> Edge of Eternity
>  by FrostTheWolf
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> 01- Not the End
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Edge of Eternity- Not the End




The cheers of family and friends could be heard throughout the Canterlot Amphitheater. The graduating class of Canterlot High sat in the front rows of the theater while their families and friends watched from afar as each one was called up by name. Some were recognized for their academic performances, while others were acknowledged for their contributions to making the school a better place. It was a memorable moment that many people would cherish, especially for parents that got to watch their children walk down the aisle and obtain their diploma’s.

Well… memorable for almost everyone that was there. One of the attendees wasn’t exactly thrilled to be there. Not because he didn’t like what was going on, but more because he couldn’t be a part of it. Both of his siblings were up there with the graduating class, but he was a year behind. He really wanted to be there alongside them and wasn’t exactly happy with just watching the ceremony from the stands.

It was after the commencement speech was given that the speaker of the ceremony began to call up the graduating class alphabetically by their last name. Many of the names he heard were people that he was only somewhat familiar with or didn’t know at all. Though, as the speaker went down the list, there were particular names that he did know.

“Dawn Nocte.” That was followed by a blond haired woman with blue eyes walking up to the stage. She wore a black graduation gown alongside the rest of the class as she walked up to receive her diploma. 

Many of the people that were nearby where he was seated began to cheer and wave at Dawn as she sat back down. Only to do so again when the next name was called. “Noctis Caelum Nocte.” In response, a blacked hair man wearing the same graduation gown and cap received their diploma too, before sitting back down next to Dawn.

It was shortly after those names were called that the one who was watching them chose to step away. He needed a moment to clear his head of the thoughts that were on his mind. Another student noticed this, and began trailing behind him. He didn’t go far though, just behind the stands as he leaned on the concrete wall and let out a deep breath. 

The student that followed him stopped next to him, “Something the matter, Naoto?” The student asked as she leaned up against his side. Naoto, now addressed by his name, looked back to his friend, who was a much shorter girl with gentle yellow skin, orange curly hair with a yellow balloon hairpin and light blue eyes. She wore a blue turtleneck, an orange skirt with cyan ugs.

“Yeah, Pumpkin… kind of.” Naoto replied as he let out a sigh.

“Is it because your siblings will be leaving for college without you?” Pumpkin asked, giving Naoto a friendly smile. “You won’t be that far behind them!”

“I know, but,” he said, still feeling a bit uncertain, “I just really want to be up there with them too, you know? Wouldn't you feel the same way if you had to sit by while watching your own brother graduate?”

“Yeah, but that’s because we’re twins. You’re a grade younger than them!” Pumpkin was distracted from conversing with her friend when a name was called out. She turned around, and screamed at the top of her lungs across the gathered crowd. “Woo! Lily! You go, girl! Yeah!”

Naoto himself took a moment to clap along with the rest of the crowd and congratulate their friend, Lily Longsocks. It was only temporary, as when the purple girl left the stage the crowd died down. Once Lily got herself seated, Naoto then looked back at Pumpkin. “I know I should be happy for them. Sorry if I’m coming off as a downer, Pumpkin.”

“You are being a downer, but I get it. Hey, think of it this way. When you get to the college they’re going to, they’ll have the place ready for your arrival!” Pumpkin tried to cheer him up, poking his cheek all the while. “The emotion you’re feeling right now is called bittersweet. So right now, I guess you feel like lemon pancakes!”

He chuckled a bit in response, but in Naoto’s head, there was another thing that was bugging him. With his siblings going off to college, they won’t exactly be around to help him if he somehow got himself in trouble. That and he really did not want to screw up his senior year at Canterlot High. Though, that was a problem for another time. Right now, it was a celebration of life and joy. The last thing that he needed was to be a mood killer in front of his friends and family.

“Thanks Pumpkin,” he told her, “I think I needed that.”

“No, what you need is to at least seem supportive. I know you aren’t self absorbed, but they might take it the wrong way.” Pumpkin backed up a bit, but gave him a quick but friendly elbow to his gut. “But hey, at least you don’t have to deal with Rumble anymore~!”

“Thank god for that,” Naoto said, looking back at Pumpkin with a smile, “Let’s go back. I can’t exactly be ‘supportive’ of Dawn, Noctis and Lily if I stayed here for the rest of the ceremony, right?”

With a simple nod from Pumpkin, the two began heading back towards their seats so they could watch the rest of the ceremony. Once the final diplomas were handed out and the graduates returned to their seats, there was one last thing that needed to be done before the ceremony was officially over. “And now, for one last final send off for our graduating class, please welcome Principal Cheerilee.”

The crowd cheered and applauded the principal for Canterlot High as she made her way towards the podium at the center of the stage. She was dressed in a gown and graduation cap that matched the ones worn by some of the speakers that had already been on stage as well as the students. “Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Today is a rather emotional and exciting day. Not just for the students and their families, but for the teachers and faculty who have had the privilege to be with this year's graduating class for the last four years. We are all proud of you for making it this far.”

The people in the stands began to cheer again for the students as the principal waited for the noise to die down first before she continued with her speech, “When you first stepped through the doors of our campus as incoming freshman, many of you were probably nervous. Now though, all of you have grown and accomplished so much within the last four years. But this isn’t me telling you that it’s over. Instead, I want for you to keep pushing yourselves, even after today. One of my greatest friends that I had the privilege to work with would tell me that there’s always something new on the horizon, whatever that might be. I want for all of you, not just the graduating class, but everyone to pursue that horizon. Show the world what you can accomplish. Tomorrow’s a new day, so let’s be the best ‘me’ that we can be! Thank you and let’s give one more round of applause to this year's graduating class!”

The auditorium became deafening with applause from everyone as the graduating class all stood up and made their way towards their respective attending parties. When Dawn and Noctis reached their group, a pink blurr knocked them on their backs.

“I’m sooo proud of you two!” The blurr squealed, hugging Naoto’s siblings with bone crushing intensity. The offending woman was a decently sized woman with pink skin, darker pink hair that curled so much that it by far overshadowed Pumpkin’s, ocean blue eyes. She wore an ugly neon green t-shirt with the pair’s names bedazzled onto it, jeans that weren’t long enough to hide her ankles and flip flops with an assortment of accessories that made it hard to determine what time period she was from. In all regards, she was wearing what amounted to a migraine waiting to happen. “I can’t wait for you guys to see the graduation party I planned!”

As he watched, Naoto could only let out a small sigh, “Pinkie, I know you’re excited… but I think Noctis and Dawn need a bit of breathing room.”

“Right, right, five feet until asked!” Pinkie hurriedly backed off while reciting some mantra.

“It’s not like that, aunty, they’re just overwhelmed!” Pumpkin reassured, which eased the older woman’s tension.

“You can say that again,” Noctis finally spoke. “Still, I’m so glad that you guys made it.”

“Well, mostly everyone,” they now heard another voice speak up as they turned to see an amber colored woman with fire like hair that wore a navy hoodie, jeans and sneakers that was standing behind Naoto and Pumpkin. With her was another woman with lavender skin, glasses and purple hair that was tied up in the back, who wore a violet jacket black pants and a magenta shirt underneath, “Unfortunately, Rainbow and her partner had an emergency at the Canterlot Mall and Rarity’s flight from Manehattan got delayed because of a storm going on right now.”

“I’m sure they’ll be here soon though.” Fluttershy added supportively.

“Hopefully so,” Dawn now spoke up, “What about Apple Bloom and her friends? I didn’t seem to notice them in the stands at all. I thought they would be with you guys.”

“They’re holding down the fort while we’re here. They wanted Pinkie to see you guys up there,” Pumpkin gestured to the now sobbing pink woman. “But I wouldn’t trust them with the place that long.”

“If that’s the case, then we should probably head back,” Noctis then suggested, “Not sure if there’s anything else that we need to do here now that the ceremony is all over.”

“I can agree with that,” Dawn replied before looking back to Pumpkin and the others as they began to walk towards the parking lot. Naoto followed behind them, yet it was as he was walking that someone happened to step in front of him and separate him from the others.

“Um, excuse me?” He asked, only for them to ignore him and keep walking, “Well, that was just damn rude.”

“Oh, Naoto, is that you~?” A sickly sweet voice cooed from behind. Naoto turned around, only to find himself looking at a somewhat familiar face. A teen girl with a dark pink skin tone, golden eyes and slightly frazzled orange hair tied up in a ponytail, wearing a dark purple vest over a white dress shirt, a black pair of skin tight jeans with lime green and white shoes. She also had a silver watch on her left wrist, grey rectangular earrings and a necklace of a sunflower. “I was wondering if you’d show up around here. I keep forgetting you’re a highschooler though, what with… well, you know~”

That had Naoto twitch in a moment of weakness, before looking back at the familiar face, “What are you doing here, Luster Dawn?” He asked her, “I don’t remember you taking part in helping with graduation for the seniors, so what gives?”

“My mommy’s the vice principal, she’s here to make sure Principal Cheerilee’s taking her ‘happy pills’,” Luster replied with a shrug. “But I guess we were both dragged here by family, huh Nocte?”

“I chose to come here and support my siblings,” he corrected her, “I wasn’t forced to do anything.”

“Keep telling yourself that to make yourself feel better.” Luster rolled her eyes. “I was just wondering, how does it feel knowing you’ll be an only child soon? Or, well, the only Nocte in town, I suppose.”

“You mean being an only child like you?” Naoto shot back, before looking back behind him to where everyone else is before facing her, “Look, I don’t have time for this right now Luster. So could you just leave me alone and let me rejoin my friends?”

Luster began again, giving off an air of false remorse. “Oh, did I upset you? It’s fine, I was just worried since they’re your last family members.”

At first, Naoto was going to say something. Though, instead, he noticed someone coming towards them as he let out a breath. “Speaking of family… your mother is behind you. And she doesn’t look happy.”

Luster spun around. Standing not an inch away was a woman whose skin was a gentle lilac, eyes were a piercing dark blue and hair a lavender with a teal streak through it, she wore a purple dress shirt with black dress pants. She folded her arms with a disapproving look. “Young lady, you have some explaining to do.”

“Eek! S-sorry mother, I was j-just talking to an acquaintance of mine!” Luster folded her hands behind her back and straightened her back.

“I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for the last five minutes and you answered none of my calls,” the woman replied back, “You had me worried that someone tried to kidnap my daughter on the most crowded night of the school year, Luster!”

There was an awkward moment of silence before Luster replied, “I didn’t mean to worry you, mother. And my phone died.” She avoided eye contact with her mother as she said that. “I-I’m fine, really.”

The woman just let out a heavy sigh as she looked back at her daughter. Though, it was then that she noticed Naoto and then changed her tone. “Let this be a warning, Luster. Please don’t do anything like this again. I would feel awful if something happened to you,” she said, before looking back to Naoto with a look of suspicion on her face, “And you… Naoto Nocte, was it? You weren’t trying to do anything funny with my daughter now, were you?”

“N-no, absolutely not, Ms. Glimmer,” Naoto shook his head as he looked at Luster briefly, before looking back at the woman to finish his sentence, “I was just with my family, then Luster found me and she wanted to… catch up.”

The woman, otherwise known at school as Vice Principal Starlight Glimmer, just let out a sigh as she looked back to him, “Well, you two will need to catch up another time. Right now though, Luster and I are heading straight home,” Moments after she said that, she pressed the button on an electronic key and unlocked the doors on a nearby car. Luster seated herself in the front passengers seat while the vice principal opened the doors to the drivers side of the car. But not before telling Naoto one last thing, “Have a safe evening, Mr. Nocte.”

As Starlight closed the door and began to pull out of the parking lot, Naoto turned back around. Though, just as he was about to start walking, he began to hear the ringtone on his phone as he picked up and answered the call. “Hello?”

“Naoto, where are you?” he heard Pumpkin’s brother, Pound Cake, say on the other end of the line. “We were about to get going before Pumpkin realized that you weren’t with us.”

“Sorry about that, I kind of got a bit sidetracked,” he replied, “Where are you guys all parked at?”

“Lot G, aisle 4,” Pound told him, “And hurry up! Pinkie’s getting antsy waiting for you.”

“I’m on my way,” Naoto said, before ending the call and making his way over to the other end of the parking lot to join up with everyone else.



In the city of Canterlot, there were many things to do and places to see. Everywhere you would go, you would find numerous restaurants, local businesses and entertainment outlets whether they were on your local street corner or they were part of the Canterlot Mall. No matter where you looked, there was always something new around every corner and surrounded by people who would want to visit. Whether it be to meet with friends or just to try something new.

However, there was one exception to this. One place that was abandoned, empty and several in the community would go as far to say that it was haunted. The old Canterlot High building. Several years back, when Principal Celestia was still at the school, building inspectors found that the foundation that the original school was built on was unstable. Part of the building sank to the windows, the right wing of the structure was crooked and sections of the school were already halfway submerged into the ground. If they were to follow through on demolishing the building, it would’ve been a nightmare to pay for.

Though, instead of going through with demolition and rebuilding the campus, it was decided that CHS would have a new school built at a separate location. One that was on more stable ground and that was bigger than the original to take on more students. Yet, over time, the state of the original building began to deteriorate even more to the point that it had to be closed off to the public. Even more so that the building was haunted where several people have claimed to see shadows of people moving along the windows of the building.

Yet, even though the foundation was seen as a hazard to everyone who had laid eyes on it, there was one that called the old building home. She was a young girl who enjoyed walking through the halls of the school and exploring the different rooms. Though, this young girl was special… for she did not have a body. Instead, the form that she had was entirely of magic and only those who could be able to see magic could see her. 

This didn’t bother her though. No one really came in order to visit or see her and she was fine with that. The last thing she wanted was to put others in danger because of who she was and the kind of power that she had. It was her choice to stay out here and the people that she had met before respected her decision. In her mind, with the way that the old building was, no one would come looking for her here.

That was… until tonight. It started when she noticed a white van pull up to the front of the building. From her perch overlooking the school, she saw four people come out of the van. Two of them appeared to be male while the others looked to be female and they were all dressed in black clothes. The girl became even more concerned when she saw one of the figures carry a crowbar as they went up to a window next to the entrance and smashed it open.

Fear slowly began to creep in as the girl turned into a wisp and retreated to the air vents that led to the second floor. She did not know why these people would be here, but she had a feeling that it wasn’t good. The girl hid there, but slowly made her way down when she began to hear voices from the intruders on the floor below her.

“Okay, does everyone have what they need?” One of the women, who had white hair and light navy skin asked, “Because I am not in the mood for setbacks tonight.”

“When you told me that the boss had a job for us, did she say that it had to be here?” One of the males, who had azure blue hair and light cyan skin spoke up, “I mean… do you even know about the rumors of this place?”

“Yeah, but don’t tell me a grown ass man like you is scared of playground rumors.” The other male, a pale faced man with equally pale hair teased. “It was closed because the foundation was poorly constructed, nothing more.”

“Okay, but the rumors of the place started after it was closed. If you ask somebody about this place, they’ll tell you that it's haunted,” the first male countered.

“Look, we came here because there’s a job to do, not to hear you complain every ten seconds. Now you can either go back to the van like a scared puppy and complain about being here,” the white hair woman told him, “Or you can suck it up and maybe do something useful. You’re a grown man, Favor. Act like it.”

The girl watched as ‘Favor’ let out a deep sigh, before looking back to the woman. The look on his face was all that the woman needed to see before turning to the other one that was nearby, “Belle? Are you ready to go?”

“I could be worse.” The last one, a woman with pink skin and pinker hair replied meekly. “No, I couldn’t…”

The white haired woman then looked back at the pale man, before letting out a sigh. “Alright, everyone put your specs on,” she instructed as each one of them got out what looked to be a pair of glasses and put them on their faces, before looking at the pale one, “Would you like me to continue or did you want to say something?” 

“Nope, you’ve pretty much got it, Night. Let’s go in teams of two and corner our prey. We’ll walkie each other if we spot it.”

The girl tensed up for a moment. Could they be talking about her? Were these people hunting for her?

“Um… quick question,” they heard Favor speak up, “What exactly is it? We were told that we were looking for something, but not exactly what that something was.”

That had the woman named Night let out a deep groan of disapproval as she looked at Favor, “Listen. Our boss has found that there’s a high amount of magic here. We’ve been told to find whatever that source is, get it and bring it back to her,” she simplified, before looking back at the pale man, “And I agree with you. We got two floors to cover and not a lot of time to do it. Belle, you’re with Double while I have Favor with me. Capture only, we don’t want any accidents.”

Once she heard that, the girl immediately left the vent and began to panic. These people weren’t ordinary people, they were hunters… and tonight, they were coming after her. Quickly, the girl took some of the old desks and blocked off the stairs on the left side of the building. Her first thought was to block off any potential ways that these people could enter and was going to do so with the right side as well.

Unfortunately for the girl, her actions did not go unnoticed. For it was as she lifted up another desk with levitation magic that the girl heard one of them speak, “Double, my specs are picking up readings near you and Sugar. It must be nearby.”

“Roger. Sugar, get ready, we’re close.” Double said, pulling out a brass handheld box with a blue crystal in the center of each side. As he held onto it, the crystals slowly began to illuminate as his partner got a similar contraption. The girl watched in fear as she backed away from the door and lowered the desk she was levitating. The boxes were glowing brighter with each step that the hunters took, until they reached the top of the stairs.

Sugar was the first one to see her, and immediately began to scream. Double himself turned to see what his partner was looking at and instantly tried to use the device in his possession. Though, the girl did not let him as she took the desk that she was levitating and threw it at them. “S-Stay away from me!”

Quick on his feet, Double jumped and pushed Sugar out of the way to avoid the desk as the girl ran off down the hall. She could hear the sounds of their walkie talkies going off as she slipped under the door for the janitor closet, “What the hell’s going on up there, Double?! I just heard Belle scream!”

“Whatever we’re after, it’s headed your way!” Double shouted, before giving chase and leaving his partner behind.

“You heard him, Favor. Get ready!”

The girl held her breath, hoping that her hiding place would be enough for her to avoid her pursuers. However, as Double was walking, he stopped in front of the door. The girl inside watched as the hunter that was chasing her tried to force the door open. There were no vents for her to escape through and if she did slip through the door, she would end up getting caught in the contraption that he was carrying.

It was as she shuffled her feet though that the girl found a way out. The floor under her had a crack that was hidden by a floorboard, which she immediately slipped through as the lock on the door gave way and Double forced the door open.

As the girl landed though, she did not have enough time to get back on her feet as she felt herself getting pulled back. “Contact with the target! Attempting to capture now!!”

When she turned around, the girl saw Night with the same contraption that the other two had as it glowed brightly and tried to pull her in. She tried resisting, but the harder she tried, the more that the device fought back. The girl was looking for a way out, yet could only think of one possibility. With as much strength as she could muster, she applied her magic to a set of school lockers that were nearby and used her magic to unscrew them from the wall. 

As the girl was pulled closer, she threw the lockers at the one that was attempting to capture her. “Night, look out!!!”

When Night realized what was coming for her at, she immediately ducked as part of the locker hit her shoulder. In that brief moment of pain, the girl broke away from the contraption and pulled more lockers off of the wall and blocked them off before racing around the first floor. “Double, this is Favor! Whatever you just saw, it hurt Night and blocked off the hallway down here. W-We need help-”

“F-Favor, shut up!” Night then snapped at him, “We are NOT coming back empty handed! Double, you and go after it!”

As the girl continued to run, she heard two pairs of footsteps coming down from upstairs. The one named Double was the first one she saw as he activated the contraption upon immediately seeing her, while Belle was right behind him. She felt the device pull her in and the more that it did so, the more that it felt like it was tearing her apart.

“W-who are you people?!” She asked out of fear as pain was felt throughout her makeshift body, “W-why are you doing this!?”

Double said nothing in response to her pleas, focusing more on apprehending the girl with the cube he was holding. Yet, as he pulled her closer, he noticed that she was beginning to glow brighter and that the blue light on the capture cube had changed to red. Which meant that the device was beginning to overload because it was taking on too much magic too fast.

“Leave. Me. ALONE!!!”

In a split second, a bright flash went off that sent a powerful shockwave throughout the area that shattered nearby windows and shook the building, knocking Double to the floor and having the cube slip out of his hands. When he got back up, the girl was nowhere to be seen, the backdoor of the school was blown wide open and the capture device that he had stopped glowing.

“Double, what the hell just happened!?” he heard Night shout over the walkie talkie.

“She got away, but she can’t have gotten far!” Double barked, giving Belle a disapproving glance. “We’ll pursue, but try to cut her off!”

“Just hurry up and chase it down!,” Night told them as both Belle and Double heard the sound of another window breaking farther down, “Favor and I will follow you in the van! Don’t lose sight of it!!”



Meanwhile…

By the time that they returned back to Sugarcube Corner, Naoto realized that Pinkie went above and beyond in order to make sure that this was a graduation celebration that his siblings would never forget. Not only was the dining area organized with enough food, drinks and snacks for everyone that came to the party, but there were also games, activities and live music as well. Many friends that they knew were there to celebrate and congratulate Noctis and Dawn on their accomplishments throughout the school year and wish them good luck as they prepared for college.

Even though the party itself was fantastic, Naoto personally found it hard in order to keep up with everything that was happening. He felt as if his senses were being barraged by the flickering lights and sounds from all around him and felt as if there were too many things happening at once. When talking to his own siblings, he found it hard to understand them because the music that was being played would drown out their voice and only catch pieces of what they were trying to say. So much so that he had to step out through the back door of Sugarcube Corner to take a moment in order to catch his breath.

Before he had the chance to head back in though, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He turned around and leaned against the building, before looking at the caller ID. “Huh? Why would she be calling me?” he asked himself, before accepting the call and putting the phone up to his ear. “Hello?”

“Hey, Naoto… are you busy at the moment?” he heard the voice of Rainbow Dash on the other end of the line, “I could really use some help right now, if you’re not busy.”

Right away, Naoto was confused. It wasn’t like Rainbow to be asking for help. If anything, she was the kind of person who would try to solve her own problems without any assistance at all. “What do you need?”

“Well, it… kind of has to do with the party,” she began to explain, “I ordered something special for your brother as a graduation gift and I was going to pick it up before coming to the party, but I’m right now held up in traffic and won’t be able to make it there in time before it closes.”

At that point, he was beginning to piece together what exactly Rainbow needed, “So you would like for me to go to the post office and get it before it closes?”

“Yeah,” she replied back, “A friend of mine works at the front counter of the post office nearby Sugarcube Corner. Just tell her that you’re picking up a package for me and she’ll help you with the rest. Thank you very much, Naoto.”

With that, the call ended as Naoto put his phone away. For a moment, he thought he should go inside and tell someone that he needed to help Rainbow. Though, with how close the post office is and how busy the party was, he thought that no one would notice if he stepped away for a few moments to help take care of this. 

After crossing the street and walking down a few blocks, he soon found the post office that he was looking for. It was a local branch that had a small office and it didn’t seem to be busy at all when he looked at it from outside. When he walked inside, the office itself was barren and empty. Something that made Naoto concerned because he thought that he was too late.

“Oh hello there,” he heard a voice from behind the counter. Turning around, he found himself looking at a blonde haired woman with light grey skin and a pair of yellow eyes that were a bit off centered. She wore a light blue collared shirt with a nametag on there that said ‘Ditzy Doo’ as the woman looked back at Naoto, “Welcome to the Post Office. It’s almost closing time, but is there anything I can help you with?”

“Uh yes actually,” he told her, “Someone I know asked for me to come pick up a package for her. I think it’s under her name, Rainbow Dash.”

“Oh, um let me check real quick,” Ditzy replied, stepping away into the back room where the packages are for a short bit. After a couple moments, she came out with a thin rectangular cardboard box and handed him a clipboard, “Alright, can I have you sign here for me please? It’s to confirm that the package has arrived and that you picked it up.”

Naoto nodded his head, taking the pen that Ditzy offered. He was going to sign it, though that was when he realized that the paper she was asking for him to sign was placed upside down. Though, instead of saying anything about it, he just took a moment to flip the paper back around first and signed the form before handing the clipboard back to her. “Thank you,” she replied as she gave the package to Naoto, “Is there anything else that I can help you with, sir?”

“No, I think that’s it,” Naoto shook his head as he looked back at the clerk, “Thank you very much. Have a good evening.”

As he left the post office and began to walk home, he took a detour through an empty alley. He needed a moment to release his frustrations as he looked up at the sky for a moment, “Dammit… why the hell is everything like this?” He said, kicking a rock on the ground and watching it ricochet off a nearby wall, “Why is everyone happy that Noctis and Dawn are going to be leaving soon!? No one even knows the college they picked! They could be going to someplace in Japan and they’ll still be happy for them! And they’re… leaving me without a second thought.”

He then let out a groan as he slouched against the nearest wall, “Why…? What part of any of this is there to celebrate about?! What part of leaving me alone here do they not understand!?”

Just seconds after he said that, a loud explosion went off not far from where he was. An air conditioning unit that was on the side of the building was now burning and a giant hole had melted through a nearby fence. The hole itself was big enough in order to crawl under and the metal was still hot, yet Naoto was having trouble trying to process what could’ve caused this to happen. 

Eventually, he came to the realization that the only real way to answer such a question was to see what was on the other side. At first, he thought he had to jump over the fence in order to do that. Though, when he saw that the metal had cooled down significantly, he began to carefully step through the fence and make his way over.

Once he was through, Naoto began to recognize where he was. It was a dog park that was part of the community center at the park. When he was younger, he and Dawn would take Spike here for walks whenever Twilight was on travel. He had not been here in some time, but right now, the dog park was in rough shape. It looked as if something had crashed in the middle of the park and dirt was scattered everywhere because of it.

“Just what exactly could’ve caused all of this?” Naoto thought to himself as he looked around the park and tried to find whatever it was that could’ve melted off that section in the fence. His original assumption was that something crashed into the air conditioning unit on the nearby building before bouncing off and colliding through the fence of the dog park. Though, it was as Naoto was looking around that the teen realized one thing.

What he was looking for was not something… but someone. “W-Who’s there? H-hello?”

“The hell?” Naoto thought to himself. He looked towards where the hole in the fence was, only to find nothing there. “Okay, my mind must be playing tricks on me. I swear I heard someone just now-”

It was as he turned back around though that he found someone in the center of the park. At first glance, she looked almost like a spitting image of Twilight, just with a few differences. When it came to her appearance, this girl’s skin was a darker shade of the lavender color that Naoto had seen before and her hair was longer in length. As for her clothes, she had no glasses and only wore a strapless top and skirt that were dark violet with a bit of magenta mixed in. 

Before he could say anything though, the girl lifted her head and looked straight at him. Her eyes widening in horror as she stared at the teen, before getting enough courage to say one thing. “R-run.”

As she said that, Naoto heard footsteps from the other side of the fence that were getting closer and closer. When he looked towards the fence, he saw two figures emerge from the same opening he came through. The first was a pale man with white hair and light eyes while the other was a woman with light pink skin, dark magenta hair and eyes that matched her skin. Both figures were in dark clothing, wore glasses over their eyes and the male appeared to be carrying a strange looking brass box with a blue circle in the middle.

The larger of the two slowed his movement, donning a confident smirk. “Hey kid. It’s not safe for you to be around. Why don’t you run along? My friend and I are busy with something.” He hid the box behind his back, and spared a couple anxious looks towards the strange girl in a panic.

“Who are you people?” Naoto then asked, glancing over to where the girl was for a brief second before returning his focus to the two of them, but was surprised when the man barreled into him, knocking him to the floor.

“Sugar, deal with the kid!” He shouted as he pursued the girl. The woman meanwhile nervously stepped towards him, reaching behind her back.

As Naoto tried to get off the floor, he watched as the woman pulled out a taser. His heart was racing when he saw the weapon as he tried to stand up, “W-what the hell? All I did was ask a damn question and-”

He never got the chance to finish what he was saying as the woman pushed the taser against his chest, shocking him with volts of electricity as the teen fell back down to the ground. 

“Oh my stars, I’m going to hell for this!” She yelped, pulling out her communicator. “H-hey Party Favor, c-could you swing by with the van? We had a witness.”

“Oh d-dear. W-we’ll be right there,” she heard from the other end, before hearing something else, “N-Night, Belle says that they had a witness.”

“Brilliant… as if this night couldn’t get any worse!” Night groaned at the other end before the communicator cut out. Belle then noticed the white van her companions had pulled into the nearby alley as the doors opened up. Party Favor was quick to rush over to his friends side and help carry the teen into the van. Though, once they set him inside, Party Favor had a new question to ask.

“Belle, where’s Double? Wasn’t he with you?”

“H-he’s going after the magic thingy.” Sugar replied.

“A-alone?” Favor shivered at the thought, “D-does he need help?”

“Obviously,” they both heard Night from the front of the van as she grabbed hold of her communicator from the dashboard of the van, “Double, come in.”

“I’m here. She slipped into a building, and I can’t go after her. Bring that boy back to base while I get the stationary magic from the school.” Came Double’s swift response.

“Double, we’re too exposed and in the open right now,” Night told him, “Tell us where you are so we can come pick you up. If we stay around any longer, someone’s going to call the police if they saw Belle capture this kid.”

“Just get out of here, you’re in a back alley. Stop dawdling and get the kid out of there.” He sounded a lot angrier this time around. Something that sent a chill down Favor’s spine as he looked back at Belle. She looked to be more a nervous wreck now that they were talking about the teen that she had tazed. Though, Night was not in the mood for this as she turned off her communicator.

“Favor, Belle, hurry up and get back in here. We’re leaving.” She said, anger off the tip of her tongue as she prepared to pull the van out of the alley. Night had no idea what the hell Double was thinking, but he was right about one thing. They had to get this kid out of here before someone realized what happened and called the police.

Both Party Favor and Sugar Belle immediately slammed the doors to the back of the van and hopped in shortly afterwards, prompting Night to hit the gas as they left the alley and started to drive towards their hideout. Everyone tried their best to stay calm, despite the circumstances of their situation as they drove through downtown. They were careful not to do anything that would attract the attention of onlookers as they followed the traffic lights and tried their best to act normal.

It was as they passed by an old school building though that they unknowingly got the attention of one person. Ironically, it was the same person that Night and the others had been going after all night. As she watched from the top of the building, the girl looked towards the white van. She overheard the conversation that her pursuer was having with his companions and was horrified to learn that they had captured him.

The girl felt that she had to do something to help him. The boy did not deserve to be treated like this. So, while the van was waiting at a red light, she softly floated down onto the roof of the van, before channeling her magic so she could sink through. She found him lying face down on the floor of the van, groaning in pain as he clung to his chest.

At first, the girl wanted to get his attention and let him know that he was here. Though, it was as she tried to tap his shoulder that the vehicle pulled off to the side of the road and stopped, “Favor, drive the rest of the way,” she heard the driver tell the others, “I got a few questions that I would like to ask this kid.”

Immediately, the girl gasped. If she was seen now, then she couldn’t help him. Acting on instinct, she hid inside a nearby bag that was full of mechanical tools and parts as the driver opened the back of the door and climbed inside. “Get up,” she ordered the kid, who was still trying to come to his senses. “I said GET UP!”

“W-what the hell-?” he groaned, before Night grabbed hold of his shirt collar and forcefully yanked him. “W-where am I?! W-who the hell are you!?”

“I’m the one who’s going to be asking the questions here, kid,” Night snapped, before she pulled out a knife from her back and held it to his arm, “First off, how the hell is some pipsqueak like you able to see magic?”

“W-what are you even-!?” The boy’s question was cut off when Night pulled back the sleeve on the right side of his shirt and placed the edge of the blade against his skin as he yelled in pain. A fresh cut on his arm trickled blood down his body as he looked back at him, “AAGH!”

“If you don’t start giving me answers I want to hear, then that cut on your arms will be the least of your concerns,” Night threatened as she moved the blade to his right shoulder, “Now… let me ask again… How the hell… are you able to see magic!?”

“L-lady, I don’t even know what you’re talking about!” The teen told her, “I w-was just picking up a package for my-”

He couldn’t even continue his explanation as Night dragged the blade around his shoulder, forcing him to emit another cry of pain as she kicked him at his knees. The teen was forced to the floor of the van, knife now at his neck and his left arm being held down by Night’s free hand. “One last time, kid… If you don’t answer what I have to ask, then this is not going to end well for you.”

The girl watched in horror as she saw this play out. If this went on any longer, the boy would surely be killed. She tried to figure out how to help him, but the very few ideas that she had fell up short. Which left her with only one remaining option.

If she were to save him, then she would need to bond with him.

“Alright, I’ve had enough with your bullcrap, kid!” Night snapped, raising the knife closer to his neck, “If you’ve got any last words, spill it!!”

Before the teen did anything, that was when the girl made her move. In an instant, she touched the boy's right hand as her body glowed and began to merge with the teen. “Don’t be afraid… I am here to help you.”



> 02- It's the beginning
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Edge of Eternity- It’s the Beginning




The night life of Canterlot was one that you would have to experience in person in order to truly see what the city had to offer. Whether it was comedy clubs, fine dining or a special midnight screening at the local theater, you would have to experience it for yourself in order to fully grasp at the wonder of it. Many people were walking along the sidewalks, waiting in line to get into an exclusive club or just waiting for friends at this hour.

“Hey girls, did you hear? Songbird Serenade is going to come to Canterlot this summer!”

“What?! No way!” One member of a group of four friends acted, shocked and surprised all the same, “When is she coming?”

“It’s happening at the end of July and she’s going to be performing with Coloratura!”

“Woah woah woah! You mean the Coloratura? Countess Coloratura?! I thought she was retired.”

“I think she wants to do one final tour before that,” The one who originally mentioned it to their group of friends spoke up, “Tickets are going to be going on sale tomorrow!”

“Tomorrow? Aw man,” another friend responded, “I got work tomorrow. The tickets would sell out in seconds! Plus, with the crappy internet at the office, I doubt I’ll get a connection.”

“Hey, don’t worry! Once they go live, I’ll get one for you.”

“Seriously? For real? Thanks!” she replied. The group of friends continued to discuss among themselves, but that was when one of them noticed something. 

There was a van on the other side of the street that was going much faster than it should be. “Um, girls? Are you seeing this?”

“Seeing what?”

“Over there,” one of them pointed out, “Someone’s running red lights with that van over there.”

“Yeah, I see it,” another pointed out, “Where the heck are the police? They should be out here stopping reckless drivers before anyone gets hurt.”

“Maybe there’s something wrong with their van? It doesn’t look like they’re doing it intentionally.”

“Intentional or not, if they don’t stop, someone’s going to get hurt or worse-”

Almost as if on cue, the white van began to spin out of control as two people from the front of the van were forcibly thrown out onto the street. The out of control vehicle then careened into the side of a city bus as it was pulling out of the stop, causing the driver to lose control as the bus abruptly hit the back of a car that was waiting at a light as it barreled forward into oncoming traffic.

Chaos began to immediately unfold in the seconds after, “Oh my god!!”

“Somebody call 911, fast!!”

“Can anyone help me, please!? It’s my daughter! She’s trapped inside!!”



As his vision slowly began to come back to him, Naoto’s memory of what had happened was foggy. He remembered getting the package for Rainbow, getting kidnapped as he was in the park, and a woman with a knife interrogating him in the back of a van. The last thing he remembered before blacking out was a voice. One that was gentle and calm that spoke to him when he thought he was done for.

“Don’t be afraid… I’m here to help you.”

The words rang in his memory as he tried to make sense of everything, slowly rising to his feet as he placed his right arm against a wall to support himself. He thought that he would feel pain because of the cuts to his arm, but nothing came. When he looked at his arm and moved back the sleeve of his shirt, his eyes widened at the sight of his injuries. They were almost non-existent and the cuts themselves looked like mere scratches.

“What the hell?” He spoke, startled by the sight. There was no way that injuries like that could heal so quickly, especially after just receiving them a short time ago.

“N-Naoto? Naoto, can you hear me?”

In a state of panic, the teen turned around and looked behind him, only to see an empty alleyway and no other sight. “W-Who said that?” he asked.

“I did,” As he turned around again, Naoto was shocked at who he was staring at. It was the same girl that he remembered seeing at the park and the one that told him to run when those people showed up and kidnapped him. Only this time, she didn’t look as scared as before, “I’m glad to see that you’re okay, Naoto.”

“H-how… do you know my name?” he asked, still trying to process everything that was happening, “Matter of fact… what happened? The last thing I remembered was that lady having a knife at my throat.”

The girl looked away for a brief moment, looking as if she was trying to get her thoughts together. Though, after a couple of seconds, she had an answer for him, “You were in danger and I… chose to save you. My magic has formed a bond with you and now I’m a part of you. It’s why your injuries are beginning to heal and how I was able to read your mind-”

“Woah, slow down a minute,” Naoto interjected, “I’m barely understanding what you’re trying to tell me. I mean, you haven’t even told me your name.”

There was a small bit of silence after he said that. Though, the girl seemed to already have a response for him, even though she seemed to be a bit hesitant at first. “Midnight.”

After hearing that, all the teen could really do was tilt his head in confusion, “What?”

“My name,” she replied back, tilting her head and giving off a faint smile, “It’s Midnight.”

“Okay… that answered one question,” Naoto corrected himself, before turning to face the end of the alleyway he was in, “Though… what exactly happened? I know you said that you ‘saved me’, but how did I get from having a knife to my throat in the back of a van to waking up in the middle of an empty alley? That’s the part I’m having trouble understanding.”

“I already told you. I formed a bond with you with my magic,” Midnight told him again, taking things slower this time around so that Naoto was not confused by what she was saying, “In doing so, I was able to bestow some of my magic… but…”

At that point, Naoto noticed her hesitantly looking out towards the nearby street. He could smell smoke from nearby and hear the sound of emergency sirens. As Naoto walked out of the alley to the street, his eyes widened in shock. There was a multi-car collision out in the middle of the road, with ambulances and police everywhere and paramedics tending to those who were hurt. Several vehicles, including a city bus, were damaged in the wreck, but there was one that stood out to Naoto the most.

The white van. The one that he was being held in. He couldn’t see any of the people from the vehicle, but the damage was beyond repair. The back doors looked to have been torn off the hinges and the front of the vehicle looked totaled as firefighters were putting out a blaze that sparked from the engine.

“Midnight,” he said, looking back to the girl as they were trying to not look at the devastation on the street, “What happened here?”

The girl was silent at first… yet, after a few moments, she tried to speak, “I… did this. When I bonded with you and your abilities awakened, it… caused that vehicle you were in to spiral out of control…” At that point, Naoto noticed tears going down her face as she tried to wipe them away, “T-this is all my fault… I didn’t want to hurt anyone anymore and yet…”

The teen though had a completely different thought on his mind as he looked away from the accident. “We need to leave… now.”

“Wha-?”

“If those people that are looking for you are still here, then we need to leave before they notice you’re with me,” he told her as he began to walk across the street and away from the accident, “Come on. I know a place where we can go.”

Despite what Midnight was feeling at that moment, she knew that Naoto was right. They had to get as far away from there as possible. The girl followed Naoto and went back into his body as they walked farther and farther away. He knew where he needed to go and he still had the package that he was asked to pick up, so the choice of where to go was clear.

Though, it was as both of them vanished from the scene of the accident that someone new had just arrived. An officer with rainbow colored hair and light blue skin had made it to the scene of the accident and was shocked by what she was seeing, “Oh my god, what happened here?”



When Naoto finally made it back to Sugarcube Corner, he was a bit relieved to see that the graduation party was still going on and that the bakery had not closed up shop. To the teen, it meant that he probably didn’t miss much since he left the party in order to go get the gift that Rainbow had waiting at the post office… as well as everything that had transpired shortly afterwards. Though, going through the front door was not quite a good idea. Not only would the bell chime ring whenever the door was opened, but it would tip off to everybody in the room that he had left.

Instead, he made his way back inside through the back entrance. Not only was everybody’s back faced away from there, but it didn’t make any noise when you opened the door. He could just easily come back in and join the others, without anybody asking him about where he had been recently.

At least, that was in theory. In execution, it ended up being the exact opposite. For moments after Naoto walked through the door, he felt someone grab onto his wrist and pull him away from the crowd. When the teen turned around to see who it was, he found himself face to face with Sunset Shimmer… and she wasn’t exactly happy.

“Where have you been?” she sternly asked, “You’ve been gone for so long that I thought you decided to ditch your own siblings graduation party.”

“Sunset, it’s not like that,” he tried to reassure her.

“Really? Then how else would you explain where you have been for the last half hour?” Sunset asked, folding her arms as she looked back at him and waited for Naoto’s response.

“Well, at first, I stepped out because I needed to clear my head. There were too many things going on that were happening too fast, so I needed a moment to recompose,” he told her, “Yet, as I was about to come in, Rainbow called me out of the blue.”

“Really? Rainbow called you?” she asked, sounding unconvinced by what he was saying.

“I’m being serious. Here, I’ll show you,” Naoto told her as he pulled out his phone and showed Sunset his most recent calls. With Rainbow being at the top of the list, “Now, as to why Rainbow decided to call me, she wanted me to pick up something from the post office before it closed earlier.”

“Couldn’t she have gone there herself?”

“That’s honestly what I thought,” the teen continued, “Though, she told me that she was stuck in traffic and that what I needed to pick up was her graduation gift for Noctis,” At that point, Naoto pulled out the package from inside his jacket and handed it to Sunset. “I was lucky to get this in time.”

Sunset looked at the package and set it down on a nearby table as she let out a small sigh, “That would only explain part of where you have been. It doesn’t take that long to go from here to the post office and takes even less time in order to come back. So where were you during the rest of that time-?”

“Hey Naoto! Get over here, Pinkie got us a cake!” Pumpkin shouted from the opposite side of the room.

Naoto looked over towards where Pumpkin and the others are for a moment, before looking back to Sunset, “Can we… pick up on this conversation after the party? I’m not trying to be rude, but I don’t think this is the right time or place for this.”

Sunset herself looked back at Naoto with a small glare in her eyes, before she let out a small breath, “Okay… but don’t forget about it. Are we clear?”

“Crystal,” the teen told her, before walking over to the opposite side of the room and getting a piece of cake from Pumpkin. 

“What was that about?” The bakers’ daughter asked.

First, Naoto gave her a bit of a shrug, before he chose to speak, “I think Sunset was just a bit worried. I was helping Rainbow with something that came up last minute and it took much longer than expected.”

She gave Naoto a quick once over. “You look stressed. Eat this, you’ll forget all of your troubles!” She handed him a tiny plastic plate with a piece of chocolate cake. “I saved it from Pinkie. You owe me.”

“Thanks Pumpkin,” he told her as he held onto the plate that she handed to him. Though, he personally knew that the troubles that he had couldn’t be forgotten so easily. Even if the piece of chocolate cake that he had was very good and distracted him while he was eating it, his earlier encounters with Midnight were still fresh on his mind.

Naoto was further reminded of this when he finished his cake and went to go throw away his plate. “Rainbow, you’re late.”

“I know, I’m sorry Sunset,” he overheard Rainbow speak as Naoto turned his head. She was still in her police uniform and looked like she didn’t have the time to change as the officer looked back to Sunset, “I was stuck in traffic and then when I was approaching Sugarcube, I had to make a last minute detour. A major accident happened on Starswirl Avenue and the officers there needed all hands on deck.”

When Naoto heard that, the hairs on the back of his neck began to stand up. She couldn’t have been talking about what he thought she was talking about now… could it?

“An accident?” Sunset asked, “How bad was it?”

“Well, all we know was that a short time ago, witnesses saw a van that was speeding down a street fling its drivers out of the side of the vehicle before striking a city bus and one thing led to another,” Rainbow told him, “EMT’s had to come out because of how many were hurt. Some were even in critical condition.”

Naoto didn’t even want to hear the rest of the conversation at that point. Being at the scene of the accident was already gruesome, but hearing Rainbow’s firsthand account of her being on the front line almost made him feel sick to his stomach. It was difficult to try and get the imagery out of his head as the party continued. Though, it wasn’t long until things started to begin winding down.

As everyone started to leave, Naoto stayed behind so he could help Pinkie and the Cake twins clean up and tear down everything that was set up for the party whether it was taking out the trash or putting any leftover snack into treat bags to give to the guests that were leaving. Earlier, Sunset had left in order to bring both Noctis and Dawn back home and by the time Naoto was done helping Pinkie and the twins, she was waiting for him out front.

When the teen got in the car, he felt nervous. In his mind, he was thinking that Sunset would try to bring back up the conversation that they had put on hold. Though, much to his surprise, she didn’t say anything. The car was quiet the whole ride home, which to him didn’t exactly feel right. If the conversation that they were having was important, then why not bring it up right now?

This silence continued until after they pulled into the driveway and once they walked through the door. Noctis and Dawn seemed to be in their rooms and most of the house was dead quiet. Naoto didn’t want to get too comfortable though, for he had a feeling that Sunset wanted to wait until they were home first before continuing their talk.

Just as he made it to the kitchen to put away some leftover treats that Pinkie wanted for Naoto to take with him, that was when he heard something, “So, where did we leave off in our earlier conversation?”

Slowly, Naoto turned back around to face Sunset as she was standing by the kitchen table, waiting to hear a response from him. “You were asking where I was after I got the package Rainbow asked me to get.”

“Okay,” she replied, “Where were you then?”

Despite the fact that the question was rather simple, the teen found it rather difficult to come up with a simple answer for her and Sunset wasn’t exactly in the mood for waiting on a response. To make matters worse, there wasn’t exactly a way for him to simply summarize everything that he went through. Nevertheless, Naoto had to try something. If he didn’t, Sunset would just get even more suspicious.

“Fair warning… what I’m about to tell you is going to sound a bit crazy.”

Sunset just let out a small sigh as she looked back at him, “Naoto, when I was your age, the girls and I had seen so many things happen that ‘crazy’ was just another tuesday,” she said, before folding her arms, “I’m pretty sure I’ve seen my fair share.”

Originally, Naoto thought about telling her everything that happened. Though, it was when he was about to speak that he realized something. If he was straight up honest with her about what happened tonight, would Sunset really believe him? She would probably think that he was crazy. Plus, what if the same people that went after him and Midnight went for them next? It was too risky to tell the truth.

“Well… part of what happened next was kind of my fault,” he let out a sigh, before looking back at Sunset, “I… decided to go through an alley by the park, thinking that it was a shortcut back to Sugarcube Corner, but I ended up getting jumped by some people that were there. I tried to fight them off, but… one of them had a taser and got me really good,” At that point, Naoto opened up his shirt a bit to show the markings that he had gotten when that ‘Sugar’ lady hit him with the taser at the park, “I blacked out a bit afterwards and once I woke back up, I went back to Sugarcube as fast as I could.”

At first, Naoto was unsure whether or not the story was enough in order to get Sunset to believe it. Yet, after a couple of minutes, she just let out a deep sigh. “Look… On any other night, I would be very upset at you for getting yourself caught up in trouble. Though, at least you’re safe now. Just… please don’t do anything stupid like that ever again. Got it?”

“I hear you loud and clear,” the teen responded back.

“Alright, now go get yourself cleaned up,” Sunset told him as she poured herself a glass of water from the fridge, “You’ll need a lot of rest after what you’ve been through tonight.”

As Naoto nodded his head and made his way back to his room, Sunset stayed in the kitchen and took a bit of time to process the conversation that she just had. There was something about their conversation that bothered her, but she couldn’t seem to pinpoint what exactly that was. When Sunset finished her glass, she washed it out and placed it in the top rack of the dishwasher before heading to her room to retire for the night as well



Elsewhere…

The second floor of the abandoned school was far less stable than the first, with creaking floorboards and yellowed walls that were chipped from who knew how many years of wear and tear. Nevertheless, Double strutted through the halls focusing solely on a device that looked like that of a speedometer with a radar for a screen. It made a beeping sound the further he walked, and eventually he saw a blip on the screen, and followed that to a door barricaded from the inside.

“Always look for the place with the most resistance.” He said to himself as he looked around the hall. After a bit of searching, he found a broken wooden chair leg. “Guess this’ll have to do.”

He took the leg and placed it in between the metal door handle and leveraged it against the handle with his weight. It didn’t take long before the old wood began to crack and give way against his force. The leg wasn’t faring much better, and quickly snapped in half, sending Double to the floor. Wasting no time, he stood up and yanked the handle out from the door, and pulled out the locking mechanism.

The next step was easy. Double walked down the hall until he was halfway back to the stairs, before doubling back and throwing all of his weight into the door, dislodging the blockade enough for him to squeeze into the room. It hurt, though.

Once inside, Double examined the remnants of the old classroom. He could tell that it was a chemistry class before being left behind, if the counters littered with used gloves, cracked test tubes and goggles was any indicator. The pale man casually walked over towards the teacher’s desk, but stopped when he heard one of the floorboards creak louder than any of the others. He used his broken chair leg to slide into the gaps and pry the board off.

Underneath were seven color coded stones, glowing faintly in the dark. Double let himself smile down at the stones, admiring them for a brief moment.

“Looks like someone’s been holding out on us~!”



> 03- The First Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Edge of Eternity- The First Day




After Naoto had decided to retire to his room for the night, he tried his best to get some form of rest after everything that he had gone through within the last few hours. Although, that in itself wasn’t quite easy to do with the thoughts of everything that he had seen still fresh on his mind. Most of those things he tried to set aside so he could get some sleep, though, there was still one thing that bugged him even after laying his head down and closing his eyes.

That thing was Midnight. Sure, she did save him when he needed it, but there were still a few questions that lingered in the back of his head. For one thing, he wasn’t quite exactly sure what Midnight was. Calling her a ‘ghost’ wouldn’t exactly seem right, even though she was see-through like one. All Naoto really knew was that she formed some kind of bond with him and through said bond, she gave him some of the magic that she had. Of course, outside of the fact that she could read his mind and how his injuries from being interrogated earlier healed like nothing happened, there was very little as to what exactly he could do.

Then there was the fact that after they arrived back at the party that night, he did not hear anything from Midnight at all. As if she just disappeared. She probably didn’t even know about the fact that Naoto had to lie to Sunset in order to keep her existence and the existence of their bond a secret, something that he wasn’t entirely proud of. It was clear to Naoto that in order to understand what exactly his situation was, he would need to ask Midnight some rather important questions.

When Naoto finally woke up from his slumber, it was an hour before daybreak. He tried to fall back asleep, but was unsuccessful in doing so and instead just decided to just follow through on the normal routine that he was used to. Though, it was as Naoto was getting himself washed up and changing his clothes, he noticed something that wasn’t there before.

At first, he thought that there was something wrong with the lighting in the bathroom. Though, when Naoto looked back at the mirror in the bathroom, he began to realize that wasn’t the case. His right eye looked to be shimmering for a moment and as the teen looked at his reflection, Naoto could see four symbols next to his head. Symbols that couldn’t possibly look like anything.

“What the hell?” 

At first, he thought that he was hallucinating since he was not fully awake yet and decided to close his eyes. Though, after he opened them up and his vision adjusted, he began to realize that he wasn’t hallucinating and the symbols were still there. The teen then tried to close each eye individually, the left eye first before closing the right. When he closed his left eye, nothing seemed to change. Though, when he opened it back up and then closed his right eye, that was when Naoto saw the symbols disappear. Whatever was happening right now, it had something to do with his right eye. However, there did not seem to be any noticeable changes that could explain this.

Unless… this wasn’t something completely new and out of the blue. Perhaps this was one of the effects of the bond or that this was some of the magic that Midnight had bestowed to him. Though, how exactly does this work? More importantly, what were these symbols?  Were they suppose to mean something?

As Naoto turned back around and walked out of the bathroom, the symbols that he saw disappeared as the teen put his dirty clothes away in the garage. The clothes basket wasn’t full yet, so there wasn’t a point in starting the laundry just yet. Not only that, but it was still early in the morning and the last thing that the teen wanted to do was wake anybody up. His brother and sister were likely still sleeping after last night’s celebration and Sunset didn’t normally wake up until after Sunrise. So Naoto had to do his best to stay quiet and not wake up anyone else.

Once he entered the kitchen, the first thing that came to mind was to make himself a quick bowl of cereal. Not only was it simple, but it didn’t cause a lot of noise. Something that was ideal since the teen did not want to disturb everybody else in the house. Though, before Naoto could sit down at the table and eat, he heard a familiar voice. “Well, aren’t you up bright and early.”

As he turned around, the teen was caught off guard at the site of his sister, Dawn, standing in the nearby hallway. She was already dressed in a set of dark jeans and a grey t-shirt as Dawn walked into the kitchen. “Please don’t tell me I woke you up,” Naoto groaned at the thought.

“No, you didn’t,” she assured him as she was beginning to start up the coffee maker, “I didn’t even know you were awake until now. Personally, I thought you would have slept in after last night.”

“I wish,” Naoto replied as he began to eat his breakfast. Dawn herself had fixed up something to eat, just as the teen finished his meal and began to clean his dishes and put them away. Though, as he sat back down, that was when he asked another question, “How are you this morning?”

“Alright, I guess,” she shrugged, before looking back at him, “Still trying to wake up this morning and thought some coffee would do the trick.”

“Can’t you just get coffee from Sugarcube Corner?” the teen asked in response.

“They don’t open up until seven,” Dawn told him, before motioning towards the clock in the room, where it was only fifteen minutes past six, “Wouldn’t make sense to be waiting outside over half an hour just for a cup of coffee… unless you were going for another reason.”

“Oh dear, here we go,” Naoto groaned, not liking the direction where this conversation was going.

“It’s Pumpkin, isn’t it?” Dawn asked, her brother’s silence being the only thing that she needed to hear before giving off a smirk, “You like going to Sugarcube Corner early because you like talking to her, don’t you?”

“So? She’s a friend of ours. What’s wrong with that?” Naoto asked.

“Seriously now?” Dawn asked as she pulled out a Canterlot High coffee mug from the cabinet and began to pour herself some coffee that had just finished brewing, “With the way that you two act around each other, including last night, I would almost assume that you two are a couple.”

That made Naoto look away from his sister, trying to hide the small blush that was on his face. “I-it’s not like that, Dawn.”

“Like I haven’t heard you say that before,” she shot back, which only seemed to frustrate Naoto even more. He was now fiddling with the fingerless gloves that were on his hands in an attempt to distract himself from the conversation. Though, Dawn’s next statement did little to help, “Besides, are you trying to tell me that you haven’t even thought of it? Just a little?”

At this point, the teen was beginning to feel like a nervous wreck. Naoto then looked away from his gloves and back towards his sister as he tried to figure out the right words to say, “I… have,” he admitted, “T-though, where would I even start? I… like her, but I d-don’t want to-.”

In response, his sister just set her mug down on the counter before looking at him, “Look… I’m not exactly a relationship counselor, but I do know that things like this take time. Sooner or later, you’ll be able to figure out what’s the right thing to do.”

Even though what Dawn was saying was helpful and supportive, Naoto still had a lot going through his head this morning. Hell, right now, he was doing his best to try and stay somewhat calm first before he could reply. There were a lot of things in his head that he needed to sort out and this conversation wasn’t exactly helping with that, “Dawn, t-thanks for the… advice, but-.”

“Look, I’m not saying you have to do it right this minute,” she countered, “I’m just saying that it's something to take into consideration. Hell, it’s probably better that you’re talking about this with me rather than someone like Rarity.”

He hated to admit it, but Dawn did make a valid point there. If Rarity even heard the slightest bit about something like this, she would immediately go into speculations about the smallest of details without even knowing the full story. Her sister, Sweetie Belle, was unfortunate enough to go through this herself when she was friends with someone named Button Mash. When Rarity found out about it, she immediately assumed the two were dating. Even though in reality, they were just classmates that were assigned a project together.

“You… m-make a valid point,” Naoto replied, before he got up and brought his dishes to the sink to be washed out and put them in the dishwasher.

“See what I mean?” Dawn chuckled as she picked her coffee cup back up, “It’s not that hard once you start thinking about it. You just gotta have some faith in yourself, alright?”

Even though the subject of the conversation was not something that the teen was really wanting to talk about, Naoto had to admit that Dawn’s advice on the subject was rather helpful. The more that he thought about it, the less nerve wracking the whole conversation was. Though, he didn’t want to be getting ahead of himself just yet. There were still a couple other things on his mind that he needed to sort out first though, before he would consider trying any of that.

Once he put his dishes in the dishwasher, Naoto got on his shoes as he walked towards the door, “I’m going to go for a walk,” He told Dawn, “I won’t be out long.”

“Alright,” she said, taking another drink of coffee before giving him a bit of a smile, “Do say hello to Pumpkin for me.”

That just had Naoto roll his eyes as he stepped out of the house and closed the door behind him. The teen felt the cool morning air blow past him as he began to take in his surroundings, noticing some of the neighbors picking up the morning newspaper while others were pulling out of their driveways and going to work. Everything seemed… somewhat normal this morning as Naoto started walking down the block. Though, after what happened to him last night, the teen still felt the need to be careful of his surroundings. Especially if the same people from last night were still looking for him.

One clear reminder of this was when he was walking across the street a couple blocks away from Sugarcube Corner and noticed the alleyway from last night. From a distance, he could see a couple of technicians were the air conditioning unit that caught fire last night. Right next to them, a couple of workers from the parks recreational center were cleaning up the dog park and had placed a wooden board over the hole that had melted in the fence. To everyone else that was passing by, they didn’t really seem to notice or care about what they were doing.

To Naoto though, seeing this was only a reminder of everything that had happened the night before as he turned around and walked away. The teen was out for a walk this morning to clear his head, not remember what happened last night. As he walked farther down the street, the teen came across a familiar sight. Sugarcube Corner was a block away from where he was standing. Yet, the downside was that they did not open yet for another fifteen minutes.

“Dammit,” the teen groaned, readjusting his gloves again as he continued to walk, “Looks like I have to wait.”

“Wait for what?”

Immediately, almost on instinct, Naoto turned to his right. He heard Midnight’s voice and part of him was expecting to see her transparent form when he turned his head. However, he didn’t see anything, “Midnight? Where… are you?”

“Oh, sorry,” she said, before emerging out of his right arm and appearing next to him. Like when he looked at himself in the mirror earlier, a series of symbols appeared by her head. However, there were five symbols instead of four and they weren’t exactly the same ones as before, “I kind of forgot that you feel more comfortable if you actually saw me while I was speaking to you.”

“Did you get that from reading my mind?” he then asked, trying to focus more on the girl instead of the symbols.

“More like remembering our first encounter the other night,” Midnight explained, “You were startled, but only began to slightly calm down once you saw me.”

“That… makes sense.”

“So, what's the matter?” she quickly replied back before Naoto had a chance to say anything else, “You sounded a bit disappointed just now.”

As she asked that, Naoto appeared in front of Sugarcube Corner, where the ‘CLOSED’ sign was still hanging as he looked back to Midnight, “I arrived a bit too early before Sugarcube Corner could open up. Normally, by the time I walk over here from my house, they would already be open for business. Though, that doesn’t appear to be the case.”

“Weren’t you here last night though?” Midnight asked.

“That… was for something completely different,” the teen replied back, before recalling something as he looked back towards Midnight, “Speaking of last night though, where exactly did you go after you… helped me?”

At first, it took the girl a moment to compose her thoughts. Though, after a few seconds, she was able to answer the boy’s question. “I was hibernating.”

“Hibernating?” Naoto asked, puzzled by how she explained it, “What, like a grizzly bear?”

“Not… exactly,” she said, “Last night, I used up a lot of magic. Not just to get away from the people that were chasing me, but to also bestow you with some of my gifts. By going back into your arm, I can recuperate and restore what magic I used up by falling asleep.”

“Wait… if that were the case, then how did you know that I was here last night?” Naoto asked, “You went back into my arm as we were leaving, but I didn’t come back until sometime later.”

“I didn’t fall asleep immediately after going back into your arm,” Midnight clarified for him, “After what you said last night about the possibility of those people trying to find us, I stayed awake for a bit and waited until we were somewhere safe before resting.”

“So, you waited until I was inside Sugarcube Corner before getting some rest?” the teen asked.

“To sum it up, yes,” she said, before looking back at him with a concerned look on her face, “Why, did something happen while I was asleep?”

In Naoto’s mind, this confirmed something that he thought about earlier. Midnight did not know about what happened after he returned to Sugarcube Corner, nor did she know about his conversation with Sunset that night. Given how he still had time before the bakery opened, the teen felt as if it was necessary to fill in some gaps for her. Doing so might also allow for the teen to ask the questions that were on his mind when he woke up this morning.

“Well, after you fell asleep, I went back to the party and tried to act like nothing happened. Though, someone was rather suspicious of where I had been and when I went back home, they tried to question me about what happened.”

“Who was being suspicious?” Midnight then asked.

“Someone very close to me who has raised my siblings and I since we were little,” he answered, “Though, Sunset really does worry about me a lot.”

“Hold on. Sunset?” the girl responded, “As in Sunset Shimmer?”

That was a response that was not anticipated at all. For someone he just met the other night, Naoto had no idea that Midnight actually knew Sunset. “Y-yeah, actually… how do you-?”

“She’s a very close friend of mine,” Midnight explained, “Though, it’s been years since I’ve last seen her and her friends,” the girl then looked back at Naoto and now asked him a question, “Why didn’t… you tell her about me?”

The teen scratched the back of his head nervously as he looked back at her. It was a bit hard for him to say what was on his mind, but he had to try, “I… didn’t think she would believe me if I told her. Not only that, but I didn’t want for Sunset to be in danger either. The last thing I would’ve wanted was to have the same people we encountered last night to come after her. I didn’t know that you two actually knew each other.”

Shortly after she heard this, Midnight crossed her arms as the girl looked back at Naoto. “I think I understand… Even though I don’t think that hiding something like this is a good idea, I think I get why you did it,” the girl responded, “However, what are we going to do if someone does find out? About us?”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” he told her, “Right now though, there’s a couple of things that I want to understand first.”

“Oh?” she then asked, “What do you mean?”

“Well, since you and I have our bond now, I want to know at least a bit more about it,” the teen explained, stopping himself as a couple of people walked past him, “I mean… you said before that you bestowed me some of your magic, but that doesn’t quite tell me what it is that you… well, gave me. Does that make sense-?”

Midnight nodded her head, but before she could answer her question, they both heard the bell from the front of the bakery. When they looked over, they saw Pound Cake nearby as he was unlocking the front door. Though, Pound only seemed to notice Naoto once he actually got the door open. “Naoto? What are you doing out here?”

“I was… well, waiting for you guys to open, obviously,” he remarked, looking at his watch to see that it was now ten minutes before the bakery was open for business

That just had Pound raise an eyebrow, before folding his arms as he looked back at his friend, “You do realize that you could’ve easily just knocked on the door and we could’ve just let you in, right? Better than just standing around and waiting out here.”

“That I did not know, actually.” Naoto admitted as he looked back at his friend. Out of all the times that he had been to Sugarcube Corner, he was never here exceptionally early like he was today. So this was kind of new to him.

“Well, you know now,” Pound smirked as he held the door open and motioned for his friend to come inside, “Come on in.”

As Naoto made his way inside, he found that most of the bakery had been put back to the way that it was before the events of last night. All the chairs were set up properly, the trash cans were back where they were previously and almost everything was neatly arranged in order. The smell of coffee brewing was in the air as well along with the scent of freshly baked goods as Naoto followed Pound over to the counter. Midnight herself followed closely behind the teen as he looked around the bakery.

Though, to Naoto, as he was looking around, the teen felt that something was missing as he looked back at his friend, “Um… where’s Pumpkin? Don’t the two of you normally get things set up together?”

“She accidentally slept past her alarm this morning after last night’s celebration, so I’m covering for her while she’s getting herself ready,” Pound told him, before walking behind the counter, “So, what can I get for you this morning?”

“Some coffee to start would be nice,” Naoto replied.

“Any particular size?” he then asked, “Or will you be having your usual order?”

At first, Naoto blinked as he looked back at Pound. Quite surprised by what he just said. “I have a usual order? Since when?”

“Since Pumpkin decided to write it down on a sticky note and place it back here,” His friend told him, pulling off a pink sticky note and turning it around for Naoto to see for himself. On the note, it said ‘Naoto’s Usual Order- Medium Coffee, three fourths of the way full, hazelnut creamer. Had alongside a toasted plain bagel and cream cheese’. To his surprise, he honestly didn’t think that Pumpkin would do anything like that, let alone call it his ‘usual order’. “So, what will it be?”

By that point, Naoto just sighed as he looked back at Pound, “I guess I’ll be having my usual then.”

In response, Pound could only smile as he got to work on his friend’s order. He first sliced a plain bagel into two halves and set both sides in the toaster oven, before going over to start getting the coffee ready. As Naoto waited, he happened to notice that Midnight was looking around the bakery and even going as far as to explore what’s behind the counter. Though, she returned a couple of moments later once his friend finished his coffee and began to get the order ready on the register.

“There we go,” Pound said, “That’ll be $1.69.”

For a moment, the teen was caught off guard. His order usually cost a bit more than that. If anything, it would be closer to five bucks, “Are you sure that’s right? It’s usually-”

“It’s for this,” his friend stopped him as he got the bagel out of the oven and placed it on a ceramic plate for him along with some cream cheese, “The coffee’s on me, so don’t worry about it.”

“Oh, uh thanks,” Naoto replied, before getting two dollars out of his wallet to pay for the meal. The change that Pound gave him was put in the bakery’s tip jar by the register as he took his first sip of coffee. However, when he tasted it, his hand flinched as some of the coffee was spilled onto his hand, “P-Pound, seriously?”

“What? What’s wrong?”

In response, Naoto just opened the lid as he looked back at what was inside. After he looked at it, the teen let out a groan as he looked back at his friend, “Y-you forgot to add the c-creamer.” he croaked as he handed the cup of coffee back to him.

“Oh, crap,” Pound cursed as he realized his mistake and took the cup back so he could fix it for him. He made sure to get the hazelnut creamer instead of the french vanilla and poured enough to make sure it didn’t spill out over the counter accidentally. After pouring it, he took a spoon and stirred it first, before handing it back to Naoto to have him try it. “Is that better?”

At first, the teen took a sip of the coffee, before setting the cup down and looking back at his friend. “Much better.”

After hearing that, Pound let out a massive sigh of relief, “Thanks. Pumpkin will never let me hear the end of it if she learned that I messed up your stuff.”

“Pound, mistakes happen all the time,” Naoto tried to reason with him, “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“No, seriously. Pumpkin will chew me out if she learned that-”

“Pound Cake!” The distinct sound of Pumpkin Cake’s voice rang through the store, causing one of the customers to flee with a knowing look directed at Pound. The teen girl came around the corner, holding a thick plastic fly swatter that looked as worn as Sunset did after going to one of Pinkie Pie’s parties. “What the fridge did you do wrong this time!?”

Naoto, upon hearing that, was thrown off guard almost immediately. He knew that Pumpkin and Pound would sometimes get on each other's nerves, but this was something completely different. He’d only see the girl act like this about sweets- having faced the wrong end of her wrath while at cooking class when they were partners.

Pound himself was shaking a bit, looking around as if he was trying to come up with some excuse so that he could not have to face his sister’s wrath. Though, lying at this point would do little to help him as he just gulped and looked back to where he heard his sister’s voice,  “Uh, S-sis… I-it’s fine, really… I just f-forgot to put c-creamer in Naoto’s coffee-”

“You forgot!? You’re a Cake, and you expect mom and dad to let us use the kitchen when you make all manner of mistakes!?” She emphasized herself by hitting him with the swatter over the back of Pound’s head. “By Grogar’s balls… I’m making the drinks, brother.” She sneered as she set her makeshift beater on the floor and began to make a new cup of coffee.

Before he could say anything, his drink was replaced with Pumpkin’s, who had swapped from absolutely livid to cheerful in an instant. Something that threw Naoto for a loop. One moment she was bashing on her brother and the next, she was acting like nothing had ever happened. “G-Good morning,” he nervously greeted her.

“Morning Naoto! I hope my brother’s wretched coffee didn’t ruin your morning. How are you this fine day?” Pumpkin asked, ignoring her brother’s pout.

“A-alright, I g-guess,” Naoto replied as he took a strong sip of the coffee she made for him, “Still kind of waking up this morning, but the coffee’s helping.”

“Well, enjoy. I need to go teach my brother that messing up orders is not tolerated.” Before Pound could react, his sister’s fingers ensnared his ear in a painful vice grip. Pumpkin waved to Naoto as she dragged her brother away, kicking and screaming.

“Do those two… always act like that?” Naoto then heard Midnight ask as he turned to face her. She seemed to be rather shocked by all of this as well, especially with Pumpkin’s behavior just now.

“Only when someone messes up with cooking. Even the smallest of errors can lead to something like that,” he told her as he took another sip of coffee and tried to ignore Pound’s painful cries. After another sip, the teen thought that changing the conversation would help with that, “So, Midnight… do you mind if I asked you a couple of questions?”

“Actually… there’s someplace I need to go to,” the girl told her, “If you want, you can ask me the questions on the way over and I can try to answer them the best I can. Would that work?”

“Oh, uh… sure, I think that’s something we can do,” Naoto responded, before getting up and pushing his chair back in. Once he picked up his coffee, he stepped out the door and back onto the sidewalk as Naoto looked to Midnight, “So, where are we headed?”

“I’ll show you the way, just follow me,” the girl assured him, before leading Naoto to a crosswalk at the end of the block and pointing in the direction that she wanted for them to go. Once the light was green and it was clear for him to walk, they both began to cross over. Though, not before Midnight turned around to speak, “So, what was it that you wanted to ask me?”

“Well, there’s a couple of things,” Naoto told her as he took a bit of time to recall what it was that he wanted to say. Though, once he thought of it, he went forward with asking her about it, “First and foremost, and fair warning, I don’t mean to sound rude when I say this… but what are you?”

“Huh?” she tilted her head, puzzled by his words. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I don’t think you would appreciate it if I called you a ghost,” the teen explained a bit more, “So, I thought I would ask you and not assume anything.”

“Well, that… might be a bit complicated,” the girl said nervously, trying to compose her thoughts, “See, I’m what I would call a ‘Manifestation’. It’s when a whole lot of magic and leftover emotions take on its own form. Though, only people who have or had magic before can really see me… Does that make sense?”

“I think so,” Naoto responded back, “Though, that didn’t exactly sound too complicated.”

“I haven’t actually said the complicated stuff yet,” the manifestation corrected him.

“Oh uh… my bad,” the teen apologized, before noticing another crosswalk up ahead, “Which way are we headed?”

“Across this street and then go down to the right,” Midnight instructed him as Naoto pressed the light for the crosswalk. While they were waiting, the manifestation picked up where she left off on the conversation and began to fill Naoto in, even as the light turned green and they began to walk across the street, “Now, even though I have magic, it’s… difficult in order to maintain this form.”

“Huh?” he asked, “What do you mean?”

“Hmm… how should I put this,” the girl pondered, before she got an idea, “Oh, right! Think of my current form almost like a flower you would plant in a garden. When you first plant it, it’s alright. Though, you need to water it and take care of the plant, otherwise it’ll… well… wither up.”

“Now that’s an image that is now stuck in my head,” the teen thought to himself, before he thought of a new question to ask, “So, how do you… maintain that form, exactly?”

“There are two different ways,” she explained as they reached the other end of the street and turned to the right to walk farther down the block, “The first is through absorbing magic from special items. The second way to maintain my form is through bonding with someone, like I did with you. Though… before we forged our bond, I would only do the first option.”

Once he heard that, Naoto paused for a moment, raising an eyebrow as he looked back at Midnight, “Really? How come?”

“Well, it’s a bit simpler. Plus, a long while back, Sunset and her friends gave me something that helps with that,” the manifestation told him, “I would only form a bond if it's an emergency.” Midnight looked like she was going to say more on the subject, but hesitated and then looked away. 

When he saw that, Naoto felt that he shouldn’t exactly push her on why she was acting like that. Instead, the teen decided to ask about something else. “How about magic? I know you said you bestowed it to me… but how does that work exactly?”

“How about we save that for when we reach our destination?” Midnight suggested, “It… probably wouldn’t be a good idea to use magic out where everyone could see. We’re almost there actually.”

“Oh really? Then where exactly are we-?”

Before he even had the chance to finish the question, the teen found himself standing in front of a place that he had only heard about. The building that used to be Canterlot High before the whole school was relocated, something he had only heard about from Sunset and a few other teachers that used to be students back in the day. There was a chain link fence around the area and the foundation itself looked like it was sinking into the ground. The front of the fence though looked to have been busted open as Midnight phased through it.

“Here we are,” she said, before looking back at the teen, “Welcome to my home.”

Naoto blinked, looking towards Midnight as he carefully went through the opening in the fence and followed the manifestation to the old school building, “Wait… you actually live here?”

“Yeah. There really isn’t any other place for me to be at,” the girl explained, “Follow me. The front door is broken, but there’s a back way into the school.”

As Naoto followed her and walked around the side of the building, he soon came across the back door to the school and slipped through. When he entered the building, the first thought that came to his mind was that this place had seen better days. Not only was there rubble scattered everywhere, but all the painted colors on the walls and ceiling were faded and had seen better days. Desks and lockers were scattered everywhere and windows were shattered too.

Seeing the state of the school led to Naoto asking one thing as he looked back at Midnight, “You… lived here? By yourself?”

Midnight looked away for a moment, before the manifestation came up with a response to her question, “T-there used to be one other… but now it’s just me,” She then looked up to another room, before looking back at the teenager, “C-could you wait here for a moment… I need to check something.”

The teenager nodded as he continued to look around the room, wondering what he could find as he began to investigate what was around him. As he was looking, he noticed that a door to one of the rooms was slightly open and decided to go take a look. Inside were a bunch of different musical instruments that were scattered everywhere. There was a drum set, a tambourine, a piano, a couple kinds of guitars, microphones and several other instruments that were all around the small room. Some were still in their cases while others were just standing there and had dust covered all over them. There was also a song booklet by the instruments too, one that didn’t look to have been opened or used in years.

After Naoto left the music room, he began to check the lockers that were in the hallway. Most of them either were locked or the doors were busted and couldn’t be opened. However, there was one exception to this as one of the lockers didn’t appear to have been damaged. As he opened it, the teen found what looked to be an old lunch box that was a bit rusty along the edges. Right next to was a robotic dog that looked to have been watching over the lunchbox. One that even had a purple collar with a tag that had the name ‘Mina’ etched on it.

Carefully, Naoto took the lunch box out of the locker and opened the lid. Inside there was a collection of different miscellaneous items. Spare metal parts, old tools, a CD, what looked to be keys to something and a folded note. Curiosity soon set in and the teen decided to unfold the note to see what was inside.

‘Remember that day when you were all moody and despite everything I tried you wouldn’t tell me what’s wrong? Well, I was flying through people’s houses, and I came upon this bizarre scene. A tight knit family all gathered around one of those televisions, laughing, and just having a good time. That’s what you want, right? To be human? I don’t see the appeal, but just know that you aren’t an abomination despite what you keep saying. And until you see that, I’ll always be by your side waiting, laughing, and having a good time so you’ll see that you’ve got someone looking out for you.

-S’

What was written puzzled Naoto at first, but then he remembered something. Midnight had said that there used to be one other that lived with her before she was by herself. Could this ‘S’ be that other person she was referring to? It was something that he would have to ask the manifestation about at some point, though now was not the time.

Despite reading the note and its contents, there was one particular thing inside the lunchbox that caught his attention. It was a partially faded photograph of Sunset and all her friends, presumably around his age when they attended the school. The picture itself was taped under the lid of the lunchbox and the girls were all standing in front of the school building. All of them looked to have been wearing some kind of necklace and each one of the girls looked rather different with their appearance, especially Rainbow Dash. Even Twilight’s dog, Spike, was in the picture and looked to be a puppy instead of the full grown canine that he was today. On the bottom corner, it had something written there.

“The Rainbooms, Class of…” Naoto blinked as he looked at the picture, before turning it over to see the date of when it was taken. If what he was seeing was correct, then this photograph was from twenty years ago. Sunset and the others would be slightly older than he was now.

However, he did not have the time to look at it for too long. For shortly after he found it, he heard a scream ring out from down the hall. Closing the lunchbox, Naoto grabbed it and placed it back in the locker before racing back towards where he came from as he looked around the room. However, he didn’t see any signs of the manifestation that was with him anywhere. “Midnight? Midnight, where are you?”

“U-up here!” The teen heard her voice from the second floor, before he began to race over to a nearby set of stairs and make his way up. As he reached the top of the stairs, the teen found her in what looked to be an old science classroom. The manifestation looked to have torn open some floorboards and was frantically searching for something.

“Midnight, are you okay?” Naoto asked her as he stepped inside the classroom, being careful of some of the glass that was on the floor. “Did something happen?”

“N-no, but,” she spoke, before pulling up another board that was on the floor as she was talking to herself, “W-where is it?”

“Where’s what?” the teen asked her, “Midnight, what are you looking for?”

In response, the manifestation stopped, before looking back at Naoto, “R-remember when I told you about those special items that help me with restoring my magic? Well, I had them hidden underneath the floor here, but they’re not there. I-i’ve been searching everywhere, but there’s no sign of them. If Sunset finds out that I lost them-”

“Wait,” he now said, looking back at Midnight, “Sunset? What does she have to do with it?”

“Because they used to belong to her and her friends,” she explained further, “They were a collection of geodes that granted them special magical abilities. They gave them to me, knowing that it would help me and that I would also keep them safe.”

That was a bit for Naoto to take in, but he could save any questions that he had for afterwards. Now he needed to help her, “Well, maybe they hadn’t gotten far. Can you tell me what they look like?”

“Well, I do have a picture of Sunset and the girls. They had the geodes with them at the time. Here, let me show you.”

When Midnight left, Naoto felt as if his blood was beginning to freeze. Surely, she wasn’t about that picture now… was she? He was really hoping that this wasn’t the case and that the girl was referring to something else entirely. Unfortunately though, when Midnight came back, she had a much different question on her mind. One that did not relate to the geodes.

“Naoto… were you going through my stuff?”

All he could really do was look away, before scratching his head. “I-i’m sorry, Midnight. I had no idea that those things were yours.”

“You could’ve asked me,” the manifestation retorted.

Despite what Naoto was thinking, he knew that Midnight made a point. If he said anything else at this rate, he was just going to dig himself a deeper hole. “Sorry, I didn't know about that,” he admitted, before trying his best to switch the topic, “I’ll make sure to ask next time. Though, you were wanting to show me something?”

The girl looked back at him, before lifting the lid of the lunch box and turning it around to face him, “You see this photograph? Well, if you look closely, Sunset and her friends each had their geodes with them when this photo was taken.”

Now Naoto was a bit puzzled, tilting his head as he analyzed the picture, “I… don’t see them holding anything.”

“It’s not something that they’re holding,” she corrected him, “It’s what they’re wearing. The geodes are the necklaces that they have in the photo.”

He blinked for a moment, before looking back at the picture. Like Midnight had said, each one of the girls had a similar matching necklace, with the only difference being the symbol that was etched in the middle. “Oh… well, that makes a lot more sense now. So, we’re looking for the necklaces?”

“That’s right,” Midnight replied, closing the lid of the lunch box, “After Sunset gave them to me, I kept them hidden in that classroom upstairs, only taking them out when I needed to recharge my magic. Though, I don’t know where else they could possibly be.”

That had Naoto start to think for a bit, “Do you think it’s possible that it fell through the floor?” He asked, looking back at the opening in the floorboards for a brief moment, “It’s likely that they could’ve just fallen through. I mean, this place has seen better days-”

When the teen looked back at Midnight, something felt off with how she was acting. She was looking away from Naoto and the opening in the floor, staring out one of the windows in the classroom. Her expression had changed, almost as if she felt something that sent a shiver down her non-existent spine. “Midnight, you alright there?” he tried to get her attention, only for his words to fall on deaf ears.

A few seconds later, he decided to try again, “Midnight? Hey… Midnight.” This time, he acted on instinct and attempted to try and grab hold of her. Only for his hand to phase through her body and for his second attempt to be unsuccessful.

Though, that didn’t stop him from trying again. This time deciding to speak up and raise his voice, “Hey, Midnight!”

The third time he spoke up did the trick, for the manifestation snapped back to reality once she heard him. The girl turning back to him with a puzzled look on her face. “Huh? W-what’s wrong, Naoto?”

“What’s wrong? You were staring off into space for the last couple of minutes,” He explained to her, “It took me a bit to try and catch your attention.”

“R-really?” Midnight now asked, “S-sorry about that. D-Did you want to talk about something?”

Naoto looked back at the girl, scratching the back of his head, “Well, before I found you staring off into space, I was trying to ask if it was possible that the Geodes could’ve just fallen through the floor,” he said, before pointing at the hole that was made, “Do you think that’s possible?”

At first, Midnight thought that the idea had some merit to it. Though, it was then that she slowly lowered herself into the floor for a few moments, before coming back up and shaking her head, “No, there’s no sign of cracks in the floor here.”

“Damn, there goes one possibility,” the teen cursed, his mind going back to the drawing board as he tried to think of some explanation for the geode’s disappearance. Yet, as he thought more on the situation, an idea emerged in his mind. However, it was one that sounded rather far-fetched. Still, the more that he thought about it, the more that he felt the need to share it to Midnight. It would be better than not having anything. “Midnight… can I run something by you?”

“What is it”

“Well, I can only think of one possible idea as to what could’ve happened… However, there is something I want to ask you,” Naoto’s question was met with a tilt of the head from Midnight as she waited for him to continue, “Aside from me right now, has there been anyone else that has visited this place?”

At first, Midnight hesitated. She didn’t answer immediately and just looked away from him temporarily. Though, after a moment or two, the girl answered his question, “O-outside of Sunset and her friends… o-only the people that were h-hunting me,” she said, “W-why do you ask?”

“Well, the only thought that I had in my mind was that if you didn’t misplace it and it didn’t fall through to the bottom floor, then the only other possibility would be that someone came and stole it,” he explained.

“B-but all of them were chasing me, even after I left the school,” she told him in response, sounding even more worried, “W-who do you think would do that?”

“Honestly, we don’t have very much to go on, so I don’t know,” Naoto replied back as he shrugged his shoulders and sat down on the floor, “My only guess is that maybe one of the people that was chasing you came back here because they left something behind and they ended up finding the Geodes in the process. It’s the only thing we have to go off of, really.”

To Midnight, she personally didn’t even want to think about what would happen if the Geodes that Sunset and her friends entrusted her with ended up in the wrong hands. “I-if that’s true, then we need to find them. B-before anyone learns how to use the magic in the geodes to harm anyone.”

“That’s easier said than done, Midnight,” the teen countered, “I mean, those people we encountered the other night were tough as nails, especially the woman who was trying to force me to talk. I wouldn’t even know where to begin when it comes to defending myself against them, let alone against someone that might be fighting with magic.”

Oddly enough, it was moments after he said those words that Midnight remembered something from earlier. First though, she decided to ask him a question, “Naoto, do you remember earlier when you were asking me about how magic works?”

“A bit, yeah,” the teen replied back to her, “Though, before we could really discuss anything, you told me to wait until we got here.”

“Well, since we’re on the subject, I think now’s the right time to talk about it,” the manifestation told him, “So, before we get started, what do you happen to know about magic?”

“Honestly, nothing,” he answered plainly, “Because I don’t think how movies portray magic is the same as how it actually works.”

Midnight had to admit, Naoto wasn’t entirely wrong with his reasoning. How magic actually works in comparison to most entertainment that people were familiar with was completely different, including the ‘magicians’ that pulled rabbits out of hats. “Well, I’ll try my best not to make this sound overly complex,” she assured him, “Magic and how well you wield it is affected by a few different things. Mainly, there’s two parts, depending on the spellcaster.”

“And those things are?”

“The first thing to keep in mind is mana,” Midnight explained to him, “All magic relies on it and much like how you would use up stamina when doing any major physical activities, mana works the same way. The more magic you use, the more mana you end up consuming. Though, some spells require more than others depending on the difficulty,”

After hearing that, Naoto now had a new question for her, “Huh… alright. Though, does that also mean that by taking a moment to rest, you regain mana too?”

“Sort of, but it takes longer,” she replied back, “Skilled magic wielders are able to master the abilities to the point that using up too much mana isn’t that much of a problem. Though, mana is not the only component that determines how strong a spell is. It also depends on the wielder.”

That part had the teen confused as he looked back at the manifestation and folded his arms. “How so? Isn’t the mana from the wielder?”

“It is… though, this next part focuses on a different aspect,” she replied, “Because even if you have a lot of mana, you need to have the willpower and intent to see it through. Focusing your spellcraft on what you want to do will increase the likeliness of your spell succeeding.” To demonstrate, Midnight closed her eyes and began to focus. Moments later, she was able to create a six pointed star that had five other stars alongside it. When Naoto looked at it, it strangely reminded him of a similar symbol that he saw on Twilight’s clothes. Yet, now was not the time to bring this up.

“So, let me see if I can understand this correctly,” the teen began to recollect what she told him, “In order for magic to work, you need to use mana… but you also need to focus on the spell you want in order to make sure it works correctly. Does that sound right?”

Midnight nodded her head in response, before going another step further, “Indeed, it is. Now, the kind of magic that someone is able to wield can vary depending on who’s conjuring it,” the manifestation explained, “Though, we can save the different kinds of spells for another time. Right now, you just wanted to know what you can do, right?”

Personally, Naoto liked it when he heard her say that. To him, it meant that he no longer had to wait around for Midnight to get to the point and answer the question he asked earlier in the day. “Yeah, that’s right.”

The girl then landed on the ground, before walking next to him, “Well, for you, your magic is rather… specific. Do you remember when I formed the bond with your right arm?” the only response that Midnight got to that question was a small nod, which prompted her to continue speaking, “On that night, when I formed that bond, the first thing that my magic came into contact with was the blood that was coming from your right arm. To put it simply… your blood is your magic.”

“Hold up… blood?” the teen interjected, “What, am I like a vampire now?”

“No, no! Not like that,” Midnight was quick to interject, “When I say that, I mean you can conjure your blood and have it take form. You can use it to create weapons and tools that help you when you fight,” then, she came up with an idea, “Here, let me walk you through it so you can see it for yourself.”

With that said, the manifestation returned to his arm as the teen felt something strange. A warm burning sensation that started from the right arm and quickly began to spread throughout his body. In Naoto’s mind, he was not sure if this was the feeling of his magic or if it was something else entirely. Either way, it was hard for him not to get nervous by what was happening.

“Don’t worry, Naoto. I’m still here,” He heard Midnight’s voice echo as he looked around the room, “I’m just in your arm and communicating mentally with your mind right now. That way I can walk you through the process of using your magic.”

“That’s… reassuring,” Naoto replied back, “Would it be right to assume that the burning feeling I felt just right now was my mana?”

“That’s right,” Midnight told him, “Now… close your eyes and try to see if you can focus on channeling that mana into your hand. Grab hold of it like it’s an object.”

Naoto nodded and did what Midnight instructed him to do, closing his eyes as he tried to grab hold. At first, it felt like he was feeling something move and caress around his hand. Then… it stopped. He tried to see if he could do it more, but nothing seemed to be happening.

“Um… Midnight?” He nervously asked, his eyes still closed, “Am I doing this right?”

Upon hearing him ask, the manifestation slowly emerged from his arm in order to see what he was doing. Unfortunately though, the results were not what she was expecting. Naoto wasn’t holding onto anything and at his feet, there were a few drops of what looked to be his magic soaking into the floor.

“This might take a bit longer than I thought.”



It had been several hours since Naoto and Midnight originally started with him trying to understand how his powers work. The only time that he was even out of the school was to grab a quick bite to eat for lunch to take a momentary break. Learning about magic was one thing, though trying to put it into practice and make it work was a completely different story. Especially with the amount of trial and error that they were going through.

“Come on… come on…” He told himself again, only for the same shortage of energy to stop. Which led to another unsuccessful attempt, “Aw, seriously? What is it that I’m not doing right? I’m focusing and trying to make it work, but each time it slips up.”

“Hmm,” Midnight thought to herself, scratching her chin for a moment. Though, as she was thinking, a new thought emerged in her mind as she looked back at Naoto, “Oh, dear… I think I might know what the problem is.”

“Huh?” he asked. “What do you mean?”

“I should’ve probably told you this when we were just starting, but it slipped my mind and I forgot,” the manifestation said, “When channeling mana normally, you just try to focus it in the palm of your hand. Though, since your magic seemed to be based around the creation of objects and weapons with your mana, you need to picture what it is you want to conjure first before you channel the mana into it.”

“That could’ve been helpful a few hours earlier,” the teen deadpanned.

“I’m sorry,” she replied back, “We all make mistakes. Even me.”

“Right,” Naoto scratched the back of his head as he looked back towards Midnight and repeated her instructions, “So… conjuring objects. I need to picture what I want first in my mind before channeling the mana. Anything else important that I should know about before I try starting over again?”

“You should probably stick with something small in size,” the manifestation recommended, “Usually, the bigger the object is, the more mana you need to pool into it in order to keep it stable.”

The teen nodded in response, before he started to try and follow the new set of instructions that he was given. He took a deep breath before he began to focus and picture what he wanted to make with his mind as he felt his mana move along his arm. This time though, something new happened. The power that he was channeling did not stop like the last few times he attempted to do this. Instead, it continued and expanded to the palm of his hand, the color of his magic being blood red as it began to take form and materialize.

When it was done, Naoto turned his palm around and looked at the creation that he made. It was a short blade that was about ten inches in length, the grip being four inches while the blade itself was around six inches. The teen was trying to picture that of a weapon earlier in his mind and right now, this was the end result. Even though it was not ideally what he thought he was going to make, Naoto still felt satisfied that he was actually able to pull it off after hours of his previous attempts being unsuccessful.

“Wow! You did it,” Midnight congratulated him, before floating over to take a closer look, “T-that was incredible, Naoto!”

“I… did,” the teen replied, still surprised that he managed to pull it off as he gripped on the handle of the blood blade that he created, “So, what happens now? Are we going to keep doing this?”

“Well,” the manifestation began to speak, before looking back outside to see the sun setting in, “On any other day, I would be more than up for seeing more of what your magic is capable of. Though, it’s getting late and your mana needs time in order to recuperate. If you continue any more, you’ll end up passing out from exhaustion.”

When he heard that, part of Naoto felt disappointed. The teen really wanted to see more of what he could do now that he actually figured out how to use it properly. Though, another part of him knew that if he ended up passing out here, he'd just end up making Sunset worried about him. Something that he didn’t want to do after the events of the previous night.

“Alright, I guess that makes sense,” Naoto said, looking towards the blade he conjured before he turned towards Midnight, “Um… how exactly do I turn this off?”

All Midnight could do was giggle, before giving him a reassuring smile, “It’s okay, let me help with that,” The manifestation then went back into his arm as a small chill went down Naoto’s arm. Just as quickly as his magic materialized, the weapon he made now deconstructed in front of his eyes as if it was evaporating right in front of him. “There we go. All done.”

“How… did you do that?”

“I’m bonded with you, remember? I just reverted the spell you just used so not only is the spell ‘turned off’ like you wanted, but I also returned the mana that you used for it back to you,” she explained, “There’s more to it, but I don’t think now is the right time to get into the details.”

“Right,” he said, before he proceeded to leave the building and get his phone out. He was going to call Sunset to check in with her and make sure everything was alright. Though, before he could even dial her number, the teen happened to receive a text message from Sunset. 

‘Hey Naoto. I’m with the girls right now since Rarity’s flight is finally coming in tonight. She’ll probably want some dinner too, so we’re going to be out for a while. Feel free to make it yourself for dinner. Just make sure to keep an eye on Tide, alright? See you soon. -Sunset’

“Well, guess I know what I’m doing once I’m home,” Naoto said as he put his phone away and began to walk back towards his house.

“Huh? What’s that?” Midnight asked.

“It’s… Well, you’ll see once we get back home,” the teen told her before he continued further down the street as he walked back towards Sunset’s home. As he got closer, the sun began to set in the distance as the street lights began to flicker to life and illuminate the roads. He watched as cars passed by at each light as well as city buses dropping off people that were on commute as he walked past Sugarcube Corner on his way home.

By the time Naoto finally made it back, he was greeted with the sight of an empty driveway and no lights on in the house. As he approached the door, the teen got out his keys to unlock it, only to find that the door had not been locked properly. Carefully, Naoto opened the door and was greeted with the stench of alcohol looming in the air as he turned to his left. He could hear snoring coming from the living room as the teen walked over and found someone lying on the couch. They looked as if they had not had a shower in days, for their hair was a wiry and tangled mess and their clothes were a disorderly mix-up of numerous things such as a broken watch with rust and socks that were cleaner than the rest of her clothes. The figure slept soundly on the couch and was covered by a blanket of empty bottles across the full length of the couch.

Though, this person wasn’t exactly a stranger. In fact, Naoto knew her quite well as he began to slowly take the bottles off of her, “Aunt Eventide, what have you gotten yourself into this time?”

“Who-?” Midnight asked, before she emerged from her arm to see who he was talking about. “W-wait, isn’t that-?”

“Sunset? Not exactly,” he shook his head, bringing the bottles to the recycling bin that was outside, “Her name is Eventide. Sunset told me that she’s her twin, though, they were separated a long time ago when they were still children,” After throwing the bottles away, Naoto went back inside and grabbed a blanket from the pantry closet, before setting it over the woman as she slept, “Now she stays here with us. Though, she’s… seen better days.”

“What do you mean?”

“Eventide has… problems, I guess.” the teen said, not really going much detail into it. It was as Naoto was speaking that a small picture frame that was on the edge of the shelf above the couch fell over, landing on top of Eventide’s head before colliding onto the ground.

“Starswirl’s taint!” Eventide screeched, rolling off the couch and landing on a few of the booze bottles strewn about resulting in a ‘crunch’ing sound. Naoto heard the older woman screaming into a carpet, which muffled her. Upon hearing her fall onto the ground, Naoto rushed over to help her out.

“Eventide, are you alright?” He asked her, trying to see if she was okay and find the glass that was on the floor. 

Eventide stayed motionless, but continued to moan into the floor. Which prompted Naoto to try and pick her up off the floor so he could set her on the couch. There was glass spread out around where she was on the floor, but Eventide herself did not look to be in major pain. If anything, she just seemed to be annoyed.

“W-what do you want, midget?!”

Immediately afterwards, Naoto dropped Eventide and let her roll back in the glass on the floor again. Something that caused Midnight to gasp as she watched Naoto from a small distance. “W-why did you do that?!”

“It’s an impulse,” Naoto admitted, not exactly liking what Eventide said before he dropped her as he pointed to the floor, “Besides, there’s no blood on the floor. If there was, then we’re going to have problems.”

“T-that’s not the point,” the manifestation retorted, “Whether or not there’s glass on the floor doesn’t excuse the fact that you dropped her like that!”

“Like I told you, it’s an impulse. I hate it when people call me out for my size,” the teen explained a bit more, not exactly thrilled to be talking about one the things that he hated the most as he looked back at Eventide.

Though, after a couple of minutes, Naoto began to hear her grumble in a rather low pitch as she laid down on the floor. “I-i’m s-sorry.”

It might not have been the most ideal apology, but it was enough to prompt him to pick her back up off the ground and set her on the couch again. After taking a moment to clean up the mess that was on the floor, Naoto proceeded to the kitchen as he grabbed the loaf of bread inside and a few more items to make himself something to eat. A simple Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich was enough to satisfy him for dinner. Though, when he looked back over at Eventide, the teen decided to get out another plate and make a second sandwich for her.

After the sandwich was made, Naoto placed the one that he made for himself on the dining room table before he picked up the second one and brought it over to give to Eventide, “Here you go. Something to help you sober up.”

“Thanks…” Eventide grumbled, not even bothering to pick up the sandwich, instead using solely her mouth to bite into the meal. It was a rather awkward situation for Naoto to be in, though he just had to grin and bear it for now. He was doing what he could to help Eventide and to him, that really mattered.