Hearths Warming Day had come to a close, but not before Midnight had received presents from his ladies and friends as well. Twilight giving him a books as usual from her choice of presents for everypony. Applejack giving him a custom made saddle for when he takes her, Twilight, or any other pony on a flight. Dash giving him an autographed poster of herself with the Wonderbolts. Rarity giving him an enchanted horn ring that would magnify some of his spells when cast. Fluttershy, along with Big Macintosh, gave him a hoof sewn quilt. The crusaders had gotten together on their present, making him a vinyl record of Sweetiebelle singing several songs, Applebloom having made the artwork for the sleeve that the record resided in, and Scootaloo having found a place to have it all made at. Pinkie, of course made some treats for the Alicorn, smiling widely as he munched on them happily. Celestia had advised him that her present would need to wait til later on when they were alone.

However, upon nightfall, Luna had told Midnight that her present was not a tangible item. Even though he had made her angry many times over, she still felt that all of his good deeds that he had done for Luna and toward her deserved at least a present worth mentioning. Upon nightfall though, the group had made their way outside into the cold night air as they gazed at all of the beautiful stars that twinkled in the night sky. Luna stepping forth and turning to the group with a smile.

"Midnight, although you have gone to great lengths to torment me on several occasions, you have also been one of the best friends that I and the rest of Equestria could have ever asked for. So for this reason, I would like to honor you with something that only I can do." She smiled softly seeing the Alicorn raise a brow at the comment.

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but what is it that only you can do?" He asked feeling a little nervous.

"I have made something just for you." She smiled as she looked to the heavens making the constellation she had made the previous night twinkle brightly in the sky. "This constellation is what I am referring to. I have dubbed it, 'The Midnight Stallion'."

Midnight stood there in awe for what seemed like hours as he gaze at the brightly shining field of stars before speaking.

"Y-you really did that............. for me? Even after all of my pranks?" He asked as he felt his heart swell with joy.

"I did, even if you are annoying at times, I still respect you and your ways. You are the best friend that I have ever had, and I wanted to thank you properly. Although this does not equal in value to what I truly feel that I owe you, It is still something that I believe you deserve in the end." She smiled as she stepped forward giving the dark Alicorn a hug.

"Luna.......... I............ can't believe you did something like this for me. Thank you." He smiled down to her giving her a warm hug back.

"Your still not getting out of your present." She grinned.

"Dammit........." He sighed making everypony laugh.

The following day fared much better for everypony as they were getting ready for new years. It was going to be sunny all across the land so that each and everypony could come out and watch a meteor shower to ring in the new year, made specifically by Luna for the enjoyment of all to see. However, not everypony was getting ready to celebrate. As we are about to see.

"DAMMIT!" Kindle growled to herself as she looked at the floor of her home that she had just walked across. It was singed to a dark black, leaving hoofprints burned into the floor from each step she took. "How in Tatarus am I going to fix that?!" She groaned as she walked around seeing her hoof prints still leaving a smoking trail behind her. She stopped for a moment as her horn lit up to cast a guise spell and shield spell onto herself. The guise turning her back into her old self while the shield spell was wrapped around her hooves to prevent the floor of her home from being burned further than what it was currently. She gave a sigh as she cast several more spells onto the areas from which she had burned, cleaning them nicely but still having left the imprint of her hooves burned into the floor.

After making sure that her house wouldn't catch on fire from her new elemental nature, she made her way into the bathroom to take a shower. Turning the hot water on she waited until it began to steam before placing a hoof into the stream to check the temperature. She cocked a brow as she felt that the water was cold, but steaming from being so hot. She turned the cold water all the way off and the hot water up a notch, hoping that it would be at least luke warm for her. After pressing her hoof into the water a second time she gave a sigh seeing that the water was still cold.

"I guess that being the element of fire is going to be a little more difficult than I first thought." She sighed as her horn lit up, casting a spell onto the now full tub of water that was steaming from the hot water. The steam stopping its accent toward the ceiling and no longer evaporating. She gave a smile as her horn lit up once again as she cast another spell onto the water. The tub it was in starting to smolder slightly as she stared at it. She pulled a hoof up and placed it gently into the water feeling that it was now rather warm to her touch. She cast one final spell to check the overall temperature of the water giving a wide eyed expression as the results were clear.

"Seven hundred degree? And its just a little more than warm for me?" She groaned as she slowly stepped into the tub and relaxed, giving a sigh as the water enveloped her. "I have a feeling that this is going to be quite bothersome in the future. But at least I've got the power I wanted." She smiled before giving a glum look. "I still can't believe I fooled Steel though. I don't want to kill anypony, I just wanted this power to help them in case something happened and they needed a hero like Mare-Do-Well." She smiled. "Now that was a hero. Always out protecting the ponies and saving the day, she's almost as cool as that new Alicorn, Midnight." She giggled remembering her previous experience with the stallion. After a few minutes of reminiscing about her date, along with the fact that she had tried to seduce the Alicorn only to fail, brought a smile across her face.

"Maybe I could be the good guy?" She thought to herself as she continue to lay in the scalding water. "I mean, I wanted to get back at all of those idiots from my past, but now that I actually have the power........" She trailed off thinking about how easy it would be to just wipe out an entire nation with her newly acquired power. "No........... I can't, It wouldn't be right." She sighed as she splash a little of the water out of the tub and onto the floor, it turning to steam as it hit. "Maybe I should just get rid of this power. I can't even take a bath or walk around without something catching ablaze or water turning to steam before it even touches me." She sighed a she pulled herself from the tub, the water in her fur vaporizing as the cool air touched it. Using her magic she lowered the temperature f the water before letting it drain. She would have to get used to the fact that her new found powers would also cause quite a bit of difficult living for her now.

As she headed toward bed she stopped in front of a mirror to gaze at her new body. Her coat is now a blistering red that moved slightly, like the heat waves you see coming from a something that has been heated up in the summer sun. Her mane and tail remained on fire, the licking flame more real the ethereal like Midnight's. Her eyes had changed color to a sinister looking red, further enhancing her overall intimidating looks. She turned her expression to that of something more evil and sinister and automatically recoiled from seeing it. It wasn't her, this body wasn't hers. It was meant for something far more evil. More sinister than anything she could think of. It was meant for killing............. everything. She gave a heavy sigh as a tear slowly fell from her eyes, trailing down her cheek and finally falling to the floor, causing the spot to his loudly as it made contact. She leaned down to look at the spot and noticed that it was slowly being eaten away.

"Acid? You have got to be kidding me!?" She said before taking a sniff of the air around the spot. "No, it's sulfur." She said as she rubbed the spot with her hoof to get it to stop smoking. "Dammit, I can't even feel bad without damaging something now. What the hell?! I'm starting to regret even doing this now." She groaned as she stomped toward her bed but stopped as her horn lit up to cast several spells onto everything in the room to prevent it from catching fire from her higher temperature.

After a few minutes she finally lay down to go to sleep As she lay there she couldn't help but think over all of the things she would now have to change in the future just to keep herself alive and well. But considering the spell that had been cast on her. She wouldn't really need much to survive on. Her new diet would be bothersome overall since everything that got within a few feet of her would catch fire, burn, or evaporate unless enchanted. Her new diet would consist of gemstones since they would not melt unless heated to a few thousand degree or more. To bad she wasn't a dragon or she might enjoy that option.

As she continued laying there, going over her options, she gazed out the window to the brightly star lit sky. She gave a slight smile seeing a new constellation in the shape of a certain fire maned stallion she knew.

"I guess that big lug got into good graces with Princess Luna." She chuckled. "She must like him quite a bit if she did that for him." She said as she gave a yawn. "So what should I do?" She asked herself as she rolled onto her back to stare at the ceiling. "Should I continue with my plans, or should I just quite and disappear until the impending war starts and passes?" She stopped however as she thought of the possible outcomes. "what if Steel actually wins and I'm not there to have helped?! He'll hunt me down and kill me." She whimpered softly at the thought. "But what if the princess' and Midnight win and I'm on the opposing team? They'll banish me or kill me as well." She gawked. "Oh Celestia, what will I do?" She sighed as she lay back in her bed, mulling over the possibilities that could come out of this whole mess.

"Either way, I think thing's aren't going to turn out in my favor in the end." She sighed softly before turning over and closing her eyes to try and fall asleep. She would have to go over the ideas tomorrow while at work.

"Dammit!" Kindle groaned as she stepped into the lab to see nopony around.

"Forgot about me giving everypony time off did we?" Steel spoke up with a chuckle.

"Yea, figured pass the time by trying the left over spells and trying to get them to work with the alchemical agents. It's not like I have anything else to do." She sighed.

"Then why not go on a little vacation? How about you go spy on our target? I'm sure you can get in his good graces once again, if not find out a few details from the horses he has as mates. I'm sure any intel that we can get would be of use in the near future." Steel chuckled for a moment.

"I......... guess that's not a bad idea." She trailed off for a moment. "I guess a trip to Ponyville is in order then." She smiled softly before heading to the door of the lab.

"Do keep your guise up though. I am sure that you will be questioned a lot if you go around melting all the snow as you step through it." He smirked.

"Will do." She said as she left the lab, giving a sigh of relief as she was no longer in Steel's presence.

Kindle had taken the train from Philly Delphia all the way to Ponyville, It took several hours through the thick snow covered tracks, but she had made it none the less. Upon stepping out of the train she shivered upon feeling the cold wind rush past her. Her guise faltering for just a moment to melt some of the snow that stood around her. Luckily for her, no other ponies were out at this hour.

After a few minutes of walking she had finally come to an inn just down the street from town hall and Sugar Cube corner. As she entered though she could feel the cold air replaced with the tinge of warmth from the fireplace that was burning brightly on the far side of the main room of the inn.

"My goodness, what is a young mare like yourself doing out in this cold weather?" An elder stallion spoke up from his desk as he peered over the top of it to see her trotting over to him.

Kindle turned to the voice, walking over to the tall desk and peered over it to see the elder stallion smiling at her. "I just arrived in town and was looking for a room for the night, you wouldn't happen to have one available do you?" She asked giving a smile.

"We do, it'll be twenty bits for a night though. The holiday season along with new years has kept us pretty booked." He started but stopped as she hoofed the bits over to him.

"It's not a problem, I'm just in town visiting a friend. It's a little late for me to stop by and surprise him though." She giggled softly.

"Ah, a good friend I take it?" He smiled giving her a wink and causing her to blush.

"N-not really, He has several mares already, I'm just a friend, nothing special." She smiled softly to the elder stallion.

"You say he has several mares?" He asked cocking a brow. "I only know of one stallion in this small town that has the gall to have several mares, and that would be Mr. Flame." He smirked. "And you say your just friends with him?" He asked seeing her nod. "Well then, a friend of the savior of Equestria deserves a discount at this inn." He smiled as he hoofed back half of the bits she had just paid him. "If you do see him tomorrow, please tell him to stop by. I'd like for him to autograph a photo for my granddaughter." He chuckled.

"I will, and thank you." She smiled as she headed to her room for the night. Maybe tomorrow would be more promising than she first thought.