Midnight could see that they had come to another chamber, this one at least a mile in diameter. Unlike the ones they'd seen before, only one other door was visible on the far wall. "Should we worry about anything guarding this?" She asked as they trotted up to the door. It looked much the same as the one they had first entered by.
Twilight shook her head. "No, we are as safe here as we will ever be. This door will only open in one way."
Midnight gave it a dubious look. "And what's that?"
Twilight smiled as she closed her eyes. "This." Putting a hoof to her chest, she concentrated a moment before her eyes opened wide.
Midnight saw they had tuned solid white, seeing and not yet seeing at the same time. Even as she watched Twilight pulled her hoof back and from her chest came a six-pointed magenta star, the same as the one on her flank.
Twilight's eyes returned to normal a moment later as she gave the star a smile. "Hello, old friend. I am sorry we do not talk as much as we used to, but we need your help."
Midnight was beginning to think her friend had finally lost it when the star began to glow. It seemed to look at her a moment before a golden tiara materialized around it and it settled on Twilight's head. Twilight looked up at it with a teary-eyed smile. "Thank you." She whispered before her gaze returned to the door. Her voice barely above a whisper, she began to speak.
From one to another, another to one.
With the marks of our destinies made one, there is magic without end!
With the final word a beam of magic shot out of the crown and into the center of the door. With a loud groan, it began to open. Lights flickered into life revealing a bare antechamber beyond and another door on the far wall.
Midnight stood there stumped while Twilight pumped a hoof in triumph and entered the room beyond. She gave Midnight a smirk. "Coming?"
That shook her out of her shock, and she hurried to catch up. "What is that?" She asked pointing at Twilight's crown.
Twilight's smile grew. "This is the Element of Magic. Have you ever heard of the Elements of Harmony?"
Midnight shrugged. "Only in myth and legend."
Twilight nodded as they came to the next door. "Well, I can confirm that the myths and legends about them are true. I should know. I was in a few of them myself." She put a hoof to her chest. "Inside me, I carry all six Elements, but I have not had the need to call on them for centuries."
Midnight scrunched her nose as she thought about all the stories she'd heard of them. As far as she knew her friend couldn't have been in them, no matter how old she was. "Wait a minute. How would you have them? All I've heard said five of the six died peacefully of old age, and the sixth didn't for some reason. And she was a... lavender... unicorn."
Her eyes widened as the name in the library came back to her. "Unless..."
Twilight sighed, no longer able to lie to her best friend about this. "Yes. That lavender unicorn was me. I was Twilight Sparkle once, but I have not used that name in millennia."
Midnight stepped back as she gave her a betrayed look. "Why? You said she died. So how-"
"The mare I used to be died a long time ago Midnight. After my friends passed on, their Elements came to me and I have carried them ever since," Twilight replied as her ears drooped. She fought back tears as memories she had long tried to forget came back. "For so long I tried to keep the peace and friendship we helped to build between races. And for what? The world I knew is dead. Killed by those who didn't deserve what they had."
Midnight walked up to her. There were tears in her eyes. "But why stop using your name? Why didn't you tell me?" She craned her neck up and crossed it with Twilights. "You know I wouldn't have told anyone. I care about you too much."
Twilight leaned into the embrace. "I know. But I have made terrible mistakes Middy. I did not want you burdened by them. The things I did to the slavers when I found you? They would have horrified and disgusted the old me. But I did not care what I did to them, or others."
Midnight didn't say anything as they held the embrace for a time. She was still mad at Twilight for never telling her, and she would be for some time yet. But the sincerity in her words told her that there had to be a good reason beyond what she'd told her. "So, what else are you not telling me?" She asked as they pulled apart.
Twilight sighed. "Too much. But that ends now." With that, she ignited her horn and opened the door. Midnight's eyes widened as she saw what was on the other side.
The room was circular with a domed ceiling carved from solid rock. Several other doors lead off into other rooms though what they were couldn't be seen as the two of them entered. Everything was pristine, environmental regulators and stasis fields maintaining the facility in the exact condition Twilight had last left them. The air was clean, and every surface was brightly scrubbed. A large device sat at the heart of the room, dormant for the moment, but riddled with energy cables and pipes. It reached to the ceiling, covered in glass-paneled openings that showed hundreds of dials and vials, tubes of colored liquids, and touch-screen interfaces. Thick cables coiled out from the central tower, snaking their way across the plain tile floor to nine other devices. Walking up to one, Midnight saw that they seemed to be incubators. Each of the tubes was full of amniotic fluid, while the sides contained gauge needles and monitoring systems now inactive but ready for something it seemed.
"What is this place?" She finally asked.
"My gene-laboratory," Twilight replied as she accessed a data terminal on the central tower. "I had these built at one time to help find a cure for all diseases and viruses. For a time, I thought I had." Her voice lowered in disgust. "Then somepony I trusted led a changeling queen into the other one. They got as far as the main door into the antechamber. The self-destruct destroyed it all when she failed to do what I did with Magic to let us in."
Midnight could feel the anger Twilight gave off when she told that story, but she had another question. "What's a changeling?"
Twilight blinked before smiling sheepishly. "Oh right, you have never seen one They were a race that fed on love. After a time, they found a way to make love of their own to survive."
Midnight nodded. "So, what happened to them?"
"The last one died ten thousand years ago. Old Night destroyed too much love and they could not make enough on their own to survive," Twilight replied.
Midnight couldn't help but feel sorry for that last one. No one should die alone, no matter what they were. "And now what're you going to do?"
Twilight smiled as she walked over and pulled Midnight into a hug. "Now? Now we begin again. We take back Equus from those who are destroying what's left." Her gaze grew distant. "And then, then we take back what our kind lost in the stars." She placed a hoof on the capsule. "It all starts here."
With a hiss of steam, a side door of the lab opened, releasing a puff of freezing air as Midnight trotted out with a huff, a sizable crate on her back. "I don't see how all this will do any good." She puffed as she set it down next to the central tower, where Twilight was busy going over something she couldn't make out.
Twilight rolled her eyes. "It gives me something to work with. Those cryo chambers contain some of the best-preserved genetic material from Equus's golden age and the genes of the greatest friends I have ever had."
Midnight scratched her head in confusion. "So, you're going to bring them back to life?"
Twilight gave her a disgusted look. "Oh, stars above no. This is not necromancy. Equus has enough of that as it is with the Crimson Trotters. I could replicate them down to the very last strand of D.N.A. and they would not be the girls I knew and loved."
Midnight poked the crate with a hoof. "Then what's all this for?"
Twilight smiled. "I hope that by combining their D.N.A. and their respective Element of Harmony, I can give our kind the leaders they need."
Now she was lost. "And what about you?"
Twilight smirked. "Oh, do not worry about me. I am not going anywhere if this works. Assuming this works at all of course."
Midnight just rolled her eyes with a sigh. When Twilight got like this, you couldn't get her to stop until it was done, or it had blown up in her face. "So, what about the ponies outside? They're wondering where you are, and they don't listen to me."
Twilight's brows furrowed. "Have they entered the city yet?"
Midnight nodded. "Yeah, just outside the library entrance actually. Come to think of it, I think you've gotten more to join just by being here somehow."
Twilight smiled as she trotted to the door. "Well, it is about time I told everyone what we're doing here. Do you think you can keep an eye on everything here while I go talk to them?"
Midnight nodded as trotted out before teleporting back up to the surface. When she was gone, Midnight allowed herself a moment to look at what Twilight had been working on when she had come out of the cry chamber. But the words didn't make any sense to her.
Primare Project.
An hour or so later Twilight returned to find Midnight sitting in front of the terminal, trying to make sense of it all. Judging by her expression, it was not working. Feeling in a better mood than she had for a while now, Twilight tiptoed over to her friend and peered over her shoulder. "Find something interesting?" She whispered.
Midnight jumped ten feet in the air in fright. She gave Twilight a sour look as she floated down to the floor. "You know I hate it when you do that." She grumbled.
Twilight was unapologetic as she snickered. "And that is why I do it. I see you found the list."
Midnight nodded. "Yeah. Who are all those names? Yours I know, but."
Twilight smiled as she walked over and checked off each name with a hoof. "Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Starlight Glimmer, and Sunset Shimmer were the greatest friends I had so long ago." She smiled at the memories. "Starlight was my very first student and a major pain in my flank more times than I cared to count. So was Sunset, but I loved them anyway."
Midnight nodded as she looked at the next name on the list. Her nose scrunched. "What kind of name is Discord anyway?"
Twilight rolled her eyes irritably, but no longer as much as she once had. "He was the self-proclaimed Lord of Chaos and an even bigger pain in my flank. Literally, if he wanted to be."
Midnight gave her a look. "So, what happened to him?
Twilight tapped her chin. "You know? I honestly have no idea what happened to Discord. He just up and vanished one day and he never came back. He is too stubborn, so I seriously doubt he is dead."
Midnight nodded as she looked at the last names on the list. What was odd was the title before each of them. What kind of title was 'princess' anyway? "What about Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, and Princess Flurry Heart?"
Twilight's breath hitched. She had hoped Midnight would not ask this. Not about them. But she could not lie to her now as her horn ignited and pulled open a nearby drawer on a workstation.
Midnight watched as out floated four feathers: Bright white, midnight blue, peach pink, and a mix of white and pink.
Twilight's voice dropped to a whisper as her tears fell. "This. This is all that I ever found of them. No blood, no bodies. Just a single feather from each of them."
Midnight took a step closer. "Who were they?"
Twilight sniffed. "They were my family. Flurry Heart was my niece and Cadance was my sister-in-law. After my mortal parents had passed on, Celestia and Luna took me in as part of their own."
"Maybe they're just hiding?" Midnight asked.
Twilight shook her head. "As much as I want to believe that Middy, they would never do that and let Equus become what it has, or at least not send a sign that they're alive." That last word did it for Twilight as she slumped to the floor and gave in to the pain and heartache. "Oh, who am I kidding? I need to stop fooling myself. They are dead. This?" She shook the feathers. "This is all that is left of them. All that is left of that life. What would they think of me now? I do not even use my name anymore."
Midnight sat down next to her and wrapped a wing around her as she leaned in close. "Then let me be your family. You don't need to be alone anymore."
Twilight gave her a teary-eyed look. "Middy-"
Midnight shook her head. "No, hear me out. You've been alone for a long time. Longer than I'll ever understand. And then you found me. You raised me. We've done things I never thought we could." She looked Twilight dead in the eyes. "So, what if you're not my birth mom. I love you too much to let you be alone like this. You're more than just my best friend." She hugged Twilight. "You're the mother I never knew."
Twilight managed to smile as she returned the hug. That talk had done her more good than she let on. She smirked after a moment. "Middy I swear that if you start calling me mom or mommy all the time, then I will start treating you like my daughter." Midnight gasped in mock horror as they pulled apart, before bursting into giggles, one that Twilight joined a moment later. It felt good to laugh like that again Twilight thought as she felt the Element of Laughter glow within her.
After a moment they stopped and stood up, both feeling better than they had in a long time. "So, what exactly is this Primare Project anyway?" Midnight asked after a moment.
Twilight smiled. "Remember how I said I want to give our kind the leaders it needs? This is how I plan to do it. With your help of course."
Midnight blinked. "Me? But what can I do? I don't even know what any of this stuff is or does."
Twilight smiled. "That's why we will do it together." She saw Midnight's eyes light up at that. "It will not be easy or quick, but it will be worth it in the end."
Midnight rolled her eyes. "If it was easy, it wouldn't be fun then now would it?"
Twilight laughed as she pulled her into a hug. "That's the spirit! Now come on, we have got work to do."
Midnight found herself grinning too. "So where do we start?"
Twilight floated over the crate genetic samples Midnight had pulled out of cryostorage. With a hiss, the lid slid open. "Now we see if these have remained viable after so long."
Midnight blinked. "Why? Shouldn't they be?"
Twilight nodded. "Yes, but I want to be sure. If they are, then we are off to a great start. And if not? Then we have got more to do than I thought."
With that, both took a look inside the crate. Inside were eleven vials of different colored liquid: tan, Bright blue, grey, butter yellow, bright pink, bright white, midnight blue, peach pink, bright yellow, light pink, and a mix of white and pink.
Twilight pulled out each carefully and smiled at them before floating six over to Midnight who caught them with her wings. "The Gene-Sequencer is over there." She said, pointing at a machine nearby. "Just follow what I do."
Walking carefully over so as to not drop what she had, Midnight took in the machine. It didn't seem like much. A square box-like shape with a screen on top and various buttons, dials, and gauges below that. She looked over to see what Twilight was doing with hers. She too stood by a machine like hers. Twilight pressed a button and a drawer slid open. As it did, Twilight slid her samples in and pushed it shut with a hoof.
Figuring she had the right idea; Midnight did the same. Pressing the same button, the drawer in her machine slid open with a puff of cold air. Inside were slots for each of the samples. Careful not to drop them, Midnight slid them in carefully into each slot before pushing the drawer closed. As it slid shut, the screen lit up with words.
Gene sequencing in progress. Please stand by...
Looking over, she found that Twilight looked bored. Which usually meant that this was going to take a while. So, for now, she took a step back and let the machine do its work. Her mind kept returning to the names that Twilight had mentioned. From the way she spoke of them, she still loved them as much now as she had as when they were still alive. However long ago that had been.
Across the room, Twilight too thought of times past. Bringing up the memories of her first friends had not been as hard as it once was for she had made peace with never seeing them again millennia ago. It had been the memories of Celestia, Luna, Cadance, and Flurry Heart that tore her up inside. She had known alicorns could be killed from her jaunting days visiting other universes. Alone or with her friends.
The less said about some of those the better.
But she lied to herself she realized when she still hoped that they might still be alive here. Midnight had actually played a large part in that, through no fault of her own of course. That memory still held strong for Twilight even now, many years later.