“Phew!”
Midnight wiped the sweat from his brow, feeling the sun on his back warm up his tired muscles. He and Big Mac were busy collecting apples, as Princess Celestia was coming to visit Ponyville tomorrow, and of course, Twilight was turning a molehill into a mountain.
“I really wish Twilight would mellow out, Mac,” Midnight said as he placed a basket off apples into a wagon they had set up.
“The princess is only coming for a casual visit, but – silly us! – there’s nothing ‘casual’ about a visit from royalty.”
“Eeyup,” Big Mac agreed as he sauntered over with another basket.
“I swear, one of these days that neurosis of hers is gonna cause a whole heap of trouble,” Midnight took the basket and heaved it in.
He could just as easily have done so with his telekinesis, but Midnight felt that backbreaking labor was more meaningful when you were actually breaking your back laboring, per se. Not to mention it was a good workout. Secretly, Macintosh was proud of his friend for not using his magic. It told the farmer that the new resident of Sweet Apple Acres was a hard-worker.
“Want me t’ pull it?”
“No I’ve got this,” Midnight harnessed himself up and took a deep breath before pulling, and sure enough, the wagon was following.
“So, what do you think we’ll do with this haul here?”
“Twilight’ll prob’ly have it made int’ pies an’ such,” Big Mac replied as he walked alongside the blue unicorn.
“She said th’ princess actually has a sweet tooth.”
“Well, she’ll certainly appreciate some homemade goods made by the Apple Family,” Midnight said with a smile.
“Say Mac, I never took the time to ask you, but are you interested in going to the Galloping Gala? You know, the princess sent tickets to you, me, Spike, and Thunderlane.”
“Ah’ll go, if only t’ make sure AJ don’t cause trouble,” Big Mac responded. “But Ah’m kinda unsure `bout meetin’ with all them high n’ mighty nobles an’ th’ like.”
“Hmph, nothing ‘noble’ about them at all,” Midnight contradicted, “Nobility is earned or proven, Mac, not bought or inherited. There’s no such thing as noble blood, but there is noble spirit, something you’ve got in spades, my friend.”
Big Mac smiled appreciatively, when Midnight asked, “And I’ll have something to say if any of those hoity-toity snobs get on my case.”
“Sumpin’ like this?” Mac asked and he lifted his tail, farting so loud he might as well have been a foghorn.
“Mac!” Midnight scolded but couldn’t help cracking up, and the two stallions had a good laugh. “What exactly did you have to eat this morning?”
“Why d’ ya ask?”
“Cuz you gotta teach me how to do that,” Midnight said with a crude smirk.
And the two laughed again, a feeling a mutual brotherhood.
Later on, Midnight was pulling the wagon through town, taking some of the apples he and Big Mac had collected to Sugarcube Corner for Mr. & Mrs. Cake to turn into treats, when he noticed Fluttershy hurry in through the door.
Now what’s got that filly in a hurry?
He parked the wagon by the side of the building and went in, hearing Twilight say, “They’re amazing! What are they?”
“What are what?” Midnight asked and he saw the answer in the form of three little puffballs with big green eyes and fluttering wings like dragonflies.
“I’m not sure,” Fluttershy said as the little creatures flittered overhead, “I’m also not sure where these other two came from.”
“I’ll take one off your hooves,” Twilight offered, holding one of them, “I’ve never seen anything so adorable!”
“Adorable my hoof!”
They looked to see Midnight glaring at one of the creatures.
“These things have got to go!”
“Midnight! What’s gotten into you?” Twilight scolded.
“These are parasprites,” Midnight informed them, “and unless we act quickly, we’re in for some big trouble.”
“Exactly!”
They looked to see Pinkie bounce over to Midnight, saying, “Come on Midnight, we’re gonna need a trombone!”
As the two stepped out, Fluttershy said, “I wonder how they could not like something so adorable.”
“Oh never mind them,” Twilight sighed, “they’ll come around.”
As they walked away, Pinkie asked, “So where’d you learn about parasprites, Midnight?”
Midnight almost froze, realizing Not again! Gotta think…
“I, uh… was reading a book at my last magic lesson and…” Midnight was making this up as he went along.
“It mentioned that parasprites are a breed of pestilence native to the Everfree Forest.”
“That’s where Fluttershy found `em,” Pinkie confirmed, “and we have to hurry before they take over the town! Now, I have some of what we’ll need at Sugarcube Corner, but there’s still some stuff we’re gonna have to collect.”
Midnight only vaguely remembered what was supposed to happen, but he kept having trouble remembering that the story had already changed and it wasn’t gonna go exactly as he knew it went.
“So… we need a trombone for…?”
“To get rid of the parasprites, silly!” she replied with a giggle.
“Of course,” Midnight muttered and just decided to go along with it. But then Pinkie was holding a list in front of him.
“This’ll be quicker if we split up to find all the stuff we’ll need,” she said. “I don’t know if we’ll get all we need in time so let’s meet up tomorrow before noon.”
Midnight took the list in his aura and read it over.
“Uh… Pinkie? I’m not sure if I’ll be able to find… a pair of maracas, a piccolo, a…”
“Just do your best,” Pinkie told him, “we’ll meet at Sugarcube Corner tomorrow.”
And with that, she bounced off. Midnight sighed.
At least there’s only six instruments.
By the time the sun was going down, Midnight had only found half of the instruments. He’d borrowed the maracas from a travelling mariachi band, had to buy some bongos from a street-performer, and the farm already had a triangle. He’d stopped by the local music store but as luck would’ve had it, the owner had closed shop till further notice.
He sat at the desk in his room, gazing out the window, watching the sunlight slowly vanish over the treetops of the orchard, feeling conflicted.
Maybe I should’ve just told Twilight about the parasprites, but if I don’t let this play out she won’t learn the lesson that’s supposed to be learned! Not to mention the mess those pests are gonna leave for us to clean up once they’re dealt with…
Lately, Midnight had been growing more anxious about events recent and upcoming. On one hoof, his very presence had already changed Equestria by providing another Element of Harmony, along with the additions of the three tests he, Big Mac, and Thunderlane had overcome.
While the story hadn’t gone exactly as it originally went, the lessons had been learned because he’d subtly made sure things would turn out more or less than they should. But did he have the right to do that? Should he just provide the answers and allow corners to be cut? No, Twilight’s objective was to study and learn the Magic of Friendship and if he provided all the answers, the lessons wouldn't be appreciated.
But it didn't help assuage the nagging guilt he felt. Here, he had the answers to almost everything and he was just letting the chaos unfold! All the while he pulled the strings just enough for the lessons to be learned, and it made him feel bad, like he was manipulating his friends’ lives.
As the sun all but vanished, he thought back to his talk with Princess Celestia, how he’d promised her he’d never reveal his knowledge of the future. Had he understood the full ramifications of that promise, he wasn’t sure what he would’ve said to her. Thinking back, with the Princess of the Sun on his mind, he wondered, What would you do?