//------------------------------// // Holiday Aftermath // Story: The Twilight Child // by Detectivefish //------------------------------// The day was dull and cloudy, not raining and just cold. It was dull and dreary, and the day passed without anything at all interesting happening. Midday didn't feel up to helping Twilight study, or Trixie with practicing for her show, which she still seemed to be practicing for. Sleep came easily to Midday that night. She found herself dreaming of a strange blue-purple void. She made a small noise. "This is a new one" she muttered. She briefly wondered if something horrible was about to happen to her, and then decided that if creatures that fed on nightmares were after her, they'd probably stick her in a bland grey room with an uncomfortable sofa, rather than a blue-purple void. After a few moments there was a fluttering of wings, and Luna appeared in front of her. She looked concerned. Neither pony said anything. "Yes?" Midday asked after a few moments of silence. Luna shuffled slightly. "I felt I should warn you. The parents of Twilight Sparkle have suspicions about you." Midday just nodded. "Okay." Luna looked irritated. "Okay?" she repeated. "Yeah. I'm not worried about that." Luna frowned. "You should be." "Should I? Why's that?" There was a moments silence, as Luna stared at her. "It would perhaps be easier if we showed you" she finally said. In an instant the blue-purple rippled, being replaced with the marble floor of the throne room. Celestia was sitting on her throne with a small mug of what appeared to be hot chocolate held by her magic, Luna standing next to her, both were wearing truly uncomfortable sweaters, and standing in front of the throne were Twilight Velvet and Night Light, mirrored expresions of concern on their faces. "Your Highness" Twilight Velvet said, calmly, "My husband and I have something we wish to talk to you about." Celestia's face remained the same, but there was just the oddest hint of alarm, though Midday was willing to chalk that one up to the sweater. "Of course. Is it something to do with Twilight Sparkle?" Night Light spoke this time. "Not... exactly. More a pony she knows." Twilight Velvet looked at Celestia. "What can you tell us about Midday Eclipse?" There was a moment of silence in the room. Celestia took a slight sip. "Midday Eclipse is simply an accountant who has been sent to Ponyville on mandatory leave" she said calmly. "Who is she really?" Twilight Velvet said. Midday couldn't help but laugh at that. "What is so funny?" Luna, the real Luna, not the recreation, asked. "It's a family thing, being too clever by half. Makes sense it would come from the Twilights, which means she got it from her mother, Twilight Twinkle the first." Midday shook her head, "I met her once, y'know. She didn't like me that much." Luna frowned, "Is your great-grandmother not deceased? Long deceased, since over a decade before your birth?" Midday nodded. Luna just stared at her. The two stared at the replay. "That is classified" Luna said. Celestia looked at her sister. "And complicated" she added. "What is it about her that troubles you?" Celestia asked, before putting down her drink and standing up. "Well... she's apparently one of my daughter's friends, but... she..." Celestia walked down to the unicorn, and sat beside her. "Yes?" "Well, I am a mother, and part of being a mother means noticing things. I've seen the way she looks at my daughter. At first I thought perhaps it was just my imagination but..." Celestia looked at her, and raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Yes?" "I've seen the way she looked at Twilight Sparkle before. It's the sort of thing a parent notices." She mumbled something, and Celestia's eyes went wide with shock. "The way a child looks at a parent." "Ah." was all Celestia said. Then the illusion vanished. Midday took a sharp intake of breath. She cursed herself. Perhaps she had been a bit careless around her grandparents. And in general. She hadn't expected the ruse to last. In fact she wouldn't have been surprised if somepony had figured it all out already. Then she felt a slight bit of family pride. "Well, to be fair to grandma Velvet, she's not an idiot, and I'm not exactly subtle." "But she knows. Aren't you concerned?" Midday turned to look at Luna. "Honestly? No. Spike already knows who I am, Rarity and Rainbow Dash already suspect, and I think Twilight's got a few ideas of her own. But if my grandma knows, it's hardly a big deal. And she's only got a theory anyway, and very little evidence to prove it." She paused, and considered that statement. "Although... there have been times when certain family members have managed to go further with more circumstantial evidence." "Indeed?" Luna said dryly. "Yes." She looked at the princess of the night, trying not to say anything else. Or think of any certain shapeshifting emotion-eating creatures. Luna looked almost annoyed. "Well, then. I thought it would at least be prudent to warn you. It was nice to know that concern wasn't wasted" she muttered. Midday smiled. "It wasn't. And thanks for being concerned." Luna mumbled something under her breath, though there was no audible trace of irritation in her voice. Midday was certain she could make out the word 'friend'. "Nice seeing you again Luna." A though occured to her, followed by a small flood's worth of guilt "And sorry about not visiting you while we were in Canterlot. Guess it just... slipped my mind" Luna made no reaction to that statement, just looking at Midday. "Be safe in the days ahead" Luna said, waving a hoof before disappearing. "Safe? In Ponyville?" Midday scoffed, before she passed into more-or-less blissful slumber. She'd been safer running around in a thunderstorm wearing a dress made of tin. ***** The next day proved to be just as dreary, so Midday decided to head outside in search of something to do, leaving Twilight alone with her books. She waited until the door closed, before finding the book on genealogy. "Hey, Twilight" said Spike, who didn't react at Twilight's startled yelp and jump, "What are you looking at?" "Just doing some research" Twilight smiled, or at least she tried to smile. Spike looked at the large piece of paper. "Family trees. What's that for?" "Just checking something for Midday" she smiled. Spike frowned. "Did she ask you to?" Twilight blinked. "Well, no, but... she said she was the descendant of Mimic, and I just want to see if that's actually true." Spike nodded, though he didn't look convinced. Twilight's ears drooped. "Something about her doesn't add up Spike. I'm just being cautious. Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything foalish. Spike sighed. "If you say so. Need any help?" "No," Twilight said absentmindedly, "that's okay, Spike." Midday returned some twenty minutes later, and looked strangely cheerful. "Hey, Pinkie Pie's throwing a super-duper awesome New Year party. Is anypony interested in that, 'cuz I sure am, it sounds fun, don't you think it sounds fun?" Twilight and Spike exchanged nervous glances at the royal blue mare rushed past them into the kitchen. "Somepony's clearly had too much sugar" Twilight observed. "Actually" Midday said, sticking her head around the door, "I'm just really, really, really bored! So bored!" "Well, it's almost Zap Apple Season at Sweet Apple Acres. Maybe if you asked nicely-" "No" Midday said, her face stony cold. "Why not?" asked Twilight. "Because I am trying to reduce my boredom" Midday shot back. She paused, and considered something. "Zap Apple Season..." she muttered. "That's when timberwolves start showing up, right?" "Yes" Spike said, hestitantly. Midday seemed deep in though. "I see..." She looked around the room. "I might need a bit of paper" she intoned, before walking over to a small desk, taking one sheet of paper, some ink and a quill, then going into the kitchen again. Twilight waited for a moment, and returned to her studying. "Oh" she said after a few moments. Spike instinctivly found himself poised to run. "What?" he asked. She looked up at Spike, an odd look in her eyes. "I think I've found something interesting..." she said. She looked back down at the book. "Interesting indeed..." Spike saw the slight smirk spread across Twilight's face, and winced.