//------------------------------// // 11. The Children of the Night - Epilogue // Story: BPT: A Midnight Stroll through Time // by Wolven5 //------------------------------// *VVVT, VVVT* “Mmph…” Midnight groaned as something disturbed his sleep, as his eyes slowly opened, allowing him to see the two-way journal vibrating and flashing, and almost instantly it cleared his sleepy mind! He opened the journal and read his master’s reply. ‘Dear Midnight Blaze, It is good to hear from you again, and I understand your dilemma. The isles Luna lead the foals all those years ago, are known today as the Shetland Isles, which is where Princess Celestia first discovered the lunar ponies. After a bit of research, I confirmed that Celestia did not discover the lunar ponies until after Luna’s fall and becoming Nightmare Moon, and Celestia was forced to imprison her within the moon. The next full moon after that conflict, Celestia sensed something and this sense led her to the Shetland Isles where she discovered the lunar ponies, living their own society. It took some doing and no small amount of patience, but Celestia managed to earn the lunar ponies’ trust, and she’d also learned that they had long lived under the rule of Luna, who would spend a week with them once a month, each week always beginning at the first full moon. Explanations were made, and Celestia invited the lunar ponies to Equestria, disregarding their diet including meat. Some did, but the majority chose to stay at the Shetlands and await their dear mother, declaring they would forever be her children of the night. Midnight, you think yourself to have been altered by Luna’s magic, and if you have, prepare yourself. I am unsure how you have changed but you may find yourself acting different, you may even find yourself hungering for meat. I understand that hunger. I am not exactly a lunar pony but I have walked a shadowy path, one that changed my nature enough for my own diet to include meat. This is a stigma lunar ponies still face in the present, where they are looked on, with fear and sometimes even disgust, by other ponies. Lunar ponies are technically accepted into Equestrian society but socially, they so very often find it hard to befriend others who are not themselves lunar ponies. I am telling you to prepare yourself for this possible outcome, if you do change into a lunar pony. But note this, if you do, your magic will change as well. Honestly, Midnight, after you told me how the moon gives you strength with its glow, I always wondered if perhaps you were some kind of latent lunar pony yourself! But lunar ponies, even if they were into unicorns, possess special magical abilities that others don’t. Still, this is just conjecture, as to whether or not you will become a lunar pony. But if you begin to see signs, contact me. Keep your chin up and your horn sharp, my apprentice. Sincerely yours, Prince Sombra’ Sighing, Midnight saw a few questions answered, yet some were not. Princess Celestia discovered the lunar ponies after she imprisoned Nightmare Moon, after the first full moon since that event. She sensed something that drew her here…? Midnight wracked his brains, trying to figure it out when the sounds of dozens of whining foals perked his ears. He re-cast the invisibility spell and carefully stepped out of the bushes to see Luna hugging as many of her new children as she could, the foals all whining, some even sniffling a little, as Luna assured them, “There, there, my darlings, there’s no need for tears. I promise I’ll be back soon, and your big brothers and sisters will look after you all while I’m gone!” Her voiced assurances were laced with magic, enchanting the foals with calmness and consent, although they still gazed up at Luna with faces that would darn-near break your heart. “Please understand, my little lunar ponies,” Luna said calmly with a light pleading in her voice, “I have other ponies to look after back at the Everfree village, and my sister will miss me if I am gone for too long.” “When will you be back, mama?” asked a random foal. “At the next full moon,” promised Luna, “and I’ll stay for a little longer then. But I’ll have to keep coming and going, because I have many ponies who depend on me, my beloveds. But don’t fret, your big brothers and sisters have lots of food and toys and other things to keep you all occupied.” As Midnight listened, he realized the teenaged colts and fillies were here to look after the younger ones in Luna’s absence. Luna had assigned the six of them certain roles and giving them something to learn from books she’d given them. The unicorn colt and earth filly were the ones in charge, the colt being charged with learning from the magic books Luna had given him to protect the foals, the filly to learn books on herbal remedies and healing arts. The earth colt was to begin work on starting some crops, the remaining three teenagers to help out however they could, although the pegasus fillies were told to keep the weather around the isles foggy but not uncomfortable, and also to teach the younger pegasus foals to learn to use their changed wings once they started showing sings they were ready to learn. Luna told them there was a storage house with all the supplies they would need until Luna’s return, and she gave them some kind of stone to allow them to contact her. Midnight wasn’t sure how it worked but it set the teenagers’ minds at ease. Midnight noted however that the foals had not seemed to be upset with how they’d changed. Looking around, he actually noticed the lunar pegasus foals giving their new bat-like wings better looks, the unicorn foals noticed their longer tails, all of them noticing their hooves, their little fangs, their shaggier coats, and even their eyes! Midnight noticed the foals’ pupils dilated between normal-looking, and into cat-like slits. But then Luna’s departure came and the foals all yelled bye-bye to their new mother, some crying a bit to see her go, but they were assured by the teenagers Luna would come back. Slipping away, Midnight hid and undid the invisibility spell as he began to wonder. Why did Celestia only discover the lunar ponies after she imprisoned Nightmare Moon? Had Luna hidden them that well? It didn’t make sense that Celestia could find them so easily if Luna had kept their existence hidden well enough that Celestia never suspected, but then Midnight recalled his master’s explanations. Celestia didn’t discover them until the first full moon after Nightmare Moon’s imprisonment. That had to mean something. Especially since Sombra said Celestia had sensed something that led her to the Shetlands to discover the lunar ponies. What brought her here only after her sister’s imprisonment…? Midnight wracked his brain, And on a full moon, no less! Seeing as it was morning, and he didn’t want to leave until he got more energy from the moon, Midnight decided to observe these foals. All through the day, he watched them play all kinds of games and the teenaged colts and fillies watch over them and distribute toys and snacks from the storehouse. He could see so many happy faces, some still marveling at their new appearances, and he realized these foals were truly happy. So many of them had bad pasts and now they’d been given a family, they had a mother, even if her time with them was limited, and she’d provided them all they needed. He learned the teenaged unicorn colt’s name was Rising Star, and he already had basic telekinesis and took the time to show his magic books to some of the younger unicorn foals, promising he would learn all he could so he could teach them magic. Midnight whispered a spell and determined Rising Star was a Beta-class unicorn, he would make for a good teacher once he’d mastered his powers. He saw the other leader, the earth pony filly, learning her name was Hazel Bright. She was very motherly to the foals they’d been charged to look after, and she reminded him so much of Fluttershy when he watched her soothe a crying colt after he’d hurt his hoof. He also saw the earth colt and unicorn filly in another field, learning their names were Furrow and Flourish. Furrow blushed a bit when he asked Flourish if she would help him prepare a field to start a farm of his own, and she giggled a bit as she nodded yes. Midnight smiled, having an idea of what was going on there. The two teenaged pegasus fillies were the most playful of the teenagers present. They were sisters, named Breezy and Gust, and were showing off their new bat-like wings to the other pegasus foals, promising to teach them all they’d need to know about flying once their wings got a little bigger. Seeing them flap their wings was a little silly, as they were used to their feathery ones, and now had to deal with them being leathery. But, to Midnight’s relief, they quickly got the hang of it. Midnight was however surprised that the foals didn’t appear really upset or disturbed by how’d they’d been changed, but he wondered how they might feel later. Sombra had told him lunar ponies were omnivorous, they ate meat, and in the present that damaged their relations with other ponies. However, all he saw here was happiness, joy, maybe a childish prank here or there. But there was no sadness, no depression, and he’d seen the look on Luna’s face just before she left. She was in tears to go, but there had also been tears of joy. She loved these foals and was happy they loved her as well. Midnight didn’t want to ruin that by ratting Luna out, and according to history he shouldn’t. But somehow, Celestia had been drawn to the Shetlands after she’d imprisoned her fallen sister in the moon, and who else but he and Luna knew the lunar ponies were here? Then a crazy idea began to dawn on him. What if… I was the one who drew Celestia here? What if, somehow, I made sure she would find the Shetlands after Luna became Nightmare Moon and was imprisoned, and Celestia found the lunar ponies? The idea seemed plausible, and seeing as how he didn’t exactly have any other, he began to formulate a plan. Midnight found a secluded area and set up another distractor spell – He didn’t want any of the foals to find him as he researched a solution. He poured through his books, searching for a spell that could answer his problem. He couldn’t very well wait for history to play out, for Luna to fall, for Celestia to imprison her sister, and cast some kind of beacon to alert Celestia to the Shetlands! He could try skipping time but he had no idea where or when he would arrive. He might even miss the moment in history Celestia was supposed to find the Shetlands and the lunar ponies might not be discovered at all! If only there was some kind of spell he could cast that would activate at the right time to alert Celestia without Midnight needing to be there. He went over what he knew as carefully as he could, and wondered if this was how Twilight felt a lot when she was making her to-do-lists or reports and all the detail-oriented tasks he’d occasionally teased her for. It also made him miss Twilight, the feel of her snuggled up to him, the way they kissed, the warmth of their bodies pressed together. Their first time. He teared up a bit, but also chuckled a little when he recalled how she’d assured him she’d cast a spell for protection, his tone of voice when he learned there were spells for sex, and how they both agreed they would wait until they were ready to become parents, and how they held each other when they fell asleep. He wanted his Twilight back so much, it hurt, and when he returned to her he would ask her to marry him. If she wasn’t ready, he’d understand. But he had faith she would be. But then he began to have a revelation! A spell that will active after Luna’s fall and Celestia takes over raising and lowering the moon as well… That was it! Night fell and the foals all watched as their mother’s moon rose, offering its gentle guiding light in the darkness. Midnight felt it as well as he breathed and felt its energy revitalize him again. He looked out to the foals and somehow knew they too felt the energy of the moon strengthening them as well. He had to do this at the right moment, after the moon had settled and after all the foals were asleep. Before long, the teenagers were telling the foals they should all go to sleep, and of course they all whined they weren’t tired, they didn’t wanna, the usual things foals say around bedtime. As a matter of fact, they really didn’t look tired at all! Midnight was troubled – He was afraid the foals might sense his presence if he cast the spell while they were still awake but he had to do this tonight! He didn’t know how but he knew that after tonight the moon would begin to wane and would not be full again for an entire month! He couldn’t stick around and hide that whole time. From his hiding place, Midnight grunted in frustration, wishing these kids would go to sleep or- He facehooved. This is an archipelago! I can cast the spell on another isle, they won’t notice a thing! He slapped on his pega-goggles and transformed. But when he did, he realized something was wrong. His wings! They were bat-like instead of feathery, like they’d always been! Oh dear goddess… I was affected by Luna’s spell, I’m becoming a lunar pony! He flexed his leathery wings experimentally and moved each finger along the wings, and realized the wing-joint served as something akin to a thumb and there was a smaller finger alongside it! He experimented the feeling and realized it was like an index finger. The feelings he got from these wings and thumb digit and smaller index-like finger reminded Midnight of a life he lived that felt like so long ago, and he wondered how useful these wings would be. Telekinesis was great and all but it was occasionally cumbersome as it wasn’t as precise sometimes as with hands and fingers. Objects kept aloft in telekinesis tended to float aimlessly if he was distracted or simply didn’t pay attention. Midnight took one last look at the foals-turned-lunar ponies, and something inside told him they would be alright. He moved further away so they wouldn’t see him before taking flight. Flying with leathery wings proved to be an awkwardly harrowing experience. He had to flap his wings in perfect synch like he had with his old feathery wings but now they were somewhat stronger. Feathered wings caught air to provide lift with each flap but they still seeped air a little bit. These new bat-like wings were more efficient, cupping the air, and providing a more maximum lift with each flap. His new wings felt more powerful, and Midnight had not been prepared for these stronger flaps but soon enough he was flying faster than he’d ever flown before! He couldn’t help but whoop and cheer as he did a few tricks, like loop de’ loops and axle-spins, he could feel the power of his wings with each flap! But he caught sight of the moon and realized the time had come. From his high vantage, Midnight saw the farthest isle and quickly landed on it. He was far enough the lunar wouldn’t notice him, so he tapped the goggles and resumed his unicorn form. Gazing up at the moon again, Midnight remembered the spell he’d chosen and concentrated, on the spell, on the moon, and most importantly on the one who would feel it, Princess Celestia! Threads of mana unraveled from his horn before they floated up in a spiraling formation, with only one veering off in the direction of the Equestrian coast. That thread would connect to Celestia and tug at her awareness once the spell’s purpose came into effect. As for the majority, they spun together into a cord of power that rose up like a cobra did before a charmer, swaying ever so precariously; a single wrong movement in either situation could ruin the goal. Midnight was ok, the moon empowering him, but it took an enormous amount of concentration as he willed the cord up towards the moon. He was on the verge of letting go when he felt the cord connect! He mustered more effort and sighed in relief as the cord unraveled again and spun securely around the moon in so intricate a way that it would never be detected until its purpose had come. Sighing that his work was done, Midnight gazed up at the moon as the spell’s purpose came to mind again. It was a beacon spell, and the only one who would be made aware of it would be Celestia, and it would not go off until the first full moon after somepony other than Luna raised the moon. Sad as it was, Midnight knew that would be after Luna’s fall and imprisonment within the symbolic object of her duty as the Princess of the Night. He took an hour to rest and allow the moon’s gentle touch to melt away the stress, and before long his departure had come. The moon had revitalized him enough power, and he took that power with his concentration before he channeled it into the Time Stone hanging from his neck. The familiar bubble enveloped him as he rose into the air, the winds a’blowing around him by the pressure of his power, and in a wink of light he was gone!