Again he watched history pass him by but he maintained a steady flow of mana into the Time Stone, enabling him to better measure the passage of time. He could tell decades passed before he let go.
Midnight Blaze found himself in a familiar place. The architectural splendor around him, the many unicorns, royal guard patrols, rich and lavish stores and businesses!
“Canterlot…!” he whispered in reverence.
Looking at it all, and considering the time had just left behind, Midnight wondered, How close am I to home…?
“Oomph!”
“Ow!”
Midnight felt somepony bump into him and heard them fall down. Rubbing his sore shoulder, he worried, “I’m so sorry! I should’ve watched where I was going!”
“Oh, it’s alright,” laughed a gentle voice. “My husband and I were just so engrossed in our book.”
That voice! Midnight had heard it before and he gasped to see the couple he had bumped into.
The wife was a unicorn mare, coated marble gray with mane striped white and purple. Her cutie-mark was three purple stars, and she was visibly pregnant. Her husband was an azure blue unicorn stallion with a neatly combed mane of dark blue, his eyes amber-gold and his cutie-mark was two crescent moons, the smaller one enclosed within the bigger. He wore saddlebags and levitated a book entitled ‘What to Expect when you’re Expecting’ by Haydi and Maple.
Midnight was speechless as the young couple introduced themselves, “I am Twilight Velvet, and this is my hubby, Night Light.”
“Again, I apologize, uh…” Night Light fished with an expectant tone of curiosity.
Snapping out of it, Midnight said, “Oh, forgive me, uh… I am… Orion.”
“Oh! Like Orion’s Saddle!” Twilight Velvet giggled, “Sorry, I tend to point out facts like that.”
“It’s one of the things about her that first got my attention,” Night Light chuckled as he and his wife nuzzled.
Midnight smiled but wondered of the foal in Twilight Velvet’s barrel.
“If you don’t mind my asking, Miss Velvet, how far along are you?”
Twilight Velvet smiled lovingly as she answered, “About halfway, our first foal!”
“And we couldn’t be happier!” Night Light added.
So she’s carrying Shining Armor… Midnight pondered.
Midnight knew Shining Armor was almost four years older than Twilight Sparkle, which gave midnight more clues on just how much closer he was, that it made him smile.
“Well, Twilight Velvet, Night Light, I wish you a happy healthy foal, and true happiness, but I must be going. There’s somepony I need to go see.”
“Perhaps we’ll see you later!” Twilight Velvet called in farewell as she and her husband watched “Orion” walking down the road towards Canterlot Castle.
Walking down the road with Canterlot Castle in sight, Midnight beamed excitably. He’d just met Twilight and Shining Armor’s parents before either of them were born! And based on what he just saw, Shining Armor would be coming into the world soon.
Midnight had met Twilight Velvet and Night Light back in his own time when he went with Twilight to tour her hometown.
Twilight Velvet was a respected researcher and Night Light was a retired Royal Guard-turned-astronomer. Twilight Velvet had cracked a joke at her daughter about how she’d fallen for a unicorn who looked similar to her father while Night Light teased he was so much more handsome.
They’d enjoyed a glorious dinner and the folks had even teased Midnight about when he’d propose. The question had taken him so off-guard it resulted in a rather messy spit-take. No harm was done after a quick cleaning spell and the young couple promised the folks they’d have dinner again.
The memory reminded Midnight of his resolve to get back to his Twilight, to spend his life with her and make her happy. And after this brief encounter with a younger Night Light and Twilight Velvet, he was full of confident hope.
“Ooh-hoo-hoo! Away, you scoundrel!”
Midnight looked and saw a lovely young unicorn with a white coat, two-toned soft pink mane, and her cutie-mark was three fleur-de-lis symbols. She was playfully running away from a young unicorn stallion, also white in coat, but with a shiny azure mane with a stray yet stylish lock of his hair hanging over his eyes, his cutie-mark a trio of three-pointed crowns with purple jewels. He wore a dress-collar with a golden ascot.
“Oh I shan’t be deterred, my sweet!” The dashing rogue smirked as he pursued the mare down the market lane.
They seemed rather familiar to Midnight but he just chuckled and carried on down the street. But as he passed by the local park, he saw a pegasus filly flittering her wings, struggling to stay aloft, a pegasus stallion nearby cheering her on.
“C’mon, Spits! Just a few more seconds and you’ll beat your best time!”
“Daddy...!” the filly groaned as her tiny wings began to give out, evident by her losing altitude. “I… can’t!”
She gave out and landed with a soft ‘oof!’ on the grass, the stallion shaking his head but smiling as he approached his little girl.
“Oh! Almost, Spits, almost!”
“I’ll never be as good a flier as you, daddy…” the filly whined sadly.
“None of that!” The stallion said with a determined smile, “No daughter of mine is gonna give up so easily!”
Watching, Midnight saw the filly was coated a light brilliant gold while her mane was wild like fire. Her father was a gentle sky-blue with a mane a soft yellow, like the gentle warmth of a spring day, his cutie-mark a lightning bolt zooming between a sun and cloud.
“Spit, honey, you’re still little,” he said in a nurturing tone, loving and encouraging, “you’ve still got a lot of growing up to do! But I know one day you’re gonna show everypony just how good you are a flier! Hay, I wouldn’t be surprised if one day you wound up being a captain of the Wonderbolts!”
“Really?” the filly looked up at her father with eyes so hopeful it would darn-near break your heart.
The stallion nuzzled noses with her, saying, “Really-really.”
“Then… let’s go again!” the filly cheered.
“Nuh-uh, you should rest a bit,” her father insisted before adding, “and what better way to recoup than with a little ice-cream?”
“Ice-cream!!” the filly hopped up and down happily as her father picked her up and carried her off.
Midnight couldn’t help but smile as he carried on. In no time at all, he stood before the castle gates, and noticed some guards at their post. Midnight wondered how to go about this, I can’t just knock on the door, they’ll ask if I have an appointment or something… Well… I suppose I could just let myself in, I’m sure the princess won’t mind!
He closed his eyes and concentrated, spreading his sphere of influence from his horn towards the gates. He sensed them – Security wards, a lot of them. There was no shield or barrier because he knew Celestia didn’t believe in keeping her little ponies out, for all were welcome inside should they need guidance or support.
Midnight concentrated as he scanned over the wards, looking for a chink in the armor or a crack in the wall to slip through. There it was!
Deciding the moment called for subtlety, Midnight hurried into a nearby alleyway just across the street from the castle gates. He browsed the security wards again to be sure, sensing some to be alerts, some were meant to impede or capture intruders, and so on. But none of them were able to stop a shadow!
Taking a deep breath, Midnight fell into his own shadow, becoming one with it and feeling its velvety embrace take him in. The shadow was like a see-through ink spot that slithered across the street, easily escaping the notice of the guards at their posts.
The shadow slipped up the gate, and slid through without a hitch, the wards were bars and the shadow a liquid. The shadow spilled out into the front courtyard but then streaked towards the shadow of a tree. From out of the shadow did rise Midnight, shuddering his flanks as he took a deep breath.
“I’m still not quite used to that…” he muttered as he shook off the chilling sensation of being a shadow. Seeing the courtyard before him, Midnight looked towards the doorway into the castle and went in.
The entry hall hardly looked any different from when Midnight first saw it when he, Twilight, and their friends attended the Grand Galloping Gala. His hoofsteps echoed a little in the entry hall as he took a turn and started down a long hall, carpeted royal purple, burgundy curtains letting in the sunshine, and suits of armor stationed along the wall. For some reason, Midnight felt like being quiet as he walked along the hall, wondering, pondering, as his journey was coming to a close. Stopping in front of a window, he gazed out at the courtyard, not really seeing it, as he was lost in his own head, marveling at everything he’d been through, had seen, had endured.
He had witnessed the birth of a sacred power that inspired a great wizard to raise a nation to greatness with worthy leaders. He’d met those leaders and seen sides of them ponies even in this time would hardly believe. He’d faced fierce and terrible enemies of all kinds, seen beginnings, played several roles in securing the future, gained and lost much, suffered heartbreak, and helped a great many.
His feats and accomplishment echoed throughout history, even if he was not known for them by the masses. It didn’t matter to him. All he cared about was that, as far as he could tell, he had journeyed well, accomplished much, learned much, and it had all served to embolden his goals and dreams.
The memory of when he’d met that mysterious alicorn who’d given him the vision of a possibility – a family with the mare he loves, a daughter whose name he had yet to know, and possibly a son. As he considered the possibility of this family, Midnight also considered what else he could do.
Since he first arrived in Equestria, a blank-flanked unicorn of his own imagination, from a world he’d been rubbed out of by apparent happenstance. Or was it? He recalled the words of both Celestia and that mysterious red-maned alicorn – There were countless worlds, similar yet different, reflections of others, and alternates of each other. Midnight wondered if there was a world in which he hadn’t died in that accident and continued his life in that world he left behind. Was there a world where he arrived in Equestria but had not been turned into a pony? Maybe there was an Equestria where he had been born into it and was always a pony.
Having come so far and been through so much, Midnight was no longer certain there was such a thing as coincidence at all. Rather, there were inevitabilities.
Sighing, he turned to keep going and look for Celestia when-
*OOMPH/CLATTER*
“Ow…!” Midnight groaned as he rubbed the base of his horn.
“Oh do excuse me!” The voice was apologetic and gentle, and Midnight looked up to see it belonged to a unicorn mare.
Her coat was creamy white, her mane a soft azure blue with a baby-blue highlight in a style that balanced gentleness and evoked a guiding hoof. Her eyes were turquoise and her cutie-mark was a storybook, with a blue star on the cover and a golden ribbon as a bookmark. Around her were books askew, apparently dropped and being picked up in her aura.
“I saw you gazing out the window and didn’t wish to disturb you,” she said, “but from out of nowhere you turned out and-”
“Oh no, it was my fault,” Midnight assured apologetically. “Honestly, it feels like I’ve been bumping into everypony today.”
The mare giggled understandingly and kindly said, “I am Faerie Tail, Madam Librarian of the Royal Library, and whom do I have the pleasure of bumping into?”
Chuckling at Faerie Tail’s little joke, Midnight replied, “My name is-”
“THERE HE IS!”
Both unicorns startled and looked to see at the end of the hall four ponies. Two of them were guards, the other two unicorns, a stallion, and a teenaged filly.
The stallion wore purple and gold armor, which Midnight immediately recognized as the uniform of the Captain of the Royal Guard. The stallion was tall and muscular, and, if Midnight didn’t know any better, he was certain the Captain looked a lot like Sombra!
His coat however was burning red, his mane was spiky and golden at the roots before they darkened into coal black, his hooves the same metallic gold, and his cutie-mark was a shield with a sword behind it, all of it wreathed in flame.
The teenaged unicorn filly with him was a light brilliant amber with a crimson mane streaked brilliant yellow, cyan eyes, and her cutie-mark was a sun with a red and gold yin-yang center. She turned up her nose and snottily spoke, “It’s just as I said, Captain! An intruder in the castle.”
“Alright, I apologize, Lady Sunset,” the captain growled irritably as he rolled his scarlet eyes before setting them upon Midnight.
“Now as for you, intruder! Step away from my wife, surrender yourself, and nopony need get hurt.”
Midnight narrowed his eyes, flaring his horn to show he was in no mood to be cooperative when Faerie Tail stepped in the middle, “Please, please, everypony! There needn’t be any quarrel here! Ignitus, love, this young stallion is a fine gentlecolt and was just helping me pick up my books.”
“He still managed to bypass the castle’s security wards without setting them off!” the filly called Sunset argued.
“I sensed his presence the moment he stepped into the castle. He’s not normal, Madam Librarian!”
“I am afraid Lady Sunset is… not wrong, Faerie Tail,” Captain Ignitus agreed though the tone of his voice made it clear he was loath to.
“The fact that this unicorn breached castle security without setting off any of the wards or alarms is disturbing enough. I must take him in for questioning. Guards!”
The two guards stepped forward, one an earth pony the other a pegasus, both geared for a fight, Midnight maintaining his stoic demeanor as he said in a warning tone, “You will try…”
“Ha! Like you’ve got a chance against me! I am the personal protégé of Princess Celestia, destined to be the greatest unicorn sorcerer since Star Swirl the Bearded,” the filly bragged as her horn flared.
“And I’m going to enjoy this…!”
She began to cast a spell, her horn enveloped in an opal aura that was mixed with black, and Midnight sensed this young unicorn was about to invoke a dangerous power…!
I’ve got to stop her… he thought as he concentrated on the most powerful counter-spell he knew when…
“SUNSET SHIMMER!”
A blinding ray of light made everypony in the hall turn away as a pulse of magic dispelled both Midnight’s magic as well as Sunset’s. As the light dimmed, everypony gasped to see Princess Celestia, looking at Sunset unapprovingly.
Sunset shied away, having never seen her teacher look at her in such a way. But it quickly ended when the princess turned to regard the uninvited guest, “Midnight Blaze, how wonderful it is to see you again!”