//------------------------------//
// Shock to the System 
// Story: The Twilight Child 
// by Detectivefish 
//------------------------------//

The Hearth's Warming season passed, and then the New Year, with one of Pinkie's unmissable New Years Partys (complete with a strange glowing ball descending from the ceiling that Pinkie refused to explain about) and exactly one week in to the new year there was a noticable aura of anticipation around the town, leaving Midday confused. She gave little thought to it, passing it off as average new year excitement however, more concerned about Twilight's pensive mood, and her stubborn refusal to set hoof outside, muttering something about 'scientific process', which on the advice of Spike she did not follow up on, not wanting a repeat of the 'Seapony Incident'. And so on the seventh night of the new year, Midday Eclipse dreamt of things past.

"Admit it, we're lost." The pegasus sighed.
"We're... not 'lost'. I'm fairly certain we're in the right place. Almost certain. I have a good hunch." Twilight Twinkle found herself smiling despite her inability to maintain the illusion of assurity.
She hung her head. "Fine. We're lost in a massive forest, and the bugs here seem to think ponies are a delicacy. Happy, Wisp?"
"Aside from being eaten alive, and lost, and feeling really sticky, fine." The pegasus nodded. There was a slight hum from nearby. Pegasus and unicorn stared at the bright pink alicorn sniffing around by a tree.
"I quite like it. I've never seen flowers like this, except in my books." Shining Sapphire smiled. "And the smells, and scents. It's beautiful. Don't you think it's beautiful, Whisper?" She flashed a smile at him.
"It's just plants." He muttered, pawing at the ground.
"We might as well set up camp here." Twinkle sighed, "Since I doubt we'll get her to move from all the wonderful sights. Don't sniff that one, by the way." She said, pointing at one non-descript flower.
"Why not?"
"Causes nightmarish trots. And not those wonderfully confrontational ponies who live in Trotland."
"They call themselves the Trots? Don't they mind sharing a name with a bowel condition?" The alicorn asked as she gently nudged a small mushroom nervously.
"They don't seem to care. I dunno, never met a Trot." Twinkle said as she pulled out the book on assembling tents. She opened it and scratched her head, while behind her Whisper Wind stared in surprise.
Some forty minutes of tent-related shennanigans, Twilight Twinkle and Wisp were sitting in a small tent.
"You enjoying yourself yet, Wisp?" She smiled, which only grew as his visible irritation.
His wings fluttered.
"A bit. I suppose."
She nudged him slightly.
"C'mon, grouchy. Smile a little. Won't hurt."
"Why take the chance?"
There was an odd noise from outside.
"Twilight..." Shining Sapphire said from outside.
The royal blue mare facehoof.
"How can you, Fluttershy's kid, be so grumpy?" She smiled, leaning in.
"Twilight..."
"I can be cheerful." Whisper shuffled. His blue eyes darted about. "It's just difficult being cheerful when somepony seems content to hog all the cheerful to herself."
"What?"
"Twilight.....!"
"Are you saying I'm too cheerful?"
"It sounded better in my head."
"Twilight!"
"No kidding."
"Twilight Twinkle!" The royal blue mare rolled her eyes.
"WHAT?" She roared as she opened up the tent and stormed out.
Right into the muzzle of a timberwolf staring her straight in the face. She could see several, one standing right in front of Shining Sapphire.
"Timberwolves." The alicorn squeaked.
Just to confirm this, one howled right in her face.

Midday jolted, there was a tearing sound and to add insult to injury she fell off the bed. There was noise as lights in the room winked on.
"Midday?" A small scaly hand nudged her, "What is it?"
She blinked, as her eyes adjusted to the sudden burst of light. She was aware of a distant noise. It sounded like howling.
"Wh-... What's that noise?" She mumbled.
"Yes, what is that noise?" Trixie asked from her bed.
Twilight Sparkle blinked, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Then she made an odd expression, which appeared to be a combination of joy and irritation.
"It's just timberwolves." She said, "Which means it's also the start of Zap Apple Season again." She muttered something under her breath.
"Timberwolves?" Midday blinked.
"Yeah. Giant wolves made of wood." Spike smiled helpfully.
Midday just patted him gently, too tired to make a pithy remark. She looked to the bed, and the slightly torn bedsheets.
"You alright?" Spike asked. She nodded slowly.
"I'll... I'll be fine. Just a bad memory. Camping trip from Tartarus." She sighed. "Nothing to worry about." She stood up. Her horn glowed as she examined the torn bedsheets.
"This is gonna take a while." She muttered.
"Why not just ask Rarity to do it?" Asked Spike. She turned to look at him, and then looked out the window at the dark purple night sky.
"Stupid question." The little dragon muttered, as he began walking to his basket.

It took half an hour for Midday to finish her slight patch job on the bed sheets, before returning to bed. She woke up again to find Twilight removing them again.
"Why?" She asked. Twilight simply frowned at her.
"I'm taking them so that Rarity can fix it." She turned to leave, then turned back, "And because you can't sleep in bed all day."
"Fine, fine."
Outside the weather looked almost pleasant.
"Nice day." Spike smiled at breakfast. Midday shrugged.
"Hey, we could go visit Sweet Apple Acres. Zap Apple Season's always fun to watch. And maybe we could get in line for the zap apple jam harvest."
Midday looked at him.
"Pass." Spike looked at her.
"But... everyone loves zap apple jam."
"I'm not everyone."
Spike looked at her pleadingly.
"Spike" She said calmly, "I've been puppy-dog-eyed by the Cutie Mark Crusaders. I've been puppy-dog-eyed by Princesses. Trust me, it won't work."
"Fine. Then I call rank."
She blinked.
"I'm your big brother. And what I say goes."
She smirked, "You hold on to that." She looked at him.
"Please?"
She frowned at him.
"Fine, fine. We'll go see the stupid apples growing."

As the mare walked through Ponyville with Spike sitting on her back, she fumed.
"I would just like to point out I'm only doing this because of scientific curiosity about the development of zap apples. Books aren't quite as interesting as watching the actual thing."
Spike looked at the back of her head.
"Twilight wouldn't take me last year. Said what the Apples did wasn't 'scientifically feasible'."
Midday could only raise her eyebrows.
"Sounds like something she'd say."
"How come you don't know how they grown them? If your from the future, shouldn't you live in Ponyville?"
She tried to consider the most diplomatic way to phrase what she was about to say.
"Not really. I grew up in Canterlot. Mother said the 'educational facilities present were better suited toward the development of my talents'." There was a noticable tinge of venom in her voice.
"I mean, I did occasionaly stay in Ponyville, usually during the holidays, but... never really went out to Sweet Apple Acres."
"Why not?"
She stared straight ahead.
"Long story."
"How long?"
"About forty four minutes, depending on whether I include dialogue."
There was a moment of silence.
"You don't like Applejack." Spike said. Midday made no response.
"Why not?"
Midday stopped. Spike felt magic gripping him and he was slowly moved until he was in front of Midday. There was an expression on her face.
"Spoilers." She said. There was a slight twinge to her face.
She sighed.
"It's... I wish I could tell you but... if I did it might badly alter events, and..." She knelt down on the ground. "There is a school of quantum physics that says anything you observe changes it. An important day in Twilight Sparkle's life is coming and... I daren't interfere, for the damage it might do. I wish I could, I honestly do, but I can't." She said quietly.
"Why, and what does Applejack have to do with this?"
She stared at the dragon, a stern expression slowly taking over her face.
"There's... there's a difference between not getting on with your mother and not caring when somepony breaks her heart for a frilly dress." She stared at the uncomprehending look on Spike's face, and placed a hoof on his tiny shoulder.
"You'll understand." For a moment her face looked racked with pain, and then it vanished.
"C'mon. You said zap apple preparation was funny." She smiled, "I wanna see this." She lifted Spike onto her back once more, and went silent.

"Welcome to- Ah, Twilight. Nice to see you." Rarity's smiled changed slightly when she saw the carefully folded bedsheets floating behind her. She couldn't help but notice the obvious patch job, and had to keep from wincing at the clashing colours.
"And I suppose you wish for me to fix it?" She said, upon seeing the look on Twilight's face. Her horn glowed and the sheets were wrapped in the soft glow of her magic.
"So" She smiled as she set to work removing the patch, trying to not retch at its hideous colour, "How have you been Twilight? Enjoying the new year?"
"Yes, actually. I think I found something quite useful." The purple unicorn smiled.
"Glad to hear it." There was a fews seconds pause as Twilight strained slightly. Rarity recognised the look. Twilight wanted to tell somepony something.
"What is it?"
"I think I've learnt an intriguing fact of Midday's heritage." Rarity raised an eyebrow.
"Do tell."
"Well, based on her claims, I analysed the blood-line of Mimic and I traced it to the last known relatives, and based on Midday's distinctive blue colour and slight orange hair colour, she can only be from one family, the somewhat reclusive and incredibly ancient house of Starcatcher." Twilight beamed giddily.
"And that's good?"
"It's something."
"And we're snooping in her genetic backyard, why?" Rarity said as the last bit of threading came loose, and she tossed away the slight green patch.
"Well, I just wanted to see if it was true, I guess. Lots of ponies have claimed to be descended from Mimic, but if she is of the House of Starcatcher, then she might actually be telling the truth. Even though by this point the amount of shared DNA with Mimic would be nonexistant." Her smile suddenly faded, "But there's a problem."
"Problem?" Rarity tutted as she looked through her pile of fabrics, looking for one that matched the bedsheets.
"The current heads of the house are far too old to have children, and... well, don't have children and never could sire children."
"Have they tried?" Rarity smirked at Twilight's coughing fit.
"Which leaves only one conclusion, frankly." Twilight then uttered a word Rarity hadn't even though the mare was capable of, which earned Twilight a slap across the jaw.
"I will not have that language in my house."
"Maybe I should ask her about it." Twilight said.
"I would recommend a bit of tact." Rarity said as she began to sow in the replacement patch. "Actually, I would recommend a lot of tact."

"Okay, that's just weird." Spike said as he stared at the sight of Applebloom skipping around watering cans in a rabbit costume, while reciting the alphabet.
"I'm sure there's a reason for it. Even if the reason is 'Granny Smith enjoys making her grandkids suffer." Midday said, paying more attention to the bright pink filly nearby with the sort of smile usually associated with fins and teeth.
"Twilight wanted to see how they did this last year. She lasted all of two minutes before breaking out in a rant." Spike sighed. "Really ruined the whole day."
Midday sniggered.
There was a howl from the Everfree Forest. Midday practially jumped, and looked about. She also noticed Granny Smith, who was staring at her. On the list of oddest sights she'd ever seen, being stared at by the Apple all Apples feared wearing a bunny costume was incredibly high on the list. She turned to Spike.
"I think I'm going to head on back to the library. You think you can manage on your own?"
"Yeah. I'll be fine." Spike said, still staring at the strange sight. Turning around she nearly bumped into a brown earth stallion.
"Sorry."
"Quite alright." He smiled. There was something familiar about his hairstyle. She looked at him, and back to the small pink filly who had moved, and was now trailing behind the stallion with an expression usually found on cats who've just seen a terrified mouse.
She ignored this and continued walking back into Ponyville, ignoring the desire to find the timberwolves in the forest and fight them. Fortunately, due to the cold weather most of downtown Ponyville wasn't occupied and the route back to the library was relatively easy. She opened the door and stepped in, to find Twilight Sparkle standing there, a familiar and terrifying smile on her face.
"Hi, Twilight. What's going on?"
"I... wanted to talk to you." The unicorn smiled. Midday shrugged.
"Okay, what is it?"
"Well, I did some checking into the lineage of Mimic"
"(You what now?)"
"And I was just wondering" A strange blush came over Twilight's face, "I mean, if you don't mind, it's just..."

Meanwhile, in Sugarcube Corner, the Cakes stared in alarm as Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense went off.
"What's it now?" Mr Cake asked in fear.
"A loud 'what', I think." Pinkie said, handing out ear-muffs to everypony in the store before ducking behind a counter.
"A WHAT?!!"
"Yup, it's a loud 'what'." Pinkie smiled, as she began to sweep up some fallen cupcakes.

Twilight pried herself loose of the bookshelf she'd been thrown into.
"Sorry." Midday whispered.
Twilight blinked at she waited for her hearing to return.
"I just wasn't expecting anypony to ask me that. Ever. Just shocked me."
"I could tell." Trixie muttered from the sidelines.
"I didn't even know you knew that word. But no, no I'm not. Legitamate firstborn" Midday said gently.
"Okay, just asking out of curiosity." Twilight said, wobbling on her hooves slightly. She looked around the library.
"I think scientific research can wait a bit." She said, "I'm going to go lie down for a moment." She began to walk up the stairs.
"If you need me, please don't yell."
"You got it."