To see it was already the afternoon was to think the sky was falling. But it wasn't, so it was obviously the afternoon. We had all enjoyed our little treat, but now it was time for me to bid farewell to my friends and head home. Along the way, I crossed paths with my Uncle Spike who was doing a bit of shopping in the Ponyville Market. He wasn't technically my uncle, but since he was technically my mother's little brother... I guess that makes him my uncle? From the pictures my mom showed me, he hasn't really grown that much.

"Hey Uncle Spike!" I said "How goes your day?"

"Boring as ever" Spike complained "Ah well, such as life being your mother's number one assistant. So, what can I help ya with?"

"Oh nothing. I'm just passing by is all."

"Well, tell your mom that Spike will be home soon with the groceries."

"Alrighty then!"

"Now I just gotta- WHOA!" Spike shouted as he tripped over a stone, spilling all the groceries. Thinking fast, I used a levitation spell to catch the food. At the same time, the strand of red hair on my mane began to glow brightly. I slowly levitated the food back into the bag and onto the ground.

"Thanks Midnight" said Spike as he got up from his trip and picked up the bag of groceries "I suppose we're even now?"

"Yeah, I guess we are..." I said as I remembered what Spike did. I accidentally tripped down the stairs a few days ago and Spike caught me mid-fall.

"We'll I need to do a bit more shopping, so I won't be home until at least eight" Spike explained "Which means I have a lot of shopping to do... again... well, I don't want to bother you. I do this all the time. Go enjoy youth while you still can!"

"Says the baby dragon." I snickered.

"I'm older than I look!" he shouted whilst he was walking off.

"Yeah... okay..." I snickered to myself.

Hold on! Let's rewind that for a second: 'At the same time, the strand of red hair on my mane began to glow brightly'. That was something weird about me. For whatever reason, a part of my mane began to glow whenever I used magic. I've consulted my parents about the matter, but they said they have no idea what causes it to do that. So, ever since I learned of this, I've tried to figure out why.

"Psssst!" whispered a female voice. I looked around to try and find the source of the noise, but I didn't see anypony.

"Pssssssst!" whispered the voice again. I was beginning to get a bit annoyed, but I looked around anyway. Nothing had changed.

"I said PSSSSSSSSST!" said the voice slightly louder this time "Over here! Next to the boxes!"

I looked over at the boxes next to a market stand and saw a young Unicorn mare with a light blue coat and a yellow and red wavy mane. Her cutie mark was a music disk. I recognised her immediately as Vinyl Scratch's adoptive daughter Bass Drop. She always wore her mother's glasses, so I never knew what colour her eyes were. She was hands down the best DJ in all of Equestria, but for some odd and slightly scary reason, she loved me like I was her mother. She once went so far as to try and kill me to allow me to accept her love. Now, I know what you're thinking: how psychotic is this mare? The answer? I have no idea. Celestia help us all...

"What do you want, Bass Drop?" I deadpanned, not wanting to deal with her today.

"I found a new way to prove my affection towards you~" she sung the last bit of her sentence "Behold! My mother's old... um... something!" She then brought out a speaker with wheels on it. It also had a big red button on the top.

"Now, I'm going to press this button, and something is gonna happen!" she explained.

"You mean you don't even know?!" I asked her, now very concerned and terrified.

"Not knowing is part of love!" she shouted with a huge grin on her face "Here we go!"

To my horror, Bass Drop slammed her hoof the button, which opened up the speaker to reveal a larger blue speaker. Energy began to charge around the speaker, forming a flash of light, and the next thing I knew a giant beam of blue energy blasted straight out it. Thinking fast, I used a shield spell to block the oncoming energy blast. Eventually, the blast died down, and I removed my shield. Thankfully, the shield absorbed the entire shot, so none of the town was destroyed.

I felt like going up to Bass Drop and yelling at her for trying to kill me, but I think her mother beat me too it. Vinyl Scratch, the town's previous DJ, came up to Bass with a slightly disappointed look on her face.

"Bass Drop!" she shouted "You know you're not supposed to try and kill Midnight..."

I sighed in relief.

"...on Saturdays!"

Sighed too soon.

"You're only allowed to do that on Mondays!" Vinyl explained "But, I'll give credit where it's due; that was one awesome blast! Aw Yeah! Up top!"

"Woo! Yeah!" Bass Drop shouted as she high-hoofed her mother.

"Now come on, let's go annoy Tavi!" Vinyl said as she walked off with her daughter. I won't lie; many ponies that day stood there speechless for an hour. I was, unfortunately one of those ponies. And honestly, who could blame me?

XXXXXX

"Hey mom! I'm home!" I shouted as I entered the castle owned by my parents.

After an hour had gone by, I looked at a clock in one of the fruit stands and realized my parents would have my head if they saw how long I was gone. Quickly, I rushed back home in desperate hope that my parents, particularly my mother, would forgive me.

"Hey kiddo!" greeted my father as he walked through the entrance hall "Your mother's been looking for you. She said something about... um... oh horse feathers, what was it again?"

"Don't worry about it dad" I said nodding "I'll go see mom. You just go read or something."

"Was that supposed to be an insult?" asked my father.

"Maybe!" I shouted with a smile, since I was already walking away from him. Once I was in the throne room, the next room over, I began looking around for my mom.

"Mom?!" I yelled out, much to nopony answering "Where are you mom!? Wait; I know exactly where she is!"

I ran over to the basement entrance. The basement was where my mom kept all her science-y stuff. No doubt that she was down there experimenting on something. I walked down the stairs toward her laboratory.

"Mom?" I asked again.

"Right here, dear!" she shouted.

I reached the end of the staircase and saw once again my mother's lab. There were large containers of stuff everywhere, and a box-shaped machine in the centre. I never knew what that machine was for. Today I was going to learn.

"I've finally done it!" my mother explained "I've completed my wonderful work of art!"

"Um... what is it, exactly?" I asked her.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" she made a smiley face "Don't worry, it doesn't bite...

Slowly, I put one of my hooves on the contraption my mother recently finished. It felt like a normal machine, but I knew my mother was about to deny that feeling.

"It's a sub-atomic magic enhancer!" she squealed "It has the power to grant anypony super powers far beyond magical capabilities! I haven't tested it yet, but I intend to soon!"

"You mean with me?" I asked.

"Yep!"

"As your lab rat?!" I said slightly more terrified.

"Oh, don't be such a baby. I had to be the lab rat of my own experiments when I was your age. But now I'm old and frail, and not fit to do such dangerous things..." my mother then made a pouty face. I sighed.

"Fine, fine... I'll do it..." I deadpanned.

"Oh goody!" clapped my mom "Okay, place your front hooves on the two yellow circles!"

"Like this?" I did as she told.

"Perfect! Now place your head on the head rest..."

I did as she said again.

"Great!" my mother said as she walked over to a lever next to the machine "Now, I promise this won't hurt a bit!"

"How reassuring..." I said sarcastically.

"Three..."

I braced myself for what would happen.

"Two..."

I felt a scared and tensed up for a split second, but figured I could trust my own mother, so I quickly relaxed myself again.

"One..."

No going back now. Unless of course the writer was a complete A-hole and really likes anti-climactic scenes.

"Stop!" shouted a voice from behind me. I took my body off the machine to look at our visitor. It was none other than Spring Blossom, and right next to her was my little sister Halley.

"That is not the real Twilight Sparkle!" she exclaimed as she thrust a hoof out at my mom "She's a fake!"

"How dare you!" shouted my mother in denial "What proof do you have, anyway?"

"And B, why are you here?" I asked my friend "I thought you were taking care of your mom."

"I left Discord in charge" Spring said, clearly regretting her decision "I'm sorry, Midnight, but I needed to find out the truth! You see, I saw Princess Twilight just half an hour ago..."

XXXXXX

Spring Blossom's P.O.V. (Half an hour ago...)

XXXXXX

"More tea, mom?" I asked my mother. At this time, my mother and I were having a lovely cup of tea whilst sitting down in the living room of our home. Nothing had disturbed us, besides for a few animals requesting Fluttershy's help with feeding, caring, nap time and other things.

"Oh, thank you Spring" she said "You're so kind..."

From all the stories I've heard about her, it would appear that my mother had gotten less shy and timid over time. She had grown into a mature and slightly less shy mare. Although, a little while ago, she was slightly more depressed. My father died a few months ago from a rare disease currently unclassified. However, before his demise, he left us one last gift: another member of our happy little family. He should be popping out in a few days if all goes according to plan.

"So, just a little over a week, eh?" I asked her "Hard to believe we've come this far..."

"Hard to believe Discord managed to hold off on a pregnancy joke for this long" my mother giggled as she rubbed her belly "At least in front of my face."

"Now that I think of it... where is he anyway?" I questioned.

"Right here!" Discord said as he popped out of nowhere "Now, who's ready to have a 'whale' of a time?"

"Looks like I spoke too soon..." Fluttershy rolled her eyes playfully.

"Oh come on! You have to admit it was funny!" Discord laughed hysterically "The look on your face!"

"That wasn't funny, Discord" I became slightly cross with him "Why would you do that anyway? What did my mom ever do to you?"

"Spring, it's okay" said my mother calmed me down "Discord likes doing things like that, much to my dismay..."

"Um... sorry dear..." Discord apologized with one of his silly grins "Anyway, I brought some cucumber sandwiches!" some cucumber sandwiches appeared in his hand the second he snapped his fingers "Anypony up for some?"

"Actually, now that you say it I do have a craving for some cucumbers right now..." my mom said "How convenient!"

"Convenience at its best, I suppose" I shrugged "Alright, gimme a slice!"

"What do we say, young lady?" asked Fluttershy with a smile on her face.

"Um... please?"

"Okay, now you may have one."

XXXXXX

After a few minutes of tea, cucumber sandwiches, Discord's antics and a certain white rabbit begging for my mother's attention, we heard a knock at the door. I went to open it and saw that it was none other than Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship.

"Sup, Twi" I said "What brings you around here?"

"Um... hello again Spring" Twilight said not too amused by my usage of words "Has Midnight come by here, by chance?"

"I think he was here an hour ago..." I responded as I tried to remember the last hour or so.

"Horse feathers! I missed him again!" Twilight stomped her hooves in frustration "Well, if he comes by again, tell him that his mother forgot to tell him she'll be out for a while. I need to do a meeting with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. We're doing castle organisation!" she squealed in excitement.

"Don't worry, I'll tell him" I nodded in understanding "And you, um, have fun?"

"I sure as hay will!" she grinned before she dashing off to the train station

"Well, that was certainly odd" I just stared at the young (ish) princess run off to something I would find totally and utterly boring "Oh well, might as well tell Midnight."

I walked back into the living room where my mother and Discord were still drinking their tea. Discord had found a seat next to Fluttershy and had huddled his tail against her abdomen to keep her and the foal warm.

"Hey mom, I gotta go tell Midnight something" I explained to her as quick as I could "So, I'll be back soon. See ya!"

"Hold on there, young lady" my mother stopped me in my tracks, to which my entire body froze to the sound of her soft yet still motherly and imposing voice "First off, who was that at the door? Second what do you need to tell him?"

"The mare that was just here was Twilight," I explained still frozen in place, making me think that perhaps Discord had a hand in freezing me "and she told me to tell Midnight she was going out for a while. Kay?"

"Fine by me" agreed my mother "But who'll take care of all the bunnies and squirrels while you're gone?"

"Um... Discord?" I said, immediately regretting what I said.

"Oh perfect!" Discord smiled before embracing his long-time friend "It will give me a bit more time with my dear friend Fluttershy..."

"Oh stop, you!" Fluttershy giggled.

"Right... I'm just gonna leave you two now..." I said as I slowly inched my way out of my mother's cottage, now completely free of both my mother's imposing voice and Discord's chaos magic.

XXXXXX

"Midnight! Midnight!" I shouted throughout Ponyville "Ugh, where could he be?"

I had entered town in hope that he was here, but alas no he was not. I had passed by a few ponies I had seen before, but never took the time to really meet. There was this one pony with her daughters who absolutely went head over heels for a mythical creature known as a human and their weird hand-thingies. Then there was a mare practicing her cello with her son who played the violin. Finally, there was a mare walking around quite humorously with an empty beer bottle in her hoof. Joining her was her daughter who also was walking quite humorously with an empty beer bottle in her hoof.

I never found Midnight in the town, but I did see Twilight walk back into her castle. Raising an eyebrow, I followed after her. But not before Twilight stopped me...

...wait what?

"Oh, hello again Spring" she said now not as insane anymore "I was just about to board the train to Canterlot. All this stuff is too much for me to fly with..." she pointed to all the baggage behind her.

"But I thought... But you... How did... Huh?" was all I could say before Twilight waved me goodbye "This is weird... either I had too many cucumber sandwiches, or I just saw two Twilights. If I DID just see two Twilights, then which one's the real one?"

'Tough call' I thought 'The real Twilight would do anything for Midnight and Halley, but also would never give up the chance to see the Princesses again... hmm... Twilight DID ask me to tell Midnight she was going this morning, and said she was off to see Celestia and Luna, so I guess it's safe to say that the one I just spoke to was the real Twilight. Wait, then that means the other Twilight's the fake!'

The next thing I knew, I saw Midnight running into the castle.

"Looks like I gotta save him... again..." I said remembering all the times Midnight got into a pickle he couldn't get out of, such as when he got lost in the Everfree forest at age six, or when he got stuck in a log at Sweet Apple Acres at age seven. I rushed inside the castle after him, but I didn't find Midnight at all. Instead, I saw his little sister Halley Comet.

"Hey, Springy!" she said in her usual chipper voice "Whatcha doing?"

"I need to tell your brother something!" I explained "It's really important!"

"Are you gonna tell him that you love him like how he always says he loves you?" she asked "Then you two can have lots of little babies and live a happy life?"

"I... um... where... did you get that idea?" I said as I blushed slightly "We're just friends, right?"

"Sure..." Halley said with a smug smile on her face "Anyway, what do you need?"

"I just told you" I said, a little annoyed at the young filly "You can come with me, just don't get in my way."

"Okay!" she said as she began following me as I rushed to where Midnight was.

XXXXXX

Midnight's P.O.V. (Right now)

XXXXXX

"So that's how you got here..." I said recollecting Spring's story "But that doesn't give any proof that the Twilight here and present isn't the real Twilight. Maybe the Twilight that went to go see the Princesses was the fake!"

"Really?" asked Spring as one of her eyebrows raised up "Then tell me why the Twilight here was so intent on putting you in possible danger. That, and she always tests out her new experiments in the park. Can you explain that?"

"Well, I... um..."

"Don't listen to her sweetie" said my mother (?) "Just put your hooves here and-"

"Actually, why are you so intent on going through with this experiment?" I suddenly asked my mother with no thought of what I was saying "With me no less."

She began to look nervous, as if I had said something she never wanted to hear from me.

"Because I didn't want to do it myself?" she said trying to cover herself up, but ultimately gave up on her performance "Oh, you know what, forget it! You've already figured it out, so I suppose there's no point in trying to cover up my mistake. I'll just kill you right now!"

As she said this, her entire body began morphing into that of a Pegasus mare with a pink coat and orange mane. Her eyes were turquoise, but her pupils were slits, so they looked a lot like those of a dragon. Her long RD-like mane was styled to be perfectly symmetrical. Her cutie mark was that of a yellow star with wings on it.

"You are a disruption to order!" the mare yelled "You mustn't exist! Now DIE!"

"Wait, what? A disruption to order?" I asked "What does that even mean?"

She answered my question by shooting an energy blast from her chest. In retaliation, I put up my protective shield. As you know, my mane began to glow. The mare noticed this and stopped her attack.

"Midnight!" Spring shouted in a concerned voice.

"Your mane, it..." she began "It glowed! So when I did that to her all those years ago, it helped you instead of harmed you?!"

"What are you talking about, fake mommy?!" shouted Halley "What did you do to my big brother?"

"Stupid child!" shouted the mare "It is not what I did to your brother, rather what I did to your mother... she resorted me to killing her rather than aborting 'Midnight', as you ponies like to call this abomination. However, now that I know he has his mane like that, it gives me more reason to eliminate him! Speaking of which..." she began to charge up another blast of magic.

Just as she was about to fire, a bolt of power flew right through her, ripping open her body. I looked around and saw her body dripped no blood. In fact, the inside of her body was void-like and empty. Her eyes widened and she fell over without making a sound.

"Whew... that was a close one..." said a familiar and reassuring voice. We all turned to see my father with a slightly smoking horn.

"Dad?" I said "You saved us? But how'd you get here? Spring and Halley were in the doorway during all this."

"You think this castle doesn't have its fair share of secrets?" said my father with a small smile "Anyway, I know what you're going to ask, so I'll just answer. I heard all the yelling from the main floor, so I came rushing to help you. As for who the hay that is," he pointed at the mare who disguised herself as my mother "I have no idea. Either way, with all her monologue, she gave me the perfect opportunity to strike. That's what I never understood about villains..."

"Well, now that we've got this all settled, I think I'll head home" stated Spring Blossom "I don't know how much longer my mother will be able to take Discord's company. I know she's his friend, but even Discord can annoy my mom sometimes."

And with that, she waved us all goodbye and headed back up the stairs to her mother's cottage. As she left, I turned to my father and asked him that one question I know I'd regret: "Is she dead?"

"Yeah, looks that way" my father said overlooking the recently deceased mare "Well, seeing as how the inside of her wasn't normal, I guess it's safe to say I didn't just commit murder."

"I guess your right" I said "C'mon; let's go take out the trash" I motioned my hoof over at the body of the mysterious mare.

"..."

"Dad, did you hear something?" I asked my father in curiosity.

"Yeah..." he said "But I doubt it was the mare in question."

"...ugh..." a weak voice came from the presumably dead mare.

"Okay, it was defiantly the mare in question!" my father said, alarmed at the situation. The presumed dead mare slowly but surely got up to face us. My father readied another spell, but I stopped him to hear what the intruder had to say.

"This body... she is weak and dead..." said the mare "I can't kill you now, for I am dying in this host. But I promise, I shall be back..."

She then burst out her wings and inexplicably teleported off to who knows where.

"Well that was certainly... a thing... that... that happened..." I deadpanned with a small bit of confusion in my voice.

"I wonder if your mother knows anything about that mare..." my father wondered "I think with all her knowledge on this kind of stuff, she'll at least be able to read a book about it."

"Well, we still have some time before she gets back" I looked at the clock on the basement wall "So we have some time to kill."

"Wait, what?" asked my father "You mean she left again without telling me? Again? *sigh*... your mother is so forgetful."

"Well think of it this way; if she wasn't, then I would probably be dead by now" I tried to smuggle in a joke after what just happened.

"Y'know, you're right!" smiled my father "I don't think I could deal with a dead son. Now, why don't we go for some Ice Cream, eh?"

"Sure dad," I smiled "Why the hay not?"

Author's Notes:

Why hello there my wonderful ones! How have you been enjoying my story so far? I'd really like to hear what you have to say, even if it's harsh criticism. It really helps me out! Also, don't post ideas. I already have the entire story written out, and now I'm just going through chapter by chapter, re-reading my stuff to fix some of my slightly poor writing skills of the past.
Be sure to favourite and comment, and until then, I'll see ya later Scraggsters!