//------------------------------// // The New Colt In Town (Part 2) // Story: Living Elements of Harmony: Neo Elements // by Intellect Stretcher //------------------------------// “What are you crazy?!” Twilight and Fluttershy were in horrified shock when they actually herd Midnight suggest such an action. “I’m very sorry, but I’m sure you both know what happens to a wingless bird in the wild. Much worse it’s a recently hatched one that had fallen,” his voice volume lowered in sadness the further he spoke. The mares found it difficult to argue; they both knew he was right. But they couldn’t just sit there and let that happen. “How can you say that?” Twilight spoke out, “you can’t just do that; there has to be some other way!” Midnight looked too shamefaced and guilty to reply, and instead looked at the ground where the bird was laying in. Before Twilight could protest anymore, Fluttershy added her opinion into the mix… “He’s right…” her sad tone expressed her obvious grief to whoever was able to hear her. Twilight was beyond shocked to have heard those words come from Fluttershy; so much so that she turned her head back just to make sure it was indeed Fluttershy who was behind her. “F-Fluttershy…?” Twilight was nervous to say. Fluttershy looked up with her streams of tears flowing down from her eyes and off her chin. Her teeth were grinding as if trying to possibly stomach her sadness. “…He’s right! This poor bird won’t make it much longer it this much pain anyway; there’s nothing we can do other than to end its suffering.” Twilight couldn’t believe it. How did Fluttershy, the pony known for her care of all animals, agree to this? “Please… don’t make it harder than it needs to be, Twilight,” the pegasus tried not to cry as hard as she wanted to; she had to be strong for the baby bird. Twilight had no choice but to submit, after all Fluttershy, the element of kindness, always knew what the best for an animal is. Still trying to come to terms with the whole situation, Midnight spoke. “I’ll do it… that way you’ll only have me to blame for this…” Twilight and Fluttershy nodded, accepted the harsh but only outcome, and stepped back. While Midnight stepped closer to the injured hatchling, the two mares stood close to each other and looked away with only Twilight keeping one eye peeping. Once Midnight was close enough that he lowered himself down, Fluttershy turned her whole body to face away hand held on to Twilight. The unicorn didn’t mind the pegasus’s embrace and the river of tears currently falling down from her shoulder; she couldn’t blame her. Midnight looked up at Twilight letting her he’s about to do it, she in response looked away and forced her eyes shut to let the colt do what had to be done. “Here we go…” Midnight whispered to himself. He lowered his head to have his horn hovering above the baby bird’s broken body. He closed his eyes and let out a bright blue light from his horn. The hatchling got surrounded in blue magic that swirled around it. Twilight could see that there was a bright light shining on her closed eyes. The light started to dim and then it was completely gone; when it did fade Twilight opened on of her eyes. Afraid of what she might see she only opened just enough for her sight to peek through. She was didn’t believe what she saw… “W-what the…” Midnight stood back up and held the bird in his hooves. “What?” he asked. “I-I thought you said you were going to put it out of its misery…” “I know… that’s what I did…” he looked down at the bird he held in his hooves, and it looked back at him in gratitude. “… Ya see? It’s not in pain anymore,” his tone seemed indifferent to the emotions that practically emitted throughout the whole area a moment ago. “Y-you healed its wing and all its other wounds…” Twilight said the same awe in her voice; while she was talking the hatchling nestled itself in the stallion’s grasp. “Well, you said you were no good in healing magic, but luckily I’am very skilled in that field,” Midnight tried not to brag too much. “T-then w-why did you-” Twilight was attempting to understand the situation when she was cut off by the instant action Fluttershy made. The usually shy yellow pegasus bolted at the gray colt for a full on embrace. “ThankyouthankyouthankyouTHANKYOU!” she wrapped her arms around him and was shedding tears of immense happiness and gratitude around his shoulder. “Thank you so much!” The colt almost lost balance when Fluttershy forced an embrace and nearly dropped the bird he just saved. But he didn’t do anything about it; he knew it couldn’t have been helped. “It was the least I could do really,” Midnight felt the mare’s grip tightening slightly as the moment progressed; she must really be happy. “Now now, we’re not done here yet; I still need you do something, Fluttershy.” “Huh, what’s that?” she pulled her head back to look at the stallion’s bright golden eyes, lessoned her grip so that one of her hooves is just resting on his shoulders, and wiped her tears with her other hoof. “I want you to take this baby bird back to its nest for me,” Midnight handed the hatchling over to the yellow mare’s hooves. “Can you do that for me?” The mare’s eyes lit up. “Yes! I can do that; I’ll bring it back to its nest!” The slightly excited pegasus extended her wings and stretched them out before she shot up in the air carrying the baby bird in her grasp. Midnight and Twilight stood looking up at Fluttershy flying above the forest trying to find the nest. They stood in silence gazing above before Midnight said something. “Hay, Twilight…” “Erm…” “… You didn’t really think I was going to kill that little bird did you…?” Twilight felt a cold feeling run through her, and wasn’t sure how to respond. “Uh… well y-your word choice was… well… y-you know…” “Hmm… I understand, sorry about that.” Fluttershy started to fly back down to earth. “… I-it’s alright.” Twilight said. ----- Midnight Shine and Twilight Sparkle are currently getting closer to Sweet Apple Acres, their previous destination. As they walk side by side they still retained sentiment to the event in the woods. “That was something wasn’t it?” Twilight remarked. “It sure was, not the ideal way to meet someone and give a first impression. But thankfully I still made it excellent,” Midnight proudly said. “This is going great; everyone you’ve met so far has taking quite a liking to you.” “I know. Now let’s go meet this-” he suddenly stopped talking and turned to look at his side where his saddlebag should be. “Wait,” he said. Twilight stopped and is worried of what the reason for the sudden halt would be this time. “What is it; you’re not hearing something again are you?” “No. It’s just my saddlebag… it must have fallen when I was running through the forest.” “Oh, well I can help you look for it later if you like,” Twilight said feeling a little relief. “No, it’s long gone in the forest, and there’s really no point in trying to find it because I really wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings when I was running,” he was clearly disappointed. “My book was in that saddlebag, ugh. How did I not notice this until now?” Twilight suddenly gained a twinkle in her eye and a smile on her face. “You know I am also the town’s librarian; maybe I can let you barrow a copy of the book you lost.” “Really? Then do you think you have a copy of the last book of the Daring Do series?” “Yup, I own all of the books from that series. And you can certainly barrow it for as long as you need, Midnight.” “Wow, thanks Twilight.” “No problem.” “Then I’ll come by the library later after the welcoming party to get that book.” “Alright, but right now let’s keep going.” Midnight nodded in response and they both continued to their destination. They didn’t need to have walked very much before they got the Sweet Apple Acres. They stopped at the gate entrance when Twilight decided they should go their own ways for the day. “I’m not going to spend much time here. I’m only going to buy some apples and then go to finish a few things on my own, so how about we end the tour here and meet up again at Pinkie’s welcome party?” “Alright; that seems fine. I’ll meet this Applejack on my own then, where can I find her?” “I’m pretty certain she’s harvesting apples somewhere in this orchard.” Midnight looked around and winced at the sight of thousands of apple trees that extend far into the horizon on both. “… Okay, I’m pretty sure I’ll find her… somehow…” Twilight giggled. “It’s actually not as hard as it might seem.” She started to walk toward the barn, “I’ll make sure to let the other owner know you’re wondering around the orchard; see you at the party.” “You too.” Once Twilight was gone Midnight sighed and tried to decide which way he should go. “ummm… let’s go left…” ----- Inside the capital city of Canterlot’s castle laid a mare trying to sleep in far into the afternoon. Her curtains were perfectly sealed and backed up with magic to keep even the brightest day’s light from coming in; leaving her room in almost pitched darkness. When she woke up in the morning she set up her alarm clock to an eight hour snooze mode before going to sleep again. And it was about time it rang. “ANNTANNTANNANNTANNTANNT!” the jarring sound forced the sleeping mare’s eyes to fling open as it followed with a feeling of frustrating annoyance. “… Uuuugh… Shut Up!” but it wouldn’t, and in the darkness she struggled to find the button that would silence the noise. She couldn’t take much more of it, so with a faint of red magic from her horn she teleported the clock just outside the window of her room. The loud noise was quickly gone as it fell from high up one of the castle’s towers. “… Now time to go back to bed,” she said as she went back to cuddling her pillow and tucking herself into her bed sheets. Her soft, warm, and silent bliss was forced to a stop when she came to a quick and very grim realization. “… Crap that was the alarm I set up in the morning… ugh now I have to wake up…” With mild frustration she got up from her bed and used magic to make her bed as she made her way to open the sealed curtains. She stopped suddenly staring into the black nothing that is her room as she just gained an irksome and uncomfortable feeling inside her. She thought, “wait… something feels… off somehow... did I forget something or… is something happening…?” she opens her curtains using her magic and accepts the burning light of the day with squinted eyes. She looks back at her room and moves to leave through the door, “… nah… I must just be jumpy today…” As she makes her way to the door she couldn’t help but take a glimpse at her dresser’s mirror. Her red flowing mane was messier than usual, so she levitated a brush and arranged her thick layers of hair. Before she stopped looking at her reflection to leave the room, she grinned and said to herself, “Let’s go make this a great day and show those colts whose boss, Red Star.” ----- “Alright colts that’s enough training for the afternoon. Go back to the garrisons for your meals!” “Yes sir!” shouted the legion of pegasi soldiers before they fly in two single file lines back inside their barracks. While at the same time a certain red mare just came from there and started trotting in the opposite direction than the lines of soldiers. She looks around trying to find the pony she’s looking for until she spots him. “Yo Cyclone!” she shouted to get his attention. The stallion looked and turned around to face the familiar voice. But when he turned to face somepony who he expected to be many meters away, he turned to face somepony who was just a few inches away from his face. “Gah!” he jolted enough to have stepped back a few feet and spread his wings before immediately just becoming annoyed, “dammit Red Star, don’t do that!” “Hahaha! Why does it always get you whenever I teleport right behind you?” Red said as she kept up a symphony of hard and heavy laughs, “And why does it never get old?” Cyclone sighed trying to get past Red Star’s almost premature behavior, “Stop laughing so hard; it’s not even that funny. Also what do you want?” Red let out the last drawn out laugh before stopping, “aw you’re no fun. I just wanted to see how you were doing,” she looked around at the remaining troops doing their training sessions, “don’t you guys do anything else other than train? It’s kinda boring don't you think?” “Better than doing nothing and sleeping all day,” said the stallion in a truculent manner. “Hey, not all day, and also I kinda have to because I have things to do in the night,” Red countered. “By the way mind not throwing your clock out the window; that almost hit me in the head.” “… How did you know that was me?” “I didn’t,” he said with a growing smile, “I just figured you’re the only one who sleeps this far into the day.” “… ugh fine whatever,” Red wore a disappointing look of defeat, but quickly adopted a new grin, “I’ll make sure not to let it warn you with its alarm next time.” ----- “Is there anything else you need, Princess Celestia?” said one of the castle servants whilst she bows to the present of her humble ruler. “Not at all; you may go now,” said the princess with her always kind voice. The servant leaves the steel tray carrying the steaming tea set on the table, and then heads to the door leaving the princess alone in her room. She sits the chair looking out at the opened balcony window and at the beautiful view of her great kingdom. She takes a sip of her tea and uses this moment for some much needed peace and silence. However while she may seem in perfect tranquility, the situation is not as so in her thoughts. She thinks to herself, “… what is it that I’m feeling…? It feels like it’s nothing but… I can’t ignore this… it feels too… strong…” She took several more sips of tea before she got up and left her room. Her mind was clouded with the thought that, “I need someone to consult with.” ----- Back at the Apple family orchard in Ponyville, Midnight was wondering about; just hoping to stumble upon the mare named Applejack. “I wonder how big this orchard really is, but I have to stay close enough to see the barn so I don’t get lost.” He noticed that he started to get hungry but he couldn’t do anything about it. He felt tempted to eat one of the apples from the trees, but he would prefer to deal with the pain than to be so rude (even if nopony was around). As he trots further in he turns his head on every direction hoping to find something. And then further in the distance, he notices a large hill with only one large tree in the middle of it. “Maybe I can have a good overview of the orchard from there,” he suggested to himself, “let’s go then.” Slowly getting closer to the hill he paces himself to try not to let his grey dark coat sweat too much in the sun. When he was nearly there he saw a sudden figure appear coming from the trees and going up the hill. Midnight stops and slowly gets closer trying to get a better look at the figure. It was an orange mare with a blond mane and a cowpony hat; she was hauling a cart full of apples up the hill and didn’t look like she was struggling. “Is that Applejack?” Midnight wondered; he stayed there watching and waiting for the right moment to show himself. Meanwhile Applejack was lifting the cart up the hill until it was in a position where it most likely won’t roll down. She then took off the cart’s harness and let it drop to the ground, and went to the only tree standing on the hill. “A little rest after a hard day’s work never hurt anypony,” she said convincing herself to lay down in the shade the tree provided. She tilted her hat over her eyes as she leaned her back against the tree. For a moment the only sound she heard was her breath going in and out tranquilly, but then there was a sudden sound of creaking wood. Applejack rapidly looked up and stood up to find that the cart of apples she hauled was starting to roll itself down the hill. “Oh no,” she tried to react fast enough to stop it, but it wasn’t fast enough, “Oh No!” and the cart went rolling down the steep hill. There was really no point in trying to catch up to it; it was already halfway and gaining more speed down the hill. Applejack was angry at herself for letting this happen and wore a scowl of frustration as she watched the wagon fall. But all of a sudden for whatever reason, the cart of apples was suddenly forced to a stop before it was even at the bottom of the hill. Applejack adopted a look of confusion and galloped ahead to see what happened. When she got there she looked at the front of the cart and didn’t expect what she found. “Need some help with this?” said the grey colt who had his front hooves in the way of the cart. Applejack took a moment to process before she noticed the colt struggling with the cart and then gave assistance. “W-who are you?” she asks aiding in keeping the crate in place. “I’m Midnight Shine, but mind if we skip the introduction for after we get this thing down the hill?” his tone was a bit rough, but who could blame him, he did just stop a runaway cart full apples with his bare hooves. “Alrighty then,” they both started to slowly move back keeping their strength on the heavy wooden cart as they let it slowly go down the hill. At one point Applejack used her right shoulder to have her body pressed up against the cart of apples. As a result she had no choice but to look at the stallion next to her. His whole image was just fascinating. Applejack had never seen a pony with such a dark coloration to not just their coat but also their mane. She was so engrossed in the colt that she didn’t notice that they were already finished with getting the cart to the bottom of the hill. “There, and only a few apples fell off,” Midnight happily proclaimed, “now let’s begin the introductions,” he continued with a smile. “Well, my name is Applejack, and you must be the new pony everypony in town is talkin about, am I right?” said the mare leading in to support her expression of interest. “Yes you’re right, so you’ve heard of me then?” “Well when somethin like a ‘new pony’ happens in this small town here, word spreads like wildfire.” “How much did they tell you?” “Just your name, that there’s going to be a welcome party, and…” she seemed to have taken notice to the stallion’s horn, “that you’re from Canterlot.” She took a moment to gaze at the horn then looked back at the colt’s eyes. “Hey uh, can I ask you somethin?” “Uh, sure,” Midnight was a bit worried of what that question might be. “Well you’re a unicorn, so couldn’t you have just used magic to stop the cart of apples or somethin? Instead of forcing to stop yourself,” she seemed cautious with her tone; she tried to say it in a manner that would be the least offensive. Midnight’s face went blank as he took a moment to think. “Oh, well yes I could’ve very easily, but there’s really no fun or honor in using magic to accomplish things if you really don’t need it,” he lifted his right hoof and stared at the bottom of it, “I think there’s more of a sense of effort and accomplishment if you handle things manually instead of using magic to solve it so absently,” he seemed sincere in his tone. He put his hoof back down and then looked back at the earthpony with a smile, “but that’s just my opinion.” Applejack stood there being astounded to what she just heard come from a unicorn. She simply assumed that all Canterlot folks are the same, and she felt kinda glad to have been proven wrong. “You know something Midnight Shine,” she wore a welcoming smile and lifted her hat up, “I think we’re gonna get along nicely.” Midnight smiled back, “So do I.” ----- Midnight stood outside the gates to Sweet Apple Acres. He sighs looking back at the barn before turning around and heads back to Ponyville. “It’s about to be time for the party to start,” he thinks to himself as he starts to walk, “but first…” he, for whatever reason, took several more steps before stopping again. He switches his happy and joyful expression with a very solemn and serious one, and lifts his head to look blankly at the sky, “For how much longer are you going to be following me?” he shouted whilst scanning the sky, “Rainbow Dash!” The silence continued even after calling the name. Midnight continues to examine the skies before he stops and eyes a cloud in the middle of blank blue. “Alright then,” tired of waiting for a response his horn glowed blue as he lifts a random rock from the ground and fires it at the lonely cloud. The rock flew through the air at high speeds, but before it had a chance to hit its initial target, a cyan pony came out flying from the cloud. Dodging the flying rock the mare in the sky instantly adopted a look of shock while the colt on the ground gained a grin. “H-h-how-did, how did you know I was here?” the mare floated back down to earth as she spoke in a confused manner. “I was aware when you first started following me, before I even got to Ponyville, Rainbow Dash,” he kept his grin wide across his face. “And how do you know my name?” the rainbow pony started to get a suspicious look on her face. “Oh, well who hasn’t heard about you; back in Canterlot you’re the pony everyone is talking about.” The mere words were like music that lit the mare’s face right back up. “Really! I-I mean, oh ya I know,” Rainbow Dash was obviously trying not to show much excitement for that, but that ‘trying to be cool’ thing wouldn’t work on this colt. “Yup, in fact you’re kinda a legend,” Midnight continued trying to get the proud pony to crack, “I even heard rumors of the Wonder Bolts trying to get you recruited sometime soon.” That must have done it… She suddenly flew sailing through the air and stopped to put her hooves on the gray colt’s shoulders. “REALLY! They actually are trying to get me in!?” her wide smile overwhelmed her face and she seemed like she could potentially lose control over her excitement. Midnight’s grin instantly turned to a look of both confusion and interest. “Well I’am pretty certain they are, but then again that’s just a rumor you know.” As suddenly as it came, Rainbow Dash instantly calmed herself back to her regular state. Being aware of how close she unexpectedly was to the colt, she blushed and took a few steps back. She looked down at the ground in an almost shameful manner. “Uh, sorry if I over reacted a bit there…” she said in an almost disgraceful tone. Midnight took a moment before realizing what the problem was. “It’s fine, I don’t blame you for being a bit excited about that,” Rainbow Dash looked up to see the colt’s smiling face. “After all, isn’t it your dream to become one of the Wonder Bolts? I can sympathize with that feeling of having a dream you know.” The sentiment brought up by the colt made Rainbow bring her expression back to a smirk. “I can see why the others took a liking to you,” she remarked. Midnight in response slightly widened his smile and started to walk to where he was originally going. “It’s getting dark; I should really get going to the party Pinkie Pie is going to host for me,” he stopped next to Rainbow before continuing, “are you coming to it too?” “You bet I’ll be there!” “Good, see you there,” as Midnight was walking further away from Rainbow, she realized she forgot something important. “Wait!” Midnight did as was said and turned his head to the side. “I didn’t catch your name.” “It’s Midnight Shine,” he said. “That’s a pretty cool name,” and with that said the cyan pegasus shot up in the air and flew away. Midnight turned his head back to face forward and said, “Thank you,” before continuing to trot. ----- The streets of Ponyville were deprived of any life; the only pony wondering them was the new colt trying to find his way to Sugar Cube Corner. “Everypony else must be waiting for me at that party,” Midnight continued to wonder trying to find the Sugar Cube Corner. Despite that he didn’t want to admitted to himself, he really didn’t know the town well enough yet to know where he is going. Luckily somepony appeared to help. “So how did it go with Applejack?” Midnight turned his head to where the voice came from to find a certain lavender mare leaning the side of one of the buildings. “Oh it’s just you Twilight. Well you can say it went pretty well with Applejack; I helped her harvesting the last apple trees and we got to know each other… it also went well with Rainbow Dash.” Twilight smirked, “Ya I heard, how did you know she was following you anyway?” Midnight didn’t respond for the first few seconds; he simply gave a glaring stare before saying, “Does it matter?” “I guess not,” Twilight said being a bit surprised that he didn’t answer the question. She walked to stand next to Midnight, “anyways, I’m here to escort you to the party,” she tilted her head to gesture going forward, “shall we?” Midnight nodded. They didn’t walk far before they made it to the steps of Sugar Cube Corner. Anticipating an instant shouting surprise midnight went to the door first. “Here we go,” he whispered as he used magic to gently turn the knob and slowly open the door. When the door was fully opened, all that could be seen was pitch black. Midnight took a moment to see if he can gaze further in the darkness. Then he took his right hoof and stepped it inside. Nothing so far. With a sudden confidence he forced himself to take several big steps inside the blackness. Still nothing. He looks back at Twilight who was also inside, and is closing the door behind her. As soon as the door closed, the pitch darkness and silence were completely destroyed. Instantly all the lights were turned on, confetti was fired, dozens of ponies popped out from their hiding spots, and all of them screamed, “SURPRISE!” Midnight might have known about this beforehoof, but the whole thing still made him jar in surprise. But then he quickly wore a wide smile back on his face. Everypony was there, of all ages and sizes, but that didn’t last long. “Let’s get this party started!” shouted Pinkie Pie as she jumped on top of a random table, “but before we do can I have everypony’s attention!” The party guest all quieted down and turned to face the host. “I need all young and underage fillies and colts to please leave the premises of Sugar Cube Corner, please,” she tried to speak as gentle and as nicely as she could. But in response to the pink party pony’s announcement, a sizable portion of the crowd turned to a symphony of, “Aawwww” and a few said, “Not again.” Then all of the young fillies and colts started to head out the door as well as a few parents. “But don’t worry; I’ll have a foals only party tomorrow!” Pinkie shouted as the last filly walked out. As soon as they were all fully gone and away, Pinkie grinned and signaled a few ponies to go into the kitchen. Midnight was confused, “What’s happening?” he asked Twilight. She grinned, “Well, what do you think happens when the wildest party pony in Equestria is given permission to have a slightly crazy party…?” Before Midnight can have a second to think, several ponies came out from the kitchen each one carrying packs of cider and other alcoholic drinks and placed them on the large table in the middle of the room. “Now let’s get this party started!” shouted the party pony as she took a bottle of cider and chugged it. The crowd meanwhile cheered on and started to drink and play music in the background. “Ooh, so we’re doing that kind of party,” said Midnight. “Yup! And you’re the guest colt here,” said Rainbow Dash who came flying in holding a pack of alcoholic drinks. She gives one to Midnight and Twilight before coming down to the ground. “Can you guess which brand this is?” she asked Midnight. “It smells like Applejack Daniels,” he said. “Yup! How long do you think you can last?” “Are you challenging me?” “Yup,” they both gave wide grins. “Challenge accepted,” Midnight hissed, “Twilight mind keeping track for us?” “Actually I have to go see what everyone is doing, but I’m sure you can do it yourselves,” she said as she walked away. “Fine, I’ll keep track,” said the proud Rainbow. While Rainbow and Midnight have a drinking contest with other ponies cheering them on, Twilight goes to see her five other friends. They all sat on the round table at the corner of the large party room. “Hi girls,” greeted Twilight. “Hi Twilight,” they greeted back. “I propose a toast to the new colt and new friend in Ponyville,” said the already drunk Pinkie Pie. “Alright then,” said Twilight. She lifted her drink up and so did the others. “Cheers!” they said in unison as they collided their beverages together.