Twilight awoke in a much different setting than she remembered. She awoke on a set of throw pillows present inside her tea room. Her tea room was a warm, cozy room, with throw pillows surrounding a round, crystal table, and couches facing each other with coffee tables in between in several other parts of the room. On the wall opposite of the windows, a line of counters and cupboards stuck out, stocked to the brim with many different types of tea, coffee, hot chocolate, and other hot beverages.
FWOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Twilight looked over at the counters and saw Midnight facing the whistling kettle, taking it off the stove and pouring it into two white mugs, and putting them onto a tray. He opened one of the cupboards and took out a box of Saddle Arabian jasmine tea. He took out a tea bag and placed it in one of the mugs. He closed the box and placed it back in the cupboard.
"What kind of beverage would you like?"
Twilight kept staring at him in curiosity, not taking in his question.
"Twilight. Hello?"
Twilight shook her head, blinking her eyes rapidly and fluttering her wings. She looked at Midnight's face, which reflected sincerity, with a tiny smile of amusement on his lips.
"Umm, chamomile."
"Excellent choice. One of the finest Germane beverages I've had the pleasure of consuming." Midnight said as he took out the chamomile box, placing a tea bag in the other mug and putting the box back in it's place.
"Come. I suspect we have much to discuss."
Twilight stood up and walked over to one of the couches, taking a seat. Midnight walked over with the tray in front of him, held in his magic. He placed the tray down on the table, grabbing his mug and taking a seat opposite of Twilight. He removed the tea bag, floating it over to the trash can, and took a timid sip of the beverage.
He placed the mug down and looked at Twilight, saying "I suppose you have many questions, so let me introduce myself formally. I am Midnight Star, crown prince of Equestria, and creator and ruler of the stars.
Twilight's eyes went all around Midnight, registering all the little details that she could find. The color and texture of his fur, his mane and tail. The emotions trying to hide in his eyes as he looked at her. She looked deep into his eyes. The windows to the soul. Thousands of words could be decrypted, memories found, stories told, all from the eyes.
These eyes were weary and old, having watched the history of thousands of years unfold before them. Wars and peace. Love and hate. Life and death. So much knowledge could be found if these eyes could speak...
"Yes, I have seen much in my lifetime, Twilight. However, what you see is all you'll know if we don't talk and you keep stargazing in my eyes." Midnight chuckled as he looked at Twilight, who had grown a rather intense look on her face.
Twilight shook her head quickly a couple times, a blush growing on her face as she looked away. "I wasn't..."
"Twilight, forgive me, but I have been alive for over 4,000 years. I've found my way around emotions. And those who seek to read them. However, I am not here to reveal the emotions that I have at the moment. Let me ask you something."
Midnight leaned in, his muzzle a foot away from Twilight's. He bore no emotion on his face, his eyes wide open, staring into her own eyes as he spoke.
"Have you ever heard of me?"
Twilight stared, wracking her brain for any mention of a male alicorn. She could recall nothing from history books, nothing from spell books, no entries from journals of famous scholars and magicians, nothing from...anywhere.
"No. You aren't anywhere in my books."
"Interesting. When did you find out about Luna?"
"The day before her return as Nightmare Moon."
"Exactly. Celestia had kept our existence from you. You were her top student, and you are now a Princess of this nation. Any idea of why she would do that?" Midnight said, leaning back into his seat, lifting his tea mug up to his mouth.
Twilight's considered this. She was told of Discord AFTER his release. Princess Celestia had told her of an entire country that had been hidden for a thousand years the day AFTER it re-appeared in the Frozen North. She learned of Tirek the day AFTER he returned to Equestria. Of all the many things she had faced, she never had previous knowledge of them. All of it...
...depended on Princess Celestia.
"She probably did it because I need to be able to act quick in a sudden emergency. That's an essential skill not just for a Princess, but for anypony." She said, struggling to find another way of defending her mentor's actions.
Midnight raised his eyebrows, as if almost skeptical of her words. "Yes, that makes sense. However, I think we can both agree that you've had your share of licks, and you've gotten through all of them. I believe that as far as being able to act quickly in a national emergency, you are more than qualified to do so. And if you weren't high-profile enough to know of these things, you certainly are now, PRINCESS Twilight." Midnight said, sipping his tea slowly.
"Are you trying to turn me against my mentor?" Twilight asked, a questioning tone with a hint of outrage in her voice.
Midnight chuckled, putting his tea mug down. "Absolutely not. Despite her flaws, Celestia is a wonderful pony who is incredibly talented in all that she does. However, I need you to understand that both she and I have our flaws, and that some of our mistakes are worse than others."
"Celestia and Luna were my absolute best friends on the planet. When our rule began, we were nearly unstoppable in all that we did. Anything we needed done, we were able to do if we put our minds to it together." Midnight paused, before continuing.
"However, Celestia was closer to me than Luna, mainly because we were courting. I dated Celestia for many years before and during our rule. The love we had was powerful, and it was something we both cherished. However, Luna and I had a closeness that Celestia and I never shared. The closeness of friendship. We were both rulers of the night, and used our control of the heavenly bodies to show ponies the true beauty of the night. Either way, they were both incredible ponies, and I treasured them deeply."
Twilight saw and heard while Midnight was talking, for just a fleeting moment, a twinge of heartbreak in his voice. Some may have mistaken it for a crack, but those who truly knew heartbreak could distinguish it in any form. She might've not known the heartbreak he had felt in his very long life, but she knew her own.
"As you may know from Equestrian history, the monarchy did not have a smooth start. The Third Pony-Griffon war was raging, and power-hungry nobles and corrupt politicians were seeking for a chance to expose a flaw in our ways and bring down the government. Many ponies didn't like the idea of all-powerful beings ruling over them with little public control. We made every attempt to include the general public in our political decisions. We created a cabinet. We included local government in our decisions. It didn't do much. Ponies still searched for a way to bring our monarchy down."
"When we were nearing the end of the war, Celestia and Luna traveled to Saddle Arabia for 5 days to negotiate reinforcements in order to push the war to it's end. I stayed behind in order to command troops and keep the peace in the capital. If I had known what I was about to fall into, I would've traded places with Luna."
Midnight's head lowered, looking at the floor, tears filling his eyes. He swallowed, his chin trembling as he looked up at Twilight.
"What happened?" Twilight asked, almost at a whisper, worry and curiosity filling her voice.
Midnight sighed. "I nearly destroyed the Equestrian government as we knew it, I gave specific people a way to control my actions to their will, and most importantly...
A tear made it's way down his face. His voice cracked, saying "I had to break Celestia's heart.