//------------------------------// // 15. Sibling Revelry // Story: Blaze the Pony Tale // by Wolven5 //------------------------------// Midnight was on his way to the library for another magic lesson when he noticed a few ponies gathering in front of a notice-board. Going over, he asked, “What’s going on?” “Check it out,” a unicorn mare pointed out a flyer that read ‘Sibling Revelry – Come and be a big brother or sister to little ponies who don’t have them, down at the Ponyville Orphanage.’ “I didn’t even know Ponyville had an orphanage,” Midnight muttered. “Yeah but it’s not all bad,” said the unicorn. “The little ponies are taken care of and given to good homes and families! Y’know, I’ve always wanted to be a big sister!” Hearing the mare’s words, Midnight remembered his own sister, and realized how much he was missing her in that moment. Maybe I should consider this. At his lesson, Midnight was listening to a lecture from Twilight but his heart wasn’t in it. I guess those sorts of feelings, being a big brother, never go away. “Ow!” He was snapped out of his musing by something hitting against his head, and realized Twilight had launched another piece of chalk at him. “Now do I have your attention?” “Sorry, Twilight,” Midnight said with a sigh. “I’m… just feeling a little…” “Are you sick?” Twilight was suddenly concerned and went over, putting a hoof on her student’s forehead. “No,” Midnight replied. “I’ve just… Twilight, have you heard of the Sibling Revelry?” “It’s a program at the Ponyville Orphanage where volunteers go to act as big brothers or sisters to the little ponies there, why do you ask?” Twilight had a good idea. “Well… It’s just, as soon as I saw that flyer, I suddenly realized…. I’ve been missing my sister for a while.” “Midnight, do you wanna be a volunteer big brother?” Midnight looked at her, not sure what to say. “I’m not sure! I mean, I kinda like the idea… but I’m uncertain whether or not I should.” “Midnight, have I ever told you that you actually remind me of somepony?” Twilight asked with a smile. “Whoozat?” Midnight asked absent-mindedly. “You remind me of my own big brother!” she said with a giggle. “In some ways, you’re a lot like him, you even look like him a little.” “So what’s your point?” Midnight asked, secretly honored by Twilight’s compliment. “Midnight, maybe you’re just having a moment in your life where you need to have somepony special, somepony to look after. Like how you used to look after your own sister. I say you should go for it!” Twilight’s compliment and encouragement was all Midnight needed to hear. “Okay, Twilight! I’m off!” But he paused in the threshold and said, "Oh, and Twilight? Thanks." "For what?" she asked. "For the comparison," he replied, "I'm honored." Twilight smiled as she watched her student trot off with a goal. Finding the Ponyville Orphanage was no big deal. From outside, it looked like a cozy three-story home, well-kept, there was a playground out back, and a nice garden with a pond. Outside, he could see several little fillies and colts playing all sorts of things. In front, he saw several older ponies all lined up in front of a table set up, where a middle-aged earth pony mare was sitting. She had a sandy beige coat, a honey-colored mane pulled back, and her cutie-mark was a tray of cookies. Midnight took his place in line and waited till his turn. “Hello, I am Tender Loving Care, call me TLC for short. I’m the matron of this orphanage, are you here to volunteer as a big brother?” “I am,” Midnight nodded. “Well, let’s see,” TLC looked at a list. “Hmm, I think… We’ll pair you up with Twinken.” That name blew Midnight away. Twinken?! That’s my character’s actual little brother! He regained his composure, and inquired, “Twinken, you say?” “Yes, he’s a little unicorn colt, can be kind of a hooful,” TLC explained. “I think having a big brother-figure will do wonders for him. What do you say?” Midnight wasn’t sure. TLC had described Twinken to be very familiar with his own original version of the character, but could it really be…? He was afraid to find out and yet he so wanted to. “Okay, lemme at him!” TLC gave Midnight Twinken’s room number, 5, and found it no problem. Inside he saw the room was share between three colts but only two were present. “Um, excuse me?” Midnight addressed them. “I’m looking for a colt named Twinken?” “He’s outside,” one of the colt’s said, “He’s a unicorn with a light indigo coat, blue mane, and red eyes, he doesn’t have a cutie-mark so you know.” Midnight thanked them and headed outside, almost completely certain this was the Twinken he knew, aside from certain details. In the playground, he saw all the foals playing, some with the ponies who were volunteer big brothers or sisters. Light indigo coat, blue mane, with red eyes and no cutie-mark… Midnight thought, scanning the foals. There were earth pony foals, pegasus foals, unicorn foals, colts and fillies, a few had their cutie-marks but the majority of them didn’t. I suppose it’s hard to find your special talent when you don’t really have a family “Hey Twinken! Come play with us!” Hearing that name, Midnight looked in the direction it came from but out of the corner of his eye, he saw a colt run towards that direction. It’s him! He was exactly as Midnight had envisioned, a little unicorn colt about Apple Bloom’s age, his coat was light indigo and his mane and tail were both a brandeis blue while his eyes were a bright and happy scarlet. He was definitely a unicorn and his flank was blank of a cutie-mark he had yet to earn. He watched as Twinken started kicking a ball back n’ forth between some other foals and he found himself at a loss, unsure what to do. Whaddoo I do? Do I just walk up and say ‘I’m your new big brother’- No, that’s stupid… Midnight realized he hadn’t exactly thought this through. In his mind, he’d been expecting TLC to personally introduce him to Twinken but she was understandably busy. “Look out, mister!” “Huh?” Midnight looked up and found himself getting bopped in the face by a ball, causing him to tumble over onto his back. Some bystanders laughed a little while he groaned, clutching his aching face. “Are you okay?” Midnight lowered his hooves and saw a pair of red eyes looking at him in concern. “Uh… fine. Say, are you Twinken?” “Yep!” Twinken hopped back as Midnight sat up on his rump, rubbing his face. “Sorry about that, didn’t mean to use your face for a goal. My friends and I were just playing soccer.” “Well, it’s okay,” Midnight waved it off. “Um, Twinken? Are you aware of the Sibling Revelry?” All of a sudden, Twinken gasped excitably, asking, “Are you here to be my big brother?” Seeing the little colt looking happy made Midnight smile, “Yes, I am! My name is Midnight Blaze.” “That’s a cool name, wanna play soccer with us?” Twinken asked, the ball in front of him, his hindquarters raised behind him. “Actually, I was wondering if you’d like to take a trip to Sugarcube Corner,” Midnight offered but started acting sly, “but… if you don’t want to…” “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” Twinken had fallen for it, hook, line, and sinker, as he pulled on Midnight’s foreleg. At Sugarcube Corner, Midnight offered, “Order whatever you want from the menu, Twinken.” Twinken marveled at the menu, reading all the delicious treats, smelling them too, as the aroma of baked goods and fragrance of ice creams flowed from over the counter. “Ooh, it all looks so good! Um… I don’t know, you pick!” “Okay,” Midnight chuckled, and browsed. “Hmm, how about those cinnamon rolls, they look good!” “With cream, right?” Twinken asked. “Sure thing,” Midnight promised as he rang the bell, and Pinkie popped up, making Twinken yelp. “Hi! Welcome to Sugarcube Corner, where life is always sweet! Oh Midnight, happy to see you here, who’s your friend?” “Hey Pinkie, this is Twinken,” Midnight lowered his rump, gesturing for Twinken to get on. Twinken hopped onto Midnight’s back, as Midnight stood up and explained, “I volunteered at the Sibling Revelry to be his big brother.” “Oh, you’re so nice, Midnight! What can I get’cha, on the house!” “Oh Pinkie, y’don’t have to do that,” Midnight assured but felt Twinken pull a bit on his mane. “Free sweets, Midnight!” “Okay, okay,” Midnight caved with a chuckle at how Twinken protested. After ordering, the two sat at a table where they began to talk. “Midnight, how come you don’t have a cutie-mark?” Midnight looked at his blank flank and shrugged. “Guess I haven’t found what my special talent is yet.” “But don’cha want it? I can’t wait to get mine!” Twinken squirmed in his seat. “Everything comes in its time, Twinken,” Midnight had only known the little colt for an hour and already he was feeling so fond of him, as he ruffled Twinken’s mane. “Besides, I’m in no hurry! Good things come to those who wait.” “Yeah, yeah,” Twinken had obviously heard that before. “So whaddya do? Like, what’s your job?” “Well, I work over at Sweet Apple Acres,” Midnight explained, “live there too. I’m also a student in magic.” “Oh, I would love to learn magic!” Twinken looked absolutely giddy at the thought. “I heard about a pony named Trixie who was in Ponyville not too long ago, I heard she was really good!” “She was a show-off,” Midnight corrected, “Don’t get me wrong, she was good at magic, but she was tootin’ her own horn rather loudly, if you know what I mean.” “Order up!” They looked to see it wasn’t theirs. Carrot Cake had actually served a couple milkshakes to some nearby foals, both looked very familiar as the earth pony colt said the unicorn filly next to him, “Milkshake race! 1-2-3-go!” The colt was brown, with amber eyes, his mane two shades of lighter browns, and he wore a little red n’ white beanie with a perpetually spinning green propeller. He slurped his chocolate milkshake a little too fast and started screaming, clutching his head. “Augh! AAAAUUGGHHHHH!” He fell over, the filly giving him a look before getting into her own shake. Midnight immediately recognized her, a little alabaster-coated filly with light purple and pink mane and tail, her eyes green. He’d met her once before, when Rarity introduced her as her little sister, Sweetie Belle. “Not very smart to drink so much of that stuff at once,” Twinken winced as the colt continued to scream. “Oh, hey a bit!” Midnight and Twinken both chuckled. Finishing their snack, they stepped out, Twinken licking the cream off his lips as he said, “Thanks for the snack, big brother!” Just hearing that made Midnight happy, especially as the little colt smiled up at him. “Well then, Twinken, whattya wanna do now?” “Can we go to the park? The playground back at the orphanage is nice an’ all but the park is so much more open!” But when they got there, they noticed a lot of ponies were busy clearing away loose branches. Midnight also noticed it was getting dark early on what had begun as a sunny day. Looking up he noticed the pegasi were building up a big raincloud which was covering more and more of the sky. “Keep it up!” He looked another direction and saw, “Thunderlane!” The dark gray pegasus with a silvery-blue mohawk flew down, saying, “Yo Night! What’s up?” “Those clouds for one thing,” Midnight commented, “What’s going on?” Thunderlane sighed as he said, “Dash forgot to add a drizzle we were supposed to schedule last week so we have to have a rainstorm this week to make up for it. You and the little guy should get indoors soon, don’t wanna be caught in this downpour.” “Huh…” Midnight considered, he was too far from Sweet Apple Acres and the orphanage, and he was expected to bring Twinken back soon. “Do you have any suggestions? The farm’s kinda far, and…” “How `bout you crash with me tonight?” Thunderlane offered. “Rumble and I were gonna have some bro-time tonight, but you’re welcome to join us!” Thunderlane’s eyes brightened up and he suggested, “We’ll make it a sleepover!” “Oh can we, Midnight?! Please, please, can we?” Twinken begged hopefully. “Well, I’m kinda supposed to take you back,” Midnight reminded him, Twinken’s ears drooping sadly. Oh what the hay? “But… I could say the rainstorm got in the way… Okay, Thunder! A sleepover it is!” “Awesome!” Thunderlane and Twinken cheered. After getting the directions, Midnight and Twinken found Thunderlane’s house. It was a two-story house with an added third story made of cloud. “This is the place,” Midnight declared. They knocked on the door, and it was answered by a little gray pegasus colt with a swept-back jet-black mane, and purple eyes, and he also lacked a cutie-mark. “Oh hey Midnight, what brings you by?” “Hey there, Rumble,” Midnight greeted, “This is Twinken. Your brother offered to let us stay over tonight because of tonight’s rainstorm, he suggested we make a sleepover out of it.” “Oh cool, come on in!” Rumble cleared the way and they both walked in. “I’m kinda glad you’re here, I was almost afraid Thunder had sent Cloudchaser or Flitter to baby-sit me again.” “What?!” Midnight got all dramatic. “Your brother pays two mares to actually sit on babies?!” Rumble and Twinken both laughed at his little joke, when the door opened and in trotted Thunderlane, shaking himself dry as the rain outside had begun to pour. “Oh good, glad to see you found the place!” Thunderlane led everypony into a comfortable living room, with a couch, coffee table, armchair, a lamp, and (to Midnight’s surprise) a television. “I didn’t know you guys had TV!” “Oh that? Doubt we’re gonna get any channels with this weather,” Thunderlane dismissed it as he went into the kitchen. “You guys get comfortable,” Rumble suggested, “me and Thunder are gonna get things ready!” Midnight plopped his rear onto the sofa, Twinken hopping up to sit next to him. In no time at all, Thunderlane came in with soda and snacks while Rumble dragged down a couple sleeping bags and blankets. They moved the coffee table out of the way and set things up. “So what should we do first?” Rumble asked. “PILLOW FIGHT!” Twinken screamed all of a sudden and war instantly erupted. Midnight and Twinken hid behind the sofa while Thunderlane and Rumble used the coffee table for cover. Pillows flew through the air, hitting somepony occasionally but for the most part missing. Thunderlane threw two which Midnight caught in his aura and launched them back at the weather pony. “DUCK N' COVER!” he screamed as he dove behind the armchair. “Fire in the hole!” Twinken threw a pillow from behind the couch. It fell right in front of the coffee table, landing in an explosion of feather. From the feathery fray, Rumble leapt up, spinning as he threw another pillow aimed for Midnight. “NOOOO…!!!” Twinken dove to shield Midnight from the fluffy projectile, and got creamed. “Twinken!” Midnight got dramatic, as did Twinkn, the situation slowing as Midnight held the little colt up. “Hold me, Midnight… It’s getting dark!” Twinken coughed. Midnight smirked and dropped the little drama-queen, making him yelp in surprise, much to Thunderlane and Rumble’s amusement, as they both broke out in laughter. “I think that’s enough,” Midnight suggested, “what’s to eat?” Thunderlane showed off the doughnuts and pizza he’d brought out, and Midnight poured everypony a glass of soda. As they all ate, Midnight said, “I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed pizza!” “Food of the gods,” Thunderlane agreed as he munched a slice. “We don’t get pizza often over at the orphanage,” Twinken was savoring every bite. “How come you live in the orphanage, Twinken?” Rumble asked, earning him the stink-eye from both of the older ponies. “What?!” “It’s okay,” Twinken shrugged it off. “I don’t mind the question. To be honest, I’ve lived there my whole life. TLC said I was left on the doorstep when I was still a baby.” “So you don’t even know your mother or father,” Midnight gathered. “I try not to let it bother me,” Twinken said though there was a sadness in his eyes. “TLC always says maybe my folks couldn’t take care of me and had to give me up. But every once in a while, somepony teases me, saying my parents didn’t want me.” Midnight went over and hugged the little colt, promising, “The next time anypony says that to you, come to me and I’ll rough `em up!” Twinken laughed and hugged him back, Thunderlane and Rumble both smiling. After a few more games, it was time for bed. Midnight put Twinken to bed on the armchair and tucked him in. “Thanks for today, Midnight,” Twinken yawned before drifting off to his dreams. “Thanks for being my little brother,” Midnight whispered, kissing the little colt on the forehead before going into the next room. He set up a parchment and quill he’d gotten from Thunderlane and wrote a letter. ‘Dear Princess Celestia, Today I learned a little something about friendship and brotherhood. This morning, I was feeling a little sad because I was missing my little sister from my old life, when I came upon a flyer for the Sibling Revelry! With Twilight’s encouragement, I became a volunteer big brother and was assigned to a little colt named Twinken. Today we snacked at Sugarcube Corner and had a sleepover with my friend Thunderlane and his little brother Rumble. Twinken told me he was left on the orphanage doorstep and I’ve promised to look after him. I’ve learned that friends can also be like your brothers or sisters, because that’s what they’re for! Everypony needs someone to look after them, and in a way Twinken will look after me as well. Your loyal subject, Midnight Blaze’ In the morning, Midnight awoke to the sun streaming between the drapes. With a yawn, he carefully got up, making sure not to disturb the others, and looked outside. The rainstorm had given Ponyville a good drenching but now the sun shined, refracting through the lingering vapor to make a colorful day. Looking at his friends, he smiled and went into the kitchen. Twinken heard something and woke up to the smell of pancakes and eggs. So did Thunderlane and Rumble, and they all went into the kitchen and were surprised! “Midnight! You prepared this whole spread?” Thunderlane asked. On the table were four settings, centered by a heap of pancakes, a bowl of scrambled eggs, there was syrup, and a pitcher of orange juice. Midnight was busy at the moment frying some hay-bacon. “Hope you’re all hungry!” he said with a smile. The growling gurgles coming from their stomachs answered that question, and they laughed as they sat down together. Before long, it was time to go. “Thanks for the sleepover, Thunder, it was great.” Midnight stepped out, with Twinken on his back. “We’ll have to do it again sometime,” Thunderlane agreed, Rumble adding, “Real soon!” “Can’t wait,” Twinken said as he waved bye. As they walked through Ponyville, ponies were stepping out, and starting to clean up the mess caused by last night’s storm. Twinken got all quiet. “You okay, Twink?” Midnight asked as he carried on. “Well… I don’t wanna go back to the orphanage,” Twinken said sadly. “I wanna go with you!” Midnight wanted so much to say yes and bring Twinken home with him, but that wouldn’t be right. “Twink, I’ll come by again to visit real soon, and we’ll have more fun then.” “Promise?” Twinken asked hopefully. “I promise,” Midnight confirmed, and Twinken hopped down to hug the older unicorn, a hug Midnight was all-too happy to return… at least until he gave the little colt a noogie, making them both laugh. After taking Twinken back to the orphanage, Midnight went to see Twilight at the library, when he got there, he saw Applejack and Rarity step out. “See you later, darling!” “We’ll do this again! …Jus' not too soon.” “What’s up?” Midnight asked as he approached. The farmer and fashionista looked at each other and shared a private giggle, Midnight looking at them with a confused brow raised.