//------------------------------//
// Goodbye 
// Story: One Castle, Two Alicorns 
// by James Pwyll 
//------------------------------//

"Um...Twilight? Are you sure this is a good idea? She might not be very...well...receptive to it."

Starlight's concern was similarly shared by Spike as the two walked just a few steps behind their royal friend. But Twilight, being Twilight, maintained a far more positive outlook on the whole matter, trotting along the hallways of her palace with a gleeful smile. And when she heard her friend's worries, she looked over her shoulder and spoke to them in a cheery and upbeat tone.

"Don't worry, Starlight. I've got it all figured out!"

Lighting up her horn, the young Princess levitated the parchment she'd been carrying with her, looking over the schedule she'd written out.

"I spent all night coming up with a proper list of activities we can share with Midnight today. It's all properly thought out, and I don't think any of it will come across to her as being intrusive or irritating. She might find it a welcome change from just being cooped up in her room all day."

Spike scratched the back of his head nervously.

"I don't know, Twilight. She might not like being volunteered for a day like that."

But Twilight merely rolled her eyes.

"Oh, Spike, you worry too much! True, trying to get her to connect with our friends didn't exactly work out that well..."

"That's an understatement," Starlight mumbled under her breath.

"...but with persistence and a friendly attitude, I know we can get her to come out of her shell!"

Spike and Starlight glanced to one another, clearly not as convinced as Twilight was about this plan. But for now, they maintained their silence, watching as their more cheery friend walked ahead. It wasn't long before she finally reached the door of Midnight's bedroom, and as her smile widened, she also began to light up her horn again. This time, it was to turn the knob of the door, and within moments, the Princess of Friendship soon opened it, allowing her entry into the room of her dark clone.

"Good morning, Midnight! I just came by to...to...to..."

Her words had become slower and less peppy with each passing moment, and as a result, Spike and Starlight rushed to her side to see what had caused this reaction. When they did see it, they too were similarly stunned. Midnight was there, standing at the foot of her bed, looking down to, of all things, an open saddle-bag, which rested upon that aforementioned end. From the looks of things, it appeared as though she were in the middle of filling it with a few essentials, like some clothing items for cold weather, as well as other assorted items. Naturally, she wasn't all that happy about being interrupted like this, but, in an uncharacteristic display, she suppressed her irritation, keeping her tone to one of diplomacy, albeit tinted with a hint of annoyance.

"Princess. How can I help you?"

Twilight, looking to the scene before her, blinked a couple of times, then asked the truly obvious question.

"What...what are you doing?"

Midnight, briefly glancing down to her bag, looked back to her host with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, in case it isn't obvious...I'm packing."

That much was indeed obvious, and as Twilight and her two friends entered Midnight's room in earnest, Twilight looked to her double with increasing distress.

"Are...are you going somewhere?"

Midnight, having finally finished packing, closed up her saddle-bags before letting out a deep sigh.

"Yes, Princess. I am going somewhere."

Now, the intent behind those words would have been obvious for anyone, and they may have been so for Twilight as well. Yet the Princess nevertheless seemed like she wanted to deny the very clear and easily-recognised path Midnight was taking here, putting on a somewhat forced smile.

"Oh! Are you going on a vacation? Maybe visiting a friend?"

Midnight looked to her, with nothing but seriousness in her expression.

"Twilight...you know what this is."

Twilight did indeed know, but it brought her no joy to say it.

"You're...leaving?"

Slowly Midnight nodded, and an utter silence followed. Starlight and Spike both looked between the two near-identical mares, but never said anything. Whatever was happening, it was between the two of them. And speaking of whom, Twilight herself, after taking a while to try and regain her mental footing with this new revelation, asked the only suitable question under such circumstances.

"...Why?"

Midnight, for her part, tried to avoid looking at her, at least for a little while. But there eventually came a point when she could no longer do this, and so, after placing her saddle-bags on her back, walked right up to her now-former host.

"Twilight...when I first came here, it was for my own protection. I sought sanctuary, a means of sheltering myself. But in the days that came after that, I began to understand something. Survival was the only thing I'd been working for. There was nothing else in my life. That..."

She winced quickly.

"...that is no life. It is simply...existence."

Looking up to the Princess, she frowned.

"I don't want to simply exist anymore. I want more than that."

Twilight, who found herself being far more upset by this than she expected herself to be, fumbled her words for a time.

"But...but...but...you can still have that here, Midnight! You can find belonging and friendship and...!"

But she was kept from speaking further when Midnight raised a hoof.

"Princess, with respect...no. What I need, more than anything, is not others...but myself."

Twilight tilted her head, showing confusion over those words, which was something even Starlight and Spike seemed to feel also. Midnight, who quietly tried to get her thoughts in order, attempted to explain herself.

"Right now, I don't seek others...I seek to learn more about who I am. My mind has been filled with your memories, and I have been living in your home, meeting your friends and family. What, in my time in this world, has there been that was only me?"

She frowned.

"Nothing, that's what! And that needs to change!"

Twilight looked to her, still not really sure of how to take all of this.

"So...you're leaving...as some sort of quest for self-discovery?"

Hearing that, Midnight unleashed a dry and empty chuckle.

"A bit of a cheesy thing to say, but yes, that just about covers it."

Whatever smile she might have had faded soon after, and she took the time that followed to glance around the room she'd been staying in over the last few months.

"When I came here...I made it into a sanctuary. But, knowingly or not...I had turned it into a prison for myself. A place that kept me separate from everyone and everything."

Her eyes narrowed.

"That can no longer be allowed to continue."

She turned, again looking to Twilight.

"I cannot discover who I am and what I want by remaining here."

Taking a few steps, she walked right past Twilight and towards the door, with Spike and Starlight stepping aside for her. But then, Midnight halted, looking over her shoulder to Twilight again.

"I need to go. This is my journey. And..."

Slowly, a look that seemed to be borderline amusement came to her.

"...I need to be the one to make that first step."

And so it was that Twilight's mirror image vacated the room, and she was simply left there, completely speechless over what had just happened. Starlight and Spike watched her, wanting to comfort her or offer her some kind of reassurance over this, but they simply couldn't find the right words for it. After a while, the Princess regained her senses, and immediately spun around in place, before darting off after her double. Her other two friends followed her, and together the three of them raced down hallways, swiftly going around corners and heading straight for the front door. There, Midnight was just about to step outside, and it was here that Twilight finally called out to her.

"Midnight! Wait!"

The clone stopped, looking back to see the exhausted Princess come after her. She waited patiently as Twilight and the others caught their breaths, and when they had finally done so, Twilight looked to her.

"I just...this is all so sudden!"

Slowly, Midnight shook her head.

"No...this has been coming for a very long time."

Twilight maintained her air of confusion, but Midnight merely sighed.

"I stayed here out of fear...and I have become acutely aware of just how much that bothers me. I will not fear what is out there, or what might happen to me. I will not let the prospect of some chance encounter with Chrysalis keep me here, keep me paralysed."

Her expression softened as she looked back to Twilight.

"To walk the path of darkness would, sooner or later, just lead to my own destruction...and as a pony like you? One who sought friendship and all of that? In that, I would have been miserable."

She looked away, out to Ponyville, and to what might lay beyond.

"I don't know who I am. Not really. And I know the answer will not come to me if I stay here. One can only learn so much by remaining in one spot after all."

A pause, and then, she turned to look right into Twilight's eyes.

"How much would you have learned...if you had stayed in Canterlot your whole life?"

It was a fair question, that much could not be argued, yet Twilight struggled with it all the same. Though she clearly still had some reservations about all this, she soon looked a great deal calmer than she did before, letting out a deep sigh before addressing Midnight in a more reserved tone.

"I cannot say I fully understand your reasons for doing this, Midnight. Nor can I say I completely approve of you just doing this out of the blue."

Midnight looked to her, eyebrow raised, then watched as Twilight developed a small smile.

"But I trust you to make your own choice. If you feel that this is something you have to do...you have my blessing for it."

Midnight was taken aback, but she was grateful all the same, giving a slight bow of her head. Then, in complete silence, she turned her gaze over to Spike and Starlight, giving them a similar nod. The latter two smiled back to her, giving her a friendly wave, after which, Twilight spoke again.

"Would you...like to say goodbye to Applejack and the others?"

Midnight chuckled.

"Let's face it, Twilight. Your friends and me were never the closest. I doubt they'd be all that upset with me leaving like this."

Twilight nodded, though she remained uncertain about that. Then, her smile returned.

"So...where are you going to go first?"

Midnight looked away, out towards the green hills beyond Ponyville. She looked deep in thought as she did this, then turned back to Twilight, appearing, to Twilight's confusion, amused all of a sudden.

"You know what? I have no idea. And I think, for the first time...I'm actually okay with that."

Twilight's smile widened, but she did not get the chance to actually say anything. For just then, to her utter shock, she watched as Midnight lunged forward. It was no attack, but rather, to her eternal surprise, a hug. Such an uncharacteristic move on Midnight's part was greeted with the expected gaping jaws of Spike and Starlight, but Twilight, by contrast, managed to get over her initial shock, finally returning the embrace. When the two finally parted, she maintained her smile.

"Not that I'm ungrateful, but...what was that for?"

Midnight, looking to her with genuine softness, gave a shrug of her shoulders.

"For letting me live here...for giving me help...for everything."

Twilight looked to her fondly, before finally raising a hoof and gesturing to the road outside her palace.

"In that case...journey well, Midnight Sparkle."

Midnight nodded silently, then turned to begin walking away. But, after having taken just a few short steps away, she froze, uncertainty coming to her. After a time, she looked over her shoulder, looking back to Twilight with, of all things, longing.

"Goodbye...sister."

Twilight was agape at that, but remained completely quiet as her clone finally carried on with her journey. She didn't even turn to look as Spike and Starlight walked beside her. Together, the three of them kept their eyes on the doppelganger for as long as they could, before she was finally gone from view. There was a long period of time where nobody knew what to say, but after a while, Spike looked up, speaking to his carer with a voice tinted with worry.

"Do...do you think she'll be okay?"

Twilight, having recovered from all of this, took a deep breath, let it all out, then looked to her ward with a smile.

"Yes, Spike...I think she will."