As he flew, Midnight noticed something out of the corner of his eye and was relieved to see a village! He landed in the outskirts before reverting to his unicorn form and excitably walked to the village, thinking, Maybe I can learn something here, like the year or something!
But as he approached, Midnight felts his hopes dampen as he saw the village looked as the bleachers of a Wonderbolts show looked when it was over, a mess!
The village was mostly small houses of stone or wood with hay roofs, huts here and there, a smithy, a tavern, what looked like an inn, there were farms, but all of it! Broken windows, splattered fruits and vegetables as though there had been a recent food fight, garbage and hay strewn about, the remains of a wagon stuck out of somepony’s hut, it looked as though an all-out brawl had went down.
“My Goddess…!” Midnight whispered in worry as he wandered through the ramshackle. “What happened here?”
But then Midnight heard something and looked towards a house wherehe saw somepony glaring at him out their window through curtains, and as he looked more at the houses, he realized he was being watched.
Friendly place… he thought, Perhaps I can find some answers further in.
As he walked further into town, he heard the unmistakable sounds of doors slamming and locking, shutters and curtains closing, and when he paid more attention he saw more ponies giving him the stink eye and there was enough of it that he could hear mutterings and shushed talk even though he couldn’t hear a word.
Then he heard louder talking and saw he was approaching what could have been the village square. In it, he saw three ponies, an earth pony mare, a pegasus mare, and a unicorn stallion, all butting heads and yelling.
“You stupid horn-head! Your spell almost zapped me out of the sky!”
“Wasn’t my fault! This clumsy dirt-pusher knocked into me!”
“Oh sure, blame the earth pony, you high n’ mighty brute and snob!”
“Can it, mud-for-brains, your betters are talking!”
“A pegasus being equal with a unicorn? That’s laughable!”
“Oh shut it! Without us tending the land and providing food, your kinds would have starved long before the Windigoes!”
“You pitiful specks of dust wouldn’t have been able to grow food without us providing rain!”
“Not to mention we unicorns raise and lower the sun you need as well!”
“Whoa! Whoa-whoa!”
They all turned to see Midnight, looking appalled, as he approached, “That kind of talk has no place in this land! Aren’t we all ponies? We each have our differences but what makes us different helps us to contribute to the good of all! By helping each other, we help ourselves, especially when we help our neighbors where they fall short!”
“Stay out of this, stranger! This don’t concern you!” the pegasus mare snapped.
“It’s ‘this doesn’t concern you’, you uneducated brute!” the unicorn stallion groaned.
“Just what we need, another unicorn snob telling us what to do!” the earth pony mare griped.
“I’m only trying to help you all resolve your issues peacefully!” Midnight tried to assure, only for all three of them to glare and Midnight knew at once as he saw their eyes give a brief green glow, they were under a spell!
“I’ve had enough of your whining!”
“Let’s get rid of this punk, ladies…”
“For once, I agree, horn-head!”
Midnight yelped as he dodged a bolt of mana from the unicorn, and leapt up as the pegasus dove for his legs and zoomed underneath him. He ducked in the nick of time as the earth pony tried to buck him in the face, and quickly began to run.
“GET HIM!!”
Midnight ran like tartarus as the three irked equines gave chase and to his discomfort, the sounds of multiple hoof-falls increased and more angry words filled the air. He didn’t need nor dare look back to confirm that more ponies were attempting to stampede him over, his heart pounding like their hooves as they literally ran him out of town.
Before he knew it, Midnight was gasping for breath as he stood on a distant hill overlooking the village. To his thankfulness, the villager-ponies had not followed him outside their home but now, as he looked back, he saw them reverting their ire from him back to each other.
“What is wrong with these ponies?!” he gasped as he heard some rather nasty curse words and other things that he wouldn’t allow his little brother to listen to.
Whatever’s going on, these ponies are bewitched somehow! Should I do something…? Can I afford to, or should I at all?
If this was a part of history, did Midnight reserve the right to change it and disrupt the course of time? Perhaps it would resolve itself but something inside told Midnight he had to act somehow.
“…Maybe, if Star Swirl’s still around, I should talk to him.”
As if reacting to his thoughts, the cloak the wizard had given him radiated a gentle warmth and Midnight gasped he felt a spark within his mind! He knew where to find Star Swirl. He donned his goggles and assumed his pegasus form before taking flight.
Midnight had flown for hours and his wings were just getting tired when his pegasus eyes spied the tower in sight! Except…
This isn’t where his tower was when I met him!
Indeed, the tower was now standing nearby a lake with a more sparse wood nearby. But the cloak’s warmth told him this was the place, so he went with it and landed. He walked up to the door and saw the same door-knocker, and looked up, seeing the same banner, the same coat of moss on one side although the flowers on it were gone. But he knew it. This was the Tower of Star Swirl the Bearded.
Taking a deep breath, Midnight thought, the older Star Swirl was, the better, not to sound bad. He just knew this would be a good indicator how much time he’d bypassed. He gave the door three decisive knocks, and wasn’t kept waiting long.
The door opened and midnight felt his heart sink a bit to see Star Swirl hardly looked any different than how he last saw him although he was certain there were few more silvers and his beard looked a bit longer.
“Midnight Blaze?” Star Swirl’s brow rose as he took in his visitor before smiling, “Well, it’s been a while! Oh! Although I suppose it hasn’t been for you!”
“Hello Star Swirl,” Midnight smiled, honestly glad to see a friendly face. But he had to ask, “…How long?”
“How- Oh! I see, well, young colt! Last time I saw you… was five years ago!” Star Swirl answered and was a little confused by the look of disappointment on the blue unicorn’s face although he quickly figured it out.
“Ah, were expecting it to be a little longer, I take it.”
“It’s only been five years?” Midnight sighed with disappointment.
“Come in, come in, I could use a distraction right now,” Star Swirl invited him, and Midnight saw only a few changes in the tower aside its location.
“Glad to see the homing charm I placed on that cloak worked. And I can’t tell you how glad I am you’ve shown up!”
“Would this have anything to do with why the first village I happened upon ran me out of town?” Midnight inquired. “Because when I walked in, I saw ponies not being so friendly and arguing and fighting.”
Groaning as Star Swirl conjured some hot cocoa for them both, he explained, “Well, boy, don’t take it too personally, because those ponies you met likely fell under their thrall…”
“‘Their’?” Midnight echoed, Star Swirl nodding
A few months back, a trio of mysterious creatures came to Equestria from the sea. At first they seemed friendly, and ponies gathered to hear them sing with most enchanting voices, emphasis on ‘enchanting’. Because these strangers are Sirens.”
“I think I’ve read about sirens,” Midnight commented, “they have enchanting voices and in some references to them, they used their singing to lure sailors to crash their ships onto rocks.”
“Unfortunately, these harlots are more interested in spreading disharmony and tension,” Star Swirl nodded woefully.
“Wherever they go, they sing and everypony who hears their bewitching voices will adore them but they wind up arguing with each other, becoming suspicious, tense, and hateful! I tried talking to these bewitched ponies but they’re not in their right minds to see reason!”
“Perhaps then we should forget the spellbound and go straight for the spellcasters,” Midnight suggested.
“‘We’?” Star Swirl gave him a look.
“Well, it seems to me you could use some… assistance,” Midnight remarked with a smirk, and Star Swirl huffed as though he were insulted.
“Well of course an archmage such as myself could handle such a minor threat single-hoofedly! …But, you’re welcome to tagalong and observe as I vanquish these whorses.”
“I’m sure it will be quite a spectacle, great wizard,” Midnight couldn’t help but chuckle and was honestly glad to see the same Star Swirl.
Star Swirl brought his own saddle-bags this time and together, the two unicorns started off. Along the way, Star Swirl inquired, “How fared the temporal leap-frogging?”
“It was quite exhausting,” Midnight explained, particularly how he had no control of where he wound up and how it hurt the base of his horn and the pit of his stomach at some point.
“That’s when I released the magic and I wound up here, in this time.”
“Hmm, perhaps the intake for the Time Stone’s power requires more mana than you can provide to make farther jumps along the timeline,” Star Swirl theorized.
“If you could gain access to more power, you’d be able to feed the stone more, and logic reasons the more power give the farther along you get.”
Midnight wracked his brain, trying to think of a way to gain more power and it hit him like a bolt of lighting!
“I’ve got it! Star Swirl, when’s the next full moon?”
“Hmm, if my calculations are correct, and my calculations are always correct,” Star Swirl said smugly, “the next full moon is… tomorrow night. Why do you ask?”
“Because… several times before,” Midnight explained, “I’ve experienced moments when, while bathed in moonlight, my strength grew, bodily and mystically, especially during the full moon! Perhaps the light of the full moon would fill me up with more power than I normally have…”
“…and provide just the boost you need to jump further into the future!” Star Swirl nodded in agreement.
“Now I see, what you’re saying! I must say, Midnight Blaze, you are an unusual pony! You have skills as an enchanter, you’re obviously a well-trained mage, it blows my mind that you haven’t been marked by destiny with skills exemplary in the mystic arts!”
“As you said, I’m an unusual pony,” Midnight shrugged. “So how do we find these sirens anyway?”
“With this,” Star Swirl brought out what looked like an old ear horn attacked to a metal fixture holding a gemstone.
“Just a little something I threw together. This tool listens for audio frequencies that vibrate with-”
“In Equine, poindexter!” Midnight snapped, Star Swirl harrumphing.
“Fine! It picks up sounds that carry a bewitchment, dumb enough for you?”
“Very. So which way?” deadpanned Midnight.
Star Swirl held the tool one way, obviously hoping for it to pick up, when he turned it towards their right, and the gemstone gave off a gentle glow.
“Aha! Onward and forward, assistant!”
Midnight shook his head and scoffed humorously as he followed after the middle-aged unicorn.