//------------------------------// // Secret Birth // Story: My Little Mages: Goddess of Midnight // by Foxhelm //------------------------------// Prologue: A Phoenix Rises On the ramparts of a castle overlooking a fairly advanced city, a young woman was standing and looked over to witness the slow rise of the sun. She wore a royal purple top which went below her hips, with a yellow skirt, a large orange sash went around her waist with a golden sun with the center vacant as some sort of buckle for the sash on her left side. Part of her top was black leather that went over her shoulders and covered her back and seemed to come back to the front around her navel, there was a series of studs in the leather at her shoulder. That all said her arms and legs were mostly bare save for the black heeled shoes on her feet. On her head was a tiara that was shaped to look like the sun-shaped buckle in the front with a gem that looked like a red and yellow yin-yang but there was no red dot in the yellow and no yellow dot in the red. She had cyan eyes and her hair was sunset red with yellow stripes that made her hair look not unlike strips of bacon. Her name was Sunset Shimmer. It has been the better part of a year since she and her friends beat the Sirens, and her life had changed a lot for the better. However, today she was looking at her past. She closed her eyes and began to voice her thoughts in song,“Power Was all I desired (I desired, all I desired) But all that grew inside me Was the darkness I acquired,” As she sang, her mind thought back to when she placed the Element of Magic on her head and was transformed into a what could be best described as a demon. “When I began to fall And I lost the path ahead That's when your friendship found me And it lifted me instead,” She then thoughts then went to the next memory which was the use of the Elements of Harmony on her by six women slightly younger than her. But her focus was not so much on what they looked like but on how they opened up to her. “Like a phoenix burning bright In the sky I'll show there's another side to me You can't deny,” In the area of her chest, a small fire ignited as she opened her eyes as the sun was still creeping over the horizon. “I may not know what the future holds But hear me when I say That my past does not define me 'Cause my past is not today,” She turned to look away from the sun at a ninety-degree angle as she saw the sun’s light slowly began to illuminate the city. She smiled as she sang and started to walk along the ramparts. “Ambition Is what I believed Would be the only way To set me free,” As she sang and walked, her pace slowly quickened into a full-on run, and she thought back to her past and how she used to think, all the while the small flame in her chest grew slowly. “But when it disappeared And I found myself alone That's when you came and got me And it felt like I was home,” As she continued to travel the ramparts, she reached the castle’s western side and closed her eyes as she smiled as she flung her arms wide open. “Like a phoenix burning bright In the sky I'll show there's another side to me You can't deny,” The fire that grew in Sunset’s heart fully encompassed her. Then, it transformed into a set of wings and surrounded her presenting a visage of a phoenix around her. “I may not know what the future holds But hear me when I say That my past does not define me 'Cause my past is not today,” The fire wings and visage vanished as the fire pooled into her heart and vanished. Sunset smiled as she finished the song and started walking back towards her quarters.  However she suddenly stopped and shivered. “That was...weird,” she said to herself. Chapter 1: Secret Birth At the Magiville train station, five young women in their early twenties were leaving as if they had just sent off a friend. The first had hair that was like a rainbow in color and that was done in a high ponytail with a hairpin that looked like a stylized cloud and a tri-colored rainbow of red, yellow and blue, with cerise eyes. She wore black sock-like boots that went above her knees with a dull purple skirt and light a dull blue shirt with white and gold wing styled sleeves. On her waist was a quiver and a bow, and from her ankles came ethereal wings. Also, on her shirt was a pin of a stylized lightning bolt with wings, the wings were gold in color while the lightning bolt had the coloration of a rainbow of orange, yellow, cyan, alabaster, pink and purple. She was the youngest of the group, Rainbow Dash. The next woman had had long deep-magenta hair with a small tiara on her head with three sapphires cut as kites. This was Rarity. She had azure eyes, and she wore a long alabaster gown with some pinkish-purple with a long shawl that was composed of two rainbows in color, a traditional rainbow going the length of the shawl save for the width of one of the shorter edges. On that edge was a rainbow of orange, yellow, cyan, alabaster, pink and purple which ran a perpendicular to the rest of the shawl, going around her back and hanging from her elbows. Next was a blonde woman with green eyes, named Applejack. Her hair was done in a low ponytail and was dressed in brown pants, brown boots, a red leather jacket with some pieces of armor most notably pauldrons with stylized apples, brown gloves, a scabbard with a longsword in it which would be on her waist but was on a stand. Around her neck was a black cord that had a coin with a rendering of apples on both sides but looked like a rainbow of orange, yellow, cyan, alabaster, pink and purple. The next woman and the oldest of the five had pink hair and teal colored eyes. She was Fluttershy she was dressed in a green, yellow, and light blue dress with a stylized pink butterfly as a brooch for her hood, and above her left ear was a blue flower, but one of its petals was a rainbow of orange, yellow, cyan, alabaster, pink and purple. After her, and the last one and shortest of the group, was Pinkie Pie. She had bouncing cotton candy pink hair, blue eyes. She wore a bare-legged leotard with blue curly-toed shoes, a pink jester coat, and a dark pink jester’s hat with three balloons, one was yellow and two were blue and on her jacket’s waist was a rubber chicken called ‘Boneless’. Unlike other rubber chickens, his right leg wasn’t the regular orange but a rainbow of orange, yellow, cyan, alabaster, pink and purple. Applejack was the first to speak, “Anybody else thinks that Twi was over-prepared?” Pinkie cartwheeled ahead of them. As she cartwheeled, “Definitely, Spike would. The poor dragon. And he’ll be stuck listening to her trial runs.” Pinkie’s hair deflated, “He just can’t catch a break, can he?” Rarity took out a notebook, she looked through it “I suppose there are some excess gems I have in my inventory that he might enjoy.” As she looked at the inventory she had jotted down and then to another section that was a chart of patterns of gems being in season. “Sapphires will be out of season, for a few months, and he does enjoy blueberry sapphire muffins.” Fluttershy, however, was in thought about another matter. After she finished her thought, she turned to Rainbow, “What I don’t get is how Twilight got permission to use the CMC’s story of how they found their aura marks as part of her lecture?” Applejack turned to answer the druid, “Well, Apple Bloom’s legal guardian is actually Big Mac, and Apple Bloom gave him those big puppy dog eyes she used on Twilight when she arrived.” Applejack then turned to Rarity, “Hey, Sugarcube, are yah Sweetie Belle’s guardian or are yahr folks still?” Rarity stopped looking through her notebook and thought on Applejack’s question. “Well, they did leave her at my place, and they haven’t picked her up…” Rarity muttered. “Wait when Cheerliee sent out the…” Rarity paused and froze in horror. “I’ve become Sweetie’s legal mother…” Rainbow then started to laugh, “That’s rich. She laughed a couple more times before she turned to Fluttershy, “I’m only Scoot’s honorary big sister. You’ll have to ask her.” Fluttershy nodded as accepted it. Just then Rarity’s tiara, Applejack’s pauldrons, Rainbow’s pin, and Pinkie’s hat started to glow and seemed to pulsate. Fluttershy’s brooch also glowed, but it projected a beam toward the tree-like crystalline castle what was Twilight’s home and known as the Castle of Friendship. Fluttershy sighed, “Am I the only one who’s aura mark does that?” she asked, the others shook their heads. Fluttershy sighed again, “Figures.” Pinkie started skipping ahead, “Come on, let’s see where we’re going this time. I wonder if it will have Applejack and I be going to Yakyakistan, Or maybe Fluttershy and I will be going to..” Pinkie began to list off various possible ideas. After the arrived at the Castle, they went to the throne room and saw that their aura marks didn’t stay on the map but flew to the library. They followed the aura marks into the library, only to see that they were hovering right in front of the portal mirror to Midnight Castle. “So we’re going to Midnight Castle?” Rainbow asked as hovered above the rest. Applejack looked at the mirror and smiled, “Well, it’s time to bring that mirror Ah asked Bloom tah make and see if it works.” Fluttershy shook at that, “Are you sure it will work? Twilight said that the portal was made by Star Swirl.” Rarity brought her hand to the mirror and started to move the stars and swirls along the sides of the mirror, “We’ll have the CMC here when we go through just to be sure to open it, just in case. Applejack would you mind getting Sweetie and Scootaloo along with Apple Bloom as you get that mirror?” Rarity asked. The paladin just shrugged her shoulders and left. Rarity then turned to Rainbow and Pinkie, “Could you two see if there is a dragon fire candle so that we can send a message to Twilight?” Rainbow and Pinkie made a salute, “On it!” the two said before Rainbow started to fly and search and Pinkie skipped to her own search. Rarity then turned to Fluttershy, before Rarity could say anything, “I’ll help Applejack with the CMC, and the mirror and get some supplies.” Fluttershy then flew off to get to join Applejack. Rarity only nodded and finished aligning the stars and then started on the swirls. Rarity elected to stop aligning the swirls and started to write a message for Twilight, in case they were still at Midnight Castle when Twilight returned. Dear Twilight, The map called Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Dashie and I on a mission at Midnight Castle after you left the station for the guest lecture Princess Celestia asked you to do,” Rarity jotted down. She looked up to see Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie right in front of her. Neither of the two had a dragon fire candle.“No luck?” Pinkie groaned, “Do you know how Twilight organizes things! What’s wrong with simple alphabetical-numeral, A to Z then 0 to 9, simple a pie! But no! She has this long hard to pronounce system that has sooo many variables…” Pinkie then dropped to her knees as tears formed in her eyes, “It’s giving Pinkie a migraine.” Rarity then turned to Rainbow, “You have no idea what a dragon fire candle looks like do you?” she asked. Rainbow only rubbed the back of her head and gave a small nervous laugh. Rarity sighed, “Well, I'll just leave the note at the post office. Spike will most likely want to pick up their mail once they get back.” Putting the quill to paper again, We would have sent this to you through Spike, but we are needed to leave as soon as possible and don’t know where you keep your dragon fire candles. We'll have to address that when we get back. We used the mirror portal to get there. Can't argue with the efficiency of it, especially since that's what we used the last time. We should be back in a day or two at most. We’ll share stories when we all get back. We wish you the best of luck with your lecture, Rarity . Once she finished, “I am off to the post office, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Rarity then got up and started out of the library. She turned to Rainbow first, “Dashie, if you would go and help Applejack and Fluttershy, that would most helpful.” Rainbow groaned as she flew out of the library. Rarity then turned to Pinkie. “Pinkie, would you keep an eye on the portal until I get back. “ Pinkie saluted and pulled a folding chair out of her hair and sat down in it as she watched the mirror.  Rarity then left the library and the Castle of Friendship and within ten minutes arrived at the post office. At the post office, she gave the note to the attendant and then left. When she got back, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow were also back with a mirror about three-fourths the size of the mirror they were going to use to travel to Midnight Castle with and some supplies. Also, there were three girls about a decade younger than the women. The first had red hair and orangish light brown eyes. She had in her hair a pink bow and wore a yellow shirt with blue overalls. On her hand were a set of brown forge gloves. She wore boots much like Applejack’s with dark blue leggings she wore over her overalls but under her boots and a brown leather belt with the buckler shaped like an apple. Over her left shoulder was a small pendant shaped like a heater shield with an apple engraved into it, with a heart engraved in the apple, with a sash that was three colors, light red, pink and purple. This was Applejack’s younger sister, Apple Bloom. The second girl had green eyes and hair that was mulberry in color with light rose streaks. She wore a dark pink sleeveless dress with a light gray over-section with pink song notes rendered in the gray section. Around her waist, were two lose purple straps with a star-shaped belt buckle. She had pink shoes, not unlike Rarity’s with a pendant like Apple Bloom’s but with a star in the place of the apple and song note in the place of the heart and she wore it above her heart. Also, like Apple Bloom, she had a three-colored sash, but hers was not used as a scarf but more like Rarity’s shawl. On her head was a tiara with a with white pentagon shaped gem as the focus gem. This was Rarity’s little sister, Sweetie Belle. The last of the three girls had purple eyes and hair that had a more boyish cut. Like Apple Bloom she wore gloves, but her gloves were fingerless and purple in color with golden bands on her wrist. She wore a purple, orange and blue combat qi with shoulders similar to Rainbow Dash, but with orange feathers. She wore sneaker-like shoes with orange wings on the sides. She also wore a sash like the one Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, but as a belt with her pendant like the other two, but she wore her pendant like a belt buckle, and on it was a lightning bolt engraved inside an engraved wing in lue of what the other two had. This was Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash’s honorary litter sister. “So we’re supposed to wait how long?” Scootaloo asked as she looked at the mirror. “Give us two hours.” Rainbow Dash answered. “Besides, you don’t have school today or tomorrow and look,” Rainbow flew to the bookshelf and back with all the books in the Daring Do series published to date. “This place has all the greatest books ever written.” Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie, and Rarity coughed. “What, these are great books.” Applejack shook her head, “Say what you want about the character Dr. Caballeron and the like, but Daring Do’s little more than a glorified grave robber.” Fluttershy nodded, “Daring’s also extremely cruel to animals, destroying their homes, and using them as bargaining chips.” Pinkie then coughed, “Daring is also supposed to be a university professor right?” Rainbow nodded, “Well, given the timeline of the books, she hasn’t taught a class since before she went looking for the Sapphire Statue in book one. Kind of unprofessional on her part. And that’s not addressing all ruins she… well ruined.” Rainbow then turned to Rarity, “Sorry, Darling, but even though it's more about the journey than the destination, A.K. Yearling’s writing on Darling’s journey… well, there has been any real growth on Daring’s part as a character since the second book. She’s still the same she since that book.” Rarity said as she finished aligning the last swirl and the portal opened. Rainbow’s jaw dropped to the floor as her friends just dismissed the series as they went through the portal. It was blasphemy, “It’s a good thing Twilight’s not here.” Rainbow followed leaving the CMC alone as the portal closed. Apple Bloom turned to Scootaloo, “Yah don’t like Daring Do, do yah?” she asked. Scootaloo groaned, “I get Rainbow Dash finds her awesome, but that series is all my cousin Quibble talks about, and now, Rainbow wants to talk about it all the time.” Scootaloo turned to Apple Bloom, “Do you like Daring Do?” Apple Bloom smiled, “And it ticks AJ off to no end.” Applejack and Scootaloo turned to Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle shrugged she shoulder, “It’s not a bad series, but Shadow Shades is just better by any metric.” In the laboratory in the basement of Midnight Castle, seven women watched a large cylinder full of liquid. Normally some the content of the cylinder would be visible but at that moment it was fogged over. Concerning the women, the first and second closest to the controls appeared to be in her mid-forties to mid-fifties. She had grayish fuchsia eyes and hair of five different shades of purple. She wore a pair of half-moon reading glass that rested on the bridge of her nose, three pearl earrings in addition to a woman’s business dress suit. This was Baroness Abacus Cinch, the current Lady of Midnight Castle and ruler of the realm. Next woman in the room and closest to the controls of the machines was much younger,  in her twenties. She wore what was expected of a young secretary, also with glasses that rested on the bridge of her nose, but were more akin to glasses worn by women her age. The younger woman also had azure eyes with cerulean hair with very green-like arctic blue streaks did in two low ponytails. On her blouse was a blue-and-green juniper leaf on a pocket on the left side of her chest. The first of the next five women, all of whom were farther from the machine,  had shoulder length pistachio green hair with pale green and bright lime streaks, and over her ears were a set of earphones with an image of a slice of lemon tart with a gem embedded on both sides.  Her eyes were closed, and she was bobbing her head to the music she was playing and was dressed in a sleeveless pale amaranth shirt that also exposed her midriff with a pair of pants, grayish arctic blue in color, and a black lightning bolt embroidered on the front with a purple plaid skirt.  This is Lemon Zest. The next woman had rose hair with light rose and aquamarine streaks in a ponytail, with a hairpin that looked like three berries on a leaf , but she wore pair of pants light grayish gold in color, with a sleeveless shirt made from the coat of a bear, with a black lightning bolt dyed in the front, with the bear’s own mouth as the opening for her right arm. This was Sour Sweet. The next woman had with cerise eyes, mulberry hair and was cut short with small bangs all around, with raspberry streaks and a flaring yellow sun hair clip. She was dressed in the long robes of a cleric, with a black lightning bolt over her heart. She had a holy symbol on her left side, the symbol looked eerily similar to Celestia’s aura mark, but while Celestia’s mark gave the aura of warmth and growth, this sun looked like it was going to engulf the solar system in it’s raging plasma. On her right side was a war mace as if she was a War Cleric.This was Sunny Flare. The next woman had dark cornflower blue hair with cerulean and arctic blue streaks, with her hair combed up and back not unlike a mullet. She also had gamboge orange eyes and stylized yellow lightning bolts earrings. She was dressed in what looked like a close fitting variant of what martial artist, but was a tighter fit, both being closer and her leggings shorter, not unlike a professional athlete, with a black lightning bolt on her shirt. She had bracers that covered most of her forearms as well. At her heels were a set of ethereal wings that were indigo in color and looked more lightning bolts, and on her head was a set of goggles. This was Indigo Zap. The last woman had opalish gray hair with arctic bluish gray streaks done in two ponytails to the sides of her head with glasses over her orchid eyes and a hair clip that looked like a set of lips. She was dressed in a long light brown robe which hid her feet, but her hovering betrayed her nature as a Skyborn. On the front of her robes was a black lightning bolt. This was Sugarcoat. Together with Indigo Zap, Sunny Flare, Lemon Zest, and Sour Sweet, they made a group called the Shadowbolts, named after the mutual late father of the five, Shadow Bolt. “This is not going to end well,” Sugarcoat comment bluntly. Cinch gave a small laugh, “You’re just like your mother. You underestimate me and what I can do,” Cinch countered. Cinch turned to Juniper, “Pull the lever.” Juniper obeyed and the cylinder began to rise. As it rose the liquid began to pour out. Cinch smiled as the cylinder finished rising a figure fell but was caught, wrapped in a blanket and pulled away by Juniper. The figure was a woman in her twenties. She had dark sapphire hair with two streaks, one was rose and the other was violet and a set of metallic wings purple and gold in color which seemed to float behind her and yet also come from her back with two amethyst six-pointed stars functioning for the wings like her arm's shoulder balls. After a minute the young woman began to stir. She opened her eyes, they were violet in color, “Where…” she asked and started to panic. Cinch walked up to her with a concerned look, not unlike a mother or doctor with a child or patient that just started to recover from something that could have killed the child or patient “Take it easy, my dear.” The young woman turned to look squarely at Cinch, “You’ve given us all quite the scare," She paused for a second. "Twilight Sparkle.”