Cirria's school day went not as bad as she believed. The only two ponies that gave her grief were Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara. Everypony else was either worried or excited to see her. Cirria was happy that no one feared her. She returned home to Midnight's home, happy and carefree.

Midnight was putting the finishing touches on the gift he was making when he suddenly heard the door open. He was about to try and hide it but he was tackled by a giggling Cirria. "Daddy I'm home!" Midnight laughed nervously, trying to quickly hide the gift. However, Cirria knew that something was wrong. "Daddy…what do you have?"

Midnight sighed, realizing that he could not hide the gift any longer. Midnight gently removed Cirria and stood up. His spike began to glow as the gift he made levitated in front of Cirria. Cirria gasped and her eyes went wide. Floating in front of her was the greatest and most beautiful necklace she has ever seen. The gemstone in the center of the necklace had swirling gray colors, bordered by a golden metal with a silver lace. Cirria's eyes gleamed with happiness as the necklace floated over and attached to her neck. "This necklace is perfect for you Cirria" said Midnight. The gray gemstone went perfectly with Cirria's gray coat on her lower half, and yet it stuck out on her black coat on her upper half. Cirria quickly hugged her father, "Oh thank you daddy!"

Midnight returned her loving embrace. They stopped when they heard the creak of the door open. Oracle stepped inside with Shia and Ritani following. However Oracle had her eyes closed. Cirria separated from Midnight and approached Oracle. Oracle smiled, "I can see you Cirria. And that is a beautiful necklace." Cirria giggled as she hugged Oracle. Oracle's head turned as Midnight approached her, her eyes still closed. "Don't worry Midnight, I'm only practicing," he eyes slowly opened, "I can still see you." Shia and Ritani smiled as they departed. The trio of lovers stood in a group hug.

---

The next day Cirria walked through Ponyville with her necklace. She was walking to go to school. But, she couldn't help but to be a little mischievous and walk through Ponyville. She received several gasps and stares as she walked through town. She joined the Crusaders as they walked to school together.

"Wow Cirria, that is a beautiful necklace!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle.

"That thing really does match your coat" said Apple Bloom.

"Eh…I'm not a fan of jewelry" said Scootaloo.

The schoolhouse was in sight as they four fillies walked closer. Cheerilee approached the group, "Excuse me Cirria, I would like to talk to you in private." The Crusaders walked away from Cirria and entered the schoolhouse without her. Cheerilee had a wicked smile on her face as she rounded around the school with Cirria following.

---

Inside the schoolhouse, Cheerilee was extremely late. It was over fifteen minutes before she finally walked in the door, "Sorry I am late class. I had trouble with my door this morning."

Scootaloo raised her hoof, "Uh…Mrs. Cheerilee…where's Cirria?"

"I thought she was already here."

"Wait" said Sweetie Belle, "Weren't you talking to her earlier?"

"No dear, I was trapped in my house from my jammed door."

The three Crusaders gasped and quickly ran out the door. "Girls!" shouted Cheerilee, "Where are you going?!" The three fillies quickly ran through Ponyville until Scootaloo got on her scooter. They rolled to Midnight's house and beat on the door. Midnight and Oracle appeared when the door opened, "Aren't you three supposed to be in school like Cirria?"

All three ponies began to talk and yell all at once. Oracle and Midnight could not hear a single word from any of them. "Girls girls calm down!" shouted Oracle, "Now one of you tell us what is wrong."

"Cirria was kidnapped!" shouted Scootaloo. Both Midnight and Oracle gasped at what she said.

---

In the ancient castle deep in Everfree Forest, a dark figure walked inside carrying something on its back. The item was placed on the small pedestal placed in the center of the room. The item was a pony, and that pony was Cirria. Her lazy eyes shot open as soon as she woke up. "Where am I?" she asked.

Laughter echoed through the ruined castle walls. Cirria' eyes and head darted around the room in total and complete fear. However Cirria stopped and tightly closed her eyes. "No no, be brave Cirria…" she whispered. Her eyes opened, showing an expression of anger. "Show yourself!"

More laugher echoed through but this was more of a chuckle. "As you wish" said a voice. Cirria's head turned in the direction of the voice. A colt alicorn started to walk into the light. His coat was black and his mane was green with black streaks. He wore a dark band around his neck with a crescent on it. "Are you scared little filly?"

"Hardly…" she replied, "You better let me go otherwise I will…"

"Will what? You have no training in magic. You may be able to control weather, but you cannot control yourself. You were only able to control it when you were angry, and even then you were not yourself."

Cirria growled, "Just till my father, he will…"

"Yes yes, I know, your "father." I know all about your birth. I'm surprised you consider him your father. But soon you shall only have a mother. Why do you think you're here?" Cirria gasped and started to struggle at her binds. The colt laughed, "Don't worry little filly, if your father doesn't come, you will be the one who goes instead…"

"You can't kill me as easily! I am a normal pony now! Celestia cast a spell that made me normal!"

"Oh…are you…?" The alicorn approached Cirria and placed his horn to her neck. Cirria grew worried, which made a smile stretch across the strange colt's face. His horn swiped across Cirria's mane, cutting it in half. Cirria gasped at his action but stopped when she noticed the cut off piece. The piece that was cut off started to float in midair. Her mane started to move and it grew to its original length. "The spell that Celestia cast on you did not turn you normal, it only made you more vulnerable!" he shouted. "The Princess knew that you would become a threat again, so she made sure that she could easily defeat you next time!" Cirria's eyes welled with tears as she started to cry. This only made the alicorn laugh, "Ah, the child of my enemy is my relief, especially when she is sad."

---

Midnight ran through the forest nonstop since he heard about Cirria's abduction. Oracle joined him, along with Shia and Ritani. Midnight's horn was glowing nonstop, trying to indicate where his daughter was.

"Oh, it's so horrible that sweet little Cirria was taken" said Ritani. "Poor Midnight…"

"I'm worried for her as well" said Oracle. "I can't explain it, but I feel happier with her around." Ritani smirked, causing Oracle to smile as well, "What?"

"Are you finally admitting that having a child is a good thing?" Oracle nudged Ritani playfully. "Hey Shia, did you find anything?"

Shia said nothing. The silence worried her friends; it even snapped Midnight out of his worry-filled trance. They all turned to see Shia staring blankly in space. Her wings were flapping and her eyes seemed to be glowing. "My Prince…" she mumbled. Oracle placed a hoof on her shoulder, which caused her strange behavior to suddenly stop. She looked at the others with a confused expression. "What?"

"Shia…you were acting weird" said Ritani. "And who is this "Prince"?"

"Oh, I guess my Changeling self is still active. Well, there is a royal Changeling nearby, and there are only two royal Changelings that I know of. One is Chrysalis, and the other is…" Shia's eyes went wide before she could say the other name. Her wings flapped and lifted her off the ground quickly. Her horn glowed green and flashed in front of her. She took off down the almost hidden path with great speed. Midnight, Oracle, and Ritani followed after her. Midnight's wings unfurled and allowed him to fly at the same level with Shia. Shia faced Midnight, "I think…I think I know who took Cirria." Midnight flew with even greater speed, unknown to where he was going.

The others were amazed by his speed. Of course, if they lost a child, they would do anything to help them. Oracle was relatively fast, but nowhere as fast as Midnight. Oracle still had mixed feelings about the "daughter" concept. They continued to run until they saw Midnight on the ground. They approached him, unknown to why he stopped. However, once they followed his gaze, they realized why he stopped. Resting on the hill was a large and ruined castle. The pillars were crumbled away as well as the walls that surrounded it. Shia ducked behind Midnight, shaking uncontrollably. "Uh…I think I will tell the others where we are…"

Shia quickly flew off with the buzzing of her wings fading away as she flew down the path. A rope bridge stretched across the valley between the ruined castle and them. Midnight started to fly, but he turned around to Oracle and Ritani. Of course, they went on before he could ask. The bridge looked creaky and old. Midnight was just worried that the bridge would give out. Unfortunately, once Midnight stepped foot on the ground across, his fear came true. With a snap, the bridge broke off of his side and collapsed, with Ritani and Oracle to fall down the cloud-filled valley. "ORACLE!!!"

Nothing happened for a few seconds, causing Midnight to worry greatly. Suddenly, a bright golden light began to shine at the bottom of the valley. A gust of wind blew up the valley, causing Midnight to be knocked back. To his relief, both Oracle and Ritani landed on his side. Midnight quickly hugged Oracle as relief rushed over him. Ritani's tail ceased its glow as she approached, "Thanks Midnight, I'm fine too."

He ignored her sarcastic comment and walked inside the castle. Inside the room stood a pedestal, and on the pedestal was Cirria. Cirria's eyes opened wide when she saw her father. Midnight was overjoyed and ran quickly to her. But Cirria's expression grew troublesome, "Daddy it's a trap!"

Without any warning, Midnight was knocked to the side with a blast on energy. He got up very quickly, not being affected by the hit for that much. He looked across to the other end, seeing a pony. Midnight's horn began to glow, "Release my daughter!"

The pony simply chuckled, "Ah yes, your "daughter." It is a strange word to use considering she was made from a spell."

"She is my daughter, whether she was born normally or not! Who are you anyway?!"

The colt chuckled, his horn beginning to glow green. A swirling column of green magic began at his feet. His appearance started to change from that of a pony to that of a Changeling. His hooves began to have holes through them, and insect wings replaced his feathery ones. His mixed mane now took a deeper shade with black ending it. His teeth were replaced with fangs. His eyes were now green slits. "I am Prince Thorn" he said in his new voice, "And I seek revenge for you ruining my queen's plans."

Prince Thorn took off and lurched towards Midnight. Midnight, however, saw this coming. With a quick thought, a barrier of black magic formed around him. Prince Thorn was shoved away, but he charged again the moment the barrier dropped. Midnight focused his energy again, but Prince Thorn was fast. The worst part was that he was blind siding Midnight, he couldn't see him at all. With a final charge, Midnight slammed against the wall and landed against the ground with a grunt. Prince Thorn stood victoriously above Midnight. "When you are dead, nothing shall ever stand in me or my Queen's way" he said with great joy. "And once you are gone, I will take it out on your precious daughter."

Midnight's eyes shot open and he let out a growl. He was done using magic; Prince Thorn just made this was personal. He slashed Prince Thorn with his claws, causing small but deep wounds. Blood leaked out of these wounds, causing Prince Thorn to slow down. However, Midnight was not letting up on him. Attack after attack, more blood was lost from the Changeling's body. Prince Thorn now laid on the ground, completely exhausted. Midnight was still angry, he saw no mercy. He held Prince Thorn by his neck and raised his other claw. "You shall never harm another pony again!"

Suddenly, the ground rumbled beneath them both. Tree roots burst from the ground and began wrapping themselves around Midnight, preventing him from attacking again. Ritani stepped in with a glowing green tail, and beside her stepped Oracle. "Midnight, you are not a killer!" shouted Oracle. She approached Midnight and gently spoke to him, "You're the pony that I care for and you care for me. You are a sweet colt, so do not ruin that now."

Laughter emitted from the severely damaged Prince Thorn. He focused his gaze to the couple, revealing the nasty scars he received. "You think you have won?! Well you haven't! I still have one way to make you suffer, and suffer you shall!"

Prince Thorn shot a sickly green beam towards Cirria. When it hit, and explosion of light knocked Ritani away, Midnight free of the roots, and knocked Oracle against the wall beside Ritani. A loose brick fell from the top of the wall, landing on Oracle's head and causing her to go unconscious. Midnight was worried, but something else was more important. Whatever Prince Thorn used on Cirria not only allowed him to escape, but now something was happening to his beloved daughter.

Cirria twisted and turned, screaming in unbearable pain. Midnight quickly ran up to her and gently wrapped her in his arms. However, the screams only got worse. Midnight had no idea what was happening to Cirria, but he saw what was happening, and he wished he wasn't. Cirria's colors started to fade as her movement began to cease. Her front hooves began to crack like ice, until they eventually shattered like glass. Her back hooves once bright yellow glow faded into a even gray color like that of her back coat. Her vibrant tail started to melt into water, the seven different colors splashing on the ground as it fell like colored rain. The cloud-like mane began to dissipate, vanishing into thin air. Midnight became horrified with what his daughter now looked like. Her body was extremely frail and weak, her ribcage visible. Her front legs were only half as long as they used to be and the edge was shattered. Her once puffy mane was now gone leaving her head and neck bare. Her coat's colors were fading even more. A weak groan signaled her still being alive. Midnight went to her face and gently nuzzled her cheek. Her eyes opened, revealing nothing but the white background. "Da…Daddy…where…Daddy where are…where are you…?" she said weakly.

Tears fell from Midnight's face as he continued to nuzzle his dying daughter. "Cirria…" he said in a weak tone between sobs, "Cirria…I'm right here…Daddy's right here…"

"Daddy…I…I will…I will always…always love you…"

Her last words spoken, her entire body began to vanish. A gray steam emitted from her body and began to rise back into the sky. Midnight then realized what was happening, Cirria was going back to what she once was, the sky. Midnight tried to grab what was left of her body, but soon it all was gone. Midnight looked up at the sky, tears beginning to fall from his eyes. "CIRRIA!" Midnight collapsed onto the floor in tears.

---

Oracle went unconscious, but she was able to see the whole thing. She was on the verge of tears as well. However, laughter behind her snapped her out of it. She turned around quickly, seeing a sight she would never want to see again. It was Wicked Oracle, surrounded by darkness. "Wh-What do you want?" asked Oracle. Her voice was quieter than it should have.

"I find you emotion touching" she said. "You always tell Midnight and others that you never want a child, but here you are crying at the lost of one. She wasn't even your real child and you are worrying about her."

Oracle was terrified by her appearance, "She…She is important to Midnight…"

Wicked Oracle laughed once again, "Oh, you have no idea what is important. Right now, getting out is my top priority. As a matter of fact…" Wicked Oracle's tail quickly lashed out, grabbing Oracle and dragging her close. However Wicked Oracle's tail started to absorb into Oracle's body. "I believe it is time for me to get out, and I must thank you. I was blind and could really only guess where my victims were. But now since you learned to see auras, it is now almost ten times easier to kill."

---

Midnight continued to cry on the floor, grieving over the loss of his daughter. He looked up from his claws, seeing a glint. It was the necklace he made for her yesterday. Midnight grabbed it with a trembling claw. He gently grasped it and pressed it against his cheek. "Oh, is Midnight sad…?" said a voice. It sounded like Oracle's, but it was much deeper. Midnight turned his head, but then he got up in fear. Standing in front of him, was a tall mare. Her main and tail resembled a longer version of Oracle's. Her eyes glowed the same color as what her eyes once were.

"Wh-Who…Who are you…?" he asked in fear, "Wh-What do you want…?"

The mare laughed, "My name is Wicked Oracle. And what I want, is your blood on my body…"

Author's Notes:

I want to thank my dear friend for allowing me to use his OC

Prince Thorn: http://www.mlp-crystalthorn.deviantart.com