After the celebrations, everypony left to their homes. Oracle walked by to check up on Midnight, but he wasn't home. Fluttershy was going to check up on Lightning, but it was extremely dangerous to go out to the Everfree Forest at dark. Especially how late it was when she left. Only one pony was not going to bed, Twilight.

Twilight was impatiently levitating books off of shelves and quickly skimming the pages. Spike walked down the stairs rubbing his eyes in disturbed slumber. "Twilight…why are you up so late…?" he asked. Twilight never turned to face him, she kept looking through books. "I saw something tonight, something I have never seen before" she explained. "I never read about a spell that allows you to emit powerful sound waves before."

Spike yawned but walked up beside her, "What are you talking about?"

"When you were here, I went with Princess Luna to the celebration. Midnight accidentally used a spell when a little colt asked him to try and imitate a bat."

"So Midnight can imitate stuff…it's not like it can do any real disaster…"

Twilight's eyes grew wide as Spike said that. She turned to Spike and embraced Spike, "Spike you're a genius!" Twilight galloped to a shelf and used her levitation spell to grab a book from the top of the shelf. It was dusty and rather worn out, but Twilight put in on her desk. She blew the dust off, creating a cloud of the dust to fly off into the room. Spike and Twilight coughed from the cloud, but it eventually cleared up. The cover of the book was now readable. The title read: "Forbidden Spells and Dark Magic." Spike was confused by the book and the reason why Twilight picked that book. But, Twilight read through it. Eventually, she gasped at a certain page.

"I found it!" she exclaimed. "Midnight used the Catastrophe Copy Spell!"

Spike's face instantly had an expression of confusion, "The Cata Copa whata?"

"The Catastrophe Copy spell" Twilight repeated. "It's one of the lost and forbidden dark magic spells. The user can copy anything he sees, spells, abilities, just about anything and increase the power of it to dangerous levels. But, Midnight was born around the same time as me. There is no way he could have learned this. There was also that one time with Sparkplug when his magic couldn't be affected."

Spike yawned and headed back the stairs, "Sorry Twilight, but it's too late for me. You can go on ahead without me…" Twilight rolled her eyes and continued to read. Once she was done her research, she would take to Midnight.

---

Midnight left the celebration in fear for others. But more importantly, he was afraid of hurting Oracle. He had to admit, things have gotten closer between them. Although Oracle hid it, he was sure that Oracle had the same feelings for her. Midnight flew to the forest, hiding until he thought it was time. He was hiding in a hole under a stump. "Uh…why am I always a threat to others…" he spoke out loud. "If it's not from my appearance, it's from what I do. How…how did I even do that anyway?" Midnight walked by a puddle and he glanced down into it. He looked at himself, just trying to think of what happened. He thought about the bat once more, and his spike began to glow black. Midnight was surprised, but looked around for a target. A rather large rock was a good distance beside him. He let out a small breath, but a rather loud shrill screech emitted instead. The rock was shattered into several small pebbles. Midnight backed up from the sheer power he just exerted. Midnight didn't know who he was afraid of, other ponies or himself.

"…Midnight…?" said a voice.

Midnight tensed up and turned around quickly. Standing behind him was the last pony he expected to be there, Princess Luna. Midnight was too startled to even think of what to even do. Luna approached him, "Listen Midnight, you shouldn't be afraid of yourself. The magic you just demonstrated is powerful, but it can be controlled."

Midnight turned around, sat down, and lowered his head in sadness. "Yeah…almost like how "controlled" it was at town square" he replied.

"Now Midnight, everypony that has learned magic doesn't always have control. Even…even I had no control once." Midnight turned back to Luna in astonishment. "When I was young, I was scared of my power as well. I was also very arrogant and selfish. I plunged Equestria into a permanent nightfall. I had to battle my own sister, just for my own selfish evil ways. And…I had to suffer a millennia of imprisonment for my mistake. I now understand my importance. Although most ponies only spend their time in the light, it only takes darkness to start the process over again. Please Midnight, you have some importance in this world, but destruction is not one of them."

With that, Luna gently rubbed Midnight's back with her wing. Then, she took to the skies once more. As she flew through the skies, the night followed. Morning soon came, the rising sun soon starting to shine. Midnight took Luna's words to heart. The next day, he would go to the one pony who knows all magic, Twilight Sparkle.

---

Fluttershy was wandering the woods the moment she was done with her tasks. It was around midday when she left her home. She headed towards Lightning's house, in hope of finding him. It was the day after Night Mare Night, the night he ran off. Fluttershy was worried that something happened to him and wanted to find him. Once his house was in view, Fluttershy flew over with great speed. Once she stopped, she noticed that none of the puppets were guarding it as usual. Instead, they were lying down around the pond he kept behind his house. The only puppet that wasn't there was Firestorm. But Lightning was nowhere to be found.

"Um…excuse me…" she said almost silently, "C-Can anyone tell me where Lightning is…?"

All of the puppet's eyes landed on her. Fluttershy became nervous from every puppet staring at her now. The cobra, Hebihime, spoke up. "Trust me Flutters; you don't want to see them today. This is a sad day for all of us, but especially for Lightning and Firestorm. Today is a day of mourning."

Fluttershy soon felt the same feeling of sadness, "Oh, I'm sorry. Who were they?"

"The one Lightning is mourning for is his sister Fiery Strings" replied Ginger sadly. "Today is the day she passed away. For Firestorm, it was her first love, Windstorm."

Ginger turned to Sharpfur and nodded. Sharpfur's eyes glowed slightly then she opened her mouth. A light purple mist started to expel from her mouth, creating a cloud in front of Fluttershy. A vision began to appear within the mist. It appeared to be a deep green dragon puppet close to the size of Celestia.

"This…" started Sharpfur, "Is Windstorm. He was made by Fiery as a guard. He had a very close relationship with Firestorm." The vision cleared to that of Windstorm and Firestorm. They were nuzzling each other with gentle kindness. Fluttershy smiled at this, but the image blurred quickly. "Unfortunately, Windstorm fell into the line of duty to protect the others. He died as a result. Fiery tried to save him, but her fate was nearly the same." The vision showed Celestia standing over Windstorm. Fluttershy was surprised to see Celestia in the vision. But she was even more surprised to see her raise her hoof and crush the skull of Windstorm. Some of the other puppets flinched at the sighting of that moment. But, the vision kept going. Celestia turned around and faced a small female pony. The pony had a crimson coat, orange mane, and yellow horns. On her hooves were these similar azure hoofguards. Celestia's horn glowed with a golden light. Fiery's colors started to fade and a small orb of purple light began to form over her. It slowly began to solidify into stone as a familiar shape began to appear on it. Fiery's body soon became gray and lifeless. The scene was too great that it caused Fluttershy to look away.

"I'm sorry…but I don't understand how Windstorm is dead" replied Fluttershy. "Can't you just…you know…rebuild the puppet?"

Windrunner sighed, "That is one of the major flaws in puppetry magic. Once the head or skull of the puppet is crushed, all of the puppet's memories and behavior is lost. You could rebuild the puppet, but you cannot rebuild their memories."

The mist dispersed once the explanation was finished. However, something else started once the mist disappeared. Slow, sad music began to play. The puppets rose up and stared towards the house. "Impossible…" Hebihime whispered quietly, "He hasn't played a single song since Fiery passed away."

"Uh…what is it…that you're talking about, if you don't mind me asking…" asked Fluttershy. She quickly received a quick shush from all of the other puppets. A beautiful voice soon chimed into the music being played. It was sad in tone as well but it was beautiful. Stormstrike began drift closer to Lightning's house, "Amazing…Lightning hasn't played any music since Fiery's death. Firestorm hasn't sung since Windstorm's death either. Now, they can make music once more."

The music and singing suddenly picked up and increased volume. It scared the birds out of the trees within the area. A piano was heard at the beginning, but then it picked up with them singing about their sorrows. The puppets started to dance to the music and cheering, they repeated, "He's back! He's back!" Fluttershy smiled warmly and turned to walk away. Stormstrike floated away from the group and stopped behind her, "Where are you going?" Fluttershy turned to meet the small eel-like puppet. "You are the reason behind his new behavior. You brought happiness into his dark world. You should stay and enjoy the music."

Fluttershy smiled and sat next to the house. She never decided to enter because he never wanted to ruin his moment. Once the singing finished, the other puppets cheered. Fluttershy was happy, but her cheers were outmatched by the others. Lightning walked out of the house and the other puppets ran inside. Lightning turned and had a rather surprising expression on his face when he saw Fluttershy. Both Lightning and Fluttershy's face became red.

"How long…have you been here…?" asked Lightning.

"Long enough to hear about Fiery…" she said.

Lightning's head shot up with the mentioning of her name. "They told you?" Fluttershy nodded slowly. Lightning sat on the ground, head hung low and eyes beginning to water. He lifted his head once he felt a comforting wing on his back. Fluttershy was beside him, gently wiping the tears with her hoof. Lightning smiled and hugged her gently. Fluttershy returned the hug, but the pair jumped as a scream ran through the woods. Fluttershy flew a bit higher to see where it came from. "It came from the Froggy Bottom Bog!" she exclaimed. She began to fly towards the bog as Lightning followed her on the ground.

Twilight and her friends were looking for Fluttershy. They haven't seen her all day and wanted to find her. They assumed that she was helping more animals, so they looked at the usual spots. Once they came to the Froggy Bottom Bog, they soon encountered a Hydra. It roared at them all, causing Twilight and Applejack to scream. Fluttershy flew closer to the Hydra's heads, "Please…calm down now…"

The Hydra roared at her, causing Fluttershy to get quickly knocked down to the ground. The other head suddenly began to crash down on top of her. "Look out!" shouted Lightning as he began to gallop. He pushed Fluttershy out of the way, getting slammed with the full force of the Hydra's head. The weirdest part was that the impact sounded like something just hit wood. "I…I won't l-let you hurt her!" he shouted up at the Hydra. "I…I won't let you hurt ANY OF THEM!" The beast's heads shot back, each one having an expression of confusion. As Lightning glared up at the Hydra, a red aura began to emit from his body. This caught the attention of everypony.

"Lightning…what are-?" Twilight was cut off when a large cloud of smoke exploded from Lightning's body. The smoke cleared, but revealed no Lightning. But, Twilight saw a tip of a tail sink into the bog. The Hydra's instincts kicked in, sensing what was in the bog. But, fear took over its instincts to run, casuing it to freeze.

"Did you really think you could run away after trying to injure my hoard?" a loud hissy voice said. "After all, a basilisk is known to fiercely protect its hoard."

Twilight's eyes became filled with fear when she heard the word basilisk. Basilisks are very large snake-like creatures, capable of mass destruction. Her head quickly turned to different locations, "Girls…we have to get out of here!" The other ponies began to run except for Rarity. She was heavily dressed so that the bog's muck wouldn't touch her. Fluttershy flew in front of them, blocking their escape. Rainbow Dash flew down beside her, "Fluttershy what do you think your doing?!"

"Everyone…he…" she quickly tried to say.

"Are you trying to doom us all?"

"I..."

"I mean really…I know it's a giant snake, but you really don't have to…"

"WAIT!" Her voice caught everypony by surprise. "I was trying to say it's okay. Show them what I mean Stormy…"

Everypony was shocked when she said "Stormy." She has only called one pony that. "Ah…I live to please Flutterssssss……" said the voice. He mud flew up like a wave as a large creature emerged from the bog. It was a huge pale green and white snake. The basilisk was unfamiliar to everypony except for Fluttershy. The large wooden snake towered over the Hydra. The Hydra cowered as it rose even higher in front of it. "Thisssss issssss a warning Lizzzzard…" Staredown continued. "Ssssstay out of my territory…and sssstay away from my hoard!"

With that said, Staredown flicked the Hydra clean out of the mud and up into the sky. The Hydra roared in pain as it was hurled across the bog. Staredown then looked down at his friends. Everypony but Fluttershy was in awe, staring up at the giant creature that saved them. Smoke exploded off of Staredown, clearing to reveal Lightning in his old self. Fluttershy galloped up to him and gently hugged him. Lightning returned the hug, but stopped when he saw that everypony was staring at him. He broke the hug and walked up to the group. "Puppetry magic, it has its advantages…"