A Birthday Party for Midnight Legend

by Midnight Legend

Of Hard Work and Babysitting

---Sweet Apple Acres—

Two ponies stood before an old storage shed that needed to be torn down, but with care so falling debris would not damage any of the apple saplings nearby.

Applejack, the shorter of the two, spoke up, “So, uh, Midnight, you think you can do this without hurtin’ them saplings over there?”

His reply was only, “Of course I can. It’s simple.”

“Alright. Now, you head over to th’ back of the shed while I go to the front. When I whistle, you push and buck with all yer power while I do the same over on my end. If ev’rythin’s done right, nothin’s gonna fall on the saplings.”

“And if they do, I’ll just catch it with my magic and throw it to the side.”

“Ya done took the words right outta my mouth, sugarcube.”

“Alright, let’s get to it.”

Hearing how the farm pony said “sugarcube” brought a certain charm to it. Midnight knew Applejack, along with most of the fillies he met, thought him among the finest stallions in Equestria. Not quite as handsome or popular as the pony stars like Bruno Mares or Matthew McConaughay, yet he could entrance the mares with a few words.

He assumed his position behind the shed. When he heard the whistle, he bucked at the wall, which snapped at the support. After about an hour of work, all that was left was a pile of timber.

Wiping the sweat off her brow, she said, “Whew, that took some effort, but we did it.”

“That we did, Applejack. Now that I’ve paid my debt, I would like to finish the heart-to-heart with Star.”

To his shock, he heard a voice over the hill. It sounded like a young school-age foal calling out his name. Sure enough, up over the hill came a white unicorn filly with light pink and light purple hair.

“Sweetie Belle, if yer lookin’ for Apple Bloom, she’s over at the house.”

“I know that, but Rarity sent me over here to give Midnight Legend this note.”

Taking the note, Midnight read the contents. As his eyes peered across the page, he grew slightly annoyed.

Midnight,

I know this is so sudden, but I was supposed to look after Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo for a few hours at the Boutique. Just today, an order came from Canterlot for several dresses made of the finest fabrics in Equestria; the buyer wanted the order to arrive in three days’ time. This could be the next step toward my dream and I hope you can empathize. If you can watch over the girls, that would be most wonderful. We can work out some form of compensation later. Thank you.

With love,
Rarity

“Applejack, could you watch the girls?”

“Shoot, no. I got double th’ work cut now that Big Mac’s out for a while. Sorry.”

“It’s fine. See you later.”

“Alright. And thanks for the help.”

With that, Applejack went off toward the apple orchards. He really wished he could get out of this, but it was useless.

“So, Sweetie Belle, let’s go over to the house and see if Apple Bloom’s there.”

When they arrived, Granny Smith was sitting on the porch. She was rocking in her chair and sipping a mug of apple cider. Sitting beside her was Big Macintosh, with a bandage around his torso and enjoying his own cider.

“Hey Granny Smith. Is Apple Bloom here?”

The elderly mare replied, “She sure is. Big Mac, could you get your sister down here?”

“Eeyup.”
After a few minutes, Big Mac exited the house with Apple Bloom. She ran out the door and went to greet Sweetie.

“Hey, Sweetie Belle. When are we gonna meet Scootaloo over at Rarity’s?”

“Sorry, but my sis just got a large order from Canterlot. She needs the time to finish the dresses. Midnight agreed to watch us as we play in the fields for a few hours.”

“Alright, then let’s get going.”

“And forget about me!?” a voice yelled.

Over the hill came a small burnt orange Pegasus filly riding a red scooter. She did a flip as she jumped off another hill. Midnight thought she had a future with that little scooter.

“Hey, you guys. Just came over from Rarity’s; she told me you all were here. I came here as fast as I could in case you decided to leave me.

“We wouldn’t do that, Scootaloo. You’re a fellow Crusader,” Apple Bloom replied.

“Cool, so what awesome things are we gonna do today?”

“Alright, girls,” Midnight said as he got their attention, “I know you want to do many things today, but let’s head toward the fields right now. You can talk about what you’re gonna do on the way.”

As they went towards the fields near Sweet Apple Acres, the three friends spoke of trying to get their cutie marks. A small group of ponies, Midnight Legend included, knew what their talents really were, but he allowed them to dream and wait for them to discover those talents like he did what felt like a lifetime ago.

---The fields near Sweet Apple Acres---

They started to play in the fields when they got there. The first hour was spent trying to get their cutie marks in bird-catching, which resulted in them coming back with droppings and pecks marks on their skin.

After they cleaned up in a nearby pond, the other two decided to plan for the next event. Sweetie Belle, tired of their crusading, trotted toward Midnight and said to them, “Go ahead and plan; I’ll just rest here for a while.”

They went on their way underneath a tree about fifty feet away from them. As the young filly sat down beside him, she started to converse with him.

“Can I ask you something,” the small filly queried.

“Go right ahead.”

“Do you like my sister Rarity?”

“Like as in?”

“Like as in like-like.”

Midnight had never been asked if he loved somepony since Twilight asked the same question on the train ride to Ponyville after he moved from Canterlot. He least of all expected it to be asked of a relative of that certain somepony.

“To answer your question, no, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like your sister at all. I admit she is beautiful, charming, and sophisticated. Whoever marries her will be one lucky stallion.”

“Oh. Well, she hasn’t really been eyeing anyone recently.”

“Sweetie Belle, why is it you’re telling me this?”

“Because I want that ‘one lucky stallion’ to be you.”

He was shocked at that statement. Yes, he said she was beautiful, but that was hardly enough to count as “being interested.”

“I told you that I don’t love her, yet you want me to marry her. Why?”

“Because you’re a kind, sophisticated, handsome, and talented pony; Rarity deserves the best.”

“But I’m not the best. I used to think I was, but that was during my younger years. My extreme pride in my abilities is what caused my bitterness toward Twilight. I still hold my skills in particularly high regard. This pride doesn’t control me, but it’s still there, like it is in most ponies. And the fact I am sophisticated has to do with my upbringing in Canterlot. My handsomeness is merely a value judgment; it varies from pony to pony. But my kindness is something everypony chooses to act, which I chose not to show in the past.”

She stared at me for a moment, in awe or terror he could not tell. The tiny filly who could never understand my feelings was listening as Midnight spoke his mind.

“Don’t let what I said get you scared, Sweetie. I would never hurt you or your friends. Those days are behind me, but they still happened. I did many things I regret. Yet, I learned important lessons from them.”

“Could you tell me about the time you were in town to stop Nightmare Moon during the Summer Sun Celebration two years ago?”

“Again!? You’ve probably heard it a hundred times already.”

“Actually, only seventeen, but who’s counting.”

So, again, he retold the story of the weeks leading up to the 1000th Summer Sun Celebration, his surprise encounter with Nightmare Moon, and his heroic act of calming the citizens as they panicked.

Suddenly, a rainbow streak whizzed across the sky above him and landed a few steps in front of him. It was Ponyville’s local daredevil, Rainbow Dash.

“Yesss!! Did it in only two minutes.”

The other two fillies abandoned their project to see Rainbow Dash. All of them, especially Scootaloo, looked up to Rainbow Dash in a way.

Scootaloo remarked, “That was so awesome, Rainbow Dash.”

The cyan Pegasus said, “Eh, it was nothing. Could’ve shaved twenty seconds if that wind wasn’t against me.”

Midnight cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, Rainbow, but is there a reason for you to be here?”

“Oh, yeah. Fluttershy asked me to get you to help out searching for her animals.”

“Don’t tell me they ran away.”

“Not all of them. Just a few animals got spooked by something in the forest.”

“But what about the girls? I can’t leave them alone.”

“Don’t worry, Midnight. I got them.”

“OK, thanks.”

He spread his wings and started to flap. As his hooves left the ground, he felt the exhilaration of truly flying. He rarely used his wings, but he loved it when he did.

He turned in the direction toward Fluttershy’s cottage and sped as fast as he could. He was no Rainbow Dash, but he was faster than most Pegasi.

He saw the yellow Pegasus near the edge of the Everfree Forest. As he landed, Fluttershy was frightened until she saw who it was.

Comments

[FicusCat]

Midnight Legend

[Midnight Legend]

2651954 What's wrong with the name?

[FicusCat]

2652557

I'm sure you think it's a really cool, mysterious, unique and edgy name yes ?

The fact is, almost every ( bad ) OC landing on this site have either " Midnight ", " Shadow ", " Night " or " Dark " in their own name.
That why I facepalm, the name of your OC is so common here.

[Midnight Legend]

2652956
There's more to a pony than just a name. And just because other OCs considered bad have "Midnight" in their name doesn't make mine "bad."

And for the record, I didn't choose it because it sounded "cool, mysterious, and edgy."

I actually chose "Midnight" because it would represent the darker aspects of his family's history, but it's also a family name (the firstborn son of his family has the name "Midnight"); the "Legend" is because his family is thought to have faded from history into legend. I actually had his history thought up before even coming up with his name.

I just wrote a story in celebration of my birthday; if you don't like any aspect of the story, don't read it.