//------------------------------// // Confrontation // Story: The Twilight Child // by Detectivefish //------------------------------// It was not the most beautiful of days, despite the weather pegasi trying their best. True, there were no clouds, but this just meant the winter sunlight got into everypony's eyes. Except of course Celestia, who seemed truly indifferent to the blinding glare, as she and Cadance shared a random walk through the castle, the younger mare currently recounting recent events for her. "And Luna's making real progress. Her understanding of modern Equestrian is really coming along." A brief look of bemusement flashed across Cadance's face. "Although she refuses to admit 'relax' is a real word. And I know she's doing it just to annoy me." Celestia resisted the urge to smile at that. "Is it working?" she asked. "No." "Oh, well." There was a brief silence. "How are things between you and Shining Armor? If it's not too presumptious of your old aunt to ask?" Cadance sighed. "Well... sometimes I wonder if he's actually going to propose. He's been putting it off for so long, and it makes me so... so..." Her face scrunched up, before she sighed again. "Cross. It makes me cross." Celestia just sniggered. Cadance was legendary for being unable to hold a grudge againt anypony. "Oh, don't you go laughing. I know you've been interfering now and then, giving him days off every now and then, to try and help." "Have I now?" Celestia tried to look shocked. Cadance's expression showed how well that was working. "Fine, fine, be that way, Disturber of the Peace. I'll just find someone else to officiate the wedding. When it comes." Celestia looked horrified. "Oh, fine. I'll stay out of your business." "I'd love to believe that." Suddenly the Princess of the Sun stopped, her wings flaring up. Her brow furrowed. "Do you hear that?" Celestia said. Cadance looked around. Aside from the distant sound from the city, there was nothing. "No." She said. Celestia looked around. "The guard mess hall" she said. She rushed off. Cadance galloped after her. The two rushed down the corridors and stairs until they reached the guard's barracks. Celestia landed, before scanning the area. "Auntie? What is it?" "An unusual presence. Some variety of spell I haven't seen in a long time..." "And you're afraid to go barging into the mess hall, filled with all those rugged stallions that work for you?" Cadance smirked. Celestia looked at the playful expression on her niece's face. She was about to respond when the door to said mess hall shattered. A lilac, blue and orange shape smashed into the wall opposite, before rising unsteadily to its hooves. "Big Lug, what have I said, time and time again about using the Kick?!" Came the voice of Shining Armor. There was a slight rumble. "Sorry, sir." "Why are you lot standing around? Get her!" Celestia and Cadance exchanged glances, before staring at the lilac unicorn waving a hoof at them. Then a wave of gold-armored ponies crashed into her. There was a massive amount of yelling. Celestia turned to Cadance. The pink and purple alicorn took a step forward, and coughed an incredibly small and polite cough. In an instant the mass of legs and hooves disentangled and looked up. Several faces went pink. Even more went bright red, as numerous ponies, all well versed in the unflinching stoicism of the Royal Guard found themselves suffering from acute cases of embarrassment. There was a large amount of shuffling, and cluttering, and there were even a few muttered apologies and handing of mismatched helmets, followed by a well-organised line of guards, saluting, trying to regain their composure. "Would you care to explain what just happened, captain?" Celestia asked, slowly, trying desperately not to be amused. Shining Armor grimaced and stared down at his hooves. "Well, your majesty... you see, I mean, that is to say..." "I may have landed in the captain's lunch" said Midday Eclipse. Celestia stared at the mare. She tried to think of a response. She failed. She tried again. "Shouldn't you be in Ponyville right now?" She eventually managed. The mare glanced about. "I... could explain it. In private." "I certainly hope so" Celestia frowned. She turned, motioning for Midday to follow. Cadance just walked over to Shining Armor and started removing bits of his lunch from his hair. "Stop it. Stop it stop it stop it" he whispered, "Not in front of my troops." "Oh, don't be like that, Shiny. I barely get to see you working." There were a few snickers from behind him. "I must say, I didn't realise it was anything like this. And who kicked that poor girl that hard?" "that would be me, oh GRAND princess!" rumbled a large purple and green pegasus. "Big Lug" Shining Armor sighed, "Don't you have somewhere else you could be?" The pegasus stared at him. "You're on patrol, private." The aptly-named pegasus nodded, and slowly flew off. Shining Armor looked at Cadance. "C'mon, soldier. Let's see about getting you something to eat." She laughed. ***** The walk to the throne room was utterly quiet, Midday trailing behind Princess Celestia all the way. Once they reached it, Celestia closed the doors as she made her way to her throne, and turned to the lilac unicorn. "So, why exactly were you fighting the guard, and crashing into their mess hall?" She looked at Midday, and there seemed to be something off about her. She looked like she hadn't slept properly, and the ends of her mane and tail looked singed. "And also, could you explain this letter I got from you two days ago?" She lifted the letter from the small bookcase she'd been keeping it, and floated it over towards Midday. The mare unfurled it and started reading. "What the... hay?!" She muttered. She looked up at Celestia. "I didn't write this." "Then who did?" ***** "So she's actually keeping the turtle?" "Tortoise." Twilight Sparkle sighed. "Does it really matter?" The pony claiming to be Midday Eclipse sighed, taking another sip of coffee. "It does to me." ***** "Good question. She seems a bit... energetic." Midday said, reading the note again. She looked up at Celestia. "What do you know about her?" Celestia stared at her. "Oh come on, Celestia. I know you've got somepony keeping tabs on me." Celestia's eyes went wide. "How di-... Oh, of course. Future." "Future. Sure. Let's go with that" Midday smirked for a tiny second. "Now come on, what do you know?" "Well, she just appeared in the middle of Ponyville three days ago." Midday nodded slowly. "That'd be about right." "Physically she's an exact match for you. Except... Her fur is a deep blue. Bordering on purple." Midday looked at her. Her horn flashed, and the lilac was replaced by a royal blue color. "Like this?" "Apparently." Midday just nodded, and then dispelled the illusion, her fur returning to its previous colour. "So, who is she?" Celestia asked, "Where did she come from? She's not your sister, is she?" "Sister?" Midday exclaimed, before contemplating this. "No. Not in the strictest definition of the term. She showed up a few hours after I went through the portal, so she's probably from... where I went." "Where you went?" Celestia raised another eyebrow at the sudden way the mare looked down nervously at her hooves. "It's complicated." "How long is this going to take?" "It all started on tuesday. Apple Bloom, Applejack's little sister, had made this potion from Heart's Desire and managed to give herself Cutie Pox. You probably got some letter about that. Anyway, I figured Heart's Desire would help me get back to my own time..." She stopped, and looked slightly nervous. For a moment she looked a lot younger than her appearance suggested. "So I went into the Everfree Forest, and gathered some Heart's Desire. I made a potion from it, and... well, it worked. I found a spell-book I hadn't noticed before and it had a spell, which apparenty could've taken me back to my own time." "And it didn't work" "It didn't work. It really didn't work." "So what happened next?" The lilac unicorn suddenly looked... alarmed, possibly even terrified. She looked down at her hooves. "I'd rather not say." She muttered. Celestia frowned in concern. "Why not?" "I'd just really like some time to process what happened, is all." The mare said quickly. "And to go back to Ponyville to confront this doppleganger?" "Yes." "This isn't going to result in any property damage, is it?" Midday bit her lip. "I shouldn't think so." Celestia looked down at the mare, as she suddenly seemed interested in the carpet. "Are you okay?" There were several long seconds as the mare gave this some thought. "I'll live" was Midday's response. ***** As Midday walked down the streets of Canterlot, she found herself wondering, for the umpteenth time in three days, why the spell hadn't worked. She tried to remain calm, but it was difficult. She remained in a contemplative fugue all the way to Ponyville. Then she realised. Somepony had walked into her life and nopony had felt alerted. Nopony had raised any alarms. Either this pony was a brilliant imitator, which based on the note wasn't true, or nopony cared. Then she realised it was probably more because she'd barely socialised with anypony. She never had. She sat down in the street, thinking to herself. How many friends had she made before the whole time-travel incident? There was Wisp, and she'd managed to utterly destroy that one. There was Sapphy, and she'd torpedoed that one as well. And then there was... was... "Oh." And she'd been trying to find a way to get home, not make friends. Not that she'd succeeded on those fronts. And the little attempt with Heart's Desire had done nothing. Or rather, nothing helpful or constructive. She stood up. She walked towards the library, determined. She knew what she was going to do. She was going talk to her replacement. ***** She knocked on the door. Nopony answered. She knocked again. Still, nopony answered. She sighed, and lowered her horn. There was a slight click as the unlocking spell worked its magic. She smiled, and gently nudged the door open. There were the usual piles of books, and maps. Despite the fact that she'd only been gone for three days, it felt like she'd been gone a life-time. That's when she realised she felt like she'd come home. She laughed slightly. "So darn clichéd." She muttered. Then she felt a slight rumble in her stomach. She rushed into the kitchen. ***** "Honestly, I don't know why the mayor asked you to show up. They barely asked you any questions." Midnight laughed. "I know. What's the point of asking for my expertise when they just ignore it?" Twilight Sparkle fumed. "Well, they'll see the next time some big nasty thing smashes half the town. They'll see." "Now what are the chances of that?" Twilight Sparkle sighed. "Well, considering how the amount of accidents around town seem to have been going up this week... have you noticed that? Perfectly innocent buildings just falling apart on top of unsuspecting ponies. Madness. And it's probably just going to get worse." Twilight Sparkle chuckled. "That's a bit pessimistic, isn't it?" Midnight simply took a step to the left, at which point a chunk of masonry slammed into where she'd been standing. "You win this round" Twilight said, trying not to laugh. The two reached the library, and Twilight opened the door. "Hmm." She frowned, staring at the door. "What?" "This door was already unlocked. But I was sure I locked it before I left." She looked at Midnight, who shrugged, and then opened the door. What she saw shocked her. Midday Eclipse was sitting in a chair eating a rather large amount of salad. "Hi Twilight, hey stranger." Twilight Sparkle looked from mare to mare. "What? Two of you? That's... that's not..." "'Scientifically possible'?" Midday suggested. "... Yes. You" She declared, pointing a hoof at the lounging lilac unicorn, "Are not scientifically possible." "I've heard that one before." Midday smirked. "What are you doing here?" Midnight said, looking between Twilight and the near-identical stranger. "Somepony explain what's going on!" Twilight yelped. Midday stared at Midnight. For a moment, neither said anything. The blue mare spoke first. "Twilight, I think you know my... sister, Midday Eclipse." Twilight's panicked look vanished. "Oh." She smiled. "Yes. That makes sense." She turned to the blue mare and frowned. "But then, what do I call you?" The royal blue unicorn smiled. "I am Midnight Eclipse. At your service." "Makes sense." Midday walked over to her doppelganger, smiling an unusual smile. "Twilight, do you mind if I have a conversation with my sister in private?" "No, no, not at all. I guess you two have a lot to catch up on?" "A whole lifetime" Midday said quietly. She motioned for the royal blue unicorn to walk upstairs. ***** "Okay... the room's been sound-proofed." The lilac one smiled, the glow of her horn dimming down. She whirled on her identical copy. "Now then... sister? Where did that come from?" Midnight shrugged. "It worked. Thank goodness your Twilight Sparkle believed it." "She's not 'my' Twilight Sparkle." The two mares stared at each other. "So, what now?" Midnight asked. "Do we fight one another?" Midday shook her head. "Why would we?" Midnight frowned. "Is that not standard for this manner of meeting? A sustained misunderstanding." "No. I really don't want to fight" Midday said, "We'd probably just level most the town in a stalemate or something. And besides, right now I'm not in the mood for doing anythong other than sitting down." She walked over toward her bed and sat down on it. A few seconds passed before she looked at her doppelganger. "Can we just go over general backstory?" Midday said. The royal blue mare stared blankly. "Why?" "I'd like proof that you're me." Midnight considered this, and then shrugged. "Alright, then. Birth name, Twilight Twinkle. Born 20th March in Canterlot General hospital to Twilight Sparkle..." she trailed off. "And?" Midnight had a brief look of confusion on her face. Midday looked crestfallen. "Oh." "You too, huh?" "Apparently so." "Sorry." "Likewise." Midnight smiled. "Cutie Mark aged 5, on Nightmare Night." "Ditto." They looked at each other. "Your turn." Midnight smiled. "Schooled at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns." Midnight's expression shifted slightly, but she still nodded. "Hated every second of it." Both mares gave a derisive snort. "No entrance exam, not for the daughter of Twilight Sparkle." "So, what is different? Where did our lifestories go off the mark? I mean, I've seen your universe and it's history and everything is wrong." Midnight frowned. "What do you mean, 'wrong'?" Midday tilted her head. "Well, the maps make no damn sense, and half the things your history books mention never occured, Ponyville's the wrong size, and I don't even want to know what Canterlot looks like." Midday opened her mouth to say something, and frowned. "How did you end up in the past? I mean, I assume you were twenty-three years into the past like I was before the switchover." There was a pause as Midnight's eyes shifted. "Yes. I was." "Then how did you get there?" Midnight stared at her counterpart. "You... went back by accident, didn't you?" Midday looked at the concerned expression on her counterpart. "Yeah, so?" She looked at Midnight. Then her jaw dropped as she saw the look on the mare's face. "On purpose? You time-travelled on PURPOSE?!" "Yes." Midday descended into inelegant sputters. "Why? What in the world could have motivated that?" Midnight frowned, and looked towards the window. "I think perhaps there's something we're overlooking." "Which is?" Midnight scuffed a hoof against the ground, and looked out of the window. "This universe. It's cheerful. I can pretty much feel the cheerfulness permeating everything. Hay, even the sunlight feels different. I may have gone a bit overboard with being cheerful, by the way, which I must confess was quite a shock on my end. Apparently ponies in this universe don't appreciate being hugged out of nowhere. Still, all easily fixed." She sighed, sounding slightly content, before frowning. "Indeed, too easily. If I had done something like that in my universe, I'd probably have ended up being taken to a psychiatrist. Here, they just grinned and accepted it." She looked at her counterpart. "Not that I'm complaining, mind you. The only major problem I've found is Rainbow Dash. Why does she keep trying to play pranks of me?" "Oh, I humiliated her with a jar of sprinloaded snakes." Midday said casually. She saw the confused look on Midnight's face. "She was trying to trick me into opening them, and I managed to get her to open them and she took it poorly." Midnight frowned. "She has an ego problem." Midday shifted. "It's incredibly disappointing to see her act like this. She's supposed to be the bearer of the Element of Loyalty. She's supposed to be so much more than this, and right now she's just lazy, and brash, and loud, and she has all the brains of a... a... really moronic thing. I doubt she could inspire loyalty in a salad." Midnight smirked at that. "Not good with spur of the moment things, I see." "I'm a second away from kicking myself to death for not using a name as cool as 'Midnight Eclipse'. Anyway, you were saying about things we hadn't noticed." Midnight sat down. "Well... we're both twenty-three years into the past relative to us, right?" "Yes." "And we both look like we're older than eighteen." Midday glowered at her counterpart. Midnight frowned, and rubbed her hoof against her muzzle. "What's your relationship with Twilight Sparkle, if I may ask?" "Bad." Midnight raised an eyebrow. "Verging on disaster-riffic." "What did you do?" Midnight said. "We may have exchanged rather heated words. The sort that can't be taken back." She looked down at the floor. "My mother and I..." Midnight said, her expression shifting "We've never actually..." "Never actually what?" "Never actually spoken. I've never even met her." The very beginning of tears were beginning to form in Midnight's eyes. "Actually, that's not true" she amended. "I have met her twice in my adult life. She had no idea who I was." The dark blue mare paused for a moment, before continuing. "I was raised by my grandparents, on my mother's side" the mare's expression shifted again, as if she were trying to contain something buried deep. "I say 'raised'" she muttered. Midday walked over to her counterpart, and sat down next to her. For a few seconds she said nothing, then gently put a hoof around her other-self, who briefly twitched, then relaxed. "I must admit, my mom? Not the greatest mother ever. I mean, she bought me the same thing every year for my birthday, barely took much interest in my studies. She was distant, and only really showed up when I got into trouble at school (which happened a lot). She barely told me she loved me, and I don't think she ever said she liked me, but... she did try, I guess. She did try." She gave a sardonic smile. "Of course, if the worst had come to the worst, they'd have a bit of a problem taking me away from her. How do you tell a Princess how to raise her own child?" Midnight looked at Midday for a few seconds, in increasing alarm. "Did you say... 'princess?" "... yeah?" "As in... horn and wings Princess? With a capital p, Princess? Like Princess Celestia Princess?" Midday nodded. The mare's expression turned dark, and Midday could see the ends of her mane beginning to smoulder. "You might want to take a step back." ***** Twilight Sparkle occasionaly paused from her reading and studying to look at the clock. "They've been talking a long time." She muttered. She had every few minutes considered going and asking whether everything was alright, but she usually reconsidered. For some reason, she felt better of with that choice. ***** "Quite the pyrotechnics display" Midday stated. The fact that Midnight seemed surprised by her mane and tail bursting into flames helped. "I'm not the only one. I can see the singed bits of your mane" "Yeah, well, I had a bad experience with Heart's Desire." "Is that why you transitioned between universes?" "Yes. I found some Heart's Desire and I was going to use it to try and find a way home, and instead I wound up in your miserable universe." "Hey! It is not miserable." Midnight paused and considered this, "Actually, it is somewhat dreary. I'll admit that. But then, compared to your universe I suppose anything would seem miserable." She said, on seeing Midday's expression. "And I may have... gotten quite angry. Apparently the locals didn't like mares bursting into flame and screaming obscenities at the top of their lungs." "I wouldn't think so." "I think that batch of Heart's Desire was broken." "Unless" Midnight said slowly, "Your 'heart's desire' wasn't to get home." Midday blinked. And she blinked some more. "Oh." She buried her face in her hoof. "Tell me it wasn't something clichéd, like 'I wanted to find myself'" She blinked in confusion. "Hold on. If it was taking me to you, why are you here in this universe?" Midnight smirked at that. "I was... practicing magic. A side project. And I found this unusual teleportation spell, walked through it, and I wound up here." "Right." Midday nodded. There was something about the mare's story that didn't sound convincing. Like she'd been rehearsing it. The two mares sat in silence for a moment. "Well, right now you are talking to yourself, so I think... it might have been you wanted to forgive yourself for something." Midday paused. Her hoof lowered. "Belgium." "Language, dear" the dark blue mare chided. "I suppose I probably do want the chance to apologise to myself." She said, wearily. "What did you do?" Midnight frowned. Midday smiled a sad smile, and explained. Some twenty minutes of detailed and slightly rambling explanation later, and she was finished. The blue mare was just staring straight ahead at that point. "That... yeah, that..." Midnight said, through clenched teeth, "That would explain it." "No kidding." Midday bit her lip. "I didn't exactly mean to cause any of it." "I could tell." "And you know the worst part, don't you?" "I think I can guess." "She'd forgive me. Heck, she probably did. And her mother." Her voice broke slightly on the next thing she said. "And I don't deserve family like them." Midnight looked at her, her expression hardening. "But they are what you've got. And you're the only Twilight Twinkle they've got. Yes, you screwed up. You screwed up bad, but that's not an excuse to start giving up. Now stop whinging about your lot in life, because no matter how hard it is or feels, I can assure you there is always somepony who's got it worse." Midday smirked and look at her. "You mean you." Midnight shrugged and nodded. "Yes. I don't have a cousin, or a shapeshifting best friend. Or that weird roommate you told me about. Or a dragon step-brother. I do have an aunt, though, but I rarely see her." Midnight's eyes darted about, and it looked like she was about to say something else, before reconsidering, a dark look overcoming her face. "Apparently I look too like my mother for my uncle's tastes." Midday just sniggered. "You know, every since I came here ponies have kept asking me whether I was one of Twilight Sparkle's fangirls," for a moment, Midnight stared at her. Then the two ponies laughed. "It's so annoying. One day I wish I could just say who I am, see the look on their faces." The two laughed for a while. When the laughter stopped, Midnight looked at Midday for a moment. "I don't think I can forgive you, Twilight Twinkle or Midday Eclipse or whatever you feel most suits you. But that's because we're too different. If you are looking for forgiveness from yourself, I am not the pony to ask. Our lives are far too different for me to say I would react in the same fashion as you." She sighed, and looked out of the window, the lazy afternoon sun drifting across the sky. "I wish I could stay here." she said, wistfully. "You could, you know. I wouldn't mind." Midnight sighed. "But what about my own universe? I have responsibilities there, just as you have yours here. I may not enjoy the path my life has gone down, but I cannot break my promises." for a moment, the mare's expression looked remorseful, with a small amount of aggravation. "Whether I like it or not, my destiny is there. My family is there. My place is there." Midday shrugged, not feeling sure about how to react to the 'destiny' line. "I guess." The royal blue unicorn turned, and smiled. "Come on, I wanna see what it's like writing one of these 'friendship reports' before I go." The two unicorns stood together. "What did I miss while I was gone, by the way?" "Oh, nothing much." Midnight said as the lilac unicorn removed the sound buffers. "Rainbow Dash got a pet turtle." "Oh, that'd be Tank. Not really her, though." "Think it'll teach her patience?" Midday considered this, considered Rainbow Dash in her time, and her usual behaviour. "I honestly doubt it." ***** Some time later, the two mares stood on the outskirts of Ponyville. The sun was slowly beginning to dip. "Well" Midnight said. "This is it." Midday smiled, a slight hint of sadness in her face. She focused her magic, preparing to summon up the portal. "Wait!" Midnight yelled. Midday jumped, and the magic dissipated. "What?" "There's something I need to do first. Just wait here." Midnight's horn glowed briefly. There was a strange noise, and she vanished, leaving Midday standing on the dirt road with her jaw hanging open. "No way. She can teleport?" She reared onto her hind legs, and bellowed at full force. "AW, COME ON!" ***** Meanwhile, in Canterlot. There was a small, cosy looking house, the size of which hid the true wealth of the family that owned it. Somepony knocked on the front door. "Just a minute" Came a voice. The door opened. A middle aged mare with light violet hair stared at the beaming royal blue mare standing on her front doorstep. "Twilight Velvet?" The mare smiled. "Yes?" She said, before being warmly embraced. Before she could say anything, the mare walked past her and inside, and managed to get to her husband. "You did a great job." The mare said, before bouncing out of the door and closing it gently behind her, leaving the confused Twilight Velvet and Night Light standing there. "Honey, did she look like anyone we know?" "Yes." There was a slight pause. "Do you think we should visit Twilight Sparkle someday? See how she's getting on in Ponyville?" "Yes." ***** Midnight was surprised to find Midday glowering when she returned. "You can teleport?" The lilac mare hissed. The blue mare just looked surprised. "You.. can't teleport?" Midday shook her head. "That's unusual." "I can't figure out why. But I figure I'll get it eventually." The two mares stood there. "I guess this is really time to go." Midnight said, quietly. "Yeah." Midday focused, allowing the portal to form. Midnight walked towards it, before stopping and turning back to Midday. "Oh, Twinkle?" "Yeah?" "Just, y'know, if it's not too much bother, could you perhaps-?" "Yes?" "Just think of me, every now and then. Especially when you feel a bit down." "Okay." "And try and be a bit more cheerful. Take the time to get to know ponies, and get outside a bit more, because really, you 're starting to look like a slightly purple corpse." And at that the royal blue mare jumped into the trans-dimensional portal, laughing. Midday stood there for a while. And then eventually turned back towards Ponyville. ***** "Dear Princess Celestia Today I learnt that just because a situation can seem hopeless, doesn't meant I shouldn't try and make the most of it, or presume that I am the only pony with difficulties in life. And that I should take the time to socialise more, especially since it seems I'm going to be here a lot longer than I assumed. A lot, lot longer. Yours truly, Midday Eclipse (with some assistance from Midnight Eclipse)" Princess Celestia stared at the letter, along with the quite larger package that had arrived with it explaining almost everything that had happened over the last four days. She frowned. But, she said to herself, it wasn't as if she'd wanted to get much sleep tonight.