an eyebrow when Rainbow Dash had shoved two tables together. In fact, the only real problems came from Fluttershy trying to obscure herself, and the odd glances everypony kept giving Twinkle.

Twinkle nodded in agreement at Rarity's statement, as she eyed the menu.
"Hey," Applejack whispered to Fluttershy, "What're half of these things?"

"I..." Fluttershy examined where Applejack was pointing, "I really don't know. Sorry."
Every few seconds, Twinkle couldn't help but notice Rarity's eyes dart toward Comet Chaser. She felt her stomach clench.

"Well, girls," Twilight grinned broadly, "We've got everything set up and ready for Cadance's big day."
"You know," Rarity said, "she wasn't entirely what I was expecting. From a Princess."

There was a sudden pause, as everypony looked at her.
"What'cha talkin' 'bout, Rarity?" Applejack asked, as she pondered what an 'appletiser' could possibly be.

"It's just, after Their Royal Highnesses, I was expecting her to act somewhat like... well, a Princess."
"She does act like a Princess" Twinkle noted. Rarity rolled her eyes.

"I realise that, but I meant like..." she frowned, before turning to Twilight, "What exactly is her relation to Celestia and Luna? I believe I heard her address Princess Celestia as her (ahem) 'auntie', but, given what I do know of the royal family, it seems a bit incongruous..."
Twilight looked uncertain. "I... don't know. It never really occurred to me to ask."

"Don't look at me" Twinkle said, her wings fluttering as all eyes turned to her.
"Although," the royal blue mare said, "I did once hear somepony state the differences between those three in a rather simple fashion: Celestia is basically like everypony's mother, or grandmother, Luna is the unusual aunt (only with more demon-slaying and adventuring than usual), whereas Cadance is basically like your cooler big sister, or failing that, cousin."

"Do you have a cousin?" Pinkie Pie asked. Twinkle shuffled, and suddenly found herself unable to speak.
"That, ah, well, I mean, that is to say" she coughed, "Well, I do count myself as having five (more-or-less) aunts, Pinkie. That is all I shall say on the matter."

"So, isn't that a 'yes, but I can't tell you'?" Fluttershy asked. Twinkle sighed.
"I cannot tell you because the answer may in fact shock and alarm some of you. Particularly Rarity."

"Why me?" she asked. Twinkle gave this some thought.
"Alright, a thought experiment for you, Rarity. Imagine a dozen Pinkie Pies."

"Whoa" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "Goosebumps."
Pinkie Pie looked mildly hurt at this.

"Now imagine a dozen Pinkie Pies, all the exact same age as your own little sister."
Rarity blinked.

"Hay," Applejack exclaimed, "Ah think ah'm getting the shivers." she glanced over at Pinkie Pie, "Sorry, nuthin' personal, Pinkie, it just sounds a bit... alarmin'"
"Exactly like Sweetie Belle, you say?" Rarity said, with several odd pauses and emphasis peppered throughout.

"More or less" Twinkle shrugged (which she noted still felt kind of weird with the wings).
Rarity fell face-forward onto the table in an instant.

"Is she... alright?" Comet Chaser asked. Rainbow Dash leaned over the table and gave her a nudge. There was a barely audible moan.
"Yeah, she'll be alright" Rainbow Dash grinned, before looking towards Pinkie Pie, "Hey, c'mon, Pinkie. What would you do with a dozen tiny Pinkie Pies?"

Pinkie Pie gave this some thought. "I dunno. Maybe throw a super-special Pint-sized Pinkie Party?" she shrugged, "Or maybe a dozen super-special Pint-sized Pinkie Parties, each one betterer than the last."
She stared at Rainbow Dash and Applejack, "But I don't get why anypony would be so terrified of that."

"I think it might have something to do with the idea of multiple Sweetie Belles, rather than there being a small swarm of Pinkie Pies" Twinkle said, calmly, before frowning, "Although I'm not sure what the correct term for a group of Pinkie Pies would be."
There was suddenly a polite cough from a waiter, "Are madams and sir ready to order?" the waiter asked, in a mildly clichéd Prench accent, before glancing uncertainly at the collapsed Rarity.

"Don't worry about her" Twinkle said, "She's just having a moment."
"Am not" Rarity declared, before slowly righting herself. She glanced at the waiter.

"Oh, good. A waiter. Just what I needed. I shall require your strongest wine, good sir. And perhaps a large salad"
"Of course" the waiter said, calmly, before turning to look at everypony else. Most of the group just ordered smaller meals, though Pinkie Pie demanded a small army's worth of food, which made the waiter pale.

"Pinkie?" Twilight suggested, "Why not order something smaller?"
Pinkie Pie gave this some thought.

"Okay, I'll just have a hay burger. No, wait, two hay burgers. No, wait super-extra large hay burger with fries!"
The waiter stared at Pinkie Pie for a moment, looking towards everypony else for assistance, before finally trying to look nonplussed.

"Hay burger with fries" he repeated slowly, before tearing out the page he'd been writing on. "Very good."
And with that he turned, and left. Pinkie Pie didn't seem to notice.

"No, wait, do I want fries? Because those get in the way of actually eating the burger..." she frowned, and started making small humming noises to herself, before shrugging.
"Oh well, next time, I guess."

For a few seconds she just smiled merrily to herself, while everypony just shook their heads. Then Rarity looked over toward Comet Chaser and frowned.
"So, Comet Chaser, wasn't it? Why don't you tell us something about yourself?"

The stallion blinked for a moment. "Like what, exactly?"
"What you do for a living, perhaps. What your interests are, that sort of thing. Seems a bit rude to follow a lady around and not tell them anything about yourself."

He blinked again, before glancing over toward Twilight, then to Twinkle. "Not following anypony about," he mumbled, "Not even sure what I'm doing here. One minute I went to fetch some coffee, the next I'm talking with the pony who apparently I will one day..." he frowned, and rubbed his eyes, "And then there's an invasion, and a chaos god, and her with wings, her who I met all of once before today" he said, pointing a hoof at Twinkle.

"It's been a very weird day" he mumbled. Several ponies glanced at Twinkle, then back to the confused looking stallion.
"Don't worry" Twinkle said, "Today's weirdness supply's been used up by now."

"You are sure about that, right?" Comet Chaser asked. Twinkle shrugged.
"There is something I wanted to ask you," Twilight said, slowly, "You are from the House of Starcatcher, right?"

Comet Chaser nodded.
"Then why are you just an astronomer? Isn't your family rich?" Twilight asked. The stallion paused for a moment before responding.
"It's not really that long a story. The details, I'd rather keep to myself, and there are some I am required not to tell, but... I ran away from home."

There was a small noise of intrigue from Rarity, who suddenly looked interested.
"This might have been because for one reason or another my family have generally been recluses. And certain individuals in my family were... shall we say, insistent, that I continue the family tradition. And eventually I simply decided to get away from that and seek my fortunes elsewhere."

He looked down at the table and gritted his teeth. "Which sort of, kind of, utterly failed spectacularly. But through a convoluted sequence of events I managed to get a job working in the Royal Canterlot Archives. Although it does require large amounts of caffeine."
He frowned, "I've never really been one for adventures, so all this stuff about shapeshifters and Princesses and chaos gods is really weirding me out."

He paused before adding, "Though not as much as seeing an older version of myself and the pony who is apparently my daughter, which as far as weird stuff goes is pretty unbeatable."
"It is, isn't it?" Twilight said, "Although in my case she was only older by about half a week, and I hadn't found out Twinkle was my daughter yet, but the point still stands."

Her expression shifted as she glanced toward the pony and then down at her hooves.
"Not that I'm admitting we have anything in common, of course. Because we don't."

Rainbow Dash and Applejack exchanged meaningful glances at this. Then there was a gentle cough behind them.
"Afternoon, everypony" all heads turned to see a majestic sight. A pony that looked almost like they had been carved out of the finest marble, standing with their coat practically glimmering in the sun, added to which was a bright smile.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Twilight asked. Shining Armor just looked at her.
"I'm not going to spend all day in bed, Twilie. Not when I've got other things that need to be done." he said, still smiling broadly. As he pulled up a chair, sitting in-between Twilight and Rainbow Dash, several waiters appeared carrying the varied ordered foodstuffs. One waiter asked if Shining Armor wanted anything to eat, but he gently refused. Up until he saw the glower on Twilight's face.

"What?"
"You need to keep your strength up" the mare insisted, jabbing him with a hoof for good measure. He made a mock-expression of irritation.

"You're sounding like mom, just there" he said. Twilight jabbed him again.
"Fine, fine, I'll order something. And try not to go mad with hunger watching everypony else eat before me."

"Not everypony" Twinkle said, "Pinkie's already finished her burger."
There was a small satisfied belch from the mare to confirm this, before she looked down at her empty plate.

"I thought I ordered more than this" Pinkie frowned, lifting up the plate to examine underneath it, her face the picture of disappointment as she saw there was nothing underneath. Then Twinkle said the magic words.
"You could always order seconds."

Pinkie Pie's face seemed to practically glow. "... seconds?" she whispered in an awed tone.
"Oh, good going, me" Twinkle sighed, as Pinkie began speaking at a pace too fast for anything that wasn't a dog to understand. Twilight just signalled a waiter in order to forestall any Pinkie related disasters.

"So," Shining Armor said, "What's everypony been up to while I was sleeping?"
"Going over wedding preparations," Twilight said, "Making sure everything is ready for tomorrow."

"Like making sure Viny doesn't make her amps too loud" Pinkie Pie said, "Because a party really stops being fun when your eardrums burst."
"Amps?" Shining Armor asked. Then he noticed Twinkle staring at him.

"Yes?" he asked, not quiet certain what to feel about the mare staring at him.
"Feeling better now?" Twinkle asked. He nodded, to which the mare's mouth curled just slightly.

"And you're not feeling nervous about anything?"
He stared at her, his face the picture of shock. True, he was uncertain about the wedding being tomorrow, after a massive invasion, but considering how long he'd managed to delay actually proposing to Cadance, he was now certain if he delayed any further he would just be dragged down the aisle. By whom, he wasn't certain, but if he had to guess it would have been a combination of the Princesses and his sister and his mother.

"No. Of course I'm not." he said. The mare raised an eyebrow.
"Really?"

"Really. I would never do that to Cadance, not now or ever."
"That's incredibly good to hear" a new voice said, one that instantly made Shining Armor's brain turn into a gooey mush, and he began to smile oddly as he felt a pair of lips on his face, followed by Cadance moving to sit on the other side of the table from him, where Rarity had dragged over a spare chair. Cadance quickly sat down and smiled warmly at him, making Shining Armor's brain-mush bubble slightly. There was an uncertain cough from Twinkle.

"Cadance, would you like to swap seats? That way you two don't have to stare at each other across the table."
Cadance kept staring at Shining Armor for a moment, before she noticed. "Sorry?"

"We're swapping seats" Twinkle informed her, trying not to shake her head as she did. The two mares slid off their seat and then swapped seats. As Twinkle sat down again, she noticed Cadance had an bemused smile on her face.
"What?" she asked. Cadance's smile changed.

"I was just thinking, you... you don't really act like what I thought any child of Twilight Sparkle would act like."
There was the sudden absence of noise of a certain unicorn falling off her chair.

"I'm okay. The ground broke my fall" the mare stated quickly.
"She's got a point," Rainbow Dash chuckled, before looking at Twinkle, "I mean, sure, you look a lot like Twilight, but you really don't act anything like her."

"Fair point" Twinkle said, in-between eating. There were a few seconds as she just calmly chewed her food, before adding "I did once believe I'd been swapped at birth or something, which... I don't know what I was thinking. I think that might have been, in part, because of some ponies who were around during my formative years."
There were a few seconds before Fluttershy asked, "Who were they?"

Twinkle just stared at Fluttershy for a moment, trying and failing to not look incredulous.
"Am I the only pony who thought Pinkie Pie was gonna ask that question?" Trixie asked. The deadpan stares indicated she wasn't.
"Except for you, Trixie, and Applejack."

There was a confused noise from Applejack. "What do ya mean?"
Twinkle shrugged, "I never met you. Which, in all likelihood, would probably have helped with that 'irrational hatred' of you."
There were a few seconds as Applejack's glum expression returned. Then Shining Armor spoke up.

"So, if you're from the future, w-"
"No, Shining Armor" Twinkle said.

"You don't even know what I'm going to say."
"You are going to ask me something about your future, and I'm not going to tell you. And I really mean it. You are not getting any spoilers out of me."

She saw the look on Shining Armor's face, which was almost, but not quite, as effective as an upset Pinkie Pie.
"But I might give some friendly advice: Just..." her face became a mild rictus, "Look at that, I honestly can't bring myself to say it. Don't try to be the best there is, just be there. Be you. That's all."

Shining gave this some thought, "Okay then" he eventually said.
"I would've say 'don't worry', but then..." Twinkle sighed, "I'm beginning to really dislike time-travel now."

"Why don't we talk about something else, then? If nopony minds, that is" Fluttershy suggested.
"Like what?" Rarity asked.

"Pretty sure ah saw somepony what looked an awful lot like Apple Bloom at the 'wedding' this mornin" Applejack said, "Bit curious as to how she wound up here."
"Yeah, and I saw Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle" Rainbow Dash said. "Did they know about this wedding before we did, or something?"

"They must have" Rarity said, "Though why they, of all ponies, ended up being flower girls..."
"I think that might have been me" Cadance said, quietly, "I think I mentioned having flower girls at the wedding would have been nice, but since it's been so long since I've foalsat for anypony, I wouldn't really know any little fillies capable of the task. I suppose Aunt Celestia chose them, probably because they already knew you as well."

"Keeping it within the family" Twinkle muttered, before a thought occurred to her. If that was the case, that the Princess had contacted the Cutie Mark Crusaders, how had Celestia got in contact with Scootaloo? How had that happened? She wasn't certain she'd ever seen the filly with parents, or even heard her mention them.
And then she heard Rarity speaking, and all those thoughts vanished.

"Luckily, I made sure to lock my workshop before I left it, and am certain that those three cannot possibly gain access to it."
There was a pause, as a knowing grin spread across Rainbow Dash's face.
"Sure about that, huh?"

"Very" Rarity nodded. Then after a few seconds doubt managed to get a foothold in her mind, though she bravely tried to fight it down.
"Do excuse me. There is something I must check on." she slipped off of her chair, and slowly cantered away, her pace quickening rapidly, before she eventually yelped and broke out into a full gallop.

Back at the table, heads shook.
"So, Princess Cadance," Fluttershy started, before Cadance just smiled warmly at her.

"It's all right, you don't need to call me 'princess'."
"Oh, alright then," Fluttershy gave a small grin, "Cadance, I was wondering how you got your Cutie Mark."

Cadance blinked, before realisation dawned on her.
"Oh, this thing" she grinned, looking toward her flank, "Well, you see..."

*****

The rest of the meal passed slowly, slow enough for Rarity to return from her mad dash to her temporary work-space, apparently distracted by some well-muscled gardeners she'd noticed. Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, ordered seconds and third servings, causing Twilight to speculate as to whether the mare would either explode, or just pass out from sensory overload. Instead, Pinkie Pie passed on desert, causing Fluttershy and Applejack to gasp in horror. Eventually though, the meal was finished, and everypony began walking back to the castle in order to continue preparations for the wedding. Every now and then, Twinkle noted Comet Chaser glancing at her, then glancing away again. She frowned, and made a note to have a serious talk with him soon. Pinkie Pie meanwhile, seemed none the worse for wear for her excessive consumption, merrily bouncing along the street as usual, humming an extremely random tune to herself. Twilight and Cadance, meanwhile, were catching up on old times.

"Wait, an actual cockatrice?"
"Yes. It took me by surprise. If it hadn't been for Fluttershy, I'd probably still be stone."

"Oh, well, that's not entirely true. I only yelled at it a bit."
"And saved my life, and the life of three fillies. And a chicken."

"Oh, yes" Fluttershy said, her eyes suddenly beginning to water, "Edwina..."
There was a sniff, and in an instant Rainbow Dash was upon Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie had produced a sample of tissues from absolutely nowhere. Cadance just looked at the scene in front of her, looking to Twilight.

"Edwina was one of Fluttershy's chickens, and about the same time Twinkle appeared, Edwina... randomly exploded."
"Oh, my" Cadance gasped.

"It's okay," Fluttershy said, a noticeable tremor in her voice, "I'm okay, really."
"You sure? Because you really don't look okay" Pinkie Pie informed her, leaning in toward her.

"Do you want to go sit down somewhere, maybe have something to drink?" Cadance asked, "Some tea, perhaps?"
Fluttershy paused in consideration. "I... I wouldn't mind some tea right now, actually."

"Alright then. Now all I need to do is remember where the tea is" the Princess said. And with that the small procession worth of ponies began to walk down another corridor. Twinkle however, remained where she was, and after a few seconds Comet Chaser noted and walked over to her. She looked up at him.

"How are we going to do this?" she asked. He paused, mid-step and blinked. She sighed.
"Something is clearly bothering you, and I doubt you've been walking around with us all day because you were just in some state of shock."

He stared at her for a moment, and then looked down at his hooves with a sullen expression. "I... okay, I did want to talk to you, I guess."
"About what?"

He shuffled slightly, before scowling. "This was a mistake" he muttered. Twinkle walked over to him.
"What?"

"I thought... No, I was just..." he sighed, "Did I do something wrong?"
Twinkle stared at him in confusion.

"Is there some reason you avoided me? Did I, or future-me, do something wrong?"
For a few seconds the mare said nothing, before finally sputtering out a few syllables, her wings occasionally fluttering.

"What? No. No, no, you di- you didn't do anything wrong. Why in the world would you think that?"
The stallion shrugged. "Because you only talked to me once. You just showed up out of nowhere, told me you were my daughter and didn't even tell me your name. Hay, I had to learn it second-hoof. And I just wondered if, because that future-me that was with you isn't here, perhaps I'd done something to upset you?"

Twinkle paused. She tried to remember the incident, but seeing as it had taken place directly after the unfortunate mess with the Nightmare, she wasn't surprised to find the memories blurry.

"No, you didn't. But... I... I think I can see why you reached that conclusion. But..." she gave an irritated sigh, and tried to look him in the eyes. It was harder than she'd thought, "I wasn't trying to-... I mean, - It-... I'm sorry. I don't really have a reason why, but... I didn't exactly plan any of this. I'm sorry. I should have tried to explain things better, but I'd just been through a horrible day and I wasn't exactly in the mood to talk at the time."

She slouched down, and looked at him. His expression was unreadable.
"The main reason I've been spending most of my time around Twilight is because, well... I don't... I don't know. I should've spared some thought for you, but things... things just went so strangely after that, and then I-..."

He sat next to her, and his expression changed. "It's okay. If there's something you don't want to tell me, that's okay, I'd understand."
"But it's not okay" Twinkle said, "It's not. I'm sorry. You didn't do anything to me. And I could never be mad at you, even for your awful sense of humour."

He blinked at this, as the young mare leaned on him. "I could never be mad at you."
She gave a heavy sigh. "I really am sorry."

There were a few seconds as both ponies sat there, in the middle of the hallway, the only sound being Twinkle's deep sighing.
"I suppose that explains that" Comet Chaser eventually said, "More or less. Shall we see if we can find where they went to?"

There was a small noise from Twinkle, as she still leaned against him, her eyes closed. He gave a small cough and her eyes shot open, and she instantly went upright and began looking around.
"I... sorry, again. It's just... before everything I hadn't seen him since..." she looked him in the eyes and then looked down at her hooves, a small nervous smile on her face, "For a long time."

Then she nodded, "Yeah, let's try and find everypony else."
After roughly ten minutes of walking, they found everypony else in one of the smaller guest halls. Most of them were engaged in conversation, and gave no heed to the pair's entrance.

*****

The rest of the afternoon passed without incident, and indeed, most of the evening as well, as everypony went about either fine-tuning or re-checking preparations for the wedding, or just trying to relax. At diner, everypony ate in one of the castle lunchrooms, and due to a suspicious seating arrangement, Twilight and Comet Chaser happened to be placed directly across from each other, resulting once more in a lot of side-glances. Twinkle did briefly consider confronting Cadance about this, but the mare was busy talking with Princess Luna, and so she decided to hold off talking to the mare for the time being. Halfway through her main course, she noticed she'd been chewing the same piece of what had probably at some point been lettuce for the last several minutes. She stared at whatever it was she had ordered, which turned out to be a finely prepared salad, which in what was likely a total coincidence, was designed to look like a love heart. She stared at it for a few moments, still chewing, and then looked up. Everypony else was engaged in conversation. Whatever Pinkie Pie and Trixie were discussing seemed to require Pinkie Pie to make a lot of odd gestures. Rainbow Dash, for whatever reason, was busy talking about something. Or rather, Shining Armor was talking, and Rainbow Dash was listening, and evidently quite eagerly at that. Twinkle frowned, and slid off her seat, before quietly making her way out of the room.

Twilight, in the middle of a conversation with Luna, noticed the mare's exit, and frowned.
"Sorry, Princess Luna, but could you excuse me for a moment?"

Luna raised an eyebrow, her eyes darting toward the empty seat before she nodded. "Of course."
Twilight quickly made her way out of the room after the young mare. The mare's trail eventually lead her to a small balcony, one which looked out towards the lands beyond Canterlot. Twinkle didn't seem to notice her, so she gave a small cough. The mare jumped, and turned to look at her.

"Hey, Twilight" she said. Twilight walked over to the mare, and looked her in the eyes.
"Twilight, what's bothering you?"

The royal blue furred mare opened her mouth to say something, and Twilight held up a hoof.
"And don't say something isn't bothering you. Anypony who sighs her way through dinner, and then slopes off to go look over a balcony is clearly bothered by something."

There was a tiny hint of surprise on the mare's face as Twilight spoke. She looked up at the moon beginning to move over the sky.
"I'm fi-... I'm... I..." she trailed off, and looked down at her hooves.

"I got my dad back, I've got wings. I can teleport. I got rid of the Nightmare squatting in my soul. Today went without anypony getting hurt. Guess you could say I got almost everything I wanted..." there was a small noise from the mare, as she slouched forward.

Twilight looked at the mare and noticed she was beginning to tremble.
"I'm-..." she paused, before sighing. "I'm not fine. I'm not anywhere near 'fine'"

Twilight wrapped her leg around the mare, who just carried on trembling. "I was going to die. I was going to die, and my parents... they wouldn't ever know what happened to me. And I..." she suddenly broke off. There was another tiny noise from the mare, and Twilight held her closer. She wasn't entirely certain what to say. Then she felt Twinkle's wing moving over her back.

"Sorry" the mare said, "Haven't really figured these things out yet."
Twilight just felt the mare squeezing her closer.

"'m sorry" Twinkle added. Twilight tried to think of something reassuring to say. She couldn't. For a few moments the two just sat there. Then Twinkle spoke up again.
"You finished your speech for the wedding reception tomorrow?"

Twilight blinked, and bit her lip. "More or less."
"That's good. That's good."

There was another sniff from the eighteen year old. For a few seconds there was complete silence, save the distant sound of conversation coming from the dining hall.
"Twilight?" Twinkle eventually said.

"Yes?"
"What was in the message... 'you' put in my mind? I can't seem to figure out how to find it, and I was wondering if you... if you could tell me what it said."

There were a few seconds as neither said anything. Twilight frowned.
"I guessed you'd ask about that sooner or later. I wasn't really sure if I could remember all of it, but I wrote it down shortly after what happened, just in case I forgot..." her horn glowed, and in an instant a small scroll appeared. Twinkle looked at it, and slowly dragged the paper over toward her and opened it. She turned away from Twilight and began reading. For a few minutes there was utter silence. Then the scroll dropped to the ground.

"Twilight?" Twilight Sparkle found herself asking. Then in an instant the mare swivelled around, and Twilight found herself on the receiving end of a near-bone breaking hug.
"Twilight?" she repeated as she found her vision blurring. "Twilight?! Twilight?! ... Twinkie?! Can't breath!"

The young mare quickly slid off Twilight, a sheepish smile on her face. She raised a hoof, wiping a few tears out of her eyes.
"Thanks" she said quietly. Twilight just smiled back.

"If it's not too much to ask, I wouldn't mind some time to myself right now. I've got some things I need to think about."
Twilight nodded. "Of course." she turned to leave, and was just at the door when she heard the mare sigh, and whisper to herself.
"Thanks, mom."

She paused, and then saw the mare shuffle, her wings briefly ruffling, and then turned to head back toward the dining room.
Twilight Twinkle, meanwhile, stared up at the sky. She flapped her wings once more, and then a thought occurred to her. She looked over the edge of the balcony, and smiled. She crouched, and then leapt into the sky.

*****

Eventually, dinner wrapped up, and as the castle staff cleaned up the dishes, Princess Celestia was the first to speak.
"I suggest we all go to bed soon, rather than staying up through the night. We do have to get up early for this wedding, after all."

There were several blank stares, one of which was from Shining Armor.
"Or," she said, trying not to grin at the almost adorable looks on everypony's faces, "We could stay up until the early hours of the morning like we were having a slumber party."

"We could have been having a slumber party?!" Pinkie suddenly yelled. "WHY DID NOPONY TELL ME?!"
"Pinkie, don't take this personal, but please don't go yellin' in my face. Yer breath smells like cabbage right now." Applejack said calmly.

"Sorry, Applejack."
"I don't think anypony here is going to be getting any sleep tonight, aunt Celestia" Cadance said, glancing toward Shining Armor with a grin. The captain of the guard, on his part, just stared blankly.

"Nevertheless" Celestia said, looking like she was trying to resist the urge to facehoof. Nopony said anything. You just couldn't argue with a 'nevertheless'.

Reluctantly, and with a speed best described as 'glacial', everypony moved in the direction of their rooms, or in the case of a certain Princess and her betrothed, house. However, half an hour later, six of those ponies, and one baby dragon, gathered at Shining Armor's house to have a slumber party anyway, much to the guard captain's dismay, eventually resulting in the stallion heading out into the night to find somewhere devoid of giggling to get some rest. This had the unfortunate result of Shining Armor being supplied drugged coffee by some of his troops, who had been mysteriously supplied orders to make sure Shining Armor got to sleep and stayed asleep. It also resulted in the truly bizarre sight of several guardsponies trying to move their captain across the city in the middle of the night.

Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle could not get any sleep. She sat on her bed, tossing and turning, and after what turned out to be all of half an hour's worth of furiously attempting to sleep, she decided to try and go for a walk.

Eventually, her wandering took her to the observation tower. She smiled in remembering the time she'd studied the night sky when she was ten with Princess Celestia, staying up all night trying to memorise every star in the sky, which, in hindsight she had admitted was not her greatest move. Her smile vanished as she noticed the pony sitting by the telescope. It had taken a second to notice the stallion due to his deep blue fur, though if she hadn't been trying to get to sleep she would've admitted the free-floating mane was a bit of a giveaway.

"What are you doing up here?" she asked. Comet Chaser looked up at her in surprise. He pointed a hoof at the telescope for a moment.
"Astronomer" he said. Twilight frowned.

"I couldn't sleep," he added, "Probably from all the caffeine (which does raise the question of just how much I've drunk tonight), so I figured I'd do some stargazing, see if that would help me get to sleep. What about you? What brings you up here at this time of night?"
"Couldn't get to sleep, decided to go for a w-... is that a sleeping bag you've got there?"

The stallion looked at the sleeping bag next to him. "Yeah. In case I get sleepy, because otherwise I'd have to trudge all the way back to my house, and by the time I'd get there I probably wouldn't get to sleep."
Twilight gave this some thought. "Okay" she eventually said, walking over toward the telescope. There were a few awkward seconds as both ponies looked at each other.

"I'm quite certain no day will ever match this one for sheer weirdness" the stallion frowned. Twilight looked at him. He stared back.
"I guess not."

The two ponies sat next to the telescope. He looked up at the stars. "Very beautiful night, isn't it?"
Twilight looked up. "Yes, very."

Seconds passed, as they both glanced nervously at each other. "Look, we're clearly both rational ponies, right? We both admit we're not required to fall in love or anything just because there's a version of our daughter from the future around, right?" Comet Chaser frowned.

Twilight nodded. "Yes, we both agreed to that. And we can both accept that we have similar interests. That's hardly a prelude to romance."
Comet Chaser nodded. "Of course."

Twilight frowned. "I think perhaps what's happening is easily explained. We're both feeling awkward, and perhaps... there is some form of..." she began blushing, which with her fur colour and the fact that there was only a tiny lamp nearby, was barely noticed, "But our lack of experience means we're both mistaking mutual embarrassment for some manner of infatuation."
"Perfectly plausible theory" the stallion nodded.

"So, now that we've established that we can look at the stars without any mistaken presumptions of romance, like mature, rational students of science."
"Indeed."

"Right away."
Both ponies leaned in toward the telescope, and then glowered at each other when their heads banged together.

"I'm going first" Twilight said.
"But I was here first!" Comet Chaser retorted.

"Which means you had your turn!"
"I'm not finished yet."

"You can wait for me to finish."
"Make me!"

There was a pause as Twilight yawned. "What time is it?"
"Half past one am."

There was an irritated sigh.
"You can go first" Twilight said, grudgingly.

"No, you."
"I insist."

"Ladies first."
"You wanted to use it!"

*****

Eventually, the night passed, and the sun began to rise. Twilight Twinkle opened her eyes, as the sun began to gently brush across her face. She lay there, smiling contently as she stared at the open window of her suite, watching the curtains billow. And then recollection came back to her, and her eyes went wide. With a yelp, she practically leapt to her hooves, her wings flapping in panic, followed by another yelp, before she stared at the wings.

"Oh yeah, wings" she said, shaking her head. She frowned, and tried to remember where everypony was. She looked at the clock. It was thirty seven minutes past seven. She frowned.
"Late!" she yelped. She focused, and with a flash and a small 'bloink' she vanished.

A second later she reappeared outside of Rarity's temporary workshop, and opened the door, and rushed in. Nopony was there. She shook her head, and frowned. Gears began to spin in her head as she tried to determine where everypony else was.
'Okay, not sure where they are, but... night before big wedding, big party, big dinner, they're probably all together. Rooms are too small to hold traditional slumber party, which knowing Pinkie she would try to throw, Cadance wants to get to know Twilight's friends, so...'

She gasped. "Shining Armor's house!"
She rushed out of the door to the gardens, and took to the air, her ability to teleport instantly forgotten in her rapid movement. She quickly made her way to Shining Armor's house and landed in front of the door. She paused as her wings folded back in, and after a few seconds trying to get her breathing under control, walked up to the door, and gently rang the doorbell.

Seconds passed. She frowned, and rang the doorbell again. There was more silence. She was aware of a small burning smell from her mane.
She slammed her hoof against the door. After a few seconds she heard several terrified yelps, and the door opened, as Rarity rushed past.

"LATE!" she yelled, as she ran down the streets of Canterlot, in her dressing gown. After a few seconds a mildly dishevelled group of ponies followed after.
"Should we go after her?" a bleary-eyed Trixie asked, a sleeping cap patterned with stars and moons covering her hair. A strangely boxer-short clad Rainbow Dash shook her head.

"No point."
"What time is it?" slurred a non-clothed Pinkie Pie.

"'bout quarter past seven" an already dressed (or undressed, in a sense) Applejack said, before staring at the clock she'd used as a reference. "Huh. Slept in."
"Where's Twilight?" Spike asked, as he stretched.

"Not sure" Twinkle shrugged, "Don't worry, she'll show up."
A cold bucket of water splashed over her not-yet woken mind as she looked about. She shook her head.

"Alright, since she's not here, we're gonna hafta wing it without the schedule and checklist. Everypony go get some breakfast."
There were nods and mumbles.

"Where's Cadance?"
"I'm already up" the mare called out from another room, "Breakfast will be just a minute."

*****

Meanwhile, Canterlot Castle was hit by the strangest security breach in several months, as a dressing-gown clad mare barrelled through the half-asleep guards as if they weren't there, screaming a strange battle cry that sounded amazingly like the word 'late' at very high volume.

On top of the fifth highest tower of Canterlot Castle, Twilight Sparkle's eyes opened. Then she blinked as she stared at the odd sight in front of her, which was that of the deep blue coloured neck of a curled up stallion. To her utter mounting horror she found her forelimbs were wrapped around him.

In an instant, and without actually appearing to move she was on her hooves. She was vaguely aware of a blanket falling off her, and the distant sound of what sounded incredibly like Rarity yelling the word 'late'. Next to her, the slumbering Comet Chaser stirred, stood up, and yawned. Then he saw Twilight's brute force Stare.

"Yes?" he said quietly. Twilight frowned, and then was aware of the torn sleeping bag beneath her hooves. Her memories were strangely fuzzy on what had happened last night, but from the embarrassed look on his face, and the warm feeling on her own cheeks, she was formulating an idea.
"We didn't-" he quickly blurted.

"No," Twilight said, "But it doesn't matter. Anyway, gotta go. Late."
Her horn began to glow, and then she glanced at him again.

"Thanks for letting me use your sleeping bag" she said, before she vanished. He stared at the torn sleeping bag and sighed.
"Anytime, I guess."

*****

Breakfast at the Armor house was interrupted by the appearance of a manic Twilight Sparkle, who glanced around wildly before seeing everypony.
"Oh, good. Everypony's here" she said, before glancing around, "Except Shining Armor and Rarity."

"Shining went somewhere last night in the middle of the slumber party" Cadance informed her, "and Rarity ran off when she woke up. Now, why don't you sit down and have some breakfast. We have plenty of time."
Twinkle blinked for a moment. "We... what?"

"Well," Cadance smiled, "the wedding isn't going to go anywhere just because we have some breakfast, since I'm guessing we'll probably have to skip lunch."
"Lunch and mid-afternoon snacks" Pinkie Pie stated.

Twilight frowned. "Not important. Need to know where Shining Armor is."
"Twilight" Cadance said calmly, "Sit down and have some breakfast. I am fairly certain Shining is alright."

*****

Shining Armor found painful consciousness coming to him. He blearily opened his eyes, and was up with a shot when he realised the bed wasn't his. Then he noticed the guard standing there staring straight ahead.
"Big Lug?"

"Sir" the bulky pegasus rumbled.
"Where am I?"

"Guest room, sir."
"Can I get past?"

The red-eyed stallion paused as his brain slowly began to work.
"Under orders not to let Shining Armor leave this room, sir."

"From who, Big Lug?"
"Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, sir" the soldier said. That settled it. He wouldn't be able to countermand an order from both Princesses, not with Big Lug standing guard.

*****

After an admittedly hurried breakfast, Twilight quickly summoned all her energy, and spoke with a natural energy.
"Alright, everypony, all we need to do is find Shining Armor, and then we can get underway."
There were a few cheers from everypony, at which point they began filing out. As Cadance and Twinkle walked past the doorway, Twinkle looked at the mare.

"Cadance, can I ask you something?"
"Of course" the mare smiled. Twinkle leaned in close.

"I know your talent is spreading and fostering love but... stay out of Twilight's love life."
Cadance's expression was the picture of innocence.

"I don't know what you mean."
"Cadance..." Twinkle said sternly. The mare gave a small smile.

"Alright, I won't."
"I mean it."

"Cadance, Twinkle, come on! We're burning precious daylight!" Twilight yelled from the front door. The two mares exchanged looks, at which point Cadance grinned a grin that was the exact sort of grin that spread to others. The two mares made their way toward the door.

"Oh, wait!" the mare exclaimed, as she passed the threshold, before rushing toward the stairs leading to the bedroom, soon rushing down with a gently folded uniform held in her magic.

*****

Rarity sighed. The guards had seemed totally willing to keep her inside once she'd made it clear she wasn't some terrifying, silk-clad ninja assassin berserker, and once Princess Luna had calmly informed them she was in fact one of the bridesmaids. She was calmly taking a drink of tea, helpfully supplied to her by one of the guards once the situation had been cleared when one of the doors slammed open.

"Rarity!" a tiny voice squeaked. To her credit, Rarity scarcely blinked an eyelid at the sudden entrance of Sweetie Belle and her friends.
"Good morning Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo. What brings you here?"

"We just wanted to say 'hi'" Sweetie Belle smiled, "Y'know, before the wedding. Which we're helping with."
"I remember. However, Sweetie Belle, I would like a bit of calm to finish my tea before my friends arrive"

Sweetie Belle turned to her friends. "Can we help?"
Rarity sighed, and her horn glowed. Three tiny dresses floated toward the fillies. "You can help by getting ready."

Three sets of eyes fixed Rarity with sceptical looks, before they marched off toward one of the changing rooms.
"Don't worry, I'm sure if your help is required you'll be asked. They also serve those who stand and wait, after all."

*****

Shortly thereafter, the small assemblage of ponies (and one dragon) arrived at Rarity's workshop, minus Twilight, who'd gone to deliver Shining Armor's suit to him, and with the additional presence of Lyra, Minuette and Twinkleshine, which caused Rarity's face to briefly twitch, before she smiled wildly.

"Okay, Fluttershy, you're first" the mare said. Fluttershy looked around.
"I am?"

"Yes. You are the one providing the wedding march, after all."
"Oh, yes, of course. I forgot."

In an instant the mare was being gently nudged toward one of the spare changing screens. Then she turned to everypony else.
"Please, don't wait for me," she smiled, "everypony find your dresses. Princess Cadance, I would ask that you wait for everypony else to get dresses, of course. And if certain ponies - Rainbow Dash - would refrain from being difficult, we can get through this without any difficulty."

There was a pop and a flash, as Twilight appeared in the room, smiling. "Okay, Shining Armor's uniform has been supplied, one thing off the list."
Twilight suddenly found herself grabbed by Rarity and dragged over to toward one of the screens before she had a chance to react.

*****

Elsewhere, Comet Chaser was wandering down one of the corridors of the castle, carrying his still-torn sleeping bag. As he progressed down one corridor he found his way barred by several almost-intrigued guardsponies who stared at him with suspicious eyes. He tried to press his way past them, finding himself nervously smiling. Once on the other side he found his pace increasing by the second, occasionally glancing backward to make sure none of them were glancing at him, which did mean he didn't notice when he collided with the two ponies walking the other way.

"Sorry" he said, "Didn't see where I was going."
Then he saw the two ponies staring at him, a stallion with a dark blue coat, though not as dark as his, and a mare who made his heart practically stop in shock. This might have been because she looked almost exactly like Twilight Sparkle, only older and with a different colour coat and mane.

"You again" the mare said.
"Me?" Comet Chaser asked, his mind temporarily having stepped outside to get some air.

"From yesterday. You were with our daughter, and-..." the mare's mouth suddenly clenched shut. She turned to look at her husband, who raised an eyebrow, and nodded.
"So, you're what, exactly?" Twilight Velvet asked, "Her father?"

Comet Chaser suddenly found himself thinking of himself being dragged to a chopping block. There was something about the combined stare from both ponies that made him feel compelled to answer.
"Yes'm."

The mare just nodded for a few moments. "So, are you attending the wedding?"
Comet Chaser blinked. "No."

The stallion raised an eyebrow. The mare meanwhile just gave an odd smile. "No? Oh, dear. So, you and my daughter, how long have you two known each other?"
"Twenty four hours?"

Twilight Velvet raised another eyebrow, and turned to look at her husband, before tuting. "Well, that just won't do" she said, "Let's see if we can't find something for you to wear."

Comet Chaser opened his mouth to object, but something in the mare's eyes convinced him that talking back would doubtless result in some brand of horror only a parent could devise. He began to follow the two ponies back toward the throng of guards.

*****

"Okay," Twilight beamed, "Dresses?"
"Check" Twinkle beamed.

"Flower girls?"
"Triple check" Twinkle ignored Twilight's glower, and tried not to smirk at the enthusiastic salutes from Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.

"Bird choir?"
"Almost there" Fluttershy smiled.

"Bridesmaids?"
"All seven of them, present and correct" Twinkle said, glancing toward the gathering of ponies. Lyra and Bon-Bon were still kissing each other goodbye, as the confectioner proved reluctant to let her marefriend out of her sight.

"Maid of honor?"
Twinkle gave Twilight the most deadpan stare she could manage, resisting the urge to nudge part of her mane, which had been curled to within an inch of it's life by Rarity, and the deep blue dress she was wearing.

"Princess Luna?" Twinkle looked about. There was no Princess Luna to be seen.
"Princess Luna?" she repeated. Silence answered. Twinkle sighed.

"Has anypony seen Princess Luna today?" there was still no response, "Alright, we'll just leave that unchecked for the moment."

"Bride?"
"I'm here" Cadance said, as Rarity performed some last minute adjustments to her dress.

"Boquet?"
"Yeah" Cadance said, lifting the bunch of flowers.

"Somethings old, borrowed, new and blue?"
There were a few seconds before Cadance nodded.

Both Twilights examined the checklist.
"That everything?" Twinkle asked. Spike nodded.

"That's everything."
"Almost everything" Twinkle noted, to which Twilight stared at her again. Twilight glanced at the clock.

"And that's twenty-three minutes past twelve, everypony. Not bad." she allowed herself a small smile of satisfaction.
"Now all we need to do is double-check the groom-side checklist" Twinkle sighed. She turned to look at Twilight, and the two nodded. There was a flash and a pop, and the two mares vanished out of thin air.

A few seconds later there was the sound of hoofsteps, and the door to Rarity's workshop smashed open once more, to which Rarity gave an annoyed sigh as Princess Luna entered.
"Apologies, my niece. I have no excuse for my lateness."

Cadance just smiled. "It's alright, aunt Luna. You aren't actually late yet."

*****

Twilight's checking off the checklist for Shining Armor's side of the wedding was ruined by the fact that firstly she'd seen Comet Chaser wearing what looked like a suit, which had caused Twinkle to raise an eyebrow. Not helping the matter was that Shining Armor, alongside Twilight Velvet and Night Light had foreseen Twilight's arrival, and already made and completed a checklist.

"Oh" Twilight said, trying not to let her disappointment show and failing, "Alright then."
Her glance moved to Comet Chaser and she leaned in toward her mother. "What's he doing in here?"

"Isn't he your friend?" Twilight Velvet asked, with about as much forced innocence as she could muster. Twilight just bit her lip and turned to look at Twinkle, who was trying not to grin.
"Okay, we can skip the groom-side checklist, then."

She turned to look at Shining Armor and smiled, before hugging her brother. "See you there."
"See you there, Twily."

*****

Twilight Twinkle looked around the room, and at the many ponies beginning to fill into the room. She tried not to smirk as she saw her 'father' standing near Twilight Velvet and Night Light. She looked over toward Rarity and Applejack, who were engaged in a whispered debate over Applejack wearing her hat. Trixie, meanwhile, was standing in the audience, sans her own hat, which she had argued bitterly over for all of a few minutes. She was standing next to Bon-Bon, who was waving to Lyra, who was grinning like there was no tomorrow. A thought occurred to Twinkle, and she briefly shuffled over toward Celestia.

"Hey, Princess" she whispered. The mare glanced at her.
"What is it, Twilight Twinkle?"

"Well, it's just, I know you, I know how you think, so can I just ask that..."
"Yes?" Celestia asked.

"Please, please resist the temptation to announce the bride and groom 'Mare and colt'."
Celestia's mouth twitched slightly, but she nodded. Twinkle stared at her.

"I have your word?"
Celestia nodded. Twinkle smiled, and then shuffled back toward Rarity, who looked at her.

"Problem?" the mare asked. Twinkle just smiled.
"No, no problem. Just dealing with a last minute issue."

"Oh, good." Rarity said.
Twinkle took a deep breath, and glanced over toward Twilight, who was staring straight ahead, and then looked over toward Shining Armor, and then noted the fact that his uniform was noticeably disarrayed. Then she saw Twilight glancing over toward Shining Armor, followed by adjusting his shirt, and smiling at him.

She gave another sigh, and looked out at the crowd, as it finally finished filing in. A hush slowly settled over the crowd as everypony seemed to realise as one that the doors had closed. Twilight nudged the headband around her mane for an instant.

Then, she heard the several dozen birds sitting on the balcony overlooking the hall began to sing as one. The doors opened, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders began skipping their way down the carpet, followed by Princess Luna leading Cadance, looking as solemn as possible (but with a hint that she was desperately trying to resist the urge to smile her heart out). Cadance's mane had been touched up, and had several white roses carefully placed in it. Twinkle couldn't help but notice Cadance's train, which in addition to being extremely long was being held by birds. She resisted the urge to shake her head. Then she was aware of a whispered conversation between Twilight and Shining Armor, followed by several quiet sniffs from Rarity.

The wedding march ended as Cadance arrived at the steps, and stood next to Shining Armor, smiling warmly, as both Twilights moved into position, and Luna moved to stand beside Twinkle, still trying not to grin, thought Twinkle was certain she heard the mare squeak.
"Mares and gentlecolts," Princess Celestia spoke out, "We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of the real Princess Mi Amore Cadenza."

"Princess Cadance is just fine" Cadance laughed. Princess Celestia made a small noise in response, then smiled.
"The union of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor. The strength of their commitment is clear. The power of their love, undeniable."

She looked to Spike, who was sitting by her with a small cushion carrying both rings.
"May we have the rings please?"

Spike stood up, and the two rings were wrapped in Princess Celestia's aura.
"I now pronounce you mare, and stallion" she declared, as she placed the rings over their horns. In an instant, there was a massive explosion of cheers, so much so that Twinkle could not hear herself cheering, much less Luna's own spirited efforts, and the ground seemed to shake at the hoofs of everypony's stamping, as Shining Armor and Cadance moved out onto the balcony overlooking a massive crowd assembled outside the palace, at which point the cheering managed to increase a thousand fold, even as the gathering of bridesmaids and groomsponies gathered to see the couple waving. Twinkle nudged Pinkie Pie.

"Tissue" she whispered. Pinkie Pie nodded, and produced a small box from her mane. Twinkle's horn glowed, and she lifted a tissue up and began dabbing at her eyes. Princess Celestia walked over to them, smiling in the manner of a proud parent, and looked to the group.

"This is as much your victory as it is theirs" she said. Anything further was cut off by Twinkle.
"Shush, you. Just be silent and enjoy the moment."

The monarch of the sun raised an eyebrow, before giving a wry smile. Then, as Shining Armor and Cadance kissed once more, she leaned over toward Rainbow Dash.

"That's your cue" she whispered. Recognition and joy flashed across the mare's face, just before she took to the air, quickly disappearing into the skyline, until seconds later there was a massive explosion of light and sound. For an instant, the crowd was temporarily silence by the sight. And then they went right back to cheering, although they seemed louder than before, as if energized by the sight.

*****

For whatever reason, by the time it took to get everypony gathered at the gardens where the reception was being held, the sun was setting. At the main table, seated next to Cadance, Twinkle noticed that Comet Chaser was sitting at the same table as Trixie, Bon-Bon and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. She also noticed several Wonderbolts in attendance, along with Fancy Pants and his wife, and Octavia sitting near her own band, all of who were looking uneasily toward Vinyl Scratch's amplifiers, though Octavia didn't look so much uneasy as anticipatory. She looked down the long table toward Twilight, who was sitting next to Shining Armor and found herself waving. After a while, everypony began clamouring for a speech, to which Shining Armor stood up.

"Thank you, everypony, thank you. I know you're probably expecting me to make some speech. Sorry about that" there was a sudden roar of 'awws' as Shining Armor looked to Cadance, "But... I don't really think I could ever do a speech justice, so instead I'm going to be a total jerk and force my little sister to read her speech instead."

There were a few laughs, and an odd number of hisses, at that as Twilight Sparkle stood up, lifting a small speech. Twinkle thanks whatever deity was listening, even all the way to the Creator Herself, that Rarity and Pinkie Pie had been there to 'suggest' where it was an idea to trim her speech.

"Thanks for that, big brother" Twilight sighed, "Very brotherly of you."
She coughed, and shuffled her notes.

"Shining Armor. Cadance. You two are... the first friends I ever made, and it's been incredible knowing you two, it has. Just absolutely incredible. You have helped so many of us, and so often for so long. I doubt even half of us would be here today were it not for you two. You've helped guide us, nurture us, teach and defend us. You've always been there, just when we needed you, and... I think it's fair to say, without any sense of hyperbole, that you two are the best friends any of us could ever possibly ask for." There was a loud 'woo' from Rainbow Dash.
"And that you two are the best family anypony could ever ask for. I love you both. We all do. And we always will."

Twilight sat down again, and almost immediately there was an outburst of cheers. Then everypony looked toward Twinkle, who smiled nervously as she stood up.
"Now, I can't really compete with that" she said, "But, I might as well read this thing anyway."

She cleared her throat, and took a deep breath, before smiling toward Cadance and Shining Armor.

"I do agree with Twilight. You two. You two are an inspiration, to all of us, to everypony. Just... I have seen miracles, and horrors, and gods and monsters and everything in-between. I have spent my life in the company of the most magnificent ponies who will ever live, and you two outshine all of them. You do. There is, and I am willing to go out on a wing here, since I have one now, no love, anywhere as pure, and - and true, and wonderful and simply honest as the love you two have for one another."

She paused, and was mildly disconcerted to find herself thinking of Shining Sapphire.

"Princess Mia Amore Cadance. Shining Armor. Aunt. Uncle. Brother. Sister. Son. Daughter. Mother. Father. Friend. You have been our consciences. You have been our voices of reason. You've protected us in the darkest of nights, and helped make the brightest of days. And more than anypony, you two deserve to be together, and to be happy together. And on behalf of all of us, and for those who cannot be here, and those who are yet to be, I wish you the happiest of ever afters."

She smiled warmly at Cadance and Shining Armor, both of whom had a look of barely controlled shock, seconds before the first 'hear, hear'.

Once that was done, and the cheering stopped, there was the cake, which was ceremonially cut, followed by the dancing. Octavia and her group readily supplied the appropriate music for Shining Armor and Cadance to dance to.

Then Twilight turned to Pinkie and nodded. The mare grinned, and rushed over toward Vinyl's amplifiers. Twinkle looked over toward Luna, whose expression shifted to exasperation as Pinkie yelled out.
"LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!"

There was the sudden sound of music starting up, and a microphone was hurled toward Twilight. The mare grinned and smiled as she began to sing, and everypony else began to dance along. As the music began, Twinkle felt a fear gripping her soul that she would be unable to forget the tune.

She would later turn out to be right.

"Love is in bloom
A beautiful bride, a handsome groom,
Two hearts becoming one
A bond that cannot be undone,

because love is in bloom
A beautiful bride, a handsome groom"

Twinkle found herself rapidly beginning to dance alongside everypony else, and quickly became caught up in the beat, along with everypony else. She didn't even notice as she began to laugh with joy.

Lyra and Bon-Bon danced together, each holding on to one another as they did, both keeping incredibly close.

Rainbow Dash danced alongside several of the Wonderbolts, spending at least twenty minutes alongside Soarin', the Wonderbolts second officer wearing dress uniform instead of the group's usual flight outfits.

Applejack kept near her relatives for most of the night, at point managing to acquire a fiddle, or a violin, and playing it alongside her family.

Pinkie Pie practically demolished the spare cake (made by Pinkie Pie in case of cake emergency).

Twinkle found herself dancing alongside first Shining Armor, and then Cadance, both of whom asked what she'd meant by the appropriate remarks re 'mother' and 'father', to which she'd just kept silent.

*****

"Aren't you going to dance?" Comet Chaser asked the mare sitting across from him, as she sipped from a martini glass.
"Non, not yet. Trixie is not properly inebriated yet for dancing."

He nodded, not quite sure what the mare meant, barely able to hear his own thoughts over the sound of the music. In the crowd he saw Twilight gently bobbing along to the music, a broad smile across his face. For the briefest second, he considered rushing out and offering to dance with her, and then stalled. A dozen fearful possibilities rushed into his mind.

Trixie, meanwhile, slouched off in search of drink, leaving Comet Chaser to think as he saw Twilight Twinkle doing a strange dance alongside the purple unicorn. He sighed.

"A tricky decision you must make," a strangely accented voice behind him said, "As to which path you might take."
He turned to see the owner of the mystery voice, and saw a smiling zebra mare, calmly sitting in a rather casual dress, just looking straight at him. Her eyes seemed to be boring straight through to the centre of him. He blinked, not certain whether she'd been there the last time he'd looked, or at all.

"Yeah, I get it. Dance with her or don't. But... I don't know which way I should..." he frowned, and then looked at the zebra, who simply smiled.
"The choice then is simple, stranger. Take the risk and bide the danger, or wonder till it drives you mad, what could've happened, if you had..."

He sighed, turning to look at Twilight Sparkle again. "That easy a choice, huh? Got any advi-" he stopped as he turned to see the zebra was gone. He stared at the scene for a moment.

"Of course she vanishes, don't know why you're surprised, Comet Chaser."
He sat there for a moment, listening to the sound of the song.

"I said love is in bloom"

He stared down at his hooves. What had he done with his life? The same as every other member of his house. Stayed at home, played it safe, never got in the way of history. An old agreement made over a thousand years ago. And all he wanted to do was just have one dance with a mare. If it worked out, that was great, if it didn't, no big loss, he could live with it.

He clenched his jaw, and slowly got off the seat, and standing straight, made his way toward Twilight Sparkle. The mare didn't notice his approach, being too into the singing to see him. He reached out and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to look at him, her smile flickering as she did.
"Yes?"

"I was wondering... Miss Twilight Sparkle, would you care to dance with me?"
The mare's eyes went wide, and he was fairly certain he could hear the fashion-designer one hissing 'say yes, you idiot' over the noise of the music.

Twilight Sparkle stared for a moment, before a small grin overtook her face. "Well, under normal circumstances, I'd probably decline, but... after everything that's happened, I suppose I might agree to one dance. One."
He nodded, and smiled, "Shall we?"

As they walked into the group of dancing ponies, he noticed the sheepish, and incredibly adorable grin on Twilight's face, "I should warn you, apparently I don't really know how to dance."
"Neither do I" he smiled. Twilight stared at him for a moment.

"I guess we can figure out what we're doing wrong pretty quickly."
He laughed. "I'm sure we will."

*****

Twinkle and Rarity both sat down to watch the ponies dancing. Rarity looked over at Twinkle.
"Enjoying yourself?"

Twinkle nodded. "Yeah. I am, actually"
Suddenly a certain regal pony made her presence at the table known.

"I've never been one for dancing" Celestia smiled, "Luna's usually been the dancer of the two of us."
Twinkle grinned, "You surprised me."

"Princess Celestia," Rarity said, "Would you like me to see if I can find some tea for you?"
For a second the diarch considered this, then shook her head.

"Oh, no thank you, Rarity. But if you could find some red wine, I'd be incredibly grateful."
With that the mare quickly rushed off, returning a few minutes later with a small glass of red wine. As she handed it over to the Princess, her eyes fell upon Twilight Twinkle.

"Is there something wrong?" Rarity asked. The mare blinked.
"What do you mean?"

"You look like you have something on your mind."
Twinkle frowned, and realised what she was thinking about. A certain pink-furred, blue-maned pony, and a certain golden-brown, blue-eyed stallion beside her.

"I guess" she sighed.
"What is it?" Fluttershy suddenly asked. Twinkle stared at her.

"How long have you been there?"
"A few seconds. I probably should have announced myself" the pegasus said.

"Just thinking about something I need to do."
"Don't keep it a secret now" Rarity sighed superciliously.

"It's... back in my darkest hour, there was a pony who risked their life to try and save me. I owe it to that pony to return the favour."
There were a few seconds as the three ponies looked at her. "So, you're leaving?" Fluttershy asked. Twinkle gave this some thought and then smiled at Fluttershy for a moment.

"Not yet, Fluttershy, not just yet. Still got plenty more dancing to do."
Then she saw the noticeable grin on Celestia's face. "What?"

The Princess nodded toward the crowd, and after a few seconds, Twinkle saw what she was indicating. Twilight Sparkle and Comet Chaser's truly unique method of dancing, which was gathering more than a few looks. However, despite all the oddness, there was something genuinely sweet about the smiles both ponies had on their faces, even if they didn't seem to have a clue how to dance between them.
"I think when we get back to Ponyville," Rarity said, "I'm going to 'suggest' Twilight get some dancing lessons."

*****

The two spent ponies slumped onto the nearest chairs they could find. The garland of Twilight's dress was beginning to slump and her mane was beginning to reassert it's natural shape, and both ponies were incredibly out of breath, but they were still smiling.
"That was interesting" Twilight said. Comet Chaser just nodded.

"Definitely was."
"We should do that again in a few minutes" she grinned. His eyes went wide.

"Let me get my breath back first, at least."
Twilight just smiled at him. After a few seconds he looked at her.

"What?"
"Just thinking" Twilight said. As she thought, she found herself comprehensively ignoring all her apprehensions about dancing with the stallion. And then she found a part of her thinking, most emphatically, 'good!'

Then a different thought came into her mind, one which didn't seem to have any logistical origin or motive, but still seemed like a good thing to say. She raised a hoof and tapped the dark blue stallion on the nose.
"Face it, tiger" she grinned, "You just hit the jackpot."

She leaned in closer toward him. After a few seconds some part of him that was still working realised what she was doing.

*****

Cadance, in the middle of dancing with Shining Armor, felt a sudden jolt to her, and began looking about the crowd. When she saw the sight in the small corner of the gardens, she couldn't help but grin broadly.

"What is it?" her husband asked. Then she felt her joy increase. She was married to Shining Armor. Married. Her. To Shining Armor. At long last. And for the fifty-seventh time that night, she chose to express this joy immediately. And this did keep Shining Armor from noticing what his little sister was getting up to, which was probably for the best as well.

"I love you" she whispered.
"I love you too, Cadance" Shining Armor responded, smiling like a school-colt on Hearth's Warming Eve.

*****

The night continued, the dancing continued, though strangely enough, Rainbow Dash seemed to quit for a while, taking to fuming and sitting next to Rarity for several minutes, talking at length on something Twinkle couldn't hear, not that she was trying to, at any rate. She soon re-joined the dancing when Soarin' reappeared, though evidently with some reluctance at first. Then, eventually, an ornate golden carriage appeared, and Cadance and Shining Armor both looked towards it. Everypony gathered round as the varied bridesmaids gathered (save, Twinkle noted, Rarity). Twilight stood next to Twinkle, nervously adjusting her garland as if she'd been caught with her hoof in a cookie jar, before rushing over to Shining Armor. The two talked, and then Cadance motioned for Twinkle. She quickly walked over to the mare, and suddenly found herself being embraced by the mare.

"Thank you, Twilight Twinkle. It's been wonderful knowing you," she said, her smile changing, "But I can't help but feel like I won't see you again."
Twinkle gave a sad smile, "You never know, aunt Cady. And besides, you of all ponies should know you don't really need to see a pony, to remember them."

Cadance nodded, before smiling again, "You know, normally I'm the one being sappy."
"I learnt from the best."

Cadance laughed, and then kissed Twinkle, before leaping into the carriage, an effect undone by the sheer mileage of her train. Twinkle took a step back, re-joining her friends, just in time to see Cadance throw the bouquet. She saw it head towards Lyra, Minuette and Twinkleshine, before there was a loud yell.

"IT'S MINE!" Rarity roared as she shoved the three mares out of the way. They glowered at her as she laughed nervously, still holding the bouquet. Then the carriage departed, carrying Shining Armor and Cadance.
Twilight sighed. "Now this, was a great wedding."

There was a general chorus of agreements as they stood there. Then Pinkie Pie smiled.
"Hey, the party's not over yet, you guys!" and with that, she turned and rushed back toward the throng, the others following her. Twinkle lingered, looking toward the departing carriage in the very far distance. She looked back toward the party, and after a moment's consideration, smiled and walked back towards it.

Pinkie was right, after all. The party wasn't over just yet.

*****

And that was that for the grand story of Twilight Twinkle's adventures messing around with causality, at the wedding of Shining Armor and Princess Cadance.
Which meant of course, it was time for me to go home, where my future, and whatever it contained, awaited me.

Author's Note

Sorry this was so late. I just... argh. Writer's block again and again and again and again.
But it matters not, for this chapter is finished now! Finished!!!!!
And yes. It is a lot of talking. And more talking. And super-super-super long.

Time to Say Goodbye

There was a strange sensation of weightlessness, and an odd, and all-too familiar beeping sound. Eyelids peeled back, to reveal an odd sky blue ceiling. This was a relief to the owner of the eyes, since the last thing they could remember seeing was a hoof rushing toward them, in a horrible dark green room.
Then the owner of the eyes was aware their mouth was dry.

"To your left" a voice said. Under normal circumstances it would've sounded calm, melodious even, but there was a noticeable undercurrent to it, one that young Whisper Wind recognised all too well. He blinked, as his brain rapidly informed him of who the voice belonged to.

He shot up, ignoring the slime green sights around him, and the distinctive sound of a heart monitor as he stared at the mare standing a short distance away from the bed. He tried saying something, only to find his mouth was still dry, and turned to look at the glass of water sitting on the nightstand next to him. He concentrated, and the drink was lifted toward him in a golden aura. After several seconds of drinking, he turned to look at the mare again. He winced. That might have had something to do with the numerous emotions pouring off of her. Love, naturally, foremost among them, which looked to him like staring at a bare lightbulb, it was so strong. Small wonder, considering who she was.

"Your highness" he said, haltingly. Princess Cadance just nodded.
"Whisper Wind, isn't it?" she said slowly. He nodded.

"I am afraid I don't have time, or the patience to be civil, young man. I know what you are. And I also know about your feelings toward my daughter."
He suddenly felt very small, and a tiny part of him wondered if this was the bit where Shining Armor himself entered the room and decapitated him.

"I think it's high time we had a talk" Cadance said, slowly.

~~~~~

Somewhen else.
Twilight Twinkle slowly opened her eyes, and then gave a tiny, almost cheerful looking smile. She was not yet at the sort of awake where she was capable of thinking about things, though she was aware of the warm late April sunshine wafting through the room. On the other side of the room there was the sound of gentle snoring from Trixie, and Spike, and the soft chirping of Peewee. Tiny bursts of red-orange dotted the little phoenix, as evidently his feathers were beginning to show. Twinkle sighed, and was aware that in her sleep she'd managed to get the bedclothes wrapped around her wings. Her wings, her wings, her wings. It seemed so strange even thinking that, that she had wings. Then she heard a sound. A sad sort of clanging from the clock. She lay there for a moment, and her brain began to wander.

*****

Two days ago, Canterlot.
Waking up the morning after the wedding reception had been odd, certainly. They had all found themselves waking up in the Twilight residence, with absolutely no signs that they'd engaged in hi-jinks at all. Rarity, once everypony was awake, had disappeared. Rainbow Dash, not usually known for being a morning mare, had been oddly reticent to talk about her exploits, though when Pinkie Pie mentioned the stallion she'd been seen dancing with, one Soarin' of the Wonderbolts, she'd suddenly smiled an incredibly un-Rainbow Dash sort of smile, if only for an instant. Strangely enough, Twilight Sparkle had not been there at all. Before anypony could suggest some early morning breakfast, there had been a sudden arrival of some Royal Guards, who were there to invite everypony to breakfast at the castle. After the question was repeated several times, the offer of breakfast was accepted.

Breakfast itself was, after the sheer extravagance of the day before, something of a let-down. Nopony said anything, just calmly and quietly eating breakfast, like it was a normal day. Twilight appeared halfway through the meal.
"Mornin'" Applejack said. Twilight just nodded.

"Where'd you get to last night?" Trixie had grinned. Twilight's reaction was to instantly look alarmed.
"Nowhere. I didn't go anywhere and I didn't spend the night with anypony, and even if I did nothing happened" she said, eyes darting wildly. She declined to answer any further questions, and spent the rest of the meal not looking at anypony. Once it was finished Princess Celestia thanked them for their assistance with the wedding, Twilight suddenly developing a truly dangerous grin as the diarch spoke. Afterward, the group reconvened, and discussed what to do next, eventually reaching the decision to return to Ponyville. After an hour of gathering up all their supplies, and a few minutes of Twilight saying goodbye to her parents, they made their way to the train station. As they were waiting for the train, they noticed a small parade's worth of guards carrying a large supply of luggage. There was a period of several seconds as everypony looked at each other, and as one said the exact same thing.

"Rarity."
"Yes?" they all turned to see Rarity sitting on a bench behind them, reading a newspaper, a small magazine next to her. Rainbow Dash turned to look at the luggage, then opened her mouth.

"Yes, Rainbow Dash, those are guards carrying all my luggage."
Applejack shook her head. "How'd ya manage that?"

Rarity just stared at Applejack for a moment. "I asked them, Applejack."
A few minutes later two Lyra and Bon-Bon appeared on the platform. Bon-Bon looked the same as usual, whereas her marefriend looked like she'd been dragged through a bush, and there were notable bags under her eyes. Bon-Bon glanced over toward the staring group of ponies and gave them a cursory nod. Then she saw their glances at Lyra, who was just staring straight ahead, not blinking.

"Lyra isn't a morning pony" she sighed, before trying to flatten some wild strands of the mare's hair, "And we had a train to catch. Never a good mix."
She examined her work, and then smiled, looking almost like a parent as she did.

"Probably my fault a little, considering how much we celebrated last night" she said, grinning as she did, before coughing. She then tried to get the sleep-deprived musician over toward a bench. Strangely enough, despite Lyra apparently having problems walking in a straight line, she had no problem sitting down on the bench, at which point she closed her eyes and fell asleep instantly. Bon-Bon just shook her head and sat next to the mare.

After some waiting, the train eventually arrived, and before boarding Rarity made sure to thank the guards. Once onboard, everypony sat in silence once more, until Pinkie Pie saw the magazine Rarity had brought with her.
"Hey, Rarity, what's in the magazine?"

The mare looked at Pinkie, and then her horn glowed, the magazine lifting up so Pinkie Pie could see what it said.
"'Royal Wedding Issue'?"

A few seconds later everypony was looking at Rarity. "What?" she asked defensively.
"You wanted to see what Photo Finish said about your designs, didn't ya?" Applejack said. For a few seconds Rarity looked around before sighing.

"Yes, I admit it. I wanted to see what it said about them. Satisfied?"
"What did it say?" Twilight asked. Rarity gave an irritated sigh.

"No comment."
"You didn't get a mention, did you?" Rainbow Dash grinned. Rarity looked at the speedster for a moment and then muttered something under her breath, before taking refuge behind the newspaper once more.

It was then that Trixie noticed Twinkle had been staring ahead into space herself. After a few seconds she waved a hoof in front of the mare's face. Twinkle jolted and turned to look at her.
"What is it?"

"You were staring into the middle distance. You looked bothered by something."
Twinkle shifted her weight. "I was just thinking about stuff."

"Stuff?" Trixie asked.
"Yeah. Just... thinking about Twilight. My universe's Twilight."

There was a few seconds pause as everypony stared at her.
"Yes?" Trixie asked.

Twinkle glanced over toward Twilight and gave a small smile. "I was thinking about what's going to happen when I get back, because..." she sighed, "The last time we talked we didn't exactly part on the best terms. And I am, fortunately not the same pony as I was back then, but..."
She frowned, before sighing. Trixie just smirked.

"That beats me. All I've got in my head is one of the songs from last night."
"Which one?"

Trixie gave this some thought. "Right now? One of the ones the DJ started playing toward the end of the party, when Pinkie made that conga line."
Twinkle paused, as she became aware of a strange tune her mind had apparently blocked out making its return. From the looks on everypony else's faces, they were beginning to remember it as well, save Twilight, who was smiling an odd, faraway smile.

"Why did she have that song anyway?" Fluttershy asked, her face turning a deep red.
"Because it's funny" Pinkie Pie said, "And it's the sort of song you sing toward the end of a reception when you're trying to get the last guests to leave."

There was a momentary shaking of heads from Rarity and Applejack, before the farmpony noted Twilight's own distracted look.
"Twilight? You okay?"

The mare jumped at this.
"Sorry, Applejack, is something wrong?"

"You looked like somepony told ya to read fifteen books over the weekend or something."
Twilight just blinked.

"It wouldn't happen to have anything to do with that colt you were dancin' with last night, would it?"
"Twilight was dancing with somepony?" Rainbow Dash asked, with what she thought was a sly grin on her face, "For real?"

"You know," Rarity said, "You never explained to us what happened... afterward?"
Twilight stared at everypony. "Nothing happened" she said, "We just went for a walk, then we went back to his house and by that point we were so tired we both just fell asleep on his sofa."

"Really?" Rarity asked. Twilight gave her a deadpan stare.
"Yes" she insisted, before pausing. "It was really uncomfortable, but he only had the one bed and neither of us wanted to be rude and make the other sleep on the couch."

There was a pause before Rarity, feeling let down in the gossip department, facehoofed, before looking over toward Rainbow Dash. "So, how did everything go with that stallion you were dancing with last night, Rainbow?"
Rainbow Dash suddenly bristled. "Fine."

There were nervous glances exchanged. "I'm sure I saw you talking with another Wonderbolt at some point."
Rainbow Dash's expression went sour and she stared at Rarity. "Not gonna talk about it."

"Did something happen?" Fluttershy asked. Rainbow Dash looked out toward the window.
"Nothing happened. Nothing at all."

There were several seconds of silence, and then, just as Fluttershy moved over toward Rainbow Dash, there was a noise from the end of the carriage. The doors slammed open and three small blurs rushed over toward everypony.
"Hi!" Scootaloo said, leaning right into Rainbow Dash's face. The mare stared at Scootaloo for a second before her expression softened.

"Hey, kiddo" she said, "What's up?"
It was at that point that Scootaloo launched into a long discussion of everything she did. Meanwhile, Twinkle just sat back in her seat.

'One more week of this, and then I go home' she thought to herself, before she decided to add 'Or else I'll never leave.'

*****

Upon their return to Ponyville, everypony went about getting on with their usual schedules, though everyone noted Rainbow Dash seemed to be working much harder than normal, even during her own nap time. Rarity had rushed to her boutique, partially to make sure Opal was doing well, partially because she had several dozen ideas jockeying for position in her mind, and because she wanted to make sure she didn't miss a customer. Fluttershy had quickly headed back toward her animal friends, who had managed to keep her house suspiciously clean during the time she was gone, while Pinkie Pie returned to Sugarcube Corner and gotten back to work with the air of somepony coming back from their lunch-break. There had been a momentary panic for Applejack when she found Big McIntosh not working, instead just staring at Ponyville and sighing wistfully occasionally, but aside from, that, the day proceeded well enough, with no dramatic revelations or events. However, the next morning, Twinkle and Spike witnessed Twilight doing almost exactly the same thing, only she was staring in the direction of Canterlot. Spike gave Twinkle the most disapproving stare he could manage, to which the mare raised an eyebrow. Spike responded in kind, to which Twinkle raised her other eyebrow, Spike returned the favour.

"Why are you two making faces at each other?" Twilight asked, as she moved a physics textbook back to the shelf.
"No reason" Spike quickly said. Twilight's expression showed how much she believed him. She sighed as she managed to wedge the book between two of its fellows.

"It's weird" she said, "I just can't seem to focus on anything right now."
She glanced toward Spike and Twinkle. "I can't figure out why, either, and it's just..." she gave a frustrated groan.

"Why don't you take a break, then?" Spike suggested, "See if that helps clear your head."
Twilight gave this some thought, before shaking her head. "I can't. Especially not after I've taken so much time off."
Twinkle and Spike looked at one another again, then back to Twilight, who was scanning the shelves again, her expression shifting every few seconds. Eventually she slumped in defeat and sighed.

"Maybe I should take a break."

*****

Said break eventually evolved into Twilight deciding to take a walk around the town, on the advice of Spike. While doing so, Twinkle noticed several foals rushing about wearing familiar looking dark hats and capes. She turned to Twilight, who had a bemused expression on her face.

"Guess Mare Do Well was pretty popular" Twilight said. Twinkle nodded, and suddenly found herself wondering what had happened to that Mare Do Well outfit she'd been wearing, the one that had gotten burnt by Spike during his greed-fuelled rampage. It hadn't even occurred to her what had happened to it.

Eventually Twilight declared her walk over, and the two ponies and one dragon started returning to the library. Then Twilight saw the cloud. On top of it was a miserable-looking Rainbow Dash, and hovering next to it was Fluttershy.
"What's going on?" Twilight asked. Fluttershy looked momentarily startled, before looking down toward Twilight.

"Oh, Rainbow Dash is... feeling unwell" she muttered.
"No, I'm not" Rainbow Dash grunted, "Unless you're talking about my mood, 'cuz I feel crappy."

"What's the matter?" Twilight asked. Fluttershy gently descended toward her and shrugged.
"I don't know. She won't tell me what has happened, and I'm really worried. I've never seen anything like this in Rainbow Dash before." she paused, and gave this some thought, "Except for all those times I have seen her act like this before."

There was an irritated sigh, and Rainbow Dash dropped to the ground. "You wanna know what's bothering me? Really?"
Twilight nodded. "If there is something bothering you, Rainbow Dash, we would like to help if we can."

Rainbow Dash sighed, "Then wait here for a few seconds." she then leapt up into the sky and soared away. A few minutes later she returned with a battered envelope in her mouth, and spat it out onto the ground like it was poison. Twilight lifted it, and opened it up, revealing a letter, which she then scanned for a few moments, before smiling.
"Rainbow Dash, why are you so upset about this? I thought you wanted to be in the Wonderbolts?"

Rainbow Dash bristled. "Yeah. I do. I wanna be in the Wonderbolts, not some stupid training academy!"
She then muttered something else under her breath. Then she found herself being hugged by Fluttershy.

"That's wonderful, Rainbow Dash. You're one step closer to your dream."
"That's not what's bothering you, is it?" Twinkle asked. Rainbow Dash stared at the royal blue mare for a few seconds, before sighing.

"Not really, no. It's just what Spitfire said to me last night."
There were blank looks from everypony. Rainbow Dash's expression soured.

"I ran into her at the party last night. We started talking and... I might have asked why I'd not been made a Wonderbolt, even though it was kinda bucking obvious I wanna be a Wonderbolt."
"And?" Spike asked. Rainbow Dash snorted.

"She gave me this whole lecture about how I'm 'not a team player', and 'reckless'. I mean, she did say I've got skills," a grin flashed across Rainbow Dash's face, "But she said I didn't have the right 'attitude' to be a Wonderbolt. And then she gave me that freaking envelope and flew away."

Twinkle scanned the letter, before looking up at Rainbow Dash. "Well, to be fair, it's not like Spitfire has had any prolonged contact with you. She might not know you're good enough for them yet. And I think I should point out she can't just sign you into the Wonderbolts there and then, even if she is the team captain. I'd say this is a chance to prove yourself."
Rainbow Dash frowned, "Yeah, I guess."

"That's not what's bothering you at all, is it?" Fluttershy asked. Rainbow Dash shuffled slightly, looking toward Fluttershy, who was just smiling innocently. Her expression shifted.
"Well... no. I don't want you guys to think I'm brushing you off to go there."

"Brushin-..." Twilight sighed, "Rainbow Dash, none of us would think you're abandoning us to achieve your dreams."
"Nuh-uh!" said the voice of Pinkie Pie, "Nopony would be that silly."

Rainbow Dash gave a small smile, "Seriously? You guys want me to do it?"
"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie smiled, "Because you're so brilliant you'll probably be a Wonderbolt in about five minutes! And then we can throw a special 'Achieved-Your-Dream' party for you! Hey," she said, leaning into Twilight's face, "We need to throw her a party for being invited to the Wonderbolts Academy!"

At this, Pinkie Pie rushed off into the distance, listing all the supplies she would need.
"She has a point" Twinkle observed, "You probably will make full Wonderbolt status pretty quickly."

"Wouldn't you know if I did?" Rainbow Dash asked. Twinkle stared at her.
"If I did, I wouldn't tell you. Can't go spoiling your future for you, after all."

In the sudden quiet, Twinkle looked at Rainbow Dash, "But you are annoyed about what Spitfire said, right?"
Rainbow Dash nodded. "Oh yeah. I am. I thought she was cooler than that. Not that Spitfire isn't cool" she added, "But she's gone down in coolness now. But only a bit."

"You recovered from your funk quickly" Spike noted. Rainbow Dash just grinned.
"Yeah, duh. I'm Rainbow Dash. I do everything quickly. And besides, it's not for a couple of months anyway."

There was a few seconds as Twilight's expression shifted rapidly, before she shook her head, as Rainbow Dash smiled the most unbelievable grin.

*****

Of course, even with Rainbow Dash's mood elevated, there was still the matter of Pinkie's party. While there, Twinkle found herself feeling detached from the party, watching as Pinkie made sure everypony enjoyed themselves, while seeing everypony cheer for Rainbow Dash, save for Cloud Kicker, who had an expression of practiced apathy. While sitting there, watching the party, Twinkle felt a small pang of something in herself, and instantly understood what it was.

She sighed, and then tried smiling and leapt into the party. The days had been passing by too quickly, but she could feel it, deep in her soul. Certainty. But not before she had one last party.

*****

Now
Twinkle frowned. She could hear the clock still ringing out downstairs, and the town bell was chiming as well. The noise briefly woke up Peewee, who gave off several annoyed little chirps as well.

When the noise stopped, Twinkle sighed, and slowly unravelled herself from the tangle of bed sheets. Her eyelids tried to close themselves once more, but she ignored them and continued getting up.
It was time to go, after all.

Slowly she made her way to the small bathroom, combed her hair and brushed her teeth. She made her way downstairs, and paused momentarily, deciding to skip breakfast, just in case. She glanced over toward the nondescript saddlebags sitting by the door, filled with varied accoutrements picked up over the last few months. She sat there, and decided to take in one last look.

She remembered first barging her way in and talking with Spike, the disturbing sound of Trixie sitting on that chair filled with whoopee cushions, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo's tree sap gambit, watching Trixie and Twilight Sparkle solving their feud, her tearful embrace with Twilight, of showing Trixie the full extent of the mare's capacity for magics, of encountering her other-dimensional counterpart, celebrating Spike's birthday, helping him search for information about dragons, even though there had been little success. She sighed, and then felt a mild pang of regret as she noted how much the library felt like home, even more so than the one back in her own time, or indeed in that large house in Canterlot. She sighed again, and looked at the bags. With a small glow of her horn, the bags floated toward her, and were quickly adjusted so as not to disrupt her wings. This was it, she told herself, it was really it.

With a sniff, she moved toward the door, and opened it. As she stepped outside, she noticed a purple coloured unicorn approaching the door with a hopeful look on her face, which vanished when she saw Twinkle, who just looked at her, and smiled genially.
"Guess I shouldn't bother then" the unicorn mumbled, before turning around and heading back toward the train station.

*****

Twinkle walked through Ponyville, taking in the ever-present scent of apples, and the day's sage-y scent from the Everfree Forest, as she found herself remembering being the first Mare Do Well, fighting the rampaging Spike, the Prank War with Rainbow Dash, finding and returning Smarty Pants to Twilight, meeting the young Dinky Doo, watching Trixie's first attempt at a comeback show, helping to stop a love-sick Big McIntosh and Cheerilee, the baguette fight she and Pinkie had in Sugarcube Corner, the bombastic introduction she'd received from the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the time she'd seen Ponyville from the air in Rainbow Dash's body. She was vaguely aware of a small tear moving down her cheek, and her pace quickened. Her path took her to a small hill outside Ponyville, overlooking the town. She sat down and tried to think. After a few seconds she was aware of a noise getting louder, and louder. It sounded like somepony yelling. She closed her eyes as she practically felt the earth shaking from the approaching hoofsteps. She gently removed her saddlebags as she felt several somethings collide with her, one which was scaly.

"Did you really think" the winded-sounding voice of Twilight Sparkle announced, "That after all this time, after everything we've done... you could just sneak off without us noticing? Without saying goodbye?"
Twinkle paused for a moment before nodding. "Pretty much, yeah."

"That was silly" Pinkie Pie said, "Silly, silly, silly and really stupid."
"I can see that now" Twinkle said, as she tried to turn to face everypony. She was finding it difficult to breath as she saw the small crowd of confused looking ponies staring at her.

"I..." she started, "I'm not going to make a speech. Probably because I won't ever stop" she added. She was aware her eyes were beginning to get blurry. This wasn't helped by the three fillies who had jostled their way to the front of the crowd and were now looking at her.

"I..." she said again. She wanted to say she had to leave, that it wasn't right for her to stay, that the ponies of her time and her universe could probably have done without her, but she couldn't. Instead she only managed to barely squeak out five words.
"I don't want to go."

Twilight took a step forward, and laid a hoof on her shoulder. Twinkle noticed her eyes were beginning to fill with tears. Twinkle looked back, and then in an instant wrapped herself around Twinkle.
"Mom."

She felt a hoof moving along her back, as Twilight returned the hug. As she opened her eyes again, she saw Trixie and Applejack had both removed their hats.
"Say goodbye, Twinkie" Twilight said, "Because you know if you don't..."

"I'd regret it forever, I know" Twinkle whispered, "But I hate goodbyes."
"Then don't call it goodbye," Fluttershy spoke up, "Call it... 'see you later'."

Several eyes turned to look at her.
"What?" the pegasus asked.

"I never expected you, of all ponies, would make a time-travel joke" Twinkle smiled, before looking at the assembled crowd of ponies.
"Although, I didn't really expect such a large crowd to show up, either."

"Well why shouldn't we say goodbye to a friend?" the Mayor said, "Even if we barely knew you, these ponies gathered here all consider you a friend."
"Yeah!" Snowflake bellowed.

"And why shouldn't we show up to wish you well, wherever you go?" the mare added once the echoing stopped.
Twinkle looked down at her hooves, and smiled.
"Thank you, then. I guess... well, I guess I suppose I could say one little thing to all of you."

She looked back up at the crowd, and took a deep breath, trying to get her breathing under control and failing. "I can only say I like half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."
There was a stunned silence, save for Pinkie cheering.

"That's nice of you to say" Ponyville's premier party planner beamed.
"Yes" the Mayor coughed, looking uncertain as to whether she'd been insulted or complimented or some strange combination of the two, "Indeed."

Twinkle nodded. "Anyway, I should really get going or I'll never leave."
"Do you have to go?" Sweetie Belle asked. Twinkle nodded again.

"I do. I'm sorry."
She paused, and then leaned in toward the young mare.

"By the way, Sweetie Belle, bit of friendly advice. Please, no matter what happens, try to get along with Rarity. You've only got one sister, after all."
Sweetie Belle blinked in confusion before nodding.
"Yes'm."

"Good girl."
She sighed, before looking to the crowd of ponies.

"You all might want to take a step back. I don't know what would happen if you happen to be near when this spell goes off, but I doubt it would be very enjoyable."
As one, the entire gathering of ponies took three steps back, save Twilight, who instead walked over toward Twinkle, still trying to smile.

"You know," Twilight said, "I kinda envy you right now. The world you're going to."
Twinkle just gave a small, warm smile back. "I envy you. The things you're going to see, and discover, and do. Taking your first steps on an incredible journey."

She sighed once more, and her horn glowed. "Oh, and Twilight?"
"Yes?" she asked.

"Don't ever stop being brilliant, you... clever girl."
Twinkle's horn began to glow, and Twilight felt herself being grabbed by Rarity and dragged toward the crowd. A wind began to pick up, and light and colours swirled around Twilight Twinkle for several minutes, increasing by the second.
Then, as the light became too bright to see, there was a blast, and a flash.

The light and the wind died down, and everypony looked to see an absence of any royal blue alicorns.
After a few minutes, the small crowd dispersed, most of them returning to their beds, save ten ponies and one dragon.

After twenty minutes, they were still there.

After forty minutes, Applejack and Rarity left with the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

After an hour and a half, Trixie and Rainbow Dash left.

After two hours and forty seven minutes, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Spike left.

After four hours, Twilight Sparkle was still there. Still sitting, still waiting.

Eventually she stood up, and after one last look, walked back into Ponyville.
"Goodbye" she said.

Author's Note

Yes, it's a short chapter, I know.
Sorry about that, but, as the characters say, it was time to leave.

Reunions

Whisper Wind frowned, as the silence between himself and Princess Cadance continued as it had for several minutes. She had said they had needed to talk, and then fallen into a complete silence.

"Your highness?" he asked. Cadance looked up at him, almost seeming surprised, before what she presumably thought was a reassuring smile crossed her face.
"You know, you can call me Cadance. And you don't need to be so formal, either. After all, we are of equal stature, aren't we?" she gave a nervous laugh, "I mean, you are a prince, aren't you?"

Whisper Wind shuffled his hooves. "I suppose technically, I am prince of the Changelings, even though I've never given it any real consideration, aside from the occasional wish I wasn't."
A thought occurred to the pony after a few seconds, "How did I get here, by the way?"

Cadance looked out toward the window. "A group of changelings brought you here several days ago." she said. She noted the alarmed expression on the young stallion's face, before adding, "You were badly injured, though they would not specify why exactly." her expression darkened, "Although from what the doctors told me, your survival was nothing short of miraculous. You looked like you were at death's door."

The changeling gave this some thought. "I had an argument with my... with her about her opinion of ponies. She wanted me to assist her in some insane scheme of hers, and to that end had me abducted and taken to wherever it is she's residing, in order to offer me the chance to aid her. And when I refused, and questioned her actions, she took exception to it and... injured me." he paused, and shuffled so as to free both of his wings. He gave them an experimental flap, and felt no small amount of joy to see they worked. He looked back to Cadance, "I fled out into the wastelands beyond, but... her soldiers found me, and dragged me back. The last thing I recall is her hoof moving toward my face."

As if on cue, there was a small flash of pain from his jaw. He looked up at Cadance and frowned, "But I do not recall any others. I cannot vouch for them."
Cadance nodded, "They said the Changeling Queen would follow after you, but so far we have seen no sight of her."

There were a few seconds of silence as both ponies found their thoughts going to dark places. Cadance bit her lip, as her expression grew concerned. Then she looked up at Whisper Wind again.
"You were going to come and live here, weren't you?"

The stallion looked suddenly bashful, which even though he was almost the spitting image of his birth-mother, did still look strangely adorable.
"Yes. Or, perhaps. I-if you'd... allow it, that is."

Cadance paused for a moment, her expression shifting. "Well, there are a lot of spare rooms in the palace, but..." she looked at him again. "My daughter. Shining Sapphire. You love her, don't you?"
He nodded, a nervous smile flickering across his face. "Yes, your highness. I do. And I think, if it's not too bold, you did have a hoof in that."

Cadance's mouth twitched as she looked over toward a curtain, next to Whisper Wind's bed. She looked at him with a soul-breaking expression.
"There's something you should know, Wisp. Three days before you arrived there was... an incident."

There was a sudden terrible silence, save for the small sound of rhythmic beeping. When Whisper Wind didn't ask, Cadance continued.
"The details are unclear. Despite the best efforts of myself and my husband, we have been unable to determine what exactly happened. All we know is that while my husband and I were trying to remove a frost drake from an abandoned city that had been found out on the ice plains, somepony came to this city with ill intent."

The young changeling felt his stomach plummet, as Cadance continued.
"For some reason, nopony could rightly identify the pony, so what happened next is amazingly unclear. However, what is known is that roughly ten minutes after this incident began, Shining Sapphire somehow managed to access and utilise the power of the Crystal Heart to drive off this attacker."

Wisp found himself thinking of who could and would have been able to hurt Shining Sapphire, and then found a singular thought screaming through his mind. He suddenly found his ability to speak had just gone.
"And from injuries apparently sustained in the fight, as well as sheer magical strain, my daughter..." Cadance choked up, her horn glowing as the curtain was pulled back. Whisper Wind edged off the bed, ignoring the twinges of pain as he looked and saw the pony lying on the bed, not moving, with her eyes closed and her breathing utterly inaudible.

For several seconds he said nothing, but he was aware of the sheer despair rolling off of Cadance, mixed with love and a small amount of anger.
"Who... who could have done this?" he asked.

*****

Ponyville.
Space and time roiled and pitched as magic collided in mid-air, producing phantom sounds and wind that sounded like the universe itself was trying to vomit. This was one of the many, many reasons most time-travellers prefer to use capsules, so that they never have to hear the sound again, and because time machines generally tended toward more pleasing sounds.

There was a bright flash of light, and a loud 'bloink' sound just as time and space corrected themselves, leaving the form of an eighteen year-old pony on the shore of reality.
Then, after a few seconds there was a startled yelp and a thump, as the royal blue alicorn fell to the ground.

'Okay,' Twilight Twinkle found herself thinking, 'It's the spell, then, not any inherent problem in my ability to cast it.'
She shook her head, and slowly tried to figure out where her hooves where and how to get on top of them.

'Alright' she thought as she stood up, 'Ponyville, or what looks like Ponyville. Can't be sure it's my time, but that's what I get for trying to replicate a spell whole-cloth after several months.'

She paused, and then checked to make sure she was actually alive and had all her internal organs. A quick few seconds proved that she did. She nodded, and slowly got the saddlebags off her back. She opened them, and began investigating. There was the dress Rarity had made for her, the pair of cheap glasses she'd bought, one or two presents she'd received on her un-birthday, and most importantly, the book, the one containing Nightmare Eclipse, or more accurately what was left of her. Then she noticed something, underneath the book. It was small, but wrapped up, with even a small bow around it. She frowned, and opened it. There was a small framed picture of eight ponies smiling (some more than others) at a camera, along with a baby dragon standing in front of them and waving. She was aware of a fluttering noise and looked down to see a small letter. She frowned and lifted it up, and then saw what it said.

'Twilight Twinkle,
Wishing you all the best, no matter where or when you go,
From Spike, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, The Great and Powerful Trixie, Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle.
P.S. Pinkie Pie wanted to include the names of everypony else in town, and a couple of others. Be thankful - RD.'

She couldn't help but grin at this, and then realised she was finding it difficult to breath, which had nothing to do with the saddlebags around her waist. She was also finding it difficult to move.
'C'mon, Twinkie. Gotta do this. Gotta go check. You know you do. Have to be sure.'

She clenched her jaw, and tried raising one hoof. She tried lowering it. She did, for the briefest of seconds, consider flying, but then dismissed it. Even if she was now an alicorn, she didn't trust her wings to carry her all the way into town at the moment.
As she tried moving one foot in front of the other, she noted her face still felt sore from all the crying she'd been doing a few minutes (from her point of view) ago. She tried not to think about Twilight, or rather, the other Twilight Sparkle. The young one. Not her Twilight Sparkle.

As she began to move toward Ponyville, catching the familiar apple scent the town always had, and a lemon-y scent that was probably the Everfree Forest's smell of the day, she began to wonder how long she had been away, relative to the present. From her point of view, it had been several months, but from theirs, she couldn't begin to guess, and that was assuming the spell she'd cast was even correct. For all she knew, she could've ended up back before the Longest Night, and Nightmare Moon's return, or anywhen.

She paused mid-step, the outskirts of Ponyville incredibly close now, and found herself thinking one thing.
'I hate time-travel.'

After several seconds consideration, she began moving again, noting the shops, and stalls, some of which seemed the same, and several of which seemed different. She kept looking about, as if expecting to see one of the ponies from the other Ponyville, merrily going about their business, or to see Rainbow Dash practicing for the Wonderbolts, or just taking a nap, and each time she recalled where she was, she felt a small pang in her heart.

*****

Today had been a good day. Of course, every day had been a good day. It was Ponyville, and everything was fine, unless somepony discounted yesterday and what happened at the library, and the weirdness after the strange event in the library, but apart from those two lapses, Ponyville was doing pretty well. Except...

There was a mess. And why was there a mess? Because there she'd been putting icing on a cake when her tail had started shaking, making some silly pony accidentally suddenly send icing flying everywhere. Ponies were staring at her in confusion.

"Mom?" the young colt behind her asked. He was young enough to not have experienced the family gift yet. Pinkemena Diane Responsibility Dentist's Bane Danger Pie frowned, as she tried to figure out what the combo was. There was a shaky tail, itchy hoof, and a double ear-flop. After a few seconds she removed her hat, and apron, and looked over to her husband, who did a double-take at the expression on his wife's face.

"What is it, honey?"
Pinkie Pie stared straight ahead for a moment before a warm smile spread across her face. Then she blinked, and gave a small sigh, before her eyes darted to the mass of icing covering everything. She looked at her husband.
"There's a happy reunion coming" she said, as she began cleaning up the icing, before pausing.

"We're gonna need a lotta cake. Better fire up the ovens."

*****

Twinkle paused, staring at the door to the library. With the state her mind was in, she noted the door was different from the one from the other library. Evidently at some point it must have been damaged. She blinked. Her heart felt like it was trying to force its way up her throat. She closed her eyes and tried to get her breathing under control. She placed her hoof on the door, and pushed.

The door didn't open. She paused, her train of thought derailed. She gritted her teeth. Her horn glowed, and a small blue beam of light zapped out. There was a satisfying click, and she smiled as she nudged the door open. She walked into the room, and looked about. The entire room looked different, and smelled different as well. There was an absence of the usual background smell of sulphur from Spike's breath. Instead, the room just smelt vaguely dusty, and sounded far too quiet, even for a library. Though there was a faint sugary scent, which could only have belonged to one family of ponies.

She jumped as she heard the door to the kitchen open, a young stallion with curly bright pink hair walked in, and then paused, his eyes going wide with shock.
She stared at him. "Vanilla!" she smiled. The young Pie just nodded. For a few seconds the two ponies stared at one another. Twinkle looked around.

"Where-"
"She went out with" he suddenly cut off into mumbling for a few seconds, looking incredibly uncertain, "Said she'd be back soon..."

"Any idea where I should look?" Twinkle asked. Vanilla shook his head.
"Sorry, miss Twilight. Is there anything else?"

"Yeah, how long was I gone?"
"... One day" the stallion said, hesitantly. A few more seconds passed before he frowned, "I think I need to go sit down now. For a few hours."

Twinkle just nodded. "Alright then."
"Welcome back, by the way" he said, before adding, "Nice wings." Twinkle paused, and turned to look at him.

"Thanks."
She walked out the door. After a few seconds she returned and removed the saddlebags, and flashed the unmoving Vanilla Pie another smile before leaving again.

*****

Twilight Twinkle stood in front of the library, staring at the pleasant afternoon sky. She gave a heavy sigh. She had no idea where Twilight Sparkle was, but she was fairly certain who she was with. She found herself smiling again. The Doctor had apparently done as he'd promised. She felt suddenly invigorated, as if struck by lightning, and took one step. Which was exactly when she heard the gasp.

Time suddenly seemed to slow to a crawl. The world suddenly vanished, and the air seemed to have become like soup as she turned to see two ponies staring at her. One was a dark blue unicorn with distinctly orange hair. The other was a purple alicorn, and was rushing toward Twinkle, who had already began to move herself.
The two mares met, and quickly Twinkle found herself being wrapped around by Twilight Sparkle. For a few seconds she just heard Twilight's shaking breath. Then she realised the mare was crying.

"You're alright" Twilight whispered, as she began holding Twinkle close, "Thank Celesta, you're alright."
After a few seconds Twinkle noticed Twilight was trembling. No, she was shaking. With a word she tried to get her forelimbs free, aware of a growing feeling of dampness where Twilight's head met her chest.

"You're alright" the mare repeated, as she held Twinkle closer. "You're alive."
Twinkle just gently hugged Twilight. After a few seconds she continued hugging her, and for several seconds more.

"Hi, mom" Twinkle said, after several attempts.
Eventually, and with glacial speed, Twilight Sparkle pulled away and leaned back, and Twinkle noticed her eyes were red, and then she noticed the bags under the mare's eyes, like she hadn't gotten a proper amount of sleep in a very long while. She blinked, ignoring the mild stinging sensation. For several seconds both mares just stared at each other, utterly ignoring the fact that their eyes were refusing to work properly.

"I'm sorry" Twilight said, in-between tears. For a second, Twinkle's brain scrambled to catch up, as Twilight continued.
"I don't know what specific thing it was I did wrong that meant I lost you but, I... really am sorry, honey."
Twinkle stared at her. "...mom, it wasn't anything you did."

Twilight looked confused, "But... all those arguments we had, and when you ran away... I just thought that..." she trailed off into whispered mutterings.
Twinkle looked down at her hooves. Then she looked up at Twilight.

"I don't hate you, mom. I could never... It wasn't because of anything you did. It..." she paused for a moment, "But I think there are things we need to talk about."
Twilight nodded, and then suddenly stopped as she seemed to notice something.

"You're... younger. And your fur's it's usual colour." she noted, and then her eyes darted toward Twinkle backside.
"And you're..." for a few seconds she stared further, and then a bright smile spread across her face. Twinkle turned to glance at her sides.

"You're a Princess?" Twilight asked. Twinkle's grin vanished.
"No. Not Princess. Just an alicorn."

Twilight smiled, and then Twinkle raised a hoof.
"And please, don't say I'm already your li-"

"Too late dear" said her father as he walked over toward her and hugged her. In an instant she found herself returning the hug. After a few seconds they both let go. She smiled at him and he smiled back before glancing at Twilight, whose expression shifted between various moods in an instant.
"How did..." she asked, "How did that happen?"

Twinkle bit her lip to stop herself grinning and shrugged. "It's... it's a very long story."
"How long?" Twilight asked. Twinkle gave this some thought.

"About... six months, maybe a little bit more."
She frowned. "Anyway, it isn't entirely over yet. Has there been any news from the Crystal Empire lately?"

Twilight Sparkle and Comet Chaser exchanged glances. "No" Twilight said, slowly, "Why would t-"
In an instant Twinkle's horn lit up, and with a bright flash she was gone, before Twilight could tell her to stop, her hoof raised in mid-objection. After a few seconds she looked to Comet Chaser, who just tilted his head. She stared at him.

"Should I fetch anything from th-"
"No" Twilight shook her head. She began to move in the direction of the train station, her husband following slowly after her. They were just passing the library when the mare stopped, and looked about.

"Do you hear that?" she asked. Comet Chaser shook his head. Then there was the distinct sound of wings being unfurled, and a slight thump as a certain mare landed a short distance away, her mane flowing wildly. She looked over toward Twilight Sparkle and smiled.
"Good, Twilight Sparkle, I was looking for you." Princess Celestia smiled. Twilight nodded.

"I'm sorry, your highness, but there is something I must deal with."
Princess Celestia frowned, "Twilight, please. Something is terribly wrong."

Her gaze turned toward Comet Chaser, and her expression shifted. "I apologise for this, but do I know you?"
"I should hope so" the pony sighed, "You sort of gave me my first job, and were the one who officiated our wedding."
Celestia's expression shifted between surprise, confusion and joy as she looked toward Twilight, who just looked almost annoyed.

"What is this about, Princess?" she asked. The mare closed her eyes for a few seconds.
"It happened shortly after we last talked..."

~~~~~

Seven days ago
Discord stood before Princess Celestia, still dressed up as a butler and smiling at an irate Princess Celestia, as she wondered exactly how long he'd been waiting in the hall of windows for her to find him.

"Discord, what did you do?!" she yelled. The chaos god smiled again.
"Do? Moi? There you go again, always blaming me for everything! 'Who turned Luna's mane into wool? Who rigged those toilets to sing the Prench national anthem? Who turned the moon into cheese and gave every washing machine in the city legs? Who set that giant kitten loose on Vanhoofer? Must have been Discord'."

Celestia glared at him, and after a few seconds he shrugged.
"If I had done something, and I'm not saying I have, what was it I supposedly did?"

"Whatever you have done to Twilight Sparkle and her daughter, your sick little joke ends here."
Discord laughed, and continued laughing. After a few seconds he paused.

"Oh," he said, the humour vanishing from his voice, "You were serious."
He pulled himself up to his full height, and a new grin graced his face. "Well, then, Celly, I might tell you whatever it was I did."

Celestia almost smiled, until she realised who she was talking to. "On what terms?"
Discord leaned back onto a large chair, and raised an eyebrow. "Seven days from now. In Ponyville. See ya then!"

Then he snapped his fingers, and vanished, leaving the mare standing there, her expression shifting between several different versions of irritation.

~~~~~

"I should have really seen that coming" Princess Celestia frowned. "I really should have."
She shook her head. "Anyway, have you seen him anywhere?"

"Discord?" Comet Chaser asked, "No. Would've remembered him."
Celestia frowned. "Then where could h-"

"I'm sorry," Comet Chaser interjected, "But we really should be going. Our daughter just vanished without explaining herself. If Discord is a problem, then we'll just have to deal with it after, but right now, my wife and I would really like to find our little girl."
Celestia paused for a moment, staring at the pony staring back at her with a fierce expression, trying not to be amused by Twilight's shocked expression. "I thought she disappeared some weeks ago, after the incident with the changelings."

Twilight nodded, "And then she returned here last week, then vanished yesterday and then returned and-"
"Breath" Princess Celestia said, the instant she saw the distressed look pass across Twilight's face. Twilight paused and closed her eyes. After a few seconds she let out a sigh.

"Sorry, but it's been an incredibly bizarre day" Twilight sighed, looking over toward Comet Chaser, who just looked down at his hooves. To this, Celestia just raised an eyebrow.
"It's been bizarre for a lot longer than that" the stallion said to himself. Twilight evidently heard this, as she nodded.

"Far too long" the mare added.
"Bizarre, you say?" a voice called out, "I can help with that!"

There was the sudden sound of a drumroll, and Discord appeared, lounging on a sofa. A sign appeared next to him, on which was clumsily scrawled 'The doctor is' followed by an additional scribble of 'Five bits per hour'.

*****

Elsewhere, several dozen miles away.
She could have flown. She wasn't sure how fast she could go, but considering she'd managed to fly from Ponyville to Canterlot in a few minutes, she was fairly certain she could have gotten there very quickly. But she still hadn't changed her opinion re. the wings, and had decided to teleport. Alas, unlike the last time she'd been to the Crystal Empire, she didn't want to teleport all the way at once, and instead was going for micro-teleports. Plus, she was just enjoying the ability to teleport, and wasn't about to let rational thinking get in her way. It was slow-going though, since there was only so far she could teleport in a single sitting, and she was unwilling to teleport blind, in case of winding up in a wall or rock, or worse, accidently teleporting into somepony.

She was beginning to wonder if perhaps rushing out on her parents had been the best idea ever, and whether it was truly necessary to rush straight to the Crystal Empire at that moment. But then she thought of Shining Sapphire. She had to know whether anything had happened. At which point her mind began working through the various possibilities. She stopped, and dropped to the ground as her mind began thinking of another pony in trouble. Whisper Wind, whom she'd last seen being seized by the Changeling horde. Despite what she'd learnt from Cadance, which meant he'd been alive at least during her time possessed by the Nightmare, she shuddered to think of what could've happened to him since, thinking of those obvious injuries, and the wing, bent and broken in the sunlight.
She gritted her teeth as she tried to force the memories out of her mind, before looking around to see where she was. It was still a long, long way to the Crystal Empire.

It was also beginning to occur to her, now that she'd stopped, that what she was doing was incredibly impulsive. After all, she could have talked with her parents, told them about what had happened and then made her way to the Crystal Empire. Even though she was likely going to be grounded forever the minute she got back. The fact that she was fairly certain she hadn't gotten much sleep helped, or the fact that she felt extremely emotionally raw, just for a change.

After a few seconds she smiled without meaning to. 'If I'm in trouble, I'm in trouble. But I'm making sure Sapphy and Wisp are alright first. I'm not letting them down again'.
Her horn glowed again, and with a bright flash, she continued onward toward the distant Crystal Empire.

*****

Meanwhile, inside the Crystal Empire
Both ponies stared at the sight, of the pink-furred mare just lying on the hospital bed. There was utter quiet in the room, save the occasional beep from the various monitors. After a few seconds there was a small noise from Cadance.
"I'm sorry" she said quietly, "It's just..."

Whisper Wind nodded. He didn't need the Changeling ability to see emotions to understand how Princess Cadance was feeling at that moment. He gave a small nod, and tried looking toward the mare again.
"The doctors say that she is recovering smoothly, but that... they don't know when or if she'll wake up."

For a few seconds Whisper Wind glanced from Shining Sapphire to Cadance.
"When was the last time you slept?" he asked quietly. Cadance paused for a minute.

"I... I don't know. At least two days, I suppose."
She shuffled on her hooves. "I did try, you know. I did try to get some sleep. But I only managed about twenty minutes."
She bit on her lip and looked up at the young stallion. "And you know, if she was awake, she'd... she'd probably be telling me not to worry or something along those lines."

For an instant, there was a strange smile on her face. "Do you know, a few hours after my husband and I learnt of what had happened to her, we started getting letters. Ponies from all over the city were sending condolences to us, asking if we were alright, wishing for her to recover. At first we thought there'd just be a few. Sapphy's never been the most social pony ever, but the mail's just kept coming."

There was the tiniest of sighs from the Princess, as her glance moved from the slumbering mare to the young Changeling.
"I think perhaps I will need to go talk with some ponies. Though I might need your help for some of them."

"Me?" Whisper Wind blinked in confusion. Cadance nodded, before a small, not-quite-a-grin moved across her face.
"I have this sneaking suspicion those changelings who came with you won't speak to me or Shining Armor." her expression flickered for an instant, "But for now, I'll just let you and Shining Sapphire be alone for a while."

She stood in the doorway for a second, before moving away, a noticeable look of distress on her face. Wisp looked at the unconscious form of Shining Sapphire. It was odd, the way she lay there, looking for all the world like she was simply asleep. Suddenly Wisp found himself thinking of old fairytales, where the sleeping princess was woken by the kiss from a handsome prince, and gave a wry smile at that.

'I don't think a simple kiss will fix this.' He laid a hoof on Shining Sapphire, and sighed.
'Not that I'm much of a prince, anyway. I didn't even want to be a prince.' he added. He looked at the mare again, and gave a small smile. Seconds passed, as he tried to think of something to say, but he found himself drawing blanks. After lengthy pondering, he just placed his other front hoof on Shining Sapphire's.

"Hey" he said, quietly. After a few seconds he frowned. 'Hey' he thought. That was apparently all he could think of. 'Hey'.
"Sorry, that was terrible" he said, "But I'm not really sure what-... I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say, right now. I mean, I could make this one of those stupid 'I didn't know how much you mean to me' speeches, but that'd be pointless."

For an instant a smile flashed across his face, "Because I do know how much you mean to me. You mean everything to me. And I don't even know how to help you. I don't even know where to begin helping you."
For a few seconds he sat there, trying to ignore the rhythmic beating of the heart monitor. "But I know that I love you, and I will do whatever I can. But right now there are other ponies who might need my help, but I promise you I will be here for when you wake up."

He gave a small, sad smile, and then slowly leaned over toward the mare and gave her a small kiss on the cheek. If Shining Sapphire had somehow felt it, she gave no indication that she had. With great effort, Whisper Wind slowly pulled himself away from the mare, and slowly headed toward the door, not daring to take a look back.

Shining Sapphire remained there, unmoving, not responding. If perhaps she'd suddenly made some movement, or the monitors examining her had shown some signs of change, or perhaps even a tiny sigh and a muted whisper, then that would have been something. She didn't. Instead the young mare remained unmoving, without so much as a single twitch, the only noise being the noise of the heart monitor.

Though if one had been looking at exactly the right angle, they might have noticed what could have been mistaken for her mouth just barely beginning to curl into a smile.

*****

Several thousand miles lay between Ponyville and the Crystal Empire. It was an incredibly long distance, even by train. Twilight Twinkle wasn't even sure how her terrified teleporting had managed to get her all the way there in one go, and she wasn't entirely certain about the implications such an act held for her current mobility. She was certain, however, that she was getting closer.

The fact that it was beginning to get incredibly cold helped.

*****

"So, do you actually have names?" Wisp asked. The changelings looked at each other in what was probably their idea of confusion. They'd been unwilling to not stand guard over their prince, and had evidently taken some persuasion to simply wait in a small lounge elsewhere in the hospital. Their expression on seeing Whisper Wind had almost looked like naked joy, up until he'd asked the question.

"No, sire" said the lead one, with what almost sounded like hesitation, "We do not have names."
Wisp just nodded. "Alright then, just asking. Names would make conversation a bit easier, is all."

He looked back toward Cadance and Shining Armor, neither of whom seemed to be focused on either pony.
"Why did you save me?" he asked. The lead changeling paused for some time, looking down at his hooves. When he looked up, his eyes briefly glanced toward the two ponies standing by the doorway.

"You are our prince" he said solemnly. Wisp stared at him for several seconds.
"I am not entirely certain, sire. There are many reasons as to why I might have tried to save you, but now I am not sure why I did it."

After a few seconds his expression shifted. "But my troops and I do not, and will not, regret our actions, sire. That, I am sure of."
Wisp just nodded slowly, "Okay, good to know. But how did you get me out of the hive to here?"

The changelings suddenly exchanged glances, and for an instant they looked almost bashful.
"With great difficulty" the lead changeling said, before adding, "Especially as we are incapable of harming our own kind."

"Can't or won't?" Shining Armor spoke up, causing some of the changelings to look startled.
"Both" the head changeling said quickly. "We were forced to find alternative means of escape."

"'Alternative means'?" Wisp asked. The changelings nodded, the look on their faces indicating quite clearly that they were unwilling to speak further on the matter, though in a way that suggested, without a word being spoken, that they weren't entirely certain how they'd managed to get away with it themselves, only that they had.

"A problem presents itself, though" Cadance said, "You mentioned that you were being pursued by your queen, and yet... it has been almost a week since then, and we haven't seen a single sign of anything approaching another changeling, much less an army. And we have been looking" she added. Instantly the group of changelings huddled together, and began making several noises that sounded almost exactly liked a hushed conversation. Then they stopped, and began examining one another, causing Shining Armor and Cadance to share exchanged confused glances, before the lead moved over toward Wisp, with what looked suspiciously liked nervous embarrassment on his face.

"My lord, if it is not beneath me, I would humbly ask that I examine you."
"For what?" Wisp asked. The changeling's wings buzzed suddenly.

"It is important, your highness."
After some quick consideration, Wisp nodded, and turned around. There was a series of alarmed gasps from the assembled changelings.

"What is it?" Wisp asked, as he saw the changelings sharing a look of dread. The lead changeling bowed before him.
"My lord, I am sorry for failing you. Had we realised what had been done, we-"

"What is it?" Wisp repeated, irritably. The changeling shuffled again, his face going an odd pale colour.
"It appears that her highness has placed a tracking charm on you" he said, his voice almost quavering, before he dropped to the floor, "I can only beg your forgiveness for this failure, your highness. Had we known of it, we would not have-"

"It's alright, seriously" Wisp said quickly, "She probably was going to find me sooner or later anyway. And this would probably explain how she always knew how to find me. And at least we know she's coming, right?" he asked, looking toward Shining Armor and Cadance. The Princess nodded.
"She seems to be taking her time though" Shining Armor frowned, "Although, I suppose you Changelings would probably have some problems getting through the cold, rig-..."

There was a sudden terrible absence of noise, as Shining Armor's eyes went tiny.
"We would" the lead changeling said, an absence of emotion in his voice. Shining Armor looked toward Cadance, and then in an instant rushed out of the room, before Cadance could even tell him to stop.

"Sorry" Wisp said quietly. Cadance looked over toward him and shook her head.
"Don't. It wasn't your fault, was it?" she said, looking like she wasn't entirely sure whether to smile or not. Wisp looked up at her.

"But because of me this entire city's in danger" he said. Cadance made a noise that sounded like a non-verbal indication that she was trying very hard not to agree.
"Perhaps, but wherever these ponies" there was a derisive noise from the changeling behind Wisp, though Cadance didn't seem to notice it "took you would be in danger. At least this city has adequate means of defending itself."

Wisp nodded. "True. But... my birth mother did explain as to what her general scheme was, in-between the flowery insults and screaming of course, and... I don't think she has a plan."
Relief moved across Cadance's face. "That's good."

Wisp stared at her like she'd gone mad. "No, sorry. I mean, I don't think she has a plan. I think she's been planning her 'revenge' as she called it for a long time, and has been considering a lot of options."
Cadance's expression changed. "I see."

"So, when one plan stops being viable, for whatever reason, she simply adjusts, and moves on. She really doesn't like you two, by the way. She was quite keen on making that point clear."
"I could have guessed" Cadance said. Wisp nodded. The mare frowned, and looked into the middle distance.

"Come on. We should probably prepare for her arrival."
Wisp nodded, and slowly followed after the mare. As he did, he was certain he heard the changelings following behind him. He decided to let them be for the moment. As they walked, he noticed Cadance occasionally glancing toward him. After a few seconds he decided he'd had enough of being glanced at.

"What is it?" he asked. Cadance's mouth curled.
"It... I was simply thinking about something."

"I see" Wisp said. Cadance's mouth curled.
"We know your mother is the changeling queen, but... have you ever learnt who your father is?"

He shook his head. "No. It isn't anypony in Ponyville, obviously enough, but beyond that I don't really know anything about whoever he is."
His wings fluttered for a second. "And considering nopony has ever turned up in Ponyville looking for me, I doubt he even knows I exist."

For a few seconds, as they began walking down a flight of stairs, he frowned. "Which... it's not that I haven't given thought to what he must be like, but at the same time I'm not really certain I want to know, just in case. I'm quite happy with the family I already have."

There was another bout of silence, as Cadance just nodded. "The hospital staff did get a blood sample from you, while you were out" she said, at an unusually low pitch, "Just in case something happened while you were recovering. It didn't match anypony who lives in the city, just as a point of interest."

Wisp was certain he could detect a mild undercurrent of relief in her tone, but decided not to ask about it, especially since he could guess why the relief was there. The two continued onward, the Changelings still following silently behind them, as their path took them through the city, they noticed a great many ponies heading toward the palace. Cadance noticed Wisp's confusion.

"In an event of an emergency, like say an evil overlord coming back from near-death, the citizens of the Crystal Empire gather in the safest place in the city. Which is of course the castle. Hopefully."
"'Hopefully'?"

Cadance just gave him a Look. "Changelings have never attacked the Crystal Empire before, and while Sombra was alarmingly good at thinking ahead, I don't think he designed any of the now-largely defunct defences of his castle with changelings in mind."
She looked toward a small throng of ponies rushing toward the castle. "And we've never really been certain about installing new defensive charms and wards just in case we set something off we hadn't noticed before. Which might at least explain why whoever it was that attacked Sapphy managed to get so close to the castle."

Wisp nodded, and noticed they were moving toward the fields that surrounded the city. Ahead were several guards, lead by Shining Armor, who noticed Cadance's arrival, giving only a curt nod at this.
"We've got guards covering every potential access point to the city, with instructions to signal the rest of us at the first sign of the defences being breached" he said, "While we're maintaining watch over the train station entrance, just in case she's actually decided just to take the train here."

He looked toward Wisp for an instant, who just shrugged. "Don't look at me. I didn't exactly hear what her plan was, thanks to the whole 'beaten senseless' thing."
Shining Armor's expression changed fractionally. "Guess we'll just have to wait then" he said.

Minutes passed in silence, as the several ponies sat there. Due to the usual conditions of the Crystal Empire, and the barrier separating it from the tundra outside, it was amazingly quiet, save for the distant sounds of sheep bleating, and occasionally making very loud small talk. Wisp looked over toward the gathered changelings, and then frowned.
"Aren't you guys going to... I don't know, disguise yourselves?"

The lead changeling stared at him. "My lord?"
"Well, it's just... when she shows up, presumably with an army of some form, isn't that going to make telling who's who a bit difficult?"

The lead changeling blinked, in the fashion that was suggested he was about to start speaking slowly and loudly.
"No, my lord" he finally said, in a calm fashion, "We'll know who we're supposed to be fighting."

"But you're still going to look like changelings, right?" Wisp asked, trying not to sound to weary.
The changeling nodded, to which Wisp sighed. For the briefest moment, he wanted the changeling army to arrive.

*****

"Discord" Twilight said, in the same tone one announces that it's raining. The draqonequus sat up and frowned.
"What? That's it? No yelling, or screaming, or anger, just 'Discord'?"

Twilight frowned, and began to advance on him, only for a hoof to stop her. Celestia smiled what was apparently supposed to be one of her reassuring smiles.
"Discord, either you explain what you have wrought between Twilight Sparkle and her daughter, or I swear, you'll wish you were turned to stone."

Discord just raised an eyebrow. "Will I, indeed? You always knew how to butter a chaos god u-"
"Now." Celestia said, in a tone that would have made even the most blood-crazed berserkers mildly nervous. Discord, however, just kept smiling.

"Alright. Here is the truth of what I did to little Twilight Sparkle, and her dearest daughter whatserface" there was a pause, and Celestia was aware of noticeable build-up of magic near Twilight Sparkle, along with a faint smell of something beginning to burn.
"Nothing."

Discord's smile grew. Twilight just blinked.
"I haven't done a single thing to either of them" for a few seconds he continued grinning, relishing each word as he said them, before shrugging, "Well, aside from the time-travel thing, but apart from that-" he paused as he saw Comet Chaser. His grin vanished, and he stared at the pony for a few seconds. He pulled out a pair of opera glasses and began carefully examining the stallion, giving him an experimental tap on the head, which while having no apparent effect on the pony, did produce an audible sound like that of a coconut being struck.

"Interesting" he finally said. He looked at Twilight, and then Princess Celestia, then back to Comet Chaser. "I feel the need to amend my previous statement. I did throw him out of the universe" he said, pointing a talon at the stallion, "Which, in my defence was because I'd just been zapped by a teenager for no reason."
"Aside from the fact that you were spreading chaos?" the stallion asked. Discord stared at the pony for several seconds.

"Thrown out of the universe?" Twilight asked, the build-up of magic around her horn vanishing, "How does... that doesn't..." Celestia, meanwhile, tried to resist the urge to inflict whatever cruel and unusual punishment her mind could think of, if only so she could pay attention to current matters. However, she couldn't help but consider having a talk with Fluttershy when she was done with Discord.

Discord frowned at Comet Chaser. "Alright, little pony, let me show you something" he said slowly, reaching into a non-existent pocket and pulling out a wallet. From that, he produced a tiny piece of cardboard, and handed it to the pony. "My card."
Comet Chaser glanced at it, and then raised an eyebrow.

"You work on a contingency basis?" the stallion asked. Discord leaned over his shoulder to examine it.
"Apparently, I do now." then he frowned.

"Aren't you supposed to be scared of me?" he asked. Comet Chaser shrugged.
"Still am, but after the last few days I've had, and when you're standing next to two of the most powerful beings alive, you suddenly find yourself with a lot less fear than usual. Or, indeed, any ability to feel anything at all. Besides, if you did anything to me, then you'd have to deal with an angry teenager."

Discord stared at him, before nodding. "Good point."
"Discord" Celestia said between clenched teeth. He looked up at her, almost surprised.

"Oh, yes, that thing. As I said: I have done nothing directly to Twilight Sparkle and... the other one."
"Twilight Twinkle" Twilight helpfully hissed. Discord waved a paw at her.

"Anything that happened thereafter was the result of reality trying to make sense of him not existing, and nothing whatsoever to do with me. Aside from the time-travel thing."
"What time-travel thing?" Twilight snapped, before glancing toward Comet Chaser, who just grinned nervously.

"I was going to let her explain things" he said quickly, "But then she took off."
Celestia strongly resisted the urge to facehoof. Then she saw the expression on Twilight Sparkle's face. It was one she hadn't seen in a long time, and if she had never seen it again, it would have been too soon.

"So, you mean to tell me that... everything that happened between myself and Twinkie was because... of ourselves?"
Discord nodded.
"And not because of you?"

Discord nodded again, clearly enjoying himself. Then his expression shifted. "Well, that Nightmare might've helped, but, basically, yes."
Twilight looked down at her hooves, suddenly looking almost like a little filly again, apparently disregarding Discord's previous statement.

"Time-travel?" Celestia asked, trying not to let her concern about the word 'nightmare' show. Discord shrugged.
"Only a bit" Celestia gave him a stare that would have made diamonds crumbling. He just gave off a smirk. "I didn't know it was her daughter. I just saw somepony trying really, really hard to teleport and I thought I'd... give them some 'help'"

"So," Twilight said, her voice eerily calm, her mane suddenly looking like it was about to fly apart, "All that swirling wind and flashing light, that was you?"
Discord nodded, before looking hurt. "You didn't like my little light show?"

"And you threw my daughter... back through time?"
For a few seconds Discord said nothing, instead staring at his paw.

"Don't tell anyone, but yes."
Twilight frowned, magic beginning to flicker around her horn.

"And the wings?" she asked. Celestia's stare focused on Discord again. Suddenly he seemed almost sheepish, and muttered something under his breath. Twilight's expression went wide, and she suddenly found her back legs weren't working. She tried to say something, but could only manage some inelegant sputtering. After several seconds she managed to get herself under a semblance of control.

"I suppose there's no reason asking why, is there?"
Discord actually looked like he was giving this some thought before he responded, "There's a reason" he said defensively.

"Let me guess; chaos?" Comet Chaser asked. Discord looked astounded for an instant.
"That works too." he muttered.

Twilight shook her heard, and glanced at Comet Chaser. "I think we need to go have a talk with somepony" she said, "But knowing the way things have gone, by the time we get to the Crystal Empire, she'll probably have vanished again."
Discord leaned in toward her and smiled. "I can help with that" he grinned.

Celestia saw his fingers begin to move. "No Discord, don't you d-"
"Too late, this way's more fun!" he said quickly. His fingers snapped, there was a bright flash and both Twilight Sparkle and Comet Chaser had vanished. Celestia glowered at Discord, who just calmly looked at her.

"Oh, don't give me the angry eyes, Celly. You could have stopped me if you really wanted to. And we both know why you didn't."
The diarch stared at him. "I haven't the slightest clue as to what you mean."

Discord snorted at that. "Fine, be like that. Play coy, see if I care."
"I'm not playing coy" she said, casually. Discord just gave a sceptical 'uh-huh'.

"So that's why you're smiling then, is it?"
"I might not be smiling at that. Maybe I'm smiling because it's a nice day, or because Twilight Twinkle is alive and well, and apparently no longer playing host to a nightmare. Or maybe it's because you just did something nice of your own free will."
Discord blinked in alarm, as Celestia hummed. "And since there's apparently no crisis brewing, I think I shall return to Canterlot."

And with that she vanished into the air, leaving a troubled Discord standing and looking alarmed. Numerous ponies who had watched the scene unfold suddenly felt confused as to Discord's troubled expression.
"Huh." the trickster exclaimed, before vanishing in a puff of insane logic, leaving behind a thoroughly confused geranium.

*****

There was a flash of light, and something that sounded amazingly like claws being snapped as inside the main hall of the Crystal Palace, two ponies appeared. This was quickly followed by an alarmed yelp as Twilight Sparkle and Comet Chaser both fell to the ground, fortunately the ponies beneath them managed to scramble out of the way.
"You alright?" Twilight asked.

"Nothing broken" Comet Chaser said, "Bit startled, but apart from that I'm absolutely fine. You?"
"I'm okay. Bit confused, and my head's beginning to hurt, but considering who we were just talking to, that's not really a surprise."

She stood up, and after taking a deep breath frowned.
"And I know there's a lot you're not telling me, by the way, so I just want to make it utterly clear I'm very upset with you right now."

"I was going to let Twinkie tell you. Most of those things are to do with her. And I think there's a few things she didn't mention that I would very much like to know about."
Twilight saw the look on his face, and nodded in agreement. Then she noticed the dozens of ponies staring at the two of them, and then her location clicked in her mind.

"Why exactly is everypony doing in here?" she asked.

*****

The guards, Wisp, Cadance, Shining Armor and the group of changelings sat on the edge of the city, still waiting for the changeling army to arrive in utter silence. A few minutes before Wisp had gotten around to re-disguising himself, which had caused a few glances from the other changelings, though they said nothing. Minutes passed, and then one of the changelings seemed to hear something. It turned to face back toward the city, gathering almost everypony else's attention. Then Wisp saw the looks of joy on Shining Armor and Cadance's faces as Twilight Sparkle (alongside a dark blue stallion he didn't recognise) approached, followed by their rushing over toward her.

"Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake" the two mares chanted, "Clap your hooves and do a little shake!"
Their greeting done, the three ponies embraced.

"What in the world are you doing here?" Cadance asked. Twilight just blinked.
"We're here looking for Twinkle. Well," she paused, "Discord sent us here because Twinkle's likely to head here for some reason which hasn't been explained to me" she paused to glance at Comet Chaser, who seemed perfectly happy to stay out of Shining Armor's reach.

"Although I'm guessing she hasn't gotten here yet" Twilight finished. Cadance looked over to Shining Armor, who just shook his head.
"No. We would've noticed her" he said. Then Twilight Sparkle noticed Wisp, and an odd expression moved across her face.

"You" she exclaimed, before marching over toward him. Wisp saw the look of concern present on the lead changeling troop, and waved a hoof at them, as Twilight Sparkle bared down upon him, before stopping in front of him and shaking her head.
"Good to see you're okay" she said, hugging him "Fluttershy's been worried sick about you."

Wisp just nodded, before finding himself asking "I'm guessing that means that Twilight Twinkle did not manage to tell anypony about what happened to me, like I thought she would."
He noticed the odd burst of alarm coming from the stallion behind Twilight Sparkle, who he noted looked incredibly familiar to the mare, once he gave it some thought. Then he saw Twilight looking about.

"What's going on, by the way?"
"The Changeling Queen is apparently coming here with an army of changelings, either to get revenge on Shining Armor and Princ-... Cadance," Wisp said, noticing the small smile from Cadance, "or to reclaim me. Or try and violently injure me again. Or both. Or possibly none of the above."

He sighed. "It's been a long day, and I've only been awake for an hour or so."
"Oh, so it's not just us" the stallion spoke up. Cadance stared at him.

"Excuse me, but who exactly are you?"
"He's called Comet Chaser. And he's my husband" Twilight said, before he could respond. There were a few seconds as Shining Armor's eyes went wide, and his gaze moved from pony to pony, his jaw hanging open. Cadance, meanwhile, just smiled a smile large enough for several ponies.

"Discord" Twilight said quickly, to which Shining Armor frowned.
"Discord did something to him during that rampage of his some years ago, and for whatever reason only Twilight Twinkle seemed to remember him" Wisp spoke up. Twilight looked back to the colt, and a sheepish look moved across her face for an instant.

"Figures she might have mentioned that to you" she smiled. Then a thought occurred to Wisp.
"Mrs Twilight, could I ask a favour?" the mare simply looked over toward him.

"You don't need to be so formal to me, Whisper. I've known you since you were little, and been to several of your birthdays. And that's without pointing out that I know your mother."
"I'm just trying to be polite" he mumbled, "Anyway, the changeling queen has placed a charm on me, and I was wondering if there was something you could do about that, if it isn't to much to ask."

Twilight raised an eyebrow, "I don't have a lot of experience with changeling magic, but I'll see what I can do."
Behind her, Wisp noted Shining Armor glancing at Comet Chaser, though not with suspicion, more like he was appraising the pony. Cadance meanwhile looked lost in thought. Then Wisp heard Twilight speak up, as she began examining the charm.

"So, I can't help but notice the absence of a certain niece of mine" she said slowly. Wisp saw the look of heartbreak on both Cadance and Shining Armor's faces.
"Is something wrong?" Twilight asked. Cadance bit her lip, as Shining Armor walked over to her.

"Twily, there's something we should probably tell you when this is over" he said, the normal confidence in his voice utterly gone. Twilight's expression shifted instantly, her work on the charm forgotten.
"What happened?" she asked. And just as Shining Armor was about to respond, a guard called out.

"Sir! Enemy sighted!"
Shining Armor turned to look, and saw a dozen Changelings marching through the barrier leading out into the frozen wastes, miniscule amounts of snow falling off them as they marched. Quickly one guard's horn glowed, and a flare shot from his horn into the sky, as the changelings filed into an unusual formation, and after a few seconds the Changeling Queen slowly walked through them, a smile alighting on her face as she saw the ponies gathered in front of her.

"My goodness. What a treat this is. All my favourite ponies in one place" her eyes darted toward the group of changelings, who had quickly surrounded Wisp as she'd appeared, and a terrifying glint appeared in her eyes. Behind her, more changelings continued moving through the barrier, slowly spreading out around the group, encircling them.

"Dearest" she said, looking toward Wisp, "If you would step away from these fools, I promise you will not be punished. I apologise for what I did t-"
"No" Wisp said. Chrysalis blinked.

"No? No what?"

"No" he repeated. "I am not helping your insane schemes, not now, not ever. If you want to hurt my friends and family, you'll have to go through me."
For a few seconds, Chrysalis paused, before looking at him and shaking her head.

"I'm so disappointed in you" she said, calmly, "You cannot begin to imagine the life you have denied yourself."
"And I'm not going to try." he snapped back. Chrysalis's expression hardened.

"Fine, fine. If you and those idiot traitors you've got with you wish to live with ponies, you can die like them as well."
She motioned to her changelings.

"Kill them all. But leave my son for me."

Author's Note

... ugh. So sorry about that delay.
More writer's block. Then a sudden heatwave that fried my poor laptop.

The More Things Change...

Slowly, the horde of changelings began to advance toward the assembled group of ponies, Twilight Sparkle standing in front of Comet Chaser and glaring daggers at the approaching shapeshifters, which had them completely surrounded. If they had been smiling, or smirking or grinning or even giving some manner of cruel sniggering, that would have been better than the completely casual stares they were giving off. Then there was a small hum coming from the direction of Twilight Sparkle, and a blast of bright purple energy slammed into several of them. At which point the spells started flying. A short distance from everypony else, Chrysalis rolled her eyes. Then several blasts of strange green flames lanced out toward them. Chrysalis did a double-take as she noticed the group of changelings who had absconded with her son surrounding the young princeling, each suddenly looking like the pony. From the expression on the stallion's face, he wasn't sure as to why they were doing so either.

"Sire, run" the lead changeling whispered, "We shall hold them off."
He frowned, but before he could respond with some suitably apropos statement, he first had to dodge a lunging changeling, who was swiftly tackled by two of his little band of bodyguard. He found himself wondering why it was he'd never bothered learning defensive spells, aside for dealing with some of the more temperamental rabbits at home. Wisp highly doubted that techniques designed to work on small furry creatures armed with wooden spoons were going to work on full-grown ponies. However, he did wonder if perhaps talking to them was an id-

There was a loud noise as Twilight Sparkle blasted several changelings off of her. She quickly turned, blasting several more away from Cadance and Shining Armor, before motioning with her hooves in the direction of the city.

"Come on" she yelled. The gathered ponies quickly tried to pull themselves to their hooves and ran, Shining Armor kicking two changelings who tried to attack him. The gathering rushed through the horde of changelings, and headed toward the city. There was a loud buzzing sound as they stopped. Shining Armor's horn glowed, and a massive barrier appeared in front of the changelings, quickly spreading out to block their approach.

"Anypony got a plan?" Comet Chaser asked. There were a few seconds of near-silence.
"If I had a few minutes," Twilight said, "I could probably make a p-" she stopped when Comet Chaser gave her several jabs with a hoof. She turned her head to look at him, and then saw he was pointing at something. Everypony else turned to look. On the horizon, hovering on the edge of the city, were yet more changelings.

"How many did she bring?" Shining Armor asked, "Just for one pony? Even if he is her son, that's just mad."
"Well, it is possible she brought that group we fought for catching me, and keeping me contained, and these new ones are for securing the Crystal Empire while she's here" Wisp said. There were a few seconds as everypony considered this.

"Okay then. So what do we do? We can't exactly fight or hold off all those changelings" Cadance said.
"And I'm pretty sure some of us have already accidentally injured one of this bunch" Comet Chaser added.

"You have" one of the changelings piped up, in-between resting a hoof on an injured eyelid. Comet Chaser looked down at his hooves.
"Sorry."

Wisp shook his head, and looked toward the changelings. They didn't seem to be moving. Then he turned back toward Twilight Sparkle, who was just frowning.
"Can you remove the tracking charm?" he asked. Twilight blinked.

"Yes" she said. "Of course I can."
Wisp nodded. For a few seconds nopony said anything, then Twilight nodded.

"I'll just do that then."
As Twilight's horn began trying to dispel the charm, glances were still exchanged toward the changeling army. Shining Armor looked noticeably tense.

"I don't mean to bring the mood down, but I don't think I can hold them off for much longer, and I get this feeling we're not going to get a repeat of what happened the first time we got attacked by a changeling army."
Cadance looked down at her hooves, and gave a sad sigh. Shining laid a hoof on her shoulder and gave her a small smile.

"Would she leave if she thought you weren't here?" Comet Chaser spoke up. Wisp turned to look at the pony, and frowned.
"Excuse me?"
The stallion glanced about, "Well, she is after you, isn't she? If she was distracted long enough, then perhaps we could find a solution toward dealing with her."

"I'm strong enough to knock her down, I know that much" Twilight said hesitantly, "But what I don't know is if I'd be able to keep her down. And I don't know how strong she is currently, or how to compare that to any previous encounter or her average strength, or the relative difference between the average changeling and an average pony."

She frowned. Cadance's expression shifted. "I would help, but I'm not really a fighter, and my spells would probably just make them stronger. I'm not going to be much help here, I'm afraid."
Wisp shrugged. "I can't fight her. I'm not really that strong, and even if she were willing to listen to me at all, I doubt I could convince her to give up her insane crusade."

He looked down at his hooves. "Sorry, this is all my fault."
There were a few seconds as Shining Armor and Cadance exchanged glances. Shining Armor was the first to speak.

"It's not your fault, kid." he paused, and then winced, "Okay, yeah, she did come here following you, and she could have shown up at any point in the last twenty-two years, but..." he bit his lip, "I was going somewhere with this."
Cadance just shook her head and smiled at Wisp, "Don't worry, we'll make sure she doesn't get to you."

"Indeed" the lead changeling said, feeling it was past-time he started repaying his debt to his liege. Wisp turned to look at him briefly, then looked back to Shining Armor.
"Thanks" he said quietly. Shining Armor just nodded. Twilight Sparkle meanwhile was looking at Comet Chaser.

"What is it?" he asked. Twilight looked hesitant for a second.
"I think it would be best if you got to safety somewhere."

He frowned and raised an eyebrow. "Safety? While you stay here and help fight an entire army?"
"What?" Twilight asked, "You're not actually thinking of fighting as well are you?"

"Well why not?" Comet Chaser asked, unaware of how everypony else was watching their argument.
"Because it- it's not safe for you out here!"

"As opposed to stuck in a castle full of ponies with only one way out. Just tell me what's got you so bothered."
"I can't-" Twilight stuttered, her expression growing darker, "I can't do this with you here."

"'What?" Comet Chaser cut in, "What does that even mean?"
Twilight scowled.

"Are you saying I'll just distract you? I'm just getting in your way?"
"Y- No!" Twilight said, looking horrified, "It's just-"

"Just what?!"
"I'm not losing you again!" Twilight yelled. After a few seconds she seemed to fold in on her herself. "I just got you and Twinkle back. I don't want lose you again. I can't."

For a few seconds there was near silence as Twilight Sparkle stared at him, and he stared back. After a few seconds more he held the mare close to him, Twilight quickly hugging back.
"Okay, honey" he said quietly. "Just be careful."

"Aren't I always?" Twilight responded.
"That time you tried to cook dinner speaks for itself" he said, grinning slightly. He could practically feel Twilight tense up.

"The oven was being difficult."
"Like it was the last time? Or the time before that?"

Twilight looked like she was trying to both smile, and not smile. "Don't worry about me, dear" she said.
The pony gave a small shrug. "I'll try, but I can't make any promises."

He turned toward the Crystal Palace, Cadance quickly moving alongside him, though not before giving Shining Armor a goodbye kiss (at which point the guards standing nearby tried to look non-responsive).
Once the two ponies were some distance away, the gathering of ponies looked at each other.

"Alright, everypony, we really need a plan" Shining Armor, "I think that your 'husband' had the right idea, distracting her and-... what?"
Twilight was glowering at him. "Why did you say the word 'husband' like that, exactly?"

"Because I've never seen or heard of him before, and I'm finding it a bit hard to believe you just suddenly had a husband you never told us about."
Twilight stared at him for several minutes. "I'll explain that later, once we've dealt with what's going on."

"If you say so."
The lead changeling looked at Wisp with a curious expression. "Are they all like this?" he asked, sounding genuinely unsure. Wisp just shook his head, and cleared his throat.

"Can we focus, please? I-If it isn't too much trouble, that is."
Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor paused, both glancing at the young stallion before nodding.

"If I might," the lead changeling said, "You wish to keep Queen Chrysalis distracted, yes?"
The ponies nodded. Then the lead changeling's horn glowed, and in a bright flash of pale green fire, the pony vanished, and in his place was none other than Wisp, though the changeling hadn't quite managed to copy the pony's facial expressions, looking more dour than Wisp did.

"She may be looking for the prince, but she needs to see him to know, and if she does not know which one to go after..." the second Wisp said. Then the changelings behind him also transformed into duplicates of Wisp.
"So, distract her with duplicates, and while she's not paying attention, find a way to beat her army?" Twilight asked, looking toward Shining Armor. The stallion's brow furrowed as he gave this some thought.

"It's an idea" he said. "Incredibly risky as well, and I'm not really for anyone risking their life as a distraction."
Twilight shook her head, "What choice do we have at this point?"
Shining Armor frowned. "None that I can think of. But I still don't like it."

"She told her... troops, or subjects, or whatever the accurate term is" Wisp spoke up, "To keep me alive, until she got to them. As long as she's looking for me, she won't bother anypony else."
"But, what are you going to do?" Twilight asked, looking concerned, "I mean, you can't fight her, can you?"

Wisp paused, and then turned to look at the large gathering of changelings hovering just beyond Shining Armor's barrier, a few of them almost pacing around the edge.
"No, I can't fight her" he said, "Not physically at any rate."

*****

Elsewhere.
Twilight Twinkle rubbed the side of her head, and frowned. She wasn't sure how long she'd been teleporting for, but she was certain, or relatively sure, that she hadn't gotten too far. A few hundred miles or so, nowhere near the Crystal Empire. She sat there for a moment, ignoring the unpleasant wind that seemed determined to go right through her bones, and gave the situation some thought. She wasn't entirely certain where she was, or its position relative to Ponyville or the Empire, but she knew that while she wasn't getting tired physically, she was beginning to get incredibly annoyed by teleporting.

After a few seconds, she began thinking further, and stared up at the horizon, and the sun lazily making its way through the afternoon sky. A few seconds later, wheels began to turn in her head. She bit her lip as the wheels began to grind, and a small grin moved across her face.
Alright, she thought, let's see about speeding things up somewhat.

*****

Cadance and Comet Chaser had made their way to the Crystal Palace quickly and silently, though Comet Chaser was certain Cadance had been giving him odd looks, but given the unusual circumstances, he wasn't surprised. From the look on her face, Cadance wasn't entirely certain what to make of him. Which did explain the awkward smile she gave when he caught her glancing, however she still gave no response. When they arrived at the palace, they were greeted by an unusual sight. Dozens of ponies standing guard, each one apparently looking for something, along with several more standing around outside, none of them looking especially friendly. Their expressions shifted when they saw Princess Cadance.

"Your Highness" one called out, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine" the mare said, "Is everypony else alright?"

There was a sudden pause, as Cadance grimaced. "Ignoring the fact that there's a large changeling army just outside the city, that is."
"Is there a plan to defeat them?" somepony asked. Cadance looked down at her hooves.

"We aren't sure how" she said quietly.
"Well then" another pony declared, "Does her Royal Highness mind if we defend our own home?"

Cadance looked up, as one pony marched out toward her and bowed. The pony, a mare, had a lime-green coat with a lemon-yellow mane, with a Cutie Mark of some fruit or another than Comet Chaser couldn't make out.
"Nothing against you, your majesty," said quickly, "but the last time some idiot tried to take our city, we had to stand and watch. And while we are forever grateful towards you and Spike, this is our home. Nopony is taking it from us without a fight if we can help it."

Cadance sighed. "I was hoping we could avoid ponies endangering themselves if at all possible."
"Question" Comet Chaser said, "Why not try and use that Crystal Heart thing? I mean, if it can blast an evil undead sorcerer, then why can't it work on a few thousand hungry bugs?"

"It's gone quiet" another pony said, "Maybe because of what's happened in the last week, or maybe because it's a bit hard for everypony to feel harmonious when there's an army of emotion-eating bugs about to invade."

Comet Chaser and Cadance looked toward the pony who'd said that, and Cadance suddenly felt a small pang of concern. Standing there was a guardpony with a bright orange coat, blue hair jutting out from under his helmet. She looked toward Comet Chaser, who had a look of practiced indifference, and after a few seconds her brain helpfully pointed out why.

"We did talk about using the Crystal Heart" she said, "But as it is powered by emotions, the likelihood that the changeling army would feed upon is perilously dangerous, and my husband and I decided we'd rather not risk it."
"Where're the Princesses? Or the Wonderbolts?" somepony called out.

"They don't know what's going on" another responded. In short order, several ponies began voicing their opinion on this. However, unlike most ponies, the Crystal Ponies just began debating, rather than actually arguing. Then, somepony gasped. Cadance and Comet Chaser turned to look, and saw Shining Armor's barrier begin to vanish.
"Guess this is it, then" Comet Chaser muttered.

*****

The Changelings watched as the barrier vanished. However, they did not instantly rush forward. Many of them remembered how such things had gone the last time there had been a barrier. There was a feeling of apprehension, of caution. Then the Queen's thoughts came into their head. The order to attack.

Without hesitation, they began to advance. One group, at the forefront of the army, began searching for their prince. They saw a gathering of ponies, including six versions of their prince, five of whom instantly vanished. For a minute, the search party paused, just as Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor let lose with a barrage of spells.

Across the city, several groups of changelings noted their prince trying to be elusive. After a few seconds the Queen's thoughts returned, noticeable anger flooding through as she told them to simply capture them all, and bring all of them to her. They progressed forward, and then felt a new thought coming to them, telling them simply find whichever one was feeling love. For some reason, these thoughts were tainted with something new, something that made several changelings feel disquieted. It was bad enough that she'd injured one of their own kind, but to injure her own spawn. Even if the prince was half-pony, he was still one of their own. But Chrysalis was the queen, and had been the queen for years, and had done well by her subjects. And now she had led them to a great source of food once more. So the thoughts were quickly settled, as the changelings began looking for the true princeling.

*****

Somewhere else, there was a small hum, followed by a bright flash and a loud 'bloink' sound. Then there was only the sound of the wind.

Meanwhile, back in the Crystal City.
The changeling rushed toward the gathering of ponies in front of them, and quickly found themselves driven back by a variety of magic from Twilight Sparkle. Some tried to make their way through, only to be driven back by the rest of the ponies. Soon enough, the changelings tried swarming them again, only to be driven back once more. Similar stories repeated themselves all over the city, as the ponies of the Crystal City used whatever means they could (usually involving stale foodstuffs and the occasional pastry) to repel the changelings. However, suddenly, one changeling managed to barrel past Twilight's magic, and tackled the mare, at which point the changeling horde seized the chance to swarm over the group of ponies. Shining Armor quickly began trying to fight the swarming ponies off of him. Then there was a bright flash, and a loud 'bloink'. In an instant, everything seemed to stop, though the dramatic moment was ruined seconds later by a loud yelp as whoever had just teleported found themselves coming into direct contact with several changelings. Then Shining Armor heard this pony speak.

"Now how'd this happen?"
There was another blast as Twilight shook off the dozens of changelings that had dog-piled her, and rushed over toward the pony, who Shining Armor could see was Twilight Sparkle embracing a startled Twilight Twinkle.

"Mom? How'd you get here so quickly?" the young mare asked. Shining Armor blinked as he noticed the pair of wings on the young mare's back, then stared as he saw they were still there. Suddenly Shining Armor's brain started feeling incredibly warm and fuzzy, and fighting a swarm of ravenously hungry-looking changelings sounded absolutely normal.
"Trade secret" Twilight Sparkle laughed, to which Twinkle just frowned.

"That answer is entirely unsatisfactory" the young mare said, before her frown vanished. "And why are there so many changelings here?"
"They're invading the city, for some reason that probably makes sense to them" Twilight sighed. Twinkle just nodded.

"Makes sense, I guess. Two alicorns in one city and the Crystal Heart with all the emotion contained within, probably would make for a tasty buffet for them."
There was a noise from behind Twinkle, as a changeling glowered at her with what looked like annoyance.

"I don't suppose you two would mind helping?" Shining Armor asked as he wrestled several changelings off of his troops. Twinkle frowned.
"Just dealt with freaking changelings" she muttered, as her horn glowed, and a smile moved across her lips.

*****

Cadance frowned as the changelings that had been laying siege to the palace began to move back. She was fairly certain some of them had tried to gain entry to the palace via the roof. She didn't envy those ones, who probably were learning first hand how far ahead King Sombra thought when it came to home defence. Besides, she noted, even if they did get in that way, they'd still have to deal with the Endless Stairs, the same as anypony else. She felt a momentary pang of pity for the changelings, and then saw them moving back.

"Wonder why they're doing that" Flash Sentry exclaimed.
"They're cowards" another guard, this one with a brick-red colour to his fur, grunted. Cadance shook her head.

"I don't think so. I think that they're just pulling back..."
Then a thought suddenly appeared in her head as she noticed the gathering of guards around her.

"Who's guarding the hospital, by the way?"
The assembled guards suddenly were at a loss for words, though their expression indicated that perhaps in a few seconds there was going to be a somewhat monosyllabic chorus of statements from them. Cadance stared in a mixture of shock and anger.
"Nopony is guarding the hospital?"

"No?" the brick-red pony said, "But... they wouldn't, surely... it isn't safe to just go out and check, your highness."
Cadance suddenly loomed over the pony, the most serious expression on her face she could possibly muster.
"There had better be somepony guarding that hospital, or I shall be extremely upset."

"We're right next to you, ma'am" Flash Sentry said, placing himself between the concerned parent and his fellow guardpony. After a few seconds Cadance nodded, and flew out the door, not even caring about the absence of the changelings. However, some small part of her noted that something had most likely drawn their attention, but at the moment she wasn't really concerned what it was. She was too busy trying to ignore her mind going on tangents about Shining Sapphire.

*****

The gathered ponies stood, catching their breath as the last changeling fell over. Twilight Twinkle was trying desperately not to break out in unguarded smiling. Then she saw the look of concern on Twilight Sparkle's face.
"What is it?" she asked. Twilight frowned and looked about.

"Well, there were more changelings around just now, and secondly..." she stared straight at Twinkle, "Don't think I'm not going to want you to explain what happened, young lady."
Then she froze, and her gaze moved about, and she turned to Shining Armor.

"Where's-" she stared before she saw the look on the stallion's face.
"I don't know. In all the confusion they must've..." he trailed off, and glanced around. On the edge of the city, the changelings had gathered.

"What's going on there?" Twinkle asked. Twilight bit her lip, and then began running full-tilt towards the gathered changelings. Shining Armor raised a hoof, and then lowered it. Twinkle looked at him, and then sighed, and ran after Twilight Sparkle. A few seconds later, and against his own better judgement, Shining Armor followed after them both. The remaining guards looked at the collapsed changelings, and looked concerned.

"What are we supposed to do with these guys?" one asked.
"Beats me."

"They could've told us" another muttered.

*****

Chrysalis smiled, and her good mood quickly began to spread through her changelings, as the sprawled brown-gold pegasus lay before her. Slowly, she moved toward him, and looked. After a few seconds she sighed.
"You should have done what I said. You should have listened to your mother. Why was that so difficult for you?" she said quietly, stroking her hoof through his mane. After a few seconds Whisper Wind stirred. When he saw Chrysalis he bristled.

"You" he said, calmly. Chrysalis looked hurt.
"I am sorry I said those things earlier, dearest. In the moment, I just got so upset. I shouldn't have taken my annoyance out on you."

Whisper Wind gave no response, just glaring at her.
"It's very hard for me, being Queen. There's no room for second-guessing when your decisions could mean life or death for your people. That's all I'm doing, dearest, trying to look after my people. Even you, despite the fact that you've spurned my every attempt to reach out to you."

Wisp's expression shifted.
"If you were trying to do what was best for us, you wouldn't be attacking these ponies. Especially since you know what they can do. Haven't they already foiled your insane attempts to invade them twice now?"

Chrysalis scowled, "Only by sheer luck, and cheap last minute rescues."
"And you wouldn't be trying to take their emotions by force. You don't need to do that, and you know that. You know that."

For a few seconds, the assembled changelings looked from the queen to the prince, and then Chrysalis shrugged.
"Oh, true, we don't need to take their emotions by force, dearest. But shall I tell you the reason why I prefer taking their emotions by force?"

She leaned in close toward him and smiled, her fangs showing as she hissed to him. "I just prefer doing it this way. It's fun."
Then she frowned, and looked up. There was something akin to a ripple through the changelings as three ponies were dragged forward. Chrysalis began to smile a cruel smile, as she saw the three ponies.

"Well, well..." she moved toward the only stallion in the group, and began tracing a hoof through his hair, ignoring his flinching.
"Shining Armor. How nice to see you again. Did you miss me that badly? If you wanted me back that badly..."

She glanced at Wisp. "He's not yours, in case you were wondering."
"I wasn't. And we'd sort of figured that out all ready."

She smiled and whispered in his ear, "His sire was far better than you ever were."
The stallion glared at her, before trying to lunge at her, restrained only by the changelings holding him down, to which Chrysalis just grinned further, before her eyes moved toward Twilight Sparkle and Twilight Twinkle.

"My my. The little girl with the nasty bite, and that childish attraction to my son" Chrysalis's smile flickered as she looked at the mare. "Oh. It's not there anymore. What a pity. Might've been useful" then her expression shifted. "Interesting. So much grief. That is not something you would normally see in a mare your age. What have you been up to, little one? (Not that I actually care, of course.)"

She took a deep breath, then turned to look at Wisp again. "Now, where was I? ... Oh, yes. I am very disappointed in you, son. I suppose it was foolish to expect you would side with us against these ponies, after spending so long among them."

For an instant, a pained look crossed her face, "Still, no matter. I admit, I was hurt when you told me so. I was even more hurt when you tried to flee us, though thankfully your smitten friend over here certainly helped with finding you."
Twilight Sparkle turned to look at Twinkle, and didn't need to be her mother to know how Twinkle was feeling at that moment.

"And I shouldn't have been so angry with you. It isn't your fault those ponies made you so weak. But I suppose it's too late to take it back."
Chrysalis frowned, and stared at Wisp. "However, there is a way for you to help your people."

Her expression went neutral. "You see, all this pointless fighting has made us incredibly hungry, so..."
She looked over toward the Twilights and Shining Armor, then to Wisp. "You get to help us after all, dear. Though not in the way I would have preferred. But all that love you have in you will be good enough..."

Her horn glowed, and time seemed to slow as she moved closer. Twinkle twisted, trying to get free of the mob of changelings, and get off a spell, but with all the changelings on top of her, this was proving difficult. Then a sickly green energy moved toward Wisp.
Across the city, Cadance ploughed through the barriers the hospital staff had set up, quickly making her way toward the room where Shining Sapphire was in.

Wisp grunted as the magic hit him. Several of the changelings stared, along with the Twilights and Shining Armor, as Chrysalis frowned, her horn beginning to glow brighter as she poured more magic into her efforts.

In the hospital room, machines began to react loudly, and an alarm went off. Then there was a bright pink light, that seemed to flood the building. It felt strangely warm, and pleasant.

At the Crystal Palace, several ponies saw a bright light coming from the Crystal Heart, as it began to glow brighter, and brighter.

Several changelings, the ones not watching the sight of Wisp being fed up, saw a bright light approaching, incredibly fast. Twilight Twinkle felt something wash over her, like a wave, and then there was a sound, as the horde of changelings were thrown apart, which had the side-effect of knocking her onto her behind as well. Then she saw what the cause was, and her jaw dropped.

"Get away from my boyfriend" declared the pony standing next to Wisp, which Twinkle felt rather killed the pony's dramatic entrance somewhat, though she made up for it with sheer flair. Due to the sudden effect of the Crystal Heart, her body, like that of everypony else's, had been transfigured into a more crystalline nature, but she was still undeniably pink, and her mane and tail were a bright sapphire blue. It was Shining Sapphire.

She examined Wisp, and gave a tiny smile after a few seconds. Then she turned to look at Chrysalis.
"Okay, you just hurt him, and I don't care why. Your army is looking more than an little bit full, so I don't think you can count on th-"

Chrysalis leapt. Shining Sapphire's horn glowed and the changeling queen collided with a gigantic translucent pink shield, one that looked phenomenally like the one on Shining Armor's flank.
"I don't need an army!" Chrysalis yelled. She lunged at the shield again. "Not when I have made the power of my son's love my own."

"And I am the daughter of the two ponies who managed to defeat you the first time you showed up in Equestria."
"A jaundiced account, I think you'll find" Chrysalis said.

"Not to mention I can and have wielded the full power of the Crystal Heart. An entire city's worth of hope and love. And I'm pretty sure even you couldn't feed on all of it."
Chrysalis smirked. "I can definitely try."

"You'll lose. It'll sting" Twinkle said. Suddenly Shining Sapphire turned around, her eyes going wide, and she suddenly gave off a high-pitched noise.
"Twinkie!" she said, leaping over toward the mare.

Twinkle could not respond nor hear what Shining Sapphire said next due to her suddenly being subjected to a hug that would have most likely crushed her neck had she not been made of a crystalline substance at that moment. After a few seconds Shining Sapphire seemed to realise this and leaned out, still smiling.
"Bad guy?" Twinkle said. Shining Sapphire blinked.

"Oh, right, yes. Her."
She turned around, and smirked. Suddenly a burst of green flames sprouted around her, cutting her off from everypony else, though she did feel slightly reassured that it cut off the changeling queen from her army. Then Chrysalis's hoof connected with her face. Her horn glowed, and a burst of pink energy struck the mare in the face. The mare hissed.

"That is concentrated love. Same sort of stuff I used on a nightmare, so I figure it'll probably work on you."
Chrysalis frowned. "You think you can injure me with food? Clearly you have your father's brains."

Shining Sapphire frowned. Then her horn began to glow brighter. "Think of this as the different between giving you cake, and attacking you with cake, then."
There was a sudden pause as she saw the look on Chrysalis's face. "That sounded better in my head."

*****

The roar of the flames made it difficult to tell what was transpiring inside, and the heat from it had made them take several steps back. After she had, Twinkle noted the variety of changelings, none of whom looked like they were in any capacity to act, save for a few, who were eyeing her and her family with what looked like concern, or fear. Then she heard the noise from behind her, and turned to see Cadance approaching, a few distant dots behind her that looked like the entire city coming to see what was going on. She was aware of noises behind her, and when she turned, almost all the changelings were gone, save for five battered looking ponies who looked exactly like Wisp. Twinkle gave this some thought, and then realised what that probably meant. She tried not to listen to the sound of fighting, just barely audible over the roar of the flames.

"What's going on?" Cadance stated once she arrived, staring at the flame barrier.
"Sapphy and the Changeling Queen are in there, fighting." Twinkle said, before smiling, nodding and adding, "Hello aunt Cadance."

"Hello, Twinkle. You look... different."
Twinkle just nodded. "Very long story."

"... I look forward to hearing it. Once this matter is settled."
She paused, "What is going on, right now?"

"Oh, Shining Sapphire and a really crazy changeling queen, fighting, lives on the line, same old" Twinkle shrugged. "And I think she's somehow managed to absorb the energy of the Crystal Heart. Again."
"Again?" the three ponies asked. Twinkle bit her lip and nodded.

"Would this have something to do with why my daughter was hospitalised?" Cadance asked. Twinkle shuffled.
"Perhaps."

Cadance said nothing, just glancing toward the flames. "Have you tried dispelling them?" she asked Twilight. The mare just frowned, evidently not feeling the need to point out her horn was glowing.
"It's tricky" she said, "I'll see what I can do, but it might take a few minutes."

Cadance said nothing, but the expression on her face made her feelings clear enough.

*****

Inside the barrier, the two ponies fought, utterly ignoring the total lack of space to manuever. Shining Sapphire blocked another burst of fire from Chrysalis by summoning several large pink books to block the flames, and grimaced. She wasn't even sure why her magic was choosing to form those things, but as long as it kept her from being roasted by those flames, she wasn't about to argue. However, her own retaliatory magics didn't seem to be doing anything in particular to the changeling queen, and she was beginning to notice several aches and pains she hadn't felt before, probably as a result of however long she'd been out, which meant she probably had to wrap up the conflict and fast.

"What exactly are you thinking, by the way?" she asked, ignoring the warmth of the flames, "If you do beat me, then you have to get through the two strongest magic-wielders I know. If you get past them, you'll have to go through two ponies who managed to beat you and your entire army just by kissing. And should you manage by some stroke of luck to get past them, what then? Seriously?"
Chrysalis growled as she found herself being dragged back by several pink versions of Whisper Wind.

"What do you expect to happen?" the young mare asked.
"I will feast on the power of the Crystal Heart, and become even stronger th-"

"Seriously? That's it, that's all you want, is to just snack down on an entire city's worth of emotions?"
"Well, a changeling's got to eat, don't we? You wouldn't let us starve, would you?"

Shining Sapphire frowned. "I... No."
She looked at the magical constructs in front of her. "Okay then."

Her horn dimmed, and Chrysalis practically laughed as the books vanished. "Foolish girl, do you really think I-"
She didn't finish as Shining Sapphire's horn glowed brighter, a massive beam of energy flowing from her to the mare. Everything went bright.

*****

They heard a scream over the crackle of the barrier of flames, and each of the ponies present watched with fear building in them as the green flames flickered out, soon revealing three ponies. Shining Sapphire was the only one presently standing, but she did look like a wreck. Her mane and tail were dishevelled, her eyes looked like they were trying desperately to close on her, and she looked like she was having trouble standing up. She turned to grin at the now somewhat large congregation around her.

Then Chrysalis slowly got to her hooves, in a way that looked alarmingly like she was unalive, and snarled. Shining Sapphire turned, her horn beginning to glow...
Only for the leaping mare to be hit dead centre by two blasts of energy that catapulted her through the air, all the way toward the barrier leading to outside. There was a dread silence as both Twilights prepared for the changeling to return. Minutes passed, and then Shining Sapphire made a small noise.

"I guess this means she's had enough, for now at least" Twilight said, cautiously.
"Yeah," Twinkle said, "I think you're right."

Shining Sapphire just smiled. "Good. Because I'm never doing that again if I can help it."
"What did you do?" Shining Armor asked. The pink mare just grinned.

"She was looking to feast on love. I helped. Well, I say 'helped', more like forced her to feel love rather than just eat it, so..." she suddenly breathed out, "Didn't know if I could do that, actually. Sort of a desperation tactic."
Any further conversation was forestalled by her suddenly being rushed by Cadance and Shining Armor, and hugged. For a moment, silence reigned as the family just held each other, before the older alicorn began examining the young mare and frowning.

"Mom, mom, stop it, mom. I'm okay, really."
Cadance just stared at the young mare for a moment. "Sorry for being concerned about my little girl being up and about like nothing ever happened after a week in a coma."

"A week?" Shining Sapphire asked, "Really?"
"So what was it that happened, honey?" Shining Armor asked. The mare glanced over toward Twinkle, and then shuffled.

"It... I'm not entirely certain" she said, as she turned to look at the prone form of Wisp. She stood next to him, and after a few seconds rolled her eyes.
"Wisp?" she asked, looking cautiously toward the five changelings, who were eyeing her with what looked like trepidation, if only for an instant.

"Come on, Wisp. Wake up."
As if on cue, the young princeling stirred, and looked astounded when he saw Shining Sapphire staring down at him.

"Hi, beautiful" she said, smiling broadly. The young pony blinked before doing something Twinkle wasn't sure she'd seen him do before. He was smiling.
"Hi yourself."

She helped the young stallion get to his feet, and then smiled at him again. He continued smiling back. After a few seconds both ponies began kissing, and then Twinkle noticed both of them were crying.
"Kissing and crying" she muttered with distaste, glancing toward Twilight, who was standing with Comet Chaser, utterly ignoring her niece, or Cadance's expression. Then Twinkle found herself beset upon by a bright pink blur that knocked the air out of her lungs.

"Hey, Sapphy..." she wheezed, looking at the mare's smile. "Nice to see you again."
"Twinkie" she said, smiling back, before glancing at something and raising an eyebrow. "Since when were you an alicorn? And how come you look like your actual age again?"

She slowly stopped crushing the young mare and shook her head. "Honestly, you take one week off and everything just changes, huh?"
There was a noise from Cadance, who apparently hadn't noticed the wings either. She seemed bemused by the sight of the royal blue feathered wings currently remaining unused on Twinkle's back.

"How did you get those wings, by the way?" Shining Sapphire asked.
Twinkle grinned nervously, as she noted the number of ponies looking at her. "Seaponies" she grinned.

Twilight's eyes and ears began to twitch, as Twinkle grinned, before saying "It's... it is an extremely long story."
"We are going to hear about it, I hope" Cadance asked. Twinkle looked over toward her parents, who were staring at her, a notable look of exasperation on Twilight's face. Twinkle paused for a few seconds.

"Of course" she said. "But it is really long and I would like to sit down before I do."
There was a sudden rumbling noise, which reminded Twinkle that she had in fact skipped breakfast.

"Might also need something to eat" she grinned. Cadance just smiled.
"Well then, we'll attend to business, make sure everypony in town is alright, and then after some lunch, you can tell us the whole story."

"Sounds good to me" Twinkle said.
The group of ponies set off out of the field, through the crowd of Crystal Ponies, Cadance and Shining Armor leading the way, Twilight and Comet Chaser following behind, then Sapphy and Wisp, and behind them, Twinkle followed by the five remaining changelings. Twinkle looked as Sapphy and Wisp moved slowly, and though the stallion seemed the more injured, she couldn't help but notice Sapphy seemed to be leaning on him, and there was an odd rhythm to her legs, as if one of them wasn't quite working properly. She suddenly found herself thinking of memories of that day, and her pace had begun to quicken, which also brought her neck and neck with the two ponies. A content smile was on Shining Sapphire's lips, and Wisp was doing an extremely poor job of hiding a similar look.

"You know, you two look so cute together" Twinkle said. Shining Sapphire looked at her.
"Thanks" she said, haltingly. Wisp looked at her with confusion.

"Quite the change from the last time we were together" he frowned, "I got this strange impression you weren't wild about us being together."
Twinkle shrugged. "I'm a firm believer in true love. And besides, Wisp, it probably wouldn't have worked out between us anyway."

The pony nodded slowly, and then frowned when he saw Twinkle's coy expression. "I know I'll regret this, but what is it?"
"Nothing, nothing," she smiled, "Just that our kid would have been incredibly cute."

At this, Wisp suddenly did a variant of his mother's impression of the fainting goat, which proved Twinkle's hypothesis about Sapphy leaning on him when this sent the mare tumbling onto him. In an instant the five changelings sprang into action, trying to separate the tangled ponies.
"What are you three doing?" Comet Chaser asked, the ponies in front having stopped and glanced at them in concern. Twinkle just tried, and failed, to look innocent.

"Discussing hypothetical situations" she said, trying desperately not to think about certain fillies, which to her surprise was proving far easier than it had been some days ago. Comet Chaser's expression indicated how much of that statement he believed, as Shining Sapphire tried to reassure the head changeling she was doing alright.
"Oh!" Wisp exclaimed.

"What?" Shining Sapphire asked with concern. The pony's wings were flapping in desperation.
"It's my mother. She doesn't know what's happened to me, correct?"

"We... didn't have the time to send a letter" Cadance said, looking somewhat sheepish.
"I should probably get back to Ponyville then, make sure she knows I'm alright."

"You aren't going anywhere" Twinkle said, "Not after the day you've been through."
There was a few seconds as Shining Armor nodded. "Take it from somepony who knows about this sort of thing, you'll wanna get some rest."

Wisp looked as if he was about to object, and then he looked toward Shining Sapphire, and then slowly nodded.
"Tomorrow, then?" he suggested.

*****

They made their way to the palace, and were led not to the main dining room, but the smaller one that Cadance and Shining Armor reserved for family functions, rather than lavish balls (not that they had much of those anyway, strangely enough), Twilight Sparkle briefly pausing to converse with a bright orange-furred guard in the manner of distant friends. Cadance and Shining Armor briefly disappeared to go deal with fallout from the changeling attack, and after some time eventually reappeared, looking more or less satisfied.

Lunch itself was nondescript, but delicious. The group of changelings did not partake of the eating, instead remaining off to the side of the room looking for all the world like the eating equivalent of teetotallers at a drinking competition. Cadance did ask them whether they wanted to have something to eat, but the lead changeling had politely and firmly turned her down. It was by that point that Twinkle noted the temporary alterations of the Crystal Heart's magic had worn off, meaning her hair had returned to it's usual state, rather than the dreaded bangs it had been turned into.

Once the meal was done, everypony headed to one of the many, many, many lounges the palace had. Like all buildings of a certain age, the castle collected various rooms, and it had been the joy of many ponies, including several scholars and archaeologists to examine the entire castle, a process that was still on-going even now due to many rooms being booby-trapped or cursed, or just damaged from long years of disuse. Apparently the ones near the top floors of the castle were something to behold. The one everypony has filed into however, was... exceedingly plain. Sofas, chez longs, chairs, a fireplace that had apparently been installed just for the sake of having a fireplace, since otherwise it would've left the wall barren. Each of the couples sat on their own separate sofa, Shining Sapphire and Wisp being the closest to Twinkle's chair, the young princess beginning to look slightly tired now.

"Okay, when you're ready" Cadance said. Twinkle paused. Seconds passed.
"Is something wrong?" Twilight asked. Twinkle looked up and gave a nervous smile.

"No, no. Nothing wrong, I was just... I'm not certain when this story begins."
She frowned in concentration. "I suppose if there's something that doesn't make sense, you can just ask and I'll fill in the details. Which means, I suppose it really started a few weeks ago..."

*****

The explanation was long. Really, really long. No wonder, considering she was trying to recount several months worth of story, perhaps focusing on the details just a bit too much. She did have trouble trying to figure out where exactly to begin (and only found herself thinking how much she disliked time-travel twice), but eventually she started with a recounting of the incident with the Nightmare, or more accurately the events that lead to her being taken over by the Nightmare, Shining Sapphire filling in on a few points that she had witnessed. She had been expecting questions or comments or some kind of reaction to that, but there was none. Cadance and Shining Armor's expressions remained neutral, and while Twinkle did have some difficult continuing when she described the Nightmare's acts, Sapphy simply laid a hoof on her shoulder and nodded. She continued onward, noticing the concerned stare from Twilight, and the look of alarm on the mare's face when she described the time-travel, and interacting with the younger Twilight. Cadance just grinned at the description of her first meeting with Shining Armor, followed by Princess Celestia, followed by an outright gasp at the mention of Lyra. Shining Armor had begun grinning at the description of the younger, slightly more energetic Twilight Sparkle, which had earned him a cushion to the head, followed by Twilight looking like she wanted to burst into flames. Twinkle continued onward, noting the glance Twilight gave when she mentioned her first encounter with the strange time-travelling madpony who claimed he had been Star-Swirl the Bearded. When she mentioned the series of events with Trixie, Twilight suddenly looked greatly concerned, though she wasn't entirely certain why. Twinkle refrained from mentioning the escapade with the portal, or 'Midnight', though she noticed the curious look Wisp gave her as she tried not to think of it. As she carefully skirted around mentioning what she'd gotten up to after witnessing the abilities of Heart's Desire, or the horrifying days spent in that other place, a chilling thought briefly occurred to her as she wondered exactly how parallel her life and Midnight's were, and since the mare had mentioned there had been no Shining Sapphire in her universe...

"Is something wrong?" Wisp asked. Twinkle blinked and looked up at him.
"No, no, just... thinking about something" she said. Wisp nodded, though he looked unconvinced.

After a few seconds Twinkle decided to ignore those thoughts, and continued onward, describing all the strange insanities that followed. Mare Do Well, Twilight's birthday and meeting Princess Luna (and the mare's odd choice in music), the reunion of Twilight Sparkle and Smarty Pants, which caused Shining Sapphire to look puzzled. She followed on with recounting the brain-swap with Rainbow Dash, followed by the Help Rampage, Spike's greed-fuelled destruction, and spending Hearth's Warming with Twilight Velvet and Night Light. Then came the near-destruction of town hall at the hooves of Ditzy and Rainbow Dash, and the journey to Dodge Junction. Comet Chaser noticeably twitched at the mention of the town, while Twinkle couldn't help but notice the Look Twilight was giving her when she made clear the reason for her dislike of Applejack. The young mare got the impression Twilight was a second away from just keeping her hoof connected to her face forever. Strangely enough, Twinkle noted she wasn't even feeling embarrassed about any of this. Probably because of recounting several of her greatest mistakes already.

She continued, recounting what she could about the following four months, trying to leave no detail out, and then she got to the events of the twentieth of March. She paused as she bit her lip, suddenly finding whatever had fuelled her throughout the story was evaporating. Now she was just beginning to feel slightly tired. Though that might have had something to do with her not having gotten much sleep. But she wasn't finished yet, and after a few seconds began recounting the incident with the Black Mercy, and what little she could remember from the dreams. She couldn't help but notice Sapphy holding Wisp a lot closer as the tale went on. Then she moved on to the return of Nightmare, and rewriting time. There were several concerned gasps throughout that, she noted. From there she moved through the final weeks she'd spent in the past, noticing the grim looks passing over the faces of her mother, her aunt and her uncle, as she moved toward describing the wedding, and the events surrounding it.

They quickly grew alarmed as she described how she'd taken Twilight's place in the argument with Shining Armor, and her admittedly brutal description of her fight with the changeling queen, and the escape from the dungeon (though she didn't bother attempting to imitate Cadance's singing voice. She merely pointed out that singing had, at some point, taken place). Of course, there was reaction to her pointing out her near-death, at which point all the air and warmth and light seemed to vanish from the room, though the fact that it was now late in the evening probably helped with that.

"You... died?" Shining Sapphire asked, raising an eyebrow. Twinkle stared down at her hooves. A dozen possible answers ran through her head, and she noted the look on her mother's face, like the mare was fighting an urge to point out the obvious. Most of the responses she could think of seemed to involve scathing levels of cynicism.

"Yes" she said, her voice sounding slightly louder than it should have in the all-consuming silence. There was a pause, as she noted the look on her father's face, one of concern and... no, not concern. Alarm. Anguish. Realisation.

"Then what happened?" Wisp asked, causing several eyes to move toward him. Twinkle just fought down a strange urge to grin (which in all likelihood would have to have been followed by unhinged laughter, and if the weather permitted, perhaps some ominous clouds, followed by a visit to a psychiatric institute).

Slowly, haltingly, she tried to explain what had happened after her 'near-death experience', once again expecting somepony to question her, to remark that what she was saying was insane, or impossible. The closest she got was an odd sort of twitch from Twilight when she mentioned Twilight Twinkle the first. She finally finished off the tale, covering the remaining insanity of that day.

"Then after Shiney and Cadance did their thing, we... well, actually I passed out because somepony offered me the job of Maid of Honor, and then after that we spent the next day just getting ready and the wedding went off without a hitch. And then two days after I just... realised it was time to come home, and that's pretty much it, I guess."
She took a few breaths before grinning, "I think I might need something to drink now."

"You aren't the only one" Shining Armor muttered, before seeing Cadance looking at him. "What? Time-travel? Exploding chickens? Meeting somepony who claimed he was Star-Swirl the Bearded? And she apparently died and came back to life because of grandma Twinkle!"

"Ditzy Doo did disappear unexpectedly, her daughter Dinky as well" Twilight noted, "Right about that time, twenty-three years ago. Strange, but," she added, a notable amount of embarrassment seeping into her voice, "I... never really noticed. Pinkie Pie mentioned something about it, and Fluttershy did bring it up once or twice, I think. And eventually she just turned up again, like nothing had ever happened."

"And Great-Grandma did say it wasn't her doing. That, I am fairly certain, was Discord's doing."
"Really?" Wisp asked. Twinkle nodded.

"Well, the time-travel was a bit of a hint, but the fact that I was told someone thought I was important enough to keep living."
"Discord" Comet Chaser nodded. Twinkle just gave an ironic smile.

"I thought so. Makes sense, as well. Or as much sense as one gets around something like him."
There was a few seconds as everypony muttered agreements. Then something occurred to Cadance.

"Goodness, we've been here talking for so long, it's almost dinner time. And I haven't asked for rooms to be prepared for everypony, although..." her gaze moved toward first Wisp, then the Changelings.
"I think there was mention of living arrangements to be made" Cadance said, raising an eyebrow. Suddenly Shining Armor looked like he'd been struck by lightning. Shining Sapphire just facehoofed.

"Didn't mention it?" she asked. Cadance looked down at her hooves.
"Might have forgotten, what with everything that's been happening the last week."

"You got rid of that dragon you went to deal with, right?" Twilight asked. Cadance nodded.
"Oh, easily. Fortunately when he'd been last been awake there hadn't been so much snow about, so he was happy to move, though I'm not sure how he was going to get his horde out of those ruins."

She paused in thought for a moment, then shook her head. "Anyway, sleeping arrangements, since I assume" she glanced toward the Twilights, "You'll be heading back to Ponyville tomorrow."
Wisp raised a hoof, "So am I."

He turned to see the look on Shining Sapphire's face. "What?" he asked. She just smiled.
"I'm coming with you. You obviously are incapable of looking after yourself. Besides, I've never actually been to Ponyville" she added, "I want to see what it's like."

"Didn't you fly over it before that party?" Wisp asked, hoping he wouldn't have to specify which. Evidently she knew what he meant as she smiled.
"Yes, but... I was going too fast to get a good look. I want to take it all in. See the sights as it were. Make sure none of those Ponyville girls try to steal you from me."

Wisp blinked, and looked over toward Twilight Sparkle, who was just shaking her head. Twinkle, meanwhile, was trying not to break down in laughter, mainly because she was certain that she wasn't going to stop, just from Wisp's perplexed look alone.
Then Twilight saw a clock, and gave off a small hum. "It's almost dinner time."

Twinkle blinked, as she stared at the clock, then to the slowly dipping sun outside. Then she saw the look Twilight was giving her, and bit her lip. She knew what that look meant, well enough.
Twilight watched as Cadance made her way out of the room, Shining Sapphire and Wisp following after. There was a small noise apparently indicating the changelings were following their prince out of the room, albeit at a safe distance, and in a way that completely suggested they were going to leave anyway, at that very moment. Shining Armor had already made himself scarce, albeit looking slightly dazed. Twilight Sparkle looked at Twilight Twinkle, a concerned look on her face.

"Now then, I suppose there are a few things we need to talk about."
Twinkle winced, remembering the last time she'd heard that phrase, then nodded. "Yeah. I guess we do."

For a few moments both mares stood there, staring at one another, unblinking. Then Twilight looked down at her hooves.
"Why didn't you just tell me you didn't want to go to college?" Twilight asked, her voice oddly devoid of emotion. Twinkle frowned.

"Probably because I thought you wouldn't understand, or..." she trailed off, and stared at the clock. Twilight raised an eyebrow.
"Or what?"

"Or that you wouldn't care either way."
Twilight's eyes went wide, and in a metaphorical sense, the gauntlet had been thrown down.

"Why in the world would you think I wouldn't care about you?!"
"Because you signed me up to that place without freaking asking if I wanted to go! You never ask about anything!" she frowned, and then decided just to continue onward anyway.

"Just like with every single birthday! All you ever do is buy me books! And you've never checked with me what I would like. It's just been books, books and more books!"

"I thought you liked them" Twilight said. Twinkle sighed.
"... Well, yeah, I do like reading, but... that isn't the point!"

"Then what is your point?"
"My point is..." Twinkle frowned, as her train of thought derailed. "My point is, that frankly, you... weren't as good a parent as you could've been."

There was a sudden silence as Twilight's eyes narrowed in shock. "What."
"You were barely there, mom! You bought me all those books on magic, and never taught me so much as a single one! Every time I got into trouble at school, and got sent to the principle's office, dad was the one who fetched me! And the five times you ever wandered into my childhood, you were as controlling as all get out."

Twinkle stared at her in alarm. "Was I?"
"You sealed away half of my magic when I was five, mom. Or did you forget the little incident of how I got my Cutie Mark? And that seal, waiting for 'when I was old enough'? Funny story, it only wore off when I died! What, eighteen isn't 'responsible' enough? And while we're on the subject of that, you went tinkering around in my head!"

"I was just trying t-"
Twinkle raised a hoof to stop her.

"Just trying to let me live a normal life, yeah," she said, her voice slightly calmer, "I know. Past-Twilight got your message for me, remember? Told me the whole thing."
"Oh."

Twilight stared at her hooves, and then looked back up at Twinkle. "Was I that bad a parent, Twinkie? Did I ever make you do your homework? Didn't I take you with me to all those places I went to when you were little? Like that rainforest we went to, you remember?"
"... yeah" Twinkle said, smiling faintly. "You did."

"And you could've just said you didn't enjoy going to college, or getting books. But I just assumed you enjoyed books, because you were always reading almost anything you could get your hooves on."
"I wanted to be an explorer, even when you didn't let me!"

"Of course not! You were seven when you came rushing into the sitting room, smiling like Pinkie Pie on a sugar rush, and you said-"
"'I wanna be an adventurer'" both of them said, though in different ways.

"What sort of mother would I have been if I'd just said 'yeah, go on, go have adventures when you're only seven', well?"
"You got to fight nightmares, and Discord and all sorts" Twinkle mumbled, "An' you got to make friends doing it. The only friends I ever had outside of this one pony are family, like Wisp and Sapphy, an' Apple Bloom. And you had wings and I didn't."

"I had nightmares that night" Twilight said, "I kept imagining you'd-... you vanishing in the middle of the night without a note, gone off to fight dragons or explore ancient tombs."
"I wondered why you kept checking up on me in the middle of the night" Twinkle frowned. Twilight's eyes went wide.

"You were supposed to be asleep! Sleep is important for a young filly!"
"I wasn't gonna run off, mom! I had to know about everything before I ran off! What if I met a giant pony-eating chicken monster, and I didn't know how to deal with it?!"

Twilight stared at her for several seconds. "Giant pony-eating chicken?" she asked, trying and utterly failing to keep the mirth out of her voice, "Really?"
Twinkle raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Okay, one: I was eight, second: this, from miss 'Banished-then-thrown-into-a-dungeon-in-the-place-I'm-banished-to'?"

Twilight bit her lip, as Twinkle continued, "Seriously, you never once tried to figure out what type of bird that was? What exactly was Princess Celestia teaching you?"
"How long have you been sitting on that one?"

"Since the first time miss Fluttershy told me, so... I think it's about twelve years."
Twilight's expression went eerily calm. "I must have a... talk with Fluttershy at some point, then."

Twinkle smirked, "And those books were... helpful, I guess, and college wasn't all bad."
"Even the thing with the opera, the octopus and the oatmeal you told me about?" Comet Chaser asked, causing Twilight to stare at him, then to Twinkle.

"Do I-?" she stared
"No. You don't. And it wasn't an octopus, it was a Land Squid. Or so he said." Twinkle informed her. Twilight just nodded, and both mares sat there, staring at one another. Twilight stared down at her hooves and sighed.

"I'm sorry I was such a lousy parent" she said. Twinkle frowned.
"You weren't a lousy parent. Okay, you weren't exactly one hundred percent great, but you still did okay, all things considered. Aside from me getting myself possessed by a Nightmare, and your crummy tastes in gifts. The problem was I was just... too angry with you, and angry at myself, and just... angry at a lot of things, I guess. And the stubbornness."
"Twinkie..."

"And the impulsiveness, which despite causing my near-death, I still seem to have, it seems."
"Twinkie."

"Yeah?" she asked. Twilight just shook her head, and smiled.
"Don't be so hard on yourself."

"I'm no-..." she trailed off, as Twilight smiled even further.
"Seems even you don't believe that" she said. Twinkle nodded.

"Apparently not."
Twilight nodded, and laughed, if only for a few seconds.

"Although I really should've picked up on your barely disguised dislike of Applejack, I suppose. And I will need to have a chat with a certain somedragon when I get back to Canterlot. But apart from that, I didn't do to badly, did I?"
Twinkle gave this some thought, and smiled. "You tried. That counts for something. And you could've done far worse, all things considered."

Both of them smiled at each other, as the clock continued ticking.
"Now then," Twilight said, "Shall we see whether dinner's ready, then?"

Twinkle nodded. "Yeah, let's."
"How long's it been since we all ate together?" Twilight asked. Comet Chaser and Twinkle exchanged glances.

"I'd say that's 'too long', then" Twilight smiled.

*****

Dinner passed without incident, up until Cadance and Twinkle began talking about the younger Shining Armor, with Twilight quickly joining in, causing him to begin to look despondent, until Shining Sapphire asked about the younger Cadance, which quickly resulted in an impressive attempt at an angry glare from Cadance, which failed after a few seconds, as Shining Sapphire began laughing at the mare's expression, and after a few seconds Cadance and Shining Armor joined in, and a few seconds later both Twilights as well, while Comet Chaser and Wisp just exchanged mutual glances which seemed to indicate that both ponies were feeling the exact same thing at that moment, even if they did both love the mares they were sitting next to, they still weren't going to join in with the laughter.

*****

Later, as dinner settled and Cadance and Twilight caught up on events in what was considered the main sitting room, Twinkle found her way to one of the balconies, looking out over the Crystal Empire at night, which while not as impressive as it looked at sunset, was still very impressive in it's own way, especially with the various stars in the sky, and the moon. She sighed, as she stared out at the landscape in front of her, all impressive purples, blues and black and silvers.
"What's the sigh for?" a familiar voice asked. She turned to see Shining Sapphire standing by the door to the balcony.

"Just thinking, about... a lot of things."
"Like those other-universe versions of aunt Twilight and her friends?"

"Like them, yeah" Twinkle said, before shifting on her hooves. Then she noted Shining Sapphire was staring at her.
"What?"

"What was her name?"
Twinkle blinked. "Pardon?"

"Wisp..." Shining Sapphire glanced back inside, where Shining Armor was engaged in some conversation with the young princeling, "Said you were sad about something, but he couldn't tell why."

Twinkle frowned. "You know how I told you about that dream I had, of all my wishes, including the ones I thought I'd got rid of?"
"Yeah" Shining Sapphire said.

"Well, it's about my daughter."
"What was her name?" Shining Sapphire asked. Twinkle paused, as the pink mare raised an eyebrow.

"Lilac."
"Good name" Shining Sapphire said.

"Lilac Velvet."
"... Good a name as any, I suppose" Shining Sapphire quickly amended. "So, that's why you're upset?"

"No, actually. It's because I'm not upset."
"Come again?"

"In order to win against Chrysalis, the other one, that is, I fed her all my grief about Lilac. So now, all I have are the memories, and this feeling that I should, should feel sad that she doesn't exist, never will exist but I don't. I don't. She was my daughter and I just... I don't feel anything."
Shining Sapphire's wing fell across the mare, which did help considering the slightly cold night air.

"Thanks" Twinkle said.
"That isn't the only thing that's got you down, is it?"
Twinkle gave this some thought. There was the other version of her, there was the fact that she apparently had Discord backing her actions, what changes were going to occur in the other timeline because of her actions, and the nagging sense that there was something she'd forgotten. She looked at Shining Sapphire, and opened her mouth to say something before the mare just grinned.

"No."
There was a pause, as the young mare shuffled again.

"Do you feel like telling me?"
"Not really."

"Fair enough" Shining Sapphire said. The two mares sat there for a moment, before Twinkle smiled.
"And hey, I've got wings now."

"I noticed" Sapphy said. Twinkle's smile grew.
"And I suppose there are some upsides to being immortal, right?"

Shining Sapphire's expression suddenly shifted, her smile vanishing completely.
"At least we'll have each other right? That's gotta count for something, huh?"

"Yes. That's right. We'll always have each other. Because we're both immortal." the pearly pink mare said quietly, looking straight at Twinkle, before an unusual smile passed across her lips.
"But really, that's great. That you've got wings." Her gaze moved toward the light from indoors. "I'm gonna go back inside now."

Twinkle's smile vanished, as she noticed the way the mare had said that. "Sapphy?"
But Shining Sapphire was already back inside, leaving Twinkle standing there, on the balcony. She frowned, and turned back to look at the stars. After some time, she was aware of steps behind her, and noticed her father standing next to her.

"Beautiful night, isn't it?" he smiled. Twinkle nodded.
"It is."

"You're not thinking of taking off again, are you?"
"No" Twinkle laughed, "Though I probably should find somepony who can help me learn to fly."

"What about Rainbow Dash?"
"No" Twinkle said instantly, before smiling slightly. "I've heard how she 'trains' ponies."

Then she saw the frown on her father's face.
"You knew you were going to die, didn't you?" he said. She nodded.

"Yeah. Right after that nonsense with Nightmare Eclipse. I knew. Somehow I just knew I was going to... you know."
"That's why you had that weird pony and Miss Doo take me home, while you took the scenic route."

"Yeah."
He nodded slowly.

"Was it worth it?"
Twinkle considered this for some time, before finally nodding. "Probably not, but I wouldn't change a thing about what I did."

Comet Chaser gave a small smile for an instant.
"How do you feel?"

Twinkle sighed. "Young" she said, eventually. "I feel... young."
There was another paused as she moved over toward her father and smiled. "And I'm home. And that's all that matters."

"Right now?" came the voice of Twilight Sparkle, "Yes. It is."
The mare sat next to Twinkle, smiling at Comet Chaser.

"It's a nice night."
"I just said the very thing."

Twinkle just smiled as she stared out at the stars. It was a nice night, and she was beginning to feel incredibly tired now. She was certain she could feel a blanket being placed around her. She tried to say something in response to that, but it simply came out as mumbling as she fell asleep there and then.

Just before she did though, she couldn't help but think it. She was finally home. And she smiled.
She was Twilight Twinkle, she had her family back, and she was home. And that was that.

Author's Note

(You'd think I'd have learnt by now not to do fight scenes. But I haven't.)
Sorry if this one feels disjointed, but... I just couldn't think straight doing this one, and it was beginning to feel more like a losing battle with every passing hour.
Note: A no-prize to whoever figures out what made Ditzy stop travelling with the Doctor.

What You Leave Behind

It was games night at Canterlot Palace that night, according to Discord, who had reappeared some hours later, and casually shrugged off Princess Celestia's veiled threats of future Fluttershy visits. Instead, the chaos god had suggested playing something. The usual suggestion of monopoly proved a dead end when Luna was nowhere to be found, and so an epic thirty minute debate ensued as to which game would be the focus of the night. At several points Discord would suggest a game, Celestia would agree to play it, and then Discord would reveal he had no intention of playing such a game. Eventually they decided upon chess. It took some time for Celestia to re-re-re-explain the rules to Discord, in order to prevent the pawns from trying to form a republic, or creating a new piece, or a third faction, or even worse the repeat of the times Discord made the board three-dimensional and the pieces slightly alive (Occasionally the cleaners would still find a piece of Celestia's second castle in the process of their work, the result of Discord not being informed that dynamite was not necessary for removing the piece from play). Of course, Celestia had other things on her mind beside chess as she played, and from his expression, Discord realised this.

"Well, who's going to go first?" he said. Celestia looked up, her train of though derailed, as she tried to contain her annoyance.
"Discord, I went first. That was twenty minutes ago."

The chaos god raised an eyebrow, and sighed. "I am aware of that. I was talking about something else entirely."
Celestia's expression shifted. "Then what, exactly, are you talking about?" she asked, as one of her pawns managed to take a castle.

"You were going to ask me a question, so do it" Discord said, utterly uncaring about his missing piece, as he moved one of his bishops.
"Why?" Celestia asked, frowning at her side of the board. Discord stared at her. "It just strikes me as unusual, is all. Your interfering in the affairs of Twilight Sparkle and Twilight Twinkle. And I find it quite interesting that your actions have resulted in the girl benefitting in many respects."

Discord nodded, as his queen knocked away another pawn. "So it did."
"And helped young Twinkle get over much of her problems with her mother. And restored her father, whom you yourself erased from existence. You cannot expect me to believe all of that was coincidental."

Discord paused, and suddenly unfurled to his full height. "If you must know: her finding her father? That might have been intentional on my part. The wings, those were my idea. Couldn't let her throw her life away."
Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Really? You didn't want her to die? Why do I have a hard time believing that?"

Discord's expression soured. "I... disapprove of death. I am a chaos god after all. Death is predictable, inevitable. A waste of potential. As was little Twinkle's attempted suicide."
He turned his glance back to the board, and then after a few seconds saw Celestia still had her eyebrow raised. He sighed.

"Alright. There is something else. She is... unique."
Celestia just chuckled. "They are all unique, Discord."

"Not like that. I mean unique in a different sense."
The mare looked at him. "In what sense, then?"

"It is a bit difficult to describe, especially given that I'm not supposed to know this at all, but... she is unique, and increasingly so."
"Still not making your point clear. Oh, and I just took your queen."

Discord waved a paw irritably. "Whatever. My point is... every pony is unique, yes, but there are also other versions of them. Other universes. Like that one where you and Luna run a school, for whatever reason, and your 'most faithful student' wears woollen pullovers and bowties."
Celestia looked up in horror, and Discord rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, 'How could I have known about that'. I wanted to see if that universe's Discord was as devilishly debonair and dashing as me."

Celestia just looked at him. "And?"
He cursed inwardly, hoping she hadn't be listening clearly not working. He muttered something to himself quickly. "Anyway, not the point. My point is..."

"Discord?" Celestia asked, as he stared towards the edge of the room. "Discord? Discord!"
"Sorry, what?" he asked, in a dazed tone of voice, "Thought I saw some string for a minute. Oh, the things I would do for some string..."

"Discord."
"Oh, yes, anyway. I decided to futz with the reception on that mirror thin-"

"YOU WHAT?!"
Discord shook his head, and slowly pulled himself to his feet, somehow managing to miss, and end up sitting on the chair upside down.

"Relax, nothing that can't be fixed, you can still wait around for you former student, ol' whatever her name was. I just used it to keep an eye on Twilight's progeny. And at one point I guess I must have gotten things mixed up. I found another version of her, with even more 'issues' than this one."
Celestia couldn't help but feel an odd feeling in her stomach. "And?"

"As it transpires, the desire to be nauseatingly selfless is probably a genetic issue. As is the lack of imagination. This one had gone about calling herself 'Midnight Eclipse' on her little sojourn in the past."
He shook his head, as he took out one of Celestia's pawns with his rook. "Upstart young ponies, changing their names all the time. I honestly expected young Twinkle to start calling herself something like Twilight Dawn, or Twilight Eclipse."

Celestia blinked. "And the point of that tale was?"
"Didn't I say? No? How remiss of me. Young 'Midnight'" he paused to scoff, "Or not-so-young Midnight, only went and performed a ludicrous act of self-destruction posed as something incredibly noble and moving. Only in that universe she did not have a trained miracle worker at hand to revive her. Game over for that Twilight Twyla Twinkle."

He frowned as he looked down at the board. "Oh. I seem to have less pieces now."
"You're in check" Celestia smirked. For a few seconds Discord stared at her, before groaning.

"Have you ever considered a career in villainy?"
Celestia shrugged. "No dental. Less free cake."

Discord sighed. "True" he saw Celestia's disapproving glance. "Oh, you thought I really went along with your reformation scheme because I wanted friends? Aside from the fact that I turned out to like having friends? And not getting turned to stone every time one of my schemes was thwarted, just getting lectured by Fluttershy?"
Celestia shook her head. "So, you saved her from an impossible situation?"

Discord shook her head. "I was the one who got her into it. Somewhat. I mean, I didn't exactly stop her from travelling back to now (well, I did at first, but then I let down the barriers after she met her tediously tragic counterpart and didn't fight her)."
He frowned. "Besides, I couldn't let her die. Not when all-new Alicorn Twilight Twinkle has so much potential for causing chaos. Just look at the damage she already did, including disrupting that idiot time-travelling know-it-all's history, if only a bit."

He then muttered something else under his breath, something including the words 'stone' and 'Twilight Sparkle'.
Celestia stared at Discord for a moment, and he just stared back.
"Oh, don't give me that disapproving expression. I know about your manipulating things between the changeling and your niece's daughter!"

Celestia looked nonchalant. "And? What's wrong with two ponies falling in love?"
Discord made a gagging motion. "True love. How boring. See, Twinkle spent several months trapped in that alternate-past, and she never once met a good-looking guardspony that she fell in love with. Although there might have been a bit of unrequited love on a certain princeling."

Celestia just gave a small hum, before looking at the board and smiling. "Check-mate, by the way."
Discord sighed. "Best two out of three?"

"No. I have things I need to do. Letters to write to certain mayors. Right now."
Discord watched Celestia walk away, and after a few seconds righted himself. He waited until the doors shut, and then looked down at the chessboard.

After a few seconds, he smirked, and then vanished with a bright flash.

*****

There was light, and sound, and the wonderful scents in the air, courtesy of the only party planner she knew was capable of pulling everything off satisfactorily. And there was also music, which for some reason seemed both maddeningly quiet, and amazingly loud, as a purple unicorn danced with her beloved. As she did, Twilight Sparkle noted for the hundredth time that she was actually dancing at her wedding, and that she had to thank the several ponies who had taught her to dance. It seemed insane. There was nothing about him that was truly different from any of the dozens of stallions she'd met. He wasn't a hero, he'd never fought monsters (or not on purpose), he'd never wowed anypony with magical displays, his scholastic achievements weren't anything to write home about. Although he did have an endearingly nervous smile, and he was heir to a family line measuring back to Mimic, a pupil of Star-Swirl the Bearded, but that wasn't what she liked about him. It defied all logic. All science told her was that she felt attracted to him, and she knew that. She wouldn't have married him if she didn't. The two ponies leaned closer as the music continued, and then, she was dancing on her own, in thin air, all alone.

Twilight Sparkle's eyes shot open, and while she didn't immediately bolt upright in bed, she did kick the covers furiously for a second, her heart pounding. She shifted slightly, her gaze moving from the window overlooking the Crystal Empire, to glancing at the clock sitting on the bedside table. It told her the time, and it was far too early. And she could tell instantly that she wasn't going to get any more sleep that night. For a few moments she lay there, trying to get her breathing under control, as a soft breeze wafted in through the window. Her horn glowed, and the bedsheets slowly drifted back into place. She frowned as she noticed a small tear from where she'd kicked. Then she heard the noise. Slowly she turned her head to see the pony lying next to her, a dark blue stallion with bright orange hair, her husband, one forelimb positioned under the pillow his head was lying on, another laying free over the bedsheets. After a few seconds, she slowly wrapped her forelimbs around him, holding as tight as she could without waking him.

*****

Elsewhere, outside of time, and space, and in the machine known as the TARDIS, three ponies were engaged in discussion.
"So, where to next?" the madpony said, beaming away like nothing was wrong, like they hadn't just nearly been eaten by anything, or several things. Ditzy Doo frowned, and gave it some thought.

"How about... I don't know, seeing old Canterlot? You said you knew some of the ponies who were alive at that time, right?"
The Doctor paused in the middle of leaping around the main console, and stared at her. His jaw shifted.

"Dunno if we can" he muttered, "Got into trouble the last time I was there."
Ditzy frowned. It didn't take a genius to realise that he was hiding something. Even Dinky could probably have told, and the filly practically worshipped the Doctor, though this may have had something to do with finding the fact that underneath all his craziness, and his occasional odd moment, he seemed to get on far better with children than he did with adults, and the fact that he took them on a sightseeing tour to some of Equestria's more remote islands at a time when nopony had settled on them. That had been two weeks ago, and Dinky was still asking why she wasn't allowed a pet dodo. But even for the Doctor, who Ditzy had noticed frequently hid things and facts and tried to rush headfirst into danger, he seemed to withdraw quickly.

"What is it?" she asked. The Doctor's expression changed, as he bopped one of the consoles with his hoof.
"Oh, it's... the transdimensional slave relay. Acting up a bit. Star density must be too high right now for the old girl."

"Doctor" Ditzy frowned, trying to give him her hardest stare. After a few seconds he stared back, and then frowned.
"Alright, not trouble," he said, bopping the console again, ignore the slightly distressed noise the TARDIS produced at that. He walked over toward Ditzy, and sighed.

"You know when you make a promise, a really serious promise, and you have to keep it."
Ditzy nodded. She'd heard of Pinkie Pie's strange ability to materialise in unexpected places when ponies talked about keeping promises.

"I..." he gave an exasperated sigh, "I'd be crossing my own time-line, something that even under normal circumstances is dodgy at best. I was being clever, too clever by half and... it ended badly."
Ditzy stared at him. From the look on his face, he was remembering something he'd much rather have forgotten. She knew he hadn't actually answered her question at all, but at the same time she didn't want to upset him further.

"Okay" she said quietly, "So where then?"
He paused. Then a grin passed across his face.

"And not the Eye of Orion" Ditzy grinned. He pouted.
"It was nice the first four times, but I wouldn't mind going somewhere different."

"Different?" he smiled, with an air of excitement. "Oh, Ditzy Doo. I can show you different!"
He walked over toward a level and pulled it. There was a loud clunk, as he began laughing, and the machine began to whir.

"Ood Sphere, here we come!"

*****

In another time and place
It was a lovely day, and so far had been completely devoid of any sort of crazy ponies, which was always a good thing in Comet Chaser's book. Or rather, it had been up until he'd encountered a certain pair of ponies, one of whom had asked, innocently enough it had seemed, how things had been going with him, and whether he'd been talking to Twilight Sparkle lately. He froze, and smiled nervously.

"No, no. I've been busy."
"Oh, my" Twilight Velvet said, "That's a shame. You two looked like you were having a lot of fun dancing at our son's wedding. Didn't they look happy, dear?"

Night Light just nodded slowly, as Twilight Velvet continued smiling unnervingly at Comet Chaser.
"Well, I'm sure you're busy, so we'll just let you get on with your usual activities."

The two ponies walked past him, and Comet Chaser stood there. He did have things he needed to do today. He had work. He couldn't just go running off to Ponyville at the drop of a hat. He couldn't.

He couldn't.

Twenty minutes later and he was sitting on the platform of Canterlot station.

*****

In Ponyville
"-ust don't know why, Mr. Rich. Can you think of anything that might have caused this?" Cheerilee said, trying not to slump. It had been a perfectly normal day, up until lunchtime, when Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had begun fighting. She had just assumed the two fillies had been upset about something, but now that she thought back on it, the two had been unwilling to work together during arts and crafts projects, which was especially odd given those two were practically inseparable. And Silver Spoon had declined an opportunity to work on the Foal Free Press, but she'd just assumed that was because she had no interest in the paper. And then the two fillies had fought. She'd been calmly grading papers when she heard the alarming chanting of 'fight' coming from outside, and that had been a shock to hear. None of her students had ever fought before. Argued, yes. Called each other names, despite her best efforts. Committed gross abuses of admittedly limited power, definitely, but fight? Not on her watch. And then she'd found Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had been fighting, and that had left her no option but to summon Filthy Rich, which had caused the pink filly to go practically pale. He had calmly listened to everything she'd said, not responding once, just looking straight at her.

"No." he said, "I didn't even know Dizzy and Silver Spoon weren't talking."
His voice was calm. Indeed, alarmingly calm. He just looked at Diamond Tiara, who looked down at the floor.

"I shall have a talk with her when we get home" he said, "See if we can't sort this out. Good day, miss Cheerilee."
Cheerliee nodded, as the stallion turned toward the door. Diamond Tiara just stared down at her hooves.

"Dizzy?" he called out, and with a sudden burst of movement the filly rushed over toward him. Filthy Rich gave the school-teacher another nod before closing the door behind him.

*****

Across town, it had actually been a nice day in the Golden Oaks library so far, as well as incredibly boring, as Spike had noted at least half a dozen times already. Aside from some mail from Shining Armor and Princess Cadance, there had been no new developments. Twilight had decided to go about reorganising the library again, and was going over the checklist necessary to do such a thing. Spike was grateful for this, because Twilight had spent most of the last few days just staring ahead and sighing every now and then, which didn't help that she had very little to do at the moment. Then Spike saw Trixie enter from the kitchen carrying a plate.

"What?" the mare asked. Spike looked at her.
"What are you eating?" he asked. Trixie looked down at the selection of crackers sitting on a plate sitting next to her.

"Peanut butter crackers" she said, slowly. "What?" she added, on seeing Spike's expression.
"Nothing" he said quickly, "It's just not deep fried and covered in chili sauce or dipped in butter then covered in chives."

Trixie blinked. "Your point?"
"It's just kinda weird seeing you eat something so normal."

There were a few seconds as Trixie just stared at Spike. Her horn glowed, and one of the crackers floated up toward her mouth. There was a crunch, which Trixie somehow managed to fill with as much silent defiance as was possible.
Spike was silently thankful that Twilight chose that moment to reappear. Then he notice she was looking at something as she came down the stairs.

"Twilight?"
She didn't seem to notice him. Then he saw she was carrying what looked like a letter, and it couldn't have been the one from Shining Armor, because that was still sitting on the desk where Twilight had left it.

"Twilight?" Spike asked, "What's up?"
She looked over at Spike, and then back to the letter. "I... found this" she said. For a few seconds she just stared at it.

"It's from Twilight Twinkle."
There was a sudden silence, as Spike and Trixie both looked confused.

"I think she wrote it before she left" Twilight said, not noticing their expressions. This was followed seconds later by Spike and Trixie quickly stating that of course they knew that, and certainly hadn't assumed it had somehow been delivered via time-travel.
"What does it say?" Spike asked. Twilight just looked at him, and then back to the letter. She levitated it over toward Spike. A few seconds later, Trixie had made her way toward the dragon and was reading the letter alongside him. Several minutes of quiet reading followed.

"Oh" Spike said, looking up at Twilight, who had a look Spike had seen far too many times to consider healthy. He walked over to Twilight and sat next to her. He tried to think of something to say, and after a few attempts, just settled for sitting next to her.
This mood was eventually interrupted by a sudden knocking at the door. Spike slowly got up and walked over toward it. On the other side was a grinning multi-coloured pegasus, a saddlebag with a noticeable book around her waste.

"Hey, Twi-" Rainbow Dash stopped when she saw the look on the mare's face.
"You okay?"

Twilight just stared straight ahead for several seconds before nodding. "Yes," she said, "Yes, Rainbow Dash, I'm okay. I'm okay."
She slowly turned to look at the mare and sighed. "Is something wrong?"

Rainbow Dash blinked. "Nah, everything's cool. But the rest of us were thinking about maybe hanging out together, or just doing something, you know?"
"Going to the zoo?" Spike asked. Rainbow Dash just stared at him.

"You remember what happened last time, right?"
Spike's expression shifted. "Oh. Yeah. That."

Twilight nodded, "All things considered, we should've seen that coming from Fluttershy."
"Should've," Rainbow Dash sighed. "Anyway, you in? We were thinking of just hanging out at Rarity's, since she's got the biggest house."

Then something occurred to Rainbow Dash, "Oh yeah, check this out." She removed the book with uncharacteristic gentleness from her saddlebag, and showed it to Twilight.
"'Daring Do and the City that Wasn't There'?" Twilight frowned. "I've not heard of this one."

"I know" Rainbow Dash squeaked, "That's 'cuz it's new."
Then she saw Trixie and Spike staring at her. "What?"

"Nothing" Trixie said quickly.
"I was thinking of bringing it round to the sleepover, maybe asking Flutters to sign it."

There was a new silence that made the last silence look like a cheap imitator, as Twilight stared at Rainbow Dash.
"How did... how did you figure that one out?" she asked. Rainbow Dash just scoffed.

"What, seriously? How did I figure out a pony I've know since I got my Cutie Mark wrote Daring Do?" she tilted her head, "Actually, it did take a while. It was mainly 'cuza Professor Bumble, her clumsy friend."

"Hey, yeah, she does act kinda like Flutte-..." Twilight trailed off.
"Isn't Professor Bumble the one that gets lost walking around a library?" Spike asked, looking at Twilight, "And didn't you say th-"

"Yes" Twilight said quickly, giving Spike a brief Look, "I did."
"Said what?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Nothing" Twilgiht smiled nervously. Rainbow Dash just nodded.
"Right. So... how long did you know?"

Twilight scratched her head. "A while. Wait," she said, "How come if you've know this you never mentioned it?"
Rainbow Dash just gave her a deadpan stare. "I don't know. Maybe because Fluttershy is my friend and if she doesn't want everypony to know she writes Daring Do she must have a reason, right? Right?"

Twilight nodded. "Okay, so, we're all meeting up at Rarity's, then?"
Rainbow Dash nodded. "Yeah."

"Alright," Twilight said, giving a small smile, before gently folding the letter from Twinkle up. "I'll just go put this away upstairs."
Rainbow Dash just nodded. "'kay."

Twilight quickly made her way up into the bedroom and part-time observatory, making her way toward the small desk to store the letter. She stared at the second spare bed, the one Twinkle had used, and tried to resist the urge to sigh. Then she turned around and made her way downstairs. She looked over toward Rainbow Dash, and nodded.
"Let's go."

The three ponies and one dragon walked toward the door. Twilight opened it, and then nearly collided with the stallion on the other side of the door. Twilight blinked as she stared at the dark blue fur of the pony standing in front of her.
"Hi" he said nervously. Twilight stared back.

"Hello."
The two ponies stood staring not at each other, but at each other's ears.

"Is... something wrong?" Twilight asked. Comet Chaser twitched.
"No, no. Nothing. I just thought it was a nice day."

Behind Twilight's back, Rainbow Dash and Spike exchanged glances with Trixie.
"And I was wondering if perhaps you'd maybe..." he coughed, "If you'd like to do something."

Twilight bit her lip. "Well, that's very nice of you to offer, but you see, I-"
She was cut of by the sudden action of the bearer of the Element of Loyalty, shoving her onto the pony. Twilight was certain she heard Rainbow Dash mutter the words 'unbelievable egghead' under her breath. The two stood there for a moment, trying to look anywhere but each other.

"So," Comet Chaser said quickly, "You live here?"
"Yes" Twilight blurted.

"It's very nice."
"Yes."

There was a painful pause of several seconds as both ponies stood away from each other, still looking around nervously. Twilight made a mental note to get back at Rainbow Dash for her actions.
"Do you want to go for a walk?" he asked. Twilight paused, thoughts of revenge on Rainbow Dash forgotten. It was a nice day, after all.

"Alright" she eventually said. "But just as acquaintances, nothing more. And we aren't going anywhere romantic, okay?"
He nodded. "Got it. No romance. Shall we, then?"

*****

Rainbow Dash slowly closed the door to the Carousel Boutique and turned to look at the four ponies staring at her.
"What is it, Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy asked. Rainbow Dash shrugged.

"Sorry girls, but Twilight's not coming."
Pinkie Pie gasped. "Why not?"

Rainbow Dash allowed herself a grin. "Sudden change of plans."
"Now that ain't like her" Applejack commented. Fluttershy nodded.

Rarity frowned. "Now what could possibly have caused this?"
Trixie walked over toward the fashion designer and whispered into her ears. Rarity's eyes went wide.

"I see."
"See what?" Applejack asked. Then she saw the look on Rarity's face. "Oh. Oh."

At which point Pinkie Pie asked, and Applejack whispered it to her. Pinkie Pie's response was to giggle.
"Guess we'll have to do without her, then" Rarity said, shaking her head. Then her eyes lit up.

"Say, that gives me a -" a ball of yarn hit her in the head.
"No." Applejack said sternly, before turning to Pinkie Pie, "And that goes double for you, Pinkie. Let those two sort things out themselves."

Pinkie smiled. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."
Then she turned to look at Rarity, staring intensely. Rarity blinked, before smiling nervously.

"Do I have to, dear? I mean, surely you can trust me not to... to interfere?"
"Just do it," Rainbow Dash sighed, "Or we'll be here all day."

Rarity sighed. "Very well. I promise not to interfere in the affairs of Twilight Sparkle and... whatever his name was. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my..." she paused, wincing as she closed her eye. "Eye" she finished. Pinkie nodded approvingly. Rarity opened her mouth to say something, but Applejack just stared at her.
"Don't."

Rarity pouted. "You don't know what I was going to say."
"Ah can guess, and ah know you, Rare."

Rarity silently frowned.
"Now then, less arguin', and let's try and think of something to do."

"Truth or dare! Truth or dare!" Pinkie said.
"I brought a book!" Rainbow Dash said meekly, not noticing Fluttershy's look of abject terror.

*****

Across town, Diamond Tiara frowned as she sat in front of her father, who had walked all the way in silence, and evidently felt the need to make up for lost time after that.
"Disgustingly Rich," he sighed, "I had thought that your mother and I raised you to be better than this. Fighting with your friend, your best friend. What sort of way is that for somepony your age to behave?"

"She started it" Diamond Tiara muttered, but he didn't seem to hear it.
"And over what? What could possibly have caused that?"

"She was being stupid."
The stallion frowned, and sighed. "Just... got to your room Dizzy. We will talk about this when your mother gets home, though."

"Whatever" Diamond Tiara muttered, making her way toward the stairs. Her father frowned, and for a moment considered saying something. She walked along the landing of the small mansion-sized house until she reached the door to her room. She opened it, walked through and then kicked the door behind her, before hopping onto her bed. As befitting the bed of a preteen girl with lots of money and doting parents, it was incredibly pink, and incredibly frilly.

"She was being stupid over nothing. Wasn't my fault" she muttered. She wasn't even sure what she'd said wrong to Silver Spoon, but everything seemed to have gone wrong. She'd been trying to get Silver Spoon to apologise after all.
It was her fault

Diamond Tiara looked around her room. There wasn't anypony there. She checked under her bed. Her mother had always said that was where monsters lived, wasn't it?
The underside of the bed was monster-free. She frowned.

It was her fault. She's stupid.
Diamond Tiara nodded. This was true. Silver Spoon was being stupid. Everypony else was being stupid, including her dad. He never took her side, and he was always telling her she was wrong.

Don't listen to him. He's silly. Also, stupid.
It occurred to Diamond Tiara that whoever was speaking to her, it wasn't her. But the voice was making a convincing argument.

Of course I am, Diamond Tiara.
But her father wasn't stupid. Okay, so he didn't give her enough pocket-money and sent her to the crummy Ponyville school, but he wasn't stupid. It was just everypony else.

Alright, fine. Your father isn't stupid. But he isn't doing enough for you.
Diamond Tiara nodded again.

And it isn't fair that Silver Spoon turned against you, is it?
No, she thought. That wasn't fair. She'd never done anything to Silver Spoon. Okay, she said those glasses made her look stupid once, but that was true. She didn't deserve to be punished.

No, you don't.

Now, the voice said, sounding a lot closer, what are we going to do about it?

Author's Note

(Never the end.)

The Start

Hazy early morning light broke over the land of Equestria. Night had passed and nothing had gone bump at all. There had been no fights, incidents, plague outbreaks, disasters or even minor arguments.
Needless to say, several eminent (and probably sleep-deprived) scientists were a bit worried.
In Ponyville, there is a tree into which some enterprising young pony built a house. A house which also functioned at the town library, since the townspeople had needed somewhere to store all those books that seemed to keep pilling up in a town. The library was currently the residence of one Twilight Sparkle, former faithful student to Princess Celestia. Or rather, it would have been the residence of one Twilight Sparkle, but she was elsewhere on buisiness.
Somepony was in the house though. In the spare bed, somepony was sleeping. Well, they were trying to sleep and not having a lot of success. Someone was trying to get their attention, and had been for several minutes. They were persistant.
"Whut?" groaned the pony occupying the bed.

"Are you awake yet?" said the pony not occupying the bed, who to spare on suspense shall now be revealed to be a young stallion.
The first pony didn't respond. But, since they were irritated by the question, they probably were up. This pony rolled out of bed, and turned towards the irritator, to see-

"Vanilla? What in the world are you doing here at...." the first pony, who it transpires is a mare, paused. Partially because Vanilla's reason for being there was obvious, but also because she wasn't sure what time it was. She looked around the room for a clock (there wasn't one) or a stash of watches (placed all around Ponyville, in case of watch emergency). She found one, and checked the time.

"What are you doing in here at eight thirty in the morning?" She checked that time again. Eight thirty, the watch said, with the little hand now slightly past the number six on the watch face.

"Why I am only now being woken up at eight thirty?" She asked, slowly aware of a pain in her head. Vanilla coughed.

"Well, you did ask me to wake you up at seven in the morning when you went out last night, but when I came to wake you up like you asked this morning, you were all" he did an imitation of her sleeping, showcasing his family talent for strangeness, "So I thought maybe I should let you sleep for a bit longer, because you really looked like you needed it" He grinned. Although he always grinned, so it seems a bit pointless to note that.
A quick check revealed that her head hurt, mostly likely a minor headache. And her eyes felt slightly singed as well.

"Vanilla, what exactly was I doing last night?" she groaned. His reaction was to blush. With his cream-colored coat, he looked rather like the current mayor of Ponyville.

"You were... standing on the tables in Sugarcube Corner." He said at a near whisper.

"Yes?" The mare said, moving towards the bathroom.

"And singing." The mare stopped dead.

"Singing what, exactly?"

"Something about hedgehogs. And how they were lucky, compared to certain other animals." She looked at the blush on poor Vanilla's face. Sometimes it was easy to forget he was rather young, considering how quiet and well-behaved he was, especially compared to his siblings.

"Sorry." she muttered. Clearly she'd been drinking, and after she'd promised herself not to. And poor Vanilla had heard her singing, and even worse singing that song. Memories of her making him promise to make sure she got home before two in the morning reared out of the haze. And of course Vanilla had obeyed his promise, like any member of his family would. Because breaking a promise could... no, no, she wasn't going to finish that though, just in case it summoned... Her.

The mare walked into the bathroom. As she brushed her teeth she stared at herself in the mirror. Aside from her hair, everything seemed fine. Her eyes were their normal shade of red and....
"My eyes are orange." she said, to no-one in particular. She sighed, and opened the small medicine cabinet above the sink. She browsed through it, hoping to find some eye drops, stopping only to look at one bottle which proclaimed
'Only to be used after Changeling attack / Pinkie Party'.
She frowned at that one and moved it aside. After several seconds she located the eyedrops.

*****

The stairs were a bit of a problem. She didn't trust her morning legs not to give out on her. It had been such a simple plan. Go round to Sugarcube Corner, have a drink, a bite to eat, maybe see whether she could still dance or not, then duck out before somepony brought out the sound system and the alcoholic beverages, go home, get some sleep and wake up feeling fresh as a daisy in the morning.
So clearly she'd decided just one little glass of cider wouldn't hurt without bothering to check whether it was alchoholic or not. Thank goodness Vanilla was a pony of his word. Though she was a bit unsure about the sore head, and was beginning to wonder how the stallion had 'convinced' her to leave Sugarcube Corner.

She slunk into the tiny kitchen, where Vanilla was cheerfully making something on the stove. A low groan from her indicated her presence as she slid onto a stool.

"Good morning." He chimed.

"What time did I get home at?" she slurred. Vanilla's everpresent smiled seemed to almost flicker, and he paused. His mane, a rather unusual bright purple, seemed to keep moving though, making her wonder whether she was actually sober yet.

"Before two in the morning." He said, though there was an odd nervousness to it. Then he returned to whatever he was preparing. Her only response was a groan, before burying her head in her legs.

There was a few draining noises, and the sound of something being placed in front of her. She looked up. An odd brownish liquid (well, it looked like a liquid) was in front of her. She stared at it, expecting some variety of strange noise to emenate from it. There were none, and she wasn't sure whether to feel safe or concerned about that. Focusing her disoriented magical mind, she lifted it towards her, and drank.
It did not have a charming taste. She coughed, sputtered, choked, and fell off her perch, before making several graphic comments, and banged her head against the table. After a few seconds of ominous quiet, she finally uttered

"Thanks, Vanilla." The cream-coloured pony merely said 'thank you. There was a sigh from under the table.
"Lot of work to do today." She said, calmly. She rolled onto her hooves, and wandered out into the front room. As she did, there was an odd crunching noise. She looked down.

"Vanilla?" She said, in as sweet a voice as she could managed.

"Yes?" came his voice from the kitchen.

"Why exactly are there lampshades lying on the floor?"
The stallion shuffled into the open doorway. He was blushing again.

"Ah, you see, well..." She raised an eyebrow.

"You were wearing them." He eventually got out.

"Them?"
He pointed. Aside from the one on the floor there was one on the coatrack, another on the otherwise completely unadorned hatrack (which in itself made no sense, as almost nopony in town wore hats, or any clothing at all. She had long ago just decided it was there to start conversations) and one last one was lying on top of a sofa, a massive tear going through it. Memories from last night were slowly coalescing in her head.

"Let me guess," she sighed, "This one is a loose fitting shirt, those two over there a coat and hat, and the one on the sofa my slinky evening dress."

"Yup." Beamed Vanilla. There was a brief pause.

"Do me a favour, hide them, won't you?" This time she didn't sound so sweet. If this was what the rest of her day was going to be like, it was going to be a long day.

*****

Outside she found her mood slightly improved by the nice smell that awaited her. Ponyville always smelt vaguely of apples, along with whatever the Everfree Forest it sat right next to happened to smell of. It smelt to her a lot nicer than boring old Canterlot air, which had always seemed to smell rather... doughy. She streched slightly, enjoying the feel of the morning sun on her back. The first point of business today was checking in the with the doctor. At a brisk walk it would take her five minutes to get there. She smiled. Five minutes getting there, five minutes dealing with the doctor, at the most, gave her plenty of time.

*****

The first thing that one thought about the Doctor's house was that it was blue. Very blue. Very, very, very blue. There was also a bit of black and white on the windows, perhaps just to distract from its sheer blue-ishness. It also seemed to be in a different place than it had been last time she'd visited, although that might have just been her imagination. She walked up to the door and knocked. There was no response. She knocked again. Still no response. She sighed, knowing full well that when she turned around the doctor would be behind her, and she would be smiling. She turned around.

"Hello" said the ginger-haired mare who was now standing in front of her, smiling a somewhat nervous smile. From her almost completely white wardrobe, she looked a bit like she'd been playing an early morning tennis game.
"Doctor, good morning"

"Morning." the ginger one said. Then they both stood there.

"Is there some reason you're here?" she said.

"Yes." For a moment the white-clad mare just looked confused.

"Oh, yes" she beamed, "That piece of paper that needed translating. Silly old me, forgot all about it. I'll just... step inside and get it." The Doctor zipped inside the blue (and rather box-shaped) house, closing the door behind her before she could see what was there, though she did hear an odd humming noise. After a few seconds, the ginger mare returned, a rolled-up scroll in her mouth. She set it down, allowing the unicorn to pick it up.

"All translated, right?"

"Oh, it took my T... ranslational abilites a bit of a go, but yeah, all translated. Why couldn't ancient ponies speak English, that's what I want to know."

"Translation skills?" said the unicorn, staring at the mare and her Cutie Mark, which was an hourglass, "That's your special talent?"

"My special talent, dear girl, is everything." The older mare said, with a large slice of unrestrained ego thrown in. Then her expression went dark.

"Except parallel parking. Never could figure that one out. Still, fifteen thousand years, I'll figure it out eventually" she smiled again. The unicorn mare was still staring at her.

"How can your talent be everything when you have an hourglass for a cutie mark?"

"Oh," the ginger earth pony laughed, "It's a long and boring and not very interesting story." She gave the unicorn a condescending pat on the head, "Don't you go worry your pointy head about it and start enjoying life" at which point the ginger mare calmly walked into her really blue house and closed the door. The unicorn stood there before remembering that she did have other things to do today. Using her magic she picked up the scroll, briefly bemoaning her lacking saddlebags to place it in, and set off back towards the library. She had her scroll, the key element of her plan. Her plan which she had so long considered, and now it was almost a reality. Unfortunately she was so distracted thinking of her plan that she walked into something. Or rather, someone. A yellow, slighty feathery someone. It was the mayor.
She'd rear-ended the Mayor. Utter panic gripped her.

"Oh." the mayor said, once she'd turned around.

"G' m'rning, m'm'" she muttered.

"I didn't know you were back in Ponyville." the mayor said politely. The unicorn gave no reason to indicate why.

"Is... is everything alright?"

"Y's." The mayor eyed the scroll the unicorn had dropped. Before the pink-maned mare could say anything else she quickly squeaked out a hurried goodbye, grabbed the scroll and rushed away. When she was absolutely certain she'd gotten away from the mare, she ducked into a small alleyway, and waited for her breath to come back.
Had anypony been there, they might have asked why she looked like she was trying desperately not to cry.

*****

Back inside the Doctor's 'house', the mare was pacing around the central room. Something was bothering her and she had no-one to explain everything to. It had started a short few minutes ago, when she'd picked up that odd scroll. It was the sort of thing she felt was going to lead to trouble, she just couldn't tell why.

*****

Meanwhile, a few short miles away in Canterlot, an incredibly important pony was waiting at the train station. True, she didn't actually need to wait for a train, she could just have teleported to where she wanted to go. But then she'd have to make several journeys for all her books, and that would wear her out. It wasn't that she was properly irritated yet, but she had expected the train to be on time, and now it was messing up her vacation schedule. After roughly ten more minutes of going over her schedule, her thought processes were interrupted by the train finally (Finally!) pulling into the station.

*****

Back in Ponyville, the unicorn mare quickly choked down a sandwich. Under normal circumstances she would have been quite happy to eat something more wholesome, like a salad, or perhaps a massive sandwich with a large helping of hay fries, but she was on a time limit, especially if the mayor knew she was in Ponyville. Finally gulping down the last chunk, pausing only to breath, she paid for it and made a largely restrained dash towards the local spa.

*****

The passengers slowly alighted from the train. She motioned to the helpful guards who had offered to help carry her luggage. She walked along the platform to her private carriage, entered and sat down on a rather comfy sofa. Focusing on one of the many bags filled with books, she lifted one chosen at random. She smiled as she saw which one it was. She hadn't read that in a while.

*****

"Well, vhat does madame think?" asked the suspciously-accented spa attendant. True enough she could have dyed her own hair, but the results were rather good. Her normally royal blue fur was now a light lilac colour, though her mane and tail still retained their original colour. Hopefully where she planned to go no-one would ask about that.

"It's exactly what I was hoping for." she remarked. This seemed to please the attendant. Money and goodbyes were exchanged. She stepped out into the street, feeling strangely excited. She was ready. The first part of the plan was over. However, she did also have a rising feeling in the back of her mind. She wandered to a tree near the front door to the spa, and looked for a hollow in it. She found it, and removed an emergency watch from it. What she saw chilled her blood. She was behind schedule. Quickly, she rushed back to the library.

*****

There was a knock on the door of her private carriage. She looked up from her book. A light blue-furred mare was standing there, her old and somewhat battered pointy hat slightly askew on her head.
"Guess who?" the mare smiled.

"Tricia." she tried not to smirk at the irritated expression on the mare's face.

"You know, fifteen years and I still have no idea how in Tartarus I got saddled with that name" She did a theatrical sigh.
"You don't mind me barging in here, do you?"

"No, no. Barge away."
"Thank you, Trixie shall" she sniffed, wandering over to where a complimentary bottle of wine rested, completely ignored and unwanted.

"Drink?" Trixie offered. She waved a hoof.
"Not before six PM" Trixie laughed at that. She briefly shot a glance at what the other mare was reading, then to the mare herself.

"Are you okay?" she asked. There was a sudden silence.
"Why do you ask?"

"Well, because frankly you look like crap."

She shuffled awkwardly, her wings fluttering against the back of the chair.
"I've... I've just got a lot on my mind, right now, is all."

Trixie just nodded slowly. If she noticed the undercurrent to her voice, she didn't seem to be making a big deal of it. Her eyes darted to the book.

"What's the book about?" she inquired.
"Oh, it's a Daring Do book" Trixie raised an eyebrow.

"Which one?"

A blush overcame the mare's face.

"Darin' Do and the Altar of Sacrifice."

Trixe's smirk grew. "Isn't that the one written by your favourite loudmouthed pegasus guardspony?"

"It might just be."

"... Is it any good?"

"Actually, it's not that bad. A few grammatical errors, one blatant self-insertion (oh, don't laugh), a few moments of preachy faux-philosophical nonsense, but apart from that it's... Readable."

There was a brief silence as the train hurtled across the countryside.

"Readable, eh? Is that your code for 'it's acceptable' or 'I will only read that again if I have brain damage'?"

"What exploded in your breakfast, Trixie?"

"I apologise, but you know Rainbow Dash and I get on like.... two things which do not get on."

"She's still holding a grudge?"

Trixie made a noise that seemed to be both a combination of laughter and sigh.

"Nopony holds a grudge like Rainbow Dash" she said.

*****

Back in Ponyville, the unicorn mare rushed about the library.

"Toothbrush, check"
Vanilla could only watch with growing trepidation. This seemed dangerous. Actually, this was a little beyond dangerous, this was some new sort of term that they didn't have a word for, but still clearly meant bad news for all involved. As he watched the now lilac-colored mare moving about he began to wonder. Maybe the stories he'd heard were true. No, he decided. Just because she was the daughter of one of the most powerful mares in Equestria didn't really mean she was anything like her. Although...

"Towel, check. Sponge, check. Toothpaste, check. Saddlebags, check." the unicorn rolled up the small checklist, eyeing it carefully. She didn't like checklists. She looked at the saddlebags, which were somewhat stuffed by now just with the essential items she would need.

"Everything on the list accounted for. Might as well get the wagon train rolling." She glanced briefly at a nearby clock.
Vanilla coughed.

"So, where are you going, exactly?"
She paused, and stared at him.

"I'm not sure." she said quietly. She stared down at her hooves.

"Maybe somewhere like Dodge Junction, or Appleoosa to start with. Somewhere where no-one expects 'great things' of me. Somewhere where nobody's heard of me, or my mom, or even cares who she is. Somewhere I can just start over, and... be me again."
Vanilla's cheerfulness, already at a worryingly low level by default, especially compared to his mother or his siblings, was near-gone. Maybe he could stop her, maybe he could talk her down.

"Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?" There was an odd look in her eyes. She was sad.

"No. But I don't really have a choice anymore" Her horn glowed, and a scroll lying next to her opened. She moved into the centre of a chalk-outline she'd had Vanilla draw while she was preparing for her journey. She chuckled, and smiled at him, though there was no joy in it, more like weariness.
"Wish me luck"

*****

The train slowly came to a halt in the Ponyville station, though Trixie did not.

"I cannot get over how fast these modern trains are. I remember when it used to take over two hours just to get to Canterlot. Now... it... it..."

"Yeah, I know. Does mean there's less time to read a book."
Trixie wasn't listening, she was sniffing the air.

"Ah, smell that air, that fresh countryside air. Smells like apples" She sniffed again. "Oh, and lemons today, it seems."

"So it does."
The two mares stood there.

"So, Trixie, how are you for lodgings for your stay in Ponyville?"

"Oh, if you're offering to let me stay in your library and reshelve books again, I am going to have to pass." She set off down the road, briefly pausing. "Though I might pop in and visit. If you're lucky"

"See you later Trixie"

"Be seeing you, Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight Sparkle motioned to the two guardponies, who picked up her luggage. It had been so long since she was last in Ponyville. So many years since she had first arrived, made her first friends outside of Spike and Cadance and her B.B.B.F.F. And it still smelt like apples. As she walked through the streets she smiled, thiking of hopping on bubbles made of swamp gas, Pinkie's parties (and there had been so many of those), foiling rampaging gods, messing around with temporal paradox, making friends with Zecora. And now...

"It's good to be home." Twilight Sparkle smiled.

*****

Something was wrong, seriously seriously wrong. Magical buildup was swarming through the room, and a strange wind had picked up. This wasn't how it was supposed to work at all. And now her horn was emitting a strange light.

*****

Twilight walked down the streets, admiring the scenery, and the things that had stayed the same, even after so long. Even though she'd only been away from the town for a few weeks, it still felt like an absolute lifetime. These days more than ever, she thought. She hoped Sugarcube Corner was open, though if she did get hungry she wasn't exactly about to starve. Half the street seemed to be cafes and bars and trendy little restaurants these days. It actually felt both comforting and alien at the same time, like returning to your house after being away for several weeks. And there was this odd static-y feeling in the back of her neck. Then she noticed something. Several ponies kept rushing past, headed in the same direction. They all looked alarmed.

"Nothing changes." she smiled. Then she saw the guard rushing towards her.

"Miss Sparkle, miss Sparkle!" he yelled, as he came closer.

"Something unusual is happening." He gasped, pointing a hoof in the direction he'd came from.

"You're new in Ponyville, aren't you?" Twilight chuckled, though this died out when she saw the look on his face.

"Where?" she said. The guard turned and ran down several streets, turning and twisting, a familiar route that was long since etched into Twilight's mind.

"Oh no" she whispered.

*****

The Ponyville library was still intact, she was surprised to discover. Apparently leaving it in Pinkie's supervision had been the right one. But then, Pinkie always kept her promises (Cross her heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye, she had said) Twilight sheepishly noted she had raised her front left hoof, and gently put it back down to stare at the library again. An ominous white-blue glow was coming from the upper windows, and the whole tree seemed to be shaking. Twilight slowly walked towards it.

"HI TWILIGHT!" somepony yelled. She turned to see Pinkie Pie bouncing towards her. Apparently the mare had heard of the phrase 'aging gracefully' and decided she wasn't going to have any of it. She still look almost the same, the same hairstyle, same mad glint in her eyes, same smile (though there were a few wrinkles here and there, especially under the eyes). Behind her was dear Fluttershy (a re-union she sadly admitted she hadn't been looking entirely forward to given recent events) who kept shooting nervous glances at the library windows, as well as a few children with unmistakable bubblegum pink hairstyles like Pinkie, though Twilight had never felt brave enough to ask if they were all her actual children.

"Is this weird the minute you come back to Ponyville there's a big disaster and now we know you're here and we can throw a super-duper-happy-awesome welcome back party! once you've gotten rid of that problem whatever it is!" Pinkie said, not breaking stride for even a single second.

"Um, Twilight?" said Fluttershy, still alternating between staring at her old friend and the library, "What exactly is that?"

"I don't know yet." said Twilight. Pinkie gasped.

"I mean, it looks familar, I just... can't remember from where."

"I think I might be able to help." said a voice. All three mares turned to look. Doctor Whooves was standing there, a look of complete shame on her face. Pinkie cheered at what she'd said.

"You see, a few days ago a young mare came to me, asking for my help translating an ancient scroll she'd found. And to put a mildly dull story short, I did." She stopped. The three mares continued staring at her.

"And?"

"Well, I wasn't entirely satisfied with my translating, which was not my fault, you ponies speak such strange mishmash languages, and... well..."

"Yes?" Said Fluttershy.
There was a sudden bang as the upper window of the library shattered. They could now hear somepony screaming.

"What was it a spell for?" Yelled Twilight.

"Time travel. One way." the ginger-haired mare blurted.
There was a crash from the upper floor.
Pinkie moved towards the mare, fury blazing in her eyes, a rare and always alarming sight.

"My. Son. Is. In. There." she hissed.

"I didn't think anypony would actually be mad enough to use it!" though even to the ginger mare it sounded hollow.

Twilight hadn't been listening. She was by the door. She lowered her horn to the lock. A brief flash of magic was followed by the door unlocking, at which point she kicked the door in. A cream coloured stallion dashed out.

"Vanilla!" cried Pinkie, hugging her twenty-third child.

"I'm sorry, she just showed up a few days ago, wouldn't say why, just said she wanted to get away."

"Who?"

"Twilight Sparkle's daughter."

*****

Twilight found it hard to move, like walking through swamp mud, each step seemed to take more and more effort, and the wind, if it was wind, was stinging her eyes. And that strange light was making it hard to see. She remembered the time she had used a time-travel spell. It had only worked for a minute and a half, and hadn't needed anywhere near this level of buildup. Gradually she forced her way across the room, dodging flying books and furniture, slowly moving up the stairs. She opened the door to the bedroom, and quickly jumped through.

The light was really building, but she could see the outline of a mare in the middle of the room, the light pouring forth from her horn. She moved closer, outright ignoring the wind now. And then she got to the mare.

"Twinkle?"

"I'm sorry." the young mare whispered.

"What have you done?!" She didn't finish, as there was an amazingly bright flash, and a blast. She felt herself thrown against the wall, and she was certain she heard a scream.

After a few moments, she heard hoovesteps. Pinkie and Fluttershy, no doubt. She opened her eyes again, ignoring the swirling patterns of light. As her vision improved, she could see the remains of a chalk outline in the floor, and in the exact centre of it, four burnt-in hoof-prints.

"Oh no" that was Fluttershy speaking.

"What happened?" gaped Pinkie Pie.

"She's gone..." Twilight whispered.

"She's gone."

Author's Note

Only four thousand seven hundred words? Huh. Felt like more on this end.
Most chapters will probably be broken up into smaller chunks. I just though it an idea to get all this out the way right away.
(Edit: Gave the paragraphs a tweak, since that's been a problem for folk, though I am still trying to figure this stuff out, so my apologies for any mistakes.)

The Welcome Wagon Part Two

Midday Eclipse counted her blessings that it was a weekday, and only half past ten at that, making rushing around downtown Ponyville easy enough. She rushed down alleys and side-streets, Spike holding onto her tail for dear-life and therefore being shaken like a purple and green leaf.

"That way!" the dragon said.

"Which way?" She responded, not turning her head, knowing that if she did she'd probably run into someone.

"Your left!" She turned.

"Your left, your left!" the dragon yelled.

"I am going left!" she said, turning to look at him without breaking her stride.

"Then I'm upside-down!"

Any further argument was forestalled by her slamming into a door.

"Ouch." She intoned. Spike, who had comically slammed into the door above her, slid down onto her head, before tumbling down and bouncing off of her neck.

Shakily getting to her hooves, she ignored the dizzyness and stepped inside, dragged Spike in and slammed the door. Then she saw where she'd entered.

"Welcome to the Carousel Boutique, where everything is-" The shop-owner said, before a rather encumbered clothes rack fell on her.

"Rarity, are you okay?!" Spike yelled.

"Oh, Spike, I don't mean to be a bother, but would you and your new associate mind freeing me. It's getting rather hard to breath under these dresses." Came the fashionista's voice, from beneath a twisted pile of fabric and metal. As was the case in any collapse, one of her legs was sticking out of the pile at an unusual (perhaps even comical) angle.

"Coming!" Spike said. Midday sighed, and focused. In an instant the pile of clothing had been moved, leaving a rather confused looking unicorn lying on the carpet. She quickly rolled onto her feet and looked about.

"Thank you, miss. Another few minutes under those old rags and I might have lost track of my train of thoughts." She paused, looking like she was trying to remember something.
"Oh. No, wait. I've forgotten." She sighed angrily. Then she stared at Midday.

"But where are my manners?" She extended a hoof.

"Rarity, owner of the Carousel Boutique, at your service, Miss...?" Midday shook her hoof.

"Midday Eclipse." Rarity seemed to be staring at her hoof with an all too familiar analytical eye.

"I don't normally end up crushed under my own works, you know. I am afraid I simply got distracted by inspiration." She sighed. Then she noticed something in the corner of the shop.

"OPAL, NO! STAY OFF OF MOMMY'S SWEATERS!"

Midday looked (once she recovered from the shock) across the store, to where a medium-sized overweight cat slowly moved off of a small pile of identical woollen sweaters, all in black. The cat moved in the exact way needed to suggest it had been bored of sitting there anyway, and was going to go find an expensive sofa to victimise.

"I do apologise for yelling, those sweaters took several hours to knit though, and I'll be damned if anyone touches them." she said, smiling an incredibly worrying smile. Then she blinked slightly.

"Where was I?"

"Distracted by inspiration." Spike said. Midday looked at him, trying desperately not to react to the love lights in his eyes.

"Yes, inspiration..." Rarity mumbled, staring at Midday's hair. She snapped back to reality.

"Would I be right in guessing that you are from Canterlot?"

"What gave me away?" Midday laughed.

"You look quite similar to a friend of mine, y-"

"I am not a Twilight Sparkle fangirl." Midday hissed. Spike sniffed the air.

"Do you smell burning?" He asked. Rarity started sniffing.

"No, I cannot say I do." She went back to looking at Midday.

"I don't mean to be rude, but would you mind terribly if I could just use you to demonstate some of my works?"

"I... suppose?" Midday said, turning to Spike, who didn't look like he was going to be much help. This was going to be a long morning.

*****

This, Twilight Sparkle thought, was going to be a long morning.

Pinkie had been quite insistant about throwing a party today to welcome Midday Eclipse to town, and after the unfortunate 'incident' of Pinkie's birthday no-one had been willing to say no. She looked at the notes she'd gathered on Fluttershy's missing chicken, Edwina.

"Sparkle's log..." She paused, looking around for a calendar.

"Spike? Spike?" She called out. There was no response. She fumed. If he had decided to try and pig out on ice cream while she was out again, she was going to be furious. She still vividly remembered Spike's last stomach-ache.

"And wasn't that fun." She muttered to herself.
Well, the date wasn't important.

"Sparkle's log, date unknown. Have been convinced to attend a Pinkie Welcome-to-Ponyville-Party for newcomer Midday Eclipse."

Something about that name just didn't sound right. Now that she thought of it, why would Celestia send an accountant to Ponyville? What possible reason could there be?

"Maybe I should send her a letter." There was a brief pause.

"Oh, yes. Spike isn't here."

*****

Pinkie bounced merrily toward Sweet Apple Arces. Rainbow Dash had instantly agreed to go to her party, and was probably arranging some of her usual welcome pranks, like the ones she'd used on Gilda.

Pinkie started bouncing slower at the thought of Gilda. Then she noticed something. She was still getting Pinkie-sense notes about a new pony in Ponyville.

"But that doesn't make sense. I already met her." She gave her hindquaters a brief tap with her foreleg. It stopped twitching. Maybe once the party was over she would send a letter back home, ask her parents about what to do with malfunctioning Pinkie-sense. Then she remembered why she was standing next to an orchard.

"A party isn't a party until you know how many ponies are going to be there." She chirped. Applejack had been working extra-hard lately, and would surely appreciate the chance to relax, she just knew it.

*****

Midday struggled to breath as she was subject to what could have been considered unlawful dress-making techniques. She found herself having flashbacks to when she was eight, visiting a certain (sort of) sister in-law in her Canterlot home, and being forced to wear... frilly dresses. And those little tiny dainty shoes. Five hours of dress after dress, each frillier than the next. And her mother had wondered why she'd refused to wear a dress to the Gala. She found herself imagining a gallery of shocked nobleponies, jaws seemingly dislocated by shock, and then started giggling.

"Please, don't move." Said Rarity, placing a hoof on her shoulder as she sang... that song. Midday struggled to ignore it, to ignore the catchy tune. Then Rarity stopped. Midday opened an eye she hadn't even realised she'd closed and stared. Rarity was staring at an empty spool.

"Something wrong?"

"I've run out of taffeta." Rarity said.

"I've run out of taffeta." She repeated. Midday noticed the look of fear on Spike's face. Both of them could see where this was going. Rarity sighed dramatically.

"Oh, of all the possible things that could happen, this is...." She took a deep breath, Spike covered his ears. Midday, unable to grant herself that luxury, simply braced herself, and prayed that tinnitus was fun.

"... really annoying." Rarity tossed the spool across the room, where it landed in a waste-paper basket with an anti-climactic 'clunk'.

"Still, no matter. I can always... order more. Yes. I can order more. But I'll just see if I don't have any in the back room."
Midday waited until she was certain Rarity was gone. This was going to require skill, and finesse, to remove the very constricting undergarments. She slowly started trying to unravel it, without destroying what was no doubt hours of Rarity's hard work.

"I~DE~AH!" Came Rarity's voice.

She muttered something unladylike. Apple-nuts to restraint.

Rarity rushed back into the room, a variety of fabrics floating behind her.

"I just had this flash, this touch of genius" she sang, "And I... Oh. She's gone." She frowned, picked up the discarded dress. She looked around the room, and stared at one of the mannequins, just sitting off to the side by the changing room doors, going unusued.

She smiled, and got to work.

After a few minutes she started singing again.

*****

Pinkie bounced down the road leading back to Ponyville.

"A party is still a party, even if Applejack is too busy to make it." She smiled. Though she wished Applejack had been a bit more diplomatic in her choice of words.

*****

"Must. Keep. Running. Must. Go. Faster." Midday told herself, Spike being dragged along by her magic. When she realised he didn't want to leave.

"Next time I'll just walk to Dodge Junction!" she told herself.

*****

Twilight jumped when Midday burst through the door dragging Spike behind you.

"And where have you been?" She asked.

"Madpony... madpony... different madpony.... uncomfy dress!" Midday hissed, leaning right into Twilight's face. Then she looked like she'd forgotten something.

"Oh, and something about a party."

"We went for a walk." Spike said, looking for all the world like he was trying to figure out which way was up.

"And met Pinkie Pie?"

"Mentioned us, did she?" Midday asked.

"She did." Midday looked up at Twilight's smirk. She knew that smirk. It was the sort she had when she thought she knew something the person she was talking to didn't.

"I don't want to go to a party. I don't like parties... most parties. Some parties. Parties which involve dancing." She said, working her way down the list to most accurate summary of her feelings regarding parties.

"Oh, don't worry. Pinkie's parties are really enjoyable." Midday decided not to try and argue any further. She simply slumped onto the ground in exhaustion.

"Plus, Pinkie's pretty persistent at persuading ponies to participate in her parties."Twilight added, to which Spike chortled.

"Try and say that three times real fast." Spike laughed at his own joke. Twilight Sparkle just stared at him.

"Participate? Parties? Please! I've been press-ganged! Pressured by professionals! To attend a party of... blast." Midday stopped, and frowned. "I was on a roll there."

Twilight rubbed small specks of spittle off of her fur.

"I noticed."

"So when will this party take place?"

"When Pinkie finds you." Spike said, ominously.

"Spike, I've told you about turning off the lights."

"Sorry." he muttered, before turning the lights back on.

There was a knocking on the door. Unicorn and dragon turned their heads.

"I'll get it." said Spike. He walked over to the door, Midday found herself crouching, ready to try and escape should need be. She knew she couldn't out-run Pinkie. She just had to out-wit her. That would be easy enough.

She shook her head. Out-wit Pinkie? What was she thinking? She didn't have a snowball in Tartarus' chance.

Spike reached towards the door, opened it...

And standing there was a pegasus, a silver-grey female pegasus with blond hair wearing the regulation uniform of the Equestrian Postal Service.

Midday silently breathed a sigh of relief. It was just Ditzy Doo.

"Wait. Ditzy Doo?" she mouthed.

"Oh, good morning Ditzy."

"Morning Twilight Sparkle, Spike." The pegasus smiled. She handed Twilight a small parcel.

"Sorry it's late. Things have been a bit nutty at the post office since... well, forever." She laughed.

Twilight opened the parcel, revealing... a book. Naturally.

"I have been waiting weeks for you, you brilliant little thing." She smiled.

"I didn't know Equestrian history was one of your hobbies." Ditzy said, flapping her wings gently.

"It is now." Spike said, in the way only a dragon who has been made to transport several heavy books on the subject could.

"Bless you, Ditzy." She said, hugging the mailmare.

"Um, Twilight?"

"Mmm?"

"I do have a lot of mail to deliver this morning."

"Mmm."
"Twilight..." The mailmare said, in the exact same voice she used to scold disobedient little unicorns.

Twilight Sparkle withdrew, looking mildly embarrased.

"Sorry. I've just been looking for this book for... what date is it today anyway?"

"The twenty-ninth." Midday said. Ditzy looked up at the mare.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't see you there." She smiled, "I'm Ditzy Doo"
Midday quickly siddled over.

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Midday Eclipse." She tried to not stare. It was a bit difficult. Or rather, impossible. Like trying to walk through a room which for no readily apparent reason has an elephant in it.

"You're new in town then?" Ditzy smirked.

"Yes."

"I wondered why I saw Pinkie asking ponies to show up for a welcoming party."

"Did she say when?" Midday asked. If she knew when, she'd have time to prepare. Perhaps.

"Sorry, didn't hear her." Ditzy shrugged. Behind her, Midday could hear Twilight whispering truly bizarre things to her new book.

"Now, if you'll excuse me. Good day, miss Eclipse."

"Nice meeting you." She said, waving goodbye.

Once the door was closed Spike fixed her a Look, the weaker variant of the Stare.

"Nice not staring."

"Really? I thought I'd made a massive hen-up of it." She sighed. Spike patted her gently on the shoulder.

"It happens to all of us." he said solemnly.

"Right now I feel like a party." She muttered. Then she reflected on what she said.

"No, wait, I don-" Something smashed through the front door. A pink, bouncing thing.

"FOUND YOU!" Pinkie Pie yelled, setting off streamers and bouncing around Midday.

"YouseefirstIwenttogeteveryponyreadyforyourwelcometoponyvillepartybutthenIgotbackandyouwerentthereandIwent"
She gasped,
"SoIlookedeverywhereandinvitedafewmoreponiestothewelcomepartybecauseafewotherponiesturnedmedownandIdidntwantothrowapartywithoutasmanyponiesasIcouldfindtheretocelebratewelcomingyoutoponyville" She continued onwards, oblivious to Twilight's attempts to hide her book, or Midday burying her face in her hooves.

"I have only myself to blame for this." Midday sighed.

*****

Although actually, she did enjoy the welcome. And the free cake. Then, while everyone was relaxing in Sugarcube Corner (about the only place big enough to hold a party with everypony Pinkie wanted to invite) Rainbow Dash made what some would label 'the first move'.

"Hey, Midday, look at all these presents. Ya gonna open them?" She said, pointing to several varying boxes all arranged with bows. Midday raised an eyebrow.

"How in Equestria did anyone have presents just lying around for a party thrown at random?" Rainbow Dash shuffled and made an almost-convincing show of looking innocent.

"We... uh... just did. Because we're awesome." There were a few murmurs of agreement in the crowd.

Midday walked over to one. Rainbow Dash leaned on her.

"Try that one." She smiled, and pointed at a totally harmless looking present. Distant memories of an old story she'd heard when she was younger, recounted by one Pinkamena Diane Responsibility Pie to anyone who would listen, seemed to come to mind. Something about booby-trapped presents and Rainbow Dash, followed by yelling. Plus, an assortment of suspicious pranks at events she'd been to where Rainbow Dash had been present.

"Oh, I don't know..." she said, "I mean, all these much larger presents taking up so much space, I should probably deal with them first, work my way down via size."

"Logical." said Twilight, who Midday noticed was standing, along with almost everypony else, several feet away.

"Oh come on, just one little tiny present first. Start your way with the small ones, and work your way up."

"Also logical." Twilight said, though she sounded nervous.

Midday tried not to smirk.

"But these larger presents, the ponies who bought them must have wanted to make such a first impression to spend as much money as they did."

Everyone looked at Twilight.
"What?" She asked defensively.

"Yeah, okay, great theory there." Rainbow Dash said, putting on her best greasy smile. "But these little presents, sometimes..." she sighed wistfully, "These little presents can mean the whole world to somepony." She nudged Midday.

"Well.... How about I... start with a gigantic big present bought out of amazingly canny love and acceptance, and then go on to the small tiny present that would mean 'the whole world' to somepony?" Rainbow Dash considered this. There was a noticable aura of tension in the crowd.

Rainbow Dash frowned. Her honor as a prankster was at steak against an egghead.

"Well..." Then she smiled. Sure, let the new girl be taken in by a real present.

"Okay."
There was a rustling of paper.

"An ironing board? ... Bit fitting, I suppose. Even if I am just squatting, it'll be useful when (if) I get my own house (like hellfire)"

"Go on, open the next one." Rainbow Dash smiled. Midday looked at the small cylinder. Her magic faintly glowed and she delicately placed it on the floor between herself and Rainbow Dash.

"Go on then, y' gonna open it or what?" Rainbow smiled. Somewhere towards the back of the watching throng a violet-colored earth pony fainted.
"Oh, the tension." she cried.

Suddenly, strange music filled the air, adding to the already somewhat annoying level of tension.

"Pinkie, dearest, don't do that." Said Rarity (who still wasn't sure how she'd been convinced to come to a party mid-inspiration). There was a slight 'aw' from Pinkie as she turned the music off.

"Open the thing already." Yelled a blonde-maned pegasus.

"Well, if everyone insists..." Midday scratched her lower jaw with her hoof. She flexed her muscles.

"SOMEPONY OPEN IT!" Fluttershy wailed, from over by the window where she was holding onto a curtain, shaking like a really large pegasus-shaped leaf, her eyes clenched shut. Actually, it was more like a security cling that just 'holding'.
Midday lowered her head, and focused her horn on the wrapping. The crowd leaned in, leaned in... leaned in (Pinkie fell over).

There were a few seconds of grunting and straining. There were a few seconds more of grunting and straining.
Eventually she slumped down.

"I can't open it. The wrapping paper's made out of steel or something." Rainbow Dash scoffed.

"C'mon New Girl. Even Fluttershy can tell you aren't trying."

"You don't need to bring me into this!" said Fluttershy.

"I'm not kidding. Celestia herself couldn't open this infernal present."

Rainbow Dash stared at her.
"Really? That's your excuse?"

"SOMEPONY OPEN THE BLASTED THING!"

Rainbow Dash scowled. She seized it, and tore at the wrapping paper with her teeth.

And then the spring-loaded snakes hit her in the face. The entire room exploded with released tension, expressed in the form of laughter. Fluttershy let go of the somewhat crushed curtain.

"Nice try, Rainbow Dash." Midday smiled, offering a hoof. Rainbow Dash simply glared at her.

"C'mon everypony, this is a party!" Pinkie yelled, "What are you waiting for? Chineighs New Year? Get partying"
Midday was then surrounded by ponies, cutting her off from Rainbow Dash.

*****

Some time later, Twilight was standing by the refreshment table.

"Oh, Twilight dear, aren't you going to dance?" asked Rarity.

"No thanks Rarity." The unicorn stared at Twilight.

"Surely Princess Celestia's prize pupil isn't afraid to dance on her own?"
Twilight blushed.

"No, not at all. I just... it looks so... Well, I have... student's cramp" She said, holding up her front hoof and wobbling it slightly. Rarity did not look impressed.

"I believe that as much as I do one of Generous Embrace's claims of success." she said.

"I thought you'd gotten rid of her."

"She survived. She's like last decades' fashions. She survived, and she always returns, sooner or later, worse than before." Rarity shuddered. Then her expression lightened.

"But I am trying to relax, and not think of that cheap penny-pincher who dares call herself a student of fashion." She smiled that alarming smile.

"I think I shall go have a cup of tea. Relaxing, soothing tea. Always calms the nerves."

Twilight watched as Rarity calmed walked into the kitchen of Sugarcube Corner. She didn't notice Fluttershy behind her.

"Oh no. Is she making tea?"

"Yes."

"Oh dear. I hope it's not Embrace again."

"It is."

"I thought Rarity defeated her last year."

"Apparently not."

"Oh my."

Rainbow Dash slowly slouched towards them, fury over her face.

"No good, rotten low-down, dirty double-faced trickster egghead making fool of me, get revenge whole world..." was all Twilight and Fluttershy heard. She looked at them.

"I don't like her."

"Who?"

"Midday Eclipse." Rainbow Dash spat.

"Rainbow, you tried to trick her into opening a gag present. She just... outmanuevered you. And I don't think she meant any harm by it." Rainbow Dash stared at Twilight.

"That's not the point!" she hissed. "She humiliated me in front of everypony in town."

"Applejack isn't here." Fluttershy said helpfully.

"Almost everypony."

"Or Big Macintosh." Twilight added.

"I get it."

"Or Snowflake."

"How is he?" Asked Fluttershy.
"Not good, but he's improving."

"I really get it."

"Or Sweetie Belle."

"You can stop now."

"Where is she anyway?"

"On holiday."

"Were your school holidays as long as they are now?"

"You can really stop."

"No, mine were always so short. Just as I start relaxing.... it would be over."

"I never really had holidays when I was in Canterlot. What would I do with a holiday? Check out a new library?"

"I was done with this conversation before I started." Rainbow Dash muttered. At which point Pinkie jumped on top of her.

"Aw, is somepony feewing all down in the dumps? C'mon Dashie, smile!" The party pony grinned.

"Don't wanna."

"Uh-oh, negative nelly needs Doctor Pinkie!" Rainbow Dash's eyes went wide.

"Imfeelinbetternowmuchbetterbye" She said, before shooting out the back door.

"So, Pinkie, how's the party going?"
Pinkie shrugged.

"Not bad. I mean, if Applejack were here, then it'd be a Par-tay..." She sighed, "But right now it's just a par-tay." To this she blew into a small horn, which made a sad trumpeting noise.

"Has she started telling stories yet?" Asked Fluttershy. Pinkie nodded vigourously.

"She's got some weird ones. Actually, I think it might be the same one. She takes a long time to get to the point."
They heard laughter from the front of Sugarcube Corner, they looked. Midday was talking to a whole group of ponies, several of whom were grinning.

"- and all of us completely were fine at that moment, so I turned to them and said: "Are you crazy, I'm not going back in there! It's full of oatmeal!" This seemed to get more than a few laughs out of the listeners.

"I've not heard that one..." Pinkie frowned.

"I think she's going to be okay." Twilight said. Though something about that pony was... really familiar.

But it could probably wait.

Author's Note

(The music Pinkie was playing was the theme from the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.)

Flashback the Third: Things Fall Apart

Twilight Twinkle aged twelve
It was a nice quiet day in Ponyville, and Wisp and Fluttershy were eating breakfast, after having fed all the animals. The two sat there, occasionally one of the two would glance up and smile warmly at the other. There was a knocking on the door, and Fluttershy made her way over toward the door, and opened it.

"HEY, WISP!" Twilight Twinkle boomed, the windows rattling as she did so. A few chickens outside clucked nervously, and Whisper Wind and his mother both recoiled from the noise.
"Good morning, Twilight Twinkle." the young colt said, once his hearing came back.

"So you are no longer grounded?"
"I am no longer grounded." the unicorn beamed. She stared at her friend.

"You look kinda... terrible." she said. It was true. In addition to the still visible scars along his backside just past his wings, he looked somewhat pale, and there were noticable bags under his eyes.
He glanced at Fluttershy, then back to Twinkle, "I've not been sleeping well."

The two walked out into the garden, although Fluttershy reminded them not to set hoof near the Everfree Forest, ignoring the obvious fact that she was the one who choose to live next to the forest filled with deadly creatures in the first place. A veritable multitude of questions swarmed through Twinkle's mind, and of course she had brought a list.

"So how do you feed on emotions? Does shapeshifting hurt? How do you know which emotions to feed on? What do they taste like? How can you fly if your wings have holes in them? If you have fangs do you eat meat? If you do, what does meat taste like? Why aren't you sleeping well? (sorry, that's a new one.)"
The changeling stared at her.

"Sorry," the royal blue mare said sheepishly, "I figured it wasn't worth asking all of them." She blushed. He sighed, staring up into the sky.
"My dreams seem to feature singing. Usually ones that turn into full chorus numbers."

"What are they about?" Ghost-like recollections flashed through his mind, disturbing and alien sensations.
"Nothing I can remember." he lied. Twinkle stared at her friend.

"Dreams are just the mind working things out." she just said.
"I suppose. I wish mine were less uniform, and more... nice." For reasons he wasn't sure of, he though of Shining Sapphire.

Twinkle nudged him.
"I think you're just one of nature's grouches."

"Am not."
"Am so!"

*****

Three months later
"I am very sorry, your highness." The sycophantic teacher said to her mother, who just sat there, her face utterly dispassionate. Twilight Twinkle had once again gotten into trouble at school. Or rather some ponies had gotten her into trouble with taunting and more taunting. There had been a lot of them, but not a brain-cell between them.

Taunting a child capable of fighting timberwolves and escaping (mostly) intact was practically labelled as suicide.
Twilight Twinkle ignored the teacher's rambling. She'd heard the same old things before. They wouldn't dare kick her out, partly because the media backlash would probably ruin them, or just word-of-mouth, but she'd still get her ears nagged off or yelled at by her mother. Or worse, the comparisons. The endless comparisons.

The walk back home was quiet. Once they reached home her mother wordlessly walked off, leaving Twinkle sitting by the front door. She looked down at her hooves. She felt something. Something that had been building for a long while. She had been content to ignore it until just that moment. She walked through the rather large house to where her mother was sitting in her study, large amounts of book piled around her.
"Mom?" there was no response.

"Mom?"
"Hmm? Wut...?" She said, focusing on the books. This required greater techniques.

"Mom." The sterner, harsher voice got her attention.
"Yes, my litty filly." She said, smiling. It was an annoying attempt at mimicing Princess Celestia and it didn't really work. Probably on account of Celestia being old and wise enough to get away with it, rather than a forty-something year old who still couldn't dance very well.

"Do you... love me?" Twilight Sparkle looked like someone had stabbed her in the heart.
"Of course I do. Why would you say that?"

Tears welled up in the girl's eyes as she tried not to think of some of the things the bullies had said to her. Her mother sat next to her.
"What is it, sweetie?"

"The other kids at school. They said..." The tears were beginning to flow.
"What did they say?"

"They said... they said..." She sobbed slightly, "They said I'm a failure, because I'm not like you." There was a moment of silence where the only noise in the room was a clock ticking, and some birdsong from outside which did sort of kill the mood slightly.
"What?"

"They said I'd never be any good because I don't have wings!"
The silence from a second ago was replaced with a different, far more awkward silence that absorbed all possible conversation. From a moment nothing happened. Then Twilight Sparkle hugged the small damp puddle that her daughter had turned into.

"Don't you listen to them, dear. Don't you listen." Twinkle's only response was a series of sobs. She continued for several minutes, her mother just gently cradling the foal. Eventually she stopped crying.

"why don't I have wings, mom?" Twilight Sparkle bit her lips. She had vowed to tell her daughter of why she had wings and her child did not, but she hadn't been expecting to do it after her daughter had gotten into trouble for being bullied for not having wings. So she didn't say that. Instead she choose something far worse.

"You don't need wings, Twinkie. You're special just the way you are."

*****

Unfortunately Twilight Sparkle's reassurances did not actually help Twilight Twinkle, and as her school career continued she began to quickly fall behind, a rather dangerous prospect when one had been skipped ahead. And each time, she heard the muttering, the casual remark made without thought.
"Twilight Sparkle could've done that."

"-sure she's actually her daughter?"
"My grandma can do better transfiguration better than that, and she's dead!"

Needless to say, for a twelve (and a bit) year old child, this was unbearable. So, one day a really, really, really foolish idea found its way into Twilight Twinkle's head. Careful studying, and the occasional trip to Ponyville to visit miss Doo, eventually yielded an unusual reward: a spell capable of picking any lock. And using this fantastic lock-picking spell (which apparently wouldn't work on wooden locks, for some reason that Miss Doo would not elaborate on) she stealthily made her way into the Royal Canterlot Archives and after analysing the routes of the guard, and a small amount of mad dashes, managed to find a way into the Star Swirl the Beared wing. Elated with her triumph, she gave a morally ambiguous chuckle, before moving onwards.

*****

"Afternoon" The dark blue stallion said to Twilight Sparkle, who was for once not reading a book. She was reading a newspaper.
"Afternoon" It was the carefully thought-out and well-implemented dialogue of a married couple with little to talk about.

"How's your day been?"
"Quiet." Said Twilight Sparkle. There was a brief pause. After several years of escapades Twilight Sparkle had almost learnt how to not tempt fate. Almost.

She sighed a long-suffering sigh.

*****

A problem with the Royal Canterlot Archives, or more accurately the problem, with the Royal Canterlot Archives, was the sheer disarray of the place. Scrolls were placed in shelves without regard to any form of organisation, which made finding what she was searching for unbelievably difficult, but eventually Twilight Twinkle found what appeared to be a suitable scroll, and chuckled once more. She focused her magic, and began reciting the scroll. As she recited, the corresponding parts of the scroll lit up with an etheral glow.

She had a good feeling about this crazy plan.

Half a minute later and the good feeling was gone as bright light swirled around her. She was vaguely certain she could hear orchestral music. Her legs felt weird, her neck felt weird, her head, her everywhere. Except her eyes. Those felt fine. Weird. After a short while the light and swirling ended, and the music passed away. And she collapsed. Darkness took her.

*****

There was no light, only faint voices and a strange rhythmic noise, high pitched and somewhat irritating. After a while she was sure she could feel something warm touching her front leg.
"I think she's waking up!" A familiar voice said. Her eyes slowly opened, to a blinding light shining straigh into her eyes. She could make out two blurs, one right next to her, and slightly extending over a dark blue blob that was probably her leg. Another was by the greyish / mucus green blob that was solidifying into a hospital bed. This blob soon turned into her father, smiling nervously the way only a concerned parent could. Which meant the other would be...

Yes, it was. It was her mother. Looking both concerned and disapproving. Twinkle tried to move, only to find her legs weren't quite moving the way she would have wished. At closer inspection the reason became obvious.
They were longer than they should have been. Much longer. Panicked thoughts began to race through her head.

"So... guessing the spell didn't work?" She said nervously.
"What were you thinking?" Her mother snapped, "Breaking into the Star Swirl the Bearded wing of the Royal Canterlot Archives and playing around with experimental spells? What were you trying to do?"

"Guessing it didn't work." She looked at the nervous look on her father's face.
"What?" Then something occured to her. The word 'longer' came to mind. She lifted a leg. A long, flexible leg.

"That wasn't what I was hoping for" She eventually said.
"It seems you aged yourself by about four years. You look like a sixteen year old now." Her father said, glancing occasionally at Twilight Sparkle's livid expression.

She waved the hoof in front of her face.
"Oh." She said. For a moment, she had presumed she'd just been out for that long.

"Four years doesn't sound that bad" she added, limply. Twilight Sparkle said nothing, merely walking out of the room. Twinkle looked at her father.
"Your mother's just... taking this a bit hard. You've been out for a while. And we... well..." he looked trailed off for a moment. Then he smirked slightly.

"You should have heard her wondering about how you got into the Star Swirl wing. I thought she was going to write a paper on it."
Father and child smirked at that. He walked over to her and smiled.

"You just rest up." He said, before walking out of the room, leaving Twinkle with nothing to do, save a book her mother had left. As it turned out, it was... well, about adult life.
"Mom has a sense of humour." Twinkle said, eyes wide in shock.

*****

As it turned out, being sixteen was difficult. It took a few months to get used to the longer legs and body, and she frequently found herself bumping into things by accident. And that was before being a body that had reacted to going from twelve to sixteen in the same manner most cats reacted to being woken up. Worse still, Twilight Sparkle kept treating her like she was ten. The only consolation was that Wisp and Shining Sapphire both reacted with considerable aplomb.

"How unusual." Wisp had said, the same way somepony would say 'it's raining again'.

"Suits you" was Shining Sapphire's remark.

*****

Of course, eventually being a twelve (and a bit) year old in the body of a sixteen year old became routine, as if children routinely aged themselves by four years. Everything seemed fine and both Twilights overcame the whole 'broke into a library' situation, and merely settled into an arrangement where neither talked to the other for prolonged periods, occasionally acknowledging each other at mealtimes at the most.
Twinkle found herself feeling okay with such a situation however. Until one day...

*****

Twilight Twinkle aged fifteen (physically nineteen)
The day was lovely. Birds chirped in the sky, clouds wafted lazily and a slight breeze cooled faces warmed by the lovely summer sun.

The only possible dampner was Twilight Twinkle complaining.
"Mom, I'm not a little kid. Magic shows are boring." She said, in a particularly whiny tone.

"Oh, don't complain. Just sit through to the first break, for me?"
Twinkle pouted. She would have rather been somewhere else. Perhaps with Wisp, who was getting to be rather tall and... muscled. There was an odd feeling in the air, one she couldn't put her hoof on, but it was driving her to distraction.

The show started, and everything seemed fine. The blue showmare seemed to like the sound of her own voice though. She performed all the usual tricks, a few brags, occasional bald-faced lies (as Twilight Sparkle kindly pointed out). Everything went well for about half an hour. Then everything went dark. Not because she'd gone unconcious. The sun was still there, but the colour wasn't reaching them. And the magician on stage was nowhere to be seen.

"Ladies and Gentlestallions, we regret to inform you that the Bland and Uninteresting Trixie has been cancelled." Twinkle looked at her mother, who looked utterly confused, and terrified.
"Instead, we present a far more entertaining fare." A strange jaunty tune started playing out of nowhere.

"Presenting, the one, the only, the dashing and desirable..."
A strange, mish-mashed creature appeared on the stage, wearing a top hat and carrying a cane, which it promptly tossed away. The cane hit the ground and exploded into a shower of strange balls of fur.

"Discord has returned!"

Author's Note

Dun-dun-duuuuuuuuuun!
Coming up next: The Glorious Five-Day Prank War of Righteousness (A story intended for Princess Celestia, but others should probably read it)

The Great Rainbow Brain Swap

Midday could feel sunlight moving across her face. That meant it was daytime, and she had to get up. She slowly yawned.
Her mouth felt unusually dry. How odd. And her bed, it felt strangely feathery. And really bouncy.

And utterly unlike her usual bed. Her eyes opened. She found herself staring at somepony else's ceiling. And somepony else's floor, and somepony else's everything! She quickly leapt out of the bed. She looked around for any clue as to where she was. The room was blank. And dark. Really, really dark. She tried to cast something to illuminate the room. Nothing happened. She reached up with her hoof.

All she felt was her hair. Which felt somewhat greasy and unwashed. Or to be completely accurate, it felt really greasy and unwashed.

She walked over to the light and found the switch. Brilliant light flooded the room. There were odd swirl-like patterns in the walls and pseudo-classical pillars every few feet.

"I think I prefered the lights off" she said. Then she froze. That didn't sound like her voice. That sounded like... like...

"Oh, Celestia no..." She closed her eyes and turned her head to face flankward.

"To whatever force governs my life, if you really love me don't let me be right."

She slowly opened one eye. And another. There was no mistaking the sight before her eyes.
A pair of cerise eyes stared at her, beyond which was a sky-blue coated body, and one sky-blue wing, and beyond that, resting on the flank, the Cutie Mark of a cloud with a multi-coloured lightning bolt jutting out of the bottom.

She screamed. It seemed the best course of action.

After about two minutes she stopped, if only because 'her' throat was starting to hurt, and tried to recall the events of last night.

She remembered waking up yesterday morning, or rather being woken up by Twilight, informing her that everypony would be returning to Ponyville after breakfast. Then there was breakfast, and they had returned to Ponyville, and her first action beyond that was to find Big McIntosh and give him the annoyingly expensive Smarty Pants doll.

She smiled a bit at the thought of seeing his quite adorable grin, and the muttered 'thanks' before he'd rushed off with it. Then had been general lazing about all day beyond that, save Twilight's attempts to interrogate her on where she'd learnt how to sing in the Traditional Canterlot Voice, and in fact what she'd been singing. And then...
She'd gone to sleep. That was all.

She stood there. Obviously Rainbow Dash would be in her body, and leaving what was essentially a pony-shaped weapon of mass destruction in Rainbow Dash's possession was incredibly foolish. She gave 'her' wings an experimental flap. And tried again.

"Yeah. I have wings" she muttered.

She stood there, in Rainbow Dash's bedroom, and suddenly felt a malicious desire to look under the mare's bed.
She found a small box. Inside were several pictures, most of them including the girls, one had her standing under a banner proclaiming 'Welcome to Ponyville' and a slightly younger looking Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie smiling at the camera, Rainbow Dash making a show of looking irritated. In the background was a distinctive yellow pegasus wearing sunglasses and a shawl. Another showed all six of them wearing the Elements of Harmony. One had an incredibly young Rainbow Dash standing next to several ponies wearing body-covering blue flight suits, an amazingly cheerful grin on her face. And the last photo had Rainbow Dash smiling at the camera, standing next to a griffon who looked completely uninterested in whatever the two were doing. Said griffin's face had been scribbled over, which did make determining her actual mood difficult

She gently put the photos back. She felt rotten for doing that. Then she saw what appeared to be a poster. She almost expected it to be a Wonderbolts poster, but instead it was... Shining Armor. There were small love hearts scribbled around his head.

Her screaming conscience attack was suddenly replaced by outright embarrasment, and she quickly returned the poster to the box and the box to back underneath the bed.

Perhaps it was time to find Rainbow Dash before she did some irreperable damage to the mare's reputation.
Immediately. Right away. The minute she finished what she was thinking.

But... wings.

*****

She stood on the front doorstep of Rainbow Dash's house, breathing in. She was in Rainbow Dash's body, a pegasus body. It could break the speed of sound, so just flying about would be like jumping off a log. She couldn't just sit there and wait for her body with Rainbow Dash's mind to show up, knowing the differences between that mare's sleep cycle and her own.

She jumped. The wind rushed past her head and the ground started to get closer. She opened 'her' wings and started to glide. She flapped the wings once more, and felt herself move slightly upward. She could see so far, all over Ponyville, all over Sweet Apple Acres, although the Everfree forest seemed to just stretched on forever.

She smiled, and started trying to accelerate, flapping the wings faster, and the world began to blur. She decided to try turning.

After a few minutes soaring through the air she tried landing, hitting part of the dirt road leading between Ponyville and Canterlot a bit harder than she'd meant, but still landing intact.

Her head was spinning.

The rush! She felt so full of energy. She wanted to kick down the doors and walls and ascend to the sky in steps of fire. She wanted to pull all the switches and throw all the levers and stick her hoof in the electric socket of the universe.
Was this what Rainbow Dash felt like all the time?! No wonder she never seemed to be all there!

"Hey, Dash!" Somepony yelled. She looked up. A yellow and cyan pegasus was glowering at her. Raindrops, wasn't it?

"Uh, hey?" she said.

"You actually gonna show up to work today?" she said. From the sound of it, this wasn't something Rainbow Dash did often.

"Yeah, sorry, just felt like doing a little early morning flying" she said, trying on a sheepish grin. The pegasus gave her a suspicious glare.

She slowly took to the air. Raindrops turned and started flying away. Rainbow Dash followed after her.

The two mares flew to a group of pegasus clustered over what appeared to be the Ponyville Weather Center. At least, she presumed it was the PWC. She'd never actually checked.

"Oh, you actually found her" one mare said. She vaguely recognised the mare as being the same one who'd made that lewd remark during her 'duel' with Trixie.

"You alright?" Some other pony said.

"I'm just not feeling myself today." She said. For some reason that didn't hurt like cliches usually did. Maybe Rainbow Dash's body had a higher shame tolerance.

"Well, boss, what's on the docket?" She looked about. Several sets of eyes were on her. She turned to Raindrops and shrugged. The pegasus simply rolled her eyes.

"Well, fortunately I know what the plan for today is." She quickly began rattling off a series of orders. Midday tried to keep up, but since she'd never really studied weather most of what Raindrops was saying quickly became gibberish. Everypony quickly set off in varied directions, and then Raindrops turned to look at her. She looked concerned.

"Problem?"

"Yeah. What I am supposed to do?"
Raindrops stared at her.

"I just told you" she said. She sighed and buried her face in her hoof.

"Just once... could you pay attention? All I ask is that you pay attention for once." She muttered. From the sound of it, Rainbow Dash acted like this a lot.

"Well just tell me what to do."
She did.

"Could you simplify that a bit?"
Raindrops sighed again.

"Kick that cloud, that could, that cloud, and move that one a bit higher up."

"That's it?"
"Yeah. That's it" Raindrops said.
She quickly set about doing as told, before flying back to Raindrops.

"Better. Though you were a bit slower than usual." Midday felt unusually aggravated at that.

"And?"

"Nothing, it's just not like you to be so slow. Or to not brag a little once you're done."
She shrugged.

"Told you I wasn't feeling myself today."

"Well, don't worry, that's you done. You can go take a nap or... whatever it is you do with your afternoon."

"Thanks. See you around." She quickly turned and left, leaving an utterly confused Raindrops. Had Rainbow Dash just said 'thanks'?

*****

She soared through the air, enjoying the feel of the wind in her hair. This was brilliant. She could fly.

Although she was also wondering exactly how this situation had presented itself. She couldn't remember it, so either somepony had erased her memory,, or it had happened in her sleep, or it had been an accident. An accident. Somepony messing about with dangerous magic without so much as a clue as to what they were doing and all of a sudden a unicorn knew what it was like to fly.

"Of course." She muttered. She stopped, remembering only too late that flying wasn't anywhere like running.
On the plus side, she wasn't flying too high, so hitting the ground only hurt a lot, rather than breaking anything.

"Ow." She deadpanned. She slowly got to her feet. She was on the edge of town. Maybe walking was an idea, unless she wanted to return Rainbow Dash's body to its original owner with a lot more dents.

She quickly found a flaw in this plan. Evidently Rainbow Dash wasn't used to walking much, as she soon began to feel her legs hurting.

"I thought she was an athlete. Why the heck..." She muttered. Then she realised it was just the legs.

"Right. Probably doesn't use them so much. Not when she can fly." Still, she ignored the legs and kept walking. She slowly walked into town, ignoring the growing problem of her legs screaming out for rest and her increasingly itchy scalp. Well, she ignored the legs, at any rate.

"Doesn't she ever wash you?" She muttered, stopping to scratch her head for the fifteenth time. She sighed. She was barely anywhere and the itchy scalp was probably going to make her more and more irritable. There was only one solution. She braced herself, and leapt into the air, trying not to make a big deal about defying gravity.

She could fly! Like her mother, or Aunt Cadance or Sapphy. Okay, so it was nowhere near how she'd expected to attain it, but still. She was flying.

In what was technically a stolen body.

She looked about the town for the varied purples of Carousel Boutique. She spotted it, and soared towards it, trying to land with a modicum of grace.

She almost managed it. Still, Rarity probably wouldn't be that upset over the four gouges in what she probably considered her front garden. Not for very long at any rate.

She walked into the boutique, and found... chaos. Bits of clothing were scattered everywhere, dresses lying around like some truly bizarre warzone, bits of fabric trailing everywhere. Of Rarity, there was no sign.

"No, no, no, no-no-no-no!" There was a pained wail from upstairs. Midday quickly launched herself up the stairs. She tried to determine where the noise was coming from, igoring the possibility that Rarity was probably just having problems with her designs. She smashed the door to Rarity's Inspiration Room down. There was a yelp.

"Rainbow Dash! Knock next time!" The unicorn said, not at all surprised at Rainbow Dash('s body) breaking parts of her property.

"Sorry. I just heard yelling and thought you were in trouble, or something." She muttered.

"Oh, I'm quite alright, Rainbow Dash. Your concern is touching, but I was merely having a problem with my work." She pouted.

"Which looks better to you, green or purple?" Midday blinked.

"I can honestly say I have never given that any thought."

"Well, I'm trying to choose one for pocket lining."

"Pocket... lining? Does anypony care about the colour of somepony's pocket lining?"

"YES! It is essential! The wrong colour of pocket lining could ruin hours of tireless work!" She sighed.

"And my work was going so well. Aside from the occasional act of Opal, who keeps meowing and hissing at me for some reason." She buried her head in her legs.

"Artist's block. My enemy, my bane! It learns Rainbow Dash! It learns, it grows! It becomes that which you cannot escape! Failure is the thing that gives and gives forever!" There was a few moments of Rarity just breathing heavily. Then she looked up, and seemed more composed.

"But enough about myself. Is everything alright with you, dear Rainbow?"

"Yes. Why?" Midday said, shuffling nervously.

"You sound... out of sorts. You seem to be enunciating more than usual."
Her mind strained to think of a plausible excuse. Most of it was still going over being able to fly.

"Well, probably just some of Canterlot rubbing off on me. It'll probably wear off in a few days. I hope it's before I start drinking tea and eating biscuits. I think if I start making dresses I'll have to start a fight with a pack of Diamond Dogs or something."
She expected Rarity to make some retort to the 'making dresses' remark. She just nodded.

"Indeed. I think we all remember your attempt at dressmaking."

That one, Midday had not been expecting. Rainbow Dash had tried dressmaking? When? How many had died?

"Yeah" She muttered.

"But, of course, we all agreed not to speak of it again." She muttered something under her breath about diamonds that Midday couldn't catch.

"Is there a reason you visisted me? Was it something to do with Midday Eclipse?"

"Pardon?"

"Oh, you've gotten over your foalish grudge against her have you? Excellent. We can all return to sanity. Except that Trixie, still wearing that awful hat and cape." The fashionista shuddered, and Midday decided not to mention that they were family heirlooms (Or so Trixie had said, and Trixie said an awful lot once she got going).

"Actually, Rarity... I was kinda wondering if you had any... hair conditioner." Rarity looked so startled it was a miracle her curls didn't straighten.

"Hair conditioner? Why?" She looked crestfallen. "You aren't engaging in another childish prank war again, are you?"

"No, no" She scratched her head again, "It's just that my hair is super-itchy right now."

"Well, I do have some I could lend." Rarity mused. She walked past Rainbow Dash, and sniffed. Her nostrils flared.

"Egad, Rainbow Dash. When did you last wash?" She chocked. Her horn glowed and a handkerchief floated in front of her mouth.

"You smell like Spike's breath after he's eaten a curry." She turned pale at that.

"Why Twilight thought that was a good idea, I shall never know. She's from Canterlot, why oh why does she not act the part?" She led Rainbow Dash to a small bathroom, opened a truly large cupboard that seemed to take up most of the room and floated a bottle of conditioner.

"You do know how to use shampoo, of course?" she said, though she appeared to be joking.

*****

Some ten minutes of careful hair-cleaning later, and she was sitting calmly as Rarity waved a hairdryer about her.

"I must ask, Rainbow Dash, why come to me for hair-styling? There isn't some hidden purpose is there?"

"Like what? Spreading crazed conspiracy theories about accountants from Canterlot?"
Rarity shrugged, and smirked.

"Well, I thought perhaps if you were here asking for shampoo you had a... ulterior motive."

"No."
Rarity made a noise of disappointment.

"Well, no matter. I'm always willing to help a friend. Though I am not a salon, I must point out."

"True, but you know me and spas" Midday said, hoping that Rainbow Dash of the past was not the sort of pony who frequented spas. All previous evidence of her behaviour indicated it was a safe bet.

"Yes, yes. You could be a bit cultured, Rainbow Dash. I am quite certain you won't drop dead just from having a hooficure or straightening your mane once in a while."

"Why take the chance?" She smiled.
Rarity just made a dramatic noise of exasperation.

"Very well." She walked up to 'Rainbow Dash'.

"Is it because you have a secret coltfriend?" She said. Good grief, but she had a mind like a steel trap. No idea in there escaped unscathed.

"What? Rarity, I'm not here for any secret reason. I just need to wash my hair."

"If you say so." This was going to be irritating. And it called for desperate measures.

"You keep on like this, and Pinkie Pie might learn about certain things you keep hidden." Rarity scoffed.

"Rainbow Dash, please. I have no secrets to hide."

"No? No crushes you had on anypony when you were younger?" Rarity's outer facade remained cooly detached, but she could see something in the eyes. Just the faintest hint of alarm.

"Certain... strapping stallions, perhaps? Ones in uniform, no less?" There was a pained squeak, and she could swear Rarity was gritting her teeth. She grinned.

"Oh, Rarity. You did, didn't you?" She guffawed, and started rubbing her hooves together. This was incredibly unlike her.

"Let me guess, you wrote sappy poetry."

"I didn't!"
Midday took a deep breath.

"It's not Shining Armor himself, is it?"

"Not at all!" Rarity squealed instantly at that, covering her mouth in shock.

"Don't you tell anypony! Or... or... or I'll turn you into a quilt!" She hissed.

"My lips are sealed. And... Oh, look at the time. Gotta go!" Midday smirked, before rushing out of the room and down the stairs. She rushed out into the cool winter air. She looked around for something to tell her the time. Was her own body even awake yet? How would she know?

Actually, if it was Rainbow Dash in her body, she probably would know. She decided to head to the library, intent of confronting Twilight, still feeling quite assured in the unicorn's guilt in this matter. Just so long as there were no distractions, such as...

"Rainbow Dash!" Somepony yelled. It took her a few seconds to remember that for all intents and purposes at that moment, she was Rainbow Dash. She turned to see Scootaloo rushing towards her.

"Hey, Scootaloo" She said, as the filly stopped just a few hooves from her. As she said that, she could swear she saw a glimmer of unrestrained joy in Scootaloo's eyes.

"You ready to hang out?" She said. Midday said nothing.

"You... do remember what you said, right? Unless-" She suddenly went quiet and unemotional, "- you know, something's come up and you're busy. I understand."

"No, no, let's go hang out." The small pegasus cheered, though fortunately without her friends this effect was greatly lessened.

"Though I should warn you, I'm not quite my usual radical, awesome self."

"That's okay" Scootaloo said.

"Do you know what time it is?" Midday asked.

"I dunno. About ten-ish, I guess. Why?"

"Because it's ten-ish on a Monday, so something weird's probably gonna happen."

"I hate Mondays." Scootaloo said, in the way only a schoolkid can.

"Everypony hates Mondays." Midday said.

*****

Twenty minutes later
There was a harsh, unfamiliar beeping noise just outside her head. Blindly, she bashed her hoof against the side-table, hoping to destroy the unwanted noisemaker. A harsh click confirmed that it was gone or at least deactivated, and she returned to snoozing.

"Come on, up and at them" a cheerful voice said. A voice that sounded entirely like Twilight Sparkle.
Rainbow Dash quickly leapt to her hooves, and then panicked. She couldn't feel her wings. She couldn't feel her wings! What was going on?

She looked around. She was in the library. What the hay was going on? She looked around. Twilight was staring at her.

"What am I doing here?" She asked, slowly. Her voice sounded weird. And her hair felt weird, all soft and pleasant.

"The same thing you do every morning?" Twilight laughed. Why was she laughing?

"No, seriously Twilight. What's going on?" She looked confused.

"Well, I was just going over the shelves. I thought at the weekend I'd reorganise them. I think maybe we need a bit of a shake-up to stop us getting complacent." The unicorn mused.

"No, Twilight, what's going on with me being in the library and why can't I feel my wings?" She said. She was scared. Rainbow Dash felt utterly, utterly scared. And she couldn't show it, nopony could know.

"Wings? Are you feeling alright, Midday?" She frowned. Rainbow Dash looked around for a mirror. She saw one, and pretty much lunged at it. She looked into it.

Staring back at her was a horrified royal blue furred face staring back at her with its burnt orange eyes. She looked up to see a horn, emerging from a head of deep blue hair that had two orange stripes going through it.

Clearly there was only one reaction.

Rainbow Dash screamed.

Author's Note

This would've been out earlier, but then the upgrade hit and, well...
Anyway, a nice zany chapter to counterbalance the last one. Well, until I realise that being in someone else's body is a form of identity theft...

Total Lack of Holiday Hi-Jinks

Midday waited a few moments for Twilight Velvet to start showing the girls (and Spike) photos of Twilight Sparkle as a filly, and quickly slipped upstairs to check her bags. She noticed Twilight in her room, looking somewhat embarrassed.
"Just going out to do... stuff." Midday said to her. Twilight just made a noise like she wasn't really paying attention.

"Utterly unimportant stuff." Twilight just made another noise.
"Be back soon."
She walked down the stairs, and out to the door. There was a slight noise as something landed behind her. It was Rainbow Dash.

"And where are you going?" the pegasus asked. Midday turned to look at her, utterly impassive.
"Out" she said. "As fun as seeing how adorable Twilight Sparkle looked as a filly must be, I do have things I need to attend to."
Rainbow Dash just nodded in disbelief.

"Well, maybe I could come with you." There was a noise from upstairs. Midday knew Twilight Sparkle, she knew how the mare's brain worked, and she knew the design of the family house and the placement of Twilight's bedroom made listening into to conversations really easy.
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight Sparkle yelled, "Where do you think you're going?!" There was a pop, and an irate Twilight appeared in front of the pegasus.

"Out. There are things I gotta do."
"Are these things more important than practicing for the most. Important. Play. Of the YEAR?!" Rainbow Dash found she had been backing up when she backed into the banister. She stared into Twilight's eyes, and instantly recognised the problem.

They'd been asked to perform the play by Princess Celestia. Asked. By Princess Celestia. And if they failed, Rainbow Dash was certain, five certain ponies would be up the chocolate creek without a straw. Sudden images of a demonic-looking stuffed doll came homing into Rainbow Dash's mind, though she honestly wasn't sure why.
"N-no" she said, before coughing and shoring up some stored brado. "No, Twilight, not at all."

The frown on Twilight's face vanished, and she smiled an alarming sweet smile.
"Good."

Midday smiled, nodded and walked out of the door, trying not to laugh at Rainbow Dash's irritated expression. The mare returned to the 'drawing room' (Though she couldn't see a single piece of paper or pencil. It was probably some fancy-pants unicorn thing) and siddled up to Rarity.
"No good" she whispered.

"Just going to have to wait until the play then."
"Got it."

The speedster fumed. Waiting. Although the fact that she got to play Commander Hurricane was something. It was just a shame she had to share the stage.

*****

Midday walked down the street, wondering what she was going to do in regards to Hearth's Warming presents. For some reason she felt strongly tempted to buy them books. Books were easy to carry and find. But then, Rainbow Dash of the past seemed to have some grudge against reading, Pinkie probably couldn't summon the attention span to read, Applejack would probably make up some nonsense about not having the time to read, and Rarity probably only read truly awful novels about incredibly stupid young mares 'falling in love' with tall dark moody strangers who weren't actually ponies.
Midday bit her lip at the thought of that.

'Perhaps I should check elsewhere then. I can get books later'.
She walked through the streets of Canterlot, noticing the snow have been carefully removed from the paths, making her wonder why anypony went to the effort of making it snow if they were just going to get rid of it ten minutes later, especially after that whole song and dance routine. She tried desperately to ignore the catchy tune, which seemed to not actually have left her mind, only to have stepped outside for a moment to get some air and maybe use the facilities.

She sighed, and continued onward toward the best place to buy things for the aspiring thespians.

*****

"To be, or not to be, that is the que-"
"Rarity! We're not doing that play. Stick to the script."

"But it's so dreary, and staid!"
"Let me guess, Rar', you wan' some tall, dark 'n handsome fella to come along and marry ya, even though he's got not no reason to like ya."

"How did you figure that one out?"
"Y' ever see Rarity do a book report at school, Rainbow? Ah have."

"Girls, I think we should get back to rehearsing. Twilight's making odd noises."

*****

Midday walked leisurely past various stores selling thing that almost looked like they might sell things that the others would like, but wouldn't. There were a truly staggering amount of clothes shops, which she knew Rarity wouldn't like, since the mare preferred to design her own clothes rather than buy them. There were sporting goods stores, which Rainbow probably wouldn't like, all evidence pointing to the fact that the speedster preferred practicing as she was, jokes stores provided difficult because she was sure what sort of things Pinkie preferred to use.
She found her train of though interupted by her bumping into something solid, which was in fact the rear end of a pony.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I sh-... You?" The pony said. Midday looked at the complete stranger staring at her.
"Does everpony in this town say that? Is there some modern slang definition of the word 'you' we are unfamiliar with?"

Then she looked at the mare's eyes, a rather distinctive purple colour, and she remembered the things she'd been told about eyes, and shapeshifters, something Wisp had mentioned at some point. You couldn't disguise the nature of your eyes.
"Oh, goodness. I didn't recognise you there, Cele-" The mare held up a hoof to her face.

"Say one more syllable and I hurl you into the sun."
"And what did you do with your voice? It's all cute!" Midday couldn't help beaming, and giggling at the fact that she was 'beaming' at the Princess of the Sun in disguise, who was beginning to blush. She tried to stop herself, and took a deep breath.

"Sorry, but you do look quite adorably awkward like that. What are you doing out here, anyhow?"
"Buying Hearth's Warming gifts, mostly for my sister." The disguised diarch leaned in. "And avoiding itchy clothing." She winked. Instantly Midday understood.

"Y'know," she said, walking onwards, Celestia trotting beside her, which her mind noted was extremely weird even for a pony who had once rappelled into the Underworld, "That's something I've always wanted to ask. Can you knit? Can Luna knit?"
Celestia blushed, Midday trying not to look surprised at that. She'd embarrased Celestia. Another thing she could never tell anypony.
"No." she said quietly. Then she seemed to shore herself up.

"It's something to do with being an alicorn, I think. Phenominal cosmic power. Can't knit to save our life."
"Have you tried?" Then she remembered that there were numerous reports of Celestia being found during the winter seasons wearing what looked like uncomfortable woollen... sweaters, perhaps, and guessed in all likelihood she had.

"So... You're not the pony knitting them, and Luna isn't the knitting sort, so..." She stopped dead. She stared at Celestia and grinned.
"No."

"Yes."
Midday laughed out loud. Several passers-by stared at her.

"Sorry, that was mean" she said once she managed to stop. "But still, all these years, and you've been wearing sweaters knitted by your niece?" A sly grin crossed her face. "That's so cute."
"I'll have you arrested."

"You could try, but... that might prove a bit difficult, bearing in mind who my mother is, and what that would make me."
"Oh, yes."

"And then there's the fact that my uncle trained me in several styles of combat."
"Really?"

"Yeah. I spent hours following him about begging him to teach me what he knew. He gave in eventually."
She giggled at the memory, then leaned in towards Celestia.

"But then, you know exactly what guard training is like, don't you?"
Celestia looked uneasy.

"Perhaps."
"Come on, you were considered the second-greatest guard who ever was! Even Shining Armor is compared to you. The wonderful Super Nova. How nopony caught on from the name alone, I can't tell."

Celestia smirked.
"You know, I'm really not sure either. Though I think disguising myself as a unicorn, making my hair look ginger and changing my voice probably helped a lot."

Midday nodded.
"That'd do it."

*****

"Stop, stop, stop! Fluttershy, you're doing it wrong."
"Sorry, Twilight."

"I mean, your delivery, great. Tone, great, poise, great. But you just aren't doing it right."
"This is the silliest stuff Trixie has ever seen! I don't suppose when you're done with this play we could go on tour, could we?"

*****

"Really?" Celestia said, staring at what Midday had decided to buy.
"What? I think it's cute. Don't you think it's cute?"

Celestia frowned.
"Perhaps. Maybe even a bit too cute."

"Well, that is sort of the point, I think. It's a nice overly-cute tea cosy. I'm thinking it'll at least get a giggle out of Rarity."
She stopped and considered this, and Rarity's general behaviour. Rarity was many things: generous, lovely, graceful, devious when required, a bit over-dramatic, but she was not one of nature's gigglers.

"It'll get a guffaw out of her" Midday amended. She mulled that statement and nodded to herself, assured that if Rarity was to react, she would certainly guffaw.
"So, what are you buying for Luna?" Celestia pointed at a small display, showing a strange box with a handle on the top of it, and what appeared to be a series of gears.

"A coffee... grinder?" Midday looked at it. She gave a small 'hmm'.
"Unusual device. Surely she's got something like that already?"

"She broke it, apparently" Celestia said, though she didn't sound anywhere near convinced.
"Well, I've got something, you've found what you're after, shall we go?"

*****

As the two ponies walked along the streets, Midday kept looking about. A long buried concern finally managed to dig its way out of the darker parts of her mind.
"Can I ask you something?"

"You've been asking me questions for the last hour." Midday rolled her eyes at that.
"Yes, well, I was just wondering, have been for a while, why is it-"

"There are no bakers in Canterlot?"
Midday blinked. "... Yes, actually."

She could've sworn Celestia looked slightly... sheepish.
"It's so that nopony can bake cake anywhere near me."

Midday understood that well enough, and grinned. Celestia's cavalier consumption of cake was a widely denied fact, despite hardworking tabloids constantly posting photos of the solar diarch chowing down on immense gateaus. She briefly wondered if the Royal Press corps was responsible for the outright denial of something Celestia was clearly trying to make plain as day, in some misguided but well-meaning attempt to defend their princesses' honour.
"Royal Decree, actually. No bakeries in Canterlot."

Midday just nodded.
"Well, that's hardly the weirdest decree in all of pony-law. What about the Invitation Act? (which has never actually been repealed)"

"I was just wondering the other day whether anypony remembered that one." Celestia said, mirthfully.
The Invitation Law was... an odd and frankly surreal chapter in Canterlot legal history. At some point two hundred years ago some pony had got the idea into their head to make invitations for tea and biscuits a legally binding summons, and had managed to get it turned into a law. Strangely enough, this increased party attendance in Canterlot by a staggering amount, as well as the overall sum of lawsuits. Eventually the law was quietly buried and forgotten by every pony under the sun, save lawyers of course.

"So, what next, after buying coffee preparing devices?" Midday asked
"Well, I was going to buy something for Twilight Sparkle, perhaps a book?"

The two mares stared at each other for a moment.
"Did I honestly just say that?" Celestia laughed.

*****

Midday looked around the bookstore. Her mind raced with a thousand thoughts and their derivatives. She looked at one book and flicked her way through it.
"Nope" she muttered. She looked at another. She slammed it shut, and noticed the slight puff of dust when it closed.

"Nope." She moved along. She looked at another. And another and another and another. And so this continued on for ten minutes.
Eventually she found a book that looked promising. She flipped through this one, slowly this time.

She looked at it, she looked at the cover, the writer, the little inside blurb that usually everypony ignored. She nodded approvingly.
The trick, she mused, of buying books for Fluttershy is that she was easily frightened. Bears, she could handle, manticores were fine, certain types of dragon could be easily dismissed, but snakes, spiders and basilisks were right out. And, should she have seen them, Fluttershy would have been as well.

She sighed. Fluttershy seemed to be an almost unstoppable force with knowledge of writing, sewing, botany, animal care, and she was fairly certain knew tons about singing, but one picture of a scary looking giant snake, and she'd pass out?
That mare, Midday told herself, had issues.

*****

"Oh, is this normal?"

"Don't worry mom, it's not your fault, Rarity's just got a fear of cheese."

"... I see. I suppose somepony ought t- that was fast."

"Pinkie!"

*****

Midday found Celestia looking at a row of Daring Do books.
"Which ones do she have?" the disguised monarch asked.

Midday's brow furrowed.
"You know, I'm not quiet sure. I know she's got the first few, but I don't think she's got the latest one."

"So, should I buy it? What if it turns out she's already bought it?"
"Then she can put it in the library. Or keep it for use on long journeys."

"Will she be going on long journeys?" Celestia said innocently, raising an eyebrow.
Midday gave the issue some thought.
"Better to err on the side of caution. She might need a spare."

*****

"Rainbow, Rainbow, just a pointer, not that you aren't doing well, but could you be a bit louder?"
"... How much louder?"

"Just a little bit."
"You were supposed to give a percentage, Twilight. Alright, alright, fine, I'll be louder."

"Not too much louder, if you don't mind."
"Of course, Mrs T."

*****

Some time later, and Midday stood triumphant. She had overcome the struggle of buying a gift for Rainbow Dash, and managed to more-or-less drag Celestia from the Ailse of P'ink while at the same time having found something to buy for Pinkie. She had everything on her list, including books for Twilight, Fluttershy and Trixie, which she hoped the mares would appreciate, potentially leading to enjoyment.
"Well, I think that's everything" Midday said, trying to ignore the weight on her back.

"Well, this was certainly an interesting experience." Celestia said, "And I hope the play goes well."
"Well, with the most powerful magic wielder alive, the heir of one of the greatest illusionists ever, and me, who can simultaneously be both, I'm sure it'll be... interesting. And watching Rainbow Dash try to act should be worth the admission price alone."

Celestia made a small noise that sounded neither interested nor alarmed, and shifted her weight.
"Have a happy Hearth's Warming then" she said, her wings beginning to beat.

"Likewise, your higness. All the best to Luna and Cadance."
Midday watched as Celestia flittered off vaguely in the direction of the castle, sighed and began her walk back towards Twilight's house, trying not to hum any variety of song.

*****

She opened the door, and tried to keep the invisibility charms working, slowly making her way up the stairs. Once she'd gotten to the small bed she was sleeping on, she placed the bags and boxes down, and let them drop. She stood there, and considered that it was still three days until Hearth's Warming Eve, and she'd managed to accomplish all the shopping. She allowed herself a brief victory grin. Then she made her way to the drawing room, where everypony was. Evidently Twilight was instructing Rarity on how to act as a more accurate Princess Plantinun, while Pinkie Pie and Spike were playing some card game, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy and Trixie meanwhile had somehow been stolen away by Twilight Velvet to look at more photos of Twilight Sparkle.

"And here's her from Nightmare Night a few years ago."
"Goodness, that must've been shortly after the first Daring Do book came out." Fluttershy said.

"Yes, the very same year, actually. She bought the book with her own money and read it a thousand times. I think she took it with her when she moved to Ponyville."
"Hi Midday" Pinkie Pie cheered, and waved. Midday waved back, and quickly made her way to the nearest sofa and collapsed.

"Have a nice day out?" Pinkie smiled, her game with Spike forgotten.
"Yeah, pretty nice"

"Did you meet any family?" Pinkie continued. Midday's smile evaporated.
"No. No family here for me."

"I thought you said you were from Canterlot" Rainbow Dash said.
"Doesn't mean there's anypony I want to see here though."

"Not even us?" Pinkie asked. Midday looked straight at the manic mare. She considered the best possible way to answer that question.
"That's not quite what I meant."

"What did you mean?"
Midday lifted her hoof up, and made a zipping motion along Pinkie's mouth. Strangely enough, Pinkie started acting like she couldn't speak.

"Midday, what did you just do to Pinkie?" asked Twilight, watching the mare bounce around the room, pretending she couldn't open her mouth.
"Pretended to zip her mouth shut. It'll keep her quiet for a bit." There were some emphatic noises from Pinkie.

"I'd just really like a moment to sit down, I've been walking for over an hour."
"Well, I'm going to need her in a second, so could you... 'un-zip' her?"

Midday waved her hoof and Pinkie bounced over to her, Midday made an unzipped notion and recieved a full breath in her face. It smelt of sugar and frosting.
"Thanks! I thought I was going to have to go without eating there, could you imagine that not being able to eat, I couldn't I'd probably go mad with hunger not eating, I might need something to-"

"Pinkie!" Twilight said. Not yelled, just said. The mare slowly seemed to deflate.
"It's your turn" Twilight said, with all the calm of the eye of a hurricane, while floating a script towards her, and another towards Applejack. Applejack didn't look entirely entheused, although Midday wasn't certain if that was because of having to act alongside Pinkie, or because of the fact that it was 'false'.

She lay there, watching Pinkie reading out the script for Chancellor Puddinghead, and reflected upon what her mother had written on the historical mare, which was not entirely suitable for re-publication, but astoundingly true all the same. Pinkie would have to really act to be anywhere near as mad as Puddinghead.
She looked over at Rarity, leafing her way through the notes and looking... disappointed. She got up, ignoring the slight pains and aches in her legs and walked over to Rarity, carefully avoiding Pinkie performing a circling monlogue, apparently one of Puddinghead's length oades to parrots.

"What's the matter, disappointed that Platinum never married?" The pout on Rarity's face was something to behold.
"You can laugh, but I believe in a good romance."

"Meeting and instantly falling in love with a pony you know nothing about isn't love at first sight, Rarity. That's infatuation. And just because you and Spike have it, doesn't mean it's sure to work."
"Have you ever been in love?" Rarity asked, her voice cold and low.

Midday sat there, and stared at Rarity. A thousand options presented themselves, including a few that while tempting she knew she'd never take.
"I have to use the ladies" she muttered, and walked out of the hallway. Rarity was too busy pondering Midday's reaction to note she hadn't asked where the lavatory was.

Midday eventually returned just as Twilight declared the sessions done.
"Okay, I think we've all got a good understanding of our characters and the script. Now all we need to do is the dress rehearsals tomorrow, and then just keep practicing until Hearth's Warming Eve."

There were cheers. Then Twilight spoke again.
"After all, what could possibly go wrong?"

There was utter silence for several moments, broken only by Midday facehoofing and making a pained groan.

Author's Note

Edit: Bit of an expansion on the shopping spree.

Cutie Mark Crusaders Daytrippers! Part Two

Midday's mind raced. Of all the ponies, in all the world, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had managed to run, literally run, into her. Into Cadance.
'Of course they did. Who else were they really going to run into?' A part of her said. Drastic, immediate action was required to remove them from the area before there was a paradox. Right away. The minute she stopped thinking.

"Are you a princess?" asked Sweetie Belle. "I thought there were only two, Celestia and Luna." Cadance, strangely enough, looked embarrased.
"Well, yes, I am actually." She smiled. The three fillies were impressed. Midday meanwhile, still hadn't moved. Her mind was suddenly filled with a dozen panicked thoughts and desires. It was Cadance. The Cadance, the one and only. Nopony else smiled quite the same way as her, even her own daughter couldn't quite manage it. And then Midday's already hyper-active mind started picking out memories of her cousin, of everything the two had done together, including that time wi-

"So what's got you three running about the streets on a day like today?"
"Well, we were looking for a pizza place, but then we got... a bit lost." Scootaloo said, gingerly. That brought Midday out of her panic-induced state, and she marched over towards the fillies. She stopped right behind them, and coughed politely. She couldn't see their faces, but she knew there was an aura of panic on them. They swivelled to look at her, smiling nervously.

"Hi" Sweetie Belle said. She tried to look more than mildly annoyed, but it was incredibly difficult considering their attempts to look innocent and the fact that Cadance was nearby.
"Sorry about running off" Scootaloo said. "We just thought we'd go look for somewhere to eat, then come back an-" Midday stared at her, and the filly trailed off.

"When Rainbow Dash said 'don't run off', I'm fairly certain she meant you three as well."
"We just wanted to be helpful." Apple Bloom said, looking down at her hooves. Midday tried not to laugh.

"And running around town seemed like the best idea to you?" They tried to look innocent. Midday looked up to see Cadance was still standing there looking slightly amused.
"Ah, where are my manners, Midday Eclipse, your highness, and these three are Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, otherwise known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders." She bowed slightly, not seeing the noticable blush on the mare's face.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders, this is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza." Cadance instantly looked embarrassed.
"Just... Cadance, please" she insisted.

"Just Cadance? That's a kinda weird name." Scootaloo frowned, to which Midday sighed.
"Scootaloo, I'm pretty sure there isn't a Cutie Mark for jokes that bad." Cadance, for her part was smiling, though she did look slightly confused.

"Have we... met before? I'm sure I've seen you somewhere." She said to Midday, who blinked. The last time she'd seen Cadance was... recollection came to her.
"Yes, we have... sort of met before. A few months ago your..." she strained. She knew this was the year Shining Armor had proposed, and it had been Cadance's birthday not three days ago, so she decided to throw concern to the wind. "Your fiancee tried to arrest me, simply for accidentaly teleporting into his lunch. Congratulations, by the way."

Cadance smiled warmly, "Thank you." Then appeared to remember meeting the mare. "Yes, I remember now. But... you seemed to have changed your appearance." It took Midday a moment to remember that she'd had her hair dyed lilac back then. She still wasn't sure why she'd chosen that colour, since from all appearances it just made her look more like Twilight Sparkle. Suddenly she realised why Cadance thought she recognised her.
"Yes, I had my hair dyed back then. And considering what some ponies tend to say, I do have this uncanny resemblance to Twilight Sparkle." She saw the smile on Cadance's face grow larger at the mention of her. "She doesn't see it, herself." Cadance's smile grew wider.

"How is Twilight Sparkle, by the way?"
Midday shrugged. "Same as usual. Loves studying, more studying, writing reports on studying." Cadance nodded. Midday didn't have the heart in her to point out Twilight Sparkle hadn't actually mention her, even a little. Then she looked down towards the Cutie Mark Crusaders, to make sure they hadn't ran off again.
"By any chance, you wouldn't happen to know somewhere that sells quality pizza, would you?" Cadance blinked, before nodding.

"Yes, there's one just two streets down from here." Cadance said, helpfully nodding in the direction they'd came from.
"Thanks." Midday smiled, "You're a lifesaver." Cadance gave a small blush. Midday was quite aware that Scootaloo was rolling her eyes.

"Well, it was nice meeting you. We'll let you get on with your day now" Midday said. As they turned to go, something occured to her, something she'd not even been aware she'd been thinking of. She quickly turned around again.
"Cadance?" She asked, feeling a bit weird at adressing her aunt in such a casual fashion.

"Yes?" The mare said.
"Your special talent, is love, right?" She asked, already knowing the answer to that one.

"Yes." Cadance looked a bit confused.
"So..." Midday fought down the bad memories screaming in her mind, and tried to focus on the question she'd wanted to ask. "If somepony was in love, and something bad happened to their... love, or partner, you'd feel that, right?"

"Yes." Cadance actually looked worried at that question.
"So, if someponies were in love, and one of them was killed, you'd feel it?"

"Well, yes. I think I would." Cadance said, confused and sounding increasingly concerned. The answer was more than Midday had hoped. She smiled again. Cadance suddenly found herself being hugged by a royal blue unicorn.
"Thanks. Really." Midday pulled back and tried smiling. "Sorry for the weird question but it was something I was thinking about, and you were the only pony who could give me an answer."

Cadance looked a bit unsure, but still smiled. "Happy to help." She said. Midday nodded and quickly walked back to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who stared at the mare's smiled, then back to the retreating form of the pink alicorn.
"So, how come she knew Twilight Sparkle, anyhow?"

Midday looked at Apple Bloom. "Oh, she's Cadance. She used to foalsit Twilight. And she's marrying Twilight's brother in a few months."
"How come you know all this, but you can't find a simple pizzaria?" Scootaloo asked. "Are you a spy?"
Midday stopped and stared at Scootaloo. Before she could say anything Sweetie Belle piped up.

"Maybe she's an outcast."
Apple Bloom looked confused. "How can she be an outcast spy?"

Before the three girls could take their debate any further, Midday cut in. "I never said I was either. Now come on, Rainbow Dash is probably wondering where we got to."
As she walked on the three fillies noticed an odd smile on her face, and the fact that she was humming. It quickly unnerved them.

"Miss Eclipse?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Yes, Sweetie Belle?"

"Why are you smiling?" The mare blinked at that, and felt a slight pang of... something when she realised she hadn't been aware she'd been smiling.
"Is there some reason I shouldn't?"

"Well..." Sweetie Belle looked to her companions for help. "We were just wondering why you were smiling."
"I just figured something out is all." She suddenly stopped smiling. "Something I've been blaming myself for. And something that... It's complicated." She said, and resumed walking, though the fillies noticed her smile didn't return, and she looked, to their eyes, like she'd just realised she done something terrible. In fact, she looked to their eyes remarkbly like Fluttershy after the Grand Galloping Gala.

They found Rainbow Dash sitting on a bench, staring up at the sky.
"Hi, Rainbow Dash." The fillies said as one. She looked over to them.

"Hey." She said, calmly. "Can we go get something to eat now?"

*****

Finding the pizzaria took a grand total of twenty minutes. Once they were in, Rainbow Dash ordered a pizza with almost everything on it, with Scootaloo naturally doing the same, until Rainbow Dash pointed out she was going to share hers. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle insisted on seperate servings. After a while a pony came along and took their orders, and they sat there. Sweetie Belle coughed politely.

"Miss Eclipse?" She asked. The royal blue mare looked at her.
"Yeah?"

"You come from Canterlot, right?"
"Yes. So?"

"Well..." Sweetie Belle looked nervous, "Have you ever met one of the Soulless Minions of Orthodoxy?"
There were several seconds of silence at that table, and Midday saw Apple Bloom and Scootaloo staring blankly at each other.

"I don't think I've ever heard of any such group." Midday said, slowly. "Where did you hear that phrase?"
"Rarity mentions it sometimes, when she gets all angry. I asked her, but she said it was a 'Canterlot' thing." Midday looked over to Rainbow Dash, who seemed to be either dreaming of her truly-unhealthy sounding pizza, or being a Wonderbolt, or, quite possibly some unholy combination of the two.

"Maybe she was just irritated at somepony in Canterlot at the time." Midday said. "Didn't she have some trouble getting onto the Canterlot fashion scene?"
Sweetie Belle shrugged, in a way that managed to indicate she had no idea what Rarity got up to with her business at the best of times.

"Maybe they're a secret shadow society, tryin' to manipulate Equestria to their biddin'." Apple Bloom suggested. Everypony stared at her.
"Ah haven't said much in a while" she muttered.

"If there was a secret shadowy society of some sort, who'd be in it?" Midday asked.
"Nobles? Rich ponies?" Sweetie Belle suggested.

"I'm pretty sure I'm not part of a secret-y shadowy group." Midday said, "And neither's Twilight Sparkle."
"You're a noble?" Apple Bloom asked, staring at Midday. She gave a small 'huh'.

"Sort of" Midday said quickly and quietly, hoping the pizza would arrive soon and distract everypony. It did. For a while.
"So, how'ja become a noble?" asked Apple Bloom, between large chews of her pizza.

"Mouth closed, Apple Bloom, please. Not everypony needs to see you eating." The filly scowled, but still tried chewing with her mouth closed.
"You sound like Rarity." Sweetie Belle giggled, "She's always going on at anypony who doesn't eat with their mouths closed." Suddenly Sweetie Belle closed her eyes and started speaking in what was to Midday's opinion a passable imitation.

"'Oh, why can't you chew your food, darling? It's so uncouth, I may have to go lie down and listen to classical music just to restore myself to respectability.'" Scootaloo suddenly seemed to be having a hard time keeping the food in her mouth.
"Careful there, Sweetie Belle." Rainbow Dash chortled, "Or you'll turn into Rarity Point Two." If Rainbow Dash had been expecting Sweetie Belle to laugh, then the filly's horrified gasp was probably alarming for her.

After that, the discussion turned to other things, like who Rainbow Dash's favourite Wonderbolt was (Funnily enough, it was not Spitfire, as Midday had been expecting, but all of them) followed by whether Twilight recieved geography lessons from some kind of griffin king, which caused Rainbow Dash to look at the fillies like they were mad.
"You met a princess, who was not Celestia or Luna?" she asked, sceptically.

"Yeah. Princess... what was her name?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Princess Mi Amore Cadenza." Midday said, while staring at the cutlery the waiters had left, wondering why waiters bothered with cutlery when most ponies couldn't use it. Maybe some pompous noble had complained about the absence of cutlery at some point. "But she doesn't really like being called that."

"And she's Twilight Sparkle's sister in-law." Apple Bloom smiled. "Or, she will be, 'cuz she's engaged and not married yet."
"To Twilight Sparkle's brother?" Rainbow Dash said.

"Yeah. And she's bright pink and she's got wings and a horn and she seemed really nice."
Rainbow Dash just nodded. "Right, okay. Good one. Almost believed you there."

"But it's true."
Rainbow Dash shook her head. "There's only two princesses kid, everypony knows that. Heck, even Doctor Whooves knows that, and somepony had to show him a picture of Nightmare Moon the other day."

Midday gave thought to arguing that one, but decided against it, just in case it made some nasty paradox. There were already enough of those going around anyway, she thought.

*****

Soon they finished their meal, and left for the train back to Ponyville. Midday couldn't help but notice Rainbow Dash was glancing at her every few seconds, but decided to say nothing. They reached the platform without incident, and quickly got onto the train. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo sat next to each other, with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom occupying seperate seats, looking slightly content. Midday just collapsed onto one and then sprawled out, sighing slightly. After a while the train began to move, and Midday just sat there. She heard whispering, and turned to see the three fillies whispering something, occasionally glancing at her. After a while, Scootaloo was nudged forward.

"Midday?" she asked, hesitance incredibly clear in her voice.
"Yeah?"

"We were wondering" Scootaloo smiled nervously, "If... well, this train journey's real long, and we thought you did such a good job talking about those strange ponies the other day" Midday raised an eyebrow, noticing Scootaloo's eyes were occasionaly turning to slits and focusing again in the direction of her two friends. Rainbow Dash was just observing this with a grin.
"We would like to know how you got your Cutie Mark." Midday looked at Scootaloo, and the forced expression of determined innocence.

"Why?"
"We were just curious." Scootaloo's grin was joined with additional ones from Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Midday sat up, and looked at them.

"I don't know. It's not very exciting. There's no chases, races, fights or anything like that." Scootaloo's smile seemed to flicker slightly.
"And I'm pretty sure you won't like it" she added. She knew they'd find a major issue with it, considering their attitude towards Cutie Marks.

"Please?" The three mares pleaded. Whatever Midday had been planning to say was washed away by the use of the 'P-word'. She sighed and frowned at the same time.
"If you insist." She paused, and tried to recall the events of that time, casting her mind back all of thirteen years, and an odd number of months. She smiled.

"The story you are about to hear is true. The names have been changed to protect the shy."

~~~~~

The air wafted with various scents, all of which intrigued the little blue filly as she rushed about, her eyes wide with excitement and joy, though at a greatly reduced speed, because the tiara on her head seemed prone to slipping off, and because her mother saw no reason to rush.
"But mom, if we don't get there quickly everypony will have run out of candy." Her mother just smiled.

"Don't worry, Twinkie, I'm sure there'll be plenty of candy waiting." The little filly didn't look reassured by this, simply pouting and trying to run on ahead.

It had been a matter of debate between Twilight Sparkle and Twilight Twinkle over what the filly was going to dress as for Nightmare Night. Her mother had suggested some boring historical pony who'd never done anything interesting, or just sat about all their life in a tower. Twilight Twinkle had argued against that via sitting very still and not saying anything. It had taken Twilight Sparkle a while to realise this was a form of protest from her daughter. When given a choice however, Twilight Twinkle had gone for the pony she remembered best from the bedtime history lessons her mother had given her, which turned out to be, of all ponies, Princess Luna. Twilight Sparkle had been a bit nonplussed that her daughter did not consider ponies like Star-Swirl or Mimic to be worth dressing up as for the purpose of recieving candies from their neighbours, but the filly had proved strongly resistant to her mother's spirited efforts to change her mind. It was to be Luna, or nopony. Of course, Twinkle's father had decided to remain behind, to make sure the little colts and fillies of Canterlot recieved candy from somepony at their house, much to Twinkle's disappointment.

Still, if the tiny royal blue mare was still disappointed as she scampered from house to house, she didn't show it. Of course, she couldn't really do much more in her Luna impersonation than yell loudly, since she wasn't anywhere near old enough for magic, only being five years old, after all. True, when she was a few months old she'd been showing the usual displays infants had of their magical potental, but all she'd really managed was managing to turn a potted plant into a large pillow, which had made Twilight Sparkle a bit concerned that her daughter had command of her magic before she'd learnt to speak, however that storm had thankfully passed without major incident, which had made Twilight Sparkle slightly more worried, leading her husband to question whether she'd have been happier if the house had been blown up, to which she had responded maybe she would have been, if only that it proved her daughter had some magical potential.

Some twenty houses worth of candy, and Twilight Twinkle's bag was filled. In fact, it was almost overflowing, save for the fact that when she thought her mother wasn't looking she snuck a few candies into her mouth. Twilight Sparkle, wearing a modified version of the costume she'd worn on her first Nightmare Night, just smiled slightly at her daughter's attempts at being sneaky. The two kept a wandering route throughout the town, the elder Twilight occasionaly chatting with other parents out and about, although she got annoyed when ponies asked if she was imitating somepony called 'Trixie'. Twinkle wasn't sure who that was, so she just kept eating. Soon enough they came to a large open square, where a great many ponies were chatting and talking in their costumes, some were even dancing strange dances, one of which seemed to involve a lot of weird gyrating, to which Twilight Sparkle quickly moved her daughter away from, muttering foul things under her breath. Then her mother smiled, as she saw a pony moving between the crowd, standing head and shoulders above everyone else. Princess Celestia, who saw Twilight Sparkle rushing towards her and smiled warmly. Twilight Twinkle wasn't paying attention to the meeting of former teacher and former student, as she was engaged in a battle with a difficult wrapper. She'd tried tugging it, biting it, squeezing the sugary goodness out, everything. She stared at it, her face replete with momentary frustration.

"Fine, be that way," she said, "I'll just get a different candy." She stood there for a few seconds. Then she went back to trying to open it again, growling and snarling at it to see if that helped. For some reason, her horn felt really itchy, which wasn't helping her mood.
Twilight Sparkle and Celestia, meanwhile were engaged in conversing about what they'd been up to since last they met, casually laughing and commiserating. Unfortunately, this meant they didn't see Twilight Twinkle rolling about trying to desperately open the candy, her horn glowing slightly. Or rather, they didn't see it until everypony else did.

Twilight Twinkle wasn't sure what had happened. All she knew was that she had been trying to get at the foul wrapping paper, when there had been a burst of blinding light, followed by darkness.
When she came to, her mother and Princess Celestia were standing over her, and there were several ponies wearing the familiar golden armor of the Royal Guard standing between them and a small crowd of alarmed ponies.

"Mommy?" Twinkle blinked slightly, since there were still vicious spots in her eyes. "What happened?" Her mother just smiled gently, but there was something about her eyes that scared the little filly.
"Relax, sweetie. I'll explain it when we get home, though I think you've had a bit too much sugar for tonight." She said, slowly lifted the slightly emptied bag of candies. Then she lifted the little filly onto her back, nestling her between her wings.

"Can't we stay out a little longer?" Twilight Twinkle asked, not bothered by the cold that came from being out and about in Canterlot in winter. Twilight Sparkle shook her head.
"No, we've got to get home." Twinkle felt something, something she'd not felt before. She'd only been out twenty minutes, and now her mother was saying they had to go home and wasn't explaining herself. Tears began to well up in her eyes.

"But it's Nightmare Night!" she said. This did nothing to sway her mother, who tried not to look her daughter in the eye.
"Twinkie, guess what?" she said quietly. The filly didn't guess what what was.

"Look." Her mother said, and a small piece of candy floated out of the bag and started bobbing past the filly, until it was by her flank. The filly looked to see- she gasped. There, on her back was something she hadn't expected to see for years. It was a stylised image of a moon over a sun (not that she recognised that at the time).

"A Cutie Mark?!" she whispered.

"WHAT?!!"

~~~~~

Midday blinked slightly at the sheer volume of the outburst from the three fillies.
"You got your Cutie Mark when you were five?!" Apple Bloom asked.

Midday stared at them. She didn't see any way out of this that would not involve more screaming fillies.
"Yes." She said, as calm as she could manage.

"YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING US!" The three of them roared, alarming several other passengers in the train, who moved to other carriages to avoid the noise.
"No, I've had this thing since I was five." She paused, and considered some of her mother's capabilites, but decided not to raise those concerns. She was certain that it was her Cutie Mark, even if she had no idea what it meant, which as many ponies pointed out, really contradicted the whole purpose of the Cutie Mark. She had pointed out that she hadn't suffered Cutie Mark Failure yet, so she was probably doing the right thing.

'Except for all those times I did the wrong thing'. There was laughter from over by Rainbow Dash.
"Seriously? When you were five? Wow. So you couldn't cast magic, had only just started school, but you had a Cutie Mark? What does it even mean?"

Midday tried to look calm.
"Well, after the Nightmare Night festivities, my mother dragged me off home so she could look through every book she could find in order to figure out what an eclipse was."

"And?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Well, I found out some stuff about the early Pegasi languages, and an interesting mistake by Princess Celestia, but other than that? Nothing. I have absolutely no idea what this thing is telling me."

"But what is an eclipse?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"It's when the moon blocks out light from the sun from reaching us, or when the moon gets stuck in the world's shadow. And since the Princesses" She turned her gaze to Rainbow Dash, "Both of them, are really careful, this doesn't happen much."

"Doesn't look like an eclipse." Apple Bloom observed.
"What?" Midday asked. The red-headed filly looked up at her.

"Well, it kinda looks like... a sunrise. I mean, how do you know that's the moon?"
"It's grey and lifeless" Midday said, feeling caught off-foot.
"Could just be a desert. Or a quarry, or something." Scootaloo suggested.

"Or just an romanticised representation of a generic rocky plain, drawn to represent some artistic vision, rather than the actual features of the location it claims to present." Sweetie Belle suggested. There was a long pause as everypony stared blankly at her.
"What are you, an art critic?" Scootaloo finally quipped.

"Look, it's my Cutie Mark, and I say it's an eclipse, so an eclipse it is. End of story" The mare said, feeling slightly irritated at their nit-picking. She briefly considered tempting them to become Cutie Mark Crusader Lawyers, then decided some things were best left where they were found. Rainbow Dash just rolled her eyes.
"You eye-rolling me, Rainbow Dash?"

"Might have been." She said, defensively. Midday looked at the mutli-coloured mare.
"Okay, Rainbow Dash, what is it?"

"What's what?" the mare asked nonchalantly.
"You've been acting suspicious of me for months now, and you obviously didn't agree to this just because Rarity or Applejack gave you some lecture on trust, so" Midday threw her forelegs wide, "Here I am, ask away"

Rainbow Dash tried not to let her emotions show. She failed, as a sly grin spread across her face. "Okay then." She said, icily. The train was beginning to get close to Ponyville now, and was slowing down.
"Who are you, Midday Eclipse? Who are you really?"

The mare stared at Rainbow Dash. She blinked.
"That's all you want to know, is it?"

"Yeah."
"You just want to know who I am, not why I came to Ponyville, or anything?"

Rainbow Dash scoffed. "I've got a pretty good guess on those. Now are you actually going to tell me?"
Midday normally wouldn't have, but with what she'd asked Cadance, and been told in kind, she felt slightly less cautious than usual. And besides, she thought, it's Rainbow Dash. There is no way she'd actually believe me if I told the truth.

"Okay." she said calmly, taking a deep breath. Rainbow Dash actually looked a bit shocked, small wonder considering the mare had been trying to prise the truth from her since the whole 'Mare Do Well' incident.
"I am actually Twilight Sparkle's daughter, from some twenty-two years into the future, brought back in time via an accident with magic and now eeking out a living in Ponyville until I can find a way to return myself to my time." She said. Rainbow Dash stared at her for several seconds. Several long, silent seconds.

"You're a sick mare, Eclipse." Rainbow Dash finally said. Midday just looked at her.
"You asked." Rainbow Dash just shooked her head and muttered something, before turning away from Midday and saying nothing to her even after the train had stopped. Not even thanking her for paying for the tickets to see the Wonderbolts, paying for the pizza, nothing. She quickly stormed off the train once it arrived, but not before asking Scootaloo if she needed a lift, to which the filly who proclaimed herself Rainbow Dash's biggest fan declined. Midday felt slightly awkward as she stood there on the platform watching Rainbow Dash fly off. Scootaloo was staring at her.

"Midday" she said. The royal blue unicorn turned to look.
"Y'know a few months ago, you said you were 'hardwired' to be honest." Midday felt a rising panic.

"You remember that?" she asked. Scootaloo looked straight at her with the most deadpan expression she could muster. Midday wasn't sure why she'd bothered asking, when she'd said that when her mind and Rainbow Dash's had been swapped, which was probably on Scootaloo's list of worst days ever.
"You remember that. So?"

"You meant it, right?" Scootaloo asked. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were both looking confused.
"Yes." Midday said, stretching out the word.

"So... you really are from the future?" Scootaloo asked. She looked amazed, and amused. "You really are... her daughter?"
Midday looked about and motioned for the fillies to move closer.
"I'll tell you the answer if you promise you won't tell anypony."

There was a pause as the three fillies confered.
"We promise" They said solemnly.

"I am."
They stared at her in shock, even though she was just confirming what she already told them.

"That's... kinda cool." Sweetie Belle said.
"Do we have our Cutie Marks yet, in the future?" Apple Bloom asked, though Midday was fairly certain she was making a joke.

"Does Rainbow Dash ever join the Wonderbolts? No, wait, no, if you tell us it might change it." Scootaloo frowned.
"You know us in the future, don't you?" Sweetie Belle said. Midday bit her lip.

"Does she?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Oh come on, she hates Diamond Tiara, even though nopony seems to notice what Diamond Tiara gets up to."

Midday found herself recalling that incident with crystal clarity. She facehoofed. "Yeah, probably wasn't the best idea I've ever had. But, then again, she is Diamond Tiara."
"What's she like in the future?" Scootaloo asked with trepidation. Midday shrugged.

"Don't know. Never met her. Never even seen her. But I'm pretty sure I can guess. She'd be the sort of mare who talks down to everyone, treats them like little kids, and probably wears little bows in her head and bright pinks all the time, and her office (because she'll have an officer) will be filled with pictures of kittens, and then the minute you talk back at her..." Midday let their minds do the walking. They looked suitably terrified. Fortunately Scootaloo managed to recover quickly.
"If you're from the future, why are you here? Was there some kind of apocalyptic pony war?"

"No. Or if there was, I didn't notice it." She frowned, remember she had been supposed to deliver Wisp's warning. Which hadn't done much good considering what happened afterwards. "Just an accident with a teleport spell."
"Oh." Scootaloo looked disappointed.

"If you do know us, that would kinda explain why you're the way you are to us, not treatin' us like dumb kids or nothing." Apple Bloom said. Something seemed to occur to Sweetie Belle.
"But I guess we do look like dumb kids to you, because you know the adult us, and we've still not got our Cutie Marks." She said quietly. Midday knelt down in front of them.

"You want to know something?" She said quietly, "I think you three look like giants." There were faint smiles on their faces, but then something seemed to occur to Apple Bloom, and she fixed Midday with a wrought-iron stare.

"Hold up... Twilight Sparkle gets wings?!"

~~~~~

Ten years from 'now'
Twilight Sparkle and Celestia had been talking, and therefore hadn't noticed Twilight Twinkle's desperate battle with the candy-wrapper. But they had noticed the panic, and the bright flash of light as the little filly, still dressed as Princess Luna, floated into the air, her horn and eyes glowing brighter every second, and then there was a deep rumbling. Celestia seemed to be in pain, and then Twilight saw something horrifying. The sun was beginning to move across the sky, despite it being early in the evening. Twilight Sparkle ignored this, rushing over to her daughter, who didn't seem to notice her. Twilight Sparkle was reminded of when she got her Cutie Mark, when her magic had run rampant, turning her parents into plants, turning Spike into a giant freshly-hatched ragon, and causing everything else to start floating. True enough, it had led to one of the top ten moments of her life, but it had still been utterly terrifying. And now history seemed to be repeating itself with her daughter.

'But she can't. She can't be doing this. She's just a little filly' She told herself. Then the sky went a strange colour, and Twilight looked up to see the sun had moved behind the moon, tainting it an odd colour, and then... she placed a hoof on her daughter, just as Celestia had done for her. She let her magic flow, restraining the rogue casting of her daughter, trying to find spells that would calm the little filly. After a few seconds, which for Twilight Sparkle felt more like a horrible eternity, Twilight Twinkle dropped to the ground, and the sun gradually disappeared back behind the horizon.

"Mommy?" she whimpered. "Mommy, my horn hurts." Twilight Sparkle just held her daughter close, as if she was about to fly apart on the wind. Celestia walked over at that point, along with several guards Twilight Sparkle hadn't noticed.
"Feel sleepy..." The tiny royal blue mare's eyes closed, though fortunately she was still breathing. Twilight Sparkle's mind raced.

"What was that?! She wasn't supposed to have magic for... for another five years!" She yelled, to nopony in particular. Celestia just looked concerned.

"And she moved the sun? Even I can't do that!" Actually, she wasn't sure if that was true. She didn't make a point of trying, and she didn't really want to try either. She was certain she could, but... the proof that the tiny slumbering form in front of her had managed it... she felt terror, and concern, and awe, and a dozen other emotions colliding together.
"What should I do?" she asked, hoping Celestia would help. Celestia always helped her, and she needed her help now.

"She is your daughter. Only you can determine that." Twilight Sparkle frowned. That wasn't exactly what she'd been hoping for, but then, she wasn't sure what she hadn't not been hoping for. She looked at the filly, and decided.
"Maybe I should try and... restrain her abilities. At least until she's old enough" she said quietly. "Old enough to be able to use them without hurting anypony, or herself." Celestia said nothing. Twilight Sparkle's horn glowed, and she looked at her daughter, occasionaly twitching in her sleep. She saw something on the filly's flank. A small image of a sun obscured by a moon. An eclipse. She felt a deep amount of pride, despite her terror and concern. Her daughter had managed to move the sun itself. Despite everything, she found herself smiling a small smile. Managing to perform an insanely overpowered act of magic by accident?

"That's my girl." she whispered, as her magic moved towards the slumbering filly, ready to lock away just enough of her power until... until... Twilight Sparkle paused, as the question occurred to her, until when?
"Until the time is right" she told herself. Her horn glowed once more, and she felt a slight tear move down her cheek. The filly made a small noise as the magic began it's work.

"Sorry, sweetie." Twilight said, mournfully.

Author's Note

The whole thing with Wisp would have worked better had I been a bit better about the placement of the flashbacks.
It was supposed to be a long term thing, not immediately be invalidated in the next chapter.
Oh, well.

Mystery on the Brightly-Colored Train

There was light. Bright and pleasant, and with a free calming breeze thrown in for good measure. There was the sound of somepony familiar giggling behind him.
"Wh... whut time 'ss?" he groaned. He could practically feel the smile being aimed at him.

"Time somepony got up."
There was a rustling, and the pleasant blanket of warmness was taken from him, the sudden change in temperature jolting him fully awake.

"Cadance!" he said, or more accurately yelped. He tried glowering at the mischevious grin on her face as the bed cover floated next to her. It didn't last.
"Come on," she grinned, "Up and at 'em, Captain Armor."

"Yes, ma'am" Shining Armor said, grinning back as he gave a mildly childish salute.
"Your Highness" she corrected him, though her attempt at a prim attitude quickly broke down.

"Yes, Your Highness, ma'am" he smirked, as he walked towards the adjacent washroom.
As the two eat breakfast, Cadance noticed Shining Armor was staring at him.

"What?" she asked, "Is there something on my face?"
"No," Shining Armor said, "Just thinking how much I love you."

He went back to his breakfast, but after a few seconds looked up at her. "Have I said that lately?"
"You said it about twenty-seven times last night," Cadance said, after pretending to give it some thought, "Excluding the times you repeated yourself."

There were a few seconds of mutual grins, before they went back to eating. Eventually, Shining Armor got up and headed towards the door. There was a small cough, and he turned to see Cadance holding his helmet.
"Forget something?" she smiled. He rushed over to her and quickly picked up the helmet, before Cadance embraced him.

"Cadance, what would I do without you?" he said, before rushing off. Cadance stood there, her mouth hanging open in shock.
Shining Armor skidded as his brain caught up to the rest of him halfway to the door, before whipping around, rushing back over to Cadance and kissing her.

"Just look after yourself out there, you" she grinned, "And remember to write that letter to your sister."
"I will" Shining Armor said.

"You promised."
"I did."

"I mean it about looking after yourself" she said, as she gently pushed him toward the door.
"Love you" he said, as she closed the door behind him. She leaned against it, and tried not to grin as she heard him give a contented sigh, before setting off to work.

She, meanwhile, was going to have coffee. She hadn't gotten much sleep. She was too excited. She had a wedding with the most brilliant stallion in the world to plan. And she couldn't wait to see Twilight Sparkle again.
It was going to be perfect.

*****

"Well?" Pinkie Pie beamed giddily, "What do you think? What do you say?"
Twilight Twinkle stared at it. Truly, it was a work of art. It was a piece of the divine, which had been skillfully molded and shaped, not so much baked as forged. In its shadow, Twinkle knew, to her heart of hearts, that only a true poet could possibly describe the radiant beauty of what had been unveiled before her, and that all other cakes would forever more seem like ashen nothings. It was beautiful, mesmerising, tantalisingly tasty and alluringly forbidden. How did one express the glory of this creation in mere words?

The answer was that one didn't.
"Cake" Twinkle uttered, pointing a hoof for good measure. Pinkie stared at her in concern.

"Are you alright?" she asked. Twinkle scanned her statement. In hindsight, it did perhaps need some improvement.
"Big cake" Twinkle said. Somewhere deep in her mind, serious questions were being asked as to where her rationality was gone, with some serious investigations towards the metaphorical fire exit. To be fair, however, it was an incredibly large, beautifully made cake. Perhaps even majestic...

"It's beautiful" Applejack said, turning towards Big Macintosh, who was looking awfully concerned, though this might have had something to do with the fact that he'd been told he had to carry said cake all the way from Sugarcube Corner to the train station.

"Really big" he said, a very noticable amount of concern in his voice.
"What's... it called?" Applejack asked, still staring at it.

"Lord of All Cakes? King of the Pastries? Shkle Whose Frosting Shatters Taste Buds?" Twinkle asked, her sense of poetry still alive and kicking, and in fact working overtime at the moment.
Pinkie just stared at Twinkle for a second, before shaking her head. "Nope. It's called..." she took a deep breath. She held a deep breath. Seconds passed

"Pinkie?" Applejack asked. The mare stared at her.
"Oh!" she said, apparently having forgotten she was the one who was informing them "It's called... Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness."

She paused, frowned, muttered something under her breath and nodded. "Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness" she said again. For an instant, it looked like the cake was glowing etherally. Pinkie Pie turned to the Cakes.
"You've really outdone yourselves, Mr and Mrs Cake" she grinned, to which the two smiled, "This is sure to be the winning entry of this year's National Dessert Competition."

"And now I know why there are no cakeries in Canterlot" Twinkle said to herself, as she lifted the cake onto Big Macintosh's back. Even for her usual skill with lifting heavy objects, it felt like it weight a metric ton. There was a pained gasp from Big Macintosh as she gently lowered it onto his back. Or perhaps she was simply not worthy enough to lift it. Yes, that seemed far more sensible.

"You okay?" Applejack asked, to which her big brother nodded, his eyes shifting towards his hind quarters, his legs noticably straining. As she saw this, Twinkle questioned it, considering she'd witnessed him pulling a house behind him while hopping, and began to wonder as to what was in the cake, exactly. She began to wonder a lot.

"Beg pardon," she heard Applejack say, "But, could we maybe move things along? This cake here's a mite heavy, ain't it Big Macintosh?"
The stallion gave out a strained "Eyup"

"Alrighty then," Pinkie Pie beamed, as she carefully placed a hard-hat on her head, "To the train depot!"
Big Macintosh slowly nodded, and started to move at a snail's pace. All eyes were on the cake, as everypony held their breath.

"That's it, Big Mac," Pinkie Pie said, slowly walking backward in front of the stallion, "Nice and slow. This is a precious cargo we're carrying"
They made their way outside, and Twinkle noticed the entire street had been blocked off with security barriers, while in the sky Ponyville's weather team hovered cautiously, protecting the cake from any potential sky-borne threat, such as a pidgeon. One Cloud Kicker had apparently shown a bit too much zeal in the task of shooing pidgeons away, Twinkle would later discover.

'How in the world have I found myself playing bodyguard to a cake?' Twinkle asked herself, thinking on this for a moment.
The answer was because Pinkie Pie had asked her to the other day. Or rather, Pinkie Pie had asked everypony in the room, and nopony had contradicted her. It was that manic cheerfulness Pinkie Pie had, and no matter how hard you tried, in the end you would always get swept up in it sooner or later. And you'd never regret it.

There was a sudden gasp from the Cakes as Big MacIntosh stumbled. The cake wobbled, though fortunately it remained balanced.
"Don't worry, Mr and Mrs Cake!" Pinkie Pie declared, before calling out. "Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, a little pegasssistance."

At this, the two mares swooped down, both with rope twined around their barrels, before tying the spare ends around the handle of the plate that the cake had been balanced upon. Behind Twinkle there was the sound of a pony collapsing.
"I'll get it there safely," Pinkie Pie said, "You'll see."

This didn't seem to be much comfort to Mister Cake, as the stallion picked himself up off the ground. Mrs. Cake meanwhile, laughed nervously.
"Of course, Pinkie" she said, her eyes glued to the cake.

"We never doubted you" her husband added.
A thought occured to Twinkle, "Pinkie, you want Twilight and I should-"

"Use some kinda protective spell to protect the cake? Good idea. Glad I thought of it" Pinkie said.
"Better safe than sorry," she added, as both Twilight and Twinkle cast a spell over the cake. There was the sound of Mister Cake falling over again.

"Applejack, Rarity" Pinkie Pie called out. The remaining two mares appeared with a trampoline.
"A trampoline?!" Twilight asked, "Really? I don't even know how many health and safety guidlines that's breaking."

"Alright, everypony, we're in the home stretch here" Pinkie smiled, as they approached the platform. She looked toward the Cakes.
"See? I got it here without a hitch!" she said, utterly ignoring Big MacIntosh's obvious straining. Meanwhile, some part of her mind was going by the assumption that the pony's love-potion induced behaviour had somehow rendered him capable of pulling the house behind him by not knowing it was impossible.

"Now all we need to do is get it... in?" Pinkie Pie said, noticing the doors were too small and too low for the cake to possibly fit. There was the sound of Mister Cake fainting once more.
Pinkie Pie's expression became a strange mixture of smile and frown. She looked at the cake, then the door, then back to the cake, then back to the door.

"This is gonna require some thought" she said, before sitting down and tapping the side of her head with her hoof.
"Pinkie," Twilight sighed. Pinkie turned to look at her.
"You do know we could just... remove the side of the train, and move the cake in after, then replace the wall, right?"
Pinkie stared at Twilight like she'd grown an extra head.

"Are you sure?" she asked, "'cuz that just sounds mad. And this is from a pony who made a cake cannon that sort of almost works half the time!"
Five minutes later, and as Big MacIntosh replaced the train wall, eight ponies and one dragon admired the cake. Pinkie, now looking far more relaxed and rational, gave a sigh of relief, and turned to look at everypony.

"Thank you all for helping me get the cake safely on the car" she said, giving a small smile as she did.
"Thank you for inviting us all to go with you to Canterlot for the National Dessert Competition" Twilight said.

Twinkle briefly considered making a sarcastic comment, but she was distracted by the cake again. She was certain it was humming heavenly nothings, but then she hadn't gotten much sleep last night. And cakes obviously couldn't hum.
"I'm sure the festivities will be lovely" Rarity smiled, to which Applejack gave her a small jab with her knee.

"Phoeey on the festivities, I can't wait to try all those tasty treats!"
"Actually," Spike cut in, as Rarity stared at the spot where Applejack had jabbed her, "You probably won't get a chance. Apparently all the judges have to examine them first, and of course Princess Celestia gets a sample taste of every entry."

There was a small pause. "Why? And where'd you learn that, anyhow?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Found a brouchure lying about in Sugarcube Corner the other day," Spike said.

"And there's no point being in charge if you can't use it to get free sugar every now and then" Twinkle added. Then a thought occured to her. "Hey, why was she eating all that cake anyway?"
"When?" Twilight asked.

"In that Gabby Gums column" Twinkle muttered. There was an odd look of glee in Rarity's eyes Twinkle didn't like.
"Something about a garden party," Twilight said, "I don- Applejack!"

All eyes turned to the farm pony, and there was a harsh slap of hoof-on-hoof as Pinkie Pie swatted the farmpony's hoof away.
"The tastiest treat of them all is sure to be the Cake's Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness" she said, her eyes filled with reverential awe, "All that rich creamy goodness of the marzipan, combined with the tart tanginess of the marscapone, blended perfectly with the smooth, silky sweetness of the meringue. That's why I call the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness the 'MMMM'."

There were six identical, hungry-sounding "MMMMs" from the others, though Trixie just looked unimpressed.
"Exactly," Pinkie said triumphantly, hopping onto the small (and magically reinforced) table the cake had been placed on, "It's the most delicious, delactable, delightful de-lovely-"

"Not a word" Twinkle quickly said.
"De-lectable cake in all of Equestria, and it's sure to win first prize."

Eight ponies and one dragon stared in adoration at the cake. Pinkie Pie's description couldn't possibly have been any more alluring, not without getting somepony arrested for indecent behaviour. Twinkle noticed Applejack's tongue was hanging out, while Rainbow Dash was licking her lips. There, the door to the car slammed open, and in enter a griffon, who for whatever reason smelt strangely onion-y, and seemed to have a strange air of undeserved smugness. On the plus side, his facial hair was truly impressive.

"Zis is not so," he declared in the most bizzare mangled Prench accent Twinkle had ever heard. She could practically feel Trixie's disdain trying to go for his throat there and then, "For I, Gustave Le Grande, do challenge your crude cake-"
Twinkle felt a sudden desire to rise to the cake's defense, or to hurl something at him.

"- to a duel of delectable delicacies," he said, apparently not noticing the fact that in the last few seconds he'd managed to destroy almost any chance of making friends with anypony in the car, "Against my Exceptionally Exquisite Éclairs."
At this, he brandished a pile of éclairs, which seemed to glow with a strange holy light, blinding all who gazed upon them. Although that very quickly turned out to be because of Gustave shining a spotlight on them. Twinkle was certain she could hear Trixie drooling.

"They will undoubtedly strike down all ze competition," he said, twirling his moustache as he placed the pile of éclairs on a table adjacent to the MMMM. Outside the spotlight, they just looked like normal, everyday éclairs, not a true competitor to the silken-spun frosting of the Temple of (and to) Cake.
"Winning first prize and crowning me le Champion!" there was a noise of disgust from Trixie.

"(I may sound like that sometimes, but only after I've been at the bourbon)" she muttered.
"Not a chance, Le Grand" a new voice announced, as a light brown unicorn stallion entered the train, a bright pink donut Cutie Mark plainly visible on his flank.

"Yo, Joe!" Spike announced. The unicorn looked over at Spike, recognised him and smiled.
"Hey, Spike" he nodded.

"What're you doing in Ponyville?" Spike asked eagerly.
"Especially since you live and work in Canterlot" Twilight added. He gave a smirk that made him look like a shark (Perhaps one that had let itself go, and was now smelling distinctly like frosting).

"Picking up the final ingredient for my contest entry," he said, moving forward slightly, bringing with him a cart laden with donuts. Then Twinkle saw closer, and noticed they'd been arranged to look like a city.
"Donutopia!" he declared, before revealing a strange tin, which he shook. Sprinkles fell across his creation, "And with these super-sprinkles, my donuts are going to dunk all the other lousy desserts, steal first prize, and" he reared onto his hind legs, "and make my donut store famous forever!"

Twinkle gave a tiny 'huh', to which everypony turned to look at her. "Didn't Celestia show up at your store just after the last Grand Galloping Gala? Along with Twilight Sparkle and her friends?" she asked. He stared at her.
"Yeah, but that was last year. Can't coast on it forever."

"I dunno," Twinkle shrugged, "'Half the Princesses of Equestria approve of Pony Joe's donuts', sounds like a winning ad slogan to me"
Pony Joe gave this some consideration. Then, everypony's attention was caught by someone's laughter.

"Oh, Joe, don't bother," a voice said, "Your dippy donuts could never out-rival me"
Everypony turned to see a chocolate moose had been placed in the doorway. It did not glow, or hum, or glimmer in the sunlight like it was forged from a multitude of the finest diamonds as the MMMM did. It just looked really, really chocolate-y. For whatever reason, it had been designed with a look of surprise on its 'face'. Pinkie Pie bounced over to it, and tried touching its chin.

"Hello, what's your name?" she asked.
A donkey appeared from behind the moose, "I, am Mulia Mild. Behold my chocolate mousse moose. It will trample all your treats, be given first prize, and make me the greatest chef in Equestria."

Gustave gave a grunt at this, "Madame Mild, you and your moose are mistaken."

"Your frou-frou éclairs will never defeat my donuts" Pony Joe cut in.

"The Cakes' Marzipan Mascarpon Merinque Madness will win!" Pinkie declared.

"Your simple cake could never take my moose!" Mulia stated, as all four chefs squared off against one another.

Fortunately at that point the train started to move.
"Well," Twilight announced, "It looks like we're in for a delicious-"

"Interesting" Twinkle said quickly.
"-thankyou- Interesting competition tomorrow. Maybe we should all settle in for a good night's sleep."

"Twilight, it's..." Twinkle frowned, "What time is it?"
"Late" Spike said calmly, pointing out of the window to the clearly setting sun.

"How long did it take us to move this cake?" Twinkle asked, after a few seconds. She was sure it had been mid-afternoon as they'd moved the cake, and it was the middle of spring. But then, she'd been distracted by other concerns earlier.
As had been explained to everypony before they set off, the train wouldn't be going directly to Canterlot, since it had to pick up a few other passengers along the way, along with avoiding anything that could possibly lead to any accidental damage to the Cake, such as the route the direct route to Canterlot took. Plus, the indirect route was really scenic in the springtime.

The varied chefs gave indications of their disgruntlement and retired. There was a yawn from Rainbow Dash.
"I gotta admit I'm pretty beat" she grinned. Applejack nodded.

"Yeah, I gotta hit the hay myself" she said, as six mares moved toward the door. They found Pinkie Pie barring their way.
"Wait! Didn't you hear those chefs? We have to protect the 'MMMM'"

Rarity looked at the giant ode to pastry, "MMMM?"
"Mmm-hhmmm!" Pinkie nodded, "I know for sure the 'MMMM' is the best dessert in all of Equestria, and I know that they know it too."

There was a small pause. "So..." Rainbow Dash said.
"So..." Pinkie Pie said, "One of them is going to sabotage the Cakes' cake tonight!"

"Pinkie..." Twinkle said slowly, "That... isn't how sabotage works."
Twilight stared at her in disbelief.

"What?"
"Of all the problems you could have with what she just said, you have a problem with her definition of sabotage?"

Twinkle gave this some thought. "Yeah."
Twilight stared at her for a moment, before turning back to Pinkie and smiling good-naturedly at her.

"Pinkie, you're overreacting."
"Yeah," Applejack nodded, "Those chefs ain't gonna do your cake any harm."

Pinkie Pie grabbed Applejack's head, "But they are! I just know it!"
"Fine!" Rainbow Dash sighed, "If you want to guard it, go for it. We're going to bed!"

"Actually," Twinkle said, "I'm going to help Pinkie Pie guard the cake."
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at this, and made her way into the next carriage, the others following her. Applejack stopped looked over at Twinkle, as Pinkie Pie bounced over to the MMMM and began guarding it.

"Yeah, Applejack, I know. Remember to tell Twilight. Haven't forgotten" she said. Applejack nodded.
"Tomorrow, right?"

Twinkle nodded. "Tomorrow. Now go get some rest already."
Applejack smiled and walked towards the door, taking another glance at Pinkie Pie before leaving.

"We'll show them," Pinkie Pie said. "We'll stay up all night and protect you. Nothing and nopony will stop us from keeping you safe."
"Pinkie, are you muttering to yourself already?" Twinkle asked, grinning as she wasn't sure whether Pinkie was joking around or not, "It's not even been half a minute."

*****

Some hours later, as the train slowly trundled across Equestria, and in the sleeping cabin, all was quiet.
"Ugh."

Well, almost quiet.
"So bored."

For a very strange definition of quiet.
"Bored. Bored bored bored bored bo-"

"RAINBOW DASH! SHUT UP! Some of us are trying to get some beauty sleep!" Rarity roared. There was a small thump of head on wood from Fluttershy's bunk.
"Ouch" Fluttershy whispered.

"I can't help it" the speedster said, "I'm bored."
"Mare overboard" Spike yawned. There was groan from Rainbow Dash.

"That was terrible," Rainbow Dash muttered.
"Yes, it's not quite up there with your standards of flatulence and booger jokes, is it?" Rarity sighed.

"What's eating you?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"That fact that a certain annoying pegasus has spent the last two hours telling all and sundry how bored she is!"
"Guys, can we please not do this?" Twilight's voice piped up.

"I can't sleep, too bored. And these pillows are really uncomfy."
There was a sudden pause in the darkness.

"We could talk" Twilight suggested. The amount of eagerness in her voice was almost painful.
"Pass."

"But, Rainbow, you don't ev-"
"You were gonna suggest telling us the history of the dessert competition, weren't ya?" Rainbow Dash said. There was a slight pause, which to Rainbow Dash was the validation she needed, though she did feel a tiny amount of shame for that.

"We could... talk about something else. Or - or not" Fluttershy said.
"Like what?" Trixie muttered. There was a long pause.

"Did anypony see Lyra this morning?" Spike eventually asked. There was a snort from Rainbow Dash.
"Yeah. That mare was sure excited about something."

"I think, and based on what she was saying," Rarity said slowly, "It is entirely possible that she may be attending a wedding. In Canterlot"
There was a small sigh from the mare. "How come I never get to go to weddings?"

"Because Pinkie Pie'd probably want everypony dancing the Pony Polka again?"
There was another pause.

"I'm hungry..." Rainbow Dash stated.
"Maybe that's why you can't sleep" Rarity suggested.

"I can't help it," Rainbow Dash sighed, "the way Pinkie Pie described that cake, I can't stop thinking about it."
"I must admit," Rarity said, "It did sound... alluring."

"Guys?" Spike asked, "is there actually any food on the train that isn't for the dessert competition?"
There was a sudden, horrible sort of quiet realisation.

"No," Twilight said eventually.
"Well, we must simply endure without food then" Rarity said.

"It wouldn't be right to damage that cake, not after all the hard work the Cakes put into it" Fluttershy piped up.
"Plus, Pinkie's probably go nuts" Applejack said.

"Wouldn't be right" Rainbow Dash said solemnly. There was a strange gurgling noise.
"It would be wrong" Rarity said quickly, before anypony could ask whose stomach that was.

"So wrong."
"Very wrong."

"So delicious..." Spike mumbled. There was another bout of quiet, the only noise being Trixie mumbling in her sleep.

*****

Twinkle stared. She was beginning to reconsider her choice of staying with Pinkie Pie. She had hoped that guarding the cake would distract her from dangerous thoughts, or that Pinkie would distract her with her usual raging-stream approach to conversation. However, Pinkie was remaining incredibly quiet. The one time she had spoken, it was to inform Twinkle she was unable to talk, preferring to keep herself in a 'cat-like state of readiness'.

Twinkle had quickly decided that whatever random horrors her mind could produce at a moment's notice was far better than Pinkie Pie being quiet. Although the way how every now and then she would droop, and then momentarily fall asleep was somewhat adorable.

After an hour of this, or possible longer, there was a sudden (and frankly refreshing) gust of wind, which shook Pinkie away and straight into high gear.
"Stop you saboteur!" she yelled, rushing after the shadow-y figure. Twinkle stared at the cake, and was aware of a fluttering noise. She sighed, and her horn glowed. There was a soft noise of something bouncing into her shield.

"Ow," a familiar somepony whispered.
In an instant, Twinkle turned on the lights, revealing Fluttershy, sprawled on the floor. A second later, and the pegasus had curled herself into a small ball.

"Hey, Fluttershy" Twinkle intoned. Then the door at the end of the carriage opened, and Rainbow Dash entered. In the split-second before realisation kicked in, there was a smug grin on her face.
"Ah" she grinned nervously, "This isn't what it looks like?" she said quickly. Twinkle stared at her.

"Odd, because it looked like you were distracting Pinkie Pie so you could take a bite out of the MMMM."
Rainbow Dash looked shocked, "We weren't gonna eat it. We just wanted to see what it tastes l-"

She suddenly yelped as Pinkie Pie slammed into her, knocking her to the ground. Pinkie Pie stared in confusion.
"Wait! You're not Gustave, Pony Joe or Mulia!" she said.

"Well," Twinkle said, "Now we have a firm hoof on the obvious."
Pinkie frowned as she apparently tried to figure out what was going on. "Were you two about to sabotage the MMMM?" she asked.

Fluttershy made a small 'um' noise and looked down at her hooves.
"I was just gonna take a test taste!" Rainbow Dash said.

Pinkie Pie blinked. "You were... you were actually going to..."
"Pinkie," Twinkle said slowly, "Just try to remain calm."

'Did I really just bother saying that?' she quickly thought.
"And they didn't actu-" the room suddenly went dark, and there was the sound of somepony with no grasp of the concept of stealth trying to make their way through a mostly-dark room.

"Who turned out the moon?" Pinkie Pie yelled, before adding, "Stop thief!"
Twinkle suddenly found herself being thrown backwards, and a pony standing on top of her. There was a triumphant shout from Pinkie Pie.

"Caught in the act!" she declared. Twinkle frowned.
"Pinkie, please get off of me."

There was a sudden silence.
"Should I turn the lights back on?" Fluttershy asked.

"Go ahead" Twinkle sighed. Light flooded the room, and Twinkle stared Pinkie Pie in the face, the mare glaring at her.
"Cake-thieving friend!" she hissed, before pausing, and shaking her head, "No, wait, no 'r'. Cave-thieving fiend."

Twinkle sighed, "Pinkie, I didn't turn off the lights, and I haven't done anything to the cake."
"Um," Fluttershy said behind them. There was a sudden shift in Pinkie Pie's face, as she turned to look at Fluttershy.

"Yes?" she asked. Fluttershy wilted at the pastry chef's glare.
"Nothing, nothing" she mumbled.

Pinkie sighed as she stepped off of Twinkle. "I was so sure one of the other chefs was out of sabotage the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness, and instead it turns out it was my friends who tried to sabotage the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness."

Twinkle tried to say something, before giving an annoyed sigh. "Nevermind," she muttered to herself.
Pinkie returned to standing in front of the cake, "Overreacting my hoof!" she said.

"I knew I was gonna have to keep a closer eye on you," she whispered to the cake, "Don't worry, auntie Pinkie will keep you safe. Alone" she added, glaring at Twinkle again.
"But-" Fluttershy raised a hoof.

"Alone!" Pinkie snapped.
Twinkle looked about the room, including checking the ceiling, for Rainbow Dash. Surprisingly enough, she wasn't there.

"Pin-"
"Out!" the mare said, as she began shoving the two towards the door, "I have a cake to guard!"

She slammed the door on them, the two mares remaining still for a moment. After a few seconds, there was the distinctive sound of Pinkie Pie snoring.
"Should we have told her that-" Twinkle started. Fluttershy shook her head.

"She'll find out when she wakes up anyway. It's probably best to let her get some sleep now" Fluttershy said. To Twinkle's mildly sleep-deprived mind, this made sense. Besides, there was no way Pinkie Pie couldn't have noticed the chunk gouged out of the MMMM. And in the morning, Twinkle would help exact vengeance in the name of the MMMM.

*****

Meanwhile, in Canterlot.
Shining Armor felt a slight draft, and woke up to see the bed-sheets had been moved. He calmed himself. Cadance had obviously just gone to the bathroom or something. She'd been trying to hide the fact that she wasn't getting as much sleep as she probably should have, though compared to him, she was doing far better, though that might have been because he kept having nightmares of Princess Celestia and Luna playing some cruel prank during the wedding, or of Cadance going missing. After a few minutes there were unsteady hoofsteps as Cadance reappeared. Without a word she got back under the bedsheets. Shining Armor frowned.

"Cadance?" he asked. For a few seconds nothing happened.
"What?" she said. For some reason, Shining Armor's instincts, those carefully honed talents he'd been encouraged since foal-hood to listen to, were screaming at him. Something was up with Cadance.

"Are you... okay?" he had been meaning to ask if she was awake, but that seemed redundant at this point.
"Yes" she said, and nothing more.

"... alright" he said. There was a pause. Something still didn't seem right.
"You haven't had a bad dream, or something, have you?"

"No" she said. For some reason, she sounded like she was biting down scathing comeback.
"Love you" he smiled, nervously.

"I know" Cadance said after a long pause. He rolled over, and after a few minutes felt hooves around his barrel, as there was a small noise from Cadance.

"Go to sleep, Shining Armor" she murmured. "We've got a long week ahead of us. A long week."
His eyes went wide, and he felt her hooves suddenly move back from him. "Oh no" he said, "I forgot to send a letter to Twilie!"

Cadance, despite the fact that she'd been constantly having to remind him to mail Twilight, looked more annoyed than anything.
"You can do it in the morning" she said, her voice sounding noticably uncaring, in that she sounded like there was the slightest chance she didn't care. Shining Armor stared at Cadance.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked.
"Yes, yes, now go to sleep."

Shining Armor frowned, and then dismissed his concerns, and the half-dozen other concerns on top of those. It had been a long day, after all, and it was about to be a longer series of days.
It would be fine, in the morning, he told himself, not noticing as Cadance grinned, her eyes briefly turning a deep green.

*****

Twilight Twinkle was woken by the sound of Pinkie Pie screaming, and along with everypony else, made her way to the car where the MMMM was being held.
"What is it?" Applejack asked.

"What happened?" Rainbow Dash added, as she tried to stay in the air in her sleep-deprived state. Pinkie Pie looked at them, her face the very definition of distraught.
"It's the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness," she said, sounding like she was on the verge of tears, "It's been mutilated!"

She pointed to the cake, or rather, the remains of the cake. Its once perfectly-smooth surface had been gouged, as a whole section of the cake had been surgically removed, in the manner only a fiendish cake-heathen in the throes of glory-induced madness could provide. Or to put it simply: some jerk had eaten bits of it. It was a tragic sight, as bits of frozen cream were still dripping into a puddle.

There was a collective gasp from all involved.
"Now" Pinkie Pie said, "We just need to find out whodunit!"

Twilight gave a polite smile, "You mean, who 'did' it.
"Exactly!" Pinkie said, pointing dramatically at Twilight, "Who did-done-dood it!"

Twilight quickly pressed past Pinkie's grammatical massacre, "Well, having read many mystery novels, I know the only way to find the culprit is to investigate."
Twinkle tried to think of the best possible way to respond to that, while Pinkie leaned over toward Twilight and nodded, "Exactly."

Suddenly Pinke Pie placed a deerstalker hat on her head, and produced a bubble pipe from... somewhere.
"And as chief investigator, that's exactly what I'm gonna do" she said, staring at the cake. Everypony else exchanged nervous glances (save the bakers, who just looked concerned).

"You're investigatin'?" Applejack asked.
"Yes!" Pinkie Pie said, as she shoved a bowler hat onto Twilight's head, "And Twilight shall be my lowly assistant who asks silly questions with obvious answers."

Applejack lifted her leg up and bit down. She gave a disappointed noise when she turned out to be awake.
"Pinkie," Twinkle said, "That is most assuredly not the point of the detective's sidekick."

Everypony stared at her, and she took a deep breath, "The point of the sidekick to the detective is to ask questions, yes, but for the benefit of the audience. In the stories to which your choice of headgear points towards you referring to, the detective's medical friend was no fool, but rather a partner, who on many occasions demonstrated a keen mind of his own, and a seperate perspective to stop the detective's ego from causing problems."

There was a pause, before she added, "Sorry, but that is a bit of a point of contention regarding those stories I wanted to deal with. Plus, you really think Twilight fits the role of 'bumbling sidekick'?"
Pinkie frowned, before turning to Twilight, "Okay, partner, time to get to work!"

Twilight just sighed, "Nice try" she said to Twinkle.
Pinkie paced up and down the corridor, before calmly staring at the assembled group. Twinkle looked at everypony. Then she noticed Rarity's blatantly altered hairstyle. She tried not to grin.

"Alright, I have solved the case. I know who did-done-dood it!" Pinkie Pie proclaimed imperiously. Everyone in the room gasped.
"That was fast" Rainbow Dash muttered.

"How could you possibly know already?" Twilight asked
"How could I possibly not know?" Pinkie said.

"You've got the attitude down, at least" Twinkle said to herself.
"Clearly this dastardly deed was done by the baker who knew their dessert could not match up to the mastery of the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness" she said, as she calmly stalked her way between everyone. Then she whipped around to face Gustave Le Grand.

"I guess your eclairs lacked flair, Gustave!"
"What did I do?" he asked, utterly confused.

"I'm glad you asked" Pinkie Pie grinned.

~~~~~

Her name was Pinkie Pie, and she was a decent, hard-working, average joe pony from Ponyville. Her bosses, the Ponyville Cakes, had asked her to guard their latest creation, the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Mandess, which she called the MMMM for short. She may have been a bit on the serious side, but Pinkie Pie knew how to crack a joke from time to time. But things got unfunny as she was watching over the beautiful thing. One Greedy Gustave, general villainous baker for hire, swooped in behind her, and extended one of his greedy claws towards the cake, but she was not taken unaware, and the young pastry chef managed to slap him back.

"Get your claws off the cake, you cur!" she had insisted. So he grabbed the girl instead, and tied her down to a railway track while he made off with the cake, like the fiend from perdition he was, taking it to his portable Evil Conveyor Belt of Doom (trademark pending), and slicing the innocent confectionary to pieces.

~~~~~

"Thus destroying the cake, and the Cakes' chances of winning the National Cake Competition" Pinkie finished, bowing her head.
"But Pinkie, that makes no sense!" Twilight stated. Pinkie paused, pretend to take a breath from her pipe.

"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Well," Twilight said, "If you were tied to the train tracks, how could you be here?"

Pinkie's brow furrowed at this. "... guess that isn't a silly question" she said.
"And second, the cake hasn't been sliced, it's been bitten!" Twilight said.

"Look at the teeth marks!" she declared. Pinkie leaned in to examine it, noting the all-too clear sign of tooth marks.
"You're right, my fine fellow. Gustave Le Grand is clearly in the clear, which means..." there was a deep intake of breath from everyone in the room, as Pinkie Pie began to pace up and down the room, "The MMMM was destroyed by another baker. A baker who's donuts are do-nots. That's right," she said, as Twinkle resisted the urge to face-hoof.

A pink hoof jabbed at Pony Joe, "It was Joe! Or as he's known in the spy world, Mane. Con Mane!"
"What." Twinkle heard Twilight utter.

~~~~~

Mane. Con Mane, Equestria's top secret agent. Glamourous women (with oddly euphemistic names), cool gadets (that always came in handy), exotic adventures, he had them all, working on Their Majesties' Secret Service, despite his constant headbutting with his superior, who went by the initials SA. But, for sleek and stealthy Con Mane, and his touch of gold, this was not enough, the world was not enough. In his disguise as working bloke Pony Joe, he planned to win the National Dessert Competion. It was a simple matter, using the inventions given to him by P-Branch to knock out the police pony on watch, and using an ingenious device designed to reflect light, turned the laser defense system against the very thing it was supposed to protect, slicing it to pieces.

~~~~~~

"Thus, crushing the cake's chance to win!" Pinkie finished, as she stared straight into Pony Joe's eyes
"Pinkie," Twilight said, "There is no laser security system!" she waved a hoof at the cake, demonstrating that the cake, which was demonstratably un-sliced.

"And Joe is not sleek, stealthy 'Con Mane'! He's big, gruff and messy!"
"Hey!" Pony Joe retorted with as much hurt pride as he could muster.

"Although," Rarity mused, "You would look rather dapper in a tuxedo."
The stallion suddenly gave a pleased grin, as Spike quietly muttered angry nothings to himself.

"Also ignoring the fact that you fell asleep, rather than being the victim of a knock-out gas" Twinkle added.
"You may be right" Pinkie Pie said.

"May be?" Twilight asked. Pinkie walked over toward the chocolate moose.
"Now that I'm taking a closer look at these desserts," she mused, as she scutinised it, "I see one that simply cannot look me in the eye"

"Pinkie," Twilight said slowly, "That mousse is a moose!"
"Yes, and the mule behind the moose panicked when she saw the mastery of the MMMM!" Pinkie declared, leaning in towards Mulia Mild and glowering.

~~~~~

In the silence of the night, she creapt towards her target. It had been difficult, but soon, Mulia Mild, the deadliest assassin of the competitive cooking circuit, would reach her target, the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness, but it would take all her ninja cunning, all her training, to make it past the skilled officer who stood on guard.
Or one well-applied frying pan, perhaps.
She stood there, in the moonlight, over the body of her helpless victim, her eyes blazing with a steely fire. She draw her sword, and leapt... a flash of metal, and three swift strikes, and it was done. The target, the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness, had been destroyed.

~~~~~

"Putting an end to the Cakes' dreams of taking first prize" Pinkie finished, as she stood over the terrified Mulia. She gave a derisive 'huh', "I hope you're proud of yourself Mulia."
Her friends felt embarrassed. In fact, as Pinkie Pie herself would later put it, they were into all new territories of embarrassed. She had just created a masterpiece of embarrassment so deep and moving, anypony would need to take several steps back to appreciate just how impressively awkward the embarrassment was. Mulia was no ninja. She was just a donkey chef who'd wanted to try something new, proove she still had the same fire in her craft she once did. And at the moment, she genuinely seemed terrified of Pinkie Pie.

Twilight had had enough. "Pinkie, stop! This is ridiculous! Look at her!" she said, trying to direct Pinkie's gaze to the trembling Mulia.
Pinkie Pie stared at the mare, and then down at her hooves. "I guess you're right" she sighed.

"THANK YOU!" Twilight declared, perhaps a bit louder than anypony else in the room required.
"But I was so sure that it was one of the other bitter bakers that destroyed the 'MMMM'. That way their delicious dessert would reign supreme. I mean, just look at Joe's Donutopia" Pinkie pointed at the creation, "It's a spectuacular city of donutty delight, topped temptingly in sprinklicious sprinkles."

Twinkle could hear Rainbow Dash and Spike licking their lips. Pinkie moved over to Gustave's creations
"And Gustave's eclairs look incredibly edible, with glistening glaziness." Rarity and Fluttershy leaned in toward the griffon's creatiom, taking a deep breath.

"But then there's Mulia Mild's Mousse Moose." Pinkie wrapped a hoof around it, "Why this mouth-wateringly marvelous mousse moose tempts the taste buds with its silky-smooth-"
As Pinkie spoke, Twinkle became aware of the fact that she hadn't eaten in several hours. Several long hours. And then she stared at the remains of the MMMM, as one tiny piece of cream every-so-slowly began to trickle down the sides, like a waterfall made out of liquified pearl...

"So why," Pinkie asked, "did this criminal devour the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness while leaving this trio of tasty treats untouched?"
Then the whole cabin went dark, and Twinkle wasn't entirely sure what happened, but she was certain she could hear eating noises. Then light came back into the room. And there was a multitude of gasps.

"Now I have no idea who do-done-dood it!" Pinkie said.
There was a moment's silence for the fallen foods.

"Well," Pinkie said, taking another puff on her bubble pipe, "This mystery gets more mysterious every minute."
Twinkle shook her head, as Twilight grinned with what could have been construed as a malicious light.

"Well, you have to stop with the wild accusations and get to the truth" she said, before turning to everyone else. "Everypony go back to y-"

"No!" Twinkle declared. Everypony turned to stare at her.
"Sorry, didn't meant to shout that," she said, "But nopony can leave here until we've got this thing solved."

"(I forgot you talked for a moment)" Trixie muttered. Twinkle turned to stare at her, noting the very barely visible hint of cream on her chin.
"If anyp-... anyone" she said, glancing at Gustav and Mulia, "leaves the room now, the actual 'thieves', though I'd say vandals would be a more fitting epithet at this point, then they can cover their tracks, erase all evidence of their misdeeds."

She looked at everypony, "And we've got a whole bunch of misdeeds to go with today, folks. Starting with you!"
"Me?" Pinkie Pie squeaked, "What did I do?"

"You accused me of trying to eat part of the cake, allowing two suspects to escape" Twinkle said. She frowned, before adding, "And you tackled me in the process."
Pinkie paused. "Are you sure? That doesn't sound like me."

"So," Twilight asked, "Who did damage the MMMM?"
"Oh, that," Twinkle laughed, "Yes, well, that one is easy enough."

She stuck out a hoof, "For one, her."
Rainbow Dash blinked, then scowled. "No I didn't!"

Twinkle stared at her, "You were in the room when the MMMM got munched, and the only others in there were me, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and the second vandal, because let's face it, it was an act of vandalism to take a bite out of the King of Cakes."

Some nervous glances were exchanged as Twinkle stared at the MMMM. It seemed a shame to let it just sit there, half of its might taken from it, seperated from its true self. And while it was an act of vandalism to take a bite out of it, it was a waste, criminal negligence even, to leave it unfinished, after all, that was its purpose in life, to be eaten by the mere mortals in its shadow...
"Twilight!" she heard Twilight Sparkle yell. She quickly turned around, and blushed.

"Sorry, but it is a very lovely looking cake, and I am really hungry right now."
She coughed, "Anyway, the second vandal of the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness is easily deduced. It's Rarity."

Everypony turned to stare at the mare.
Twilight nodded, "I'm glad somepony noticed Rarity was wearing her hair differently."

"Oh, I did," Fluttershy said, "But I... didn't want to seem rude."
"Is it a crime to change one's hair style every now and again? Why," she sniffed, "I say it is a crime not to."

Both Twilights exchanged glances, then looked back to Rarity.
"Rarity," Twinkle said slowly, "You barely ever change your hairstyle."

Rarity glanced from Twilight to Twilight. She gave in.
"All right," she wailed, "It's true! I'm guilty!"

She brushed back her mane, revealling... her eyes. "I wear false eyelashes!"
For a minute she held a mildly dramatic weeping pose, before opening her eyes, and casually adding, "And I took a bite of the cake."

Pinkie's eyes went wide. "WHAT?!!"
"Not so loud, Pinkie dear" Rarity sighed. The party pony stared at Twinkle.

"How did you know?"
"Well, because the lights went off before she entered the carriage, and I didn't use my magic, and neither Fluttershy nor Rainbow Dash were anywhere near the lightswitch. Plus, the fact that she changed her hairstyle, despite not having brought enough of her mane-styling equipment with her, that was another clue."

She turned back to Rainbow Dash, "Allowing you to steal a quick chunk of cake for yourself, while Pinkie Pie was busy blaming me."
"No, I didn't" Rainbow Dash said, "I was going to take a taste-bite. Like I said last night. So that's all I did, then I flew on out of there."

She pointed at the very edge of one of the gouges, where a smaller, seperate chunk had been bitten. "That's where I took a bite out of, where somepony else has taken a bite out of it. I may be a jerk sometimes, but I'm not gonna eat half the damn cake that took months for the Cakes to prepare."

"Then who could have possibly done it?"
"Was it me?" Fluttershy asked, "Maybe I sleepwalked in and sleepate part of it."

Everypony stared at her.
"No, it was me. Ah ate part of it."

Everypony turned to stare at Applejack in shock.
"Sorry, Pinkie. Ah just heard how you described it, an' it sounded so good, and ah wasn't gonna eat any of it, but... well, ah couldn't help mahself after a while."

"Indeed," Rarity said, "I only meant to take a tiny, lady-like bite of it. After all, you'd made it sound so... delectable."
"So... I don't understand, who was the first pony to make a move?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"That was me," Rainbow Dash mumbled, "I rushed past you, and I was gonna wait for you to walk past, then sneak a bite of the cake, but then I came back in and found the lights were on, and Twinkie here was talking to Fluttershy."
Twinkle shook her head as she looked at Pinkie Pie, "You didn't check the ceilings?" she asked in disbelief.

Pinkie stared at Fluttershy, "But how come you didn't get a chance to did-done-dood it?"
"She walked into one of my forcefields" Twinkle said, "Fortunately, I only cast a level three shield, because I am still magically drained right now, so she just bounced off it. I guessed it was Rainbow Dash who woke Pinkie Pie up, so I was hoping to stop her flying right up to the cake. I just didn't expect Fluttershy, of all ponies."

"Why can't I be greedy once in a while?" Fluttershy asked defensively. She looked at Pinkie Pie's hurt expression.
"Sorry" she said.

"So sorry" Rarity added.
"Really, really, really sorry" Rainbow Dash agreed.

Applejack just mumbled to herself.
"So," Twilight said, "We've found out who ate the MMMM" she glanced at Rarity and Applejack.

"But we still haven't figured out who ate the rest of the bakers' goods."
"Oh, I know this one!" Pinkie said. Twilight looked at her.

"I really do this time!" she smiled.
"Pinkie..." Twilight sighed.

"No, it really was the bakers this time!" Pinkie said. There were a few gasps.
"Actually, it wasn't just them" Twinkle said. Pinkie stared at her.

"It wasn't?"
"Trixie and Spike helped."

Twilight swivelled, and advanced on Spike, who just smiled nervously.
"Spike" she said, in the exact same tone she'd just used on Pinkie.

"So, Pinkie," Twinkle said quickly, "You said the other bakers ate their competition?"
"Yuh-huh!" Pinkie nodded, before pointing, "Look! Gustave has mousse in his mustache."

Indeed, there was a noticable sample of chocolate on his mustache, as Pinkie straightened it out. When she let go it snapped back with a 'twang' noise.
"Joe has eclair in his hair" she added, lifting up the stallion's hat to reveal a tiny sliver of cream on his hair.

"And Mulia," Pinkie finished, "Has sprinkles in her wrinkles. But I don't know what Spike and Trixie ate."
"Well, I can explain that one," Twinkle said, "Spike helped devour Donutopia!"

"Sorry" he mumbled, "I was really hungry."
"I'll put it on your tab" Pony Joe sighed.

"And Trixie helped eradicate the eclairs."
"I only ate one!" Trixie declared. Then everypony stared at her, and she shrivelled. "Okay, three. But that was all."

Twilight shook her head, before turning to the bakers. "What do you say, bakers?"
Gustave turned to Mulia. "Oh, I so, so sorry, Mulia, but Pinkie made your mousse moose sound so... tres magnifique."

There was a disgusted tut from Trixie, as Pony Joe turned to Gustave, "And Pinkie's description of your eclairs really did make 'em sound scrumptious."
"(They were, by they way.)"

Mulia looked over at Pony Joe, "And the way she spoke of your Donutopia," she sighed, "Was too delectable to resist."
Twilight nodded, "Well everypony, we finally have the mystery solved. Or at least," she said, glancing at Twinkle, then to Applejack, "All the ones relating to the desserts."

"Yes," Gustave said, as he, Mulia and Joe held the remains of their entries, "But now we don't have any desserts to enter into the contest."
Pinkie beamed once more, "I think we can fix that! Come on!" she declared, before rushing off. For a moment, the three bakers looked at each other, before following after her. When Pinkie Pie was in that sort of manic cheerfulness, it was impossible not to find yourself swept up by it.

*****

Three guards saluted as Shining Armor arrived. Under normal circumstances, they might perhaps have been suspicious if their boss had shown up ten minutes late, but he was preparing for a wedding, and his wedding at that, so nopony commented that he was late by half an hour. Besides, everypony knew Princess Cadance was a very 'huggy' pony in the morning.

"Boss?" One of them, who went by the name of Gilded Shield, asked, "You alright?"
"Yeah, yeah..." Shining Armor muttered, "I'm fine. Just overslept, is all."

The three guards looked at one another. "You sure, sir? I mean, no offence, but you look like you were just in a fight."
Shining Armor frowned. A fight, he felt like asking. With who? Cadance. That was stupid. He and Cadance had never so much as argued, not even raised voices at one another, just like with Twilie. At least, he was pretty sure he and Cadance hadn't had an argument, but something had happened when he woke up, but he couldn't remember what it was.

"Where's Princess Celestia?" he asked. The three guards exchanged looks.
"Think she's probably getting ready for that big dessert competition" guard number three, a pegasus mare, said, with a voice that indicated that she'd have loved to be guarding tasty treats from being stolen. Then she felt a pang of her guards' sense.

"Why, sir, if you don't mind my asking?"
"I..." Shining Armor frowned, as he tried to remember, "I have to tell her... something."

He rubbed the side of his head, and tried standing up straight, "Carry on, men."
"Yessir!" they saluted.

As Shining Armor made his way into the castle, he couldn't help but feel there was something else he was supposed to be doing. Something to do with his little sister. Then hot recollection came back to him, burning through his mind and wiping away all other thoughts.
TELL CELESTIA CANTERLOT IS UNDER THREAT, something snarled in his mind, and he suddenly had an image of Cadance standing over him, sneering. But that wasn't possible, he told himself. Cadance would never hurt anypony, it just wasn't in her nature.
TELL HER, the voice said. No, Cadance hadn't hurt him, he remembered now. He had slipped, and she had helped him up. They had kissed. He had enjoyed kissing Cadance. He was probably just getting nerves, but it wouldn't do to complain. He couldn't ruin Cadance's special day.

Nopony would ruin Cadance's special day. He would make sure of that.

*****

It had been an impressive feat, all had agreed. Pinkie Pie had suggested merging the remains of everyone's entries. Twinkle couldn't find herself thinking that some intangible qualitity of the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness had been lost, but that the end result of the fusion of cake, mousse, donuts and eclairs was incredibly impressive. The judges had agreed, deeming the fusion worthy of first prize. Even Princess Celestia had expressed interest in it, until it had been destroyed by an overly-eager Pinkie Pie. Nopony had minded too much, especially not after Celestia began laughing.

Meanwhile, Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash kept a good distance away from Pinkie Pie, afraid of the ironic punishment that was likely to be dolled out to them.

Eventually, after a pleasant amount of mingling, and examining the various other entries, they decided to leave.
As they walked through Canterlot, Applejack and Twinkle kept exchanging glances.

"Okay," Twilight said as they approached the train station, turning to face the two mares, "What is it?" she asked.
"What?" Twinkle asked.

"You two are clearly keeping something from the rest of us" Twilight said, raising a hoof, "Don't try and deny it, please. Not after what happened on the train."
Applejack turned to look at Twinkle, and nodded.

"Tell her" she said quietly. Twinkle stared at Twilight, and then turned to look at everypony else.
"No," she said, quickly adding, "Not yet. Not until we're back in Ponyville, where I will take us to the swankiest resturaunt we can afford, and then I will tell you."

She did a strange combination of frown and ironic smile, "Just don't blame me if it starts raining chocolate tomorrow."
"You don't have to keep us in suspense" Rainbow Dash said, "We've all figured it out."

Twinkle heard Applejack facehoof.
"Have you now?" she asked, feeling a slightly malicious sting of humour.

"Yeah" Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Don't know why you bothered keeping it a secret from us, 'specially not with that stupid 'boyfriend' story."
"(When we get back to Ponyville, can I knock her senseless?)" Applejack muttered.

"Indeed," Rarity nodded, "If what Rainbow Dash says is correct, we don't mind your... unsual decision to keep this hidden from us. If there is one thing we've learnt over the last few months, it is that everypony has their secrets, and it's their choice to share them if they wish. But there was no need to hide this one from us."

Twinkle sighed, "You don't honestly think that we're..." she pointed to Applejack. Both mares stared at each other, then back to their friends.
"Do you wanna go first with the brutal honesty?" Twinkle asked. Applejack shook her head.

"Naw, you go right on ahead."
"We are not, have not been, and never will be in a relationship" Twinkle said, "Nothing personal Applejack, but you aren't really my sort of mare."

"None taken. Ah don't swing that way either. And you ain't really my type."
They turned to face the gobsmacked group of ponies. There was the sound of Trixie trying to restrain her laughter. Mercifully, at that point, the train came into the station.

"So..." Rainbow Dash asked, "What could you two possibly be keeping from us, then?" she asked.
Twinkle just took a deep breath, "You'll see. But wait until we get to Ponyville."

She looked up at the sky, "I don't want to exposit on an empty stomach."
Pinkie Pie nodded, "Yeah, that's always the worst. Unless you're eating bean pie, which is even worst-ier, especially when you need to go, or when you accidently get a clarinet stuck up your nose, that really wasn't fun-"

The eight ponies (and one dragon) piled onto the train. Twinkle lay back on her seat.
"All things considered, I think that was one of the most enjoyable train rides I've ever been on" she said, turning to Twilight, "Though I think you'd make the better detective. You're better at figuring things out than I am. I just leap in head-first."

She sighed, "I needed more days like this."
Twilight frowned and said nothing. Everypony else was engaged in their own conversations.

"Did you see all that bunting?" Rarity asked, "I think the gossip is right. There is something big about to occur."
"You think?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Looks like a giant party!" Pinkie Pie smiled, "And nopony's invited me."
"The postal service's really taken a hit since Ditzy went 'travelling', huh?" Twinkle smirked.

There was a sudden quiet. "I hope Dinky's alright" Fluttershy said.
"She'll be better than that, she'll be... superb" Twinkle said quietly. "One of the best tutors I ever had."

Twilight looked at her, "Really? Dinky Doo taught you magic?"
"Taught me a few things. Like that unlocking spell I used in the library. Good thing she wasn't there, or the ontological paradox would've been..." Twinkle shook her head.

The train slowly pulled out of the station, and Twinkle relaxed. And then she saw she was sitting in a seat facing towards Canterlot. She felt her stomach begin to tighten.
"You don't look so good..." Trixie said, "You look like that time Trixie tried to merge cloves and custard." The showmare stuck her tounge out at the apparently disgusting memory.

Twinkle said nothing. For a few minutes, everything seemed fine. Then she heard Rarity gasp.
"Do you see that?"

"It's gorgeous!" she heard Fluttershy state.
"Shiny!" Pinkie added.

"That looks like one of my brother's spells," Twilight said, "I've never seem him cast one on that scale. But then, mom was always a bit worried about him practicing magic in the house, and I never got to see him when he was in training."
Twinkle was aware ponies were speaking, but it sounded distant. All she could hear was her heart beating.

"Su--rcube? -ou al-ig-t? Twilight?! Twilight!"
"Buck!" Twinkle uttered as she collapsed onto the floor. For a few minutes she lay there, trying to breath as she heard, distantly, everypony arguing about what to do. She slowly raised a hoof.

"'m fine," she slurred, "Just... had a freak out, is all."
She unsteadily got to her hooves, trying to ignore the look on everypony's faces.

"Can whatever you're keeping from us wait until Ponyville?" Twilight asked. Twinkle frowned.
"I just wanted... wanted to make sure you at least had something about today you could remember that wasn't tainted with something bad. Just wanted you to all be happy."

Applejack put a hoof on her shoulder. "Ah think now's the time to tell them, Twilight Twinkle."
She frowned, and sat down on the seat, and tried to regain her breathing for a few moments, before looking at everypony.

"No. Not until we reach Ponyville. Now, if you don't mind," she said, "I'd just like to gather my thoughts."
Everypony sat in silence until they reached Ponyville, all eyes avoiding Twinkle and Applejack. They sat in silence as the train pulled in to Ponyville, they stood largely in silence as Pinkie Pie passed the varied rewards of victory to the Cakes, and politely declined the offer of a celebration, Pinkie telling the Cakes the victory belonged to the couple alone. They quickly walked to the library, still in utter silence, and once inside paused.

Twinkle sighed, and looked about the library. Spike had left instructions to Big MacIntosh on how to feed Peewee, just in case the group had been late returning from Canterlot, and quickly went upstairs to check on the phoenix chick.
Once he returned, Peewee slowly flitting after him, Twinkle's horn glowed, and an orange/red glow settled over the surfaces of the library. She nodded slowly.

"The room is sound-screened" she said. She lowered her head, and then looked up at Twilight. She hugged the mare, before pulling out again.
"Okay, everypony. Now, before I start, I must ask that each of you swear not to divulge what I am about to reveal to you, no matter to whom, unless I say so."

There were a series of nods, before she looked at Twilight. "I need you to promise."
"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" Everypony save Trixie repeated. She just stared at them.

"Okay," Twinkle said, taking a deep, shaking breath "Here goes."
'Damn me' she thought.

Author's Note

(Curse that little thing the French keep putting on top of their words. Curse their admittedly beautiful language!)
Next up: The moment has arrived.
The Wedding is Here!
Heartbreak, chocolate, true love. Luna gets to do something.
Twilight Twinkle makes a choice.
The end of Twilight Twinkle's story begins...