//------------------------------// // 14. The Thieves of Magic - Part 3 // Story: BPT: A Midnight Stroll through Time // by Wolven5 //------------------------------// For a day and a half, Midnight wandered without destination in mind, for his was filled with worry, concern, resentment, and loss. Star Swirl would not help – He spat on the very concept of Friendship, refusing to swallow his own pride and prefer to ignore his own follies by drowning his self-righteousness and pity in booze. Midnight understood that Star Swirl had trained the Sisters in the name of duty and order but they had still been children when they’d started out. Star Swirl had used that as an excuse to ignore his own shortcomings and moved the blame onto the Sisters and Sombra rather than acknowledge the better options he’d had. The options he’d ignored. Not that it mattered. History said it was Star Swirl who convinced Scorpan to accept Friendship, which led to his role in Tirek’s downfall and imprisonment but Star Swirl was certainly not going along with fate’s design. Midnight considered doing it himself but how would that affect history in the long run? Not to mention, how would that eventually affect Midnight himself? As he thought about it, he also thought of the problems that had been the building blocks of this toppled plan. Sombra had unintentionally brought a rift between the Sisters when he had only found love with Celestia. Luna had been envious enough to deceive Sombra and betray her sister by using Celestia’s appearance. Using Celestia’s appearance…! Midnight was struck with inspiration! It took some doing but Midnight managed to narrow down his search via a map of Equestria and a scrying crystal. Finding them afterwards was foal’s play. All he had to do was follow the blazing trail of destruction, literally! Tirek and Scorpan had thrashed, broken, torn up, and burned anything that stood in their way so Midnight approached with the utmost caution, using an invisibility spell and the soundproof barrier on himself to make his presence all but undetectable. As he got closer to the source of the destruction, he heard them long before he saw them, and as he peered over a rise he almost wet his hooves at the sight of the thieves of magic! Tirek was indeed a centaur, with a gray horse body and where a horse’s head would be was a torso topped with a bullhorned head. His skin was angry red, his mane white, and he was ripped better than a minotaur bodybuilder! He had other bull-like qualities, like a nose ring and cloven hooves, and around his neck was a silver necklace with some kind of golden trinket. Altogether, Tirek was taller and bigger than Celestia! Scorpan looked to be as tall as Luna. He was a brown-furred monkey-ish gargoyle with a line-like mane and tail, reddish-brown leathery wings, he was quite well-built himself, he wore a belt of brown leather with golden adornments, but unlike Tirek Scorpan had a demeanor nowhere near as ferocious! And they appeared to be discussing something. “Soon, brother!” Tirek inhaled as though he were savoring something and raised his hand, a flurry of hellish embers dancing around it. “Before long, we will have reaped enough magic to challenge the Royal Sisters… and once we have all the alicorn magic of Equestria, we will be unstoppable!!!” “…But… Is this really necessary, brother?” Scorpan inquired hesitantly, Tirek giving him a scrutinizing look. “We came here from the Badlands, looking for a home… Can you not see this new land as the paradise it is? Unlike before, where every day was a struggle – a fight! – just to survive to the next! We could… make peace with the ponies, and-” “Are you getting soft on me, brother….?!” Tirek’s accusation was razor-edged, that it made Midnight flinch as he continued to watch. “We swore…! On that day so long ago, when we were but whelplings, crying for our mothers! We traded blood, made a pact, we vowed, as brothers! We would avenge ourselves on these wretched equines for the devastation they brought upon our homelands! Were it not for their petty tribal disputes, the Windigoes would not have come, subject all the other creatures to the harshest winter we ever experienced, the famine that claimed so many! “And to add insult to our injury, these self-righteous equines deserted our homelands! They left us and all the other creatures with the broken pieces and even after the winter ended, without these treacherous ponies taking care of it, the land was scarred beyond repair! No earth ponies to see to the soil, no pegasi to oversee the weather, no unicorns to lend aid!” Tirek took a deep breath but his voice was no less malevolent as he seethed at Scorpan, “By pact we became blood-brothers and swore that if these self-serving beasts of burden would not use their magic to answer for their crimes, we would make them pay with their magic! Once we have it all, we will set a fire to Equestria that ruins everything they’ve worked for! And we will laugh at their miseries before we return to our homelands to restore it back to its shining glory, and why stop there?!” Scorpan and Midnight were horrified by Tirek’s words as he continued to rant. “With the magic we’ll claim, we could rule the world together, my brother! …But if you don’t have the spine to help me then do us both a favor and just stay out of my way…” Tirek stomped away, Scorpan not moving as he struggled with his sense of right and wrong. From the rise, Midnight pondered, No wonder they attacked Equestria! The Badlands where they come from is the same land the ponies once lived in before they relocated to Equestria! As he thought about it, Tirek’s words actually made sense to Midnight. He’d heard the story, watched the pageant, he knew of how the tribes’ segregation and hate brought upon them the Windigoes and it was only after the Founders of Equestria did the Tribes start to come together even though Star Swirl had said it hadn’t been all at once. It had been a road with its own share of bumps, but he’d seen it for himself that the different ponies were coming together. However, Midnight had never spared a thought to the old lands from where the tribes once haled. Considering Tirek’s rants, it did make sense that without the ponies taking care of it, the lands were left barren. Without earth ponies, the soils would have slowly become infertile and without pegasi the weather would not have been consistent and unpredictable and without unicorns their magic would not have helped to aid wherever they were needed. So in a twisted sense of irony, Midnight had to admit that, on a certain level, Tirek and Scorpan’s rage against the ponies of Equestria was justified. But two wrongs don’t make a right. Midnight had observed the debate and noted Scorpan appeared to have a moral compass making him feel bad about what he and Tirek were doing, made more evident as Scorpan seemed to be chewing on his brother’s words as well as his own, the contradicting desires an infuriating conundrum badgered on multiple fronts. Scorpan wanted to be loyal to his brother, to honor their pact, and he did in fact feel no small amount of contempt for the ponies for what their disputes brought about. But as he’d observed the ponies in this new land, the gargoyle had come to see a happiness and joy he had for so long never truly known. This land, this Equestria, was paradise. Midnight began to recollect his plan, feeling a tinge of guilt for what he was about to do but the understanding of the necessity of the deception outweighed the guilt by a longshot as he thought, All he needs is a push in the right direction… With great reluctance, Scorpan prepared to hurry and catch up with his brother when he heard hoofsteps behind him. He turned and was surprised to see a unicorn garbed in a wizard’s hat and cloak patterned with stars and moons approach him. The unicorn was evidently a stallion, with a grayish-pale blue coat, a full beard of brown streaked with silver, his eyes hidden under the shadow of his hat’s brim. He raised his wings and tail and growled, “You must have a death wish to so nonchalantly approach me in the manner you do, unicorn!” “I wish not for death or even violence, Scorpan,” the unicorn answered back in a somewhat weary tone. “What I wish, is to understand.” Scorpan gave the unicorn a confused look as the stallion went on. “I have heard and sensed the disturbances going on, as well as the whispers of thieves robbing my little ponies of their magic. So I set out to deal with the cause, expecting to find two ruthless, power-hungry monsters who cared not for the lives they ruined and destroyed. Imagine my surprise when my expectation was only half-correct.” “And what do you mean by that…?” Scorpan hissed, baring his claws. “Please pardon me but I could not help but overhear the exchange fo words you and your brother just shared,” the unicorn stallion brought up. “It seems to me, Scorpan, that you seek peace and resolution whereas your brother seeks power and revenge. That difference is starting to drive a wedge between the both of you.” “Do not dare to question my loyalty to my brother, pony!” Scorpan growled. “Peace, Scorpan,” the unicorn said in a calming tone. “I do not wish to quarrel with you. As a matter of fact, I see you as one I would rather know as friend than foe.” “Friend?” the word caught Scorpan off guard as it began to puzzle him. “…I don’t think I’ve ever called anyone a friend! Not even Tirek…” “Even brothers can be friends, Scorpan,” the unicorn assured. “But… if you do not think of Tirek as a friend, what could that mean?” The words this pony spoke troubled Scorpan but they were enlightening at the same time. For so many years, he and Tirek survived the Badlands together, they had called each other brothers, and perhaps there had always been a sense of camaraderie between them. But the very idea of calling his brother a friend felt so foreign, it disturbed Scorpan. “…Tell me, pony,” Scorpan spoke in a low tone. “What is your name?” “I am known as Star Swirl the Bearded,” the unicorn removed his hat, revealing an understanding smile. “And, Scorpan, I would like to call you my friend.” The old unicorn held out his hoof welcomingly, and for a moment Scorpan just stood there, awkward and confused. But little by little, he moved his hand up until finally he took the unicorn’s hoof in his hand and they shook. For a long time, the two talked, shared, and even laughed together. Scorpan told Star Swirl of his life back in the Badlands and the name was not for nothing. The Badlands were indeed bad, a barren wasteland where it is literally survival of the fittest, where monsters of all shapes and sizes fought for even the smallest shreds and scraps of sustenance and hunted each other relentlessly. “…were it not for Tirek, I would never have survived,” Scorpan sounded sad. “I followed him here, hoping to find a new home. I’ve grown tired, Star Swirl. Tired of fighting for my life every day, and I will not deny that for so long I felt a resentment towards you ponies for bringing ruin upon the land from where we all originate.” “…I cannot fault you for resenting us,” Star Swirl said in understanding, “but you know it in your heart that robbing Equestria of its magic is wrong, and what Tirek plans is no better than what our actions caused, if not worse, and your part will make you as complicit in such destruction.” “But what can I do, Star Swirl?!” Scorpan growled in vexation, holding his face in his hands. “I’m… just so torn!” “Speak with Tirek,” Star Swirl suggested, “Try to make him see reason. If he is truly your brother, he will heed you.” “And if he does not?” Scorpan pressed. “…Then you must do what’s right,” Star Swirl said as though it were the easiest thing in the world. “From how it sounded, Tirek is stealing magic until you and he can overpower the Royal Sisters and rob them of theirs. If Tirek will not see reason after you speak with him, then you must alert the Sisters of his transgressions.” “You are asking me to betray my brother…” Scorpan growled but in a way that told the unicorn the gargoyle understood. “But you are right. Whatever I might feel, what we have been committing is no better than what the tribes did… Thank you, for opening my eyes Star Swirl.” The unicorn then looked troubled before saying, “There is something else… I am not who I said I am.” Scorpan raised a brow and watched as the unicorn wizard’s image melted away to reveal a blue unicorn with no mark! “How is this possible?! You have no mark yet still use magic! Who are you?!” “My real name, Scorpan… is Midnight Blaze,” he answered. “I am sorry for deceiving you, but I had my reasons. And please believe me, I meant every word I said to you.” Scorpan narrowed his eyes dangerously, not appreciating being hoodwinked. “…I can see it in your eyes. The trick aside, you have been nothing but sincere. Very well, I shall act as you have suggested. But answer me one question – Why did you appear to me as someone else?” “The answer to that is too long a story, Scorpan,” Midnight replied regretfully. “All I can tell you is, if Tirek proves unreasonable, that you cannot sway him to accept friendship rather than power, then when you alert the Sisters, you must tell them it was Star Swirl the Bearded who convinced you to accept friendship. Can I count on you?” For a few agonizingly long moments Scorpan was stonefaced and Midnight feared he had failed. “It will be as you said,” Scorpan finally replied, much to Midnight’s relief. “Midnight Blaze… thank you, for opening my eyes, and for calling me your friend.” This time it was Scorpan who reached out, and Midnight gladly shook on it, but Scorpan looked sad. “Why does this feel like we’re saying goodbye…?” “I cannot promise if we will ever meet again, Scorpan,” Midnight answered sadly. “But if it is meant to be, we will.” That hopeful assurance made Scorpan smile a little as he bade, “Good luck, my friend, wherever you go.” Midnight smiled and nodded as he called his cloak and bags to him and Scorpan watched as the stone hanging around his neck flared with life! He marveled at the transparent bubble of light that enveloped Midnight, the winds sparkling as they swirled around him, the bubble raising him slowly into the air… and in a Wink of Light he was gone!