Recall Memories of Midnight

by Tangerine Blast


Twilight Sparkle

Twilight Sparkle glared at her notebook as if it had personally insulted her.

There was a problem with the schedule. If there was one thing Twilight Sparkle hated it was problems with scheduling. 

She checked and double checked the numbers and only one possible answer stood out to her. It was inconvenient and sure to fail but it was the only possible solution. Every other option had been exhausted. 

“Moondancer, is it alright if we move your party a day later?” She asked her friend, not glancing up from her chart of the rest of their friends’ schedules. 

Moondancer put down the pen she had been using to write thank you cards and looked across the table at Twilight. “A day later? Wouldn’t that be the Summer Sun Celebration?”

Twilight bit her lip. There was the problem. Having a birthday party during one of the biggest holidays of the year was usually ill-advised. Not only would fewer ponies show up but it was almost guaranteed 40% less celebration would take place than if the parties had been separated. 

“It will be,” Twilight admitted, floating her schedule over to Moondancer, “But it’s the only day we’ll all be available. Unless we want to celebrate your birthday two weeks after the fact.”

“Well...” Moondancer hummed to herself as she looked over Twilight’s chart, “The Princess isn’t going to be in Canterlot this year so it might work out.” She shrugged and floated the chart back across the table. “I’m okay with it if everyone else is. I think we’ve all been to enough Canterlot Celebrations to last a lifetime.”

Twilight nodded. “Exactly, it’s just another parade if Celestia isn’t in town. We can always watch the sunrise after the party.” She chuckled to herself. “That’s the same from wherever you view it.” 

***

Moondancer’s birthday party had gone perfectly. Twilight couldn’t help the pride from swelling in her chest at the success. Everyone was able to make it, there had been excellent food, and Moondancer seemed to enjoy herself immensely.

And it was all thanks to Twilight’s perfect scheduling abilities. 

The five friends had now retired inside. The fun had been exhausting and long. But, even though the sun had gone down hours ago, none of them wanted to leave. They all were all content to simply chat about anything that came to mind.

“You can’t be serious,” Minuette said with a laugh, playfully shoving Twilight, “Different realities? Get out of here.”

“Not even different realities,” Twilight insisted, passionate despite her friends’ giggles, “Different splits in the timestreams of reality. We could, at this exact moment, could be living in an alternate timeline.”

“An alternate timeline?” Lemon Drops asked with a head tilt, “Wouldn’t all the other timelines be the alternates?”

Twilight shook her head. “Not necessarily. There’s no evidence that this is the original timeline. Think about it,” Her eyes seemed to sparkle with wonder, “We could be living in a world never meant to be. You could have been meant to meet ponies you’ll never get to now, take roads that are blocked off.” 

Moondancer stared at her incredulously. “That sounds an awful lot like fate, Twilight. We were meant to do certain things?”

 “Exactly.” Twilight couldn’t help but smile. “There was something we did originally, but through outside influences, our paths were changed. But we’re the same ponies, deep down, just with different experiences, so we end up eventually making similar decisions.”

“But isn’t a pony just a collection of their experiences?” Moondancer argued back. 

“Not according to this theory,” Twilight protested, “the nature of one’s self is as innate as a cutie mark.” She thrust her hoof out in a dramatic fit of passion. “And so it stands to reason that if this is a separate timeline than someone had to have gone back and made it. Meaning it’s possible to do it again.”

“And let me guess,” Minuette said, “You’re going to be the one to do it?”

A blush colored Twilight’s cheeks and she coughed into her hoof. “Well, I mean, if I already did in the original…”

That prompted another wave of laughter from the group and, after a moment of pouting, Twilight couldn’t help but join in.

Without warning, Moondancer reached out and pulled Twilight into a warm hug. Twilight squeaked at the sudden contact but didn’t pull away from the birthday girl. “Thanks for the party, Twilight. I had a great time.”

Twilight chuckled awkwardly. “You’re welcome. I hope it was worth missing the Summer Sun Celebration?”

“Speaking of that,” Minuette spoke up, glancing out the dark windows, “We’ve been talking for hours. I could have sworn we missed the whole celebration. Shouldn’t the sun be up by now?”

The friends all turned to look at the wall clock. It was rather later than any of them had guessed. It was around the time were the first light of dawn should have been streaming through Moondancer’s window.

But the world stayed dark as if it was still the dead of night.

With a tired shake of her head, Twilight shrugged and hesitantly nuzzled Moondancer, getting more comfortable around her friends. “I wouldn’t worry about it. I’m sure Moondancer’s clock is just off or Her Majesty got held up by fans or something.”

“Twilight’s right,” Moodnacer agreed around a yawn, “Let’s all just get some sleep. I’m sure everything will be fine in the morning.”