The stage was in sight and as he approached, Midnight's keen ears couldn't help but hear a certain showmare yell, "This can't be HAPPENING!!"
Uh-oh! The sapphire alicorn hurried over, coming around the stage to see Trixie pacing back and forth looking anxious, Starlight and Sunburst standing by uncertain of what to do when Sunburst noticed his mentor.
"Midnight! Uh- just so you know, not a good time."
"I gathered," Midnight responded before stepping up to Trixie and asking, "What's the matter?"
"My big performance can't be done tonight, is what's the matter!" Trixie was fretting, "The manticore I need to pull off the Moonshot Manticore Mouth-Dive! It's not here!!"
"Whoa, the Moonshot Manticore Mouth-Dive?" Midnight couldn't help but smile at the idea, "I've never seen it but I did read up on how it was one of Hoofdini's greatest tricks!"
"Yes, and I wanted to perform my idol's trick tonight, but the manticore I rented got sent to the wrong location!" Trixie dismayed, "It'll never get here in time for the show, and my performance will be ruined!"
"Now c'mon, Trixie," Sunburst said with an encouraging tone, "I'm sure you've got plenty of tricks to knock the horseshoes off the audience!"
"But this was going to be my opening act for tonight's show!" Trixie slumped, "It just won't be the same..."
Midnight felt sorry for Trixie, and hated to see her show be ruined, along with her chances to show Ponyville that she had changed and sought acceptance. As he looked at Starlight and Sunburst try to comfort Trixie, he gave it a thought... before he was struck by a really weird idea.
"I could be your manticore." Trixie gaped at Midnight, as did Starlight and Sunburst, all with confused and/or weirded-out looks on their faces as Midnight shrugged as if it were no big deal while he explained, "I could shapeshift into a manticore and you could use me to pull off the trick."
"Uh... Midnight," Sunburst's weirded-out look turned into one that was slightly grossed out and disturbed, "You do realize that the trick involves the manticore swallowing the pony pulling it off, right?"
"Eh, wouldn't be the first time I had a pony in my belly," Midnight chuckled before giving a rather ambiguous wink.
So Sunburst wasn't entirely sure if his mentor was joking or not. But Trixie didn't care as she zipped up to Midnight, "Are you sure?! I mean... I don't want to have you do something you're not comfortable with."
"Well, my only concern is how to get you into the box after I... swallow you up," Midnight raised a valid concern.
"Oh, that's my job!" Starlight spoke up, "After Trixie, uh... dives into your mouth and you... swallow her, I use my magic to teleport her into the box, and she'll be just fine."
"I guess that works," nodded Midnight before he closed his eyes and his horn lit up.
The three unicorns watched in awe as Midnight's body lit up the same way before i morphed and expanded, shivering just a little, before the light dimmed to reveal Midnight had indeed shapeshifted into a manticore! His fur was the same sunset orange as the streak of it in his mane as an alicorn, his manticore mane was black with a sapphire highlight, his bat-like wings and large scorpion tail were dark blue while his turquoise eyes were now feline yet fierce... as he let out a soft growl before opening his wide mouthful of fangs to release a scary roar!
Starlight and Sunburst's jaws dropped while Trixie happily cheered, "You're perfect!"
As evening fell, the dining room was set, the tapestries above displaying Starlight on one and Celestia and Sombra on the other, and the big ice pony sculpture on the middle of the table was starting to melt, as Twilight sat there.
Alone.
"...Where is everypony?" Twilight was worried, not simply because her pupil wasn't in attendance but Celestia and Sombra hadn't arrived either. In all the years she'd been Celestia's faithful student, her mentor had never been tardy for their sessions together. Of course, every now and then Celestia had to cancel a lesson or postpone, but she always gave notice.
She supposed Sombra would arrive along with his wife, but then where was Starlight? She had a pretty good idea, and though she'd taken a good long moment to think it over she accepted she had to give Trixie the second chance she claimed to have given before, though it still irked her that Starlight hadn't arrived or even sent a notice of her own.
Sighing, Twilight decided to see for herself. Although she wanted to do as Midnight encouraged and trust Starlight, she had to at least remind her student about the dinner, in person apparently. Leaving the castle, seeing night had fully fallen, she began to look around and saw locals and started asking, "Hello? Has anypony seen Starlight Glimmer? I'm looking for her!"
But then she noticed where many of the passerby were going and followed them... to Ponyville Park. Coming up onto a hill, she gazed down and saw them gathering before a stage , and the decor and posters weren't even necessary for her to figure out, "Trixie..."
As she ventured down the hill and got closer, Cheese and Applejack were in the crowd.
"So this is the 'Humble and Penitent Trixie's Apology Tour'?" Cheese wondered aloud.
"Ain't tha' a mouthful o' molasses," commented Applejack.
"It's a working title!" came a familiar voice from the curtains.
Meanwhile, below stage, Manticore Midnight wore a heavy collar with chains, to make him appear as though he were perfectly secured. Sunburst was with him, making sure all was set.
"Okay, you're ready, you're scary-looking and set on the rising platform to appear onstage, the Black Box is in position on the other side of the stage, the cannon is outside, Starlight already charmed Trixie so her teleportation spell will take effect once Trixie's in, well, inside you... Am I missing anything?"
He looked to Manticore Midnight, who shrugged. Sunburst kept having to remind himself that this ferocious beast was really his mentor even if Midnight couldn't talk in this form and using telepathy gave him a headache. So they were limited to yes & no questions and physical gestures.
Sunburst shrugged, "Well, I guess i should-"
*Clomp-clomp-clomp-clomp...*
The hoofsteps came from above, sounding like somepony had rushed out of the backstage in a hurry. Manticore Midnight and Sunburst shared a concerned look as the latter said, "I'll go check that out. Wait right here. Trixie already said she has the mechanism ready for the platform to raise you up onto the stage."
Manticore Midnight nodded with a soft growl and watched Sunburst rush out. He sat there alone in the darkness for several long minutes... when he heard softer hoofsteps step out onto the stage and light shine through the floorboards.
"Come one, come all," declared the voice of Trixie... in a flat and unenthusiastic manner with nary a drop of dramatic flair. "Come and see the Pathetic and Friendless Trixie's 'Way-to-go-Dumb-Dumb-you-Really-Messed-Up-Big-Time Repentance Tour'."
Murmurs of confusion spread amongst the crowd until Trixie shouted in frustration, "IT'S A WORKING TITLE!!"
Resuming the unenthusiastic tone, she continued, "Behold, your fears come true..."
Her horn lit up ever so slightly to activate a certain mechanism as a trapdoor opened to reveal Manticore Midnight rising up on a platform, "...a pony-eating Manticore."
Taking a deep breath, Manticore Midnight rleased a FEROCIOUS roar while pulling on his collar as if he were trying to break free of his chains. The display caused some gasps among the audience, especially Fluttershy who quickly covered the eyes of her babies, sweet little Belle and adorable Sandow though the filly and colt both giggled and clapped their teeny hooves while saying, "Kitty!"
"For tonight, the Great and Powerful Trixie will be performing... the Moonshot Manticore Mouth-Dive," Trixie explained, not even bothering to show excitement of any kind, earning her another round of gasps, but this time they were excited.
"Now, now, save your gasps for when I defy the beast's jaws of doom..." Trixie moved over to the side of the stage and pointed to, "and appear inside that black box."
She finally dropped the lack of enthusiasm for a voice guilt-ridden and apologetic, "I was supposed to perform this trick with my great and powerful assistant, who was also my great and powerful friend."
She stepped down from the stage, the audience parting to make way for her as she moved for the cannon as Starlight and Sunburst watched from the hill nearby. Sunburst lent a shoulder for Starlight to cry on after hearing from her that Trixie had only befriended her to get one up over Twilight, causing Starlight to run off in hurt. He'd found her rather quickly, surprised she'd stayed to watch the show, but he wasn't sure what to say to her after she'd vented.
Part of him wanted to think that Trixie had been sincere but another warned him he could be wrong, especially since Starlight had said as much.
"Starlight?"
They both turned around to see Twilight approaching them, looking sympathetic.
"When I first came to Ponyville, Princess Celestia gave me room to make my own decisions and my own friends. Earlier today... I was going to talk to you to choose somepony other than Trixie to bring to the dinner tonight because I didn't trust Trixie. Sunburst stopped me and Midnight spoke to me that my actions and thinking, despite good my intentions, were wrong.
"I need to give you the same freedom. I shouldn't have tried to pick and choose your friends for you. To do so would have been hypocritical of me, as a teacher and as the Princess of Friendship."
"Twilight's right, Starlight," Sunburst agreed, Starlight turning to look at him. "Ultimately, you have to make your own decisions and your own friends all on your own merit."
At that moment, they saw the cannon, Trixie loaded into it, was raised and poised to fire her into Manticore Midnight's maw.
"But... what if Trixie really was using me just to one-up you?" Starlight asked while giving Twilight an anxious look.
"From what I've seen," Twilight replied, "she's the real thing."
"And if she's going through with the trick," Sunburst added, "it must mean she has faith in you and is willing to risk getting eaten alive to prove it."
Trixie had just lit the fuse...
"But it's not our place to judge," Twilight confirmed.
"It's all up to you," Sunburst agreed, "but you can always count on us to help you figure things out."
Manticore Midnight let out another fierce roar as he prepared himself for his... unconventional meal as the fuse got shorter and shorter.
"Starlight? If you're out there, and you still wanna be friends," Trixie called out before she pulled herself into the cannon, "let's be great and powerful together! ...Please!"
The fuse sparked and burned until....
*KABOOM*
The audience watched as Trixie soared through the air... towards the growling maw of Manticore Midnight, while Trixie shrieked in terror while covering her eyes as she flew into Manticore Midnight's mouth. He closed it, his cheeks full of Trixie, hesitating somewhat as he hoped that he wasn't gonna have to take ipecac or laxatives later. He felt Trixie move inside his mouth and he very carefully moved his jaw up and down to make it appear as though he were chewing Trixie up but being sure not to do her actual harm. Knowing he had to move this along, Manticore Midnight then used his tongue to move Trixie into position, tasting the salty sweat of her fear, causing his mouth to salivate, which helped lubricate her body as her head faced the back of his throat and he tilted his head back, causing Trixie to slide downwards. Trixie couldn't help but let out a scream inside Midnight's mouth that went unheard to the ponies watching though Midnight felt her scream reverberate inside his throat, feeling it stretch first with the shape of her helmeted head, then her shoulders, the throat muscles forcing Trixie's forelegs down, pinning them to her sides.
Sensing an impending meal, Midnight felt his stomach rumble and tighten, eager to receive the mouthful of mare Midnight was sending it, and Midnight felt Trixie's head go squeeze through the opening at the bottom of his throat while her form appeared as a bulge below his jaw neck, showing everypony where Trixie was in the process of being swallowed whole and alive. As Trixie continued to descend, Midnight gave another mighty gulp, Trixie sinking deeper that his throat swelled and then he felt Trixie reach his chest cavity as she sank deeper but a struggling move from Trixie nearly caused Midnight to just barely stifle a gag, nearly coughing as his windpipe was already obstructed, as well as him opening his mouth just a little bit... for Trixie's tail to hang out of his lips, causing several ponies to gasp in horror. Keeping calm, Midnight made sure to keep holding his head up and back, utilizing gravity to aid in this endeavor. Finally, he felt Trixie sink further, her shoulders passing the tight ring of his stomach as she dropped fully into the empty digestive sack, causing a light bounce in his belly while he slurped her tail up like a spaghetti noodle, and relaxed, glad to be able to breathe again while his stomach stretched to accommodate its new occupant... and he couldn't stop himself from letting out a big obnoxious BURP while slightly thumping his chest.
Everypony gasped in shock while Cheese quickly held up Baby Belle and Sandow as their poor mother fainted in horror.
For a few long moments, nothing happened, and Midnight was starting to worry, especially as he felt Trixie starting to struggle inside his stomach. Likely from a lack of breathable air after his burp, and he was already thinking of what potions he'd need to take in order to... free Trixie of the prison that was his own body (Hopefully it'll be the front door, not the back... he thought anxiously) when he suddenly felt a certain emptiness and a growl of complaint from his belly for being robbed of its meal. He sensed a spell at work and he discretely looked towards the black box... before it fell to pieces and there was Trixie!
She looked discombobulated, singed and a little slimy (probably from gastric juices) as she deliriously declared, "Behold! The pate and growerful... Triskee!
As she keeled over, there was silence as Fluttershy stood back up, accepting her foals from Cheese... and joining in the applause as everypony cheered while Trixie felt two pairs of hooves help her back up onto her own. She turned to see it was Starlight and Sunburst, the both of them smiling at her as the former winked at Trixie. Smiling back, Trixie spoke out, this time dramatically and for all to hear, "And now, I am proud to introduce my great and powerful assistants," and privately whispered to them, "and my friends," before raising her voice again, "Starlight Glimmer and Sunburst!"
The three unicorns and the alicorn-in-manticore's skin all gave a bow for another applause before the curtains fell. Now that the act was over and nopony could see, Midnight's manticore form shined as it remorphed back into his alicorn form, and he turned to the three unicorns, smiling proudly and happy for them as Trixie and Starlight hugged.
"Trixie!"
They all looked to the door and saw Twilight standing there, Trixie huffing, "What do you want?"
"I was wrong, and I'm sorry," Twilight apologized, sincere and true remorseful as she put a good-natured hoof onto Trixie's whither, "and I have to say, I could never have pulled off a trick like that."
Trixie was speechless. The princess was humbling herself before her? She looked to Starlight, Sunburst, and even Midnight, all of them smiling for her before Trixie humbled herself back at Twilight by tipping her magician's hat and softly smiling, "Thank you... Princess."
As Trixie and Starlight continued the show with Sunburst remaining to be their stagehoof, Midnight and Twilight started the walk back home.
"I'm proud of you, Twily," Midnight said warmly, "Even the best of us can sometimes find it difficult to admit when we're wrong and humble ourselves before others."
"Well, Trixie, Starlight, and Sunburst were right," Twilight sighed, "I didn't give Trixie a second chance. Not really. I just... kept thinking about the misdeeds she did before and worried about how she could be a bad influence on Starlight, and... I suppose I was making this whole thing a little about me. This dinner where I was trying to show my old teacher what a good teacher I was?
"Speaking of her, I hope she's not annoyed that I wasn't there at the castle to greet her and Prince Sombra."
"What? You mean they hadn't shown up yet before you arrived at the show?" Midnight was surprised.
"Well, no actually," Twilight agreed it was confusing as the castle was in sight. "I was just sitting at the table for a while, thinking everypony was late. Then I thought I'd step out and find Starl-"
*KABWOOOOMMMMMMMM.....*
Off in the distance towards Canterlot, a brilliant radiance exploded for all of Equestria to see as it burst so bright that for a fleeting moment it seemed night had suddenly turned to day... only for the restful darkness of night to return, leaving everypony in Ponyville (and likely all of Equestria) in troubled bewilderment.
"Sweet Mother of the Royal Sisters, what the hoof was that?!" Twilight flabbergasted.
"I don't know, but it looked like it came from Canterlot!" worried Midnight. "Maybe we should hurry to the castle."
"TWILIGHT! MIDNIGHT!!"
They looked ahead and saw Spike hurrying their way, looking frantic yet excited. He came to a stop in front of them, putting his hands on his knees while he caught his breath, "B- I... You..."
"Whoa, Spike, take a moment first," Midnight suggested, "You must catch your breath before you can release it."
...
...
...
Finally, Spike took a calming breath before he declared, "It's wonderful! You won't believe it!"
"What's wonderful, Spike?" asked Twilight, starting to feel anxious again.
"Well, I got this message a little while ago," Spike held out a scroll, "I was going to give it to you but you weren't in the dining room."
Twilight accepted the scroll and read:
'My dear friend, Princess Twilight,
I regret to inform you that Celestia and I must cancel on the dinner to which you invited us to gauge the progress of your student Starlight Glimmer and her studies under your tutelage. But Celestia's water has broke and she is now in the castle infirmary, going into labor. Our foal is coming!I will contact you shortly,
Prince SombraP.S.
Midnight, I strongly advise you brace yourself when you and Twilight have foals. My beloved Tia... I never thought I'd hear such curses stain her tender lips'
Midnight and Twilight gasped in realization as they began to suspect what that explosion of light was when Spike held out a second scroll, "This one arrived just a minute ago."
Midnight took this one and saw it had drops on it that looked like they might have come from tears, and though the words were short the joy in them was clear as the moon above:
'We have a son!'