Chapter 6: A Dark Day
They were on their way. Takeoff was hesitant about carrying all five ponies on his chariot so Andromeda, also being a Pegasus, agreed to fly on her own with Cassiopeia on her back. The tension settled as they flew over the city watching for any authorities that would try to keep them grounded; fortunately, they crossed the city limits without a hitch and soared off toward Canterlot.
“I don’t believe it,” said Takeoff pulling the chariot. “We got out of there scot-free!”
“It must be the Princess,” called over Andromeda. “I bet she’s clearing the way for Midnight since she’s expecting him.”
“Yeah, that makes me feel a whole lot better.” Midnight replied skeptically.
“Cheer up Midnight,” said Marigold. “I bet she’s not even mad. She’ll understand.”
“Hey Midnight, I forgot to ask,” chimed in Stir Fry. “Where’s your brother Noon?”
“Last time I saw him was yesterday,” answered Midnight. “He said he was going away to Canterlot again. I haven’t seen him this morning.”
“Well that’s good, right?” said Fry again. “He’s probably still in Canterlot and we’ll see him there. You think remembered to restart the clock when the sun was centered?”
“I saw the clock working fine after that.” Takeoff called back.
“Then he’s okay,” added Marigold. “At least I sure hope he is.”
The six of them flew on through the clouds for a long while before they finally saw it. An enormous mountain rose in the distance, and on the side of it was Canterlot. The gleaming white city drew their view as it jutted from the mountainside next to a cascading waterfall. Moving closer, they could see the steep railroad that led up to the city and knew that no trains would be riding it. Ahead, they noticed two specs emerging from Canterlot and flying toward them. As the specs came closer they were revealed to be Pegasi darning shimmering gold armor. Midnight instantly recognized them as the Princess’s royal guard. The two Pegasi flew alongside the chariot and one of them called.
“You are in restricted flying space!” the guard said. “State your business immediately!”
Takeoff responded. “I’m providing transportation for Midnight Hour! He has been summoned by the Princess Celestia herself!”
Both guards looked at the passengers of the chariot and Midnight identified himself with a wave of his hoof.
“Who are the others?” ordered the other guard.
Takeoff looked back at Midnight for an answer; Midnight responded with a fib.
“They were requested by me to come on behalf of the Princess!”
The guards looked at each other stoically; then they turned back to them.
“We will have the barrier lowered to let you enter!” one said.
“Thank you!” replied Midnight. “Wait, barrier?”
The guards flew off back to the city where Midnight could now see a transparent pink glow covering it. As the guards approached it, a rift in the glow opened up and they flew through it. Takeoff then pulled the chariot with Andromeda following close through the opening in what was now recognized as the barrier. As the group glided over the white streets of Canterlot, Midnight marveled at the medieval architecture. He had been to the city a few times with Noon and he was always fascinated by the rich unicorn history that shaped it. He remembered touring the lively streets where it seemed like at every corner there was somepony performing magic; the only problem now was that the streets were not so lively. In fact, they seemed like a ghost town as Midnight had not seen a single pony roaming them. At last, the guards led the gang to a plaza outside the royal palace of Princess Celestia. As they landed, Cassiopeia gawked at the scenery.
“Wow, I’ve never been to Canterlot before!” she said.
“It’s so empty;” added Andromeda. “It wasn’t like this when I was here yesterday.”
“Whatever’s happening is happening pretty quickly.” Fry said. “I bet the Princess is about as high-strung as we are right now.”
“Her royal majesty has been expecting you,” one of the guards said to Midnight. “I’ll take you inside to see her.”
“What about my friends?” asked Midnight.
“I’m afraid the Princess’s audience with you must be private,” the guard answered. “But they will be allowed to wait in the castle.”
“It’s okay, Midnight,” Andromeda told him. “We’re not going anywhere.”
Midnight and the rest followed the guard to the entrance of the Princess’s magnificent castle. The guard opened the large doors and they entered into the eccentrically designed foyer. On the walls hung multiple Equestrian flags between the tall windows, and a long purple carpet led up to a matching colored stair case that symmetrically split into two directions leading up to the next floor. Above the platform where the stairs split was a large window with a stained glass depiction of Princess Celestia herself. As he gazed around at the elaborate foyer, Midnight heard galloping coming down one of the separated staircases. The running pony stopped at the platform and revealed to be his brother.
“Midnight, you made it!” exclaimed Noon.
“Noon! What the hay are you doing here?!” asked Midnight experiencing deja-vu.
Noon descended the stairs to greet him. “You’re not going to believe it! I was here at the castle this morning helping Star Swirl move the last of the books, when Princess Celestia announced that she was sealing off all the railroads and she told us to stay in the castle. Everypony else in the city has been ordered to stay inside as well. Then, I overheard the Princess mention your name and I told her that I’m your brother. She told me everything about what you did to Workhorse and that she was going to send you a letter. Then she told me to greet you as soon as you got here, and well, here you are!”
“You met the Princess?” replied Midnight. “What did she say about me?”
“She just said she was anxious to meet you.” Noon answered. “And I can tell she is. It has to be about your run-in with that Workhorse. I’m telling you, bro, that is some pretty shady stuff.”
Midnight rolled his eyes and noticed Andromeda blushing uncomfortably.
“But don’t worry about it,” continued Noon. “I’m sure it’ll all be…”
The pupils of Noon’s eyes receded when he saw Marigold, who seemed to be happy to see him. He then spoke to Midnight out of earshot of the rest.
“Uh Midnight, why is Marigold here?” he asked nervously.
“She got worried so I let her come along.” Midnight answered. “What, you’re not nervous to see her are you?”
“Yes!” seethed Noon. “Bro, you don’t bring a pony’s crush to see him during the middle of a mysterious crisis!”
“Are you serious? Noon, I hardly think this is the time.”
“Fine, fine, whatever; just forget it. Now look, the Princess told me to bring you to her. She’s waiting upstairs, but you’ll have to come alone. Everypony else will have to wait here. Come on.”
Midnight followed his twin up the stairs; he looked back at his friends who simply stared back at him encouragingly.
“We’ll be right here, Midnight.” Andromeda called after.
When the two reached the top of the stairs, they proceeded down a long hallway similarly designed to the foyer. For what seemed like forever, Midnight walked down the corridor starring at the stained glass murals on the windows which told various stories about the Princess and other ponies of legend. Then he turned to his brother when they approached a gilded double door with tow earth pony guards standing ready at both sides of it.
“Noon, I got to be honest,” he said. “I’m shaking like a leaf here. I’m almost positive that the Princess just wants to punish me for last night.”
“Relax bro, no matter what she does to you…well; I’ll let Andromeda down easily.”
Midnight gulped as the guards opened the doors for him and he stepped in not knowing what to expect. And there she was; standing on the other side of a large room, standing in front of a red cushioned throne, was her majesty, Princess Celestia. Towering over Midnight, she stood at twice his size while retaining a graceful limber physique. Her glistening coat was rose white and her full rainbow mane and tail mysteriously flowed despite the lack of motion or wind. She sported a gold band studded with a purple gem around her neck; a matching crown rested upon her head above her prominent horn and magenta eyes. Her large wings folded in front of her cutie mark which was a blazing sun. As Midnight gawked at the only known Pegasus-unicorn is Equestria, he became astonished by her face staring back at him. To his surprise, her expression was gentle and almost motherly; she peered at him with soft sparkling eyes and even smiled at him. Before Midnight could make any words come out of his gaping mouth, the Princess walked up and spoke to him in a calm, crystalline, and resonant voice.
“You must be Midnight Hour. It’s good to finally meet you.”
The sound of her angelic voice compelled the stunned Midnight to close his eyes, drop to his knees, bow his head and plead hysterically.
“Oh your high and royal majesty, I am not worthy! I am but a humble pony who has been blessed to stand in your holy presence! Please oh please spare me from a harsh and just fate! I know not what I did! I am not worthy! I am not worthy! I AM NOT WORTHY!”
Before he could do anymore groveling, he felt his head being gently lifted by his chin and he opened his eyes to see Celestia’s smiling face up close.
“You don’t have to humble yourself, Midnight,” she spoke. “As of now, you and I are both friends.”
Midnight cleared his throat. “Uh, friends?”
“Why of course,” she replied. “I sent you a friendly invite and I shall treat you as such.”
He stood, clearing his thoughts. “So, you’re not going to punish me?”
She scoffed while still smiling. “Why would I punish you? You did nothing wrong.”
“But, I destroyed Mr. Mechanic’s Workhorse and then disposed of the evidence! I committed a crime and never told anypony!”
“I don’t blame you at all for getting rid of that machine; however I do consider letting somepony know next time. But right now, there are bigger matters we must discuss.”
Celestia’s smile faded and she walked over to a window by her throne with Midnight joining her.
“Ordinarily, I would send you a lesson about an incident like this,” she continued. “But this is a dark day in Equestria. By now, you’ve noticed that I have closed all the railroads; I apologize for that after sending your invite, but like I said, this is a dark day. The pony you know as Mr. Mechanic is not who he says he is. In fact, he is not even a pony at all. He is a changeling.”
The word rang in Midnight’s ears. He remembered reading about the menacing creatures known as changelings. They were horrid insect-like beasts that could take the form of any animal, especially ponies. In mythology, they threatened the very existence of Equestria and stories were told of them wreaking havoc on the land. Midnight braced himself to hear more from Celestia.
“His real name is Locust, and he is one of the most powerful minions of Queen Chrysalis, the ruler of the changelings. A week ago, I learned that he had intruded Equestria and went into hiding. When I discovered his location, he was in a remote cavern meddling with strange machinery. Locust was creating some type of mechanical pony and seemed to be planning on making more.”
“Wait, he’s using Workhorse against Equestria?” questioned Midnight. “How many does he have?”
Celestia sighed before looking at him and answering. “Millions.”
Midnight’s eyes widened and his stomach turned at the thought of more than one of those enigmatic robots. “How did you find out about this?” he asked.
“Star Swirl the Bearded foresaw him using divination. He and I found out that Locust had used changeling magic to create them all so fast. And it pains me to say that he has already unleashed them.”
Celestia then used magic to open up a rift in front of Midnight. It was a spell used to view past events. In it, Midnight saw a familiar city.
“Just yesterday,” she said. “Baltimare was devastated by a swarm of Workhorses.”
He watched the city of Baltimare being shrouded in smoke under a stormy sky. The view changed to a close-up in the streets where frightened ponies were running from charging hoards of the mechanical monstrosity seen in town square. The rest of the visuals changed accordingly to what Celestia told.
“All the ponies in Baltimare have gone into hiding,” continued Celestia. “And the Workhorses have overrun the city. I sent my royal guard to defeat them, but they proved too powerful and the guards had to retreat. It was the changeling magic of the machines that got the best of them; it made the Workhorses impervious to any weapons, even the magic of my unicorn guards. After the attack on Baltimare, I knew Locust would send his mechanical army to Fillydelphia next. I ordered all ponies to stay where they were until I could figure out a solution, when I received word about you from a mysterious source. I heard about how you managed to destroy one of the Workhorses with your fire spell and became astonished.”
“But, didn’t you say that they were impervious to unicorn magic?”
“That is what brought you to my attention, Midnight. Where even my most powerful unicorns failed, you succeeded in taking down a Workhorse. I have never met a pony who could defeat something fueled by changeling magic; not even I could have accomplished it.”
“Princess, what are you saying?”
“I am saying that you have a gift, Midnight. Your magic is unlike any other, and it is likely that anypony from your family line will rub off on you. As far as I know, you’re the only pony who can defeat Locust and his Workhorses.”
“But, I’m not that great. Other than changing the clock and shooting fireworks, I really don’t know much else.”
Celestia laid a hoof on his shoulder. “Sometimes, it’s not about how much you know; it’s about what you can already accomplish. It’s what we do that makes us who we are.”
Midnight realized the irony in her words after hearing Andromeda saying the same thing the night before. Without further rebuttal, he smiled at the Princess gratefully.
“Thank you Princess,” he said with a bow of his head. “I will be forever in your service.”
She gave another affectionate grin. “There’s no need for formalities, Midnight.”
“So, what do we do now?” he asked.
“There’s much to be done in so little time. Locust is probably making more of those machines and he will most likely send them to conquer Fillydelphia. I plan on sending my army there to keep them at bay until we can find a way for you to stop them. I’m sorry you must bear such a burden.”
“It’s a better burden than staying up to restart a clock every night.”
“Yes, I heard about that from your brother Noon. Your job is very unique, Midnight; I remember meeting your ancestors who perfected that time spell, including your mother and father.”
“You knew my parents?”
“Of course, I always take the time to meet any unicorn who shares your magical ability.”
Midnight blushed. “I’m awfully flattered, Princess. But if you don’t mind me asking, how come you didn’t just come to me instead of sending that letter?”
“The ponies of Canterlot needed my presence. They’re afraid of the Workhorses coming here and I couldn’t let them down. Once again, I apologize for any inconvenience.”
“There’s no need for formalities, Princess.”
“Touché.” Celestia replied with a bit of laughter. It took Midnight some getting used to that the all powerful ruler of Equestria had a warm side.
“Well I don’t want to keep your friends waiting.” She said. “I’ll arrange for you all to stay at the castle for the night. I promise I’ll find a way to take down the Workhorses. In the meantime, my guards will have Fillydelphia under safe protection.”
“I can’t thank you enough, Princess Celestia.” Midnight told her.
“It’s my pleasure, Midnight Hour; I am honored to aid such a unique pony like you.”
Midnight walked beside Celestia to the now closed doors which the guards outside opened again. He stopped upon suddenly seeing his six friends standing at the door eagerly staring at him. It occurred to him that they had all been eavesdropping.
“Bro, that’s epic!” exclaimed Noon.
“Yeah Midnight,” added Fry. “You’re the savior of Equestria!”
“You must be so honored!” chimed in Marigold.
“You’ll go down as a legend!” cheered Takeoff.
“We’re so proud of you, Midnight!” said Andromeda.
“He’s the best unicorn ever!” whooped Cassiopeia.
Midnight just stared blankly at them, not being used to such praise.
“Well Midnight,” said Celestia. “It certainly looks like you have some supporters.”
“Yay?” whimpered a befuddled Midnight.