"AAAAHHH!!!! RUN!!!!" Shouted Sweetiebelle as the three ponies bolted through the Everfree forest from a manticore that was right on their heels.

"I thought you said that cave was empty!" Starlight shouted back as he attempted to jump over a bush that was in his way, only to skim the top of it with his belly.

"It was yesterday! That stupid manticore must've up an moved in last night!" Applebloom shouted back as she dared to turn her head back to see how close the savage beast was, her eyes going wide as a large paw swiped outward at her, hitting the end of her tail and pulling a small clump of the hair out.

"This guy must be freaking hungry if he's been chasing us this long. So I guess there is only one thing left to do!" Star shouted as he ducked behind a tree, pausing just long enough to let the manticore bolt past him and after the two mares. Giving him just enough time to pull some magic into his horn and jump out behind it and blast it with a bolt of magic and causing it to seize up, falling to the ground in a frozen state.

Applebloom and Sweetiebelle stopped as they heard the loud thud of the manticore hitting the ground, and the sound of magic dispersal from the small Alicorn. Turning back they trotted slowly up to the manticore, Sweetiebelles horn glowing just in case the beast managed to free itself from its magical bonds.

"Awright! We caught a manticore!" Applebloom cheered, trotting happily around the fallen beast as its eyes followed her.

"Uh, yea, but now what do we do with it?" Star asked as he prodded the beast in the side with his hoof, only to elicit a growl from it and making them jump back.

"I say we leave it and get out of here. The spell should wear off in a few minutes, and I don't think he is going to be too happy once he's free." Sweetie groaned as she watched the manticore give an annoyed snort.

The three ponies sighed softly giving an annoyed stare toward the massive cat like creature before quickly trotting off toward Ponyville. After several minutes of walking they finally came to a stop on the perimeter of a clearing that was within the forest. The canopy high above them still blocking out most of the sunlight, but the trees that surrounded the perimeter overhung the area, spreading far over top of it and leaving only a small hole in the center just large enough for a small pegasus to get through if their wings were fully extended.

In the center of the clearing was a small cottage not unlike Zecoras. It looked rather old, but with a modern twang to it. Faded white paint adorned the outside of the small living space, along with several windows that seemed to have several broken shutters on them. One hanging slightly off a broken hinge while the others had all but fallen from the windows entirely. One of the windows were broken badly, leaving several slivers of jagged glass protruding from the rim of it.

As the small group circled the house, the took in further details of it. One such being that its far side was covered in a thick layer of moss and vines that seemed to creep up a small chimney that seemed more out of place than the rest of the house as it had separated slightly from the house and stood on its own. The vines that had crept slowly up it now seemed as if they were attempting to stitch it back to the house once again.

"This place is kind of creepy." Sweetie began as she looked worriedly toward the old home in the middle of the woods.

"It's better than a dark old cave that is home to a...." Starlight paused as a loud roar ripped through the forest.

"MANTICORE!" The three shouted as they looked back to the area in which the roar had originated, then back to one another.

"Guess that means we should.... *gulp* hide in there." Sweetie spoke out in a shuddering tone, nodding to the old seemingly abandoned house that stood before them. Another roar prompted them to hurry as they bolted up to the door, opened it, then rushed inside, closing the door again just in time to hear the loud crunching of leaves underhoof. It paused for a moment outside the house before continuing off into the distance. One final roar escaping the beast as it vanished into the distance.

After standing completely still for another minute, the three ponies let out a sigh of relief. Finally able to relax, the three looked around in the dim light of the house, their eyes adjusting quickly as the room and its items came into focus. This house.... didn't sit right with them.

"Who.... or what, lived here?" Sweetie spoke out in a slightly stunned tone as she quickly glanced around the home.

Overturned chairs and tables adorned the far wall of the main room, along with several book cases and shelves that once house some fine china and what seemed like heirlooms. The carpet had all but mildewed and reeked a foul stench as it curled up in a broken mess in many areas. On the far left of the room there stood what seemed to be a large wooden box with glass that adorned its middle, facing outward. A television perhaps? But it looked nothing like the ones that they had seen before. This looked similar to an old floor model television from the 1960's in the human world that Midnight had shown them pictures of some time ago. The only difference was that the screen was solid black, and seemed to be made of some type of transparent stone.

"Hey, check this out!" Starlight spoke up, garnering the others attention as his horn lit up, opening a door to a small flight of stairs that went into the basement. The three stared silently down the flight of stairs and into the darkness that crept upwards into the dim light.

"It's too dark to see anything..." Applebloom stated for a moment but paused as she placed a hoof onto the first step of the stairs. That single step causing several gems to light along each step as it went further down into the depths of the basement. They kept lighting up until they were nothing but a pinpoint in the far distance below.

"Uh.... Should we... check it out?" Sweetie spoke out in a worried tone, fear evident in her eyes as they all gazed silently into the darkened stairwell.

"Well, I'm sure it just leads to an empty basement." Starlight gulped. "I hope."

"So, darling, what are your plans for the rest of the day?" Rarity asked as the two sat down to a quiet lunch at the local diner.

"Didn't have any plans to be honest. Star just wanted to come visit his aunts and second mama before running off to play." Midnight chuckled seeing Raritys face flush a light pink.

"Mama?" She trailed off as she hummed over the word slightly, it bringing a serene smile to her face as she ran a hoof gently over her belly.

"Technically your a second mother to Star. So I guess you can get some practice in on him before our little one is born." Midnight smiled, giving her nose a peck.

"I... honestly don't know what to say darling. I mean... I've wanted this for so long, and to have it actually happen has rendered me speechless. Oh, and to have little Star call me mother as well would be the icing on the cake." She giggled softly.

"I'm sure our colt wouldn't mind calling you mama at all. We'll just have to wait and see when he gets back." He chuckled. "By the way, did Sweetie tell you where she and the others were going, much less what they were going to do?"

"I'm afraid not. I know that Applebloom had planned on going by Fluttershys cottage so that they could say hello to her and the foals." She paused seeing the looked of slight horror on Midnights face.

"Wait, her cottage? Don't you mean my old house next to Sweet Apple acres? Where Big Macintosh and Shy live together with their foals?"

Rarity gave a slightly worried glance toward Midnight before she picked back up. "Um... no... I distinctly remember that Sweetie said cottage. As in, Fluttershys old home." She trailed off again. "You don't think they...."

"Eeyup... they've gone into the Everfree forest." Midnight groaned as he took in a breath and spoke out in a monotone. "Starlight Flame."

"Star, where are you?" The dark stallion spoke out in his mind through a mental link.

After a few more seconds he spoke up again. "Star, answer me or I'll ground your flank for a month."

More silence...

"Babe, I hate to cut our date short, but Star isn't responding to my telepathic link. I'm going to go and search for him. You stay here and let Twi know so she can send a letter to Tia." He stated as he quickly got up and headed toward the door of the diner, dropping a few bits onto the table as Rarity followed closely behind him.

"But darling, won't you need my help? Or the others?." She asked, giving a worried glance up to him.

"As much as I would like the help love, I won't put you or the others in any type of danger while you're carrying. So don't think I won't teleport your flank half way across the globe and into a safe house just to keep you from getting hurt. I'm aware of your new abilities, so if I have to, I'll put up a dampening field around you so you can't use magic, understood?" He hummed out while cocking a brow.

The ivory unicorn at his side gave a disgruntled expression of defiance before giving a loud huff toward him. Flicking her mane back she raised her nose slightly as she spoke.

"Do not think that this fashionista is incapable of protecting herself. I am perfectly capable of handling anything that comes my waaAAAAHAHAAAAHA!" She began to protest but ended up bolting sideways as Midnight gave her a gentle nudge in a very specific spot on her side, causing her to squeal loudly.

"So sneak attacks, I presume, do not fall within your abilities?" He snickered seeing her face grow a little red from annoyance.

"I.... Suppose I could stay here in Ponyville." She began but quickly nudge the Alicorn in his side causing him to chuckle. "However, if you do need help, please do contact us. We will be more than capable to come to your aid if the need arises."

"I will love." He smiled, leaning down and giving her a quick kiss as the two came up to Golden Oaks Library. Rarity heading off toward her boutique as Midnight made his way inside the overgrown tree house.

"Twi? You here love?" Midnight spoke up as he entered.

"In my study." She spoke up, garnering his attention.

"I need you to send Tia a letter." He began, causing her to look oddly toward him.

"Something wrong?" She asked as she closed her book and pulled a quill with parchment from her desk, dipping the large pinion into an inkwell and placing it onto the old paper to begin.

"Ask her if she can contact Star with her telepathic spell, and if not, to not worry because I'll handle what's going on if so."

Twilight gave him a surprised look but quickly began to scribble onto the parchment, then using her magic to whisk it away since Spike was currently out.

Within several minutes there was a bright flash and snap as Celestia appeared within the library with a look of panic on her face.

"Midnight, where is our baby?" She asked in a panic as she began to look around the library, lifting every book at once with her magic and moving them to try and locate the foal. Quickly dropping the books as she began to hyperventilate from worry.

"TIA! Calm down, our boy is fine. He's with the crusaders. We just need to cast a location spell to find out where they've run off to." Midnight stated quickly causing her to glare at him slightly.

"A location spell?! I thought you could locate him with your telepathic spell, and why didn't you use it to contact me?! We are wasting valuable time that could be spent finding our baby." She snapped back.

"My telepathic spell is being blocked on Stars end, or he could just be asleep."

"Or dead!" Celestia panicked, blurting out the phrase quickly.

"TIA! Quit it! He is not dead. I have cast far too many protection spells onto him to prevent such things from happening." Midnight growled out as worry began to consume him as well.

"That's what you said about Marina!" She snapped back causing him to recoil. His face showing so much hurt just before he lowered his head, staring silently at the floor of the library.

"M-midnight.... I'm so sorry.... Please.... I didn't mean." Celestia began but stopped as she watched several tears fall from the dark stallion, hitting the floor quietly as he quickly turned giving a sniff.

"No Tia.... You're right.... I was far too trusting in my abilities to keep our daughter safe. I thought I had done what I could to protect her... but I failed. But I won't make the same mistake with our son." He snapped as his vision hardened, raising his head back up as he looked to Twilight.

"Twi, I'll need to borrow your gem battery I made for you." He stated as he trotted over to her side, she pulling the gem from her desk and floating into his magical grasp.

"Sorry to say Twi, but I may end up breaking this. If I do though, I'll make you another." He smiled softly to her seeing her nod.

"It's ok Night. You do what you need to to protect Star." She smiled, hugging him warmly around the neck.

"Alright then, Now for my location spell." He sighed as he powered up his magic, his horn glowing a blistering white as he forced his magic to his limit.

A beam of energy shot straight up and through the roof of the library without damaging it. Quickly spreading out widely into a giant circle before slowly rotating slowly, making two revolutions around the planet and slowing to a halt as it quickly dissipated into thin air. The dark Alicorn gave a groan from the strain, but his pained expression faded quickly as he began to absorb the magic from the magical gem battery.

"Well?" Celestia began only to see him shake his head.

"No good. I can't pinpoint his exact location. However, I have the general area in which he is. There seems to be a buffering field around him that is blocking all types of magic from entering."

"Does that mean?!" Celestia gulped in worry.

"I doubt that the field absorbs magic, but if it does. Star, and the crusaders, could be in danger."