BPT: A Midnight Stroll through Time

by Wolven5

8. The Children of the Night - Part 1

A lovely hill carpeted in flowers and cool green grass rippled in the gentle breeze when a whirl of energy heralded his arrival as Midnight blasted into existence in a burst of frost and ember, chilling and singing the flowers and grass around him all at once!

He shook off the adrenaline and took in his surroundings. The position of the sun told him it was just after noon, and he still felt the energy of the full moon inside. He had used a fair much yet retained a decent remainder. He was certain he’d gone further than five years but he’d decided to not use too much of his lunar empowerment.

Already, he was missing Tia and Woona but it had been for the better. Still, questions nagged at his mind, as to if Celestia had met him as a child, why did she never tell him? Perhaps it might’ve prevented his being whisked over a thousand years into the past!

Might, if, maybe… he thought morosely. No point in questioning it when it’s already happened. Besides, a better question is my current time and place.

Midnight looked around when he caught notice of what could only be a village! It was surrounded by woods and ahead of it was a castle he was certain looked familiar! Slapping on his pega-goggles, he assumed his pegasus form, his pegasus eyes enabling him to see farther and he saw what looked to be twin banners, one emblazoned with a familiar sun mark, the other with a simple moon, and he wondered, Is that… the Castle of the Two Sisters?!

He’d only seen the castle once, that night when he had journeyed with his friends in the Everfree Forest to find the Elements of Harmony, where they had stopped Nightmare Moon. But then that brought another clue, If that is the Castle of the Two Sisters… could that forest be…?

He looked the forest over, and saw it hardly looked anything like the Everfree Forest, that and the village in it. He’d been into the Everfree before and he’d never seen any ruins or remains of a long-forgotten village. But as he recalled, the Everfree had not been like the rest of Equestria, and it was so wild and mysterious all attempts to map it were virtually a meaningless endeavor. The forest changed so often landmarks were often shifted and one place of interest would be either shifted or swallowed within a month.

Yet there it was, the Castle of the Two Sisters! Pristine and regal, in its prime magnificence before the savagery of Everfree made it less than welcoming.

A growling sound from his stomach encouraged Midnight to eat but seeing that nearby village, Midnight decided it might be a good idea to try and find an inn and maybe even determine how long it had been since he’d left the sisters. Evidently they were in power, but how long had that been for?

The flight wasn’t very long but Midnight made sure to hide in the foliage before resuming his true unicorn form. It would probably draw undue attention had he done that in the streets. The village was surrounded in the forest with only a few roads leading out to farmlands, and he started making his way through the main street, Midnight was impressed!

Compared to the one he’d visited before (where the ponies had been butting heads out of their bewitched minds) this village was so much nicer, more developed. A lot of the wood n’ stone buildings were at least two-stories, there were lampposts even if they were the kind lit with candles, the streets were cobblestone, and the roofs were thatched or shingled rather than simple hay.

He passed by a smithy where a large and burly earth pony stallion and a unicorn colt were working the forge, the stallion shuffling the colt on his mane, making him laugh. The sight made Midnight smile, as he assumed the earth pony and unicorn colt were father and son. That was a good sign, that the tribes in this time were not so segregated, and were even mixing.

The stallion was brown like maple, darkened and dirty by the soot of his forge, his short and swept-back mane was blonde, and his eyes were a bright green. The protective gear he had on hid his cutie-mark, or (as they called them in these times) his mark of destiny.

The colt had the same maple coat but not so dirty, his mane was also short but colored red like maple leaves in autumn though he did have the same bright green eyes.

Deciding maybe they’d share some recent news, he went over, saying warmly, “Hello!”

The smith and the colt stopped working and looked at the newcomer with narrowed eyes. The silent treatment made Midnight uncomfortable when the stallion said, “Yes, can I help you?”

“Um, excuse me, kind sir, but would you happen to have some recent news?” Midnight asked politely.

“What kind of news?” the stallion asked shrewdly.

“Well… I’ve been on the road a while, just got into town,” Midnight answered with a sheepish shrug.
“So, as you might imagine I’ve been out of touch with the goings-on of the world lately.”

“Papa, be nice,” the colt looked up at his father, and the stallion sighed.

“My apologies if I seemed unwelcoming, stranger,” the stallion resumed pounding his project with his hammer-shoe. Midnight was impressed by it, a horseshoe specially designed to work like a hammer so it could be used instead of a pony wielding a hammer in his mouth.
“Just… things have been getting uncomfortable around here.”

“What’s the trouble?” Midnight asked.

“Colts n’ fillies have been going missing!” the smith’s son blurted out.

“Missing?!” Midnight was definitely intrigued! “What happened?! Has somepony been foalnapping colts and fillies around here?”

“Nopony knows!” the colt got excited as he told more. “One of the colts that went missing was one of my friends. It was like, one day he was here and we were playing in the nearby park, and the next – Gone!”

“Has there been an investigation?” asked Midnight, and was answered this time by the stallion.

“There has, lad, but nothing’s been found,” the smith sighed. “No evidence of break-ins, no signs of struggles, it’s as if these poor lads n’ lasses have just… vanished into thin air!”

The news from the blacksmith and his son had left Midnight unsettled as he moved through the village. After conversing with them further, he’d learned that it had been about ten years since Celestia and Luna had deposed the anarchist tyrant Discord, and this village that lay before their castle, to his surprise, was founded with the name Everfree, to represent how the Sisters’ subjects would always be under their gentle rule. Unlike the one they had suffered under Discord, who had played with the ponies’ lives like they were toys and cared nothing for their misery, even laughing at them like the monster he was. Some of the ponies had witnessed the Sisters’ triumph over the Trickster, and had demanded the petrified wretch be smashed into gravel. The Sisters had refused, stating to do so would make them no better than Discord and that his suffering would end all too quickly. So he was set in the royal gardens as a decoration, a trophy, and so the Sisters would be able to keep an eye on him as they ruled Equestria from their seat of power in Everfree Village.

Now he was certain this village stood in what eventually became the Everfree Forest. But now, as he took it in, he saw that beneath the friendly atmosphere of the village, he saw wariness and could just feel the unease in everypony. The fact that foals were going missing was upsetting enough, but it had happened thrice, at least once a week since last month, and not a trace of where the foals went or who took them was found in any of the investigations.

Looking around, he saw no foals were playing and any that were out and about were accompanied by an adult pony, never straying further than their chaperone’s shadow. Once or twice, he caught somepony giving him shifty looks as though he were guilty of shoplifting, and it took only a moment for Midnight to realize that his being an outsider made the villagers cagey of his presence.

Midnight could understand, and as he thought about it, Twinken crossed his mind and he immediately became upset as he suddenly realized how much he missed his little brother. He wondered, what had happened after his Time Stone had sent him into the past? How had his friends and family reacted to his disappearance? How had Twinken taken it? He knew his brother well enough, for Twinken was normally a good little colt and did as he was told. But he was willing to go behind Applejack and Big Mac’s backs to carry out his mischief. He more often heeded Midnight although the blue unicorn had never considered punishments like spankings or such. More often in the few events Twinken had acted up he’d been grounded and disallowed privileges and seeing his friends. But Twinken always apologized and was sincere in learning his lessons.

Twinken was probably looking for Midnight by himself if he had to, and the thought of Twinken crying out for him made Midnight’s heart ache. He knew that if Twinken had ever gone missing like these foals had, Midnight would either go out of his mind with worry or he’d search every square inch of Equestria and beyond to get his brother back safely.
I have to get home… but… I have to help out wherever I can.

Even though he knew he wasn’t supposed to interfere much with the timeline, wherever the safety of foals were concerned, Midnight blew common sense out the window.
“I should find a place to sleep tonight…”

Thankfully, Star Swirl had given him some gemstones because he couldn’t guarantee the currency then would not be the same as the currency of dates Midnight would visit in his journey. Gemstones were always a universal type of currency, provided you didn’t overpay, and you didn’t let everypony know just how much you were carrying. That was an invitation for trouble.

Following the blacksmith’s directions, Midnight soon found himself before the Nesting Pegasus Inn. The sign showed a pegasus pony sleeping snuggly in a nest of hay with comical Zs.

A bell jingled as he entered and he became self-conscious of all the ponies giving the newcomer a look. The whole floor was laid out as a simple eatery. Tables here and there with only small barrels as seats for the patrons, there was a bar to one side with more barrel seats, some ponies eating or chugging on beer or cider, letting out loud belches, a few laughing, he saw what looked to be Royal Guards off duty playing some kind of dice game, and there were three ponies besides the one behind the bar going around to serve the patrons.

He went to the bar, the pony behind it a pegasus mare washing dishes, whom he politely beckoned.
“Can I help you?”

Her tone was curt, which encouraged Midnight not to waste her time.

“I am in need of a room, at least for tonight, miss,” Midnight levitated up a topaz, the mare glancing it with eyes wanting.
“I would also like a nice dinner, if such is available.”

“…I’ll have my niece prepare your room immediately,” the mare snatched the topaz with her wing and called to a younger pegasus, who was leaving behind her filly years and just entering her time as a mare.

The proprietress returned with a mug, asking, “What’ll ya take?”

“Apple cider, if you have it,” Midnight requested with a thankful smile.

As he waited, he cast a spell that allowed for him to hear every word spoken within the building in such a way as to discern each individual’s whispers with incredible clarity.

‘…getting nervous, the princess,” said one of the guards playing dice, his partner saying, “Can you blame her? She is ashamed these foals are vanishing right under her nose!”

“I don’t see what the big deal is,” scowled a unicorn merchant. “As far as I know, none of these brats were anypony important…”

“The matron over at the orphanage is going out of her mind,” said an earth pony farmer. “She’s lost so many of her little charges, and…”

“…you noticed there are less thieving pickpockets lately?” asked a pegasus who wore clothes that marked him an official of sorts.
“Y’know, last month, before all this missing foal business, I had the misfortune of being held up by some homeless rabble, and I didn’t notice they made off with my bit purse until I made it to the hall of justice, I felt like such a fool!”

“Sir… sir!”

“Huh?!” Midnight snapped out of his eavesdropping reverie and noticed the proprietress holding a mug if cider to him.

“Your apple cider, like you ordered,” she said with a probing look. “Are you alright?”

“Uh, yeah, just…” Midnight made a show of stretching yawning before saying, “…just somewhat worn from my travels.”

“…If it pleases you, I can have my niece draw you a bath,” the proprietress offered.

“You’re too kind, but no thanks,” Midnight said with a humbled smile. “All I need’s a good night’s rest.”

However, a good night’s rest was not what Midnight would be having, come sundown.

Comments

[Pontiac56]

Awesome work here, definitely a good start for this arc. I can't wait to see how it progresses

[NotBurgerShot]

Dam author! You are smart! I didn't figure out what was making the fillies and goals disappear until the last bit. I think the title has got something to do with it.