//------------------------------// // Chapter Twelve- Rising Tensions (Part 4) // Story: Beyond Infinity // by Pen Dragon //------------------------------// Chapter Twelve- Rising Tensions (Part 4) Marcus had come to expect a lot of things from Pinkie Pie. Considering he had to help with deliveries and party setups for the better part of a month now, he liked to think he’s come a long way in understanding her. So when he was tasked with helping her prepare for Rarity’s birthday surprise party, he was expecting the usual set up: colorful balloons, lots of cupcakes, and a big cake with friends. But what he wasn’t expecting was to set up at town hall, and he definitely didn’t expect to be setting up such a… luxurious party. “Hey, Pinks? A-Are you sure we’re setting up a party for Rarity and not for the Queen of England?” Marcus asked, feeling a little overwhelmed by the white and silver decorations and overall fanciness. From the glass and silverware to the blindingly white tablecloths and drapes, it all served to make him feel like a commoner at a banquet. So far the only ones that had been helping set up were him, Pinkie, Applejack, her brother, and one other stallion that he hadn’t met before. From what she had told him, a small group was all that was needed to set up while the rest of the girls kept Rarity occupied for the day until it was time. “Queen of what? Is that where you’re from, M- Coaly!?” Pinkie asked. For a moment, she panicked at her near slip, making her cheeks gain a slight red tinge. “No, and it’s just an expression… And well, it’s just- this really is gorgeous Pinkie, and… Um… different from what you usually do for parties you know? Just wondering why all the over-the-top decorations?” He asked, carrying a tray of little appetizers in his hoof and setting them down on another table with other various appetizers and treats. “Oh, well honestly, I wanted to try and do something different for Rarity, since she’s one of my bestest friends in the whole wide world! She’s always gone on and on about having a fancy party like everypony at Canterlot. So… I wanted to give her an amazing party, you know?” She replied with a sheepish but endearing smile. Marcus smiled before remembering he hadn’t exactly told her too much about where he came from. It had been almost a week since he told her about who he really was and why he was here in Equestria. It had been a little awkward talking to each other since then, but Pinkie had proven she could be trusted to keep his secret. It was relieving to him honestly, like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders and he felt like he could tell Pinkie anything. Even if he got a little flustered by her as of late, no thanks to Death. “Denver, Colorado,” Pinkie heard, immediately turning around to see him glancing away from her. “That’s where I’m really from, I was born and raised there, but don’t tell anyone, please? I’m not exactly comfortable sharing this with everyone.” “Of course! I made a Pinkie Promise, and I never break my promises!” “Thanks, Pinks!” said Marcus, smiling at the party pony, causing her face to turn bright red before she rushed off somewhere. Just as he was about to head around the back to get more table centerpieces, he noticed a plate full of Applejack’s famous apple fritters that looked like they had just come out of the oven. The fresh, sweet smell of apple and cinnamon coming from them made his mouth salivate a little. He surveyed his surroundings quickly to make sure no pony, especially Pinkie Pie, was watching him. I’m sure one little snack wouldn’t hurt? he thought with a devious smirk. His hoof reached down to grab a fritter…before an infernal orange hoof swatted his away. “OW!” “Nice try, Coal, but y'all hav ta wait til th’ party starts ta hav any!” Applejack said, smirking as the alicorn rubbed his hoof. “Aww… c’mon! Just one little fritter…!” “Nu-uh! None o’ that! Y'all will wait like everypony else.” “Fiiiine…” Marcus sighed, sounding and feeling like a petulant colt. But give him a break, he was famished! “Hey, Coal, I know yer busy wit’ decoratin’ th’ tables, but wouldja mind helpin’ with mah brother, Big Mac? He’s gonna need a hoof settin’ up more tables for all the guests.” Applejack asked, carrying the plate of fritters away. “I don’t mind lending a ha-hoof, but think you could let Pinks know that? Since she’s in charge of setting everything and all?” Marcus asked. “Pinks, huh? Ya know, Ah’ve started noticin’ you an Pinkie have been spendin a lotta time together. Something goin on?~” the farmer asked, giving Marcus a sly grin as he began to turn red. “N-No! W-We’re just good friends,” Marcus stuttered, his cheeks turning red as thoughts from that night with Pinkie. The way she looked, with her mane tied up, the makeup, and her blushing cheeks, and the way her rump- “SO! W-Where’s your br-brother at?!” “Hehe, out in front, Coal, Caramel should be out there too,” Applejack smirked. “Caramel?” he asked. “Oh, he’s a friend of Mac’s,” Applejack answered with just the faintest blush, “An okay guy, but… tends tuh make mistakes yet speak his mind. Even though he’s blunter than an ol’ pack mule. But… can’t help but respect his honesty.” “Oh?” Marcus decided to turn the tables, “An honest stallion, is he?” “Yeah…” Applejack swooned just a bit before her eyes popped and she noticed the look Marcus was giving her. “Ohh! You dastardly varmint!” “What goes around, comes around, AJ,” Marcus chuckled, heading out before Applejack would give him an earful. Once he was outside it was there that he saw the famous Big Macintosh in the flesh, carrying a round table on his back. From the stories he had heard, Big Macintosh was known for being a pony of action instead of words, speaking as little as possible, often no more than ‘eeyup’ or ‘nnope’. Some might consider his stoic and silent demeanor intimidating, but from what Marcus was told, anyone who looked a little deeper would see that Macintosh was just a hard-working stallion devoted to his family, his home, and his friends. His actions only further proved it, tending to only speak if he deemed it necessary. Not to mention, those who knew him well could read him more easily than others who did not. Marcus then looked at the tan-ish pony trailing behind Big Mac who he assumed was Caramel. Under his scrutiny, he could see that the more average-sized stallion was hardly anything like Big Mac. Caramel looked a little winded passing the tables over to the large stallion, even though Macintosh was doing most of the heavy lifting, and the look of intense discomfort on Caramel’s face made it clear he’d rather be doing quite literally anything else. Perhaps his cutie-mark, three blue horseshoes, indicated he wasn’t up to physical labor like some earth ponies were. I was only joking about her having a crush on this guy, but… is this really the guy? Still, it’d be nice to make some guy friends. As much as he’d come to care about and appreciate Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, and the rest, Marcus could only take so much female companionship before he craved interaction with male peers. He took a deep breath, and approached the two stallions, lifting a hoof to wave and say, “Hey guys… um… how’s it going? Macintosh and Caramel, right? It was only upon his getting closer that Marcus realized he was a little taller than Macintosh (not counting his horn). But he saw at once that Macintosh had him beat in mass and muscle (not to mention a bit of a farmer’s paunch, which was unavoidable from the kind of food a farmer eats on the regular). Whereas with Caramel, Marcus was nearly a head taller, and Caramel wasn’t nearly as fit as Macintosh. If it weren’t for the muscles in his legs that came from his earth pony strength and lifestyle, Marcus would have considered Caramel a couch potato, from the chub around his barrel. Seeing Marcus address them, Caramel stiffened up with a gulp, and hesitantly responded, “Uh- I… hey to you too! Uh… your highness?” “Hehehe, please don’t call me that, I’m no prince or anything of the sort,” Marcus said kindly, “Call me Coal Obsidian, or just Coal.” “Er- Okay! Um, Coal,” Caramel was still nervous, but he felt a bit more at ease from how friendly Marcus was being. “You know us, from AJ, I bet.” “Yeah, she said you guys were out here helping set things up,” Marcus nodded, “You don’t mind if I lend a hoof, do you?” “Nnope,” Macintosh replied as he kept carrying the table, Caramel steadying to keep it level. “Uh… ‘nnope’ as in you don’t mind or ‘nnope’ as in you’re good?” Marcus asked “Eeyup.” Marcus desperately gave Caramel a ‘help me out here’ look. Caramel honestly found it a tad funny and had to stifle a laugh, but he understood. “He means yes, we’d appreciate you helping out. Mac’s a stallion of few words.” “Eeyup,” Macintosh agreed, before adding, “Ah let mah actions speak fer themselves.” Marcus couldn’t tell if those additional words were friendly or not, but then Caramel chuckled, “He must like you. He doesn't often say much when meeting new ponies.” “Ah say sumpin’ if’n it needs sayin’,” Macintosh asserted before he signaled Caramel to let the table down. He looked over to Marcus, “Mind settin’ out th’ chairs?” “O-Oh, sure! Not a problem,” Marcus replied, his horn began to glow a bright purple as an aura surrounded a few chairs and they began to levitate. “Could do it wit’ yer own hooves, but okay,” Macintosh commented dryly, causing Marcus’s magical grip on the chairs to falter. “Uh… sorry. I normally would, but I… I need to practice,” Marcus muttered, his cheeks reddened a bit. “Don’t sweat it,” Caramel assured, “Mac just respects a hooves’ on approach to work and life, is all.” “Don’ take this th’ wrong way,” Macintosh brought up, “but why would an alicorn need tuh practice his magic? At yer age, Ah mean.” “Well, I can’t say too much, but before coming here, I didn’t have the horn and wings. I was… just an average guy working hard to help my f-family. Honestly, I’d prefer doing everything by ha-hoof,” he replied, internally cursing himself for almost slipping up again. “No kidding! An alicorn who’s a stallion and he used to be an earth pony?!” Caramel was flabbergasted, but in a good way. “I heard some alicorns are made, not born, but you’re surely the first alicorn stallion we’ve ever heard of, and you used to be an earth pony too! Take that, unicorn elitists!” Macintosh gave Marcus a respectful nod, before saying, “Well, Ah can’t rightly fault ya fer wantin’ t’ improve on yer powers. An’ Ah s’pose magic will get us done well before th’ party needs tuh start. Why don’cha set up th’ lights an’ streamers as well? We’d do it jus’ fine, but it’d take a lotta time an’ we’ve fallen from ladders more `n once.” “Sure, once we’re done doing this, I need to help out with them anyway. Still, Pinks sure outdid herself this time, don’t you think?” Marcus asked, deciding to release his magic hold on the chairs and decided to carry them on his back like Big Mac. “You can say that again!” Carmel commented as he also helped carry some of the chairs inside. Caramel knew where everything was supposed to go, so he was happy to play supervisor and direct the two larger stallions on placing the tables and chairs while he got out the cords of lights and rolls of streamers ready. Once that was done, Caramel showed Marcus the streamers and lights, telling him where and how to set them up according to Pinkie’s specifications. Marcus had to be much more precise with his telekinesis, more than he was comfortable and experienced with. It ended up taking a while, not to mention the incidents where. Caramel and Macintosh both looked around and nodded in approval, with Caramel saying, “Coal, you saved our rumps! It would’ve taken forever to do all that by hoof. Mac wasn’t kidding when he said we’ve fallen off ladders more than once doing this sort of thing ourselves.” “Eeyup,” Macintosh said, giving Marcus a friendly smile, “Thank ya, kindly, Coal.” “Nah, it was a team effort here guys… Honestly, I’m just glad we were able to get everything done in time.” Marcus couldn’t help but feel at ease after working with these two. He was worried they’d be screaming bloody murder at the sight of him just walking up to them, but things turned out better than he had hoped. “You guys are pretty cool!” Caramel looked stunned by those words, unable to hold back a smile, before whisper-shouting to Mac, “Mac! Coal, an alicorn, thinks we’re pretty cool…!” Chuckling at Caramel’s coltish giddiness, Macintosh replied with his signature, “Eeyup.” He was about to leave it at that before an idea struck him. With a smile and not another thought, he spoke up. “Say, Coal, how wouldja like tuh join us an’ a few o’ our pals in our weekly guys’ night?” Marcus’ eyes widened briefly, it was more than he had hoped for. “Really?! S-Sure! I’d be happy to join you! What do you do on guys’ night?” “It varies,” Caramel shrugged, “Sometimes we play imaginary hoofball and argue over players, card games, sometimes we even do O&O campaigns. I thought it was kinda nerdy but Mac and Spike got me into it. We also chow down on stuff like pizza, chips n’ dip, soda, or some of Mac’s special cider, or we even just hang and talk.” “About what?” asked Marcus. “A lotta things, stuff studs like us are into,” Macintosh chuckled, before adding, “But certain stuff we only talk about if Spike ain’t around, if’n ya catch muh drift.” Noticing the shared smirks on both earth ponies’ faces, Marcus got the drift indeed. “Ah, I see what you mean. Anyways, I just have one question though. What is O&O?” “Uh-oh,” Caramel peered over at Macintosh, who was gawking at Marcus as though he’d grown a second head. “Aw’right, yer definitely comin’ tuh guys’ night,” Macintosh declared, “Ah’ll host this time.” “Eh? Oh definitely- Oh… he’s here.” Marcus furrowed his brows at the sight of a certain dark unicorn arriving with Pinkie Pie, the look on his face indicating he’d rather be literally anywhere else but here. He wasn’t sure why, but seeing him with Pinkie really set his nerve endings on fire. “Eesh, him…” Caramel grimaced at the sight of Sombra. “Y’know, just to indulge Pinkie’s request for us to open up to Sombra, we actually tried to invite him to guys’ night once.” Marcus gave them a double-take, “You invited that guy?!” Caramel deflated while Mac stated in no uncertain terms, “It didn’t end well…” “Why am I not surprised…? I can see why Pinkie wanted this jacka- jerk to hang out with other guys, but he hates everyone and can’t even control his temper for more than five seconds. Not to mention, the guy has had a serious problem with me ever since we first met,” Marcus stated plain as day, as he already felt the blood beginning to pound in his ears. “Y’all don’ need tuh hold back on our accounts, haystack,” Macintosh chuckled, “Tha’ varmint’s such an ass he gives `em a bad name.” “Heheh, well, he ain’t got nothing on a certain horse’s ass that I know of,” Caramel teased while whipping his tail at Mac’s backside, only to be met with a swift slug to the shoulder. Worth it… Caramel thought with a wincing chuckle. “Y’know what, I’m not gonna let him get to me,” Marcus declared firmly, before asking, “So, besides the three of us, who else is in on guys’ night?” “Well, we include Spike from time to time, usually during O&O sessions,” Caramel answered, “otherwise, we sometimes have Comet Tail, Lucky Clover, Thunderlane, Noteworthy Blues, Pokey Pierce, we’ve even had Rarity’s dad, Hondo Flanks, join us a couple of times!” “Why him?” asked Marcus. “Why not?! Hondo’s a livin’ legend!” Mac gushed, an uncharacteristic giddiness filling his starstruck eyes, “He’s retired now, but Hondo Flanks used to be one o’ th’ best pro hoofball players around!” “Huh, well… I guess my grandpa was right… you learn something new every day.” Marcus was starting to understand that hoofball must be the Equestrian version of football. “Why’d he retire?” “From what we know, after Hondo’s wife announced her pregnancy, Hondo filed for his retirement so he could focus on taking care of his family,” Caramel answered, “and once Rarity had grown into a filly, Hondo went back to play, but a close-call almost put him out of commission permanently.” “So, Hondo decided tuh become a pro hoofball coach instead,” Macintosh added, “He’s mentored plenty o’ great hoofball players, like Tackle from th’ Baltimare Blackbirds.” “Don’t tell me you guys just invite him out of hero worship,” teased Marcus. “Nah, Hondo’s great,” Caramel assured, “Sure, we got all fancolt around him at first, but Hondo’s plenty of fun, and sometimes we’ve even gone to him for advice.” “Jus’ don’t pull his hoof when ya meet him,” Macintosh brought up, and then he and Caramel both shuddered, “Found tha’ out th’ hard way…” “Pfft… Can’t believe you fell for the oldest trick in the book,” Marcus laughed as the other stallions joined him. Eventually as the laughter died down, he soon took notice of Pinkie Pie and Applejack talking and then laughing together. It was enough for a smile to grace his face, but the strange thing was that his heart skipped a beat at the endearing sight. “Ah see you hav’ your eye on Pinkie there, somethin goin on there?” Big Mac asked, a sly grin formed on his face Marcus could only throw up a hoof in defense, a familiar tinge of red exploding onto his face. “N-No! We’re just friends!” Seriously, what is up with me? Remember Coal- Marcus! Remember you are and will always be a human. Pinks is a friend. Besides… I can’t get too attached, once I get the stones, I’ll turn myself back into a human or make myself a new human body and go back home. In the Everfree Forest, a chill was felt, from the tiniest of insects to the mightiest of beasts, life trembled with the subtle dread that came from the fear of being prey to an unseen predator. Tremors shook the ground, chaotic ripples tore at the surface of the water, the trees shuddered, as if cowering at what was coming, and within his cave, the dragon Midnight felt that chill over his scales like an unexpected breeze heralding the coming winter. It roused him from his sleep, and immediately, he blew the cauldrons in his cave ablaze with his fire to stave it off, filling his home with the comfort of light and warmth. But the chill still clung to him like the stubborn rust on a sword. He felt it before he thought it, Something is wrong… something is coming. Coal! He wasn’t entirely sure why but he had to alert Coal Obsidian, even though he knew his student was surely back in the pony village. But he would not let that stop him. He’d only recently started practicing this magic, but now he was motivated. Taking a deep breath, finding his center, Midnight reached within, taking hold of his power, and he brought it forth. Concentrating, he focused his power to spread over him like a thin blanket, and then visualized the outline of his very body collapsing inwards, his wings shrinking into his back, his tail shortening as scales were replaced with fur and hair. His claws dulled and merged into hooves. His horns receded into his skull. His fangs dulled into teeth, and when it was done, the dragon was replaced with a pony, the only sign of his true form being his draconic eyes. Opening his eyes, Midnight’s horn lit up as he conjured a mirror and looked himself over. He was glad to see the shapeshifting magic had worked. He was a unicorn, with a coat of sapphire blue and his mane as black as night. If one were to stare into it, the only sign that they weren’t asleep was a single solitary dark blue highlight illuminated by the cauldrons’ fire. His silver eyes retained their draconic pupils, and he huffed to see that although his build was bigger and more muscled than that of a regular unicorn, he still retained ample adipose around his midsection and on his rump, which bore his cutie-mark. A mark he had not seen for some time. A pale bluish-white crescent moon with the crux facing upwards and enclosing around a five-pointed star surrounded by twinkles. It was a bittersweet sight, almost like welcoming back an old friend with whom he’d parted with on bad terms. He almost reeled at the flood of memories that came back with the sight of it, and he had to close his eyes for a moment to gather himself. Some were good, others bad, but there was one specifically that he was not keen to recount. A grimace crossed his lips. “There’s a face I haven’t seen in some time.” Midnight almost jumped and lost control of the magic, his horns returning, his tail lengthening, but he held onto the transformation and smoothed it out, the horns vanishing and tail returning to pony standards. With a slight fume, Midnight whirled around and saw her, standing in the mouth of his cave. Sighing wearily, Midnight said, “Hello, Faerie Tail…” “It’s been a long time, hasn’t it… almost ten years now, right?” She asked rhetorically, her piercing green eyes glaring at him. “I thought you’d continue to be holed up in your cave and sulk for another century. So, care to explain why you’ve decided to come out now?” “Almost ten years and yet it feels entirely too soon,” Midnight huffed, “What’s the point of being alive if all you do is close yourself off from the world? Deny the simple pleasures of living? Maybe I just got tired of laying around in the dark, feeling sorry for myself.” “You and I both know that isn’t true in the least,” she stated bluntly. “So, explain why you relinquished your hold of the Space Stone to an inept amateur like Coal Obsidian… an outsider who could very well destroy the peace that has been established?” “What you call peace others would call hiding,” Midnight snubbed, giving Faerie a look of disdain, “Don’t think you can fool me, Faerie Tail. You and I both know you could have taken the Space Stone from Coal Obsidian, if you’d really wanted to… unless you weren’t strong enough.” Faerie Tail narrowed her eyes, but said nothing. “And you weren’t strong enough to,” Midnight narrowed his eyes back, “unless you resorted to such cowardice as endangering innocents, innocents whom Coal risked injury to himself in order to protect from you, so spare me your reprimanding, you insipid witch! We both know your ‘solution’ was always nothing more than putting a bandaid on a broken leg. This ‘peace’ you claim to have established is running out of time, just as I’m running out of patience with you!” “And allowing the timelines to remerge for that monster to return? I think not. If you think it’s cowardice, then so be it. I’ve seen things you couldn’t possibly imagine, friends… family, my husband…” She paused, as flashes of blood, pain, and loss reminded her why she created this alternate timeline. “I’ve made mistakes… and I may have jumped to conclusions about Obsidian's character… However, that’s no excuse for you to relinquish the stone to him. You were supposed to keep it hidden away! Or did you forget the promise you made to me and my son?” Midnight took a deep breath, as he thought, Twinken… Then he peered into the mare’s eyes, and saw exactly what he expected to see. He thought for a moment, and then spoke tenderly, “Faerie Tail… your words are those of a pony who has no hope.” Faerie had to bite back a sudden gasp that ripped through her throat as fast as the wind. Luckily or unluckily, she had experience. She remained stoic, her face barely betraying any emotion. “Without hope, then there is no promise, no chance. You may as well let the timelines merge back into one and be done with it. But what you’re doing now, keeping the timelines split, keeping him away… it affords us an opportunity.” “An opportunity for what?” Faerie Tail scoffed. “A champion, a hero!” Midnight declared, with a soft emotional impact. “We can’t go on like this forever, even with the power of the Infinity Stones. One way or another, he will return, whether he finds a way or something happens on our side. All you’re doing… If you have hope, you are buying us time! But if you truly have none… then he is inevitable.” Faerie knew that he was right, but deep inside she was still terrified of that thing, that monster and what he could do. What he could do to her son… Could she really put her faith in someone else to defeat him? Flashes of the millions of painful deaths and hopeless scenarios swarmed her mind in an instant, all stemming from this one mistake. Your words are that of a pony who has no hope. “Fine, I’ll… entertain this idea of a hero… If you truly believe you’ve picked the one destined to stop him-” “Oh, I never said I believe he’s destined to stop him,” Midnight interjected with a smirk. “WHAT?!” Faerie Tail gaped at Midnight. “I tested him, sure, but I don’t know for certain as to whether or not Coal Obsidian is gonna be the one to defeat the enemy,” Midnight clarified. “You gave him your Infinity Stone with no guarantees of any kind?!” Faerie Tail was seriously starting to regret having not taken the Space Stone before. “Faerie Tail, there are no guarantees for victory,” Midnight answered heavily, “If you only believe in the sun when you can see it, you’ll never make it through the night. That is to say, you must have hope and believe in those you stand with. Including yourself.” “The enemy we face, he makes the likes of Nightmare Moon, Discord, and even Sombra look like kittens! But our solution isn’t a solution because it doesn’t resolve the actual problem. If we are to have hope, if we are to have a chance to vanquish the enemy, we must prepare. And that starts with finding the one who will embody our hope and lead us through the night and into the dawn.” “You know about my past, Midnight, and what I went through to ensure my son doesn’t have to face the same evil that I face. Coal Obsidian is someone you entrusted with the stone, so I’ll be testing him…” Faerie Tail caved but then stated, “Two weeks is all I’ll allow you to teach him how to use the Space Stone, and that will be when I’ll personally challenge him. If he defeats me, I’ll put my faith in this childish idea of a champion and even help wherever I can. Until then though, I suggest you keep a distance from the Elements of Harmony, I doubt they’d want to smell dragon breath.” Midnight narrowed his eyes, “You could give him quite literally all the time in the world to prepare, and you expect results in two weeks?! Now I’m starting to really think you have no hope at all!” “You used to be a remarkable unicorn who had mastered spells in short spans of time. You said it yourself, time is something we don’t have. He’ll come, and when he does…” The cold dread he’d felt before suddenly made sense, and Midnight feared to ask, but he did so anyway, “Faerie Tail… how long do we actually have?” “It’s hard to say now. The future is now unknown to me, at most I can see fragments of the distant future, but my best guess is we have a few years before the timelines completely merge and he comes for the stones. If we’re talking specifics… I want to say we have five years, maybe less than that,” she answered, a grim look on her face Five years… not a lot of time, but still, Midnight thought before taking a deep breath, “Give me a month. That’s all I ask. If I fail, I'll take back the stone from him myself.” “If I give you a month, and he fails– and I know he will– I will take the stone from him. So I suggest you get started, I’ve taken up enough of your time as is. I need to make sure Twinken is ready for bed,” she stated, her horn glowing a bright green as she readied a teleportation spell. “Faerie Tail, wait,” Midnight held up a hoof, and the mare paused, one eye open and horn still radiating light. Midnight took a moment to collect himself before continuing, “...we can’t win this war alone. Even if Coal turns out to be the champion we need, the more allies we have the greater chance we have in overcoming him.” “Then you better get started.” “How much can I tell him?” Midnight inquired, “If I press him too hard and too fast, he will have questions.” “Not a word of who he is or what Obsidian’s up against. If he passes my test, I’ll tell him all. Keep it all to a minimum until then, so again, I suggest you get started. I’ve kept you busy long enough now and I need to put my son to bed soon. So it's time we concluded this meeting now,” she said with a tone of finality and annoyance. The light from her horn swelled in a brilliant bright green before she disappeared in a flash of light. Midnight stood there for a long moment, his form swelling up and returning to dragon visage without him even realizing it. He was just too deep in thought. A month was the best he’d hoped for, and yet he knew it likely would not be enough. But then again, five years wasn’t much better. Especially considering the evil that was only one timeline next door. He’d meant to just go speak with Coal about the chilly dread that had roused him awake, but now he knew what he had to do next. The sapphire dragon moved his massive bulk to the mouth of his cave and gazed out towards the horizon, painted with the twilight colors of dusk as Celestia was lowering the sun. Coal Obsidian, prepare yourself… Midnight thought with furrowed brows and a snort of fire from his snout. Come the morn, we get serious…! Twenty minutes left till Rarity gets here. I’m just glad everything turned out so well and I have to say that this has got to be Pinkie’s best work yet. Marcus thought to himself as everypony who was invited started to trickle into the town hall. That was all despite the fact he still felt out of his comfort zone with how everything was fancy, not to mention that some of the guests look like they had come from noble families. Just as he was about to go look for the party pony, he was suddenly stopped by a white stallion wearing a black suit with a purple bow tie and a monocle. His blue hai-mane was slicked back. He also had three golden crowns with a purple diamond for a cutie mark and beside him was a gorgeous unicorn with a long pink mane and tail, light purple eyes, and had a triple fleur de lis cutie mark. “Ah, good evening, I believe you are the rumored prince that has appeared here in Equestria? Allow me to introduce myself, I am Fancy Pants, and this is my beloved wife, Fleur De Lis. It is truly an honor to meet you, your highness,” he had said, both him and his wife bowing their heads to him. “N-No, Please there’s no need for bowing, please! I’m not a prince, or some ambassador or anything like that! I’m just a guy trying to find his place here is all,” Marcus explained, a cold sweat already starting to overtake him. “Oh, I’m sorry, I was under the impression that you were a prince since you are an alicorn like Princess Twilight. Terribly sorry, good sir,” he said, bowing his head to him again. I wonder if it’s possible to get rid of the wings or something. It’s really starting to get old explaining that I’m not a prince. “A-Anyway, it was nice to meet you two, I hope you all enjoy the festivities and I really recommend the apple fritters, they are to die for!” He said, quickly making his way past them to try and find somewhere to be away from the crowd of ponies. Marcus noticed that there weren't too many ponies over by where the punch bowl is so he trotted over there. Grabbing a cup with his hoof, and the ladle in the other, he began to pour himself a drink before quickly gulping it down. “O-Oh, um… Hey, C-Coal… um… it’s been awhile hasn’t it?” He heard behind him. Craning his neck, he couldn’t help but smile upon seeing a familiar face. “Fluttershy! It’s good to see you again! It’s been what? Three weeks since we last saw each other?” Marcus exclaimed. But after a split second, a single memory came rushing back to him and his blood run cold. “Oh crap! I was supposed to stop by and see you before I got settled in! I’m so sorry!” Marcus immediately bowed his head to her for some reason. He didn’t know why, but it happened so he was sticking with it. Fluttershy felt her cheeks flush red as she suddenly covered her face behind her mane. “T-There’s no need to apologize, I know you’ve been busy settling into your job at Sugarcube Corner and learning magic from Twilight. H-Honestly I’m the one who should be sorry, I could have made the effort to… stop by and say hello.” “But I still should have at least made the effort to stop by and say hello and talk with you for even a few minutes. You were my first friend here and I should have put in the effort to come see you. So I’m very very sorry.” Marcus said, bowing his head to her again. Oh my…If he bows any lower he might end up hitting his head. “Coal, please, it’s okay… I-I forgive you, you don’t have to bow. Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?” She asked, trying her luck at being funny. “N-No! Please don’t do that! It’s awkward enough having almost everyone in town do that,” Marcus explained, raising his head up immediately in a panicked state. His face was bright red now, realizing what he had been doing. Cute she thought, giggling at his expense. “Why did you bow to me then?” “Uh… I… Honestly don’t know, before I could even think properly I was already doing and thought ‘I’m already bowing, I may as well bow to my grave at this point. No backing out now!’” Marcus explained, still blushing in embarrassment. They laughed for a second or two before the two were just standing there in awkward silence. Even though it had been a few weeks since they had last seen each, Fluttershy hadn’t been able to get the alicorn off her mind. He was one of the very few ponies aside from her friends to have accepted her for her shyness and her love for animals. Not to mention, it was him who was apologizing profusely for not dropping by to say hello to her. It was endearing to her. “C-Coal… I-I know we haven’t… spent a lot of time together… but…” She started, feeling herself start to sweat nervously as her face felt like it was getting even hotter. “I-I wanted ask if you’d like… t-to d-dance- “QUICK EVERYPONY TO YOUR HIDING PLACES! RARITY IS COMING!!!” Pinkie quietly shouted before zipping from the window over to where Marcus and Fluttershy were and quickly pulled the alicorn away before he could object. Fluttershy couldn’t help but frown as she rushed with the wave of ponies shuffling around to their hiding spots. A chill washed over her as she crouched down beneath a table, the memory of Pinkie’s hoof grasping the stallion’s big strong hoof- Oh dear, oh no, what am I thinking? I shouldn’t be thinking of him like that and I certainly shouldn’t be upset that Pinkie has been spending more time with him than me… alone… every day… they are living together at Sugarcube corner aren’t they- “Oh no, I… I think I need to talk to Rarity tomorrow about what this feeling is…,” Fluttershy muttered to herself. As much as she didn’t like this feeling, it could wait till tomorrow. After all, it was her best friend’s birthday. What could go wrong?