Pillows, Tea, and Stars
“I would like to have a tea party at the sleepover.”
I stopped using the feather duster, feeling a pang of dread as Midnight made her request. We’d been in the middle of cleaning when Midnight had asked me several questions about sleepovers, and now she’d come around to something she said she wanted to do. “Oh? Is that so?”
Midnight nodded. “Indeed, I think ‘twould be quite enjoyable, and ‘tis one of the activities suggested in this book on sleepovers.” She flipped to the page in question and showed it to me, even though I knew she was telling the truth.
“Um, and what exactly were you planning on doing at the tea party?”
“The normal things involved with tea parties,” Midnight reassured me, badly. “Drinking tea, enjoying such things as crumpets and one another’s company, and engaging in a tale of murder, deception, betrayal, and intrigue as Lord Lordington of Lordsdale plots his revenge against Viceroy Stuffins for murdering his sister and lover Lady Buttoneyes, whom was enraged upon discovering his wife was carrying on an incestuous relationship with her brother, and that all of his heirs were in fact scions of said affair. Now Lordington is making his final moves on the board as Viceroy Stuffins plans his marriage alliance with Duchess Diamond, but he doesn’t know what Diamond truly is or that she has her own agenda within the Great Game. All while the Silent Ones move in as Lord Lordington’s plot for revenge would unknowingly doom them all. 'Tis a rather bloody affair. It should entertain my new friends.”
I stared at Midnight, unsure exactly how to respond to that. Like with most things, Midnight had a very morbid approach to tea parties. Her tea parties had come up in the historical accounts, so I had a pretty good idea how this would turn out. “Well Midnight, I think your idea of tea parties might be a bit ... intense for the girls.”
Midnight tilted her head to the side. “Aye?”
I tried to think of the best way to convince Midnight not to accidentally traumatize the Crusaders for life. “Your idea of tea parties are very ... involved. Tea parties are more light-hearted these days.”
Midnight frowned as she contemplated this. “I still wish to have a tea party. As this book states, friends at a sleepover should be willing to try the things their friends wish to do, as long as no single individual is dominating the occasion and ruining the enjoyment of the others.” She flipped to the page in question in an attempt to use my own literature against me. “I will restate, I wish to have a tea party in the way I am accustomed. In exchange, I will seriously consider what the others wish to do. I think this a more than reasonable proposal.”
Spike looked up cleaning cleaning the library bookshelves. “Actually, that sounds pretty interesting to me.” He rubbed his chin as he thought the idea over. “If in a trainwreck kind of way.”
“What is a train?” Midnight asked. “And how calamitous are their wrecks?”
Spike started to answer, but I hissed and made a cutting motion. “Spike, remember what we said about time travel and causality?”
“Oh right, oops.” Spike chuckled awkwardly. “Forget I said anything.”
Midnight's ear twitched. “So can we have a tea party at the sleepover?”
I could well imagine Midnight traumatizing the rest of the girls with her morbid fantasies, and their parents and guardians having some rather firm words with me afterwards. So I quickly thought of a way to deflect the issue. “Well you see, the sleepover is already going to be pretty packed for activities already. I’m not sure if we can fit something like that in.” Before Midnight could protest with what I just knew would be some solid logic, I added, “Maybe the two of us could have a tea party later.”
“Can I join too?” Spike smiled hopefully. “I’m pretty curious how this will go, and I’d be happy to make some cupcakes or whatever we’d like for it.”
Well that just increased the likelihood it was going to happen. Now I couldn’t back out of this idea without disappointing the both of them. Though having a silly little tea party with Midnight couldn’t be that bad. Right?
Midnight frowned deeply as she studied me carefully. “You are sincere in this? I would not wish to get my hopes up only to see them utterly crushed into pitiless despair because an adult lied to me merely to placate me in the short term.”
It was times like these that made me wonder how much in daily conversation really went over Midnight’s head. Still, I was committed by this point. “Definitely. It’ll be fun.”
“I think so.” Spike patted Midnight on the back. “It’ll at least be different, I have a pretty good feeling about that.”
“And can my friends be invited?” Midnight flashed one of her unsettling smiles and I shivered as goosebumps ran up my back.
“We’ll see,” I said, trying to temporize. “They all have their own things to do, after all.”
Midnight hummed unhappily. “I suppose that is true. Though I do have to wonder—”
There was a knock on the door, and Midnight scowled at it as though it had gravely offended her.
“Oh! That’s probably them.” I went to the door and opened it to find Rarity and the Cutie Mark Crusaders on the other side. “Hello there! Come on in.”
Rarity stepped inside with the girls at her hooves. Dinky instantly charged in past Rarity to give me a big hug. “Hi, Miss Twilight! I just wanted to give ya a hello hug before I ran over to hug Middy. ‘Kay?”
I smiled and patted her back. “That sounds good to me.”
“‘Kay! I’ll give ya another hug later.” Dinky ran over and threw her forelegs around Midnight. Midnight could only hang limply in the hug as though not sure what to do with this sudden sign of affection.
Rarity closed the door behind her and gave me a smile. “Good to see you. You’re doing well, I hope?”
“I’m doing fine,” I said. “Just finishing up the preparations for the sleepover.”
“That’s good to hear.” She glanced at the kids as they all gathered in the center of the library. “You’re definitely going to need to be at the top of your game to keep on top of this lot.”
“I should be fine. I’m a princess, if I can deal with monsters and everything else that’s hit Equestria over the years, I should be able to handle a hoofful of fillies.” Despite sounding confident, I couldn’t help but feel a little bit of trepidation. Sure, I’d made my lists, planned several activities out, made arrangements for food and refreshments, and allowed for several contingencies, but something could always go wrong. So while I wanted to run upstairs to plan some more, there just wasn’t time for it now that everypony was here.
Rarity smile warmly. “Oh, I’m sure you’ll manage. I just thought it fair to warn you that they can be a rambunctious lot. The last time Sweetie had the Crusaders over for a sleepover at my place ... well let us just say their attempt at Cutie Mark Crusaders Fashion Show Designers had me in a bit of a tizzy by the end.”
I could well imagine the devastation that must have been caused by unleashing the girls on her boutique. “Hopefully things won’t get quite that interesting here.” I pulled out a scroll and reexamined it. “I’ve got several activities lined up that should keep them busy for a fun evening before they head to bed.”
“I’m sure you know what you’re doing.” Rarity bit her lip and hesitated before continuing. “Though there was something I briefly wanted to bring up with you. Outside I couldn’t help but notice the, um...”
I let out a huff. “The ravens?”
“Yeees. There do seem to be, well...”
Knowing where this was going, I asked, “A lot of them?”
Rarity smiled apologetically. “I didn’t want to make a fuss, but your home is positively covered by them. And that’s not an exaggeration, darling. It’s hard to see the tree underneath all the black feathers. It’s positively morbid.”
I groaned and ran my hoof down my face. “I know I know, I’ve talked with Fluttershy about it, and she said she’d get to it as soon as she can, but this morning she said she was busy with something involving a union dispute with the beavers? I didn’t get any details about it, considering she was rushing out the door when I got to her.”
“Oh dear, that could take a while,” Rarity said. “From what Fluttershy’s told me, beavers can very particular about their working hours.”
I had so many questions, but those questions were best saved for Fluttershy. “Well I won’t keep you, Rarity. Thanks for bringing the girls.”
“Don’t think anything of it. I’m sure everyone will have a wonderful time.” Rarity stepped towards the door, but stopped to wave for her little sister. “Goodbye, Sweetie! Have fun!”
Sweetie waved back. “I will, Rarity!”
When Rarity departed, I turned to addressed the collection of fillies. “Okay, girls! Is everypony ready to have a fun night?”
“You know it!” Apple Bloom cheered. “What’re we gonna do first?”
“Twilight’s probably got a list for everything we’re going to do.” Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “She always does.”
I frowned, not necessarily liking her tone. “You make that sounds like a bad thing.”
“Well I’m not saying it’s necessarily a bad thing,” Scootaloo said, walking it back. “She just, you know, makes them for everything.”
Dinky gave Midnight another hug that made her squawk. “That’s because Miss Twilight wants us to have the best sleepover. Ain’t that right?”
I nodded and worked to seize control back for the conversation. “That’s right. I’ve prepared several activities for a fun packed night.” I summoned the scroll in question and smiled. “Who's ready to have some fun?”
“So this is called ... chocolate?” Midnight slowly turned the chocolate bar around with her telekinesis as though worried it might be poison.
Scootaloo raised her eyebrow. “Of course it is. Haven’t you ever seen chocolate before?”
“Neigh.”
Sweetie’s face wrinkled with consternation. “What, don’t they have chocolate in Vanhoover?”
Midnight’s eyes flicked to me. “There ... that is to say, I have not had any before.”
“You haven’t?!” Apple Bloom cried out in shock. “What, is yer mom some kinda health nut?”
Midnight's ear flicked. “My mother is not a nut. She is a pony, a unicorn specifically.”
I stepped in before this inquisition could cause any trouble. I realized belatedly they chocolate hadn’t even been invented when Midnight had been around. Unless I wanted to stick Midnight in a box somewhere, it was just going to prove impossible to prevent every possible causality time travel issue. At least introducing Midnight to chocolate shouldn’t cause too many problems... until I remembered how wars had been fought over sugar in the past. Well I was in too deep now with my plan to have the girls make smores.
“Well now she can try some,” I said, fighting to keep the panic from time travel paradoxes down.
Sweetie frowned as she watched me. “Twilight, is everything okay? You seem a bit... stressed.”
“Everything’sfinejustenjoythesmores!” I snapped out, my ear twitching. I swear, if I managed to destroy history and start entire wars over something as stupid as chocolate...
“Yeah, let’s eat some yummy smores,” Dinky agreed. “Go on, Middy, have some of the chocolate, it’s super good and Miss Twilight’s got plenty here.”
“Very well...” Midnight, with the utmost care and caution, snapped off a corner square or the chocolate bar and put it into her mouth. She chewed slowly, as though she were a food critic eating at the newest high society restaurant. When she finally spoke it was with extreme gravitas. “That was delicious. May I have more?”
I smiled, enjoying introducing my many times over great grandmother to chocolate, while also possibly dooming is all with sugary snacks. “Of course, go ahead and enjoy the rest of the bar.”
Midnight promptly shoved the rest of the bar into her mouth and smiled as the chocolate melted in her mouth. She licked her lips to get the remainder of the chocolate flavor.
“Great, now you should try out what a smore tastes like!” Apple Bloom said. “It’s even better than chocolate.”
Midnight tilted her head. “What is a smore?”
“Sheesh, don’t you know anything?” Scootaloo asked. “It’s like you were raised in a crazy cult commune.”
Midnight glowered. “I assure thee I was not. I grew up as a respected member of the nobility in ... Vanhoover.”
Sweetie frowned at her friend. “Be nice, Scootaloo.”
“Hey, I am! I’m just saying.”
Thankfully Spike came in for the save before an argument could break out. “Come on over here, Midnight. I’ll show you how to make a smore.” He blew a burst of fire into the fireplace to get the fireplace going before sticking a marshmallow on a stick into the flame. “Now, what you do is heat up a marshmallow, then once it’s just about to melt, you take it out. Once you’re done with that you take two halves of a graham cracker, and then sandwich a chocolate bar and the marshmallow between them.” He did as he said and then put the smore into his mouth. “See?”
Midnight studiously watched the whole process and was frowning by the end. “These smores seem messy.”
“But super yummy!” Dinky plopped herself by the fire and started warming a marshmallow. “Come on, try one.”
Sweetie also started her own marshmallow. “Yeah, try at least one. If you like chocolate you’ll love this. Do it just like this.”
“Is your marshmallow supposed to be on fire?” Midnight asked.
Sweetie yelped as she blew to put out her marshmallow.
Scootaloo snickered. “Only if you like them burnt.”
“Here, try a couple.” Apple Bloom offered up her properly cooked marshmallow, and Midnight cautiously took it, studied it, and then popped it into her mouth.
Midnight chewed for several seconds before nodding in approval once again. “Hm, this is quite delicious as well.”
Apple Bloom smiled and then started cooking another one “That’s how it’s supposed to be. You can try one of Sweetie’s burnt marshmallows next. Everything she cooks pretty much ends up the flavor of burnt, so you can taste the difference and see what you like.”
“I don’t burn everything!” Sweetie’s voice hit a higher octave as she protested.
Scootaloo’s face wrinkled with incredulity. “You managed to burn cereal. I was there and I’m still not sure how you managed to do that.”
“Also the orange juice,” Apple Bloom added. “Ah was starting to wonder if Sweetie was playing a prank on us.”
“What about the time she set ice cream on fire?” Scootaloo asked. “Granted, that was pretty radical. Even Rainbow was impressed.”
Sweetie’s voice continued to climb the scale. “That was the one time!”
Scootaloo smirked. “You know your marshmallow is on fire again, right?”
“No it’s—AH!” Sweetie wildly swing her stick to put out her marshmallow. She shot a sour glower at Scootaloo. “That doesn’t mean anything.”
“Your cooking is like my mommy’s,” Dinky said. “It’s very fwooshy.”
Midnight sat down by everyone and watched them cook marshmallows. “Mayhaps thou shouldst attempt to apply less fire and heat to thy cooking?”
“So we keep telling her.” Scootaloo took Sweetie’s stick and gave it to Midnight. “Here’s a taste of the Sweetie Special.”
Sweetie Belle crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not that bad.”
“Kinda are,” Scootaloo replied.
“Girls, be nice to one another,” I cautioned, wanting to put a hoof down on any fight.
Midnight took the burned marshmallow and ate it. “Hm, it tastes like ash. Is that intentional? Because ‘tis much less appealing than the one that was not burned to a crisp.”
“Everypony’s a critic,” Sweetie grumbled.
I started building smores as they finished cooking marshmallows and put them out in neat rows. “Okay everypony, try a couple out! Though not too many. You don’t want to fill up before dinner later.”
Spike smiled and puffed out his chest. “Right, I’m making lasagna.”
The girls quickly started scarfing down the smores, except for Midnight, who of course took her time to examine the smore before delicately putting it in her mouth. Once she was done she turned to me. “Do you always eat such delicious things?”
“Well, not always.” I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Smores aren’t very healthy, and all that sugar will go right to your hips.” Among the reasons why I was resisting the temptation of having any smores right then. Considering how many sugary treats Pinkie tended to shove my way and anypony in general proximity to her, I had to be pretty careful how much I ate, especially when I didn’t have all that active of a lifestyle.
“Neigh, I suppose not.” Midnight frowned as she seriously considered the idea of eating a second smore.
Scootaloo scoffed and chowed down on another. “Nah, we’re kids. We don’t have to worry about stuff like that like old ponies.”
I tried not to be irked by the assertion that I might be old. I was still well within a mare in my prime, thank you, and that didn’t even count all of the changes I’d gone through when I’d become an alicorn.
Apple Bloom nodded. “Besides, Ah do all sorts of work on the farm. That’s gotta count for somethin’.”
“And I do a lot of exercise,” Scootaloo added.
“Do hugs count as exercise?” Dinky asked. “Because I do a lot of those.”’
Apple Bloom pressed her lips together. “Ah don’t know. Maybe?”
Not having much to add to the conversation, Sweetie turned to me. “So what’re we doing after eating smores?”
I retrieved my list and looked it over. “Let me see...”
“I love pillow fights!” Scootaloo cried out as she took a test swing of her pillow.
“Me too!” Apple Bloom grinned mischievously and then bapped her with a pillow.
“Oh now it’s on!”
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom went at one another with gusto before I put a shield up between them. “Now don’t get started before everypony is ready,” I told them.
“Meh, let them wear one another out so that we can win.” Sweetie and Dinky we’re standing next to one another, already having made an impromptu team against the others.
Scootaloo frowned at them. “That doesn’t work if everyone else knows that’s what you’re gonna be doing.”
“Will too!” Sweetie shot back.
As those two started arguing and bantering back and forth, Midnight examine her own pillow. “So the objective is to strike one another with these pillows? To what ends?”
“Because it’s fun!” Dinky said. “See?” She smacked Apple Bloom in the face with a pillow.
Apple Bloom hit her back and grinned. “Oh yer gonna get it!”
Chaos soon broke out as the little filles started wacking one another nearly at random, all while Midnight watched on and returned to looking at her pillow. “And this is fun?”
I nodded. “Just get in there and have some nice safe fun. It’s like dodgeball or snowball fights, but with pillows.”
“Aaah, I see.” It was as Midnight’s face spread in a profoundly disturbing predatory smile that I realized who I was talking to and I had just made a terrible mistake. This was a pony who later in life would traumatize a whole generation of children with a simple snowball fight, and I had just unleashed her on the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
Midnight lit her horn and floated three pillows into the air, spinning them around her. For Celestia’s sake. Only Midnight Sparkle could make pillows seem threatening. I cleared my throat and reached out to touch her shoulder.
“But the goal isn’t to hurt anypony, Midnight. It’s okay to have fun and roughhouse a little bit, but you don’t want to go too far.”
Scootaloo scoffed and flipped a pillow onto her back. “Come on, Twilight, they’re just pillows. Nopony is going to get hurt.”
“Um...” Apple Bloom bit her lip and slowly started backing away as Midnight advanced. “Ah don’t know about that. Middy, ya don’t need to take this so seriously.”
“Nonsense, my friends. I am not taking this too seriously. This will be a fun game of skill, strategy, and endurance!”
“Midnight, I’d really rather not--”
My words were cut off when Midnight shot a pillow at Sweetie Belle fast enough that I could barely see it. Sweetie Belle squeaked and ducked, thankfully landing on the pillow that she had grabbed for herself.
Scootaloo grinned and prepared her pillow. “Now that’s what I’m talking about!” She charged Midnight, eager to meet the sudden challenge before her. She didn’t make it more than a couple of steps before a torrent of pillows hit her from every direction. She was quickly stopped in her tracks, and vainly tried to keep the whirling assault of pillows from pummeling her.
What followed wasn’t so much a pillow fight than a pillow massacre. The girls screamed as Midnight used her telekinesis to toss the pillows from every direction. Midnight even had time to pile up pillows around her to build up a little pillow fort with which to protect herself as she kept her assault. Scootaloo briefly managed to go on the offensive, but Midnight already had a full pillow fort in the shape of a skull ready to stop her from directly from getting to her. Soon she succumbed to the battering of pillows. Before I could even bring it to a stop, it ended of its own accord. All of the Cutie Mark Crusaders were on the floor, most of them groaning and stunned. For just a few seconds I got to see the pony that would one day become one of the most formidable magical duelists of her generation.
“Uuugh, what happened?” Sweetie groaned.
“I think we lost,” Dinky said as she stared up at the ceiling. “Like, a lot.”
Apple Bloom rolled to her side to look at the others. “Why did we think it was a good idea to go up against Middy in a pillow fight? Ah mean, we saw what she did to Diamond Tiara.”
“I thought that was pretty radical,” Scootaloo said as she crawled her way out of a pile of a pillows. “If we ever do anything like a pillow fight competition, we’re definitely having Middy on our team.”
“Yes, know that I am victorious!” Midnight emerged from the mouth of her pillow fort. She smiled proudly and puffed out her chest as she cawed. “Know that there is no hope, and that my victory was inevitable! Doom is the only fate to all that oppose me in pillow fights, and that my ascension will mark a new age of pillow fight that the bards shall sing for generations to come! All who contemplate having a pillow fight with me shall only know despair!” She tilted her head back and laughed heartily in a way that reminded me just a little too much of Nightmare Moon.
Then her smile disappeared and she returned to her usually dour mood with its accompanying monotone voice. “That was enjoyable. Can we try that again?”
“No!” I said a bit too quickly. Midnight just didn’t seem to have a concept of proportion or restraint. That was something I was going to have to work with her on later before I ever tried anything like this with her again. I cleared my throat before continuing. “I mean, we have plenty of other fun activities to do before bedtime.”
Midnight tilted her head. “Oh, that makes sense. Anything else like where I pummel my friends into submission for enjoyment?”
“Not exactly.” Or at least there wasn’t after I pulled out the list of activities and crossed out any of the more boisterous games.
Later we moved to an activity I’d been really looking forward to: stargazing. We stepped out onto the balcony to a perfect nighttime sky. There was barely a cloud in the sky, and the stars shined brightly. We were set up for a wonderful night of stargazing as I set up my telescope. Except for one little problem.
Dozens upon dozens of ravens stared at us with black-eyed stares. They perched on every available branch and railing they could fit upon, nearly making the tree as black as the night sky.
“Creepy,” Spike said to sum up the situation. “So when was Fluttershy coming around to deal with this? Sometime before this becomes a horror story, I hope.”
I sighed. “As soon as she can.” Which hopefully would be soon. I didn’t need ponies avoiding the library because they were scared of the Great Unkindness. I had enough trouble with my reputation as it was without this becoming a problem.
“Um, is it okay for us to be out here?” Sweetie said, asking the question that was probably on all our minds. “It seems a bit, um, occupied out here.”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “Oh come on, are we going to be scared of a bunch of dumb birds?” As one all the ravens fixed their gazes on her, and she gulped. “I mean, nice birds. We don’t have to worry about the whole bunch of nice birds, right?”
Midnight tilted her head. “What is everypony so concerned about? ‘Tis merely the Great Unkindness.”
Dinky partially hid behind me, even if that was kinda hopeless considering we were utterly surrounded by the ravens. “It’s kinda scary.”
“I do not see anything to be fearful of.”
“Doom, doom, doom!” the Great Unkindness cawed in a great chorus, causing the girls to cluster around me. Except for Midnight, of course, who didn’t seem the least bit perturbed by any of this, and looked more confused by everypony else’s reactions than anything.
I tried to rally the situation. “Alright everypony! Let’s just ignore the ravens. There’s a brilliant sky to look at, so let’s take advantage of it.” I finished setting up the telescope and pointed it to look at a particular constellation. “So, this is Aquila.” I created an illusion to show how all the stars in question were supposed to be linked together. “Form a line and have a look.”
“Oooh!” Dinky was the first to trot up and have a look. “The stars are so pretty. They’re like gems in the sky.”
I smiled, enjoying the opportunity to get to teach the girls as they each took turn. “And most of those stars each have their own planets and other objects orbiting them. There is a whole universe out there to explore that we’re only a small part of.”
For a time I turned the telescope to different constellations for the girls to look at while listing off various space facts I knew off the top of my head. But something seemed off—besides the ravens watching everything we were doing, that was. Midnight was standing off to the side, staring off into the night sky. She was trembling in a way that had nothing to do with the cooling night air. That was concerning, though I wasn’t sure what might be upsetting her.
“Girls, could you excuse me for a moment?” I stepped to the side to speak with Midnight quietly. They all looked at me and Midnight, but they didn’t cause too much of a fuss. “Midnight, is everything okay?”
“The stars, they are different.”
“Huh?” I looked up and it took me a second to figure out what she meant. “Oh! Yes, after nine hundred years the stars would have moved. Don’t worry, that’s perfectly normal. It’s all just an effect of the cosmos moving by slowly expanding outwards and different gravitational bodies interacting with one another.”
Rather than reassure her like I thought the fact would, Midnight continued shivering. “But-but that means I really am in the future. That I am very, very far from home. I had thought ... mayhaps ‘twas not true. But even the moon is different! The Mare on the Moon is not there, and if she is not on the moon...” Her shivering intensified.
Oh dear, this was a problem. Midnight’s predicament must have only really hit right now. I wrapped a wing around her and started her back inside. “Spike, mind taking over for a few minutes?”
“Sure,” Spike said with his usual helpful smile. “Take as long as you need.”
I thanked him and brought Midnight inside. She nearly stumbled on the way, being completely silent as we walked, and I ended up stopping to levitate her onto my bed. I sat down next to her and gave her the most reassuring tone I could. “Now Midnight, everything is going to be okay. I know things might seem a bit dire, but we’re going to get through this, I promise.”
Midnight hunched her shoulders. “Adults often say everything will be fine when they will not be so as to pacify children.”
Wow, she must really have been shaken to say something that pessimistic. But I wasn’t going to let her fall into despair if I could do anything about it. I placed a hoof on her leg and gave her a squeeze. “Well I’m telling you the truth. Princess Celestia is working with some of the best magi in Equestria to get you home. They just want to make sure that everything is going to be as safe as possible before they send you back.”
“What if they cannot?” Midnight asked. “Or if whatever magic they use fails?”
I wrapped a wing around her. “They won’t fail. If Princess Celestia is confident that it’ll work, then I have no doubts it’s all going to be fine.”
Midnight looked down in silence for several moments and she started sniffling. “I miss my mother.”
It was strange to see Midnight actually vulnerable. She was always so difficult to read that her showing herself to be a scared little filly tore at my heart. “I know, just give us a little bit of time, okay? We’ll get you home, whatever it takes. Then you’ll get to see your mother and everypony else you know again.”
“I would like that.” Midnight hesitated before leaning against me. “This has been the most unusual of experiences. I had never imagined I would be drawn into the future where I would live with a false—an actual alicorn who lives in a tree.”
“And you’re welcome under my roof for as long as you need it.” I squeezed her with a wing. “None of us expected this, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make the best of it. After all, you’re enjoy spending time with your friends, right?”
Midnight smiled slightly. “Aye, that much is true. And I have liked eating smores with them, and the pillow fight, and the friendship bracelets we made.”
“See, this hasn’t been all bad. And when you go back home you’re going to have so many good memories to tell everypony.” Reconsidering that idea, I added, “Though please don’t tell anypony anything that might change the future.”
Midnight pressed her lips together. “I imagine Mother would like hearing about one of her descendants becoming an alicorn.”
I shivered. I could well imagine the pride somepony like Sunbeam would take in that, and what she might consider if she knew about that. “How about we talk with Celestia about what you tell everypony before we send you back?”
“That sounds reasonable.” Midnight stared me in the eyes. “And you promise I will get back home?”
“I promise. Besides, if we don’t get you back to your time then I might not get to exist anymore,” I reasoned. “So you could say I have an invested interest in making that happen.”
“Unless time travel merely causes multiple dimensions to develop,” Midnight countered. “In which case it might not matter in this dimension.”
“Well yes.” I let out a sigh. “Either way, it’s best if you get back home.”
“Do you know how long this will take?”
“I think it shouldn’t be too—”
I was interrupted when Spike entered the room while carrying a sealed scroll. “Hey Twilight, you just had a letter come in.”
Wondering what this was about, I levitated the scroll to myself to examine. It carried Princess Luna’s seal. That would explain why I’d received it at night. I started to open the scroll but then stopped myself. Perhaps this wouldn’t be the best thing to read right in front of Midnight. Instead I asked, “Are the Crusaders doing alright?”
Spike nodded. “Yep! Everything’s going gr—“ There was a loud bang and crash outside on the balcony in reaction to fate being tempted with the Crusaders. The Great Unkindness erupted in a grin caws, barely allowing me to hear the Crusaders shouting outside. Spike grimaced as he glanced at the balcony. “Um, I better get out there.”
I sighed with resignation. “Go ahead, I just need to read this scroll here to make sure that Equestria isn’t in danger of being conquered by some monster, or some ancient evil is about to awaken and require us to blast it with magical rainbows.”
Midnight blinked slowly. “Is this a regular occurrence?”
“More than I care to think about.” I nudged her with a wing before she could ask more questions. “Mind going outside and seeing if you can quiet down the ravens? I’d really prefer if half the town didn’t show up at the door demanding I cut down the racket.”
Midnight nodded. “Very well, I will see what can be done.”
Once I was alone I broke the seal and started reading. I read the scroll again to make sure I hadn’t misunderstood anything, but no, everything was as plain as black and white. Princess Luna wanted to see Midnight, and soon.
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if i was there i would listen to the whole think .middy would love Shakespeare and edger Allan Poe
Another good chapter. Looking forward to seeing how that meeting goes.
LUNA NO. THIS IS A TERRIBLE IDEA.
Also I want to see that tea party now.
IDK, that tea party seems pretty lit.
This...will be an interesting experience.
Great to see an update. :D And lovely Midnight as usual. :D
Interesting while meeting Luna might not be the best idea I doubt Midnight is totally clueless to the mare-less moon means. She after all lived before Celestia hid the truth of the fight between Nightmare Moon and herself
Yeah, Middy's tea times are interesting.
Twilight, with how small Ponyville is i think the chances of Middy seeing a train are big.
Of course Middy can life like NMM. Twilight, have you not realized the connection you both have to Luna. You read Shadow's memoirs right?
Luna and Middy meeting. That is going to be VERY interesting.
I was a little iffy on this, but Midnight's character has won me over. This is one fun read!
Wonder why Luna might talk to Midnight about.
9606626
She is more or less Luna's... daughter... clone thing. I'm sure she'd like to apologize for Nightmare Moon.
Yay for the return of Middy tea parties
I thought you read Midnight's memoirs, Twilight
Lord Lordington of Lordsdale is the best tea party guest.
Typos?
Ah. This will be interesting. I imagine Luna has a lot of unresolved feeling tied up into Midnight and her role in her life.
Midnight's reaction to Luna should be... something.
I am entirely in favor of tea parties that reenact Game of Thrones with stuffed animals.
I'm amazed Twilight thinks anything goes over Midnight's head. Aside from social nuances.
And in the middle of labor negotiations, Fluttershy felt a sense of forboding doom.
Don't forget why those sugar wars were fought, Twilight. You're just upholding your teacher's tradition.
Hoo boy. Talk about dangerous future knowledge. Especially if Luna wants a face-to-face meeting...
This could get a lot worse than traumatizing fillies. Though there will likely be plenty of that as well.
I hope Luna shows up looking like she did in episode 2. Maybe that would make things easier for Midnight?
Midnight armed with pillows gives off the same chaotic energy as Kevin:
Nice to see that for all of Middy's oddities, she's still just a kid in a very overwhelming situation. Intrigued to see how her meeting with Luna will go (considering she doesn't at this point know about their connection)
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True, and you have the right to put a reclamation for them not selling what they advertise
yea........... that’d be very fucking embarrassing, XD
so let me get this straight.... a pillow fight, with a filly-outta-time by 900 years in a time period were Wars were most likely a norm, 🤔........... yea..... only end to that is TOTAL DOMINATION by Midnight Sparkle,
and right i were, she overwhelmed them pretty quickly,
Yep, Midnight can really channel Luna's Large Ham tendencies when she gets excited.