The Midnight Mares - Crazy Canterlot Catastrophe.

by Ausbrony


Chapter Three - This home is not alone.

As Luna's moon shone through the night sky, a lone figure stood over a small hill, looking at the group of mansions ahead with a wicked grin. Her long sunglow yellow mane with dark gray dyed details flowed with the night breeze, her wings fluttering ever so slightly. Her light blue coat contrasted with her devilish scarlet eyes. She took a deep breath, taking in the scent of the night and sighing in bliss and desire.

“Oh Cloud District... how much I’ve missed you.”

Suddenly, another figure rose from the darkness. Thin yet tall, towering over the pegasus even with his apparent young age. His rectangular face came out of the shadows, his deep set cold gray eyes glimmering faintly with the moonlight. He tilted his long and graceful neck and sighed in slight contempt at the cracks, “I take it this is it?” He said in his low, bored, cold reverberating voice. After a full on minute, his entire body was finally visible, the black and purple magical aura coming from his horn fading and retreating back into his cutie mark, a white skull surrounded by thick black smog, “Doesn’t look like much.”

“Oh you haven’t seen anything yet.” The mare chuckled, long used to the colt’s attitude, “This is the bird’s nest, some of the most disgustingly rich ponies in Canterlot live here. Perfect for your first job here in Canterlot.” She then arched a brow and turned to him with an unimpressed glare. He was all alone, again, “Where’s the rest?”

“You speak like if I cared.” The unicorn huffed in annoyance, casting a little shadow from his horn that moved and danced around for his unshown amusement.

“Whether you care or not is no reason to leave us behind, Dusk Skull,” Came a strongly accented female voice from behind the two. Her heavily muscled forelimbs and shoulders flexing with every step she made, her sturdily built toned muscled body being incredibly intimidating and showing her brute strength. She had several traditional zebra body paintings all over her body, and a prideful gleam in her eyes that accompanied her confident movement. Her cutie mark, a strange spiral symbol on her flank, meant strength and willpower from where she came from, she claimed, even if she had never even been in Zebrica.

“Azona, glad to see you as well.” The Pegasus smiled, “I hope you are ready to put those muscles of yours to test. We are going to need a lot of marepower tonight.”

“You always do, that’s why you keep me around isn’t it?” Azona snorted, “There’s no stronger equine than a zebra, and there’s no stronger zebra than Azona.” She put a hoof on her chest and smiled proudly, before blinking and looking around in confusion, “Now where's the rest?”

“That is exactly what I wanted to ask you. There is a reason why I make you go as a group.” The pegasus rolled her eyes, “Valiant will not be happy if we take too long. Most if not all of the big guys living here should be asleep by now and we should use that to our advantage. Remember that this is a timed trial, so wasting said time is not something you want to do right now.”

“Easy Sparkly Butt.” Came a rather annoying snicker from seemingly nowhere, “We can do that in two hours if needed. There’s no risk nor harm when Malachite is around.”

The pegasus snorted, before slamming her hoof on the ground, causing the voice to whimper and dig its way up, rubbing his head, “Hello Malachite, glad to see you joining us. And you didn't stay home sleeping for once. I was about to fly there and drag you here. “

“Geez Spark Cloud, you have no chill now do you?” The short, rather slim brown Diamond Dog said as he got out the hole on the ground, patting his red vest and blowing the cream-colored patch of hair that had fallen on his face, “And I don't sleep all the time… just most of it. “

“Can you please just stop calling me by my real name? I hate it!” The Pegasus groaned, “When we’re at work, it’s Thunderstorm for you all!”

“I think your real name is rather cute~” Came a soft, incredibly feminine voice that sent shivers down Malachite’s spine. A slim, well-proportioned female Capricorn drew closer. She resembled a pony of cream colored coat and salmon pink mane. Yet unlike a regular pony, two sheep-like horns came from the upper part of her head, and the lower part of her body consisted of a long multicolored fish-like tail, ending in a razor-sharp bladed fin. She bowed politely and smiled sweetly, a smile that hid an insatiable bloodlust contained by her chirpiness, “I hope I am not too late my dear friends.”

“Mystique, girl, you are always on time!” The diamond dog grinned with a wiggle of his eyebrows, causing a soft giggle to leave Mystique’s mouth.

Thunderstorm sighed, “Well that’s four… now where the buck is—”

“Where the buck is who?” a voice said from right behind her.

Thunderstorm’s face went flat. This group and its shenanigans. “You’ve been there all along, haven’t you Shadow Blade?”

“Maybe,” he chuckled. “At least the view back here is nice~”

He got slapped in the face by Thunderstorm’s tail, who turned around with an unamused expression, “I can’t believe you. Valiant assigned you to watch over these four barely-adults, no, bloody teenagers, no! Freaking foals! And you just leave them behind and hope they catch up. Is that how you think leadership works?”

“More or less,” he shrugged. “It’s good training if a mission goes south. If they can’t navigate on their own, it’s the dungeons for them. Or will you risk life and limb to go back for ‘em?”

“Sweet Princess you are just like Valiant.” Thunderstorm muttered, “I understand why he likes you so much now. Freaking using a thestral body these past weeks.”

“Ten minutes alone with me, and you’ll like me too,” he grinned and wiggled his eyebrows.

The Pegasus deadpanned, and turned to the others, “Ok everyone. Hope you’re all ready for what is coming. You have an angry pegasus mare who you have already disappointed, an entire building full of runts back home looking up to you, and a changeling who you owe your life to, one that will not be happy if you fail.” She explained, stepping to the side, “And of course, twenty mansions to rob, four hours tops. Do not dare fail the Orphanage.”

“Whatever…” Dusk Skull sighed, “Let’s get this over with.”

“Let’s kick some flank.” Azona grinned, flexing her muscles.

“Well, time to shine.” Malachite yawned, moving his fingers and flexing them, “By the way, if I find a pair of panties I’m keeping them.”

“Oh this is so exciting!” Mystique giggled, raising her tail in anticipation and making sure the blade was sharp enough to easily cut some throats if needed to.

“Tch, what a drag,” Blade sighed as he drew a dagger and observed it. “I could be at a bar, picking up mares that don’t have a stick up their plot,” He casted a glance at the pegasus.

“Oh how funny.” She snorted in return, before cracking her tail like a whip and taking off, “Four hours, no errors, go!”


Midnight stirred slightly and smacked her lips. She was feeling a bit thirsty after her… exercise, and slowly extracted herself from Pocket’s grip. She smiled at the mare and kissed her cheek, before moving silently from the room and downstairs towards the kitchen. Her steps were a little slow, she’d really exerted herself tonight.

She headed into the kitchen and moved to the sink, turning the tap and just drinking straight from that. Her ear gave a small twitch and her head snapped up. Something… was outside the house. There was a soft metallic rustle, was it perhaps a dog or some other creature messing with the gates? No… a regular dog wouldn’t make that much noise.

Midnight frowned and turned towards the front door. Probably the neighborhood brats again. They liked to come up every now and then to mess with the nobles.

How dare they not invite Midnight along?

But then why did the noises stop with a loud crack? One thing was messing with the gate, another thing was seemingly breaking it.

“Little brats, or some ballsy paparazzi?” Midnight replied and took one of the wingblades mounted above the mantle… just in case. She edged closer to the front door and peered through the peephole.

At first sight, she saw nothing. Everything seemed to be just in place, the guard’s outpost was still there, no alarms had gone off, and the gate seemed in perfect… wait… the anti-magic wards were tilted? And why were the green lights that usually accompanied them off?

Midnight’s ears swivelled around, trying to pick up any sounds. She could hear Pockets snoring upstairs, her parents… also asleep…

“What’s going on here?” she muttered to herself as she reached for the door handle. Yet she stopped when her ears picked up another sound, a sound any pony could recognize immediately. Something, or someone, had been teleported into the mansion, there was someone in the main hall. The telltale crack and the scent of burnt ozone… there was no mistaking it. Midnight turned and then walked up the wall and along the ceiling, moving silently she inched closer to the source of the disturbance.

Although the light was faint, she managed to see two strange silhouettes that seemed to be arguing about something. The first one was most likely a unicorn, yet the second one was far harder to identify, the only thing Midnight could make out being the two strange-looking horns it had.

“You do realize I was about to deactivate the wards, right? You didn’t have to break them. Someone could have heard that.” The first figure whispered, a whisper only Midnight’s incredible hearing could pick up.

‘So it’s some thieves… and a couple of amateurs by the looks of it.’ Midnight smiled to herself. She’d observe the situation a bit more first, then decide on an action.

The second figure just giggled and… slithered around? Looking at the decorations that the Living Room held, “Ohhh, this is pretty! Do you think I could keep it for myself if I asked nicely?”

“Maybe, Thunderstorm adores you so you can probably get away with anything.” The first figure sighed, using his magic to raise a bag and place a bunch of items in. Meanwhile, the second figure, one that even with more lighting Midnight still couldn’t recognize, began humming a tune as she kept checking the place out. She found a beautiful pearl necklace and tried it on, smiling when she saw just how pretty she looked on it

Let’s see how they liked mind games.

“That doesn’t belong to you!” a dark and echoed voice seemed to come from everywhere.

The two-horned figure eeped and hid behind the unicorn, shivering slighly and looking everywhere in search for the source, ”I… I think there are ghosts here!” She said a bit more loudly.

The unicorn sighed, “No there are not. It’s just what happens when you make too much noise during a robbery!” His horn began glowing, a dark aura surrounding his horn when he scanned the area, “If you are going to call the police, don’t bother. We cut all connections to the outer world. And I can sense dragon fire and stop it from reaching anywhere, so you can’t use that either.”

He was greeted with utter silence, save for a faint giggling and the odd rattle of something metallic.

“Do… you wanna play with me~?” came the filly-like voice.

Then came another eep from the capricorn, who trembled faster, “N-no! Please leave us alone creepy ghost!”

“I am not afraid of you.” The unicorn said plainly, “Just come out here so we can end this soon.”

“I just want to play a game,” the voice said. “But… I have a question.”

“W-w-what?” The capricorn asked, trying to become as small as possible and curl into a little ball.

Something dropped down as a pair of glowing crimson eyes and gleaming fangs stared only an inch from the unicorn’s face.

“ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?”

“YES!” The Capricorn squealed and ran up the stairs in fear, much to her companion’s annoyance.

“Oh look what you did! Now I have to make sure she doesn’t get into trouble!” He groaned, rubbing his eyes, “And to answer your question...”

Suddenly, Midnight felt very, very cold, a strange dark power surrounding her body and pulling her away from the unicorn, who showed no expression but an annoyed frown.

“I’m not afraid of the dark, I control it!” With a turn of his head, the thestral was pushed away into a wall, crashing into a glass table. “At this point, I don’t care if they hear us.” The unicorn grunted, slamming her into the roof, “If I have to, I’ll kill everyone in this house. Hopefully I don’t have to,I’d prefer not making more of a ruckus than Mystique already caused.” He slammed her into the door, and then dropped her injured body on the floor, “So please, stay down and let us finish what we came to do.”

Okay. So maybe Midnight had screwed this one up. Goddam. Fucking. Unicorns. Her absolutely everything ached after being used as a pingpong ball… yet…

“Heh… fucking pansy,” she muttered and spat out some blood. “My fillyfriend hits harder than that.” Thaaat’s right, keep him focused on you. Leave the others alone.

“Glad to know,” The unicorn said in the most cold, sarcastic way possible, scanning the area to see if he could find the missing capricorn, “Don’t even try, I can break your bones in an instant if I need to.”

“Is that all?” she replied and then kicked off with her hooves, rocketing towards him at blinding speeds.

“What else do yOU—” The unicorn huffed, not having expected her to keep moving after all that. And she kept moving alright, even as she tackled him through a door and into the study. Pinning him to the ground, she kept one hoof on his horn and pressed down.

“Now,” she panted and stared at him. “Start talking!”

“I’d rather not.” The unicorn said coldly, “And could you not do that? My horn is rather sensitive.”

“Oh I’m sorry,” Midnight mocked gasped and pressed harder. “After all, it’s not like I’m the one dumb enough to break into my house.”

“Yeah… about that. You do realize that as soon as my companion realizes I’m not following her, she will come looking for me and… well, things will not be pretty.” The unicorn said without a flinch.

“The weird...seapony...thing?” Midnight glanced upstairs.

“Yes, the weird seapony thing.” The unicorn rolled his eyes, “And don’t call her like that if you want to at least live another day. She may not look like much but there’s a reason we keep her around, and I mean literally. If there’s someone upstairs you better pray she doesn’t find them.”

And then… Midnight heard the faint sound of a door opening on the second floor.

Midnight’s eyes widened as she drew a hoof back and struck the unicorn on the head to knock him out, before flying towards the staircase.

The first thing she noticed was the opened door, which much to her annoyance and distress was her own bedroom door. The second thing she noticed when she darted in was the hissing creature who had Pockets pinned to the wall, a long blade-like tail inches away from the unicorn’s neck. The third thing was that Pockets could have easily teleported out, yet for some strange reason she was just there, not using her magic at all. And the fourth thing, the mouthed ‘Help’ that the small unicorn left out.

Midnight let out a feral growl as she bared her fangs and hissed. “Let. Her. Go!” she warned and took a step forward. “Or so help me, I will be having fish fillet for a midnight snack!”

“FISH!?” The capricorn hissed back, turning around and revealing her own sharp fangs, “What is with everyone tonight calling me a damn fish or sea monster! I’m a capricorn! We live in rivers you uncultured dumb horses!!”

“Oh, okay,” Midnight nodded. “Allow me to retract. Let her go, or I’ll see what the insides of a capricorn look like on the outside!”

“Thank you!” The capricorn sighed, still keeping Pockets pinned on the wall and glaring at her with a death stare, “At least someone understands!”

“I said… I was sorry!” Pockets managed to say, struggling to break free.

“A simple sorry does not make up for you CALLING ME A SEA MONSTER!” She roared, her voice full of rage and despise, her blade making contact with Pockets’ neck yet not quite hurting her... yet.

“Okay, you need to calm down,” Midnight replied. Why hadn’t Pockets teleported away? “Look, you broke the wards around the house. Just… step away and I’ll give you a few things to take alright? Maybe some pretty jewelry?”

‘Wait… the wards aren’t working anymore?’ Pockets thought to herself, a wide smile forming on her muzzle.

“Jewerly will not do, not like I won’t take it all anyways. I can only be happy with blood.” The capricorn grinned maliciously, before stabbing the unicorn in the heart… or so she would have, if at the very last second she hadn’t just vanished. “WHAT!?”

“Haha! Foolish fool, you broke the wards meaning I can use my magic again!” Pockets grinned and posed dramatically, before glancing at Midnight, “Can we kick her ass now?”

“Oh yes,” Midnight said and drew her sword. “She’s going to pay for threatening you!” Her blood boiled as she glared at the Capricorn. “I’m going to enjoy tearing her scales off. One. By. One!”

“Oh I love it when you get protective.” Pockets giggled and kissed Midnight’s cheek, before smirking, her horn glowing strong as she locked eyes with the capricorn, “And you better scratch that, you’re not tearing her scales off, we are.”

“Oh don’t make me puke!” The capricorn snorted, her tail cracking like a whip, “I will eat you alive, both of you!” She darted forwards with amazing speed, slithering towards her prey with a jaw wide open and letting them see her many, many fangs.

Some of which flew threw the air when Midnight turned and delivered a powerful buck to the right side of her face, causing her to crash into the vanity.

“Gonna enjoy killing you,” Midnight growled as she whipped her wingblade around.

“Curious, I was about to say the same thing.” The capricorn grinned, dashing forwards once again and preparing her blade, parrying with Midnight’s own and hissing,

Yet she was blown once more into the broken table by a powerful blast of magic, a small trail of smoke coming from Pockets’ horn which she blew away with a smirk, “Forgot about me?”

“Dirty unicorn!” She snarled.

“Oh she is,” Midnight replied, the window of opportunity helping her snap back to normal. “You see, she does this little thing with her tongue that just—”

“Really?” Pockets stopped her with an amused grin, finding the look of the confused capricorn delightful, “There is someone trying to kill us, and you go for the dirty joke. Celestia I’m a terrible influence.”

“Oh no, I’m usually much, much worse,” Midnight replied with a cheeky wink. She was already feeling better, despite the murderous creature in the room.

“Oh I love you.” Pockets giggled and prepared another beam. “You are like the mos—”

She didn’t get to finish, the capricorn using the moment to ram towards Pockets and make her crash into the closet, earning a pained gasp from her. She looked right into Pockets eyes, her bloodthirsty gaze and terrifying giggle being quickly followed by a slash of her blade which was aimed to the neck. Time to see some annoying heads roll.

Yet the blade didn't connect. Instead, it crashed against a long, metallic tube that had been hiding in the closet and Pockets had picked up pretty much out of instinct.

“What kind of terrible sword is that!?” The capricorn questioned utterly shocked and confused at her weapon choice.

“Huh…?” Midnight looked past her. “Oh! That’s the case for my Mister Happy 9000.”

“Oh yes, it’s quite the innovation in weaponry.” Pockets snorted, “It’s blunt, but it has amazing penetrating power.” Then, her impromptu weapon was thrown off her magical grasp by the blade, the capricorn going once more for the slash… and jumping back with a shocked eep as she saw the new weapon that had been picked up, a weapon that could only be described as big, thick, and rubbery.

“WHAT IS THAT HORRID THING!?” The capricorn screeched in disbelief, horrified by the sheer size and obscenity of it. Every new detail she saw on it sent shivers down her spine, it was just so… wrong.

“I… honestly have no idea.” Pockets said in curiosity, turning it around and giving it a good look, “Damn, never seen one this big.”

“Ohh, that’s my dragon one,” Midnight replied. “Was gonna use that next actually.”

“…Well crap.” Pockets gulped, not knowing whether to look forwards to or fear that day. Well, a thought for another day. She grinned and returned to her battle stance, wiggling her weapon.

The capricorn on the other hoof, was still trembling, staying as far away from the rubber ‘sword’ as possible. Pockets wiggled it again, and the poor capricorn eeped in fear.

“Mm, that was expensive, but the real thing was better,” Midnight nodded. “Oh, if you hit that switch, it lights up and…”

“Stop!” The capricorn shouted, darting forwards and doing a rather erratic and poorly thought out slash directed at Midnight. Midnight parried the blow and swept her other wing, catching her on the back of her head and knocking her forward. Once she was on the ground, Midnight placed a hoof on the small of her back to hold her there.

“Right,” she sighed and sheathed her sword. “You are going to calm down, and explain why you are trying to kill us! Is this about Grumble? Did he somehow send you!?”

“I… wait what? Grumble?” The capricorn quirked an eyebrow, “Who’s that?”

“Then what about Angel Wings? Dead Drop?” Midnight pressed harder and Mystique could feel her bones protesting. “Answer me, or Pockets here will use that weapon on you… thoroughly.”

The unicorn wiggled it around with a snicker, causing the capricorn to squeak in fear, “I… I don’t know who they are! I promise! Please keep that monstrosity away from me!”

“Heeey, I’m not that bad.” Pockets frowned in faux indignation.

“You sort of are,” Midnight replied and looked back at the Capricorn. She got Pockets to get the cuffs and hornwarp, before tying her up, which were totally not the ones they used last night to do… things.

“Right, you’re under arrest by order of the Canterlot Guard,” she said as she stepped back. “Yes, that’s right. You just tried to rob the house of a Royal Guard. Now you stay here while I go and get your creepy friend.”

“Looking for me?” Came a cold, unamused voice.

Standing there in the door, the unicorn held up three different things at once. Midnight’s deeply asleep parents, and a kitchen knife. Midnight froze when she saw this, her eyes widened as her heart raced. There was… no way she’d reach him in time, not to save both of them.

“Now you listen to me carefully.” The unicorn colt said, keeping the two close, “These two were put under a hypnosis spell and won’t wake up no matter what, and if you try anything funny I will not think twice before stabbing them. So you better leave my companion alone, let us leave peacefully and without setting off any alarms, or else they will both be stuck on a deep sleep for the rest of eternity, and I’m not talking about the spell.” He pressed the tip of the knife against Gossamer’s neck, a diminute drop of blood leaving his neck and showing just how serious he was about his threats.

“Fine. Just… put them down, please,” Midnight said slowly as she released the Capricorn and pulled Pockets away from the pair.

“Middy,” Pockets whispered, “I have an idea.” The bat’s ear twitched to signal that she’d heard her, but her eyes never left the unicorn. “Well, it’s more of a do now, ask questions later deal.” The unicorn grinned awkwardly… before shooting two fast yet weak blast of magic at Midnight’s parents, pushing them back and out of the taller unicorn’s grip, right before slamming Midnight’s “special sword” into his face, slapping him quickly and repeatedly, before slamming it into his face once more.

He blinked in annoyance, looking to his sides and noticing the lack of hostages, “Well crap.” He teleported next to the capricorn and broke her free, the two getting ready to fight.

“You,” Midnight stepped forward, drawing her blade slowly. “You break into my house. You threaten my parents! The love of my LIFE!” She wasn’t angry. She wasn’t even pissed.

Oooh no, she was waaaay beyond pissed. The growl coming from her throat reminded everypony in the room of something akin to a monster from the Everfree.

Actually, that would have been less dangerous.

“Boo hoo cry me a river.” The unicorn said before firing off a powerful beam of sheer dark magic at the thestral.

Pockets stepped in and shot a beam of her own, her dark blue-colored magic keeping his power at bay, “Go! Deal with the fish, I’ll keep him distracted.”

“Did you just call me a fish!? The capricorn hissed and furiously darted towards Midnight.The thestral turned and grabbed her by the horns, twisting her and slamming her into the ground face first.

“Stay. DOWN!” she yelled, slamming her face into the ground again. “I don’t care how sexy you are, nopony threatens my family!”

“Wait… sexy?” The capricorn quirked an eyebrow in confusion.

Midnight nodded. “Well, if you hadn’t been a murderous thief… Hmm, I’d tap that.”

“Why thank YOU!” Mystique hissed and used the window of opportunity to shove her away, “But I don’t date targets… but you are pretty cute not going to lie. Still.”

“Hey! Flirting without m-me… gah, so rude!” Pockets huffed as she kept the beam going.

“Target?” Midnight lowered her stance. “So you are after me and Pockets then!?”

“No, you’re not so special.” The unicorn said calmly, the use of this amount of magic being nothing to him, “We’re after all of you rich ponies, and that includes you.” He yawned, and with the yawn came even more power from his horn, pushing Pockets’ beam back.

“Don’t let up Pockets!” Midnight called out. “You can’t let that two bit magician beat you. The mare I love is way stronger than that hack!”

Pockets smiled at the motivation, her magic getting back some ground yet still not enough to beat the dark mage.

“Ha, you fool!” The capricorn grinned as she launched herself forwards, knocking Midnight back. Her tail clashed against Midnight’s blade once more, pulling back to slash at a different angle yet parrying again, “No regular unicorn can beat Dusk, his dark arcane powers can easily overpower your dumb unicorn magic!”

“Then you underestimate her,” Midnight replied as she knocked the tail away and took a step forward, her blade blurred and the Capricorn felt a sharp sting on her cheek. “Pockets is… she’s my perfect song. One that I’ll sing about forever!”

Suddenly, Pickett’s magic grew stronger, her heart racing not because of the amount of stress all that magic was laying upon her head, but because of the sweet words being talked about her, the hope Midnight had, the way she believed in her.

The male unicorn felt this sudden shift in power, grunting and focusing his dark powers to their maximum power, which even then kept being pushed back by Pockets’ own beam, a beam that began to show small pink details, “I don’t know what’s going on, her magic is somehow becoming more powerful. Stop her!”

The capricorn nodded and darted towards Pockets with her blade ready to strike, only to have Midnight grab her tail in her mouth, her pointed fangs sinking into the soft flesh.

The capricorn screeched and pushed Midnight back, rubbing her injured skin and looking at her with a death stare, “You maniac!”

“Says the crazy river snake trying to kill us!” Midnight yelled back. “Here’s an idea. Why don’t you just—” she grabbed her tail. Get!—” She started to swing. “OUT!” and with a mighty toss, threw the Capricorn out of the second story window.

“Mystique!” Skull shouted. And Pockets used that window of opportunity to double her efforts, keeping her motivation in her mind, Midnight and the safety of her home and family, the safety of the two of them, their future, their love.

The beam doubled in size, quickly overpowering Skull’s own and pushing him into the wall, which soon gave up and broke due to the sheer power, blasting him out of the second floor as well and leaving a sizeable hole in the pink wall.

“Uhm… I can fix that?” Pockets blinked. She really hadn’t expected that much power, small sparks running around her horn. Midnight panted and rubbed her jaw, being flung off of her tail like that had hurt. Still… She rushed to her damaged closet and opened the back of it, revealing a hidden compartment filled with actual weapons. She grabbed to fresh blades and attached them, before leaping out of the hole in the wall and into the sky.

“Midnight, wait!” Pockets called out, rushing to the edge of the newly made exit. But her call was too late, Midnight was already out and high in the night sky, her emerald eyes scanning the area and searching for the two murderous thieves.

Dusk grunted as he stood up, his legs shaking from the pain. “What… was that? That wasn’t regular magic!”

“Does it matter?” Mystique hissed, her tail hurting like hell itself, “Thundercloud will be pissed that we’re failing so miserably, and ‘you-know-who’ will just cut our heads off!”

“I’m calling Blade for help.” Skull sighed, his horn glowing softly, “These mares mean trouble.”

“I found you!” Midnight screeched from high above them and dived towards them.

Skull stepped in front of the injured Mystique and prepared a bolt of magic, yet it was evident that he had exhausted his horn, the charging blast being weary and unstable.”Come on Blade, where are you?” He grunted under his breath, his eyes darting left and right.

Midnight landed on the lawn in front of them. “Okay, I’m glad you aren’t seriously hurt,” she said. “But, I’m going to have to arrest you now okay? So I’d appreciate it if you came along cooperatively and quietly.”

Skull stepped forwards, yet he was soon stopped by Mystique’s tail who stopped him.

“Don’t worry, it’s fine.” Mystique sighed, finally returning to her former self, “There is no way around it, we lost.”

“B-But!” Skull grunted.

“It’s alright… he’ll fix this.” Mystique grinned mischievously, her keen eye having picked up something doing circles around them from above. Her wandering gaze didn’t go unnoticed by Midnight however, her own gaze drifting upwards…

Before being tackled out of the way by a dark figure who pinned her down. Two vibrant ruby eyes stared into her emerald own, a soft, sly grin across the thestral’s face

“Well now, and here I thought tonight would be a total bust,” he smiled. “Turns out I get a cute mare after all.”

Midnight was surprised, mostly that it was a thestral that got the drop on her. A really handsome one at that. “Mmm, not bad, not bad at all,” she purred. “I wouldn’t mind taking you on a pony ride sometime~”

“Ooh, you're speaking my language beautiful,” Blade smiled, flashing his trademark ladykiller smile. “You know, I was getting bored foalsitting these brats. How about you and me go find a nice cloud and make it rain~?”

“Tempting, as long as I can bring a friend. I just can’t leave her alone after all.”

“Two for one? My lucky night!” Blade grinned, utterly forgetting about the other two there.

Then before the female thestral could respond, Blade received a powerful blast to the side that pushed him back. Pockets had teleported down with an unamused expression across her face, turning to Midnight with a deadpan, “Really? Flirting with the enemy? Get your priorities straight darnit!”

“Oh come on, he’s cute!” Midnight argued as she rolled to her hooves. “Fine, I suppose we can come back to this later.”

“Whoa, feisty,” Blade smiled and bat his stunning ruby eyes at her, his voice like fine woven silk. “I like your friend even more now.”

“Ok Pockets, don’t think about how hot he is, don’t think about his smooth sexy voice. He’s the enemy, focus!” The unicorn told herself, “Ok this is hard, he’s really hot, I need an adult.”

“Getting jealous now,” Midnight said and turned to him. “Tell you what, why don't you go find that cloud while I arrest those two over there?”

“Well… damn,” Blade sighed. “Now I have a dilemma. I really wanna take you up on that, but I also gotta look out for these two. What to do… what to do…?”

“You bastard are really considering leaving us for them!?” Skull groaned.

“B-But Blade, I thought you liked me!” Mystique pouted.

“Aww, of course I like my little river princess,” he smiled. “Well, guess I got no choice. Sorry Skull, I’m not really into dudes. So you can run along while I have some fun with my lovely ladies here.”

“Do you really want me to call Thundercloud in here?” Skull scowled in annoyance. If there was one being who could get in his nerves, that was Blade.

Shadow Blade paused and looked at the shady unicorn. Heh, shady. “Aw come on now, no need to get all serious. You can play too then. No homo right?”

“If it wasn’t for the fact that you are his favorite, I would so kill you right now.” Skull scowled.

“What on Equestria is going on in here?” Came an accented voice as a zebra mare jumped over the freaking wall that separated the mansion from the outside with ease. “This is the only house left, what is taking you two so long?”

Dusk Skull simply pointed at the two thestrals. “The female bat kicked our asses, as did the little unicorn filly!”

“Heeey! Why does everyone take me for a filly dammit!” Pockets pouted and crossed her forearms, “I’m a grown up dammit!”

“Shh, the big ponies are talking right now,” Midnight replied, eyeing up the newcomer.

She stuck her tongue out and blew them all a raspberry, “Buck off.”

“I did that remember?” Midnight flashed a smile at her. “Six times already.”

“Oh dayum,” Blade whistled.

“That does not sound like a filly’s language.” The zebra quirked an eyebrow.

“I hate you all, ‘specially her.” Pockets deadpanned, pointing at Midnight. The thestral mare gave her a look of mock hurt before looking back at the group.

“Alright, so now it’s what? Four against two? Not very sporting is it?”

“Do we look like the sporty bunch?” Skull sighed, his horn glowing, “This useless charade has gone for far too long. Let’s finish them off and go home, shall we?”

“Sounds like a plan.” The zebra cracked her back, grinning maliciously as she prepared to tackle them.

“Uhm… Midnight?” Pockets glanced at her marefriend, her horn glowing as well.

“Hmm,” Midnight sized up the situation. One flyer, one magic user, a speed type and a heavy. “This could be… problematic. You guys sure are hardcore for thieves.”

“You have no idea Missy.” The Zebra grinned before rushing towards the two with a loud battlecry.

“Waaaait!” Mystique exclaimed, pointing at the sky with a hoof.

The group saw in shock, worry, and anger between other things how Celestia’s sun began rising, their time limit was over.

“Buck that! Killing them will be worth it.” Skull groaned.

“And how long before all the noise we make attracts the Guard?” Blade said. “We’re within pissing distance of the Castle, so let's bail while we got the chance.” Plus there was no way he could, in good conscience, mess up the face of such a sexy thestral mare.

“As much as I hate saying it..” The zebra huffed, relaxing her muscles, “Blade’s right. We have to get going.”

“You must be crazy if you think we’ll let you escape.” Pockets narrowed her eyes, “You are all coming with us. And for once, that is not an euphemism.”

“Pockets, stand down,” Midnight said and stepped back, holding her wing in front of her.

“Wait… are you really gonna let us go?” Mystique quirked an eyebrow.

MIdnight hated to admit it, but she was outnumbered here. That zebra mare seemed to have powerful earth pony magic and she couldn’t discount the dark magic the unicorn had. The Capricorn was a complete unknown and the thestral… was really distracting.

She could take them… if she used that, but without permission…

Maybe Celestia and Luna would forgive her? She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she stood still. Something felt… off about the bat. Something that made Pockets and Skull’s horns itch uncomfortably. Something… wrong.

“Uhm… Middy?” Pockets stepped back.

“Guys… something is not right.” Skull grunted, stepping back as well. Blade narrowed his eyes. What the heck was she doing that could make Skull freak out?

A loud shout came from one of the neighbouring mansions. “H-Help! I’ve been robbed! Somepony call the guard!!”

The earth shook between them, and out of the blue, a capuchin colored diamond dog hopped out of the ground with a pair of pink, lacy panties in his mouth, “Guys, I’ve dun goof,”

“Oh for crying out loud Malachite!” Skull facehooved.

“Quick, into the hole!” Azona commanded.

“Well well well, what do we have here.” Malachite grinned and eyed the two mares, “Hey, name’s Ma—” His words turned into a whimper when Azona bucked him into the hole, hopping in as well, followed by Mystique.

“Blade, go in. I’ll seal the exit!” Skull said as he kept the two mares in check, his horn still glowing, Midnight opened her eyes and… Skull’s skin crawled. The look in her eyes. Was…

“Target… aquired,” she said flatly, devoid of emotion. “Beginning termination of target spellcaster.”

“Blade for buck’s sake!” Skull shouted, his legs trembling. The thestral nodded and dove in the hole. He hated being underground. Midnight raced at Dusk, her wingblade cutting the very air itself as she swung in a wide arc.

“Dirge of Death!”

Yet as this happened, a dark aura surrounded Pockets, and she felt her horn twitch and cast magic against her will… a teleportation spell.

“Goodnight.” Skull’s voice echoed through her head, before she and the dark mage switched places just as Midnight was inches away from him.

“Buck me…” Pockets’ eyes widened up as the terrifying image of a deadly Midnight approached her, closing her eyes and she felt a sharp pain on her neck, but…

She slowly opened one eye, to see that Midnight’s blade had stopped just in time, a thin line of blood oozing from the shallow cut on the side of her neck. It just occurred to Pockets, just how close she came to literally losing her head.

“Uhh… B-batty?” She gulped, a pained gulp due to the injury.

Midnight’s eyes blinked and they resumed their normal state… only to grow wide in horror as she slowly looked at her blade, and the subsequent injury it caused. “No…” she whispered as she stepped back. “No...no...nonono…” She tore the blades off and threw them aside as she became more and more hysterical.

“Midnight, chill, relax and breath.” Pockets said, trying her best to calm the thestral down, “I’m fine, it wasn’t anything big. Calm down—”

“Calm down! CALM DOWN!?” She screeched and moved away from her. “I did that… I nearly killed you… all because I…” She gave a choked sob as several Guard were already approaching from the castle.

“But you didn’t!” Pockets stomped on the ground and shouted with a spell that intensified her volume, sending several guards back and probably waking half the district up, “Now you are going to bucking shut up and listen to me, GOT IT!?”

“I… I hurt you… I hurt the one I love...again,” she sobbed curling into a ball and shaking badly. Several guards approached them after Pocket’s outburst.

“Ma’am? Is everypony okay?” one pegasus asked. “What happened here?” He saw her wound and pointed at another guard. “Get a Medic here!”

“No need. I told you, it’s not a big bucking deal.” Pockets sighed. Usually the shouting worked. Time for plan B. She walked towards Midnight and hugged her tight with all her strength, not allowing any complains or attempts at shoving her off. Midnight made no such attempt, her shaking was getting worse though. She just kept murmuring ‘I hurt her’ over and over.

Suddenly, the thestral felt… warm, both on the inside and outside. Both her body and Pockets’ own glowed with a faint, pink light, the hug tightening as a strange magical aura covered them. Time seemed to stop for a moment, and the world seemed to disappear around them, leaving them with no one but themselves. Pockets nuzzled her marefriend, held her close, comforted her. And in what seemed like a dream, she spoke without opening her mouth, her voice reverberating.

“You did no such thing,” She spoke, in a voice both commanding and comforting, strong yet soothing, a voice that would put Celestia’s own to shame, “I can sense just how much you love me. And it is because of that love that you stopped your attack, it is because of your strength that I am still alive. You are no monster,” The thestral’s head was raised, her emerald eyes locked with Pocket’s dark blue ones, the unicorn atop of her smiling softly, “You are my hero, my most beloved one. And I know you were just trying to protect me.”

“No… you’ll hate me…” Midnight shivered, not wanting to look her marefriend in the eyes

“Hate you?” Pockets giggled and softly ran a delicate, silk-like trail of magic over the thestral’s body, “How could I ever hate someone who’d risk her life for me without thinking it twice? How could I ever hate someone who would search for me from Cloudsdale to Tartarus itself? Midnight…” Her magic raised Midnight’s head, and gave it a deep, caring, loving kiss, half-breaking it to give her a soft smile and whisper, “I love you, and that will never change.”

“I… don’t deserve you,” Midnight whispered.

“And I don’t deserve you.” Pockets said with a grin, “Guess that makes us an even more perfect couple huh? Midnight, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me, don’t let a simple mistake destroy that. I’m tough, I have to be if I want to keep being your marefriend. You do hit pretty hard in bed.” The unicorn smirked, nuzzling Midnight, “Now please, for me, stop crying, and become the cocky, sassy, fun and amazing mare I fell in love with.”

And as she said this, the world seemed to return to its usual colors, the strong, warm aura vanishing slowly and returning them to the real world. Yet before it did, Pockets whispered one final thing inside Midnight’s mind, “I love you…”

After that, everything seemed to fly by in a blur. Medics were seeing to the two of them as well as Midnight’s parents. Unicorn Guards were attempting tracing spells as dozens of Nobles were all launching various reports and complaints. Midnight and Pickett were ushered off to the castle, somepony there was waiting to speak with them. Yet just as they left, one quick glance at Pockets’ neck would have shown no injury, but a small, barely visible scar instead.


That certain somepony turned out to be Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. And both of them looked… unamused.

Pockets was forced to wait in the hall while they spoke to Midnight, but with the door ajar ever-so-slightly, she could hear the conversation after applying a hearing enhancement spell.

What? It saved lugging around a stethoscope when safecracking.

“So is this report correct?” Celestia stated in a neutral tone as Midnight stood before them.

“Yes your Highness,” the thestral replied.

“Because, if it is to be believed. Then not only did you engage in battle without summoning for any backup, you put several citizens in harm's way, including your own parents.”

Midnight remained silent for a moment. “Yes… your Highness.”

“Not only that,” Luna continued. “You used what we expressly forbade you from using without permission, nearly taking the life of an innocent in the process!”

That reminder was like an icicle stabbed through her heart. It took every ounce of willpower she had not to curl up again. “Y-yes… your Highness.”

“We have gone over your report for the Tall Tale incident as well,” Celestia continued. “MIdnight Song. We will ask you… Are you capable of doing your job?”

Midnight was silent for a moment again. Was she? She’d gotten so riled up over a bunch of thieves, and not to mention what had happened at Tall Tale. “I…” she started and paused. “Yes your Highness. I believe I am.”

Celestia and Luna looked at one another, before the latter left the room with a flash of light. Once she had left, the white alicorn leaned down to the thestral’s eye level. “I know, that these past few months have been… harrowing. But the fact remains that you used Blood Rage at least twice in Tall Tale, and then your Lyrica trance without permission. You know what that does—”

“I know!” Midnight snapped then closed her mouth and bowed her head. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“I’m worried about you,” Celestia said as she put a wing over her. “You’re an excellent guard, one of my very best.” She moved her wing and nodded. “Aerial Ace is here. He’s waiting in the training yards for you.”

If Midnight wasn’t nervous before, she sure as hell was now.

“Go on, you know he’ll come looking if you avoid him,” Celestia smiled and nuzzled her. “I need to have a few words with Pickett first though,”

“Yes, your High-” Midnight’s mouth was clamped with a golden aura and Celestia shook her head. Once she was released, Midnight tried again.

“Thank you… Tia.”

“Better,” Celestia smiled. “Go on now.”

Midnight nodded and turned, walking towards and out of the door, pausing to look at Pockets, but before she could say anything…

“Miss Pickett, a word?” Celestia called out to her.

“Coming.” Pockets called out, before pecking Midnight’s lips, “I love you, never forget that. Also wish me luck because I think they’re about to roast me real good, and getting roasted by the Sun Princess does not sound pretty.” She smirked, booping Midnight’s nose.

“Well, you’re hot enough as is,” Midnight retorted without thinking.

Pockets snorted and rolled her eyes, “There’s the batty I love.” She grinned, leaning in for a kiss. But fate would not have it, as a certain white alicorn called her again. She shot Midnight a wink and went going, having no idea of what to expect, “Sweet Sunbutt… royalty sure has no chill.”

Midnight watched her leave, before turning and heading towards the barracks, ignoring the small fire that burned at her own Princess. If she hurt Pockets then… Midnight paused in her step and shook her head, before resuming her trek to the barracks.


Once Pockets was in the study, Celestia closed the door behind her. “Thank you for joining me today,” she said politely. “Would you care for some tea?”

“No thanks.” Pockets said in a rather cold tone, her expression changing as soon as she made sure Midnight wasn’t hearing them, “So, what do you need me for? I’m fine, Midnight did nothing wrong. We just had trouble with some thieves, that’s all. Can we please forget this happened and move on? I have a marefriend to cheer up.”

“That bandage around your neck says otherwise,” Celestia replied, seemingly unfazed by the unicorn’s tone. “Accidental or not, the fact remains that you were injured by the recklessness of one of my Guards, who should have known better.’

“No. was injured because of the idiot who made me switch places with him! We were outmatched, by a lot, with no way to call for backup. She did it to protect me. And look!” Pockets’ magic removed the bandage to reveal a small scar where the injury was once at, seemingly having healed overnight, “Nothing! So please, just… don’t do anything to Midnight. She was only doing what she thought was right.”

“And her using a technique she knew she was forbidden from using?” Celestia replied calmly. “Or the fact you were kidnapped recently, just so that pony could get at Midnight?” Celestia moved to sit on one of her massive pillows on the floor. “Midnight Song’s recent performance has been worrisome.”

Pockets deadpanned and took a few moments, before looking at the Princess with a far calmer expression, “Okay your majesty. Let’s get a little creative for a minute here. Imagine that your sister has been kidnapped, unable to use her powers and about to be killed by a maniac who hates the night or something. Tell me, wouldn’t you do anything to help her?”

“You… are quite the shrewd mare,” Celestia chuckled. She hadn’t had somepony talk to her this brazenly in a long time. “Touché.” She lifted the cup of tea she had poured to her lips and took a delicate sip.

“Heck yeah bluntness!” Pockets said victoriously before leaving out a sigh, “Did I thank you enough for giving me a second chance? I have probably robbed a bazillion Canterlot snobbies back in the day and yet you somehow still trust me. That… is quite amazing.” Pockets nodded… sparks coming out of her horn? “You let me stay with the mare I love, instead of sending my flank straight into jail.” The sparking intensified. “I.. am really thankful for that.”

Then she noticed that the room was a golden colour… due to the fact that she was inside a magical bubble.

“Miss Pickett?” Celestia said, her horn glowing. “I’m going to ask that you cease casting whatever spell it is that you are.”

“Spell?” Pockets quirked a brow, utterly confused, “What are you talking about? I’m not casting any spells.”

“Then why is your horn glowing?” Celestia said, conjuring a mirror for her to look at.

Pockets blinked, and narrowed her eyes, “Wot?” She raised her hoof and tried poking the horn, just to hiss in pain as a strange burning sensation kept it at bay, “What… the heck is going on!?”

“I do not know,” Celestia said. “I… have never seen magic like this before. What kind of spell did you use to console Midnight earlier?”

“Spell?” Pockets quirked an eyebrow, “I just hugged her and hoped for the best!”

“My guards clearly reported a pink light coming from you,” Celestia said and then summoned several tomes and flicked through them rapidly, before scanning Pockets. Whatever this spell was, even the Princess of the Sun could not recognise it. It appeared to be some sort of empathic magic. “I may need to summon Cadenza. Until then, we need to stop whatever it is you’re casting. It could be dangerous.”

“Listen, your majesty I’m fine! It’s just a weird glow, maybe it had to do with that dark magic the unicorn used.” And then, her horn stopped glowing… only to fire a bright purple beam that bounced around in Celestia’s orb, the unicorn letting out a sharp eep and ducking, only for the beam to strike her right in the muzzle… and then Pockets instinctively swallowed the beam, burping purple smoke in the most unlady-like way.

“You…” Celestia’s calm facade fell as she stared wide-eyed at the mare. “You just… ate magic!?”

Pockets blinked in surprise, “I… think so? I… am as clueless as you are your Highness. I mean, I’ve always known that my magic was a bit different but… well this is new, all of this is new, and let me tell you I am starting to freak out real bad. Also that tasted way too sour for my liking.”

Celestia had to take a moment and process this. This was a pony that could eat magic. Well, first things first. “Midnight Pickett, I want you to be absolutely honest with me,” she said curtly. “Have you ever done this with somepony else’s magic?”

“Uhm… no. I don’t think so. I have been hit in the jaw with magic a few times before, but that has never happened… whatever that is.” Pockets shook her head, “Is this going to get me in trouble?”

Celestia paced in a small circle as she looked at the mare. “I’m going to release you from the shield now alright? Do you think you can rein in that magic of yours?”

The thief poked her horn, and felt nothing. “Yeah, I think it stopped.” Pockets mused as she was dropped gently onto the ground, still unable to believe what was going on, “You… seriously have no idea of what is going on with me?”

“No, which is both worrisome and intriguing,” Celestia said. She had an idea, probably a stupid one. She summoned a small sphere of light, about the size of a tennis ball. “Can you… eat that?”

Pockets stared at the orb in slight fear, “I have… no idea. I guess there’s no harm in trying, right?” She grinned awkwardly, every part of her body telling her how stupid this was, yet opening her mouth wide anyways. The orb disappeared in her mouth… then out the back of her head, utterly unharmed in the slightest. It did make her head feel warm though.

“Interesting,” Celestia mused, looking visibly relieved. “So you might not be an Arcanivore…”

“An Arca-what now? Arcanine?” She had absolutely no idea of what Celestia was talking about.

“Arcanivore, creatures who gain power from consuming magic,” Celestia explained as she pulled out another book. “There have been a few recorded throughout history.” She offered Pockets a cup of tea and some cake as she flipped through the book. “So either my magic was too much, or you can only consume your own magic… with is rather odd.”

“Well I am an odd pony.” Pockets pointed out, absentmindedly taking a sip of the tea, “Huh… maybe it’s another type of magic? Like… I dunno, weird magic or something?”

Celestia snorted in amusement over the term weird magic. If Twilight had heard that… she’d have likely had a breakdown. “I can find nothing here. Perhaps the Archives will have something. For now…” she looked at Pockets. “I want you to stay close to Midnight. Whatever this is, she seems to be the trigger for it.”

“I can do that.” Pockets nodded, still having no idea of what is going on, “And… should I tell her what’s going on or…?”

“No, keep to us for now. Midnight is… well we don’t want to worry her unnecessarily.” Celestia looked out of the window, a pensive expression on her face. “Miss Pickett, can I trust you with something? Something very important?”

“Uhm… sure? I’m rather good at keeping secrets.” Pockets nodded rather awkwardly, this day was getting weirder and weirder.

“Just a little magic spell, in case you get into trouble like that again okay?” Celestia smiled. “It’s a very special spell, in fact, only Luna and I know it.”

All her worries, confusions and fears were replaced by sheer excitement, “Real!y? A super duper secret spell only the royal sisters now!? Oh hell yes, this is awesome!” She jumped in place like a filly.

“But,” Celestia said with a small smile. “It will only work with Midnight Song.”

“A super secret spell that only works with the love of my life!? Oh count me in sister!” Pockets giggled with an ear-to-ear grin.

“You’re a tad too young to be my sister,” Celestia giggled, before her expression turned serious. “Now, if you ever find yourself in danger. If there is no way out and lives are on the line. That is the only time I will deem this permissible, understood?”

Pockets put her serious-face on, or as serious as her face could get, “Ma’am yes ma’am!” She saluted like they had taught her in the guard, it wasn’t a perfect salute, but it was decent enough.

Celestia leaned down so her mouth was next to Pocket’s ear. “Remember these words. Cântă cântecul de luptă.”

Pockets wanted to comment on the strange spell… yet decided to remain shut and to repeat it over and over inside her head. “Huh… what is that for anyways?”

“Midnight knows, we’ll leave it at that,” Celestia said and winked. “Now, why don’t you go and find her. She might need some hugs soon… And possibly medical attention.”

“Oh boy.” Pockets gulped, recalling hearing something about that guy Aerial Ace being here, “Yeah… I’ll go for now. Thanks for the cake and the tea and the talk and shoving an orb of magic through my skull! You are quite possibly my second coolest friend ever, but... don’t tell Luna that because that’s what I told her before meeting you.” She chuckled, her horn glowing… and stopping as Pockets realized that perhaps using magic right now was not a good idea, “I’ll… walk I guess.”

Celestia giggled and waved her off with a wing. Once the door closed behind her, the alicorn let out a sigh as she pulled out a scroll. She’d need somepony to help with this new development, and had just the pony in mind.