//------------------------------// // Stroke of Midnight // Story: All Hail, Midnight Sparkle! // by MisterEdd //------------------------------// "Twilight!" Spike dove forward and captured the mare in the largest hug he'd ever given her, even bigger than the hug he'd gifted her with after she got him a custom gemstone pastry cookbook for last year's Hearth's Warming. Weakly, she returned the gesture, managing a strained laugh as she rubbed his back with one hoof. Never before had a hug from Twilight felt so good to the drake. "It's good to see you too," she wheezed before the rest of the party joined in. "Group hug!" Pinkie squealed, somehow ending up on top of Applejack's shoulders. There was one, however, who didn't join in, instead remaining off to the side. "I'm...glad to see that you're alright," Sombra admitted, though still maintaining his distance. Everyone backed away as Twilight wobbled into a standing position and slowly made her way to the stallion. Reaching a hoof up, she tenderly caressed Sombra's face, causing him to close his eyes contently. "You came for me." His red eyes reopened, focusing solely on her. "Was there any doubt?" Twilight responded by laying a chaste kiss on his lips. "None whatsoever." "D'awww!" Sombra shot Pinkie and Rarity an annoyed glance. "Oh clam up!" "But you're both so adorable!" Rarity gushed. "It's like a romance novel!" "Yeah! You're officially my OTP!" Pinkie cheered. "OT-what now?" "Uh guys? Hate t' break up this here tender moment but shouldn't we be headin' back now?" Twilight nodded, "Applejack is right. We really should be-ah!" She turned to leave when her front foreleg twisted, sending her into a near meeting with the floor if not for Sombra manually catching her. "S-sorry. I'm trying to catch my bearings..." "Don't apologize," Sombra lightly admonished, pulling her close. "You've had a trying experience." "That's an understatement! Are you okay?" Rainbow asked worriedly. Twilight was sweating profusely, her features looking pale and a series of light tremors rocking her body. "I think so. I'm just...so tired..." Gingerly, Sombra telekinetically lifted her onto his back. "Rest easy. We'll be back at your home soon." He then began to navigate his way through the partially destroyed ruins and the others followed close behind. The return journey back to Ponyville was spent mainly in silence, primarily for Twilight's sake as she was looking shaken up from her ordeal. Then again, what could any of them even say? Twilight seemed to drift in and out of consciousness but this was from exhaustion so they let her be. Every now and then, Sombra would catch Rainbow glancing at him, her expression one of what appeared to be approval, though he chose not to comment on it and neither did she. Turning his head away from her, Sombra briefly smirked. "Hey Sombra?" He found Spike trying and failing to match his stride so he slowed down to allow to him to keep up. Strangely, Spike had elected to walk right alongside him though he figured it was to be closer to Twilight. Not that he could blame him in the slightest. The two were practically family. "Yes?" For once, a large smile of gratitude graced Spike's cheeks. "Thank you. For helping us." "I did this for her," Sombra gestured to the mare on his back. He then sighed, allowing himself a smile. "But you're welcome." ~*~ While Princess Celestia appeared the perfect picture of regal serenity, Princess Luna was not so fortunate, her right hindleg bouncing wildly in place for the better part of six minutes. When news had reached her of Nightmare Moon's return, she nearly collapsed, listing to the side and smashing into a wheeled tray. The servants had to keep her steady as she regained her balance, the poor mare looking terrified beyond belief. Despite Celestia's insistence of handling this alone, Luna elected to accompany her, asserting that her presence was essential in case the threat wasn't over. She had, after all, lived with such a menace inside of her mind and controlling her actions for more than a thousand years and knew more about it than anyone. This, however, was not the reason for her apprehension at a possible reunion. True, the idea of meeting back up with the entity that ruined her life was nerve-wracking enough, nearly sending her into a full-blown panic attack. No, the truth was, something felt wrong to her. Much of her banishment on the moon was foggy to Luna's recollection but she did recall how insidious the dark spirit was, how conniving and manipulative she could be, which she proved in their first encounter with the new Element bearers. It took six of the most powerful items in Equestria to exorcise the being from her body but now apparently all it took was brute force and emotional support? "You're worrying over nothing." Luna turned sharply to face her sister. "No...I am not. You don't know her like I do. I told you before, Nightmare or Midnight or whatever she chooses to call herself is far more than just a wicked force." Celestia maintained a calm look of sororal love. "Luna, we've talked about this-..." "Don't speak to me as though I'm a filly!" Luna snapped, surprising both of them. "You don't know what it was like to have that-that thing inside of my head, whispering terrible things, driving its hateful bile further and further into my core. So when I tell you to take this seriously, do it!" "I am taking this seriously! But I have faith in both my student and her friends. They've proven time and again that they have what it takes to beat the odds. You're turning Nightmare Moon into an unbeatable demon." "And you're still acting as though everything will go according to your plan!" Celestia sank back in her seat. "What does that mean?" "It means that this has to stop. No more lies, plots or manipulation. Your games have to end." "You think that I believe this is a game?!" The Solar Princess leaned towards Luna with critical severity. "What I do is for the good of Equestria. You have no idea what I had to go through to ensure that our kingdom survived." "I HAVE NO IDEA?! I WAS TRAPPED ON THE MOON FOR A THOUSAND YEARS!" "DO NOT USE THE ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE ON ME!" "Um, Y-your Majesties?" They both turned to the royal guard seated across from them. "We'll be, uh, landing soon. Just thought that you'd like to know." "Thank you, Corporal," Celestia said softly before facing Luna again. "We'll discuss this later." Luna turned her body away from Celestia and muttered under her breath, "You always say that." ~*~ Ponyville was rather quiet, with most of its residents in their homes either sleeping or tending to their nightly rituals, leaving only the occasional straggler as the octet made their way towards the castle. Despite his most sincere efforts, there was no mistaking the uneasiness that was on display for Sombra, which had lessened given the lack of ponies in sight. He was in unfamiliar territory walking around in the open and with no kind of disguise or perception spell. Spike insisted to him that it wasn't necessary so he took the dragon's word in lieu of his own reservations. He didn't belong here; Ponyville, Equestria, the modern age, they were all alien, as foreign to him as he was to the Element bearers. "You and I both know that no matter what you do, they will never accept you." Sombra took the familiar pain of isolation and locked it away. Now was not the time for self-pity. "Sombra? Are you alright?" Twilight asked concernedly. She'd recovered enough to walk once Ponyville was in sight and while this was fortunate, it also meant that Sombra's back was feeling noticeably less warmer. "It's nothing." She placed a hoof on his shoulder. "Don't shut me out. Tell me what's wrong." The umbrum's eyes soon found Twilight's. "I can't be here. Once you're inside the castle, I have to leave." "Do you?" Her hoof found his cheek, gently sliding down his coat. "You could stay the night." Sombra snorted, "As tempting as that is, you know I can't." Their muzzles were almost touching. "Are you sure?" She inquired breathlessly. "Look!" They followed Rarity's hoof to find a chariot landing nearby, its occupants well known to everyone. Sombra immediately backed away from Twilight, purple fog curling from his eyes. Though Applejack and the others agreed to allow him his freedom, he had serious doubts that the Royal Sisters would honor this bargain. Luna was a slave to the whims of her sister and could be so much more if she could just remove herself from out of Celestia's shadow. And Celestia was...Celestia. The six-pegasus team unhooked themselves from their harnesses and formed a line on either side of the princesses as they exited the chariot, a lone unicorn guard accompanying them. A grey earth pony mare shouted from her window about the new guests, leading to the creation of a small crowd. Sombra rolled his eyes but still kept his guard up in case things went south. Princesses Celestia and Luna stopped in front of the group and inspected them, finally noticing a much healthy-looking Twilight and a suspicious Sombra. Celestia furrowed her brow somewhat. "Sombra." "Celestia. Good to see you're actually doing something." "And it's nice that you're contributing to the solution rather than the problem for once." "Beggin' yer pardon, Princess, but Sombra helped us wi' this fiasco even though he could've said no." The mask of maternal authority figure was easily slipped on. "Thank you Applejack, but I read Spike's letter so I am well aware of this fact. Although I don't agree with letting Sombra leave here with his freedom intact, I do think that it's best to honor your promises." "What do we do now?" Fluttershy wondered. "The best course of action would be to-..." A bolt of cyan-blue light slammed into Celestia's head, sending her collapsing into an undignified heap. Everyone spun to gaze incredulously at a giggling Twilight, the mare's face adorned with a sadistically bemused grin. "Oh, you have no idea how long I've been waiting to do that." Light erupted around her, transforming her once more into the form of Midnight Sparkle. "Looks as though the sun has gone down once again." Princess Luna rushed over to her sister's side. Carefully rolling Celestia over, she observed the light expansion and contraction of the unconscious mare's chest, so she was at the very least still breathing. Luna light her horn up with a slow, blinking light and conducted a quick magical scan. Thankfully, the beam was merely a sleeping charm so there was no permanent damage. This, however, did nothing to quell the rage building inside the Lunar Princess. "Bloody harridan!" Princess Luna fired an energy ray at Midnight, who simply teleported out of the way and re-appeared, releasing several missiles that spiraled towards the Lunar Princess. She easily smacked them away with a swipe of her horn, replying via launching a large sphere at Midnight, who fired a beam that split the sphere, sending both halves flying harmlessly past her. Several shards of blue light flew at Luna, pelting her barrier and shattering like shards of glass before she emitted a hyper beam that split into five smaller beams. Teleport-running, Midnight dodged the attacks and was ready to fire once again when a black and violet streak sent her skidding on her hooves. Both mares found Sombra scowling at the dark alicorn, eyes now glowing completely green as purple smoke leaked from the edges of those orbs, his horn engulfed in a black aura as purple orbs bubbled around it. "I warned you, eidolon. This ends now." Midnight's mouth stretched in a rictus of pure sadistic glee. "You know what?" She giggled. "You're right." A flash erupted from Midnight's horn, blinding everyone with its radiance before darkness claimed them all. ~*~ It didn't take Princess Luna long to figure out where she was. As the Princess of the Night, the Dreamscape was a realm that she was intimately familiar with, having a basic layout practically burned into her mind. What concerned her, however, was her appearance in the world of dreams. Sleeping spells were a dime a dozen but one that transported a pony there while fully conscious was a powerful enchantment not known to anyone besides Luna herself and Celestia. Then again, the being that was inhabiting Twilight Sparkle once took residence in Luna's own mind so it made sense that she'd have access to that kind of knowledge. A chill ran down Luna's spine at the many other possible spells that Midnight had in her arsenal, courtesy of both Luna and Twilight. At it's core, the Dreamscape was actually quite simple to navigate, consisting of a cloudy purple, black and blue void littered with trails of stardust and pollen-esque light specks. Luna noiselessly made her way along a thin, flat road suspended in mid-air, her horn ignited and eyes nervously scanning the surrounding area. Multitudinous glowing orbs passed by her, each one depicting the dreams of every stallion, mare, colt and filly in Equestria. A wall-eyed pegasus bounced across the tops of giant floating muffins like trampolines while brown paper packages flapped by on paper wings. An earth pony in a cool bowtie was being chased by what appeared to be large metal pepper shakers with whisk-arms. One orb darted up to Luna's face and she immediately felt her heart drop. Celestia was in what appeared to be the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters' throne room, suspended by her forelegs by chains and her head hung low. A hoof grabbed the interior of the orb and pulled it to the right, revealing a smirking Midnight. She waved at Luna and mouthed the words, "I'll see you soon," before the orb turned black. Luna let loose a low growl and without a hint of reluctance, entered the dream, determined to save her sister from this menace. Luna found herself in the castle hallway, except that it resembled the way that it looked in its heyday. Before Luna gave into her anger and jealousy. Brushing the guilt aside, she moved cautiously through the hallway until arriving at the giant double doors to the throne room. She obviously knew that this was a trap but couldn't figure out why Midnight would pull her into the Dreamscape and not immediately imprison her. Slowly, she pushed the doors apart and entered. In the center of the room, Celestia was still hanging chained up to the ceiling, softly whimpering. Luna gasped and galloped over to her, wrapping her forelegs around her sister and squeezing her as tightly as she could. The elder sister's head popped up in shock, her eyes darting around the room. "Luna? Luna, you have to leave! She's insane!" A teeth-chattering metallic squealing cut through the air, followed by Midnight's creepy sing-talking: "One, two, Midnight's coming for you..." Luna spun around, her horn blazing. "Show yourself!" "Gladly," Midnight whispered, appearing with her head over Celestia's shoulder. She let out a manic giggle. "Here we all are. My, how I love reunions!" She then sighed, her face drooping as she slowly made her way around Celestia. "You don't know how long I've suffered, all of my patience and planning, all in the anticipation of this one moment." The wheels steadily turned in Luna's brain. "You...it was you that shielded Twilight Sparkle's nightmares from me!" "I've spent more than a thousand years rattling around inside that head of yours. Did you really think that I wouldn't have picked up a few tricks along the way?" Luna aimed her horn at Midnight's heart. Assuming she had one. "What do you want? Midnight blinked. "Do you really not remember our time on the moon? Do you not remember who I am?" "I...no." Truthfully, Luna's imprisonment was a bit of a blur. The purple alicorn peered at Celestia. "I'm your sister." Then, at Luna. "Your twin sister." "What?!" Everything fell into place. The darkness that manifested at times. The voice in the back of her head. Instances in which Luna felt furious or frightened but had no idea why. As a foal, she would have dreams within dreams connected to nightmares, where a filly would invite her to play and then try to strangle her. Midnight's revelation had opened the door to lost memories, memories Luna had either suppressed or simply forgotten. Her previous anger faded, now replaced with epiphanic shock. "I remember now..." Midnight circled back around and casually leaned up against Celestia while standing on her hindlegs. Luna swallowed. "But, I don't have a twin..." "You're partially correct," Midnight admitted bitterly. "Mother and the physicians thought that it was a mistake but the truth is, you absorbed me in the womb," she explained, her face twisting in rage as she jabbed her hoof in Luna's direction. "You...stole...my...life!" "I...what?" "Leave her alone!" Celestia shouted defiantly, earning her Midnight's ire. "Oh, now you want to protect her? Where was this a thousand years ago when you banished us to the moon? If you'd just paid attention to your sister, you would've realized how hurt she was." Midnight turned to face Luna once more. "And let's not forget sweet wittle Woona," she mocked childishly. "'Mommy didn't pay me enough attention and my subjects didn't love me like my big sister, boo-hoo-hoo.' Bleh! Do you know how pathetic you sound?! You had it all: wealth, power, a cushy lifestyle. Even that misshapen miscreant Discord practically worshiped the ground you walked on and yet all of that wasn't enough for you." Luna swatted the accusing hoof out of her face. "You put all of that hatred and self-doubt in my head!" "I may've stoked the fire but you're the one who ignited the flame. All of that jealousy...all of that hatred...that was all you, sister dearest." "So why?" They both turned to Celestia. "Was all of this just to get back at us?" A series of orbs appeared all around the trio, a wave swirling towards Midnight to bob and weave around her as if they were planets caught in the sun's gravity. Each orb held moving images, visions of normal, everyday ponies exploring their perspective dreamworlds. They ranged from the dreariest mundane, such as going to school, to the fantastically imaginative, like folding cities and buildings made of cottage cheese. Whereas Celestia and Luna saw wonderment, Midnight was less beguiled, the light causing shadows to fall on her disgruntled face as she scooped up the closest orb in her hoof. "Look at them. So peaceful, so hopeful." There was a tragic derisiveness in her tone, as if she were making a joke yet all traces of humor were dropped from her voice. "All of them breathing, laughing, running, loving. They are given the most precious of gifts and yet they waste it on silly dreams, pointless fears and wasteful arguments. What a farce." She released the orb, allowing it to zip past her to join the others. "You both are prime examples: a vain, controlling, self-righteous brat and a spineless emotional wreck with mommy issues. This land deserves a better ruler..." The mare dematerialized in a slowly-dissolving cloud of blue mist. "...and I'm going to give it to them."