I can't believe I got this done in a week! wow... I surprised myself. Anyway, I really don't got anything too vitally important to say, so I'll shut up and let you get to the story. enjoy, guys!

Chapter 13

Fabulosity 101

“Are you certain, Sir Rover? Is there any possible way this could just be some horrible mistake or misunderstanding?” Celestia spoke in low tones to the diamond dog, who had insisted on remaining on one knee for the entirety of their meeting. The gruff looking creature shook his head, wishing it was.

“I am afraid, Sun Pony, that there is no mistake. Our mines have been robbed many times in the last few months. Many diamond dogs have been hurt in the attacks. And all the time, it is the same crystals that they take. The cloudy white crystals.”

“Cloudy white... do you mean... quartz crystals, Sir Rover?” Luna inquired. The creature nodded.

“Yes. Quartz. The griffons we sell gems to called them that. But they never take them. They are worthless. Only the magic griffons come to take them sometimes, so we keep some around for them. But no griffon or pony or any other creature ever attacked us for them before. And they take them by the ton.” Celestia and Luna looked at each other with great worry. Only the mages of the griffon kingdom used the quartz crystals, just at their unicorn ponies who were naturally adept in magic did. Rover's expression was one of deep concern, his eyes never meeting either of the princesses gaze. “I know many ponies do not like diamond dogs, but I had to try to make the attacks stop. My tribe is all workers and miners, not soldiers. We cannot fight these metal ponies or the dark beast for much longer. We ask that you make them stop, and we will give you however many gems of whatever kind you want.”

“W-what did you just say?” Luna asked, the canine's words sorrowful and low, but shocking nonetheless. “Metal... ponies? Do you mean our Royal Guards, like the kind that escorted you here?” The dog shook his head.

“No, moon pony, not the boy ponies that wear the gold. The girl ponies that are all shiny metal, from head to hoof. Them, and the dark beast. He is the one that carries away the cloudy white crystals.” Celestia pondered both the descriptions giver to her by her guest. The metal ponies were strange but now...

“Sir Rover, we only have in our ranks earth, unicorn and pegasus ponies. There are no 'beasts' in the employ of Equestria at this time.” Rover's face dropped, unsure of how to react.

“But... they must be from the pony army. They are led by the pony on the carriage! HE commands the metal girl ponies AND the dark beast! You HAVE to make them stop!” Luna approached the canine, placing a hoof on his shoulder and meeting his gaze.

“I am sorry, Sir Rover, but it is not us that is attacking you. But on behalf of my sister and myself, I promise that we will help you. Stay the night with us, and tomorrow you can talk with our best field commanders. We will notify the griffon kingdom and let them know that we will send a platoon of our best field soldiers to keep an eye on your mining operations in case the metal mares or the dark beast return. We promise you; Equestria does not condone the use of violence, let alone would ever be the aggressor in an attack on innocent creatures. But we WILL get to the bottom of this. Would that be enough to help, Dear Rover? Guard?” Luna shouted over his shoulder down the hall, calling forward a single pegasus Royal Guard from the darkness. “Please, prepare a room for our visiting guest, here. He will stay the night, and speak with us again in the morning.” The guard gave a quick bow and stood at ease, waiting for his charge to be dismissed. The diamond dog stared blankly at the moon goddess, then quickly lurched forward, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug.

“Thank you, moon pony!” He blurted out, lifting Luna off the ground slightly. He quickly let her go and bound over to Celestia, giving her the same tight embrace. “Thank you, sun pony! I would just sleep in an alley tonight like yesterday, but staying in a room in pony castle is good, too. I will tell your army ponies all I know tomorrow. Thank you, Princess ponies!” The diamond dog turned and walked toward the guard, giving him a friendly slap on the back that nearly knocked him over. As the two disappeared around the corner, Celestia walked over and nuzzled her little sister.

“Luna! That was expertly handled! Well done! Truly, you are learning how to be quite the diplomat, lately.” Luna blushed a little at her sister's praise. The words were pale in comparison, however, to the dilemma now posed before them.

“Thank you, Tia, but I just had to do something. What is happening to our neighboring nations? Attacks by ponies on both an Althera foundry and an Agatha mining camp? Who could be doing such horrible things?” Together, they turned and began trotting to their favorite balcony to raise and lower their respective celestial bodies. The day was growing late, and night would come soon. Luna was glad that the day was at it's end. Maybe this would mean another few hours with Midnight before he turned in for the night. He had flying lessons today, and Luna was eager to see just how far much progress he made in a day's time. If his quick learning curve in the matters of Applejack's muscle training and Pinkie Pie's acrobatics were any indication, he might be flying circles around her guards in no time.

The sun sank below the horizon and the moon rose once again, beginning it's long trek across the night's starry sky. Celestia bid her little sister goodnight and retired a bit early to her chambers, leaving Luna to her own whims until she too decided to turn in. Luna trotted through the halls of the palace, observing the various caretakers of the many aspects of her royal life; the gardeners cleaning up after countless visitors to the Royal Garden. The guards patrolling the the halls and grounds to make sure everything was secure and safe for the night. The maids polishing and waxing and cleaning the rooms and items about the palace. All seemed right with the world around her. So how could there be such trouble out on the horizon? The worry played on her mind as she trotted through the palace, looking for her new champion.

Luna made her way through the corridors to the royal gardens, remembering that Twilight was supposed to be examining the area in the sky where Midnight had first appeared. Making her way through to the launching point of her balloon, the goddess turned the corner and almost stumbled right into her charcoal-gray friend.

“Luna! Hey, how are you doing? I didn't see you all day!” the stallion beamed. The rest of the ponies present, Elements, Wonderbolts and Royal Guard alike, all stared in wide-eyes wonder before falling on their forelegs at the sight of their now magically enhanced princess. Midnight looked over his shoulder and smiled, turning back to Luna, a grin and bright blush on her face as she realized the reason for their reverence.

“Oh! I am so sorry, my friends! I didn't wish for you to see me like this yet. I wanted to reveal myself to you all together, before I showed myself to the rest of Equestria. This is my new form. Or should I say, a more true form of my real self. My powers have grown strong enough that I can now more accurately reflect them in my appearance. Do... do you like it?” Luna's tone gave Midnight a slight chill, sounding more like a nervous teenager than a cosmic deity. All at once, the crowd of ponies began showering her with words of praise, complimenting her on the various new aspects of her empowered form.

“I think that's a yes, princess.” Midnight added, gently bumping his shoulder to hers, coaxing a grin. For the first time since her return, Princess Luna laughed with other ponies. With Midnight near, it seemed to come so easy, the lost stallion never knowing where she had been for all those years, never knowing what she had done. But this was different, somehow. There was no hint of fear or uneasiness or worry from these ponies around her. They spoke to her with smiles and caring. It was a good feeling. Something the night goddess hadn't felt in a long, long time. Twilight, however, continued to pour over her recorded data, running over everything she had ever learned about earth, unicorn and pegasus pony development in her mind.

Finally,with a nod to the Elements and bow to his princess, Sky Shield took to the air and vanished over the top of the palace and back to guard duties. Soarin' and Spitfire noticed the rising of the moon and excused themselves, having to stick to their strict schedule the Wonderbolts had to adhere to. When only the Elements remained, Luna chose to finally get down to the original task at hoof.

“I was on my way to come see how Midnight's flight training was going, but I think I can guess by the presence of two Wonderbolts.” Luna raised an eyebrow to the stallion, who proudly spread his wings, exposing the bright, crimson feathers. With a few firm flaps, he displayed the simple but essential hover he had first learned in his guest room. Luna clopped her forehooves together in a mock-proper applause. “Oh! Very lovely, Sir Midnight.”

“I know, right?! This guy took to the sky with me, Fluttershy, Spitfire and Soarin' faster than any other pegasus I've ever seen! Hey, Twilight! How long do you think it'll take till he has magic mastered?” Rainbow Dash asked. The sudden !CRUNCH! of metal made the group jump at Twilight's measuring instrument suddenly compressed under a haze of purple magic, collapsing in on itself down to the size of an apple. The group looked at the purple mare in stunned silence until finally, Twilight answered.

“What is that supposed to mean, Rainbow? Do you know something I don't? Do you? DO YOU?!” Twi moved right up to her cyan friend's face, eye twitching with teeth gritted tight. The pegasus shrank down under the crazed look of the mare, until she finally bolted back to her instruments and documents. With a purple flash, the materials gathered together in a large messy ball, floating behind her. “This is some kind of test... I KNOW IT! But I'LL FIGURE it out! I'll FIGURE IT ALL OUT! The portal back to 'Human Land', this out-of-control learning curve Midnight has, ALL OF IT!!! YOU'LL ALL SEE!” Twilight galloped off through the garden, the mass of flying along close behind her.

“Um... was it something you said, RD?” Midnight asked. Rainbow just shrugged as she watched her friend disappear  Applejack sighed, rubbing her hoof to the side of her head. She knew what was the problem.

“Well, girls, I think Twi is on the verge of another obsession, again. Fluttershy, Rainbow, Pinkie Pie; I think y'all better come with me. We may needa talk her down from this like we did last time.” The two mares just nodded knowingly, getting up and joining their farmer friend as they all trotted after Twilight. “Congratulations on learnin' to fly, young buck! See y'all later!”

“Yeah, Nighty! Great job!!! Catch ya later!” Pinkie gave a furious wave over her shoulder, sticking out in stark contrast to the delicate little wave of Fluttershy's. Dash was already gone, having sped into the garden before all the others. Soon, they all disappeared into the garden, leaving Rarity, Midnight and Luna behind. The Fashionesta let out a slight giggle, purposely drawing attention to herself.

“Oh, pay no attention to her, my dear. Twilight tends to get herself... flustered, especially regarding things she can't fully comprehend, like you. No offense, but you seem to be taking to everything we're showing you like a true, native Equestrian.” Rarity mused, looking him up and down. Midnight chuckled, feeling himself flush a bit at the praise.

“Thanks, Miss Rarity. But is she gonna be alright to teach me how to use magic? Now that I can fly, I can practice anytime. But I think I'm going to need quite a while before I got a good grip on magic.” Rarity turned away in a huff, turning up her nose.

“Why, Midnight, I can't believe my ears! It seems that you have forgotten that I, too, am a unicorn! I simply can't believe that you would think Twilight would be a better teacher than me!” Luna giggled, having caught on to Rarity's fake offended tone. Midnight caught on as well. However, still acted as though he needed to apologize.

“Well, Miss Rarity, in light of Twilight's little... episode, would you be so kind as to teach me in the ways of magic, tomorrow? Your expertise in this area of study would be greatly appreciated.” Spreading and flourishing his wings in a grandiose manner, the young stallion bowed, causing Rarity to coo I delight.

“Oh, very well! If there's one thing I can't refuse, it's a handsome young stallion who knows the proper way to treat a mare. Alright then,” Rarity turned and trotted out of the garden to the nearest set of doors. She turned back, fluttering her eyes at him. “...I expect to see you bright and early tomorrow morning for your lesson. But not too early; I need my beauty sleep. Toodles!” The white unicorn disappeared down the dimly lit hallway, leaving Luna and Midnight alone at last. The alicorn walked over to him, nuzzling her neck to his, bodies pressed close, the simple gesture instantly relaxing the stallion.

“I am so proud of you, Midnight! I can't believe you already learned how to fly! And how did you manage to get Soarin' and Spitfire to break from their daily training to help?” Luna started trotting away from him, gesturing with a head turn for him to follow. He quickly turned and caught up with her, keeping pace on her side.

“They caught me before I fell to an untimely death from my bedroom balcony, that's all.” he grinned, expecting a little shock from her.

“Oh, that's good. I'd hate to have Dusty clean up such a big mess as a splattered stallion. All those feathers and such. Just... ew.” Midnight's jaw dropped as Luna giggled, bumping into him playfully. “I'm kidding, of course! Really, if it was still only just Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, you would have been fine. Tia always tells me about Twilight and her friends whenever she gets a 'Friendship Report' from her. Really, I didn't have much to worry about.”

“Wait... 'Friendship Report?' What's that?” The two continued through the trees and bushes as Luna went about explaining to him the reason behind the Friendship Reports and Twilight's connection to Celestia and the role that the six Elements played in restoring her to her old form from Nightmare. Eventually, the pair came to a clearing. A familiar clearing with a small, pony-sized crater in the center.

“This is where I found you the other night. You were in a really bad state. I really thought you weren’t going to make it. It took all my magic to keep you alive, and even then I wondered if you'd be OK. I would have hated if my first interaction with a pony outside the palace staff ended in him dying.” Midnight stopped at the crater, scratching the ground with a hoof. Lune hopped from one side to the other in a single graceful leap.

“Yeah, why is that? Why DON'T you go out now and interact with your subjects, now? You've been in the palace alone for long enough. I'm sure they all would love to get to know their night princess again.” Luna rolled her eyes and sighed, turning to continue her walk through the garden.

“You sound like Celestia, now. Really, I don't think the citizens of Equestria have any interest in me, anymore. I'm far better off just staying here and assisting Tia in her dealings with the nation.” Midnight bounded up and hovered above her, following close behind. Luna noticed this, taking to the air as well. Floating on her ethereal magic, she only used her wings ever so often to adjust her flight path.

“Well, sorry, but I think you're wrong, Luna. Your subjects DESERVE to know you. And I tell you what; if they get to know you at least half as good as I've gotten to know you in the last few days, they'll all love you.” Luna went to open her mouth in rebuttal, but stopped, considering his words. Then, with a sly smile, she responded.

“Alright, my dear Midnight. How about this, then? If you have the same luck with learning magic from Rarity that you have had with flying and learning to maneuvering on four legs, I'll try interacting with the populous. Sound good?” she said, coolly.  

“I'll agree to that, only if you and I go out to meet them together.” He landed, this time prompting Luna to follow him. Together, they came down at the edge of the garden, nearest the balcony to Luna's room. “I've been hoping to ask if I could go out into the city. You know; see how normal ponies live and all. But since you're considering going out now yourself, we might as well go together. So... how does THAT sound?” Luna giggled, batting her eyes at the young stallion.

“Why, Midnight. It almost sounds like you're asking me out on a date.” His eyes went wide as he stuttered, trying to find words to discount the alicorn's words. Before he could answer, Luna quickly moved forward, pressing her lips to his in a sweet kiss. Immediately, Midnight's eyes closed as they rolled back in his head, the sudden tension of her accusation melting away as he relaxed from her touch. After a moment, she pulled away, leaving him to recover.

“I agree to your terms, my champion. If you can get a decent grip on using your magic by tomorrow evening, I will accompany you into the city for a day of interaction with it's ponies.” She took to the air once again, this time using her wings instead of magic to hover over him. From this angle, in the darkening sky, Luna looked to him like a dark angel, floating in the heavens before she would disappear into the sky forever. Once again, he noticed the sweet smell of cool night air, brushing over his face with each beat her of her beautiful wings. “Rest well for the remainder of the evening, Midnight. You've earned it. I'm afraid I must leave you, now. I still have some minor duties as princess I must attend to before the day is done. I'll send Dusty up to your room to make you some dinner. Sleep well, my champion. See you tomorrow!” And with that, Princess Luna turned and took off into the night sky.

===

Midnight flew up to his room, entering from the balcony doors. Just as Luna had said, Dusty had come soon after to receive his dinner order for the evening. Much to his surprise, he realized just how starved flying had made him. Pegasi must burn a LOT of calories keeping themselves airborne.  He found himself almost drooling when Dusty started reciting off the various meals and specials the kitchen could prepare. Still unsure of what was considered god in this world versus his own, he simply told her to make him 'something big' to satisfy his newly earned appetite. After about twenty minutes, the earth pony mare returned with a variety of foods on a large serving cart. Again, there were various fruits and veggies. But this time, there appeared to be a dish very similar to eggplant Parmesan, which he ate greedily in several large bites. Along with that  was a salad with lettuce, tomato and onion, sprinkled with olives and... grass? Oh, well. Ponies are herbivores, right? Surprisingly, the grass was pretty good. But perhaps the the biggest delight on the menu were a crispy little treat for desert that Dusty called 'Hay Fries.'

Needless to say, Midnight ate like... well, like a horse! He sat back on his bed after devouring the meal, full and satisfied. He was barely able to get up to move the ravaged cart to the hallway for pickup, but still somehow found the room to pack away a small plate of three of Pinkie's cupcakes that mysteriously appeared at his door. After every last bit of food was gone from the room, Midnight finally laid down for the night. The moon shined through his bedroom windows, casting a pale light on the floor. He never remembered thinking too deeply about the moon. In the city, you would be lucky to find a single star in the sky, let alone be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the moon during your travels. But somehow knowing that the moon above was there because Luna willed it there, he suddenly found a new appreciation for the satellite. He wondered just how many other ponies out there were looking up at the moon in awe right now. Did they even know anything about the beautiful mare responsible for raising and lowering it every night? Or were they still under the impression that Celestia controlled it? Did they even know that Luna existed at all...? The thought made him sad in a way he never felt before. Even though he was treated very well, being cooped up in the palace was getting a little stuffy. He could only imagine the way Luna felt, being in here since her return however many months ago. He NEEDED to learn magic tomorrow. If not just for himself, but for Luna. She needed to get out and start living again, to have her subjects know and love her again. The evening turned into the night, and Midnight grew more and more tired. Eventually, the pegacorn stallion eventually resigned himself to go to sleep. After all, Luna was right. He would need all his strength for the lesson ahead.

===

“o/` Knock, knock, sleepy head! Time for your magic lesson! o/`” a sweet voice rang through the closed doors of his bed chambers, gently waking the stallion from his slumber. Slowly, the door inched open, Rarity waving a hoof in to Midnight. “Are we all decent, this morning? Do you need some time to make yourself presentable?” Yawning, Midnight pushed off the covers and looked himself over, wondering exactly what she meant by that. Neither him, or hardly any other ponies in the palace wore clothes!

“Um... yeah, I guess. You can come in.” He got off the bed and stretched as Rarity trotted in, wearing a beautifully decorated saddle bag, seemingly packed to the brim with items. With a gentle gesture, the saddle bag floated off of her in a white aura and set on the ground near the bed. Rarity turned her attention to her eager student for the day and let out a loud gasp.

“Darling, I thought you said you were decent! What in all Equestria is wrong with you hair?!” Rarity said as she recoiled from him. Giving her a confused look, Midnight walked to the mirror and checked himself. Sure enough, his mane style was completely disheveled. The left side of his head had the hair pressed flat against it, while the left was sticking up in every direction but the correct one. He reached up to try to flatten it back down, but was quickly turned in a circle to the middle of the floor by an unseen force. “And your coat is absolutely a mess, and your tail! No no no no no! This simply WILL NOT do! I MUST correct this!”

Midnight sat motionless, too stunned to move as a flurry of items spun around him. From nowhere,  pink spray bottle spritzed cool water at his head, while a heart-shaped brush worked it's way through his mane. “Close your eyes, please.” a sweet voice rang out from behind him. With little choice, Midnight complied, the sound of scissors snipping filling his ears. He squeezed his eyes tighter as the brush, and now what he guessed was a comb, worked their way through the bright crimson strands. The grooming items worked their ways down from the top of his head, around his horn and down his neck. “Now, stand up and spread your wings. Go on, now. We're almost done.” With a little reluctance, he complied, still holding his eyes closed. From the side of his neck, he felt what he assumed to be a brush slowly working it's way through the thin fur on his neck. After his neck was done, she moved to his sides, then his back between his wings, then finally his flank. As the brush made it's final run through his tail, he felt it was finally safe to open his eyes. “There, now. Good as new.” Slowly, Midnight turned his gaze back to the mirror. He slowly walked over, amazed by his new look. His coat was now well groomed, and seemed almost to shine. His tail now was straight and trimmed, and looked to be actually... styled, if that was at all possible. His mane... hair... whatever, was amazing. The major differences in the lengths of the two tones of crimson were gone, styled and clean.

“Rarity... I look amazing! Thank you! Wow, I heard you had an eye for fashion, but dang.” The white mare just returned the grooming items to her bag, humming to herself with pride in her job well done.

“Oh, it's no trouble at all, darling. Seriously, it's as much for me as is it for you. I've wanted to do that since I first laid eyes on you. You DO have such striking colors, you now. I do love a grey coat with such a bright mane.” she said, flicking her own purple locks.

“Rarity, I just want to say thanks, before we start. With how amazing I heard Twilight was supposed to be using magic, I thought she'd more than happy to help me learn. But... I guess I did something to make her angry with me...” Midnight said, suddenly looking a bit dejected. Rarity walked over in front of him. She put her hoof under his chin and raised his eyes up to meet hers.

“Now, now, dear Midnight. Twilight is a very nice mare, and a very good friend of mine. And I know she would love to be here right now teaching you the proper way to use magic. But she is also very... fragile. She takes great pride in her scientific mind, and for the life of her, she just can't figure out how you're able to grasp everything we're trying to teach you so quickly.” The white mare trotted over to her saddle bags, taking out several small items with her magic, placing them on the night stand next to the bed. “When things don't make sense to her, she tends to obsess a little. As I understand it from the others, they had to 'talk her down' last night, as it were. She wanted to come here and experiment on you right in the middle of the night. Isn't that outrageous?” Midnight just gave her a worried look. “Oh, no, darling. They talked her out of it. Don't worry.”

“Too late.” he chuckled, prompting a very feminine giggle from the unicorn. She was rather pleasant to be around. Not too loud or fast or crazy, like some of her friends. But this lesson was still not underway, and Midnight was sure she would do SOMETHING strange by the time this lesson was through. No matter HOW good his hair looked. Wait... hair? “Um, Rarity? I thought you said 'hair' when you were working on my new style here. So...” he looked up at the few bits of crimson hanging before his eyes. “... is this called both a mane AND hair? I'm sorry, but there's still a few nuances of life in Equestria that I haven't covered yet.” The fashionesta chuckled slightly.

“No no no, darling. 'Hair' refers a little more towards what you can style on the top of your head. Your 'mane' is more of what's on the back of your neck. Don't worry, though. I know of some ponies who still get the two confused. Anyway, let's get down to the task at hoof, shall we?” Rarity levitated a small, blue bottle from her saddle bag and placed it on the floor in the center of the room. She motioned for Midnight to come over to her and sit down, which he did. “Now, have you had any magical surges lately? Things moving around the room, glowing horn, strange headaches or noises?” The stallion shook his head.

“Nope. Nothing. Kinda the same way my wings wouldn't work. Wait...” he said, pulling away from her a little. “... you're not going to try to stimulate my magic by rubbing my horn, are you?” Rarity's eyes went wide as she gasped, covering her mouth with her hooves.

“CERTAINLY NOT!!! Why, what kind of mare do you take me for?! I would never...” She suddenly stopped, seeming to ponder something for a moment. “Well... at least not without dinner and a show, first. But, no, my dear. No 'Horn Rubs' for you. Instead, I want you to listen to me while I walk you through some exercises, alright?” The stallion nodded as Rarity faced the bottle, horn glowing. Effortlessly, the bottle floated up into the air, rotating in place, end over end. It suddenly stopped and floated back to the ground, the cork of the bottle staying in the air. As the bottle gently touche down on the ground, the cork dropped, landing next to it. “It's simple, Midnight. All I want you to do is to try to put the cork back on the bottle. Are you read? Give it a try. I'd like to see your method.”

Midnight wasn't entirely sure what to do. It seemed simple enough; move the cork back on top of the bottle... with his mind. Alright. That only sounded SLIGHTLY crazy... Narrowing his eyes, he stared at the cork, laying there near the bottle. Still, unmoving. Stubbornly resistant to his efforts, the stallion now strained his eyes and doubled his focus, feeling a vein pule in his head. His muscles tenses, and he could feel his heart besting faster, his vision blurring. Finally, Midnight had to stop his efforts, almost falling over from actually forgetting to breath while he made his attempt. He stood there, panting and huffing as Rarity gave him a sideways look.

“Well, at least now we know what NOT to do. Now, watch me.” She turned her back to the bottle and cork, keeping her eyes on Midnight. With a slight glow of her horn, she cork rose up and turned in the air, capping the bottle once more. “You see, dear Midnight, it's not about forcing your will on an object, as much as it is using the magic inside yourself to move over and around it. Like a current of water, gently causing it to flow where you want it to go.”

“Wait... I... I have magic... flowing through me now?” The pegacorn asked, a little surprised and out of breath.

“Oh, yes. Magic flows through everypony and everything. What makes unicorns unique, and in this case, pegacorns as well, is that their horns can channel that magic to influence the world around them. Try giving it a try like that. Try to... FEEL the magic inside yourself. Then, move it up through yourself and aim it with your horn. Try this time to remove the cork from the bottle. I placed it on there ever-so-gently, so it shouldn't be a problem, even if you do manage to get it now.” Rarity took a seat once again beside him, waving a hoof at the bottle.

“Alright... let's try this again, without the aneurism this time.” Midnight chuckled, though only half joking. The stallion took a breath and sat down on his haunches, trying to feel... something. Anything at all, in fact, that he might classify as the feeling of magic. He imagined the cork in his mind. The light-weight material on top of the bottle, keeping in the clear, cool water inside. He imagined it rising, floating gently in the air. The cork rising.... rising...

Rarity stared in awe as the bottle became slowly encased in a strange red light. It trembled slightly, until the cork gently began to inch its way up off the mouth of the bottle. Then, the cork dropped, the bottle still glowing and shaking. Rarity felt drawn toward the bottle as it trembled on the floor. As the cork rolled away, a thin stream of liquid began to drift upward from the open bottle, collecting in the air in a growing, amorphous ball. When the container was completely empty, the ball of water rose higher, floating up now above Rarity, making the unicorn crane her neck to follow it. Midnight, now curious to see if his new efforts were bearing fruit, slowly opened his eyes, Finding Rarity in front of him, mouth agape in amazement and eyes wide. She was staring up at the rippling ball of water suspended in the air. Quickly, her head turned back, looking at him in amazement. His concentration broken by her sudden movement, the water ball released, falling right on Rarity and splashing across her face.

“Oh, no! Rarity, I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean that! Are you OK?” the stunned pegacorn said. Rarity just held up a hoof for a moment as she coughed and sputtered, shaking the excess water from her mane. She composed herself, quickly resuming her look of amazement.

“Oh, my... Oh... wow. How did you...? I mean... HOW?” She looked quickly back and forth between Midnight and the bottle. “Did you... TRY to pull the water out of the bottle, or was that just... an accident?”

“That was more like an accident, but... that was ME that did it? I really did do real magic? Me?” His face lit up, a look of pure joy creating a smile from ear to ear when the realization finally hit him. Rarity giggles slightly, then a little more. Slowly she broke into a loud, joyous laugh, running up to Midnight and placing her hooves on his shoulders, hopping up and down.

“YES! You did it! You found your magic! That's incredible! I knew you were something special, but I never would have DREAMED it was possible for you to catch on THAT fast!” Midnight joined her in her hopping, placing his own hooves on her shoulders ans slowing her to a stop.

“Rarity... let's do some more! I wanna see what else I can do!” The white mare nodded, trotting around the room as she thought. He already knew the simple focusing technique, and that alone help him perform a very tricky feat of magic. A little clumsy, and completely by accident, but he performed it nonetheless. Them, an idea struck her, freezing her in her tracks.

“o/`... Idea... o/`” Rarity chimed, quickly trotting to the door. “I'm going to go get a few materials that I think we could use in your training, dear Midnight. I'll be right back. Oh, this is so exciting!” With a quick squeal, the fashionesta bolted through the door and down the hall.

===

Midnight continued to practice while he waited for Rarity to return. He had managed to get a decent grip on the cork, but somehow keep dropping it whenever he tried to move it more than a few inches off the ground. It reminded him of a stubborn crane machine game that would keep dropping the prize just seconds before it reached the trap door. After a short while, Rarity returned with a large mass of items following behind her in a white aura.

“I'm back, deary! And I brought a lot of toys with me.” She placed the various items all around the floor, giving each type of item a good distance between the next. There were sewing needles, fabrics and threads, then several bottles of various sizes and shapes, a small collection of blocks that a child might play with and finally, a feather quill, bottle of ink and several small scrolls. “We'll find out exactly where your field of magic falls, Midnight. Even if it takes all day.” The pegacorn smiled, looking over the objects laid out before him. He walked over to the cork on the ground, taking it in his mouth and placing it back on the bottle before moving both to the bed. He then took his old place on the floor, bowing to his teacher for the day.

“I think I'm ready to get down to business, Miss Rarity. Let's get this party started.”

===

“I guess I was just being silly, is all. I mean, hey; It's a little silly to think he'd follow the normal stages of learning flight or anything else a normal pony would. He is, after all, still a totally alien being, right?” Twilight walked from the kitchen with her friends, having just finished dinner. Applejack and Fluttershy flanked either side of her as Rainbow and Pinkie followed behind on their way back up their rooms.

“Ya got that right, pardner. I heard that he was trippin' all over himself before I got my hooves on em'. But he took ta my teachin' right quick. Why, I'd like to put him against Big Mac in applebuckin' sometime if I could. That'd be a mighty fine competition, I tell you what.” AJ said, seeming pretty proud of herself for Midnight's progress.

“I think Midnight is just a really, REALLY fun pony, whether he's a real pony or an alien pony or a human pony or whatever he is! I NEVER met any other pony who could keep up with me like that! Well... maybe once, but that was a long time ago.” Pinkie giggled and hopped down the hall, leaving the others to ponder her words before disregarding them as just another random Pinkie statement.

“Well, I'm still pretty impresses that he took to flying so fast. Even if it did take a wing massage to get him airborne!” Rainbow laughed as she spun in the air, Fluttershy turning a bright red below her.

“Rainbow, don't you DARE make fun of Fluttershy for that! Whatever it means to SOME ponies, Fluttershy did what she needed to do medically to help him fly. And I'm dang proud of her fer doin' it.” AJ barked up at the cyan mare.

“T-thanks, Applejack. It was a l-little embarrassing, but it's something that needed to be done. The poor guy could barely make his wings twitch, let alone properly control them. I'm just glad I was able to help.” Rainbow sighed above them, shaking her head.

“I know, Fluttershy, I know. I'm just teasing you, that's all. I wouldn't have been able to do it as gentle as you, that's for sure. And after all that, he DID get Soarin' and Spitfire to hang out with us. That was SO AWESOME!” Dash almost lost altitude as she squealed in delight, her friends ducking below her as they all continued down the main hall to the steps of the foyer.

“You know what, girls? I think I've been approaching this in all the wrong ways. I've been looking at Midnight like some sort of mystery. I think when Rarity is done with him tonight, I'm going up to his room and I'm going to have a nice, normal sit down interview with him. Just a talk.” All her friends present nodded in agreement, even Pinkie waiting for them at the steps of the foyer, bouncing in place. “I mean, heheh. He might have learned to walk and mover properly, and maybe even been able to grasp the concept of flight. But it's not like he's going to have some sort of magical breakthrough in a matter of hours, right?”

“Girls! GIRLS! Where are you?!” A shout rang from the upstairs hallway, heading towards the foyer. Twilight and the other Elements paused as Rarity reached the top of the stairs and quickly made her way down. “Girls! You have GOT to see this! Quickly, get the princesses here, as fast as you can! They have to see this too!” The fashionesta trotted quickly in place, more flustered than any of her friends could ever remember seeing her. They stood in stunned silence for a moment, before the Rarity took off towards the Royal Court.

===

Luna and Celestia sat in the throne room alone, considering the events unfolding in the neighboring kingdoms. The attacks, the raids the robberies plaguing so many other creatures at the hooves of ponies. Ponies that these other kingdoms believed were working under the orders of Canterlot.

“Is there any word from our embassy in the zebra nation of Savanna?” Celestia asked, almost to deep in thought to realize she even spoke.

“None yet. And Princess Cadance traveling through the Dragon territories hasn't reported anything, either.” Luna looked out the windows of the large throne room to the south. They haven't heard anything from their young niece about any troubles in her travels of late, either. “With all the time she spends away from Canterlot on those good-will missions, you would think she'd have heard something.”

“Perhaps it's better she doesn't. She is a nice young mare, but a bit fragile. I would hate for some hostile citizens of some foreign country to take their misguided rage towards Equestria out on her. I will contact her before I retire tonight and warn her to keep on guard.” The sun regent stood up, feeling the full weight of her position bearing down on her shoulders. It was only a day or so ago that the only problem she had was an upstart human-turned-pony. But with the potential for these incidents to escalate into something much more serious, she felt rather silly for allowing him to bother her at all.

The two alicorns made their way down the platform with their thrones, their hooves echoing through the huge empty room. As they made their to the exit, they were almost bowled over by a blur of white bursting through the doors. Rarity paused just before hitting the two, giving the quickest bow either of them had seen in a long time before going into some semblance of an explanation.

“Princesses! I-I'm sorry to barge in like this, but you simply must see this! It's Midnight! He's... well, you just have to see for yourselves!” With that, the unicorn ran back out of the room, passing the rest of the Elements as she made her way towards the foyer stairs. The mares simply looked at each other knowingly, turning to follow the startled pony back up the stairs to witness whatever event had left her in such a state.

===

The group managed to catch up with Rarity as she made it to the top of the stairs on Midnight's floor. Though held in high regard for her fashion sense, the elegant unicorn was not widely known for her athletic abilities. As they made it down the hall, they several maid ponies, carrying scrolls, ink jars and buckets of paint.

“I brought him several different sets of items, hoping to find something that would catch his interest, kind of 'jump start' his abilities, the way fashion did for me!” The group rounded the corner, passing several maid ponies carrying several rolls of unused scrolls and what appeared to be blank books. “He did manage to get a fair grasp on moving solid objects around. But then he tried to use a quill. It didn't work like he wanted it to, but he did manage to do... something else!” As they approached the room, they found the open doors crowded by several guards and maids. As they parted to allow entrance to the room, the Elements and alicorn sisters finally saw the amazing scene inside. “This... is what he's been doing ever since.” Rarity waved a hoof, presenting the pegacorn to the group.

All around the room were scrolls, easels, and large stretches of canvas. Pinned up to the walls, across the floors, in large piles in the corners. All around the room were used items of record keeping, spent and discarded after use. In the middle of the room, a charcoal-gray pegacorn stallion worked on another piece of art, several bottles of paint floating around him. Hearing the arrival of several sets of hooves, he stopped and turned around.

“Luna! Celestia! Ladies! Welcome to my breakthrough!” he said, standing on his hind legs and throwing open his forelegs to the group. The mares just stood in silence, looking to the pieces of art that littered the walls and floor of the room. All around were paintings of lakes, forests, buildings of every shape and size. There were paintings of planets, stars, constellations and natural formations. Works of art of so many shapes and sizes, they had trouble wrapping their minds around them. “It just kinda... happened! Apparently, I must have been some kind of artist or something in my human life! Just LOOK at all this!”

The group slowly strolled into the room, still looking around at the works of art around them. Luna looked at Midnight, her curious look speaking to him without a word. “Here, here here! Look at... this.” A slight glow of his horn enveloped a jar of black ink on the floor. The other jars of paint floated to the ground as a large blank canvas floated before him. “Here, ladies. Watch this.” Silently, a thin tendril of ink began to rise from the open mouth of the ink jar. The canvas floated closer to the jar as the tip of the tendril touched the blank surface, leaving a thin line. In a matter of moments, the canvas was covered with a fairly accurate outline of a pegasus pony in mid-flight. “It all just kinda CLICKED! I've been drawing and writing EVERYTHING I could remember from my life back home!” Midnight pointed to several places around the room, describing them as he did. “That's a bunch of buildings from the city I lived in, and those are some landscapes and bridges and such. And there! THOSE are SONGS! Hey, guess what; I KNOW SHEET MUSIC! That's just a FEW of the songs I remember! It's like the floodgates opened and everything just came FLOWING OUT!”

“Midnight... this is unbelievable... I mean, I never... oh, wow...” Luna took a few steps forward towards him, still unable to take her eyes off the brilliant works of art all around her. Getting closer, she noticed several small splotches of paint all over his coat. She marveled at the detail in some of the painting around her.

“HA! Luna, this is only SOME of the ideas of I've had to put down on paper! Now that I learned to do this, I can finally show all you ladies the world I came from! But hey, guys! Look at... THIS!” Midnight pointed behind them with his hoof, pointing to the wall next to his bed that was previously out of their sight. The group of mares turned, their mouths dropping open at the sight. On the large canvas was a creature, something unlike anything any of the mares(save for one) had ever seen before. The creature stood on it's two back legs, looking as though it was the natural position for it. On it's hind feet were something like boots, but smaller and more form-fitting, black and white in color with a white circle. Around the the creatures hips and flank were a blue material, loose-fitting with a chain hanging from the one side. Overhanging slightly over the blue article of clothing was what appeared to be a red shirt with a strange logo on it, looking like a black check mark. The creature's forelegs were crossed across it's chest, a leather strap around the fetlock of the one limb and a chain bracelet around the other. Another small chain hung from the neck of the creature, ending in a strange amulet hanging down. The face of the creature was flat, a small, beak-like feature just above the mouth. It's eyes were straight forward, indicating it was some type of predator. However the ears of the creature were small and fit closely to the side of it's head. The mane of the creature was black and short, cropped closely to the head and half hidden by a strange looking hat that seemed to only have a brim over the face.

“Midnight... what... what in the world is THAT...?” Celestia asked, pointing slightly up to the picture. She already knew the answer, but asked to cover her own flank. The mares looked at the young stallion artist responsible for the picture, finding a slight blush forming as he grinned, unable to meet their gaze.

“Well... heh. That's kind of a... self-portrait. Ladies, that's me as a human.”

===

“Whoa there, Grimdark! We're here.” Klokwerk called down to his large canine friend. The line of trailers and the carriage they were attached to came to a stop just inside a clearing on the edge of the forest. Just beyond the treeline was the open field that lead to the capitol city of Canterlot, the destination of the two shady characters.

“Aw, why stop here, Klokwerk? I wanna go to Canterlot, already.” The large wolf growled out, stretching his back as he slipped out of the harness around his neck. The earth pony stallion was about to answer when a loud roar crashed in the bushed a few yards behind them. Bits of wood and dirt flew up from the blast as Grimdark moved between it and his pony friend, shielding him with his massive body. “What the hay was that?!” the beast snorted out. His pony companion just laughed, patting him on his side.

“I think you'll be surprised when you find out, Grimmy.” a female voice chimed out from the fiery mess in the overgrowth. Slowly, two ponies, one stallion and one mare, made their way out from the fire into the clearing. The direwolve's eyes lit up as it charged towards them, tacking the stallion.

“Crash! Burn! Oh, it's good to see you guys, again! Where have you been?!” The wolf beamed as he began licking Crash's face, causing the stallion to gasp for breath as he tried to force the great beast off of him. His sister just laughed at her brother's plight as Klokwerk approached behind her.

“Burn, my dear! Such a pleasure to see you and your brother again! How have the both of you been?” he asked, extending a hoof to her. She placed her hoof in his, allowing him to give it a quick kiss.

“Why, Dr. Klokwerk, I do swear. You're the only stallion I know who knows how to properly treat a mare. Crash and I have been just fine. How are you and little Grimmy doing, these days?” the mare cooed.

“Very well, my dear. I assume you're here under master's orders, as well? Any idea what he has planned?” Klokwerk asked, noticing Grimdark finally crawling off of Crash, allowing the large pegasus to finally stand up.

“Heya, Doc. Yeah, we left Ponyville a few days ago and have been making our way here ever since. You two haven't seen old Tumbler around, anywhere, have ya?” The large stallion asked.

“No, my friend. But that's the best part, you see; she's in the palace, right now! She's working right under the princesses' noses, and they have no idea!” The two stallions laughed, Grimdark suddenly grabbing all three ponies together in a tight embrace, causing all three to gasp.

“This is GREAT! The whole gang is gonna be together, again! Just imagine the damage we're gonna do when we get word from the boss!” He let them go, allowing them all to catch their breath. “Soon, Tumbler will join us, and we'll finally be able to give that pretty little city a visit. I can hardly wait!” Klokwerk chuckled, placing a hoof on Grimmy's shoulder.

“I agree, my fine, furry friend. Soon, we will get our orders, and the master's plan will be in motion. When Tumbler joins us again, 'The Killjoys' will be complete once more.” The lights of the city shown through the leaves of the trees in the clearing, shining in the eyes of the group as they looked on towards their target.

“Trust me, my friends; as soon as we get the word, Canterlot won't know what hit it.”

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************

As much as I love the show, I'm kinda glad season 2 is over. Just because I don't have to worry about contradicting some fact about the MLP:FIM universe. I touched on Cadance a little bit, and will some more in the future, but I now have everything I need to finish writing this story! yay! anyways, comment, like, favorite and watch your little hearts out, bronys! I'll see you in 'Solo Flight', the next exciting chapter of...

STAR CROSSED! Next Chapter: Flying Solo Estimated time remaining: 10 Hours, 56 Minutes