39. Fish Taled Miracles - Epilogue
A quiet beach’s tranquil moment was shattered as Midnight burst into existence, gasping as he tried to gather his thoughts. He stood up and looked around and saw Horseshoe Shores.
“My daughter!” he whispered and galloped towards town.
When he arrived however, he quickly noticed something wasn’t right. There were a lot of unfamiliar faces, he didn’t see the Cruel Mistress tavern, and some of the merchants he knew didn’t have their stands set up. Instead there were completely new stands overseen by different merchants.
He looked to a stallion and asked, “Excuse me, sir, but where’s the Cruel Mistress tavern?”
The stallion looked at Midnight and answered, “Oh tha’ place? It caught fire ten years ago. The owner never tried to rebuild so she left.”
Then Midnight realized something about the stallion was familiar. He was a pegasus with a bay red coat, sandy gold mane, and grayish-blue eyes, and his cutie-mark was a fishing net surrounding three fish, and he was the spitting image of…!
“Oh, excuse me, um, my name is… Night Spark,” Midnight introduced himself, for some reason, feeling an alias was called for.
“Pleased t’ meet ya, mate, name’s Tidal,” the stallion replied in a friendly voice and Midnight felt like his heart was in a vise.
“Lived here in Horseshoe Shores all me life, with me da. Welp, gotta go, don’ wanna keep the missus waitin’.”
Midnight watched as the stallion he’d met as a foal walked away as he began to realize…
If that was Tidal… then where’s…?!
Not knowing what else to do, Midnight went to the same pier and saw the house. It looked older, but was still well-kept. Slowly, feeling afraid, he walked up to the door and knocked.
He heard a rustling inside and the door opened to reveal…
“Rip…?”
It was Rip indeed. He was a tad bigger but his bay red coat and light blue mane had both lost some of their luster. He’d put on some weight but this time Midnight was certain it was actual body fat. He looked in shock at the stallion before him as he whispered, “Midnight…?”
They stood there, at a loss, when Midnight asked, “…How long has it been?”
The question helped Rip clear his mind as he looked hesitant.
“…Midnight, you… you’ve been gone. For twenty-five years.”
Midnight felt his world shook as he stumbled a little, falling onto his butt as he gasped in shock, tears welling up in his eyes.
Rip held out his hoof, which Midnight took absent-mindedly, the old pegasus hauling the unicorn to his hooves. Midnight looked at Rip again, asking, “Lily Wave! Wh-what happened to her, is she-”
“She’s fine, mate,” Rip said lowly. “She’s… she’s actually doing quite well.”
“Where is she, is she here?!” Midnight tried to peer over Rip’s shoulders but he shook his head no.
“No, mate, she’s moved on,” Rip answered. “Come in.”
Rip and Midnight sat at the table, as Rip considered a moment.
“…After you… disappeared, sweet Lily cried. Took me a while t’ calm her down but I dried her tears an’ put her to bed with Tidal. And I waited for you to come back. All the while, I looked after my son and your daughter. Time passed and I began to accept ya weren’t coming back. I wondered what happened, why it happened. But I never thought bad o’ ya, mate. I can still see that look ya had on yer face when tha’ magic bubble ensnared ya… I know ye didn’t mean to leave.”
“…Lily’s magic surge…” Midnight brought up as tears ran down his face. “When… my power mixed with hers, there was some kind of… backlash. Somehow, it activated my Time Stone, I had no control! Twenty-five years, Rip?!”
Rip nodded sadly.
“When she were old enough, I told her the truth… that I weren’t her father, and she asked me what happened to ye. I told her… ya went missin’, on a fishin’ trip.”
“That’s not what happened-” Midnight protested.
“An’ what was I s’posed t’ tell her?” Rip demanded. “Tha’ her father vanished in a bubble o’ magic that involved her own?! I didn’t dare tell her the truth, lest she might think it were her fault you’d disappeared.”
“…I understand,” Midnight sighed sadly, Rip’s words making sense. “I… I ran into Tidal in town.”
“Ah, me boy’s grown up to be jus’ the stallion I’d hoped he’d be,” Rip acknowledged proudly when he realized something.
“And… I think ya oughta know, Midnight… Tidal and Lily are married!”
“What?!” Midnight gaped at Rip.
“Aye, and they’re parents now too. We’re granddads, you and I!”
Midnight felt like his mind would break as his emotional turmoil thundered, trying to make sense of what he was hearing.
“…I need to see her.”
“Whoa! Now, mate, I know you’ve a right t’ see yer daughter-” Rip debated.
“I’m not gonna tell her who I am.” Midnight’s horn flared and Rip watched as the unicorn’s colors changed.
His sapphire coat turned black while his black mane with its dark blue highlight became gold and orange. A simple five-point star appeared on his flank as a fake cutie-mark.
“I… just need to see her.”
Midnight followed Rip’s directions and found himself on a sandy hill overlooking a beach house. He saw Tidal laughing and playing with two foals in the yard and he gasped as he thought, Are those my…?!
Then the front door opened and he felt his heart jump into his throat when he saw her as she stepped out and called, “Everypony, it’s time for a snack, come on in!”
“But Mom! We’re just about to beat the monster!” one of the foals whined.
Tidal chuckled and said, “Well, the monster agrees with the beautiful queen o’ th’ sea that it’s time for a bite, me buckos! Inside.”
The foals whined but did as they were told as their father herded them in. As he passed his wife, Tidal gave her a kiss and asked, “Coming?”
“Actually… I want to watch the waves for a few minutes,” she decided.
“Oh well, more for me,” Tidal cracked, his wife whipping his flanks with her tail as he went in.
Midnight watched the mare as she went down to the beach, letting the waves come in and splash past her hooves as she took in the sight of the ocean before her. Midnight didn’t even realize he was approaching her until his hoof stepped on a piece of driftwood.
*Snap*
“Huh?” She turned to see Midnight, who’d frozen as though he’d been caught with his hoof in the cookie jar.
“Hello. Can I help you?”
She was beautiful. Her mane was held up by a blue ribbon, her body looked strong, and Midnight wondered if she’d done some fishing too.
“Hello? Can I help you?” she repeated, snapping her visitor out of it.
“Oh! Uh, sorry, you… looked like somepony I used to know,” Midnight answered slowly.
“It happens to everypony,” she giggled, and the sound of it made Midnight gasp a bit. “Are you alright?”
“I’m sorry, I’m… are you… Lily Wave?”
“Yes, and may I have the pleasure of making your acquaintance?”
“I’m… a relative of your father,” Midnight answered and almost instantly, Lily’s eyes widened with interest.
She gestured her visitor to follow her and Midnight did. She led him to a fallen coconut tree and sat down, tapping for Midnight to do so as well. He took her invitation and she looked at him expectantly.
“Your father… what do you know about him?” Midnight asked.
Lily took a deep breath as she pondered a moment.
“My adoptive father, Riptide… he told me my father met with a seapony and I wasn’t planned. He said my father’s name was Midnight Blaze, a traveler. I… think I remember him, little. He was kind, handsome, and… there was something about him that felt… mysterious. I remember… I felt something inside me build up, I didn’t know what it was, I couldn’t control it… and I saw him. Trying to help me, looking scared… and then he was gone, in a blinding light.”
She looked at the stallion next to her, asking, “Do you know what happened to him?”
“Your father…” Midnight wished so desperately to tell her the truth, wanted to much to hug her, but after seeing her with Tidal, her children…
“Your father passed away.”
Lily looked passive but the tears welling up in her eyes betrayed her heart.
“He was found suffering some kind of magical malady,” Midnight hated himself in this moment, it took everything to control himself as he continued to lie.
“But before he died, he asked me to give you something.”
Midnight willed for the pearl necklace with the coral pendant to come out of his saddlebags.
“When he met your mother, she… she left this for him. He didn’t understand why, but, in his last moments, he felt you deserved two special things. This, so you’d have something of your mother and… Lily Wave. It is true, you were not planned, but… The moment your father first held you, he felt as though Celestia herself had placed the sun and moon in his arms and he could’ve asked for nothing more. He loved you and he was sorry he was not there for you.”
“Thank you,” Lil whispered, a little teary-eyed as she accepted the necklace. “I made peace with my father being gone a long time ago, but…just knowing he loved me, that he wanted me…”
Midnight couldn’t stop himself as he hugged Lily. She didn’t protest and instead hugged back. When they let go, she asked, “So… how are you and my father related?”
“We…” Midnight considered a moment. “My father and yours were cousins.”
He stood up and said, “I have to go now.”
“Won’t you stay awhile?” Lily invited. “I’d love for you to meet my family.”
“Thank you, Lily, but I have my own family to get back to,” Midnight shook a bit as his emotions were close to bursting.
“Well then, perhaps another time,” Lily smiled before going over and giving Midnight a quick peck on the cheek.
“Thank you… for all this.”
“Lily Wave…” Midnight couldn’t stop the tears. “I wish you a long and happy life.”
And to Lily’s surprise, Midnight Flashed away.
He ran through the nearby grove of tropical trees, crying his heart out, not caring where he was going. He tripped and fell into a sobbing heap as he curled up in a fetal position, holding his tail, sobbing as he shut his eyes from the cruel reality he’d been pushed into.
It wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t fair.
Rip heard a knock on his door and opened it to see Midnight.
“Midnight, you look a mess!”
He invited Midnight in as the unicorn sat at the table, looking empty. Rip sat there, unsure of what to say when Midnight spoke in a hoarse voice, “Rip… thank you. Thank you for taking care of her…”
“Yer welcome,” Rip went over and put a comforting arm around Midnight’s shoulders. “She’s happy, Midnight, she really is. She and my son have a happy family, they have wonderful kids, who love their old gasbag of a granddad, and… She never blamed you for not being there.”
“I’m leaving, Rip.” Midnight broke away from Rip, unable to face him. “I can never thank you enough for looking after her…”
“An’ I always will,” Rip promised, tears welling up in his own eyes.
Midnight wanted to say more but he didn't know what else to say. But one thing was certain in his mind - The vision he'd had of a family with Twilight. He would make it come true. He would find his way back to the mare he loved, and when he felt ready he would ask her to marry him. And when they took the next step, by Faust he swore he would be there to watch his children grow up, that he would raise them and make them happy. He would be there to love them.
“…Goodbye, my friend,” Midnight whispered as he activated his Time Stone and was gone in a Wink of Light.
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God damn that was sad. I knew it was coming, but it really hit hard
The part in the notes about his descendants though, that it interesting
The feels
Wow, just... wow
poor Midnight. At least his daughter grew up happy and healthy but still, dang that must have hurt.
And heir I was thinking That Midnight was going to give birth to Twinken. Wen Midnight alicorne said that he had to give-up his little brother I had assume that he was maybe his actuality his father.
That spoiler wasn't really to much of a spoiler. If you read the beginning again, you can get that idea. Great job with this story. I wasn't expect this ending. Though. I thought Midnight would have asked a young couple to look after his foal. Not get wrapped up in a time warp. I guess we will see the next arc soon. Great job. I have a feeling on how's magic signature is the third. If only Midnight could recall season 3, he may have been able to figure out what happened. I understand that season 4 will be included in your story. After all we need to meet Cheese Sandwich. The question I have is that Season 5 is about to come out. Will you include that in your story as well or end it after 4?
I haven't felt this heart breaking moment, since I watch the ending of
Romeo x Juliet (Funimation). Love is hard!
Damn that was sad...
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?hl=en-GB&v=h-0G_FI61a8&fmt=18&gl=AU]
Yes. Yes, it was cruel. perhaps one of the cruelest things possible. Sorry for my previous comment but... I hope you expected at least some to react like that. I'm sure i'm not the only one who had those thoughts.
5647203 Your rather passionate comment, I was expecting at least one reader to react in such a manner but I am not offended.
One of my fellow bronies once told me a good story is one where it makes you hate the writer but you can't stop reading. I only hope my further writings for this side-story will turn out better, but I'll give you a hint on a future arc - In on of my planned arcs, Midnight must pull off a heist in Manehatten!
You are a gloriously evil monster and I adore you.
I hunger for MOAR suffering! I-I mean...character development! Yeah....
THE FEELS
This chapter made me almost cry.
Thank you