Midnight Star: The Frozen Empire

by Nebula Star

Chapter 8: A Gift and a Royal Summons

Midnight Star: The Frozen Empire
By Nebula Star

Part 1: Shadows of the Past
***
Chapter 8: A Gift and a Royal Summons
***

After making a quick stop to pick up her gift for Scootaloo, Midnight was on her way to find the athletic young mare. It was a beautiful day out and she had a good idea of where to look. For the past three years, many of the young adults around Midnight's age liked to get together in the afternoons at one of the parks on the edge of town to play sports. Lately the game of choice had been hoof-ball.

Midnight and her friends had often joined the others when they didn't have anything else to do, but Copper didn't have much interest in sports, and Wind and Sky would rather be flying, so they weren't regulars in the group. Scootaloo however, was. In fact she was one of the main ponies that had organized the group and kept it going.

There were about a dozen regulars in all but just about every day a few others joined them so they always had plenty for two full teams. Even some of the older ponies in town joined them on occasion. Rainbow Dash for one often joined them when she could, and when she did, even Valor had been known to play when he wasn't on duty.

Midnight headed to the park flying at first, but as she drew close she had an idea; they'd likely been out here all afternoon, and so they may not have heard yet about her being an alicorn. She landed a fair distance from the park, folded her wings, and walked the rest of the way.

As she reached the field she saw the game for the day was going strong. They didn't have any kind of score board, so it was impossible to tell which team was winning. For that matter Midnight couldn't even tell who the teams were at first since they weren't wearing any team colors. Scootaloo was there though, so she stopped at the edge of the field to watch wondering how long it would take them to notice her wings.

They rarely left anypony out of the game who wanted to play, so the teams were sometimes larger than in the official rules and at any time one or more could take a break to rest. There were also always a few that just watched; but though there were several on the sidelines when she walked up, they were all on the far side of the field from Midnight.

Scootaloo's team seemed to be in control of the game, she saw as she watched them play. But then Midnight knew from experience that whichever team Scootaloo was on often dominated the games. Not always, but often. Within a minute of her arrival, Scootaloo scored a goal.

A few of the players noticed her watching as the game went on, but they clearly had only glanced at her as they didn't seem to notice anything different. Even those along the sideline opposite from her didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Finally Midnight couldn't stand it anymore and grinning, she opened her wings, holding them open like the princesses often would do. Even so it was still another couple minutes before somepony noticed. It was Rumble who finally did.

He glanced at her as he had a couple times already, but then did a double take as he realized just what he'd seen. “Midnight!?” He exclaimed.

The shock in his voice was enough to get several of the other players' attention and they looked to see what had surprised him. Their eyes widened and several jaws dropped when they saw Midnight standing there with wings held open. Soon the entire game had come to a standstill as everypony was staring at her with varying degree's of shock.

Midnight couldn't help laughing at their expressions. Her laughter snapped them out of their stupor though and in moments she was surrounded by dozens of excited ponies. Most of them were ponies she'd known since first coming to Ponyville; they'd grown up together and she considered most of them her friends.

She smiled as she was bombarded by questions.

“Yes, my wings are real.”

“I was transformed yesterday.”

“No, the transformation didn't hurt.”

“No, I can't transform anypony else into an alicorn.”

“Yes, I am immortal now.”

“Yes, Twilight knows.”

“NO!” Midnight exclaimed suddenly when one of them asked if she was going to be a princess. “Like, I told everypony else, I don't care if I'm an alicorn now, I am not going to be a princess!”

“Why not?” One of them asked, clearly confused as to why anypony wouldn't want to be a princess.

Midnight shook her head. “I've lived with a princess for eleven years, being one myself is not something I want,” She told them, then decided she'd answered enough questions for now. “Anyway, I actually came to talk to Scootaloo about something,” She said catching the pegasus's eye.

“What about?” Scootaloo asked seeming curious. Midnight was always slightly surprised by how much more... feminine Scootaloo's voice sounded now; considering how it had sounded when they were younger.

“Well, it's actually somewhat of a private matter; so if the rest of you will excuse us?” They all looked between her and Scootaloo clearly curious. She caught Scootaloo's eye again and nodded off to the side. “Could we go over there to talk?”

“Uh; sure, Midnight,” Scootaloo agreed. “Go ahead and continue the game without me while I see what this is about,” she told the others. They seemed reluctant but soon they returned to the field and picked up where they'd left off when Midnight had interrupted.

“So what is this about?” She asked turning to follow Midnight, who led her a ways off from the field into another part of the park; far enough that they wouldn't be overheard.

“My memories are back,” Midnight told her when they were far enough away.

Scootaloo raised an Eyebrow. “What memories?” She asked, sounding genuinely confused. Either she was a far better actress than Midnight knew, or it was a sign of just how good of a friend she was that she never even thought about Midnight's dark past anymore.

She smiled, Scootaloo was never much of an actress. “My memories from before Twilight took me in, of who I use to be.”

“Oh!” Her eyes widened in surprise. “You mean...” She trailed off looking slightly worried.

“Yeah, those memories.”

Scootaloo looked at her a moment seeming undecided whether she should be scared for her life or concerned for Midnight. “Are you going to be alright?” she asked finally, making her choice.

“Yeah, I'm fine,” she assured her; “and I'm sorry if I scared you back then.”

“Nah, I wasn't scared.”

Midnight grinned. “You were running around in circles screaming your head off...”

She flinched slightly. “Okay, maybe I was a little scared, but to be fair you had just turned one of my best friends to stone.”

Midnight just kept grinning a moment more. “Anyway, I wanted to thank you for keeping the secret for all these years. You and everypony else that kept the secret gave me a second chance, a happy life. I can never repay any of you for what you've given me.”

“Your welcome, Midnight,” Scootaloo told her seeming completely at ease now. “I was glad to keep the secret.”

“Well thanks. Like I said, I can never repay any of you, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try,” she smiled. “I made a gift for you.”

“Midnight, you don't have to...”

“Scoots, I want to,” Midnight said making it clear she couldn't convince her otherwise. “Besides, I was already making this for you before my memories completely came back anyway.” She levitated the necklace out of her small neck pouch and held it out to her in her magic.

Scootaloo took the necklace and looked at it surprised. “Uh, it's very nice, Midnight...” She said, clearly trying not to hurt her feelings. Midnight knew well that Scootaloo didn't care much for jewelry.

Midnight just smiled though. “It's enchanted.”

She looked up from the gift curious now. “Enchanted?”

“It's a very special enchantment, one I designed just for you.”

Scootaloo glanced at the necklace then looked up at Midnight again. “What does it do?”

“You'll see,” Midnight said smiling reassuringly. “Put it on.”

She hesitated a moment more seeming unsure but then seemed to decide that she trusted Midnight and carefully put the necklace on. Nothing happened. “Okay... what is it suppose to do?”

Midnight grinned in anticipation. “Open your wings.”

Scootaloo looked up surprised. “My wings? What...?”

“Just do it,” She told her still grinning.

After a moment's more hesitation she finally opened her wings. A magenta aura matching her mane and tail burst to life around the necklace as the spell activated and the tip of each of Scootaloo's primary feathers were suddenly extended by translucent magenta magic. Midnight was glad to see she'd estimated correctly and Scootaloo's wings, with the magical extensions were now nearly the same size as hers.

Scootaloo saw the flash of light as the spell activated and looked back at her wings, her eyes widening as she saw the glowing feather extensions. She flapped her wings slowly, seeing how the extensions moved exactly with her own feathers; then a little faster, feeling the added resistance as they moved through the air. She looked back at Midnight her eyes wide. “You don't think... could I...” She seemed at a loss of what to say, unsure if she dared believe the dream she'd all but given up on years ago could finally come true. “With these... you don't think I could fly do you?”

Midnight smiled. “That's the theory. We won't know for certain until you try, but I'm pretty sure,” she told her.

“But... my wings are so small normally, even if this makes them the right size, do you think they're strong enough?”

She nodded reassuringly. “I talked to Rainbow before I started. She told me that your wings themselves aren't much smaller than normal, that it was mainly the feathers that were too small. She also told me that you work your wings harder than any other Pegasus she knows; she was certain your wings would be strong enough,” Midnight told her.

“Rainbow said that?” She whispered and Midnight nodded. Scootaloo seemed to be in a state of shock, but slowly she began to look both hopeful and excited as it dawned on her that her oldest and greatest dream might just come true.

“Now, I don't think you'll ever be as fast or as agile as Rainbow...” Midnight started to warn her.

“If this lets me fly at all, I don't care!” She exclaimed cutting Midnight off and she saw that Scootaloo really meant that.

She smiled understanding. “You like it?”

Scootaloo laughed at how much of an understatement that was. “Midnight! If this works... I could never repay you!”

Midnight just continued to smile. “You already have.”

She looked about to object, but then smiled understanding and went back to admiring her new wings. “How long will the enchantment last?” She asked after a moment. “Will it need to be recharged with magic from time to time?”

Midnight grinned. “That's the best part; look at the color of the magic, Scoots, that's not my magic.”

“It's not?”

She shook her head. “My magic is a deep blue-purple, not magenta.”

“Then who's magic is it?” She asked. “You said you made it?”

“It's a new technique I've been developing; the enchantment draws its magic from the pony wearing the necklace,” Midnight told her. “That's your magic, Scootaloo.”

“My magic!?”

“Didn't you know you have magic of your own?” Midnight asked with a grin.

“Well, yeah; Twilight told us the night... well, the night she purified you. But I never thought I'd actually use it!”

Midnight smiled. “Well this enchantment does; so as long as you have magic within you, it will always work.”

“But couldn't it eventually drain all my magic?”

“Eventually,” Midnight agreed with a nod. “But just like everypony else, your body is constantly producing more magic. With how little magic this enchantment actually uses, I'd estimate that you'd have to keep it going constantly for a little over a week to completely drain your magic.” She grinned. “So unless you decide to go on a week long marathon flight, I don't think you'll have any problems.”

Scootaloo laughed. “This is awesome, Midnight.”

“You haven't even heard about the bonus features yet,” Midnight told her grinning.

“Bonus features?”

“There's two other enchantments on the necklace,” she explained. “The first is simply a protection enchantment to make the necklace more durable so it won't get scratched up and it would take quite a bit of force to break it.”

“Oh, that's good; so I don't have to worry about wearing it while playing sports and such?”

She shook her head. “No, it should be just fine, though you may want to take it off then anyway. It probably would hurt to have it smashed into your chest." She gave her a wry smile before going on. "The last enchantment was actually one Sky had the idea for. Say 'goggles on.'”

“Goggles on?” Scootaloo said raising an eyebrow. There was a shimmer in front of her eyes as the spell activated, startling her into jerking her head back. “What was that?”

“Just small invisible magic barriers in front of your eyes to act as goggles when you want them,” Midnight told her with a grin. “Sky loves the goggle spell I made for her, so I thought you might like it as well. To turn them off again just say goggles off.”

“Goggles off.” She said and there was another shimmer in front of her eyes as the spell deactivated. “Oh, what about the wings? How do they turn on and off?” She asked realizing that would be good to know.

“They will activate whenever you open your wings and deactivate again whenever you close them.”

Scootaloo tried it, folding and opening her wings several times watching as the spell activated and deactivated each time. Finally she folded her wings and looked back at Midnight. “This is awesome, Midnight, truly awesome! I can't wait to show Rainbow!”

Midnight grinned. “You want to go show her now? I never told her exactly what I was making, though she probably guessed it had to do with flying.”

Scootaloo glanced across the park at the field where the rest of the ponies their age were still playing. “They can do without me for one day,” she said and grinned. “Yeah, let's go find Rainbow.”

Midnight nodded in the direction of Cloudsdale. “She was out helping train some new members of the weather team earlier; they're probably still out there.”

“I know where they train,” she said with a nod. “You think you can keep up if I grab my scooter?”

“If I fly, yeah,” Midnight told her with a shrug.

She raised an eyebrow looking surprised. “You just got your wings didn't you? You can already fly?”

Midnight blushed slightly. “Uh, yeah, I was in Twilight's head for a few weeks before I took control of her. I always paid attention when she was flying, especially when she went flying with Rainbow...”

“Oh, that's right, you flew back then too, huh. I guess that means we won't be learning to fly together,” she said sounding slightly disappointed.

Midnight smiled sadly. “Unfortunately, no; but wouldn't you rather learn from Rainbow with just you and her anyway?”

Scootaloo shrugged. “I guess. I don't think I would have minded having you there though,” she said with a smile.

“Well maybe I could still join you sometimes.” She smiled and shrugged. “I may know how to fly, but I'm no expert. I mean, I've only got about two days practice.”

Scootaloo laughed. “Well let's go find Rainbow then and maybe I can get caught up.”

~~~

“I don't see her...” Midnight said looking up at the training Pegasi when they drew near. She was flying just above and to the side of Scootaloo who was on her scooter. A full size scooter of course. The small one she'd had as a filly had worn out about the same time she'd outgrown it. As usual she was using her wings for propulsion, but after nearly lifting off when they'd first started, she was holding back.

She'd been excited though, when she'd realized how close she was to becoming airborne without even trying. It was proof enough for both of them that her wings were strong enough for flight; but she did want to learn properly before she tried anything on her own. Midnight had advised her to do so as well saying Rainbow would kill her if she got hurt.

“Yeah, I don't see her either...” Scootaloo agreed then skidded to a stop.

Midnight frowned. “Hold on, I'll go ask if they know where she went,” She said then quickly flew up to where Cloud Kicker looked to be instructing some of the recruits on lightning cloud safety. She gave a wide berth to the small thunderclouds they were using. “Hey, Cloud Kicker!”

She glanced over her shoulder, gesturing students to give her a moment. “Midnight, I thought that was you earlier! When did you get wings!?”

Midnight grinned, “Yesterday actually.”

“And you're already flying!?”

“Uh, yeah.” She hadn't thought of that. How did she explain to ponies that didn't know her secret how she'd learned to fly? “I've always been a quick learner,” she said finally with a shrug.

“I guess...”

“Anyway, do you know where Rainbow went?” She asked to change the subject.

“Oh, Steel Feather came with a royal summons for her from Twilight.”

Midnight's eyes widened in surprise. “Mom sent Rainbow a royal summons!?”

She nodded. “We thought that was pretty unusual, so we figured it must be important.”

“Hmm... I passed Steel Feather when I left earlier; I thought it was strange that he was in armor... I wonder what's going on.”

“He wouldn't say; but if Twilight is sending summons to her friends, it must be urgent.”

“Yeah,” Midnight agreed. “Well I guess I'll try at the library then. Thanks.”

“See you around, Midnight.”

Diving back down to where Scootaloo waited, Midnight pulled up at the last second and landed easily by her side.

“Apparently my mom sent Rainbow a royal summons,” She told her letting her surprise show.

“Really?”

Midnight nodded. “That's what Cloud Kicker said. So I guess we should try at the library. It's got to be something big if mom is sending out summons to her friends.”

“Yeah, let's hurry.”

She nodded again and took off as Scootaloo sped off as well, both heading back toward Ponyville.

Scootaloo had never been slow, and with Midnight flying; it only took them a few minutes to get back to town and make their way to the library. What they found there was as surprising as hearing about the royal summons. Four of Twilight's guards were standing in front of the door in full armor and every light in the library seemed to be on.

Together they approached the guards. All of Twilight's guards had lived in Ponyville long enough to be known and all of them of course knew Midnight, so they weren't suspicious as she and Scootaloo approached. They didn't even seem surprised that Midnight had wings, but then Twilight had probably told them about that.

“Hey guys, What's going on?” Midnight asked.

The ranking guard shook his head. “We haven't been informed. Princess Twilight did say to send you in if you showed up, but I'm afraid Scootaloo will have to wait out here,” he said giving the pegasus an apologetic look.

Scootaloo shrugged. “That's alright.”

“I'll just see what's going on,” Midnight told her. Then the guard opened the door and let Midnight in. Everypony in the room seemed to have frozen when the door opened and it was quite a crowd. There was Twilight and Rainbow of course. Along with Rainbow though there were several of the Wonderbolts all gathered to one side of the room. Across from them was most of Twilight's pegasus guard as well as Valor, all in armor. The mayor was there as well, and lastly, standing next to Twilight was Zecora.

“Midnight, there you are,” Twilight said breaking the silence that had fallen over the room. “I hear you were seen around town today...”

“Is that a problem?” She asked, worried she'd done something wrong.

“Oh no, no. It was going to get out around town sooner or later. It seems though that it will be a bit longer before we can make a public announcement of your ascension.”

“Ascension?” One of the Wonderbolts, Lightning Dust, echoed sounding surprised.

“What is this, both wings and horn? Midnight Star, you've become an alicorn,” Zecora said noticing Midnight's wings then as well.

Twilight smiled proudly. “Yes, for those I haven't informed already, my daughter, Midnight Star, has ascended to an alicorn. Until we can make a public announcement however, we'd like to keep the rumors to a minimum,” she said putting extra emphasis on the last part.

“So keep it to yourself for now,” Rainbow advised her friend and subordinate.

“Righto, Captain.” Lightning said throwing her a salute. Rainbow just rolled her eyes.

Midnight ignored the interchange though. “What's going on?”

“I was just getting to that when you came in,” Twilight told her then gestured for her to join them at the table. Midnight did without hesitation and when she had Twilight gestured to a letter and map of Equestria laid out in front of her. “As I was saying, about two hours ago I received an urgent letter from Princess Celestia. To put it simply, two of our neighboring nations seem to be in trouble. The cause however is unknown.

“Our last contact with Saddle Arabia was over a month ago. At the time everything was fine, but we haven't had word from them since and none of our messengers sent to their lands in the past few weeks have returned.

“Then, last night, Princess Celestia received and urgent missive from the zebra homeland that their land was being destroyed by a terrible blizzard. Now Zecora informs me that snow is practically unheard of even in the dead of winter in their homeland, let alone in late summer, so it is unlikely that this storm is natural.”

Something about the situation Twilight described tugged at Midnight's memory, something to do with the blizzard, but she couldn't quite place it. It made her worry though.

Twilight began pacing as she continued. “We can't afford to ignore this. As Saddle Arabia and the zebra homeland border each other, it seems likely that these occurrences are connected. It is also possible that whatever is happening in the south could spread into Equestria as well.

“Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are heading to Saddle Arabia as we speak in order to investigate, but at the same time Celestia has asked me to take a number of the guard and investigate the strange weather in the zebra homeland.”

She pointed to the south eastern border on the map. “The badlands separate us from the zebra homeland, but the messenger indicated that a great number of zebra have been crossing the badlands seeking refuge from the blizzard. That's not an easy journey by hoof, the badlands are nearly as far across as Equestria and are nothing but dry crumbling rock as far as the eye can see. The situation must be dire to make them even consider crossing.”

Twilight then gestured to the southernmost city near the badlands. “I've already sent word to Dodge city ordering the guard there to head to the pass and set up a refugee camp for the zebra coming through the badlands. I will be leaving tonight, taking the night train to Dodge and then flying south from there.” She looked up at Rainbow. “Rainbow, as part of the royal guard, I'm going to have to ask you and the Wonderbolts to join me and my own pegasi guard. Celestia and Luna took all the pegasi guard from Canterlot and we don't have time to send to one of the other cities for more.”

“No problem, Twi, we all keep up on our guard training.” Rainbow said with a salute. “It's about time I dusted off that old armor.”

“Yes, don't forget it. I hope there's no trouble, but we'd better prepare for the worst.” She turned to Rainbow's husband. “Valor, unfortunately you and the rest of my guard won't be able to keep up once we get to Dodge; instead you will be joining the Dodge guard in setting up the refugee camp that will also serve as our base camp.”

He saluted. “As you wish, Princess.”

“Alright, from the base camp it will be about a day and a half flight across the badlands to reach the zebra homeland. Then we'll just have to see what's going on. Any questions?”

“Yeah, you keep calling it the zebra homeland, doesn't it have a name?” Lightning Dust asked.

“It does,” Twilight explained, glancing at Zecora; “but to the zebra, the name of their homeland is sacred. The don't share it with outsiders; and they also are greatly offended if you call it by any other name. So we always refer to it simply as the zebra homeland.”

“Really?” Rainbow asked raising an eyebrow at Zecora.

“Twilight Sparkle speaks true; but do not believe I think less of you. Though I consider you all friends dear; my homeland's name is simply not yours to hear,” Zecora answered in her usual rhymes.

“Heh, no problem Zecora, we understand,” Rainbow assured her. “But do all zebra talk in rhymes like you do?”

“Not all, but many speak thus; it is a tradition quite old for us. To speak in rhyme takes much quick thought; and it is with our wits that most our battles are fought.”

“Interesting,” Valor said thoughtfully. “So it's true then that most zebra internal disputes are settled through debate?”

Zecora just nodded in answer then turned to Twilight. “I ask you please, go with haste; many of my kin have died crossing the waste. I fear that those fleeing the cold, will suffer greatly, both young and old.”

Twilight reached out with one wing and pat Zecora's shoulder; “We'll do everything we can to help them, Zecora,” she said in a comforting tone. Midnight couldn't help worrying as well. Whatever was causing that blizzard would likely involve powerful magic.

Then Twilight turned back to the rest of the gathering. “Alright, The over-night train leaves at eight fifteen pm. That gives you all a little over three hours to get ready,” she told them making it a dismissal. As Twilight was the highest authority there, most of the guards and Wonderbolts began filing out of the library, leaving just Twilight, Midnight, Rainbow, Valor, the mayor and Zecora.

“I'll go with you,” Midnight spoke up finally.

Twilight shook her head; “No, Midnight. I wanted you to know what's going on, but you're staying here.”

“Mom, you know how powerful I am; if there's trouble I can help!” She objected.

“Midnight!” Twilight said in a firm scolding tone. “First of all, though you already can fly, you are in no shape to do that kind of long distance flying. I don't even know how well I'll do and I've been training with Rainbow for years.”

“But...” Midnight started only to have Twilight cut her off.

“Secondly, around town is one thing, but you being seen crossing Equestria as an unknown alicorn will cause all kinds of rumors and worry. You're staying here.”

Midnight gave her a stubborn look, but it was clear her mom wasn't going to change her mind. “Fine,” she grumbled finally.

“Hey, don't worry kid; I'll keep an eye on Twi.” Rainbow said giving her a friendly jab. “She's right, though; you're going to have to train up a bit before you try a long flight like that.”

Midnight sighed forcing herself to remember that Twilight was even more powerful than her. And with most of her pegasus guard as well as Rainbow and the Wonderbolts, she'd have plenty of bodyguards.

Then she remembered why she'd come to the library in the first place. Remembered that Scootaloo was waiting outside excited to show Rainbow her new wings... Rainbow who was now going to be leaving that night for several days, possibly longer. “Oh no,” she said softly. “Rainbow, this... Scootaloo is going to be devastated.”

Rainbow looked at her surprised. “What do you mean?”

“We were looking for you, that's why we came to the library. The gift I gave her...” She sighed heavily. “You'll see, she's waiting outside.”

“She is?” Rainbow looked over at Twilight who was discussing something with the mayor and Zecora. “Twi, we done here?”

Twilight looked over at her. “Yes, just be at the train station by eight,” she said then turned back to the mayor and Zecora.

“Let's go talk to Scoots then,” Rainbow said gesturing to the door.

Midnight followed her out, but she wasn't looking forward to seeing Scootaloo's disappointment when she found out that she'd have to wait a while longer to learn how to fly from Rainbow.

“There you are!” Scootaloo said smiling as she saw them emerge from the library. She gone across the street to a small patch of grass while she waited, but jumped to her hooves as soon as she saw them.

“Hey, kid,” Rainbow said in greeting and briefly embraced her adoptive sister.

“A royal summons from Twilight, huh? Must have been important,” Scootaloo said grinning as she stepped back.

“Yeah, shouldn't really talk about it; but it's pretty big,” Rainbow told her. “But I hear Midnight finally gave you her gift? I have to admit, I'm curious just what it is.”

Scootaloo stood proudly showing it off. “The necklace,” she said pointing to it with a fore-hoof.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow, unsure why Scootaloo would be so happy about a necklace. “Really? That's it?” She said glancing over at Midnight for confirmation.

“Yeah, but watch what it does!” Scootaloo said grinning. Then she opened her wings.

The spell activated and with the magenta glow of her magic the translucent feather extensions appeared extending her wings to be full sized. She then flapped her wings a few times to show how they moved exactly with her wings.

Rainbows eyes were wide, her mouth hanging open.

“Isn't it great!” Scootaloo said excitedly looking back at her winds herself. “They work too! I almost took off on accident when we were searching for you!” She turned back to Rainbow and there were tears in her eyes. Midnight wanted to scream, knowing what was coming. “I can finally learn to fly! And you can teach me!”

Rainbow started to smile, but then the realization hit her and she looked sharply at Midnight. “That's what you meant,” she said softly.

Scootaloo looked between them realizing something was wrong as she saw Midnight's downcast eyes. “What is it?” She asked sounding worried.

Rainbow turned back to her. “Scoots... I'm going away for a while,” she said in an unusually gentle tone Midnight had never heard from her.

“You... you are?”

Rainbow nodded sadly. “Twilight has asked for me and the rest of the Wonderbolts to accompany her on and important mission. We're leaving tonight, and it sounds like we'll be gone at least a week, probably more.”

Scootaloo seemed to wilt, her excitement melted away. “Oh, I see...”

Rainbow didn't hesitate to pull her into a comforting embrace. “I know what this means to you. I'll gladly teach you when we get back, but if you don't want to wait, I understand. There's plenty of other pegasi around that are excellent fliers and would be glad to teach you.”

Scootaloo shook her head. “No, I want to learn from you,” she said firmly then put on a forced smile though there were tears in her eyes. “I've waited most my life to learn how to fly; what's a week or two more...”

Rainbow smiled sadly as well and embraced her once more. “I'll teach you everything I know, just as soon as we get back. I promise.”

Author's Note:

Yes Lightning Dust is a Wonderbolt in this version of the world; thanks entirely to Rainbow helping her get a second chance.