//------------------------------//
// Epilogue - The Dream 
// Story: Shadows' Call 
// by NPP6 
//------------------------------//

	Nopony was quite sure how things had managed to escalate the way they did, but by the time Twilight had shown up to stop the fight, there were three mild concussions, two sprained hoofs, thirteen cuts, seventy-two bruises, four black eyes, and one lightly bleeding bite wound. Also, Sweetie Bell would be slightly lightheaded for a few days as a side-effect of the sleeping spell Featherdown had hit her with when she woke up during everything.
Then proceeded a lengthy conversation about who was doing what and why. An hour later, after the exact nature of Midnight’s relationship with Luna and the contracts involved were revealed, Cheerilee was finally convinced that he had not in fact violated her student. The fact that he hadn’t had a body until a week ago helped that case immensely.



Diamond Tiara braced herself as the door opened. After a moment of silence, she opened her eyes to see her father, gaping in shock. She found herself staring back in much the same manner. His mane was a mess, it looked like he hadn’t shaved in a week, and she could definitely smell alcohol on him.
“Honey?” A weak voice came from further in, “Who is i–” Spoiled Rich joined the ranks of the dumbfounded, while Diamond felt her sense of reality break at the sight of her mother without her makeup on!!!
There was a strangled cry – it might have been any or all of them – and suddenly they were in a teary hug. “Promise us,” Filthy’s voice was hoarse, “Don’t you ever do something like that again.”
“Daddy I…” In the back of her mind, something told Diamond that this teary, happy family feeling wouldn’t last. “I promise I won’t go out of my way to find trouble.” She decided to enjoy it while it did.



The alicorns – sans Cadance, who had gone back to the Crystal Empire so that she could bring her husband up to speed on things – were gathered with the most recent bearers of the Elements of Harmony in the throne room of Twilight’s castle.
“…because of this,” Celestia was saying, “I feel it might be best not to publicly announce Midnight’s return at this time. Before I made a move on this however, I felt I should get the input of all of you.”
Applejack broke the short silence with a sigh. “I guess I gotta be the first one to say somethin’. It don’t quite sit right with me lyin’ to everypony like that.”
“At the same time dear,” Rarity piped up, “We wouldn’t want to worry anypony, and the last time a ‘night alicorn’ returned…” She trailed off with a glance at the youngest pony present.
Nyx rolled her eyes. “You can go ahead and say it, I took over Equestria.”
There was an awkward pause after that. Midnight cleared his throat and stepped forward. “Also, we won’t really be lying to them. It’s not like I’ll be living as Inkwell like I was during the Draconequus War. It’ll be more of an… open secret. For instance, do you know the name of the Captain of the Lunar Guard? How about the pony who replaced Shining Armor as Captain of the Royal Guard? If anypony cares to look, then they can find out exactly who I am, but…” He shrugged. “…if they don’t care, why stir up the hornets’ nest?”
The conversation went on for a while, looping back on itself every now and again, and eventually even Applejack agreed to go with this plan – at least for now. It was shortly after this consensus was reached that somepony pointed out that it was getting late and they should all head home.
Pinkie Pie was halfway to the door when she paused  mid-bounce, gasping deeply. She turned slowly, still standing in midair, to face the only stallion present. “I just realized!” She dropped back to earth. “Midnight! We still need to have your ‘Welcome Back to Equestria’ Party! And your Housewarming Party wherever you’re living!” Her head tilted. “Wait a second, where are you going to be living?”
Midnight exchanged smiles with Luna and Celestia. “Well we had discussed me living in Canterlot, but that’s a little bit high profile. Besides, an alicorn stallion living in the palace would lead to… rumors. Also, I have my responsibilities as well, which limits me a little geographically. Fortunately, there’s this town where people adjust to the crazy pretty easily that’s got perfect access to everywhere I need to be and that Luna visits often enough already that we won’t have to worry about keeping our cover.”
Pinkie drooped slightly. “Aaaaawww, I was hoping you’d stay in Ponyville.”
“What? But Pinkie, I–”
The baker bounced up. “Oh well! I guess just let us know when you finish deciding and I’ll throw you the most superfantabulous housewarming party you’ve seen in a thousand years there instead!” She sproinged away, leaving the group staring after her.
Twilight shook her head. “Don’t worry, she’ll catch on eventually. Where’re you planning on staying?”
Midnight shook his head and then pointed into the distance. “Well, there is this vacant fortress on the other side of town.” Nightstone Castle, silhouetted by the setting sun, was going to get a chance to be more than a reminder of darkness.
They could see Pinkie in the distance as well. She was halfway back to town when realization hit her like a crate load of bricks raining from the sky. Oddly enough, that was exactly how it sounded to anypony observing.



The shadow next to Midnight solidified. “So what now General?”
Midnight rolled his eyes, not moving his gaze from the sleepy town they sat on the outskirts of. “Diamond, you’ve never been formal with me, don’t start now. Besides, until the day you retire or die you’re going to be my closest advisor and confidant. If you can’t speak freely with me, then who can?”
Diamond smiled. “Princess Luna.”
He laughed, shaking his head. “You know, I never did thank you for bringing me back.”
“I was just doing the job.”
“No, what you did was far more than that. Far more than I had any right to ask of you. All of Equestria owes you Diamond.”
“No they don’t. They owe the ponies who helped me. The ones who saved me. I could never have done this alone.”
“You could have… at a price…” Midnight whispered, more to himself than anything.
“What?”
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it for now. Just an old stallion rambling, I’ll tell you if it becomes important. But you asked me a question. What now? For now, you go back to your foalhood. Live. Be happy. Enjoy the Day that Diamond Tiara gets to be a part of.”
“And when Darkness comes?”
“We will train, but not as heavily as before. And when we need to use that training, you’ll come with me into the Night.”
Diamond stayed still a moment, then sidestepped and leaned up against Midnight. “I never thanked you for saving me either.”
He smiled and hugged her with a wing. “And you’ll never have to.”



On another hill, also just outside of town, but in a different direction, an elderly stallion was looking out at the moonlit town as well. He smiled, not bothering to turn. “You’re letting your training slip, I heard you coming when you were still at the bottom of the hill.”
“I was trying to be heard you old coot, do you really think I want to sneak up on you?”
The stallion’s grin widened. “I’m honestly surprised that you called me out here. I’m retired you know.”
The mare snorted as she came up alongside him. “Right, like anypony ever really retires from Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Or the Travelers. Especially you! I mean for crying out loud, when I heard that the legendary Agent 7 was going to help me blend in on assignment in Ponyville…”
The stallion frowned. “Exactly how am I a legend? I thought I was a better spy than that.”
“Good agent, yes. Good spy, not so much. Out of curiosity, did your cover ever survive a mission, or did they all end with fireworks and/or flashy reveals?”
“I have no idea what you mean.”
“Then let’s start with the airship over Canterlot and keep going through to the Zebra ambassador’s would-be assassin.”
“Ah. Yes. Well… I did leave all that behind. I’m just too old for it now. However I heard an interesting rumor about you a few months back. Monster hunter?"
The mare shrugged. "A couple ponies were starting to get suspicious, so we let the mayor 'overhear' some things. That mare wouldn't know what a secret was if it waltzed up and punched her in the nose. Problem solved with no risk to Lyra's cover. Which reminds me why I'm here. We owe you for helping us get established here. I’m returning that favor now by letting you know that this dossier won’t be missed.”
“What’s in it?”
“Some information on your youngest charge. Clearance level Red Sigma Seven.”
Shock registered on Randolph’s face for the first time in years as he turned to his companion. “How in the name of Celestia’s socks did Diamond Tiara get involved in something like that?”
Sweetie Drops let her smile fall. “Alright, as of right now, there are maybe thirty ponies in Equestria who know about this. Guard Command is in the dark. Tell me, do you remember, during the Traveler initiation, a group called the Shadow Rangers was mentioned?”



“…and so, since you’re the only other known alicorn whose talent before ascending was magic, Celestia thought I should talk to you about it.”
Midnight nodded. It had been a just over a month since he had started living in Ponyville, and he hadn’t spent much time around the younger alicorn. Celestia’s ploy was transparent, but not necessarily without merit. “Well the first question is easy. That ‘thrum’ you described is a vibration in your magic, almost at the level of your soul. We called it a Heart Strum. Celestia, Luna, Cadance, and Nyx all felt the same thing when you ascended. That’s what it means, and why only alicorns can feel it, it’s only meant for them. To let them know that an alicorn has just either ascended or returned.
“Second question, no, we can’t use the spell to free the others. I felt reality healing during the spell and looked into it. They were actually using a small hole in reality as part of the ritual. It’s incredibly unstable, to the level of a misfire destroying the planet.”
Twilight nodded, marking off some items on her checklist. “Oh, and Featherdown. Mayor Mare asked me about her, apparently she’s registered as a ‘Ward of the Star.’ She thought that meant me at first.”
Midnight nodded. “Yes, Featherdown is now my ward.” Twilight didn’t know about the identity of his Rangers, so he went with a half-truth, “It was the only way to guarantee her safety from Duke Holder that didn’t involve Black Diamond killing him.”
Twilight’s question about whether or not he really thought a filly capable of killing was cut off by a ripple that made them both gasp. “Another Heart Strum?” Twilight asked, “Do you know who–”
Midnight shook his head. “Just like Celestia didn’t know if it was me or Blood. No idea who just got brought back… Hopefully not Lace though, she’s still having issues controlling Marely.”
After several minutes of excitement on one end of the conversation and comments like, “For as long as you have a young filly in your care, pray that Panpipes stays trapped on his island,” on the other, a young dragon came running into the room.
“Twilight! Twilight! A message just came, Cadance had the foal! It’s a filly!”
The alicorns froze. After a moment, Midnight advised, “If you don’t want to take any unwanted attention with you, pretend you don’t know until you meet her.”



In a shadowy clearing, deep in the Everfree Forest, an inky sphere had been slowly growing and pulsing. Another pulse contacted it, giving it the final bit of energy that it needed to speed the process along. What should have taken a few hours had been starved into weeks of slow growth. Starved no more, the black ball entered its final stages, rhythmically pulsing like a steady heartbeat.



Featherdown blinked, looking around her. “Wow, this place is… what is this place?”
“Noctus Bastion.” Diamond answered. “This is our other headquarters. We protect the dreamscape from here.”
The unicorn kept staring at the castle. “Wow… I know you said… And that one time you were… but still, I guess I just never thought I could, you know?”
“Yeah, it can be a little overwhelming if you get here peacefully instead of through nightmares.” Both fillies turned to see Midnight Star coming down a hallway. “You need to put that feeling aside for a bit though. A new horror movie just opened up in Cloudsdale, and Luna needs some help. So tonight we’re training against nightmares. Geography is kind of funny here, so…” He turned and fired a spell at an empty stone archway, a portal appearing in the gate to nowhere. “Alright then, let’s go.” He turned to Featherdown, “Oh, and you might want to put your armor on Lieutenant Vambrace.”