//------------------------------//
// 326. The Cutie Re-Mark - Part 3 
// Story: Blaze the Pony Tale 
// by Wolven5 
//------------------------------//

The situation here looked dire, as Midnight walked along the trench dug into the ground, and saw ponies, both soldiers and civilians, hunkering down, all of them scared to death, flinching at the sound of every explosion or shout. His cloak and Aversion Ward kept attention off of him, which suited him fine. But then the trench opened up a little, revealing what appeared to be a fortified base and yard and Midnight lit up to see a familiar face.

It was Shining Armor. Or rather, this present's version of Shining Armor. While his colthood friend retained some of his handsome looks, it had become marred by war. This Shining Armor was still a unicorn, he sported a beard along his jaw, an eyepatch over his left eye, he carried his helmet by a strap to his shoulder armor, and he was standing at a table and map, talking with soldiers, one of whom looked like Spearhead, another was Spitfire. 

"Shining Armor?"

Shining looked up from the map towards the Cloaked Pony, and for some reason he felt a faint sense that he knew this pony as Midnight lowered his hood, "Do you know me?"

"...Midnight?" Shining Armor looked stunned, "You're alive!" 

He approached Midnight in shock, others around them watching in confusion when Shining Armor embraced Midnight, who was a little afraid to hear what Shining Armor meant by 'you're alive' but just went with it and hugged him back. A distant explosion cut into the moment, so Shining Armor broke the hug and said, "Walk with me, there's much to discuss."

Shining Armor led Midnight down the trench ways, passing more soldiers and civilians, a few storehouses, a medical tent, an armory, and many fortifications ramshackled together. The more faces he saw, the worse Midnight felt before finally he had to ask.
"Shining Armor, what is going on here? Who are we fighting?"

"The Griffon Kingdom," Shining Armor answered as he continued leading Midnight along the trenches, "A few years ago, a griffon lord by the name of Gar managed to take full control of the kingdom and crowned himself the new Griffon King before he declared war on Equestria. He plans to return the Griffon Kingdom back to its slave empire days, and because Celestia and Equestria led the international intervention that originally cowed the Griffon Kingdom into abolishing their slave trade he's declared war against us. 

"Already he's claimed most of the eastern Equestrian coast, captured hundreds of ponies to make into slaves, and he's pressing his advance!"

"But... what did you mean when you said, 'you're alive' back there?" Midnight asked, and Shining Armor paused.

"...Early into the Griffon Kingdom's invasion of Equestria," Shining Armor explained with a heavy tone, "you were one of the first to act. You led a Company of Guards to assess the situation and oversee an evacuation of the coastal towns around Horseshoe Bay... you walked right into an ambush. There was an explosion and your ship... we all assumed you went down with it but nopony ever found your body."

"But what's going on here?" asked Midnight, when they heard someone shout.

"CATAPULTS!!"

Shining Armor raised a large dark magenta shield spell overhead, expanding it as wide as he dared, and just in time to stop multiple boulders from crushing down on the trench. Once they slid off and some unicorns managed to move them aside to some fortifications, Shining Armor explained, "The griffons have made it to this point and so me and the local brigade have been assigned to hold them off here. 

"The griffons are out there, just a few hundred yards across the field."

"But then why aren't you-" Midnight tried to ask when he felt someone tug on his cloak and he turned and was aghast to see it was Ditzy Doo, holding little Dinky!

"Help, please help!" Ditzy begged in a sobbing voice of heartbreak as Dinky gazed up at Midnight with eyes as sad and forlorn as Apple Bloom's were at the last Apple Family Reunion. 
"They've taken everything! Homes, food, and those who couldn't get out in time they've taken as slaves!"

"Where did this happen?" asked Midnight.

"That way! They took them to a slave camp," Ditzy pointed, "On the other side of No One's Land."

"Midnight!"

Midnight turned to see Shining Armor, "I need you to follow me to the Communications Base."

"We need to help these ponies," Midnight gestured to Ditzy and Dinky.

"Captain, what's the holdup?!" shouted Spearhead from further down.

"If we don't do anything, these ponies will starve, they have nowhere to go!" Midnight insisted. "Ditzy just mentioned some ponies were recently captured and taken as slaves!"

"I know, Midnight, I know!" Shining Armor was trying to be patient, "But we're just not in the best position-"

"How can you say that?! These ponies need us!" Midnight was appalled that Shining Armor would turn down protecting ponies in need when they heard another distant explosion from over the trench.

"This is No One's Land, Midnight! It means no one can cross it, okay?!" Shining Armor admonished, "Me and my soldiers have been here for almost a year and we've barely gained an inch! Because on the other side, there are a bunch of griffons pointing their weapons and war machines at us and they have much sharper eyes than we do. We can't take so much as one step out there without getting shot at or blown up! Not even our best pegasus fliers have managed to get an aerial advantage. They always see us coming! There's no way feasible way to press onward, it's just not possible."

"So then what, we leave these ponies here to suffer?!" Midnight argued. 

"Midnight, we..." Shining Armor was obviously in conflict, and Midnight knew why. His oldest and truest friend whose cutie-mark came from his desire to protect others, to shield them from harm. 
To act against the nature of his cutie-mark, it must have been tearing him up inside. 
"We can't save everyone in this war..."

"Maybe you can't..." Midnight said coolly as he stepped back and looked to the ladder out of the trench as he flared his wings, his cloak vanishing like a wisp of smoke, as he summoned his sword and invoked its power.

Everypony watched in awe as swirls of magic emanated from the blade and surrounded Midnight, forming pieces of armor that fit onto his form. His shoulders, his chest, his barrel, his rump, until finally the plumed and winged helm appeared on Midnight's head and his sword floated at his side as he gave Shining Armor a glance, "But I can!" 

As he ascended the ladder, he whispered, "Find the Light, Nightfall!" 

The sword shined as it became the dual pair of armored gauntlets with claws on Midnight's forehooves, the gauntlets black like obsidian with cobalt trimming and the claws shaped like crescents and colored gleaming silver, and the gauntlets having emblems matching Midnight's cutie-mark. 

"Midnight, no!" Shining Armor called but Midnight ignored him... as he stepped into No One's Land. 

He paid no mind to the catapult-flung boulders and blast-powder explosives, but he very quickly saw an arrow coming straight for him-

*FLIKSH*

-and knocked it away with an almost casual flick of Nightfall's claws, and continued to walk, to Shining Armor and the soldier's disbelief! He knocked another arrow away, and he heard distant shouts eagle-like screams from across No One's Land as more arrows were shot his way. He picked up speed and continued to deflect the enemy's arrows coming his way when Shining Armor realized, "He's drawing enemy fire, LET'S GO!!"

Shining Armor roared as he leapt out of the trench, his soldiers following as they brandished spears, shields, and even crossbows, as well as phials of potions. 

As Midnight galloped towards the griffons, they aimed one of their catapults and launched a humongous boulder that suddenly caught fire, becoming a flaming ball of death hurtling towards Midnight. He raised Nightfall, focused an ice spell through it, and launched a frigid blast of subzero cold that quickly engulfed the flaming boulder, snuffing out its flames, and then used a strong flap to leap for the frozen boulder.... and slice it in half with Nightfall, a large crescent-shaped energy blade extending from one of the claws easily splitting the boulder into two halves that fell harmlessly to the sides while Midnight somersaulted forward in mid-air before he landed back on the ground and continued to charge towards the griffons! 

But now that he was getting closer, their arrows were becoming more frequent, so he reared up and crossed his forelegs, Nightfall erecting the silver-blue bubble-shaped barrier around himself, the arrows harmlessly pinging off it. While the griffons' attention was on this sapphire alicorn knight, they forgot to pay attention to the rest of the battlefield as Shining Armor and his soldiers came in from the sides. Their crossbows fired, taking out the first line of griffon archers, surprising them.

Then some of the pony soldiers threw their potion phials into the griffons' trench, and it blew up in various different explosions, some releasing subzero cold, others an electric pulse, there was even one that exploded in a mess of sticky adhesive, hindering the griffons' movements, and even blasts of sneeze or itching powder. Seeing Shining Armor and his soldiers hindering the enemy, Midnight manifested crescent-shaped energy blades from each gauntlet and carried on the charge. The griffons who could still move saw him coming and grabbed their weapons, screaming as they charged out of the trench meet him head on. 

Big mistake.

Midnight waved Nightfall while casting his ice spell again, sending a wave of cold over most of them, freezing them all over in ice in a matter of seconds. The ones who hadn't been caught in the ice-wave halted in shock as Midnight stabbed the left claws of Nightfall into the ground and started waving the right claws, charging his magic into the gauntlets, before he reared up and threw out his forelegs, launching a barrage of crescent-shaped waves of burning power that he flung at the griffons, and wherever these waves hit they exploded!

What few griffons who hadn't incapacitated and were still alive retreated, and Midnight realized where they were going. 
"SHINING ARMOR!!"

Shining looked to his friend who was pointing to the retreating griffons, "THEY'RE HEADED FOR THE SLAVE CAMP!!"

"SOLDIERS! I NEED SOME VOLUNTEERS TO DETAIN ANY SURVIVING GRIFFONS AND TAKE THEM AS PRISONERS! THE REST OF YOU FOLLOW ME!!" Shining Armor called out as he ran after Midnight.

Following the retreating griffons' path led them to the area south-east of the foot of Mount Canterhorn, where they found a fortified base surrounding a wired fence enclosure, where dozens of ponies were chained up together. The griffons already on guard were alarmed to see their front liners returning, and very quickly the alarm was sounded. 

Midnight gestured Shining Armor and the soldiers with them to stay down.

"This is a problem. They're on the alert and they've got prisoners they can use as hostages," Spearhead whispered.

"We have to handle this surgically," Shining Armor agreed, "We can't risk endangering the prisoners, but these griffons are already expecting trouble."

"...Wait here," Midnight ordered, "I can scout the area without being seen."

"Midnight, hold on a-" Shining Armor tried to protest, only to watch as vaporous darkness rose up out of Midnight's own shadow, enshrouding him before he fell into it, and the shadow slithered away, silent as a snake in the grass.
"I hate it when he does that..."





Rising up from his shadow, Midnight backed up against the walls of the griffons' base and gazed up at the corner watchtower where a griffon archer already had an arrow at the ready and was on the lookout for enemy movement. Snorting, he broke the griffon's neck with a simple application of telekinetic pressure but made sure the griffon dropped silently, and then silently hurried up the watchtower to hide the lookout's body before it was discovered. 

He carefully peered down, seeing the enclosure, griffons at the ready, chatting among themselves of the attack they were certain was imminent, armed with spears, swords, bows and arrows, barracks against one wall, a mess hall to the other, and right in the middle of the enclosure were the dozens of ponies they'd taken prisoner. 

To Midnight's horror, some of the unicorns' horns had been cut off while the lucky rest had been outfitted with inhibitor rings, the wings of the pegasi had been plucked, leaving them bare and incapable of flight, and the earth ponies had all been manacled and weighed down with heavy chains. not even the foals had been spared this monstrous abuse. The stallions, mares, and foals had been separated by corrals as though they were common animals, each had water troughs that had become filthy, and all these poor ponies were forced to stand and sleep in their own filth. 

"I'll kill them all for this...!" Midnight snarled to himself. 

First, he insured the prisoners would be safe by casting several protective wards over them that would make it so the griffons couldn't get near them or harm them in any way. That was when he leapt out into the open and shouted, "HEY BIRDBRAINS!! WHO'S IN THE MOOD FOR A SCRAP?!"

"INTRUDER!!!" "GRIFFONS, TO ARMS!!" "ATTACK!!" 

The oversized catbirds all screamed as they lunged into the air, swords and spears raised, as Midnight spread his wings, willed his shadow magic to writhe off of his form in the form of nightmarish tendrils, which suddenly lashed out! Some impaled several griffons in random parts of their bodies (only a few were instant kills) while others ensnared them and jerked them downwards to the ground with enough force to break bones or threw them around like rag dolls.

In a matter of seconds, Midnight had already subdued most of the griffons in the fort, causing some of the pony prisoners to perk up at the sight of their tormentors being laid lo. Midnight then launched a flare spell skyward, signalling Shining Armor and his soldiers to attack, and he wasn't kept waiting long as a griffon commander on the ramparts shouted, "ENEMY FORCES INBOUND!! EVERYBIRDY FOR HIMSAAUGH!!"

The commander fell dead, a blade of shadowstuff sticking out from his back, which quickly dissolved into vaporous nothing. The fort doors were easily broken down by Shining Armor's magic and the strength of several earth pony soldiers, and what few griffons still lived quickly surrendered.

"The fort is ours, gentlecolts!" Shining Armor boldly declared, the soldiers and pony prisoners all letting out a rousing cheer, "Get the medics in here, these ponies need treatment! We need to get them away from here as soon as possible!"

The former prisoner ponies' chains were quickly broken and they were set free while the griffons still breathing were chained up and thrown into the enclosure in their place. As the medics examined the liberated ponies, Shining Armor and Midnight met up, the former saying, "It's good to see you again, old friend. You were right. Saving our people is just as important as saving our country."

"I'm glad to hear you say that, Shining," Midnight smiled as they hoof-bumped... when Midnight sensed a familiar power. So did everypony else, as they looked to the distance and Midnight felt his heart sink to see another Time Wave.
"Because... I'm afraid this is where we part ways."

"What do you mean? What is that?!" Shining Armor felt afraid when he noticed Midnight backing up. "Midnight, what's going on?!"

"It's okay," Midnight promised despite the hesitant smile he showed, "Everything will be alright."

He turned around and opened the rift to his Alicorn Dimension, leaving this present to be wiped away.





Later, Midnight stepped out of his Alicorn Dimension yet again, and  found himself back at the Map, only this time the environment around it  was now overrun with wild forest, which looked suspiciously familiar to  the Everfree. 

"This is comforting..." Midnight whispered to himself sarcastically. 

He  could still recall when the Everfree Forest went wild, because the Tree  of Harmony had run out of magic after so long and was no longer strong  enough to keep the Everfree Forest wrangled in. Of course, that was because of those plunderseed plants that had been planted long ago by Discord just before his first defeat. Still, Midnight knew the Everfree Forest was filled with all manner of mysteries and secrets, monsters and creatures yet unseen. 

"Eeny-meeny-miney-fuck it," Midnight chose a random direction and started that way. 

Traversing the thick underbrush was simple enough. Usually he tore it away with telekinesis or hacked a path with his sword. His lunar pony senses were on high alert, listening for anything that could be a potential predator, his nose sniffing for anything that could forewarn of danger. While he could see fine during the day, however, his eyesight was much better at night. 

Still, he had a sensor spell at the ready for anything of ill-intent, and after walking for a little while, he hacked his way through a bush and stepped for-

"AAAAAAAAUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH!!! UGH!! OW!!! DAMN IT!! FUCK! FUCK, FUCKIN' COCK!! FUCK!!!!" Midnight screamed and yelled and cursed as he took a doozy of a tumble down a steep hill, hitting plants, vines, rocks, and branches all the way down, and then rolling a fair distance before he came to a very agonizing stop on his belly and lied there in groaning agony...

"...are you sure?"

...Voices? Though he was still in a great deal of pain, Midnight's mind remained clear enough to hear some voices not too far. 

"Indeed, my queen. Zecora and her little resistance group have finally been found."

Wait, that voice...! Midnight had heard it before. But then finally he recognized the first voice he'd heard as she boasted.

"Excellent! Once Zecora's pitiful rebellion falls, I will have conquered all of Equestria at last! Well done, General Thorax..." Her voice oozed with smug malice and Midnight forced himself to crawl towards some foliage, through which he peeked and confirmed it.

There stood Queen Chrysalis, along with a swarm of changelings, two in particular standing before their mother-queen. One was colored different from the rest, having a purple carapace over his wings, purple eyes, and a red frill. Beside him, clad in changeling armor was Thorax! He wasn't the same Thorax however. He was bigger, stronger, and far scarier. 

"I shall personally lead the first wave," Chrysalis decided, "As for you, my loyal generals, remain here and send your scouts to check the areas nearby. I don't want even a single pony slipping through our grasp."

"We hear and obey, Your Majesty," Thorax and the odd-colored changeling responded with a bow, and Chrysalis, along with two nearby changelings, changed form, with Chrysalis taking the form of Applejack and the other two Rarity and Rainbow Dash. 

The three of them hurried off through the Everfree, leaving Thorax and the rest of the swarm to await the signal for attack. 

"I gotta get out of here, urgh..." Midnight whispered, doing his best to ignore the pain as he turned to leave... only for a spear with a spearhead resembling a barbed stinger pointing at his face halting him in his tracks. 

He looked up and saw it was a changeling who let out a loud HISS, obviously alerting the swarm, and Midnight forced himself to ignore the pain as he took flight, lunging upwards to get above the canopy. Alas, the swarm easily caught up and surrounding him in the air, and Midnight growled as he lit up his horn and bared his sword threateningly. 

"What do we have here...?"

Midnight turned to see Thorax and the odd-colored changeling buzz up to him, Thorax saying in a condescending way, "It appears we've found ourselves an alicorn!" 

"Let's take him out, Thorax!" the odd-colored changeling growled, "He's too dangerous to be allowed to live..."

"No... We'll capture him and present him to our queen once she's dealt with the rebels," Thorax decided, "Can you imagine how ecstatic she'll be to have another alicorn for the Hive to feed upon? I know I would be, Pharynx!"

"Heheheh, good point, brother," sneered the changeling Thorax had called Pharynx. 

Midnight used the Mana Wielding Recovery technique to soothe his bruises, dulling the pain, before he smirked, "Do you know what happens to a bug when it gets too close to the light?"

"No tricks, alicorn!" Thorax hissed, "Come quietly, and save yourself the trouble."

"I'll tell you my answer to both you and my previous question.... ZAP!!!!" Midnight released a pulse of electrical power that spread throughout the air around him, zapping every changeling nearby. 

Most of them fell back into the forest, some of them fell to the ground writhing in pain, only a few, including Thorax and Pharynx, managed to stay flying although they looked like they'd just been roasted and snarled in furious pain as Midnight took flight!

"GET HIM!!!" Thorax screamed as he, Pharynx, and the few changelings still in the air pursued. 

Unfortunately for them, Midnight was much faster. But it seemed he wouldn't have to fly for long as he sensed another Time Wave and sure enough, he saw it coming from the edge of the Everfree Forest. He looked back at his pursuers, giving them a mocking salute before he vanished into his Alicorn Dimension and the changelings stopped mid-flight as they were engulfed in a white light.