//------------------------------// // The Welcome Wagon // Story: The Twilight Child // by Detectivefish //------------------------------// 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.