//------------------------------// // One More Week // Story: The Twilight Child // by Detectivefish //------------------------------// She stared at him. He couldn't have been real, but there he was. He couldn't have been real, but she was looking right at him, afraid that if she looked away for even an instant he'd vanish again. "H-hello?" he stuttered, and his voice was the exact same. Slowly, noticing she was beginning to shake, she lifted a hoof up and gave him a gentle prod. There was the feel of fur on hoof. She looked at him again, just to make sure. He had the blue fur, the orange hair, orange eyes, the exact same Cutie Mark. A tiny, incredibly brave part of her suggested he wasn't really the pony she thought he was, that what she was seeing was completely and utterly impossible, and was quickly beaten down by the rest of her mind. She could feel it. It was him. It was her father. Numerous emotions began to swell in Midday Eclipse, including some she had not felt for a long time. "Is s-" the pony started to say before she couldn't keep it in. She didn't care if anypony in the street was staring at her as she opened her mouth and yelled it to the world. "Daddy!" She quickly embraced him. A few seconds passed where she realised he wasn't hugging back. "... what?" She blinked. She stared at the pony again. "I'm sorry, but have we met?" She stared. There was a horrid feeling in her stomach like she'd been kicked, and what little rationality she had left vanished. "Dad, it's me. It's me. Remember?" He looked like he was too afraid to just run. "I'm afraid I don't kn-" "Cutie Mark when I was five? Nightmare Night? I was dressed up as Princess Luna? All those times I got into fights for having a Cutie Mark years before anypony else? All those times I kept asking why I didn't have wings when mom did? Dad, it's me!" "I really don't know what you're talking about. I just came here looking for a pony" he said, levitating the picture in front of Midday. She ignored it and frowned, quickly rushing through explanations before reaching the one that made the most sense to her. "This must be one of his games. One of his sick little attempts at humour" she hissed. He just nodded. "Uh-huh" he said, wondering if the mare was an escapee from a nearby medical institution. "You are Comet Chaser. You had a crush on my mom since almost the minute you first saw her, you were from a family of recluses dating all the way back to Mimic herself. You and my mom met on a small hill just outside this town, and you fought over a telescope! Don't you remember? Us, attacking Discord? I managed to hurt him and he... he did something to you and..." the mare now looked like she was on the point of hysterics, and felt like it as well, "And then everypony said you didn't exist and I looked everywhere and I tried so hard and it just made mom angry and-" "Eight" he said. Midday Eclipse looked up at him. He looked confused, like he wasn't even sure what he was saying. "When you were eight... you wanted to be... an adventurer. And... one day you ran off, while your mother was shopping and got on the first train you could find." Midday looked at him, expectantly. "You wound up in Ponyville," he laughed, before looking confused again, "And if it hadn't been for Pinkie Pie and her family, we would have torn half of Canterlot to pieces looking for you. How do I know this?" he asked, a noticable amount of fear in his voice. "Because..." Midday had to admit to herself she wasn't sure what was going on, but she was determined to try and make the most of it. "Because Discord couldn't get rid of you. He tried and he couldn't get rid of you" she smiled. She stepped towards him and he took a step back, fear in his eyes. "It's me" she said quietly. "Dad, please. It's me" She looked about the town, ponies beginning to stare at the scene in front of them. "Remember? Your little Twinkie?" she said, trying not to look too embarrassed as saying her own nickname out-loud. "There was a fight" the deep blue stallion said slowly. "There was fight, and you were there... and I was there, and..." A look of horror crossed his face. "I thought I was going to die. I was prepared to die. And then... I... I didn't and I woke up... but that was all a dream" he said quietly. "I never had a daughter, or that life. That was a dream, so why do you know what happened?" he frowned. Inside his mind, several strange things were happening, and then, there was something like a switch being pressed, a light turning on, a curtain pulling back. Knowledge he hadn't known was there came running into his mind. He looked at the nervous and trembling mare in front of him, as he tried to process the sudden influx of knowledge that was going through his mind. "I know your face..." he said, quietly. She looked up at him, and now it was her turn to look confused. For a moment, the stallion and the mare looked at each other, neither saying anything. Then a smile grew across their faces. Then they embraced again, tightly. "Twinkle!" "Dad!" For a while, neither said anything at all, just occasionaly checking the other was still there, in case they vanished suddenly. After a while they both felt the other's tears on their neck. ***** The two ponies walked quietly along the streets of Ponyville, neither saying anything, although this might have been because of what Midday had said. "If you turn out to be a shapeshifter, or a version from another universe, or Discord trying to play with my head, I'll end you" she had calmly informed him. That, and neither of them was entirely sure what to say. They just walked along, neither looking at anything in particular. Finally, Midday broke the silence. "So... dad..." "You want to know what happened?" he asked, before looking about, "To be honest, I'm not sure. One minute, I was with you, and Discord was about to squish me like I was a mildly overweight packet of ketchup, the next... I woke up in Dodge Junction. And I have no idea how I got there. Just a whole 'nother life, like I'd woken up from a dream or something." "And?" Midday asked. "And for a while, things were alright. I was a part-time astronomer, and I taught math at the local school." He stopped because Midday had broken down into guffaws. "You? A teacher? Really?" She asked between laughs. "I think I did alright" he said, defensively. "And for a while, that was life, just sitting around, doing nothing, save talking with a few ponies around town. And then a few weeks ago I just had this sort of... dream, or vision, of your mother, and then I heard she'd visited Dodge Junction just the other day." "A few weeks ago?" Midday mused, "That must have been when Applejack ran off and we came looking for her." "Twinkie" he stared, before she looked at him. "Don't call me that. I'm not her right now, I'm..." Over the months she'd been in the past, she'd gotten use to that ridiculous moniker of hers, but now she had to try and say it to her own father. "Midday Eclipse" she half-muttered. A bemused smirk passed his grin. "Don't you say a word" she said upon seeing it. He pretended to look shocked. "I didn't say anything." "Keep it that way. Anyway, what was it you were about to say?" He stopped, and looked about. They were now going past the bit of Ponyville that on weekends was host to the farmer's market. "What happened after Discord? Why are you running around with a different name? And why exactly are we in the past?" She smiled nervously, and pawed at the ground. "Well, that's... a bit of a long story, and I should probably fill you in on some of the specifics about what happened after Discord... vanished you" she looked about, "But not here" ***** The two stood in a large open field, just on the outskirts of Ponyville, Midday looking about. "This is as good a place as any" she said. "Just be warned, you probably won't like what I tell you. Actually, there are large parts of it you won't like." So she told him about everything that happened after Discord's rampage, of how the situation between Twilight Sparkle and Twilight Twinkle got steadily worse and worse, of going to university, including the Oatmeal Incident, of the horrific argument in Rarity's Boutique, and the horribly awkward situation between herself and Whisper Wind, and then she stopped on mentioning Shining Sapphire. "So... Fluttershy's son and Shiny Heiny's kid" her father said, apparently giving this some though. "Yeah, I could see that. They'd made a pretty cute couple. Although, knowing kids these days they'll probably get married as quick as possible, before his real mom comes looking." Then he noticed the look of Midday's face. "There probably isn't going to be a wedding" she said, as if she was choking back something. He looked at her. "What happened, Twinkie?" So she told him, in as full detail as she could manage, of how Whisper Wind had been abducted, how she went off to try and rescue him, only to be responsible for the Changelings finding him again, how she believed that meant he'd been killed, and how this had resulted in Nightmare Eclipse, and what then happened to Shining Sapphire. She kept stopping, and pausing, and notably refused to distinguish between herself and Nightmare Eclipse. He said nothing at that, simply staring straight ahead. "So, after that I wound up in Ponyville, and... my first act was to try and run away, because I figured the minute Fluttershy learnt what happened she'd try and kill me, and after what I did to Shining Sapphire, I was probably going to be thrown into a dungeon, or banished, or something. So I had this local madpony fix-up one of those scrolls for early learning ponies, a teleporting scroll, and I figured I'd go somewhere like Appleloosa, or Dodge Junction and... something went wrong." He still said nothing, but he looked at her, his eyes not betraying a hint of emotion. "Maybe it was because I was mildly hungover, or because of my nerves, or being blasted with the Crystal Heart, or just because I didn't read the instructions properly, and there was this light show and... well, I wound up here, in the past, just a few days after Nightmare Night. I didn't even realise this at first, I just thought I'd only teleported a few feet, and since mom had shown up just as I had been about to vanish, I thought there was no point trying to hide. And then I met Spike." She shook her head. "So once I figured out I was in the past, I tried to figure out a way to get home. That was all I wanted, to get home. And I was so stupid, and arrogant, I thought there was a simple quick-step solution, that I could just click my hooves together, throw something together, and that'd be it. And I quickly ran out of options at the library, and after managing to antagonise Rainbow Dash I figured I was already in trouble, so I threw Trixie at her while I tried to come up with options." "Trixie?" he finally asked, with notable distaste, "Really?" "Trixie. So that happened, and then... for about two weeks there wasn't really anything. And then I did something foolish, dad. I did something really stupid." He looked at her, and the expression on her face was something new, something he'd not seen yet in his daughter's whole range of expressions. "You see, Apple Bloom stole some Heart's Desire from a zebra, in order to get a Cutie Mark, and... I thought I could use it to find a spell to get home. Instead it gave me a spell to another universe" she shuffled slightly, and went silent. "And?" "I don't want to talk about it." The tone of her voice gave no indication she was going to change her mind. "But I did eventually meet the me from that universe, who was... weird." "Weird? Weird, how?" "Well, she pretended to be cheerful, but I think, I really think there was something wrong with her. She told me barely anything about herself, only the bare minimum of her backstory. She went back in time on purpose, and there was the way she smiled... she wasn't smiling with her eyes..." she went silent again. He nodded slowly. "So after this... trans-dimensional mix-up, you returned to your respective universes and you didn't try finding another spell? What happened that was so bad you won't risk trying again?" She said nothing. "Or is it that you're afraid of what will happen if you return?" "I'm not afraid of that. I'm afraid of being forgiven for what I did to Sapphy" she said quietly. "And I can't go home, not while there's still things that need adressed here." "Like what? What's so important that it needs you to help out? What's so important that this time's Twilight Sparkle and her friends can't handle it?" "Because..." she said, "Because there things they don't know about, and they might change what's going to be. I need to stay, if only to make sure nothing happens to anypony because of me" They sat there for a moment, neither saying anything. "So, apart from dimension-hopping, changing the course of Trixie's life, what else have you been up to?" "Well..." Midday said, "I got my mind swapped with Rainbow Dash's, I found out who wrote Daring Do, had a nice chat with Princess Luna, was briefly a superhero, threw a piano at Trixie (which led to the mind-swapping), and... tried to give a motivational speech to Fluttershy" Comet Chaser blinked in confusion. "You threw a piano at Trixie? A whole piano?" "Yes. Well, there were also three plants and a table cloth, but yes. A piano" she said, her face a mask of seriousness. He smiled, and then started laughing. "Really? I thought your mother and I raised you better than that" "I think I've been allowed some back-payments of immaturity" she said, trying not to smile herself. After a few moments there was silence again, save a small wind blowing about. "So now what?" Midday asked. He sighed. "I don't know. I mean, I've probably got some money lying in a bank somewhere, and I could probably find something to do in Canterlot while you look for a way home" "In Canterlot?" Midday felt like she'd been given an electric shock, "Why not here, in Ponyville?" Suddenly he looked far older, and incredibly tired, and she realised what she'd said wrong. "Twinkie, you know why not. Not here, not with her" Midday raised a hoof toward him. "But... I just found you again. Three years, dad, and I just found you again, and you're already planning to leave." He looked at her, his bright orange eyes filled with sadness, and placed his hooves over hers "Twinkie... Twilight, look at me. I can't stay here, and spend every day risking the chance of seeing the most brilliant mare I ever met and not wanting to be with her. I can't. I'm nowhere near strong enough for that. I'm nowhere near as strong as you" He stood up, and looked into the sky, with the clouds wafting by lazily. "So, who else knows about you?" he asked, after a moment. "Well... there's Spike, obviously, then Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, y'know, filly Sonic Boom, a stallion that calls himself the Doctor, and Princesses Celestia and Luna. Beyond that, Rainbow Dash and Rarity have their suspicions, Applejack's grandmother seems to have figured it out (somehow), Fluttershy, Applejack and Pinkie Pie probably could figure it out if they gave it a bit of effort, and granma Velvet apparently has an inkling, which means grandpa Night Light does as well, and aunt Cadance probably could tell there was something off about me when I ran into her the other week" "So, that just leaves your mother then" he said, raising an eyebrow. She pretended to look annoyed at him. "Before you say it, I do plan on telling her on my birthday. Which, due to time-travel isn't actually the day I turn nineteen, but since Pinkie Pie has started planning... well, you get the idea." ***** Some fifteen minutes later, and the two were standing on the platform of Ponyville's train station. Midday was looking at her hooves. "I wish you could stay" she whispered, for the fifth time in as many minutes. He looked at her. "But we know I can't. But I'm only an hour away by train" he smiled gently. She nodded. Then his smile vanished. "What?" Midday asked. "You're making a face" he said. "Am I?" "Yes. It's almost like your mother's 'I'm-worried-about-something-and-doing-a-poor-job-hiding-it' face. So what is it?" She looked about. "Something doesn't smell right about this, dad. I tried to find a way to bring you back and didn't succeed, then I stop trying, wind up going back in time by accident, and here you are, alive and well. How? Why?" she frowned. Comet Chaser sighed, and looked about. "Maybe the reason is quite simple. Maybe you brought me back" Midday looked at him like he'd started saying fish made excellent hats, but he continued before she could say anything "Maybe the power of your love and your mother's love was just strong enough to drag me back from oblivion, or non-existance. Maybe Discord had a change of heart, or couldn't truly erase a pony from existance. Or maybe... maybe it's just proof that there are miracles. I don't know. But I'm here, and you're here, and I'm not going to question it, Twinkie. I'm just going to believe my daughter did it, because she's cleverer than she gives herself credit for" A train slowly pulled into the station behind them. "And because I know that if she's anything like her mother, she'll figure why sooner or later, without me getting in her way and distracting her all the time." "Dad?" "Yes, honey?" "How come mom never got diabetes just from being around us?" Midday smirked. He shook his head and tousled her hair. The two hugged again. "Look after yourself dad. And stay out of trouble. I'll call you if I figure out a way out of this mess." "Be careful, sweetheart. Even if you are clever, I still worry about you sometimes." "Dad!" He leaned back out. "What? I'm your father. I'm required to worry about you. Even when you're doing the worrying for both of us." Midday frowned, and gave him a small kick. "Get on that train already, before I kick you back to Canterlot!" He did, and turned to smile at her one more time. She stood, watching as the train left, still smiling. Once the train was out of sight she turned back to face Ponyville. Thoughts occured to her, her mind racing with possible means as to why he was there, and what connotations this had. Then another thought occured to her. She had her father back. And suddenly nothing else seemed to matter. She looked at the library, just barely visible over the buildings of Ponyville. And an idea occured to her. ***** Twilight was calmly reading through the Art of Camoflauge, and had only just noted how quiet everything was, when the door to the library slammed open. "TWILIGHT!" Midday Eclipse yelled, "Fetch the girls and tell 'em we're all going out and it's all on me!" As she rushed up the stairs past Twilight, the mare could help but notice the large grin on Midday's face. "What's going on?" she asked quietly. Midday turned to face her. "I found my father" she replied. For a moment, Twilight Sparkle wondered if perhaps Midday Eclipse had just suffered Cutie Mark Failure, or gone mad, or was drunk, but then decided that if the mare wanted to be cheerful, that was her perogative. Then she remembered what the royal blue mare had said about her father, and began to feel even more concerned for her. Then she decided those thoughts could wait, as long as Midday was apparently happy. ***** (Twenty-two years from now) Princess Celestia stalked the Hall of Windows, the hallway in which all the various defining moments in Equestrian history were recorded, such as the First fall of Discord, the Fall of the Crystal Empire, the Reforging of Harmony, and Twilight Sparkle's coronation. Nopony had ever seemed to notice that despite the number of windows, the room never increased in size or length. She'd even invited top scientists to try and figure out the mystery during some of the low points of waiting a thousand years for Luna, or when Twilight Sparkle had been away on family vacation. Sometimes she would stare at the windows for hours, just letting time pass, ruminating on the past. She scanned the hallway, not even sure if what she sought was there. She frowned. "Show yourself" she said, quietly, in a tone that had once made an entire army turn and run, minutes after bragging that they could've taken one depressed alicorn. There was utter silence in the room, the light betraying no secrets, but she was now sure what she was looking for was in the room. Celestia had told her former pupil not even ten minutes before that she had 'things' to attend to. What she hadn't told Twilight Sparkle was that these 'things' did partially concern the young mare. Celestia was slow to anger, usually. Once, a drunken pony had screamed at her for hours about how she was ruining Equestria, and was not suited to be monarch, and she had calmly nodded, and finished her tea, quietly cleared her throat, and walked away, leaving everypony who had witnessed this to catch her breath. The pony in question disappeared, and some of her more dedicated serviceponies had reported that he'd fled to a tiny seaside village and never touched a drop again. However, if there was one thing, one tiny thing that brought her full fury to the fore, it was somepony trying to harm just one of her ponies, and whether they agreed or not, everypony was one of her little ponies. "Discord! Show yourself and explain what you did to Twilight Sparkle and her daughter right now!" she said, in the exact same tone as before. There was... not quite a noise, but something that could've been mistaken for a noise if viewed from a higher dimension, and a mis-matched creature slowly appeared out of the wall, dressed as a butler, and he was smiling. "You rang?"