The time-jump this time lasted much longer than all the others before. Midnight watched history pass him by quicker than he could follow, and yet he didn’t feel the dizzying effects of maintaining the magic to propel him further along the timeline. He wondered if it had to do with his becoming a lunar pony.
But then, he noticed a few moments when night seemed to last longer than it should, and even though the day came back and the cycle of night and day resumed it bothered him. He held the magic for a little longer but began to feel the nausea and draining of his energy.
Finally, he let go and found the bubble carrying him towards…!
“Canterlot!” he whispered as he saw it!
As he came drifted out of the flow of time, everything cleared and there before him, upon its familiar mountainside stood Canterlot Castle, glorious and bright! Midnight was no fool, he knew wasn’t back in his own time, but this was a sign.
“I’m getting closer…”
The bubble, to his bewilderment drifted onto the castle grounds, and he found himself unceremoniously plopped into a bush in the castle gardens, scaring away some of the animals kept there. He shook his mane and felt his nerves calm as he took in his surroundings. He saw a nearby white gazebo situated near a koi pond with a flowing stream, a nearby fountain with a statue of a seapony pouring an urn into the fountain itself. There were fruit trees, berry bushes, and flowers of every color and shape! It was beautiful and stunning! Midnight couldn’t imagine the love and care and hard work the gardeners had put into this masterpiece!
However, the moment was ruined by an irascible voice yelling, “I grow weary of your excuses, Princess! You promised me the peak of my potential, now make it so!”
“Please, my student!”
Midnight recognized that voice all too well, Princess Celestia…?
He cast his invisibility spell and followed the argument until he peered through a hedge and saw Princess Celestia, standing beneath a willow tree, apparently in a debate, not with a pony, but rather a felinoid young woman. Her fur was brown, her muzzle cream, she wore a trailing gown of burgundy velvet without sleeves or shoulders, her eyes green and the pupils narrow like a predator, and her hair was ginger red pulled back in a large ponytail. She sounded like a self-entitled teenager, and was hissing angrily at the princess.
Princess Celestia had grown since Midnight saw her. She was now almost the full height she’d been when he first met her, her mane and tail now sported the pastel rainbow of colors of the Celestia of his time, but her light magenta eyes looked weary and almost pleading as she looked upon the felinoid before her.
“Catrina, what you are asking is unprecedented! I cannot simply grant you such power, that kind of responsibility cannot be just given – It has to be earned, and to earn such is to prove yourself worthy!”
“And how am I to prove myself worthy if you do not give me the chance?” retorted the being called Catrina.
“I have flourished under your tutelage, mastered all that with which you have tested me, every spell, every potion, every charm! And yet what have I to show for it?! Marks of approval, passing grades?! I have become possibly the greatest sorceress in all of Equestria, and still you hold me back! I deserve- Nay, I demand recognition for my talents!”
“…Go to your tower,” Celestia ordered and the look in her eyes was like that of an unflinching mother that Catrina caterwauled angrily and stormed off. To Midnight’s unease she passed him by and lashed out in blind anger, her claws cutting the bush Midnight was hiding in clean off at the top. Midnight the top of his mane hairs just barely brushed upon and shivered, a little freaked out from a literal close shave. He held still, waiting for Catrina to be gone, when he heard Celestia sigh sadly, saying aloud, “Oh… what am I going to do…”
He looked and saw Celestia lying down, removing her crown and peering into the jewel, staring into nothing. Then Midnight realized how the Princess of the Sun looked. At a loss.
Celestia sighed waveringly as though she were close to crying, that Midnight stepped out and let the invisibility spell fall. Celestia didn’t see him as she was facing the other way nor did she hear his hoofsteps, as she spoke sadly, “Where did I go wrong… Did I push too much on her? Give her too much encouragement…? I just wish… there was somepony I could talk to.”
“Well, how `bout me?”
Celestia gasped as that voice sounded familiar, and she slowly looked around to see a very familiar blue unicorn, smiling sheepishly as he waved his hoof a little.
“Hello, Princess Celestia.”
“Midnight!” she rushed over and gave Midnight a hug in her wings, much to his bafflement, as he turned a shade of purple due to his coat contrasting with the blood rushing to his face. “Oh, I can’t tell you how good it is to see a familiar face!”
She let him go and gazed at him, looking thankful that he was here. He returned her smile with one understanding, and Celestia said, “We have so much to catch up on!”
Celestia conjured a small picnic lunch for the two of them, which included nectar tea, cake rolls, grapes, and fresh buttered buns. Midnight happily nibbled on everything as he caught up with the princess.
“I am so very glad you are here, Midnight. Things have been… hard, lately.”
“I see you’ve moved into a new castle,” Midnight brought up, knowing the reason why but saying nothing.
“It’s not something I like to talk about, but…” Celestia sighed sadly, “Over two-hundred years ago, my sister lost her way…”
“Nightmare Moon.”
Celestia gaped at him in shock of his knowing, as he looked down in guilty way. It took a moment for Celestia to remember that Midnight was from the far future, so the fact he knew of her sister’s fall shouldn’t be surprising.
“You knew… didn’t you?”
“Yes… and I’m sorry that my excuse is this,” Midnight felt so bad for saying it, “It had to happen.”
“…Star Swirl did tell me how you and he discussed the particulars of your journey through history.”
“I’m so sorry, Princess Celestia, but to change history is too great a risk, for better or worse. I can’t tell you how much I wish I could’ve spared your sister what became of her, spared you the pain of being betrayed by her and driven apart from Sombra,” Midnight felt his heart hurt with each word.
“But Star Swirl told me how changing the past can have dire consequences because of the unforeseen changes that can result. I am speaking to you now only because I have to assume it’s a part of history.”
“…When did you first meet me?” Celestia’s question took Midnight by surprise but he supposed there was no harm in answering.
“A thousand years after you sealed your sister in the moon,” Midnight confirmed. “Except, you never told me you’d met me in your past, which is why I still continue to hold my silence. Either I did meet you in your past, as we already have when you were a filly, and your future self chose not to tell me, or this is… Urgh! I don’t know, it’s so hard to make sense of!”
“It’s alright,” Celestia assured him, “and I must agree it is for the better you continue to hold your tongue. I have learned and experienced many a great deal… Heavy is the head that wears the crown.”
Midnight felt his heart sink at those words. Deciding to change the subject, he brought up, “Who was that… person you were speaking to earlier? Catrina?”
“Oh, a headache that one…” Celestia sighed. “Catrina is my student, and since the time she could crawl, she has also been my ward.”
“What exactly is she?” inquired Midnight. “I’ve never seen anything in Equestria like her.”
“She is either the last of her kind or among the very few remaining of a race known as the Cat Sidhe,” Celestia answered. Noting the clueless look on Midnight’s face, she added, “Think of her as a cat of faerie origin capable of learning magicks with an innate aptitude that easily makes her a sorceress worthy of the skill and fame of my old mentor, Star Swirl the Bearded, and her youth easily makes her stronger.”
“Among other things,” Midnight muttered.
“I take it you heard our… disagreement,” Celestia gathered. When midnight nodded yes, the princess sighed.
“When I found her, she was but a mewling kitten on the brink of death. I took her in as my ward and raised her like a daughter. Then when the child began to show talent for the mystic arts, I chose to tutor her, to teach her how to use her gifts responsibly. I trained her, believed in her, I told her she was destined for greatness! However, as she grew, I soon began to see a shadow in her mind, for with her blooming skills did yield a briar.”
“She sounded like she wants fame and recognition,” Midnight noted.
“And she accuses me of holding her back,” Celestia nodded wearily. “I suppose from a certain point of view, she is right. Please understand, Midnight, I love Catrina as though she were truly my own foal, and it is perhaps that love that has made me too protective, that I have sheltered her from the world, left her unprepared…”
“I’m sure you only did what you thought was best,” assured Midnight, levitating a tissue to the princess, which she accepted with a sniffle.
“Exactly, Midnight, what I thought was best,” Celestia sighed shakily as she kept rein of her emotions.
“However, what we think and what is, are not always the same thing.”
“It also sounded like she wanted you to give her something,” Midnight brought up.
“And it is what she wants that concerns me,” Celestia nodded. “I don’t know where Catrina learned of them… but she wants for me to grant her the Elements of Harmony.”
Midnight was aghast at what he just heard, gaping at the princess as he voiced his opinions.
“Absolutely not! She-she can’t be entrusted with the elements of- Where does she find the gall?!”
“Exactly…” Celestia sipped her nectar, as she let Midnight digest what he’d just heard and compose himself.
“Princes… The Elements of Harmony… Well, I can’t tell you too much, but…” Midnight chewed on it for a moment before saying, “They’re meant for… somepony else.”
“I had a hunch,” Celestia sighed. “But Catrina… she’s gotten this idea in her head where she feels that, in her mind, she is the most skilled and powerful sorceress in Equestria, that she is entitled the most powerful magical artifacts in the nation!”
“What’s so great about her?!” Midnight snapped before grimacing and saying, “Sorry…”
“Don’t be, because, in some ways you are right,” Celestia rubbed the side of her head, “Catrina doesn’t behold the necessary qualities that would make her a suitable wielder of the Elements. I tried to tell her that, but she’s too self-absorbed to listen, to even take a since critique!”
“Well, I hope the Elements are secure,” Midnight brought up.
“They are,” Celestia assured him. “However, I fear I will never wield them again.”
“Whattya mean?” asked Midnight, that statement piquing his interest.
“The Elements, Midnight,” Celestia hesitated a moment to find the right words. “I am no longer connected to them… When my sister became that terrible entity… I was forced to take all of the Elements and wield their powers against her! I succeeded in overpowering her and was left with no choice but to imprison her, so she could not make another attempt to bring about eternal night…”
“But…?” Midnight pressed, knowing the word was coming.
“…but in doing so, I perverted the Elements’ powers,” Celestia looked crestfallen. “For even though she was taken by evil, my sister was also a wielder of the elements, as I was. But by using the elements on my fellow wielder of their powers, I created a disharmony within their powers that had a negative effect on them.”
“What happened to them?” Midnight didn’t like where this was going.
“They were weakened, Midnight,” Celestia wiped a tear that had welled up in her eye. “The disharmony between myself and my sister affected the elements in such a way they were weakened… I fear unless something is able to provide the right… I don’t know, a spark! Then… the Elements’ powers will never regain their full potency.”
Now it made sense, at least to Midnight. He recalled that night when he and Twilight and all their friends had worked together to reach the Elements of Harmony, and when they’d found them the Elements were lifeless stone spheres.
Is this why they were like that? Why it was said they needed a spark…?
“I felt it would be risky to bring the elements here to Canterlot,” Celestia went on, Midnight jolting out of his pondering.
“So I chose to hide them in my former home.”
“You mean to say the Elements are still in the Castle of the Two Sisters?” Midnight inquired.
“Yes, and until I can discover the means to restore their full powers, there they shall remain,” Celestia answered firmly.
Unbeknownst to her and Midnight however, a pair of green feline eyes narrowed from a nearby hedge, watching, listening. Preying.