“But Mom, I'm scared,” a young Amethyst whimpered as she followed Rarity through the halls of Canterlot Palace.

“Scared of what?” Midnight asked as she trotted next to the kirin. “We're just going to school.”

“But... But all those ponies will be staring at me,” Amethyst fretted as she spotted other Unicorn foals looking at her as they too were being led to wing of the castle where Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns was located. Upon exiting Magic Kindergarten, she and Midnight had been accepted to the school located within the palace for showing great potential just as Twilight Sparkle had when she was their age.

“But your Aunt Celestia will be there,” Rarity said in an attempt to encourage her daughter. “And you'll be learning with other foals your age. You'll be able to make some new friends. Won't that be fun?”

The other new students continued to stare at the kirin, gawking at her scales, reptilian eyes, and her claws. Feeling uncomfortable, Amethyst quickly ran to the other side of her mother to hide herself from their view. Noticing her daughter's distress, Rarity nuzzled her reassuringly.

“Don't be afraid, Amethyst. I sure you'll have fun learning new things. I know I did when I was a student here,” Twilight told her. Amethyst gave a small smile to her grandmother and then turned to look at Spike, who was following behind her.

“Do I have to hatch a dragon egg like you did?” the kirin asked Twilight. Hearing this, Midnight's excitement increased.

“That's right! You hatched Spike's egg on your first day. Does that mean we have to?” Midnight then stopped as a disconcerting thought came to her. “Does this mean I'm going to have to raise a baby dragon like you did?”

“What if the baby dragon doesn't like me?” Midnight was now just as nervous as her niece. “What if we're kicked out of school if we can't take care of it?”

“Easy girls,” Twilight chuckled at their overreaction. “You're not going to have to raise a baby dragon.”

“Yes, but that was under a special circumstance. They don't even use that sort of entrance exam anymore.”

“Beside the fact that I also teach here, Spike was the only dragon egg the school had.” Twilight explained to the two girls. “Your Aunt Celestia was searching for the pony destined to wield the Element of Magic and bring the other Elements of Harmony together. It was also to evaluate the abilities of new students.”

“So is there still an entrance exam?” Amethyst asked, feeling a little better about the situation.

“What does aptitude mean?” Amethyst asked. Having only been in Magic Kindergarten just the previous year, some big words confused the youngster.

“It means they just want to see how much you know so they can know how to help you learn,” Spike explained to his daughter.

“Oooh,” she said understandingly. They soon came to the classroom where a board of evaluators were waiting for them. The girls paused hesitantly as soon as they saw the stern-looking ponies with the clipboards and quills at the ready. The two gulped, intimidated by the judging eyes of the professors, but then noticed the large, white Alicorn waiting inside the room for them. Her pastel-colored mane flowed on a magical breeze and her face was adorned with a heartwarming, welcoming smile. The girls smiled back at Princess Celestia and then looked back up to their parents.

“Go on, Midnight. You'll do great,” Flash Sentry urged the little Unicorn. She hugged her parents and then headed inside, but Amethyst lingered for a moment. She had seen that the students already inside were focused on her. Even the teachers seemed to be staring at her like a new laboratory specimen. Seeing his daughter's distress, Spike knelt down and placed a clawed hand on her back.

“Amethyst, everything will be alright. Nothing bad will happen, I promise. Will be right behind you.” Amethyst smiled, took in a deep breath, and then finally entered the classroom. Spike smiled and he and Rarity followed behind her.

Spike snorted and mumbled as a noise caused him to stir in his sleep. His eyes briefly opened, but they were glazed over and unfocused. He muttered wearily and went back to sleep immediately, completely forgetting about the disturbance he thought he had heard.

*****

It was little before sunset and Midnight was still in her room doing research at her desk. She was truly her mother's daughter. She loved studying and reading and she was the top of her class in Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. As the top student, she had the privilege of being Princess Celestia's personal student. Considering the fact that she was related to the four Alicorns, she and Amethyst were fortunate to be able to tutored by such wise and powerful ponies. Some of the other students claimed it was nepotism and would often try to compete against Midnight, but she outshone them with ease every single time. Again, just like her mother, she was a magical prodigy. She even greatly resembled her mother, having the same style of mane and the same pink stripe running through it. Her coloring, however, came from her grandfather, Night Light. Her blue coat, navy mane, and yellow eyes came from him. Even her cutie mark resembled his in a way.

While she was studying, Amethyst was lying on her bed, idly playing with a tassel on a pillow with a claw. Amethyst was still upset from the bad news that they received earlier that day from Twilight. The way she lounged on the bed reminded Midnight of an overgrown cat, complete with the long tail flopping side to side impatiently. Like Midnight, she was a gifted student but defiantly wasn't as uptight about it as she was. That didn't mean she was lazy, though. Midnight was the class's valedictorian and Amethyst was the salutatorian. While Midnight was more focused, disciplined, and skilled in spell weaving, Amethyst had more raw strength. Her father, Spike, had to teach her how to control it like his master had taught him long ago.

“There, I think I've got it!” Midnight proclaimed unexpectedly, causing Amethyst to jump at the sudden outburst.

“Got what?” she asked as she hopped off the bed and walked over to the desk.

“I was looking over some spells and found one that Mom had made a long time ago, but for some reason, she abandoned it,” Midnight explained, excited from her discovery.

“Do you remember how they told us about how the changelings invaded during Uncle Shining Armor and Aunt Cadance's wedding twenty-five years ago?” Midnight asked to which Amethyst responded by nodding. “Well, there was a huge scare afterward. Everypony thought everypony was secretly a changeling. There are spells to dispel a changeling's illusion magic, but the Royal Court wanted to develop a spell to be able to check and see if a pony was secretly a changeling without them noticing. You see, Aunt Celestia didn't want to cause a panic by having the Royal Guard marching up to each pony and checking them by force, but everypony was still scared from the invasion.”

“But the changelings were expelled from the city by Cadance and Shining Armor's spell. There wouldn't be any changelings in Canterlot.”

“Don't forget about the incident that happened soon after that,” Midnight reminded her.

“Oh yeah, many ponies in Ponyville were replaced by changelings and even Aunt Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo were kidnapped,” Amethyst recalled as she remembered hearing that story as well.

“With all that going on, Equestria was in a state of fear and paranoia, but Aunt Celestia was still opposed to the idea of having a secret police pulling ponies off the street to have them checked. Mom came up with the idea to create a spell that would allow someone to be able to discretely see pass illusions without causing a panic.”

“But you said she abandoned the spell,” the kirin pointed out. “And I remember how they solved the problem: Aunt Celestia did increase security checkpoints into major cities, government facilities, and so on. But in the end, she encouraged the kingdom to have faith in one another and to trust each other once more.”

“Yes, yes,” Midnight said impatiently while waving her hoof. “But the point is that Mom had a spell that could allow someone to see another's true self. With such an amazing spell at her hooves, why did she drop it?”

“Maybe she didn't want it to be used to spy on ponies,” Amethyst suggested. “I mean, a spell like that would be a violation of ponies' rights, wouldn't it?”

“If used for the wrong reason, maybe.” She then magically lifted the research papers above her head. “But I bet it'll be major breakthrough in magic if perfected. Think of what it could do for the Royal Guard. It could help them find hidden enemies faster and save many lives.”

“Hhhmmm,”Amethyst mused as she tapped a claw to her lips, eying the floating sheets of paper that the unicorn waved temptingly in the air. “You said that you've worked it out?” Midnight nodded. “Save lives you say...” Midnight nodded again, smirking a bit. “Alright, let's do it.”

“Perfect,” her aunt laughed and then brought the papers down so she could read them. As they looked over the notes, Midnight described it, “The Soul Sight Spell. It allows the caster to see the incorporeal and immortal essence of any living being. Since the soul is by nature invisible to most mortal eyes, this spell highlights it in sight of the caster, allowing them to see a representation of the soul. Each soul is unique, just as is every living thing is unique, but the spell displays the souls of creatures of the same type of species in a similar representation. For an example, if one was to look at an Earth Pony, a Pegasus, a Unicorn, and a changeling disguised as a Unicorn, one would be able to see that the three types of ponies were similar to each other, yet had their own subtle differences. The changeling would standout from the others for its soul's characteristics would be different from a pony's.”

“Interesting,” Amethyst marveled at the description and at the details on the paper. “So each type of soul looks different. I wonder what the spell makes mine look like.”

“Okay.” Midnight looked over the notes one last time and then placed them back down on the desk while Amethyst sat patiently in front of her. Both of their hearts were racing from their excitement. Midnight took a breath and calmed herself. It would require great focus to maintain a spell like this. Summoning her magic, she closed her eyes and concentrated. Her horn glowed with a yellow aura and her eyes snapped opened. If she could see her own eyes, she would had seen that her irises were glowing yellow with her magic as well. She looked at Amethyst, but didn't noticed anything at first. Then she noticed that there was a slight hazy purple glow about her. While still maintaining the spell, she blinked her eyes. For the brief moment her eyes were closed, she could see a purple light within the darkness. Surprised by this, she decided to try it again and closed her eyes. Without her physical eyes to distract her, she could clearly see the purple ethereal being before her. As her spiritual eyes focused, the purple light took shape and a glowing silhouette of Amethyst was sitting before her. Within her breast, there was a brilliant light that pulsated with energy.

Just then, two more silhouettes passed behind Amethyst's. One was blue and the other was orange. Surprised by the sudden appearance of these two new souls, Midnight's eyes snapped opened to see Amethyst giving her a concerned look. Behind her, she could see the very faint glow of the two souls walking down the hall through the closed door. She closed her eyes again and she could see them clear as daylight once more. By their shapes, she figured that they were Royal Guards patrolling the castle. The blue one was a Pegasus and the orange one was an Earth Pony. As she watched them leave, she noted the similarities and differences between the two astral forms. While both forms seemed to be made of a similar aura, the light at the Pegasus aura's core surged like a storm cloud filled with lightning and the Earth Pony's had a more steady light, firm and strong like the earth. Testing a theory, she looked down at her own chest to see that her soul's pulsating core sparkled and shined with a dazzling spark within her yellow astral form. It was like the sparkles in any Unicorn's magical aura, yet this was much more intense. It was though she was looking at very source of that magical aura, and she had a feeling that it might very well be the case. It both awed and humbled her to learn this.

“Well, how do I look?” Amethyst voiced snapped her out of her concentration and she looked back up to the purple form of the kirin's soul. She focus on her core and saw that it too had the sparkles emanating from it. However, there was a difference; her light seemed to burn like a fire. She could even see the flicks of flame dancing among the sparks. Midnight imagined that this was due to the mixture of Unicorn and dragon magic within her. She hypothesized that a dragon's soul must have looked like a raging furnace with this spell.

As she continued to gaze upon her good friend's soul, she felt a peaceful feeling wash over her. It was as though she was lying by a fireplace during a cold winter's night. She smiled as she basked in the feeling and came to realize that it was Amethyst's inner goodness. Her benevolent and loving nature radiated from the light and Midnight recognized that she knew this feeling. She felt it every time they would play with each other, braid each other's mane, and laughed at each other's jokes. She felt it on days when her classmates would pick on her and call her a spoiled teacher's pet and she would come to comfort her and tell her that everything would be alright.

Then she felt something else. The more she stared at the kirin's soul, she felt something cold breaking through the warmth. In the distance, she could hear what sounding like sobbing accompanied by cruel laughter.

“Midnight? Midnight!?” a voice called her back to reality and she ended the spell. The blue Unicorn opened her eyes and gasped, panting slightly. She looked up to see Amethyst had stood up and worriedly approached her, placing a claw on her shoulder. “Are you alright? What happened?”

“Are you sure? You were just sitting there crying while smiling at me. It was creepy,” Amethyst told her with a shudder. Midnight then realized her cheeks were wet and she wiped the tears away with the back of her hoof.

“No, it wasn't. It was beautiful.” Midnight then told her how she could see not only her soul, but the guards that passed by as well. She also described what each soul looked like and how she could feel Amethyst's if she focused enough on it.

“That's amazing! It works! You made the spell work!” the kirin excitedly cheered. “We've got to tell Aunt Celestia this!”

“You're right! Let's go tell her!” The two girls raced down the hall towards Princess Celestia's personal chambers. In her excitement, Midnight forgot all about the cold feeling and the taunting voices that she heard while using the spell. They rushed past the servants and maids, leaving several of them scratching their heads in confusion as they watched the two young princess run through the castle. When they reached the double set doors with the crest of sun engraved upon it, they eagerly knocked on it.

“Come in,” a soft voice called from inside. The pair opened the door and rushed inside to find the Solar Alicorn rest on her circular floor pillow reading over a few documents. She looked up and smiled when she saw her visitors. “Midnight and Amethyst Opal Jade, how may I help you?”

“Aunt Celestia, Amethyst and I worked out a spell that my mom couldn't figure out,” the unicorn reported.

“Oh, and what spell would that be?” she asked pleasantly, smiling at the two girls' enthusiasm and being genuinely curious about their discovery.

“The Soul Sight Spell,” Midnight and Amethyst announced in unison. Celestia smile immediately fell.

“Is that so?” The two noticed the Alicorn's lackluster reaction and gave each other unsure looks.

“Did I do something...wrong?” Midnight hesitatingly asked, fearing she may have disappointed her mentor. Celestia then gave them a small smile and shook her head lightly.

“Not at all,” she reassured them. “I'm just glad you came to me before attempting to try it first.” At this, Midnight and Amethyst cringed and gave each other guilty looks which Celestia obviously noticed. “You used the spell, didn't you?”

“Are we in trouble? Because if we are, it was all my fault,” Midnight confessed, her ears drooping while she hunched over in shame.

“It's alright, Midnight. You're not in trouble and I'm not mad at you. I'm just disappointed that you didn't come to me or your mother first before attempting a spell that was abandoned for a reason.” This only made Midnight feel worse and she sat down on her haunches. She looked at the floor dejectedly, feeling like a failure. She disappointed her teacher and she had cast a spell that could have blasted her or even Amethyst's face off for all she could have known. She then felt a hoof under her chin that made her look up to see Celestia's comforting smile. “It's okay, my little pony. You don't have to feel bad about it. It was an honest mistake. Come, have a seat by me and tell me what happened.”

As Midnight and Amethyst laid on either side of Celestia on the cushion, the white Alicorn extended her wings and wrapped them across her nieces' shoulders. In the comfort of her feathery embrace, Midnight recounted everything that had happened. She told her how she came across the spell and how she tested it out on Amethyst. Celestia nodded along as Midnight described what she saw and felt when she stared at Amethyst's soul.

“It sounds like you had an enjoyable experience,” Celestia stated when Midnight had finished her story.

“It was incredible. Wonderful even.” Midnight smiled as she remembered the feeling. She then looked up at Princess Celestia and imagined that her soul felt like the peace she was feeling at the moment.

“I don't understand,” Amethyst commented. “If it was so wonderful, then why did Grandmother abandoned it?”

“When Midnight said that her mother couldn't figure out, that wasn't entirely accurate,” Celestia corrected them. “She did figure it out, but the spell work too well.”

“When you used the spell to look at Amethyst's soul, how long did you maintain it?”

“And during that time, did you feel anything negative coming from Amethyst?”

“No, not at all! It was one of the beautiful things I've ever experienced,” Midnight replied, astounded by the suggestion. Then she remembered what she felt towards the end. “Wait... I do remember something.” The kirin the gave the unicorn a concerned look and wondered what sort of negativity she had felt coming from within her. “I felt something cold, and I could hear voices. One of them was sobbing and the others were laughing. They were saying, 'Freak. Lizard. Monster.'”

When she had heard Midnight say those words, Amethyst immediately tensed up, which Celestia noticed. She looked down at the kirin curled up against her and asked, “Amethyst, is there something you want to share with us?”

“That was a long time ago. I never told anypony about it,” Amethyst quietly whispered. Sensing her distress, Celestia pulled Amethyst closer into her. Celestia wasn't naive. She knew that she had often been teased and bullied for being different by her peers.

“Midnight, I want you to use the spell again. This time, look very closely at my heart,” Celestia instructed her.

“Yes, it is for the best that you see for yourself the problem with the spell. The same problem your mother discovered.” When Midnight hesitated, Celestia placed a hoof on hers. “Do not fear. It will be alright. You may stop whenever you like.”

Midnight nodded and closed her eyes. Her horn glowed and the spell was activated again. She immediately recoiled when she saw a blinding light beside her. When her spiritual eyes adjusted, she saw the golden figure of Celestia's soul beside her. Her soul's core was hard to look at first, but Midnight slowly was able to focus on it. Like the celestial body she controlled, the pulsating golden light that was located where Celestia's physical heart would've been shone gloriously and eternal as the sun. Immediately, Midnight was overcome by the endless love that Celestia felt for all of her subjects and was mesmerized by it. The more she looked at the ethereal heart, the more details she could see. Each beat was filled with life and power and with each one, Midnight could see a happy memory.

“You've come such a long, long way
And I've watched you from that very first day
To see how you might grow
To see what you might do
To see what you've been through
And all the ways you've made me proud of you”

Wave after wave the happy memories washed over Midnight, but then she felt the coldness return. Her astral eyes had focused and she could clearly she Celestia's spiritual heart. She audibly gasped at what she saw; the Alicorn's heart was covered in scars. From each scar, a painful memory leaked out. A gust of burning wind of hatred blew from one and Midnight could see a memory could see a tall figure standing before with a black, chitinous hide threatening her subjects. Another blistering wind hit her and she could see a manically laughing being that was made up of assorted animal parts. Then a freezing wind unlike she had ever felt before encompassed her.

“Luna? I am... Nightmare Moon! I have but one royal duty now: to destroy you!”

“Oh, dear sister. I am sorry, but you have given me no choice but to use these.”

Midnight then found herself standing on a balcony looking up at the night sky. Moon had the image of a dark Alicorn upon its surface. She couldn't move or look away, making her realize she was looking through Princess Celestia's eyes.

Forgive me, Luna, Celestia's internal dialogue sounded in her mind. I have failed you. I should have noticed your loneliness. I should have seen your pain. If I was the sister I should have been, I would have known how you felt and been able to prevent the Nightmare Forces from entering your heart. A burning sensation came to Midnight's eyes as Celestia began to weep. I should have been able to save you!

The door opened, causing Midnight look towards it to see the gracefully glowing form of Princess Luna's blue soul. The Lunar Alicorn walked in and started to say, “Sister, it is almost time to...”

She stopped when she noticed Midnight's glowing horn and the tears running down from her closed eyes and knew what she was doing. The blue Unicorn was looking into her soul and could see her heart glowing as serenely as the moon. Comparing the two sisters, Celestia's beauty was as radiant as the lively day and Luna's was a graceful as the calm night. However, Midnight's eyes were already adjusted to the spell and she saw straight to the gaping wound on Luna's heart. Unlike her elder sister, the dark blue Alicorn's emotional wounds had yet to heal and Midnight sobbed loudly as she looked into the fatal looking wound on Luna's spiritual heart. It was as though somepony thrust a dagger into it and left a jagged tear on its surface. Hundreds of years worth of pain, anger, resentment, loneliness, and agony poured out of the astral heart. From inside the dark hole that was the emotional wound, Midnight saw two teal, draconic eyes glaring back at her and a set of fangs opened to roar at the peeping Unicorn. Midnight screamed and ended the spell. She shook her head in an attempt to clear it of the dark images and then wiped the tears from her eyes. Once she opened them again, she saw Princess Luna looking down at her with a sympathetic frown.

“I had hoped you never would have had to see that,” Luna remorsefully told her.

“A-Aunt Luna, I'm so, so sorry,” Midnight said as both as an apology and to offer her own sympathy. Midnight was in shock of what she had unintentionally had seen. She knew that the Nightmare Forces had possessed Luna over a thousand years ago and that it had been purged from her, but she never realized that the negative emotions that was Nightmare Moon was still very much alive within her heart. She then figured a thousand years of isolation and misery wasn't easy to get over. Luna gave Midnight a sad smile before turning to Celestia.

“Thank you Luna. I'll be right there.” After her younger sister had left, Celestia turned to Midnight and said, “And that therein lies the problem with the spell. There are somethings we keep to ourselves; personal things, secret things, things we would never tell another living soul. When you looked at Amethyst's memory, you also felt her pain. The spell can be dangerous if used incorrectly. Somepony could use it to spy on others and steal there most intimate secrets. You could also be overwhelmed by it and go mad. While you do see the good in ponies' heart, you also may see the bad. Unfortunately, not everypony has a beautiful soul like Amethyst does. The things you could see in the soul of someone with an evil heart would haunt you. Your mother understood this and that's why she decided it was for the best not to use it. Midnight...”

“I want you to promise me that you will never use that spell again unless it is a dire emergency.”

The Legend of Spike: Legacy

by DiabloGuapo

Midnight