Tales of Midnight: The Colonyby NA_SolarEclipseChaptersChapter One: The SentenceChapter Two: The JourneyChapter Three: The StormChapter Four: The WildernessChapter Five: The FamilyChapter Six: The MissionaryChapter Seven: The CursedEpilogue: The SelfishEpilogue: The AcceptingChapter Eight: The EndChapter One: The Sentence“Midnight Star, your crimes against the Platinum royalty are great and without provocation. The royal prosecution finds you guilty for attempted murder of our very own Princess Platinum. What say you in your defense?” How did this happen? Why did this go so wrong? So many questions ran through my head, but there wasn’t a lot I could answer. Quite simply I needed time, and no pony was going to give me that. “I deny any knowledge of an attempt of murder upon Princess Platinum. Why would I try to kill the ruler that we all know and love? I plead not guilty.” The words I said, as quickly as they were formed together, had to sound as though they were planned out. But that was exactly what I didn’t have: a plan. “That is for the jury to decide Miss Star. Court will now commence on the case of Midnight Star and the attempt of Princess Platinum’s life.” The old greying judge, with his dark blue distrustful eyes, wanted to sound neutral as he was required to be but I knew better. I knew better than to think this was at all going to go in my favor. With opening statements over the prosecution, which was led by Clover the Clever and her associates and the defense, just myself were given time to review evidence and formulate statements. It was tradition. As I was escorted out of the dreary wooden court room. I breathed a sigh of relief for such silliness. Otherwise, I’d be on the proverbial chopping block in five minutes. No, it was better to have some time to think about my eventual failure and maybe try to win my life back in the seclusion of the defendant’s room. ~~~ When I was born, I was intended for one purpose: to kill the Princess. The Gold family had lived in the shadows of the Platinum bloodline for much too long, and the timing for my upbringing was perfectly in line with the dying out of the older members of the Platinum family. If we all played our cards right and nothing unexpected happened, I would have killed the princess as of yesterday. Unicorn life is easy to predict like that. With all of the routine and laws we followed, it was surprising how much such things had not been abused. In order to get as close as I needed to the Princess I needed to make some friends in high places, play the game right, and not get caught. After I was old enough to do so, I became a servant to house Platinum. They were suspicious as to why a comparative peasant was in their midst, but I eventually fit in among the servants who may as well have been slaves. I became one of them over the course of three years. Being only 17, I was the youngest in service to house Platinum at the time. Only one other servant had a particular problem with me being so young and new, but nothing serous had happened. However, I may have stepped on his lifestyle choices to defend my own position. It wasn’t my fault that homosexuality was seen as an abomination, but it was my fault for bringing it up. Over those three years, I had gained the liking of one of the royal advisors. I befriended the old mare, and made her feel like she was coming to peace with her life so I could take her place on the advising counsel. In her will, she relinquished her position of power to me. Just as planned. Being on the advising counsel, I only needed one more jump to get as close as I needed to be. I had to take the speaker’s place. The former speaker of the counsel was a dopy red stallion by the name of Candle Bright, although he was not as bright as his name. He let the counsel do all of the thinking and writing for him, which was his downfall. I had to cozy up to the idiot to get my place as second in the counsel. It was degrading. After a certain important speech was replaced with and incriminating confession, it was still all going according to plan. All I had to do was get rid of this Candle Bright, and I’d be the speaker of the counsel. I fabricated a confession, framing Mr. Bright for several crimes going on near the Earth pony border. Being in the place of distrust and in the nature of race, the recipients of Candle’s speech turned on him immediately and tried him for high treason against the crown. He lost. Worse though, he didn’t even try to plead innocent. He just took the guilty verdict. It didn’t matter much to me though, I just needed his spot as speaker. But one thing did bother me. I knew he never really read the speeches we wrote for him but this was obviously a set-up, he didn’t even waver much when he announced his association with Earth pony criminals. Even he should have known the words in that fake confession were going to get him killed, but he read it anyway. It stopped bothering me when I got his position though. As speaker of the counsel, I got audience with Clover the Clever and Princess Platinum herself. It only took two more years past being a servant, and I was third along the chain of command given that the Princess didn’t have any next of kin, children of her own, or living relatives to take her place. Five years and I went from being an unknown to the speaker of the counsel. Being 19 at the time, many unicorn citizens and nobles saw this as ludicrous. None of them challenged tradition though. Challenging tradition was not how things worked. Five years, and everything was still going according to plan. As speaker of the counsel all I needed to do was find the right time and place to kill the Princess and eventually her assistant Clover, and I would be the first of house Gold to take the crown in more than five hundred years. Finding the time, place, and strategy for killing them either individually or together was difficult however. Clover made sure to make herself as difficult to sneak around as possible. But things changed one day. I was simply giving Clover the reports of the counsel for her to look over, and she addressed me. “I know exactly why you are doing what you are doing Midnight Star.” Were her words. For the first time in five and a half years, something not according to plan slipped by. I of course feigned ignorance, but she knew better. Turns out, the Gold family weren’t the only ones who wanted Princess Platinum dead. She had watched over the quote ‘brat’ and her family for too long, and wanted some pony else aside from herself or a foal that Platinum may later have to take the place of ruler of the unicorns. So a week ago, we came to an agreement. Clover would disappear for a few days and the Princess would mysteriously die from poisoning of her drink. The chef would be put to death, Clover would never come back so she could die peacefully, and I would take the crown just as I had wanted for my family. It was strange, but I had to trust this mare as she knew why I was where I was. At any rate, though it was faster than planned, I was still going to achieve my purpose. The purpose that was emblazed as my cutie mark: a black tiara. An undeserving ruler simply used to figurehead a vast change in the operations of all of unicorn kind. After achieving the crown, I would simply die of either a faked death or a changed name. Another one of the Gold family would take my place and they would be the one to make the changes the family wanted. Just a figurehead. Yesterday was the day that the plan came to a close. Needless to say, I was sure that I would have been in the clear. Clover had several search parties after her, I had poisoned the Princess’ beverage, and she was going to meet with some of her guards to boost moral for the search. Everything was in place. But then the slip happened. By some divine prank, the very servant whose sexuality I stepped on was the one to serve the Princess her traditional tea. By either hate of me or the Princess, he assaulted her in the middle of the meeting. Right after the tea was set down. He was taken into custody to be put to death, and the guards investigated. Unsurprisingly, they found the poison in the Princess’ drink. Being the last on to oversee preparations in Clover’s absence, I was suspect. The final nail in my coffin though was Clover’s miraculous return. She showed up immediately after I was put in prison to await trial. Timing was all too perfect, this was a set-up. Ironic really. Having relied on set-ups and the like to get where I was, I never suspected that I would be the one who was tricked. Now she was prosecuting me into my death sentence, and all I can do is watch. I literally have nothing to defend myself with. I was suspected to be out of the ordinary from the beginning, no pony really trusted me as speaker for the counsel, and Clover had me framed for an attempt at murder. Had it not been for my eagerness to complete my purpose and finally stop having to trick ponies into dying, I would have succeeded and lived quietly knowing that I could never make up for all of my transgressions. Instead I would be put to death for attempted murder and life would go on unfazed. The public would assume justice was had, and Clover would probably have that servant acquitted for his actions. I go down in history as the failed assassin, and the Gold family never gets another chance to take the throne. Ultimate and utter failure because I placed my trust in an aging unicorn that had me figured from the start. A banging at the door stirred me out of my thoughts. “Hey in there! It’s time to face your crimes whelp!” The guards then oh so courteously barged into my small, dark room of contemplation and shoved me back to the court room. ~~~ As I sat on the stands listening to the judge bark out words of tradition and justice, I thought of how screwed I really was. I had nothing to prove my innocence in this case. I had indeed overseen the preparation of the Princess’ meal, but no pony to prove that I wasn’t the one to actually poison it. Even if it wasn’t me that poisoned her drink, I would still be in the same place with no pony to stand up and say they didn’t see me do it. It was my word against evidence and the word of Clover, the closest advisor to the Princess. The absolute best I could do in this case is frame Clover for collaborating with a murderer and give her some jail time and sully her name. In the best case scenario. Worst case, I would die either by burning at the steak or by stoning. Execution by heads-pony had been outlawed by the Princess a few years before I was born, so there wasn’t any chance of instant ratification of my death. It was going to be painful. “And we can see from this evidence, found in Princess Platinum’s beverage, Midnight Star had attempted to poison the Princess and usurp her throne. Had it not been for the fake attempt at Prince Platinum’s life by Mr. Torches, the conniving Miss Star would have taken the crown in my absence and be ruling over the graceful unicorn race by day’s end.” Clover certainly knew how to bring my attention back to the court case, even if it was a bit late. The judge nodded at her statement knowingly. “This all seems very convincing Miss Clover. What say you in your defense Miss Star?” His gravelly voice was not even trying to hide the distaste at saying my name. All eyes on me, so I stood up. There was no way I could get out of this alive, but I was at least going to take Clover down a notch before I was done. I adjusted my glasses and began my statement. “Of course, it is convincing. How could it not be more perfect? My quick ascension from servant to speaker of the counsel, Clover’s disappearance, and of course my overseeing of the preparations on that particular speech. Perfect foundation for me to take the Princess’ place as ruler and do what I want with it.” I didn’t want the entire Gold family to suffer for my mistake. “All to perfect. Even from where each and every one of you jury members are sitting, you can see that this was a set-up from the beginning.” I received a few nods of either hate or interest among the silently judging jury. “What are you getting at Miss Star?” Even the judge was interested in where I was taking this. I couldn’t help but smile, even in the position I was in. “Certainly a perfect crime doesn’t just happen, there has to be an accomplice.” Silence. “Miss Star, you do know that you are openly admitting to attempted murder of the Princess don’t you?” Of course the judge had to voice the collective thoughts of every pony in the room. “I’d like to call to the stands some pony you have hear from immediately before myself. I call to the stands: Clover the Clever.” More silence as Clover creped over to the questioning stand. “Miss Star, I hope that you know that you are already pretty much tagged for this murder. But as we should always ask, Clover the Clever do you swear to answer all questions to the best of your knowledge and with full honesty?” The Judge recited to the no longer smug unicorn. “I do swear.” Clover answered. “To answer all questions to the best of my knowledge and with full honesty.” The smile on my muzzle did not leave, though hers had. “Clover, you and I both know why you are up there. It’s not just because law requires that I get at least one witness called to answer questions. You know better don’t you?” My smile dropped as I finished my statement. Clover simply stared at me. “Answer her silly question so we can end this sure trial Miss Clover.” The judge conveyed, sharing the opinion of the audience behind me. Clover opened her mouth to speak, but stopped. Everything was silent while she found the words. “I… I don’t know what you are talking about Miss Star. I am simply here so law is met.” I couldn’t help but sigh. “You knew about me from the beginning. You knew that I was going to try and take the crown for myself. You knew. And though you may have formulated this case against me in a last second attempt to save face, you and I both know that for at least a moment you thought it could happen. You thought you could be a part of the turning of the age and make a difference for the good unicorns under the oppressive rule of the Platinum reign. You thought that some pony would care about what your take on things is. You thought that maybe, just maybe, you could make a difference.” The court room was deathly silent. “Answer me this Clover: why?” Every pony had expected me to continue, but that was the statement. Clover’s eyes were downcast. Tears welled up in her eyes. “I don’t have to answer that….I….” “She is correct, you are only required one answer by law. She doesn’t have to say anything at all. But from the evidence presented, I think we are all ready for the jury to step out and discuss a verdict.” With the judge’s word, the mentioned jury filed out to the back room and the audience began their chatter. “What is she getting at?” “Still a criminal if you ask me.” “What a waste.” “I can’t believe I bathed for this dribble.” The audience clearly wasn’t moved by my last stunt. But that wasn’t unexpected, I didn’t want to move any pony’s heart. I just wanted to have some compensation for my fall. Clover on the other hoof, was almost crying silently still at the stand. The bailiff escorted her back to her spot as the prosecution almost out of simple adherence to code. I may not have won my life, but I did at least get Clover to question herself. Even that was a victory for me, if not a final one. ~~~ After the required one hour of discussion, the jury filed back into the court room quickly. As if wanting nothing more than to just get this over with. With all of the audience members and other court essentials back in their seats as well, it was time for the verdict. It was not going to be pretty. Once more, the judge graced the room with his gravelly voice. “Members of the jury, what verdict have you come to on the case of Midnight Star and her attempted murder of the good Princess Platinum?” The voted upon jury speaker rose and cleared his throat. “We the members of the jury find the defendant, Midnight Star, guilty of attempted murder of our very own Princess Platinum.” The younger blue stallion would have been cute if he wasn’t the one hoofing over my death sentence. “Well then, that is not surprising.” Thanks dirt bag. Way to stay neutral in a case. “Then I hear by pronounce the defendant, Midnight Star guilty as charged. She will be put to death by the days-” “Wait!” The court room was hushed by the unexpected voice of Clover the Clever. I had to admit, I couldn’t help but widen my gaze at her as well. I had to bring my reading glasses down below my eyes to give her the look on my face. “We only caught her before she succeeded in murdering the Princess.” She paused for a moment, either to think of what to say or simply for dramatic effect. “We cannot put her to death simply for association of attempt, the laws don’t allow it.” I had no idea what was going on. Neither did the judge or the jury. “However, her crimes are still unforgivable. Instead of bloodying our hooves with her death, I rule that we send her to the Colony. Being the Princess’ advisor, I know what she’d want for this crime.” Clover, the aging mare who had played me into forfeiting my life, was suggesting I don’t go to prison or get put to death? From the nods and murmurs about the court room from the audience and the jury, it was clear that they agreed with what she said. That was a good sign for me at least. Maybe. “I see.” The judge too was contemplating her words. “Then by the word of the Princess’ advisor I sentence the defendant, Midnight Star, to be shipped out to the Colony.” The judge levitated the wooden gavel and hammered it down three times to adjourn. “Court Adjourned!” As the guards took me away, I shot a look to Clover. She returned it and mouthed ‘I’m so sorry.’ My spirits dropped like a rock. I wanted to ask one question before they took me away, but I didn’t have the chance. What was the Colony anyway? Author's Note Props to the obvious inspiration for this court room scene from the great crossover series Turnabout Storm. If you haven't seen it, and want a very well done work of animation and voicing done right, GO WATCH IT!! NOW! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUDfoZGhLjE Thanks much to my brother for the awesome proof-reading. Were it not for his watchful gaze, i would have missed many a bad grammar more than I already have. Chapter Two: The JourneyMy oh-so-kind guard escort was silent as they led me through the streets of the Marble city, I guess you could consider it a capital for the unicorns. The occasional chatter of the ponies we crossed by reminded me that every one of them saw me as a criminal. Much to be expected though, I was one after all. I didn’t even try my hoof at talking to the guards, they wouldn’t even acknowledge me aside from kicking me in the gut for not trotting fast enough. They lit the way in the dropping light of the late evening. “We’re taking you to the harbor prisoner. Hopefully that’ll be the last we ever have to see of scum like you.” The dark green rear guard pony actually spoke to me. So they could talk after all. “Who tries to murder their own ruler?” Under his helmet, I could see nothing but hate in his brown eyes. “Well, me apparently.” Neither of them found that funny. Figures. “So where is this Colony anyway?” No answer. Right then, more of this walking in silence thing. Fun times. At the edge of the horizon, just next to the setting sun, I saw the harbor. Since unicorns couldn’t fly around like those arrogant Pegasus, we had to ship our things around by boat because those lousy earth ponies keep all of the land routes to themselves. Of course there was teleportation, but it wasn’t as reliable as we’d like it to be for some things. So boats it was for the time being. “Ow!” An insistent kick from the rear guard brought me out of my thoughts. “Fine, I’ll speed it up a bit.” I trotted just a bit quicker to keep up pace with the lead guard. I didn’t want any more of that, so I stayed the pace until we got to the harbor. The sun finally fell below the horizon as we arrived at the harbor. The waves crashed up against the stone docks and walls, sending sprays of sea mist into the darkening evening. It would have been pretty if it were not for the circumstance of my being here. “Hold.” The lead guard barked to me and the rear guard. He turned his armored head back and forth a few times before turning to the rear guard altogether. “Where is the boat?” “Oh no. Darn. Looks like you guys are gonna have to let me go then. We can come back another day I suppose.” I feigned frustration as well as I could. “I guess we’ll have to go back then.” “Quiet whelp!” Yet another sharp kick in the gut. Any more of those and he would crack a rib or something important. I guess they weren’t at all in the mood for jokes of any form. “How are we supposed to ship off this refuse if there isn’t a boat for her to fester on?” The rear guard certainly had a vocabulary and wasn’t afraid to use it. “What are you two brutes doing here?” An on looking pony trotted over and gave the two guards and myself a look over. “What is this all about?” He asked. In the darkness, I could make out his light blue coat, brown mane, and green eyes. If only just barely. The lead guard turned to the newcomer with a sour look on his face. “We need to transport this prisoner. However, it appears that no boat was prepared. Figures, Clover and her antics are never thought ahead.” “Well that seems like a personal problem sirs, if your business is concluded I ask that you leave.” Well this chap wasn’t all to open for conversation at all. “Their business is here Warner.” All heads turned to the lavender mare illuminated by her own purple light spell. “These two are in need of transport for this prisoner. To my knowledge, you have a vessel that would fare well enough to do the job. I do believe that you can relinquish its use if royalty demanded it so.” The guards turned back to Warner. “Well, I do have a ship. But it’s not for transporting prisoners and ruffians like that. I ship spell books and supplies, not ponies and prisoners. I don’t think this falls under my responsibility.” Warner somehow had the ability to not trip over his words when talking to some pony as high up as even Cover the Clever. It was a bit impressive. Clover nodded at this. “Well you do have a point, but would a sizable advance from the Princess herself convince you otherwise? I’m sure she would understand given the circumstances.” Warner paused. “Depends madam, how much of an advance are we talking about here?” “You wouldn’t have to ship supplies for the months to come until the next cycle begins, living comfortably in the Platinum palace with everything you could ever want.” That made even the guards widen their gaze at Clover. That wasn’t the sort of thing that you offered to just any pony. Though, I hardly doubted I was worth that much. Even given the circumstances. “I accept your offer Clover.” Warner replied quickly, as if it was an offer that would end soon. “I’ll go ahead and take this prisoner wherever it is she is going to need to go. Just let me get some things in order first.” With that Warner made his way over to the only ship in port. My lovely escort and Clover followed over to the boarding platform. Warner disappeared into the ship’s cabin while we waited on the platform. “You, leave us. Your duty is done for now. We thank you.” Clover dismissed the rear guard as soon as we were idle. “And you, stay on board the ship. You will make sure this one doesn’t try to escape. But first I would have a few words with this traitor.” The red lead guard nodded and climbed aboard the ship, leaving me and Clover alone at the platform. “Clover, what exactly is this colony? Why didn’t you just have me killed?” I asked quickly. However, she didn’t answer as quickly as I would have liked. “The Colony is… a different approach to justice. Some crimes are of the egregious nature, such as yours, but do not call for the death sentence. Such criminals are simply too expensive to incarcerate, so we just send them somewhere else. That somewhere else came to be known as the Colony.” That didn’t answer much. “Why did you change the ruling? I would have just been killed and justice would have been served. Isn’t that what the court is all about? Justice?” “No, you were right Midnight.” I blinked a few times, just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. “I was what now?” “You were right Midnight. I knew about your from the beginning. It was a secret to every pony, except me. Sure others were suspicious, but none of them really knew about what your intention was. No pony would even think of killing the Princess. It’s the ultimate crime against the crown after all.” She paused again, sniffling just a bit. “You were right Midnight. Just for a moment, when you thought all the cards were on the table, I felt like I could make a difference. I thought that change was possible.” “It could have been Clover. All you needed to do was disappear, and none of this would have happened.” I pleaded her, as if begging could change everything back to a week ago when she first talked to me. “We could have changed things for the better for all unicorns.” Clover nodded again. “Indeed. It could have been Midnight. But that’s not how things are. You don’t know what it’s like to rule though. You don’t know the kind of stress involved. I didn’t think you could handle it, and I didn’t want to usher in a fool to the throne. I know better.” It crushed me how badly I wanted to tell her how things were going to be, but I couldn’t rat out the Gold family. Not now. This was my fall. “It’s true that things could be different, but the fact is that they aren’t. You are still a criminal for what you tried to do, but you don’t deserve to be put to death either. That’s why I am sending you to the Colony. It’s a fate worse than death, but I know better than to think that you will die there. You are crafty, smart, and resourceful. You know how to put things into place. I don’t think that the Colony will kill you, but I know that it will test you. Don’t you see? I’m giving you another chance at life Midnight.” The weight of her choice hit me hard as I realized her point. “What’s gonna happen to me Clover? What am I supposed to do?” Clover turned around and started cantering back toward the Marble city. “You make those choices and you answer those questions Midnight. It’s your life, and I’m giving it back to you.” She turned back to look at me one last time. “But I can never see you here again. You will never be able to return to the way things were. You were raised in hate and fear of the Crown, so you will never live under it again. Good luck Midnight. I know you will make the right choices.” With that, she turned her back to me for the last time and trotted out of sight. I sat there and contemplated for a moment what I was just told. It may have been my nature, but I wanted nothing more than to defy her. I wanted to run back to her and prove just how wrong she was and take the crown myself. But I couldn’t do that, not now. It was too late. “Hey you there, prisoner. Get your sorry ass on this boat before I have to break your bones and drag what’s left onboard.” The guard yelled over the side of the boat, ever the polite one. Warner was suddenly right beside me. When did he get there? “He is right, come on now. Let’s get you onboard and underway hmm?” The way his voice seemed to just flow into my ears was so sweet, but I wasn’t in the mood for sweet. “Fine whatever. You even know where you’re going?” I asked bitterly as I climbed up the platform onboard the ship. Warner followed me every step of the way. “Of course I do. Been around these seas my whole life lass. I know just about everything there is to know about ‘em. Been around the zebra lands this Colony is supposed to be on plenty a times.” How did he suddenly know where we were going? Must have been the guard. “I’ll just drop your fine criminal butt off on that forsaken place, and enjoy the high life when I get back.” Well he certainly was a charmer and honest to boot. Great, one of those. “Good, I don’t want to go and get killed before we arrive at this place that is intended to kill me. How long exactly is the journey going to be?” Now onboard, I could see the ship wasn’t very big at all in the darkness. There was room for the main mast, the cabin, some standing room, the bow platform and that was just about it. How exactly did this thing ship large quantities of supplies? Warner joined me and the guard on board. “Well that’s a good question lass. I’m not exactly an expert on nautical nonsense and arrival times, and compensating for the weather? Oh no.” I gave the blue stallion a wide eyed look, nearly dropping my glasses. “Oh look at that face. Priceless. No, I’m kiddin’ ya lass. Should take no longer than three days, arriving on the dawn of the third day. I was raised on the seas, and she is my life. I know her backwards and forwards, and I’m not talking about her personally you pervert.” I couldn’t help but blush a little. “I didn’t think… what do you mean by that?” “Ha-ha! Oh, sailing with you is going to be a blast lass I can already tell. Just as long as you stay onboard, I don’t think we’ll be havin’ any problems.” Warner climbed the stairs up above the cabin to the ship’s wheel. “Alrighty then kiddos! Settin’ sail for the Colony!” With a glow from Warner’s horn, several ropes untied and the sails unfurled. The wheel spun around as he simply laughed at his magic work. It was a bit frightening. “Please keep all hooves and tails onboard the Silver Sapphire at all times, as she can be a bit of a kicker! Don’t be afraid to beg her to stop though, even though she won’t. Come on now! Let’s go!” I gave the guard a pleading look, but he simply gave me the same sour gaze that he always did. “I’m just supposed to make sure you get to your destination without finding your way off the ship. Talk to me and you lose a leg prisoner.” He growled at me, almost menacingly. Alright then no talking to that guy, just weird Warner. This was going to be such the blast, I could already tell. Waves, crazy sailors, guard dogs, all on the way to some place meant to be worse than death. What more could a girl want? If Warner didn’t kill me, I’m sure the guard would. Then again, might just jump off anyway. That night, I slept in the hull upon the wet wooden flooring. Fitting for me I suppose. That wasn’t the bad part though, the bad part was what I woke up to. I flittered my eyes open to see the smiling face of a certain blue stallion right in my face. “Hallo there.” He whispered very quietly. “AHH! What the blazes?! Why are you down here you freak?!” I yelled as I jumped up and backed away against the wall. The whole time, his sorry ass was laughing like a maniac. “Ha-ha! I knew you’d be fun to mess with lass. Rise and shine! It’s day one of our lovely little cruise to Death Island. How are you feelin’ so far hmm?” “A little invaded personally. Why are you down here? Aren’t you supposed to be up at the wheel steering this stupid thing?” I fumbled around a bit, getting a bearing of my surroundings. It was a lot darker at night. “Where am I?” “Well, you see I thought it would be fun to tell you that there was a brig. Because you thought that you’d be like a prisoner or something silly like that like ‘urrgghh woe is me as I don’t deserve to live’ but I had a better idea! What if there is no brig and instead it’s just where I keep my supplies? And then I thought that was stupid, so I just put you in the back of the hull like the molasses and other barrels. So here you are! Happy first day to you and stuff!” Warner smiled at me as I took in my surroundings and regarded the various barrels around me. I was suddenly wishing they just burned me at the steak. This pony was going to be the death of me. “You moved me around while I was asleep?” Warner nodded a few times, still a smile on his face. “Do you have any idea how creepy that is? Ugh! Honestly!” I stormed off in the direction past Warner, toward the exit of the hull. Hoof steps behind me told me that Warner was close behind me. After the climb above deck, I saw that the guard had almost not moved from his post next to the main mast. He simply regarded me and Warner with the same sour look he always had. The sun shined brightly down on the boat, as if reflecting how bright Warner seemed to feel. “Ah! I see that your friend there doesn’t too much like the idea of sleeping huh? Well that’s okay.” Warner chirped as he pranced in past of the guard and looked back at me and him. The guard just snorted at him and looked ahead again. I moved from the hull entrance over to the side of the ship, looking over the side. The dark blue wave lapped at the sides of the ship, turning into that salty spray that I had seen earlier at the docks the previous night. “Oh no Mr. Guard horse! I think She’s gonna jump!” I looked back at the dramatic look on Warner’s face in absolute disgust. The guard wasn’t too impressed either. “I wasn’t going to jump, just haven’t been on a boat before and I wanted to know what it was like to look over the side.” I defended indignantly. Warner rolled his green eyes. “And what did you expect to see lass? A sea monster?” I gave him an unimpressed look. “Oh no. Those are to the south and north where the griffons roost. It’s the smell that draws them from the depths, and on the third full moon of every month… they strike unsuspecting ships unexpectantly!” Warner bared his teeth in a fake attempt at being scary, even if he wasn’t when he was trying. When he wasn’t on the other hoof, it was a bit scary. I didn’t know whether or not to take this stallion seriously. He was more experienced at this sailing thing, but certainly there was a joke or two in that. I just rolled my eyes back at the mysterious Warner and cantered over to the stairs leading up to the wheel. “So how is it exactly that you keep this thing going the right way?” I asked as I reached the wheel. “Oh that? It’s no big deal. I just hoist the sails, straiten the rudder, pull up the anchor, check the wind direction, keep everything in order, and make sure that there isn’t any approaching pirates or such. For most ships, it would be a four or five pony job. But me? I can do it all by myself. It’s what being a captain is all about lass.” He finished his listing with probably the most modest of statements. One of those kind of guys. “How’d you learn to do all this exactly? It’s a lot to think about at the same time isn’t it?” Even if he was being arrogant, I couldn’t help but think that it was all a difficult job to do. Warner laughed once more with his annoying giggle. “Well you see, I was born at sea lass. It’s kind of what I do. When my mother and father died, I took up their place in the shipping industry. I had a crew to start out with, but they were lazy as rocks. So, I started to just do some of their jobs for them, because they weren’t following my orders. Wasn’t long before I was able to keep the whole ship running without their help, and that day I got my mark.” I gazed at the sailing ship on his flank. Fitting enough. “I found that since I don’t have to pay any crew but myself, I get along just fine. Sleep on my ship, transport spells and supplies for the crown, and never have to answer to any pony but myself. It’s really a great business to be in when you don’t have to worry about mutiny or lazy ponies.” Warner puffed out his chest, trying to look like a regal pony or something. “I’m kind of glad that I am where I am, would hate to be living in the city like every pony else.” I looked back at my own life. Maybe I was exactly where I needed to be too. Was there such a thing as destiny? No, if I was born where I was destined to be I’d still be in the Marble city for some reason or another. I doubted a fake princess would have a place anywhere in the world. “How about you lass? What’s your pretty black tiara supposed to be about or whatever?” Warner of course had to break me from my thoughts. “I um… don’t worry about it. I just… fix tiaras that are broken and stuff like that. Yeah! That’s it. Fix tiaras.” Even I wasn’t convinced by my words, and neither was Warner. “I doubt that a tiara repair pony would end up being a criminal worthy of going to the Colony lass. How about you try being a bit honest this time hmm?” I didn’t want to look at his joy filled face. I didn’t want to ruin his good mood or shatter his view of me if he had one. But if I didn’t tell him, I’m sure the guard would eventually. “I’m not a tiara repair pony. I’m an assassin. Well, a failed assassin. Ever since I was born, I was raised with one purpose.” I paused a moment, trying to come to terms with myself. “I was supposed to kill the Princess. I tried to, and failed. Clover the Clever found me out and sentenced me to the Colony for my crimes.” I dared not look at Warner’s face, I didn’t want to see how he reacted. “Would have worked, but I was a fool and got caught.” I stared at the floor boards, avoiding Warner’s gaze as best as I could. Hoof steps told me that he was moving away from me. “Really now? That’s an interesting claim there lass. Failed assassin hmm?” I dared a look at the blue stallion whom I could expect was now looking out at sea. “Not the worst I’ve hear about, but still pretty despicable. Would you care to answer why lass?” I looked up at his words and he turned to look me in the eye. I was too late to advert his gaze. “I was born to do it Warner. I was supposed to be the one to bring about the turning of the age. And I blew it.” “Now who told you to do it hmm? Family? You can’t go doing everything some pony like family says lass. We’ve been stuck in a veritable dark age with the Pegasus and earth ponies for the past few hundred years because no pony wants to think different from the way that things are. By doing what others think you’re supposed to do, you end up being like every pony else in the world that just wants to hate and mistrust each other.” He cantered over to me, still holding my gaze. “Only you can decide what you’re supposed to do lass. Understand? If I did what my parents thought I was supposed to do, I’d be some two bit bard or some kind of servant to high royalty. I didn’t want that at all, so I took my own path and took over my late family’s ship. Look at me now; got enough money to keep myself happy, I do something I enjoy, and I have plenty of time to do what I want. I broke the mold my parents made for me and I’m doing great lass. Why don’t you do the same?” Warner, the random sailor that I never knew about, was giving me better advice to live by that any of the Gold family ever did. All they ever wanted was for me to fulfill my purpose for their whims. I never thought about what I wanted. Was I simply being a tool for their own ends? I felt… good. In the event of my life completely turning around at the words of this kind sailor, I was happy. It was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders, and for once I didn’t have to impress on any pony. I was no longer living on the expectation of succeeding for my ‘family’, and I was never going to be under the rule of the Platinum crown either. I was on my own terms at last. I couldn’t help myself. In my wash of feelings and thought, I hugged Warner. It was the best way I could show him that I was at least grateful for his words. I was on the verge of crying and would have stayed there if this stupid, sweet sailor pony didn’t hug me back. For the first time since I was a foal, I cried. I hadn’t cried when I was sure I was going to die. I hadn’t cried at that old mare’s funeral. But here, because of some almost complete stranger, I was crying like a foal. “Whoa there lass, no need to get all sentimental on me now.” Warner huffed, pulling away from my hug. “I’m not that kind of fellow. Go find some pony else’s shoulder to cry on yeah?” I gave him a sad, tearful look and that bastard smiled. “Nah, I’m just kiddin’ with ya. Even grown ponies cry from time to time now right?” He pulled me back into a warm hug, and I felt so much better. “Warner, thank you.” I whispered almost to myself. But he had heard. “Don’t mention it lass, no really don’t. I got a name to hold up yeah?” After a good few more moments, I finally let go of him and looked off towards the horizon. It was already afternoon. Either this little moment was much longer than it seemed, or I woke up way too late. “Now, I say that we all sit down for a nice meal. All this mopin’ and feelings stuff have got me starving. Shall we lass?” Warner gave me a smile, and for once I returned it. As the two of us got down from the wheel platform, the guard gave us both his usual sour look. “What were you two up to hmm? I demand to know why you two were whispering. Do you have some secret?” I rolled my eyes at the red armored guard. “I am in a position to have you both brought to justice if you don’t answer.” Warner laughed a bit at the guard’s empty threat. “What? Can’t a guy and a gal get to know each other ya blithering buffoon? We were just talking about how much we loved the way this boat swayed oh so slowly from side to side when it’s moving. Don’t you just love it?” Even the guard could tell that Warner was lying, but was too distracted by an apparently nauseous stomach to do anything about it. “Well then! We are going to have a bite to eat now. You are welcome to join us if you can get that wad out of your arse.” I couldn’t help but giggle a little at that. The guard made several attempts at words, but said nothing in the end. He just gave Warner a sour look. Warner turned towards the cabin, where I could suspect we would be eating. A glow from Warner’s horn and a swung door later, and I was happy to be right. I followed the light blue sailor pony inside with much a lighter heart. Hoof steps behind me told me that the guard would indeed be joining us, or at least coming in to watch and make sure that I wasn’t going to make a break for it out one of the windows. The Cabin of the Silver Sapphire was a bit more elegant than the rest of the ship. The table, literally bolted to the floor boards, was of a round tasteful design. There were several chandeliers hanging from the walls, all of them lit. There was a door off to the right side with white tiling, the kitchen obviously, and a door at the back of the room where I could suspect was Warner’s quarters. It was nice. “Alrighty! I don’t really know what kind of foolishness they have been serving you two up in your marble palace calling a delicacy, but I am going to show you how a real king eats! I’ll just be a moment to actually cook up the beast.” With a wink, Warner disappeared into the white tiled kitchen. I looked around at the simple green table cloth and porcelain plates on the round table. They weren’t polished, but they were clean enough if you didn’t mind some dust on your dishes. Some bent forks and spoons lay upon napkins, and clouded drinking glasses were stacked in a glass paned cabinet off to the side hugging a wall. I would worry about it falling over, but it too was bolted to the floor. “He better not come out here with an actual beast, though it wouldn’t surprise me if he ate meat. That’ll make a pony go crazy, like him.” The guard growled from next to the door. I gave the sour pony a smug look. “Oh come on now, I think that was more of an expression really. Eating meat is forbidden in the Marble city, and he is from the Marble city. Isn’t he?” The guard rolled his eyes and waved a hoof around. “No. ‘Born on the seas’ wasn’t he?” The guard’s attempt at emulating Warner’s voice was a bit humorous, but I wasn’t laughing. “He’s crazy prisoner. If he doesn’t run us into a reef or cliff, I’d be absolutely shocked.” “I have a name you know. It’s Midnight Star if you didn’t know!” I barked at the guard pony, emulating his sour tone. “I have one too. But it’s not like any pony cares. All you and every pony else sees me as is an extension of the law. They don’t see me for who I am! Do you think I like being seen as a tool?” As aggressive as they were, his words touched me. They sounded a lot like I felt not too long ago. “Why am I even talking to you prisoner? You aren’t worth any pony’s time. Clover the Clever made a mistake changing the ruling on your case.” And the hint of warm feeling for this pony was gone. “Well, maybe ponies don’t see anything but your armor because that’s exactly how you act. Maybe if you were a bit nicer to others, they’d see you as more than just a spear at their necks.” The guard pony cantered over to me and stared down at me. I had to turn my neck up just to meet his eyes. “Don’t. Talk. To. Me. Prisoner. Or I swear. I’m breaking you myself.” There was a growl to his voice that legitimately frightened me. “Hey now there you two!” Warner’s voice broke the tense felling of the moment. “Can’t a pony cook a meal for you two without ya tryin’ to kill each other?” The guard pony backed away from me slightly at Warner’s words. “Alright that’s better. Food’s almost ready. Go ahead and sit down or whatever.” Warner again disappeared behind the wall leading to the kitchen. I kept my eyes trained on the guard pony as he stomped over to where he was going to eat. I was suddenly wishing he didn’t come in here at all. I took a spot on the opposite end of the table, leaving as much room as possible between the two of us. We sat in silence for the next few minutes until Warner came back with three plate of colorful things. “Alrighty then you two! This is food fit for a king!” Warner put one of the plates down in front of me. “I’ve been eating this since I was just a wee lad. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.” After giving the guard his share and sitting down close to me, he started eating without using any of the bent silverware around him. It was a bit grotesque. “Um, Warner, what is this exactly?” I asked tentatively, using a levitation spell to poke it with a particularly bent fork. In response, the pile of colorful stuff hissed and steam or some other kind of gas poured out from the hole. “I don’t think food is supposed to still be alive when you serve it.” Warner looked up from his half eaten pile of blue, green, and red. Without wiping his mouth off or anything. “Oh this? This is boiled sea cabbage and sea weed and…umm…what else was it? Oh yeah! Sea lilies.” He continued his gabbling of the colorful mush as soon as he was done talking. I looked at the colorful pile of what was apparently all plants. “Right, just sea food. This is what sailors and stuff eat all the time. No big deal. Just, seafood.” I gathered my wits and took a forkful of it out of the pile. “No big…deal.” I held my breath and stuffed the steaming stuff into my mouth, trying not to gag. But I didn’t need to. I chewed on the mush for a bit, trying not to be grossed out at the texture. And to my surprise, it was delicious. I swallowed the stuff and gave the still steaming pile of plants another look. Warner was looking at me expectantly, a huge smile on his face. “Um, it’s not terrible. It has a….unique flavor.” I stammered over my words, trying to avoid saying how much I hated the texture. “See now? Told ya you’d love it!” Warner chirped, looking down to the other end of the table at the guard pony. “How about you? What do you think?” I continued eating the tasty mush while sharing a look down at the guard pony. He was not impressed though. “I’m not eating this. You could have poisoned it or something. Though, by the look of it you may not have had to. I wouldn’t be surprised if she keeled over dead from this crap.” Warner looked slightly hurt by the guard’s words. “Oh well, can’t win ‘em all over. Anyway! I think that we should all get to know each other better yeah? How’s that sound?” Well, his mood was certainly contagious. I couldn’t help but smile. “That does sound good, I could deal with knowing more about this sailor pony that is in this trip for the money. Furthermore, I’d like to know about this guard pony at the end of the table. I want to have a name to call him, because I’m getting right sick of just calling him by his job.” While the guard pony gave me the stale sour look, I just smiled back at him while chewing on more delicious sea mush. “Yeah sour pony, why don’t you at least tell us your name now. It’s been a little less than a day together, and I hate having unknowns aboard my ship for too long.” Warner turned his head to me again. “That goes for you too lass, I’m gettin’ a bit tired of callin’ you lass.” I shrugged lightly. “Sure thing, I’m Midnight Star. Born into the Gold family with the intent to murder Princess Platinum. I like long walks through town, love being caught in the rain by myself, and…. Oh! My favorite thing to do is plan other’s downfalls so that I can usurp your authority.” I ended my forthcoming speech with a winning smile. Warner saw the mirth in the whole explanation, but the guard pony didn’t. “Oh now see? Now I feel better having young Midnight Star aboard my ship then. Little dark at the end there but hey, can’t be picky now yeah? What about you sour puss?” Warner looked down at the guard, batting his eyes like a filly would do to her crush. The guard was not pleased, still giving the sour frown I was familiar with. “Alright then my turn!” Warner shrugged with a smile. “When my parents died at the hooves of marauding pirates, I saved the day with the remaining crew and took over my parent’s ship. Though I started out with that same crew working for me, I found that it was quite easier just to do the job myself. So, I fired those lazy bastards and now I work the ship myself. Been doing that ever since, shipping out spells and supplies to those that need ‘em.” Warner finished with a satisfied nod to himself. “I may sound like a hero, I know, but I’m not. Just a hard working sailor earning an honest living. I think at least. Some of those spells aren’t exactly what I’d call safe, but that’s not my quarrel!” Warner again looked down to the guard at the end of the table. “Now either I make you tell us what your name is now, or we can just keep calling you sour puss. Which would you prefer?” I couldn’t help but share Warner’s smile. The guard kept up on his sour look, but finally caved to pressure. Either that, or he was just too tired to argue with Warner about it anymore. “My name is Sharpe.” He growled, still looking sour as a lemon. “Oh come on now lad you and I both know that name is as fake as an entertainer. Now what’s your real name? Hmm?” Warner wasn’t going to let this go. “It really is Sharpe you fool!” Alright then, some pony was getting a little offended. “I was named that by my father. Like him, I was born to be a guard pony. I was raised with the intent of protecting the Princess and her laws. I never got to have close friends growing up because I was too busy being drilled with laws, bulking up to enforcing them, and being shut out from the normal world.” There was an anger to his voice that was not just for show. He really was angry about this. “I would have killed for a life of my own choosing. There’s-” Sharpe stopped for a moment, realizing that he had gotten carried away. “There’s nothing else you need to know whelps. I’m done talking.” Sharpe then busied himself with eating the mush before him, still looking as sour as ever. Warner gave this information a knowing nod. “Seems that you two have a bit more in common than you thought.” He looked to me then to Sharpe, compelling the two of us to share a glance for a moment. Just for a moment, I held Sharpe’s gaze and he didn’t give me the absolute worst look imaginable. He then looked down at his mush, ignoring that the moment had ever happened. “One thing I’ve got to know though Midnight.” Warner brought my attention back to his green eyes. “Why do you wear those glasses? You hardly look through them. In fact, I see you actively turning your head down to see past them.” I honestly forgot my glasses were there most of the time. “Oh these? I just have them for reading.” I smiled at the light blue sailor pony, swallowing the last bit of mush on my plate. It surprised me, I thought I’d hate the stuff. Warner gave me an unbelieving smirk. “Oh come on Midnight, you’re too young for reading glasses. Reading glasses are for old mares and foals going blind. You’ve got to have a better story than that.” I was taken aback by his words, clearly he thought I was lying. “Well, I do need them. I guess you’re right though, I am a bit young for them. I didn’t think that any pony really thought about them very much. But there is a reason I need them to read. When I was young, my parents tried a ‘seeing in the dark’ spell on me so that I could sneak around the palace and other places at night or in the dark. I could just use an illumination spell, but they wanted me to be able to avoid detection though. Long study short, I learned it perfectly. Whenever I would use it, I could really see in the dark just fine without any lighting. There was a downside to it though. After I was done with the night vision and the spell wore off, my normal vision suffered more and more. Eventually it got to the point that I couldn’t read writing in front of me without glasses. The night vision spell made me farsighted to an extent. I can see normal things just fine, but I need help reading things up close.” I shivered a little, the rest of the story always gave me chills. “Turns out, the ‘seeing in the dark’ spell I had learned was actually black magic; kind of illegal for citizen practice. Black magic, to my understanding, always has a tradeoff. It may give you a certain advantage, like being able to see in the dark and not alert others by doing so, but it takes something away at the same time.” “So, the farsightedness is the tradeoff?” Warner asked, giving me a look that told me how much he was trying to wrap his head around what I was saying. “I wish that was so. The farsightedness isn’t what I unknowingly traded away. That was just from me using it so much when I was young. My eyes just didn’t develop the way they should have I guess. No, what I traded away was knowledge and use of illumination spells in general.” Warner blinked a few times. In one ear, out the other. I sighed, frustrated I had to spell it out. “I can’t use or learn a regular illumination spell Warner. No matter how much I try or study, I cannot perform the normal and simple illumination spell that most unicorns learn at a young age.” Warner blinked a few more times. “So, black magic huh?” He looked down at Sharpe, still eating the mush but listening in on our gabbing, then back to me. “Well, that’s a bit strange. Didn’t think that black magic really got out much in the Marble city. How exactly did your parents get their hooves on something like black magic Midnight?” I thought hard on that. “I don’t remember in the slightest Warner.” I shook my head side to side slowly. I couldn’t figure out what exactly I was feeling, either sad or disappointed. A mix of both perhaps? Oh well. “I was too young, I really can’t remember.” I gave him a confused look. “Why do you ask?” Warner stared at me for a moment, tapping his hoof on the table a few times. “I don’t know for sure, just that I’ve shipped my share of magic. I would say that I would be the one responsible for your eyes, but that’s too far back I think. I only started this shipping spells stuff seven years ago.” I narrowed my eyes at Warner dangerously. “Wait Warner, do you ship black magic around?” Warner just shrugged. “I don’t know, not like I read them or anything. I just transport them.” I gave him same sour look that Sharpe gave me for the entirety of the day. “What? Am I supposed to care what things ponies need moved around?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Yes Warner, you should! Do you know how many ponies could have been harmed or killed because of your callous disregard for what you’re moving around the world? Honestly!” I made an effort to actively ignore Warner’s eyes. “Oh come on now Midnight, you can’t be that mad about this. You didn’t seem to care about the spells I transported when they were just spells. Aren’t some spells just as deadly as black magic?” Now he was just trying to justify himself. If that wasn’t proof that he knew more than he was letting on, I didn’t know what was. “Why is this such a big deal for you?” He asked sheepishly. “Because, black magic is dangerous Warner. If something like a night vision spell can make me need glasses to read and unable to use basic magic, think about what more dangerous spells could do. And that’s not even taking the actual spell into consideration.” I got up from my seat and pushed my empty plate forward. “Where do you keep these spell books anyway?” Warner stayed sitting, but held a concerned look. “Midnight, just drop it alright. If there was any damage done, it’s been done. I don’t think that getting angry about it is going to make any difference. Let’s just forget this yeah? It’s getting late and I’m tired. I’m sure you can show yourself to the hull again Midnight, and Sharpe you can sleep wherever. Goodnight.” With that, Warner got up and retired to the back door. I waited a few moments listening for activity in his room, but I couldn’t hear anything. Sharpe snickered at his end of the table. “You two certainly are a sight to watch.” I gave the red pony a glare, but he simply smiled. “You can have your hull or whatever, just don’t ask me to keep you warm.” Sharpe too got up from his spot, but took his leave through the exit we came in through. Leaving me to my thoughts. Warner certainly was getting rather defensive about the mention of black magic, more importantly near the end there. He didn’t seem to care much before. That was a bit concerning. I walked out the exit as well, no need to stay in an empty room. Warner wasn’t lying. When I exited the cabin, the moon was rising on the horizon. It was rather beautiful, but I didn’t feel like marveling at it. I had black magic to search for. I moved quickly to the hull, passing Sharpe sitting down next to the main mast with his eyes closed. I didn’t understand how he could sleep while sitting up. At any rate, I opened the door leading down to the hull but stopped. If he was shipping spell books, they wouldn’t be with molasses and other supplies within the barrels. I closed the doors and turned around. There had to be another storage room or something for spell books somewhere. I gave the front platform a search and easily found a small trapdoor held shut by a latch. “Is it really that easy?” I asked myself as I lifted the latch open with my levitation spell, revealing a small set of stairs that descended into darkness. If only I could use an illumination spell right now. I guess I could use the night vision spell, but I swore I would only use that in emergencies. So, bumbling around in the dark it was. I gave the deck another quick look to make sure neither Sharpe nor Warner was around to see me sneak down, closing the door behind me. This supply room was drowned in an inky darkness, but it was broken by a single candle upon a table a few steps from the bottom of the stairs. I crept along in the darkness until I was at the table. Upon it were a few books and papers. Some of the papers were notes on wind direction, others were scribbles that didn’t make any sense. Of the three books that were stacked, one was a water manipulation spell, the other two had something to do with mending sails and other nautical nonsense. Next to the papers were some quills and an inkwell. There was dust on the books, but not on the papers and quills. Maybe Warner just wasn’t organized with his books? Suddenly, I felt a cold chill down my spine. I couldn’t help but shiver. I looked around, but no pony was there. When I looked back at the small table the candle flickered in the wind, but there wasn’t any wind around. Then the worst possible thing happened. “Midnight.” A soft voice hissed. It felt like it was right in my ear. “Warner?” I asked almost hopeful. I would rather be found somewhere I’m not supposed to be by Warner than hear voices like that. “Sharpe?” I didn’t think that it could possibly be him, but it was worth a shot. “No, not those fools my dear…..No one here but us.” Every word sent more chills down my spine, I may as well been freezing. “But you can see can’t you? You’re just pretending not to.” “Who are you? Is any pony there?” I asked in the darkness, almost scared I’d get an answer. “We are not a pony my dear, not anymore. Merely….an idea. One that was given form and essence. A purpose. One that can only be fulfilled with your help my dear.” I backed away toward where the exit stairs were. “Midnight, why do you seek to escape from us? We are the closest thing to friends that you have.” Okay, really creeped out now. I started my blind climb up the stairs, feeling every step up in hopes of not falling back down to the floorboards. As I got further up, the chill lessened until I got to the top and opened the trapdoor to the light of the moon. I got out of the storage room and shut the door behind me. For a moment I just stood there in the moonlight, waiting for the hissing voice to come back. After five minutes, I decided it wasn’t coming back and made my way back to the hull doors. Sharpe was now sitting up asleep, it was a bit remarkable. I opened the hull doors and climbed down the stairs to the relatively well lit storage area of many barrels. Near the back was a stack of some hay with a single sheet thrown over it. I guess this is where Warner put me last night, so I laid down on it and collected my thoughts for a moment. Maybe it was best to not go and snoop around for black magic books after all. Twenty minutes later, I was calmed down enough to start feeling drowsy. “Midnight.” My eyes shot open and a chill ran down my spine again. I got up and looked around. Did the voice follow me here? “Midnight.” It hissed again. I ran up the stairs to the deck, slamming the hull doors shut. Poor Sharpe was awoken by my racket. “Hey! Didn’t I tell you not to make any noise prisoner?” I gave him a sheepish grin. “No, uh, you just said don’t try to snuggle with you for warmth.” I looked side to side, hoping I wouldn’t find the voice again. Sharpe blinked a few times. “Oh yeah.” He again closed his eyes, still looking sour in his sleepiness. “Don’t make noise.” He grumbled. I gave the sleepy stallion a nod that he didn’t see and sat on the other side of the main mast. Maybe if I stayed up here the voice wouldn’t come back. Certainly Sharpe’s scary size would scare it away right? I stopped trying to lie to myself and just focused on staying alert. I didn’t want to be taken by surprise again by hissing voices lurking in the shadows. I counted every second, trying to stay focused and on guard. Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes into hours. Not long after two hours, I passed out into the land of sleep. Author's Note Yay! The plot thickens. Warner is perhaps one of my favorite characters to write ever, and this was probebly more fun to type than a barrel of monkeys. Well, maybe not them. Haven't tried barrels of monkeys myself. ANYWAY! watch out for evil voices Chapter Three: The StormMy eyes creaked open after I felt rain drops on my face. I was laying on the deck floorboards against the mast in what felt like a very painful sideways position. I fought my body to get up, and eventually convinced it that I had to get up on my hooves to face the second day of the voyage to The Colony. I was sore all over for some reason. I shook it off as much as I could and looked around the deck. No wonder I was awoken by rain drops. There were grey storm clouds all around, thick and volatile things that threatened to pour down on me with everything they were worth. “Hey Sharpe, you awake over there?” I asked to the other side of the mast. After a few moments, I looked around it and found that I was alone on the deck. “Well damn.” I cursed. “They must be inside the cabin or something.” I cantered over to the cabin door in the soft drizzle that would no doubt be followed by rain. With a flick of some magic, the cabin doors swung open to reveal Sharpe and Warner sitting at the round table with some more colorful mush on plates. “Hey.” I whimpered as I entered and closed the doors. None of them reacted much, Sharpe just gave a slight nod. I cantered over to the spot I sat at last night, trying to grasp at some form of consistency, and looked at Warner. “I could not sleep last night, I think I’ve been off dry land for too long and my mind is trying to freak me out or something. How’d guys sleep?” Sharpe just grunted, not surprising. Warner on the other hoof just nodded with a soft “mhmm.” There was something wrong here. “You doing alright Warner? Is this about last night?” Things had gotten a little out of hoof. There was no need for me to get offended or anything over shipping books, no matter what they were. It wasn’t my business, it was his. “Well, I couldn’t help but hear some racket last night. Were you and Sharpe getting a little too close for comfort or something Midnight?” Warner asked easy, ignoring his previous silence. I looked over to Sharpe, who hadn’t even looked up. “She barged out of the hull, panting like a dog for some reason. I couldn’t tell why. Maybe she saw a ghost.” He grumbled from a mouthful of green mush. “Hey, I heard something last night okay? I heard a voice whispering my name. I was a little freaked out okay?” I defended quickly. I was not a coward, I just had a very good reason to leave. “Oh, that must be the spirit of the sea.” Warner finally looked up at me. “I hear she haunts ponies who take their problems to the sea when they could simply work them out in their own home. They say that she….” Warner scrunched up his face. “Hey, you alright? Warner? What do they say?” I begged him to go on. Maybe that was the voice I heard. Warner….laughed. I gave the sailor pony a truly concerned look. When he finally finished, he took some time to catch his breath. “Oh, Midnight. You should have seen the look on your face.” Oh good. “You were totally taking that whole story about the ‘spirit of the sea’. Oh my, that is just too much. You can’t just fall for something like that Midnight, you just can’t!” I stood up from my chair. “Hey! You’re more experienced at this whole sailing thing than me. I don’t know everything there is to know about whatever spirits or apparitions there are. Why is this so funny to you?” Warner giggle a little again, electing a sour look from me. “It was totally me last night. There’s a little knothole in the bottom of my cabin that looks straight down at where I put that bedding and stuff, I could see you getting all nice and cozy to sleep so I thought maybe I’d pull a little joke on you to lighten you up a bit. I whispered ‘Midnight, Midnight,’ down at you and oh did you react. Except I just expected you to look around a bit and think nothing of it, but you ran out of there so fast I hardly saw you get up!” He took another moment to laugh it up. “Oh! You should have seen the look on your face! Priceless!” “Hey! I was still a little shaken up from the last time you did that okay? It takes a bit more than just a few minutes to get calmed down after hearing a hissing whisper in your ear you know?” I gave Warner a serious look. “What other time? I only said your name twice girl. No need to be so frightened.” He giggled. Wait. “What you been hearing things Midnight? Who know, maybe the spirit of the sea really is after you. Ha-ha! Oh have ta make yourself laugh sometimes you know?” Warner got up from his seat and went into the kitchen with his plate. He wasn’t making that voice the first time? If it wasn’t Warner then who, or what, was talking to me last night in that dark supply room? Warner entered the room again with one plate. “Well, I did some thinking last night Midnight and decided you are right.” I still wanted to ask him about the supply room, but moving on from it was probably for the best. “No pony should have access to something like black magic.” I felt myself breathe a sigh of relief. “When we make landfall at the Colony, you and I are going to burn these.” From under the table, Warner pulled out a brown bag and opened it. Within were four black books, they almost pained my eyes to look at. “These are indeed black magic spell books. I got them from an old trader a few years back, and they have simply sat on the shelves of my study since I got them. I never read them in fear of what I might find. Since they never did anything wrong, I just never thought they were dangerous. But if what you say is right, they should never be able to hurt any pony or thing again.” He put them back in the bag with his hooves. “You and I are going to burn them when we get to the Colony. After that, I suppose Sharpe will have you stay there while I bring him back to the Marble city where I can enjoy the reward from this. I know it isn’t exactly a storybook ending for ya, but at least these things won’t be around anymore right?” I stared at Warner for a few moments. “Warner, you don’t have to do this. I just got a little touchy last night. There isn’t any need to burn books if they aren’t hurting any pony.” Warner shook his head firmly. “No Midnight. If a simple night vision spell can take away your ability to light things up, who knows what some of these other things could do? They may not be now, but they could be dangerous if they get into the wrong hooves.” I held Warner’s gaze for a moment longer, then chanced a look at Sharpe. He simply sipped on some water from a cup. “You’re right Warner. We will destroy them when we arrive at the Colony. These shouldn’t be allowed to stay intact.” Warner nodded firmly. “Good. Now as a sign of my good word and gesture of trust, I want you to hold on to them for now.” Warner shoved the bag across the table to me, where it stopped just short of my hooves. “What?” I jumped back from the brown bag. “You can’t be serious. These things belong to you. You hold onto them.” I tried to push them back to Warner, but a red aura of magic stopped me. Both Warner and I looked over to Sharpe, staring me down with a staunch look on his face. “For the sake of my own sanity, and the fact that I wish this sequence doesn’t become a shoving match between the two of you, just do it Midnight. Warner is asking you to carry his burden, the least you can do to make up for his hospitality is do as he asks.” I was absolutely stunned. Sharpe, the guard pony that hardly let slip his name, called me something other than ‘prisoner.’ I had to close my mouth hanging agape at the strangeness of the event. After I gathered myself from his statement, sighed. “Alright. I’ll hold onto these for now. But as soon as we are on dry land, we are setting these things on fire.” I took the bag and slung it over my shoulders, using the straps to secure it tightly. I felt a little colder with them so close to me, but the feeling went away rather quickly. “Now, let’s get back to the way things were shall we?” I smiled at Sharpe and Warner, in false hopes. Warner shook his head sorrowfully. “No can do Midnight. There’s a storm brewing, and I’ve got to be in top form to combat it. Usually I can just operate the ship in calm waters while doing any number of things and even in my sleep, but storms are unpredictable. I need to be alert as possible to avoid any kind of wreck that could occur. No need for us all to die a horrible death on some rocks poking out of the sea now yeah? Sharpe.” At the mention of his name, the red guards pony looked up again. “You can sense criminal scum right? I need you to scout for pirates off in the distance. Sometimes they like to strike when the storm’s got a ship all confused and disoriented. Keep watch for any black flags or quickly approaching ships.” Sharpe nodded firmly and exited the cabin, apparently all too eager to get started in his search for pirate scum. “What do you need me to do Warner?” I asked hopefully. I wanted to feel a little bit more useful than a mule holding a bag at least. Warner smiled sadly. “No duties, just a request. I understand that you felt a little uncomfortable with me moving you around the other night when you were asleep. So, to make it up to you I want you to enjoy the sanctum that is my room in the back of the cabin.” I gave the light blue pony a concerned stare. “There’s not a lot to do, just a window to look out of, but there’s a bed. From the looks of you though, that’s exactly what you need. I suppose sleeping on the deck isn’t exactly something you’re used to, so you can go ahead and just nap on that for a while if you want. Otherwise, just stay inside with that bag. I don’t want there to be any chance at all the wind and rain could work at those straps and unlatch them. Savvy?” While it wasn’t what I had wanted, I couldn’t deny that sleeping on an actual bed sounded absolutely amazing right now. “Are you sure?” I asked tentatively, hoping he would say yes. However, the light blue sailor pony just shook his head and made his way to the exit. I watched him go, almost with sorrow. Why was I suddenly feeling so concerned for this reckless pony that twice made a joke of me? I didn’t know, he probably didn’t either. Deciding to take Warner up on his offer, I moved to the back door of the cabin that led into Warner’s quarters. I felt like I wasn’t invited, even though I was. I stowed my inhibition and pushed to doors open, what I saw made me gasp. There above a small window, was a magnificent painting of a light yellow mare in an elegant white dress. Her dark red mane fell down about her shoulders and bordered her sad, wistful eyes perfectly. Upon her red mane was a white veil pulled back, allowing her face to be grace the world with its presence. She was absolutely gorgeous. I was straight, and this was probably the most beautiful mare I had ever seen in my life. And she wasn’t even moving. She was a painting. Done questioning my sexuality, I looked about the rest of the room. It was…shabby at best. There was the bed which had simple white sheets and pillows, a small desk and chair off to the right next to a bookcase, and a sink and mirror on the other side. On the mirror were the words: ‘goodbye, my love.’ The words themselves were cliché, but it was the way that they were written that made me sad. Small and off to the corner with some of the letters turned in strange ways, as if there was an attempt to hide them from others that entered the room. I myself could hardly recognize what it said. I looked away from the mirror, not wanting to cry at the simple words. I instead cantered over to the desk next to the bookcase. Perhaps some reading would get my mind off the mirror. I sat in the creaky wooden chair and floated some of the poorly bound books over to me. There were ten in all, I pulled out the first four and flipped open the first book to the first page. Day one, year one, They seem to call out to me Carlotta, I don’t know what it means. They whisper to me in the night. Is it you my love? Why is fate such a cruel spirit? This wasn’t a book, it was a journal. Warner’s journal, or at least one of them. I suspected these must have been from his years of sailing. Was it really right for me to read them? Ignoring the feeling, I flipped to the second page. Day two, year one, Rain brings about the rage of the sea. It’s nothing I can’t handle, but it’s just a bit harder without you. Each rain drop reminds me of the tears. Tears that I will never get back. I wasn’t a fan of his penmanship but the style certainly was sad to me. Was Warner writing to her? That mare on the painting above his bed? I kept on reading. Day twelve, year one, I see you at night Carlotta Melody. I see your broken and bloody body on the beach. No matter how much I reach and yell, the boat keeps getting farther away from that beach. The nightmares are more common now. They used to only come once in a while, now it seems every time I close my eyes I wake up in another terror. End it all my love. That explained a bit. But how could Warner be such a cheery pony and be haunted by such terrible nightmares? I closed the journal with ‘year one’ written on it and pulled the next few books on the shelf out. ‘Year five’ it was titled. I flipped it open and read the first entry. Day one, year five, They don’t care about you anymore. Right. I flipped a few pages through the short entries and squinted at the words. Either his writing style had changed, or some pony else altogether was writing. Day sixty-seven, year five, When the door opens, I shy away from the light These weren’t at all the same. Day one-hundred-fifty-six, year five, When it all ends, I will search for the tunnel at the end of the light. I shut ‘year five’ and put it back on the shelf, I was almost afraid of what else I would read in it. Instead, I looked at ‘year seven’. I could suspect this was the more recent journal. I flipped it open. Day one, year seven, Another year, another book. Why does he continue? Were these becoming a burden to write? Honestly, if you didn’t want to write you didn’t have to. It’s not like any pony was forcing you to Warner. I read on, skipping a few of the stranger ones. Day seventy-two, year seven, Why do the whisper their lies to me? I pray that these voices find some pony else to plague. Warner is tired of this game. I don’t want Warner to have to bare this curse any longer. It was here that I seriously questioned Warner’s sanity. Who writes in the third person in a personal journal? Referring to one’s self by name was not normal, it was crazy. Some of the next entries were ripping out, so I read the next intact one. Day? Year seven? They are finally gone. The voices are finally gone. They have not plagued my mind for some time now. Is it finally over? The rest of the journal was blank. Not ripped out of, but blank. I guess he never wrote any more for ‘year seven.’ So I floated the rest of the journals over. There was no ‘year eight’ or ‘year nine,’ so I opened ‘year ten.’ And read the first entry. Day one, year ten, I look back at these journals and cringe at their contents. Not only do they frighten me, they are foreign to me. I don’t remember writing any of them, yet they are mine. Name written in the back cover, next to yours. I still miss you, but you wouldn’t want me to live in sorrow. So I simply won’t. This sounded more like the Warner I knew. I continued reading through ‘year ten’ and concluded that this was a saner Warner altogether. He didn’t refer to himself in the third person, and he didn’t mention any whispers. I picked up ‘year eleven’ and flipped to the back. Just like ‘year ten’ it had Warner’s name at the top of the back cover, next to Carlotta Melody. Maybe it was a consistency thing for him? I flipped back to the first page and read through. Day one, year eleven, I don’t need these books anymore. I can remember who I am and what I do now. I can recall as far back as three and a half years or so. I need not these journals for my mind, I can keep myself in line by simply shipping supplies around. Contact with others does wonders for the mind. I will write again only when I need to Carlotta, even though I miss you greatly. True to the words written down, there was nothing else written. Furthermore, there was only one book left: ‘year twenty.’ I replaced the others and flipped to the first page. Day one, year twenty, Everything was going so well. Nearly thirteen years, and I heard nothing. However it was only once. Been three days since they whispered to me last. Maybe it was just my imagination. I’ll keep writing anyway. Not like it’ll hurt any pony. This sparked my interest, so I read on. But most of it was simply writing about the mundane days of Warner in his shipping business. Not a lot of it really grabbed my attention, but this one did. Day seventy-six, year twenty, They whispered again, in my sleep. Not like a dream, but when I try to sleep. They whisper about midnight, but I know not if that is the time they speak of. After finishing the entry, I felt my head drooping. I had read for much too long, and was getting quite tired. “That’s enough of that Warner.” I closed ‘year twenty’ and dragged myself over to shabby white bed. I pulled the bag off my back and got comfortable on the relatively soft down of Warner’s bed. It was by no means perfect, but I was tired and achy. Sleep quickly crept over me. Rain lashed against the small window behind me, waking me from a somewhat nice dream about whoever Carlotta was. No matter how much I speculated, there wasn’t any avoiding the fact that I probably thought of her to be nothing that she really was. A bolt lightening tore down from the sky outside, startling me enough to jump out of Warner’s bed and scramble to my hooves on the floorboards. I fumbled around in the candlelight to find the bag Warner gave me and strapped it on my back tightly. I had to make sure that Warner and Sharpe were okay, they might still be out there in this storm. Another screech of lightening compelled me to just ignore the idea and stay put, but I fought against the urge and pushed my way through the exit doors to the main cabin room. I would have made it there quickly, but the swaying of the ship made it difficult to get a good grip on the flooring. It was empty, and no pony was in the kitchen either. “You idiots.” I cursed, forcing myself out the doors into the downpour that awaited me. A huge bolt of lightning screamed across the sky as I entered the storm, followed by a deafening pound of thunder that echoed for what seemed like forever. “Warner? Sharpe?” I called out into the stinging rain and howling winds, stuffing my glasses into the bag to keep them from obscuring my vision too much. “Where are you?” A familiar laugh responded, almost completely covered by the rain and wind. “Oh! It’s a great day to be alive isn’t it lass?” The somewhat crazed sounding voice of Warner brought my attention to the wheel platform. I climbed up next to him and tried to urge him inside the cabin, but he didn’t even hear me. “This storm’s not getting the best of us! We are arriving on schedule dear, no buts about it!” With a spin of his wheel, Warner laughed once more. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t terrified out of my mind. Quite clearly, Warner wasn’t going to listen. I made my way down to the main mast and looked for Sharpe, who was hanging onto the base of the mast as best as he could in the swaying of the ship. “Sharpe! Are you okay!?” I yelled over the storm, but even I could hardly hear myself over the lashing of rain. Sharpe grumbled something, but I couldn’t hear him in the slightest. I moved to the bow of the ship and looked ahead into the churning waves and rain. A huge wave pushed me back a few feet, but I fought my way back and looked ahead. The waves ahead were violent and foamy. I doubted that anything could swim in it and stay alive for long. It was as if there was another sea above pouring down on the lower one in pure spite. The little needles of rain stung all that they struck. That was enough of this, I was going to go back inside. Just then however, Warner screamed something on his side of the ship so I battled the swaying and slipping of the ship to get next to him again. “What did you say?!” I yelled at the light blue crazy sailor pony. He gave me the absolute craziest look I had ever seen on him and laughed. “It’s a good day to die lass!” As soon as he finished, I heard a loud crack that shook me to my bones. I remember being sent into the air, toward the port side. I looked down and there was only the violent churning of water, water that I was plummeting toward at an alarming rate. I didn’t even have the chance to scream before the water rushed up to swallow me whole. I struggled in the violent waved, trying to fight my way back up to the surface. I couldn’t though. No matter how much I paddled and thrashed, I didn’t make it any further up. My lungs screamed for oxygen, but when I breathed in all I got was water. I slowly stopped fighting it as I came to terms with my fate. I wouldn’t even make it to the Colony, I would simply drown here and become another skeleton on the beach somewhere. I was surprisingly calm as I lost all sense of being and my vision became dark. All I wanted to do was go back, but I would never see the surface again. Author's Note DUN DUN DUN! this relatively short piece explores the dark secrets of the mysterious Warner. OoooOOooohhh. I hope I got the ship name stuff right. If I didn't please feel free to point it out and call me a nautical nincompoop. Chapter Four: The Wilderness“Midnight.” “It’s time to wake up.” “You’re not dead anymore.” My eyes shot open and I violently coughed up more sea water than I thought was possible. After catching my breath and pulling myself to my hooves, I looked around for the voices I’d heard. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t shaking a bit, either from the cold feeling that being damp brings or just out of fear. “H-hello?” I asked the empty clearing I woke up in. Giving the place a few circling looks, I found that I was alone. Surrounded by strange looking willow trees. I had no idea where to go, I was completely at a loss for direction. “Is any pony there?” I called out, hoping for an answer. None came however. I sat down and thought for a moment. Wasn’t I underwater the last time I checked? I looked around myself and listened, only silence. If I was anywhere as close to the ocean as I should have been, I would hear it. That was concerning. I picked a direction to walk in and started a quick trot. I wasn’t going to get anywhere by simply sitting in that clearing, but as I left it I had the harrowing feeling that I would never see it again. SMACK! I fell to my haunches, rubbing my forehead in slight pain. Apparently I didn’t see that tree either. I let out an aggravated sigh. Last place I had my glasses was on Warner’s ship the Silver Sapphire. Wait, no it wasn’t! I remembered the bag on my back and pulled it off to look inside. Then I remembered what else was inside. The three black books that Warner stuffed in here were still there. A chill ran up my spine as I reached past them with my hoof in search of my glasses. Hopefully they had survived the crash. I did crash didn’t I? That’s what happened wasn’t it? I didn’t remember anything but being flung off board and failing to swim. Frustrated with my inability to find my glasses, I turned the bag upside down to pour its contents over the grassy soil I sat on. Our came the three books, and with a few good shakes my glasses as well. A warm feeling of joy overcame me at the sight of my tacky little reading glasses, but it was quickly squelched. The left lens was cracked almost down the middle. I wanted to cry for a moment, but after putting them on I found that they still functioned much the same. Happy again. Then I looked to the black books laying in the dirt. I should just leave them here, better yet bury them. No pony would ever have to see them again and they could do no wrong. There were evil after all….right? I picked them up in my hooves and stared at them in the canopy filtered light of the sun. I looked around the trees and plants that surrounded me, and a frightening thought crept over me. I was probably alone out here, in a foreign land. I had no idea where I was, or if I could ever find any type of help at all. I could die out here at the claws of some predator or crazy zebras, this was zebra land after all. What if I needed them? What if the only thing that could keep me alive was powerful dark magic? What if there was a spell in one of these that could protect me? As these questions swirled through my head, I heard a growling off in the distance. In a rush, I picked up the backpack and stuffed the black books back inside. I could burn them later with Warner, if I could find him. There wasn’t any time to sit and think about leaving these dangerous spell around for some animal or zebra to find. I slung the backpack on again and tightened the straps so it wouldn’t fall off. Finding the direction I was heading again, I headed out at a quick trot to avoid being followed. I only looked back occasionally to make sure no wild dogs or wolves were after me. After a few minutes of trotting, I found myself looking out over a vast plain. Mostly it was flat planes aside from the hill I was standing on. Forests of closely grouped trees dotted the flat planes, as if they were trying to make a point to hide dangerous animals. There was a mountain off in the distance, prevailing over most of what I saw. Tall, yellow grass dominated almost every inch of open land. I would have to be careful of things hiding in it. I started forward, descending a slight decline to flatter land ahead. The occasional high blade of grass tickled my nose, but it wasn’t anything to complain about. Once I had reached flat land, I noticed some gazelle traveling in a pack to the distance on my right. If only I had a pack to travel in, I felt rather exposed on the flat planes. After more forward trotting, I noticed something about the grass I was standing on. It was lower than what I had just exited, meaning this was used as a trail at some time. If there was a trail, there was a camp of some kind at the end of it. More likely than not, it would lead me to zebra but I wasn’t going to be picky. Any kind of companionship was good at a time like this. With uplifted spirits, I set off toward the left. Whatever direction it actually could be was a mystery. I just went with my gut feeling that this lead somewhere important. Hopefully it would end up somewhere soon. For a pony who had just coughed up what felt like gallons of water, I was parched. I prayed for a river or clean water source as I quickened my pace. I continued along the path until it simply ended. I sat and looked around for where it might signify, but saw nothing. “Well damn.” I cursed at the grass. “Why don’t you keep going?” I kicked at some of the grass in spite, though I’m sure it would fare well after my attack. I had effectively wasted what I could suspect were the last two hours following this trail, and had nothing to show from it except being thirstier than when I started. “Well whatever.” I huffed, and continued in the direction the trail should. That’ll show that grass for not telling me where to go, I’ll just go my own direction. After feeling rather proud of myself for a few moments of trotting, I had a realization. I had let grass tell me where to go for the past two hours. Trying to ignore the shame, I continued onward. It looked like there was some trees ahead, so at least it would be cooler under the canopy. I stopped for a moment and looked at the yellowing shade of the sky. It was going to get dark soon, and I would be easy prey in the night for something like a jungle cat that could see in the dark. So I had to get something to start a fire and make a livable campsite for the night. Or I could use that night vision spell and easily navigate the night without being detected as easily with my own light source. It would be much safer and…I was letting the magic do the thinking for me. I promised I would never use that spell unless it was an emergency, even if this kind of was. No! I wasn’t going to use black magic unless my life was in danger, even if it sort of was at all times here. “Damn it!” I cursed unnecessarily loud. I quickly trotted into the small forest in front of me, deciding to make a camp instead of use that spell. Very un-unicorn of me. I stowed that thought as I made my way deeper into the trees. My ears twitched as I heard something whispering softly. It wasn’t like the voices I heard earlier or on Warner’s ship, it was a sound like….water! I rushed toward the sound, bypassing trees and crunching twigs under my hooves. What I found was beautiful. It was a small mountain in a clearing that let loose a somewhat small waterfall into a round lake feeding to a river off to the right. “Oh yes!” I squealed as I rushed to the water’s edge and literally stuck my face in the cool refreshing water. You never realized how good water tasted until you went without it for a good, long while. It may as well have been the drink of the gods to me at the moment, because I couldn’t get enough of it. After drinking probably more water than I coughed up earlier, I stared at the mare reflected on the slightly calm water surface. My blue eyes seemed uncertain and worried, my deep purple coat was a bit frazzled. Still nothing to complain about though. Miraculously, my dark blue mane was exactly as it was: a tight pony tail angled upward to keep it off my neck. Inspection of my tail revealed that it too was mostly the same and somewhat well maintained. I adjusted my glasses to not obscure my vision, mostly liking the reflection I saw. “Well, at least I don’t look like I’ve drowned.” I said to myself. Maybe I should stop talking to myself, couldn’t be good for the brain. Finished drinking delicious water and admiring myself in the water mirror, I turned my thoughts to the next task at hoof: making camp. I was lucky enough to find this small mountain, so I could put that to use. I trotted over towards the side of the rocky mountainside and smiled at what I saw behind the waterfall. There was a small cove behind it that I could use as a place to sleep and stay warm. I found myself surprised at the latter consideration I had. It was getting cold rather quickly out here, and fire would be good to keep me warm. There were several twigs and branches I could use near the trees, but they would need to be tended and I would need a lot of them. To stay warm through the night I needed some logs or something substantial like that. “Alright Midnight, how to cut down a tree?” I trotted over to on such tree near the mountain and stared at my woody adversary. It wasn’t very tall, so cutting it down and making a few burnable logs out of it would be fairly easy if not simply time consuming. I just needed something to cut it down with. I wasn’t blessed with earth pony strength, so kicking it down wasn’t an option. I trotted back to the rocky mountain side with an idea. Picking out two particularly sharp rocks, I made my way back to my selected victim. “I’m sorry I need to do this.” I consoled the tree as I started chopping at its somewhat thin base with the sharp rocks in my magical aura. After a few chops, I looked at my magic work and frowned. This was going to take a bit longer that I thought. After losing count of how many times I hit this stupid tree at least three times, I had several moderately sized logs to make a fire with and keep myself warm. Yay. It would feel like more of an accomplishment if the sky above me wasn’t orange from the setting of the sun. I stuffed a few of them in my backpack and held the others in a field of levitation magic. I jumped a few rocky outcroppings towards the cove under the waterfall and jumped inside. It was spacious enough considering it was just going to be me in here, so I pulled out the rest of the victory logs and put them down. I needed some dry grass and sticks to actually start this fire, so I jumped back to the rocky outcroppings from the mountain and back to the lakeside. The grass and branches weren’t hard to gather, just a matter of pulling at the grass hard enough with magic and stuffing branches in a backpack. Satisfied with my twiggy bounty, I made my way back to my personal little cove. Unloading my grass and sticks on the rock floor, I went to work building a fire. Bed of grass with a little twig house on top, it really would be nice for a foals’ doll to sleep in. I smiled at my construction and took the two sharp rocks from earlier. I could try rubbing two twigs together to get friction to start a fire, or I could get a spark. I used my telekinesis spell to bang the two rocks together a few times. Unfortunately these rocks were being difficult. Several attempts later, and I got what I was looking for. A single spark flew off the two rocks, landing on the dry grass. I smiled excitedly and softly blew on the baby fire. It quickly spread over the grass, and to the twigs. I pulled one of my victory logs onto the small blaze and hoped I wouldn’t smother it, but the flames crept over the top of the log and spread from the base. Success! I quickly constructed a log cone and watched them slowly catch fire. Fully satisfied with my accomplishment, I sat up next to the fire. It was so warm, perhaps even a little reassuring. If a city mare like me could put her wits together and build a fire, surely I could survive long enough to find this Colony I was sentenced to in the first place right? I smiled and basked in the warmth of my fire. It was nice, until I found myself opening the backpack and looking at the black books Warner gave me to burn. I could do it right now, I could burn them. I had a fire after all, I built it with my wits and two sharp rocks that could now hardly pass as gravel. But why was it that I couldn’t bring myself to throw them in? Instead, to my horror, I found myself saying one thing. “A peek couldn’t hurt.” I opened the first book of the stack and looked at the words on the first page. Except, they weren’t words. Letters and characters were there, but they made no sense! Worse though, they were moving on the page. They marched across the page in neat little rows like an unorganized army. I squinted my eyes and adjusted my glasses to make head or tails of it. “Need some help?” My neck shot up, looking around for the source of the whisper I had heard. There was nothing here but me, my fire, and the books though. “I’m not there Midnight, I’m in here.” I looked down at the book in front of me and gave it a concerned look. “In…the book?” I asked insanely. Worse, it responded. “Yes, I’m in here. Always been here Midnight, always will.” A chill ran down my spine, despite the warmth of my fire. “Why are you talking? You’re a book.” I deadpanned, obviously going crazy. “I’m not the book, I’m in the book. A lost spirit, simply trying to help. You looked like you needed some help reading these words. Do you?” The voice was little more than a whisper, yet I heard it in my ears loud enough to not strain my senses to hear it. “I just wanted to take a look actually. I never saw what these things looked like, and was just curious. I’ll be closing you now.” I started to close the book. “Wait!” The voice pleaded. To my own disgust, I complied. “I can help you!” I opened the first page fully again. “I don’t need help book, I already built a fire myself. With a little searching, I’m going to find what I need tomorrow and I’ll be able to go from there. I don’t need you or your help.” “If you didn’t need my help, you would have left all of us in the dirt.” I considered that for a moment. “What do you mean?” “I think that you felt like you knew you wouldn’t be able to survive without us, so you brought us anyway. You feel, at some level, like we can help you survive. Right?” The voice was sounding more sure of itself the more it talked. “Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. Maybe I just wanted to burn you when I had the chance so no pony or thing could get a hold of you again. What say you to that? Hmm?” I had it now. “If that were the case, you would have used us as fuel instead of those logs you cut from a tree.” It had a point. “Alright, maybe you’re right there. But why should I trust you? These books contain nothing but black magic. Black magic can be nothing but trouble from my experience.” The voice whispered a scoff, if that was possible. “Of come now, there’s an easy explanation for that. Whoever taught you that particular spell simply didn’t use the correct caution. Spells of this caliber need to be…considered, and practiced to be used correctly. Downsides only occur when things are rushed. Rushing that I know you will do if you try to understand this book on your own. Let me help you Midnight.” I gave the book an uncertain look, and caved. “Fine.” The voice started to form a sentence. “But under one condition.” I interrupted. After a few moments, the voice finally responded. “What’s that exactly?” I smiled. “Tell me how you know my name.” Seconds passed, consolidating into a minute or so before I got an answer. “You said your name to yourself earlier when you asked how you were going to cut down a tree.” Damn it, it was right. I kind of did. “Alright, I’ll take that.” I focused on the book. “Now how exactly can you help me?” The voice chuckled a quiet laugh. “Well, I can’t tell you. It’s something that I have to show you. You just have to ask for my help. Be specific though, things can…go wrong if you aren’t specific.” I contemplated throwing the book into the fire, but decided against it. “Alright. Um. Black book, please share with me your secrets so that I may better understand your contents and perform said contents.” I announced to the book. “I can work with that.” Suddenly, a large black mouth sprouted from the book. I backed away from it but it opened up, revealing rows of sharp red teeth. Before I could run, they closed down around me and everything was plunged into a cold darkness. I couldn’t see, couldn’t breathe, and couldn’t hear. Everything was black as I lost all sense of being. My eyes shot open, looking around in absolute terror. Everything around me was…wrong. I was out standing on that grassy plain I had looked down at before, but the grass was an unhealthy shade of grey. There was of course, the mountain like I had seen before. However, it too was an unsettling dark grey that seemed sick for rocks and the trees upon it. It was just like the plains and hills I had seen earlier, just grey and dead. Nothing moved, not even the grass in the wind as there was no wind. “Welcome Midnight.” I spun around to see the source of the voice behind me, to see a pony. She was relatively normal given where we were: yellow coat, and a fiery red mane. She was somewhat familiar and foreign at the same time. There was something else strange though. Her eyes were completely black. There was no iris or pupil, just an empty blackness. “Um. Hi.” I stared into her black eyes, they seemed to consume all thought and feeling when I did. There were just her eyes, nothing else. “Don’t, you won’t wake up if you stare into them too long.” I promptly avoided her gaze. “As you can probably suspect, none of this is real. Simply an image of your memory. I thought that maybe we could talk here better than whispering through a book.” Her voice seemed to echo across the grey plains, with a low growling tone in the back of her words. Almost like she was holding back anger and hatred strong enough to burn this entire field. So this was the source of the voice in the book? “Oh, I see. Why is it that I needed to ask for your help anyway? Surely I could understand those characters eventually if I learned what they meant.” She gave an unearthly chuckle. It was…unsettling. “Quite simply Midnight, you wouldn’t.” Great. That made me feel good about my ability to learn. “You see what you call ‘black magic’, is simply a different variety of magic. Only difference is that it is of a higher caliber and strength. With this ‘black magic’, you could do the job of fifteen unicorns focusing intently with a simple thought of the spell. It is….efficient to say the least.” No kidding. This really did sound like powerful magic. “Alright, but why is it that all I ever hear about black magic is that it causes pain and terror?” “Oh Midnight, that is simply the words of those who fail to comprehend that their jealousy manifests into fear and contempt. Ask any pony who has used such powerful spells, and they will tell you that it is powerful and….versatile.” I had to suspect that this yellow mare was avoiding the whole truth. “Well, alright. Um, can I leave? I’m having second thoughts about this whole ‘powerful magic thing.’ I think I’ll be just fine-” “Silly Midnight, you just don’t know what you want yet.” I tried to move away from this yellow mare, but my hooves wouldn’t comply. I found myself staring into her eyes, no matter how much I wanted to look away from the two black abysses that stared back. “You don’t know it yet, but you are meant for great things. Things of which, you will need our help.” “Who is this ‘us’ you keep referring to?” I pleaded, making as much effort as I could to run away. I simply stayed put though. “You will find out very soon Midnight. You will find out and you will know.” Thanks for restating the same thought. “But for now, I give you....a gift.” This didn’t sound good. “What do you mean?” “A flame to burn your greatest adversaries. The light to show all the way to death. Release for those that need to let go of their lives. Speak its name and you will know ‘Inferno’, me.” The yellow mare opened her mouth wide and let out a cloud of sinister, red smoke. I wanted to shy away from it and avoid breathing it in, but I couldn’t. All I could do was watch myself breathe the red smoke like it was oxygen. “Now, the knowledge has been passed. The writ is complete. Speak my name Midnight. Speak my name and it will burn, it will all burn.” I fought myself, tried with every ounce of my will, to stay quiet. But I couldn’t stop myself. “Inferno.” I coughed out. Just like that, the grass around me burst into a wall of flame three ponies tall. Its orange blazes settled into the grey grass and became a sea of flames. All that was burned by the orange flames turned to an unnatural red ash that seemed to gleam in the light of the flames. When it all died down, there was nothing but ashes for at least a hundred feet in every direction around me. A few seconds passed, and the ash turned to a more normal blackish grey. I should have been terrified, I just watched fire burn a huge section of grass. But I wasn’t. No, I wasn’t scared. I was elated. I found myself smiling at the loss of life around me. It was beautiful really. “Now you understand Midnight.” The yellow mare, Inferno, brought my attention away from the ruin around us and back to her. “But with such power, there is always a price.” I frowned at her. “But you said-” “There is always a price Midnight. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. May you bear this curse better than I.” Inferno started to dissipate into a wind that suddenly blew behind her. “Control it Midnight. Don’t become the very fuel for the Inferno you cast. Focus on your target. Remember who you are Midnight. Don’t let it control you.” Her last words echoed on the empty grey ash field. She was gone, nothing but specks blown away. I wanted to cry. I hated her and missed her. I needed her and never wanted to see her again. “Why? Why did you do this?” I called out into the emptiness, but there was no answer. I was alone. I laid down on the barren ground below me and cried. Why was I feeling this way? Was this some kind of joke or trick? I never cried, not since…. Warner. As soon as I thought of his name, the ashes began to swirl away into blackness. I tried to get up and run away from the abyss, but my body didn’t comply. I simply sat there and allowed myself to be swallowed up by darkness and accepted the loss of feeling that crept over me. My eyes shot open to the small campfire I had built the night before dying before me in a small fit of flying sparks and ashes. I couldn’t breathe, no I was coughing. I was coughing up red smoke. It was painful, and burned me from my lungs to my nostrils and mouth. After choking for a good minute or so, I suddenly stopped. Was that a dream? I looked to the black book I had read, but there was something wrong. The pages were empty. Where unreadable characters had once been was simply blank pages. “What? Where did the letters go?” I asked aloud, as if any pony or thing could hear me. Well there was the other two books, but I didn’t want anything else to do with them for the time being. I struggled to get to my hooves, but my body argued with me. I ached as if I had been running for hours, but all I had done was wake up from a nightmare that may or may not have been real. In the end I won and managed to get up, but I still hurt. I closed the now blank magic book and put it into the bag with the others, and hoisted said bag onto my back. I stamped at the pitiful pile of ashes and stay sparks that was my fire, as if I really needed to. I didn’t think that waterfall caves stone was particularly in danger of catching fire and burning to the ground. Satisfied with my preparations to leave, I jumped the outcropping stones to the lake shore. I looked up to the sky and smiled a bit. It was morning, and that meant that it was a new day. A new day meant that I had succeeded in surviving the night, even if I was dreaming or having a nightmare most of that night. I made my way through the trees back to the trail that I had been following, and trotted a ways before I realized that I had left the trail long before the previous day. Oh yeah, I showed that trail. Still meant that I had no sense of direction to go though. I gave the plains a look around, trying to make an executive decision. Off to the right was that prevailing mountain, could be dangerous or safe, more collections of trees ahead of me, and on my left was a trail of smoke billowing in the air. Smoke meant that there was a campfire! I rushed towards it as fast as I could, certainly whoever had built a fire would be civilized enough for conversation right? The smoke originated behind more trees, but that wasn’t a problem for me. I slowed my pace a bit to not bump into too many of them, making it rather easy to weave between the woods. Between some of the trees, I saw the flickering of firelight. I was getting closer! Zip! “Whaa?!” Suddenly my hooves were pulled out from under me, and were pulled up towards the trees. I hit my head on the ground on my way up, disorienting my vision quite a bit and causing my glasses to fall to the ground that was now a good few feet away from my head. I hung there upside down for a few moments, my thoughts still swimming from what had just happened. Was this magic? Did some pony set up a magical trap to make me hover here? I tried to crane my neck up enough to look at my hooves, but it just made the blood rush to my head all that much quicker. “Ugh…some pony help me. Hello?” I groaned out, feeling the sickeningly familiar sense of unconsciousness creeping over me. The trees started fading to an eerie dark color, and I saw some roughly pony-shaped beings approaching around me. “Hello? Please help me.” I muttered to the pony shaped things. One got close to me, maybe to talk? “Could you help me down please?” I pleaded. “Ni nini hii??” A gruff, accented voice grumbled as if asking a question. “Unasemaje?” “What?” I asked, confused. That just earned me a sharp poke in the neck, causing me to lose sense of feeling and everything to fade to black. “Midnight. Wake up.” “There’s no time for napping now, princess.” I awoke once again to whispering voices, had to be those damned black books sitting in my back pack. I flittered my eyes open to find cone-shaped tents around me, and an open fire before me. Well, this was the fire I saw earlier. I looked to my side to see the back pack sitting on its side, well at least it was still around for what it was worth. I started move to retrieve it, but I couldn’t. I looked down at the ropes restraining me. Panic set in as I struggled against them to no avail. I was tied against what felt like a wooden post in an uncomfortable sitting up position, completely making my struggles useless. I heard a sort of horn that sounded throughout the camp, I couldn’t discern what exactly it was but it sounded nothing like the brass instruments that I had grown up around. This horn was followed by a steady beat that sounded like…drums? As the beat grew faster, I saw…things surround me. They had massive wooden faces, some with large grassy manes and some with large red-ringed eyes with no iris. The panic turned to fear as I lost count of the wooden beasts. “Greetings, Shadow-Walker.” Understandable language? With a feminine voice? “We know who you are, and where you come from.” One of the wooden faced beasts approached me, getting dangerously close to my nearsighted handicap but it stopped before it got blurry. “What are you things? Please don’t hurt me.” I had my priorities straight. Insult them before begging for your life Midnight, very nice. “Your kind calls us zebra.” The one that approached me took off her wooden face and stared at me with blue eyes of her own. Now that the mask was gone, I saw that these were in fact zebra. They had white bodies with black stripes and this one in particular had a small Mohawk, but a long twisted braid that fell down the length of her neck. “We have roamed these plains mostly undisturbed, but now you have come here. You and those other manipulators that cling to the shoreline like some they will be saved. As for bringing about harm to you, it will not hurt for long.” Okay, that didn’t sound good at all. “What do you mean those others that cling to the shoreline?” That had to be The Colony, my one good chance at surviving if they didn’t outright kill me. The zebra mare gave me a smug look. “As if you don’t know, for all we know you sent them here Shadow-Walker.” “There’s that word again, Shadow-Walker, what do you mean?” I had to keep this going at a nice, calm level for long enough to think of something. “Really? Do you not even know what you are?” I gave her a shrug, as restrained as I was. “Those books.” She pointed at the back pack with the black books in them. “Those books and their spells make you what you are. Clearly you are new to the shadows, but they will draw you in. You will think that nothing else can be done lest you give in and read your black magic.” She seemed to get angrier about the whole black magic thing the more she talked about it. “We will kill you now while you still have a soul Shadow-Walker. It is merciful compared to what we know will come.” Of course they were going to kill me, why didn’t I see that coming? “Hold on now, before you do that. Can you explain why you know how to speak the same language as me? I didn’t know that zebra could speak equestrian.” I still hadn’t come up with a plan, and those other zebras were getting spears out. The zebra mare chucked a bit. I had no idea that unicorns were so funny to them. “If it makes you feel better, sure I’ll tell you.” Good, more time to think. “There was once a missionary from your lands, one without a horn. We had no way of understanding him, so I was chosen to learn your language to communicate with him. After a few months, I became able to speak well enough to understand his purpose for coming here. He wanted to make the world a better place by spreading his religion of the sun and the moon, but there was no place for him among us. So we let him go, to wonder wherever he might end up. He found it as us letting him achieve higher understanding, but we simply didn’t want anything to do with his nonsense.” Well, that didn’t really give me the time that I wanted. I still didn’t have any sort of idea what I could do to get out of here alive. “Midnight.” “Don’t just sit there.” My eyes darted to the side, at the back pack, while the zebra mare went on about how their religion was more accurate than the missionary’s. “We can help you Midnight.” I didn’t have time to read another book, or the ability to, given the current circumstance. But I did already know one black magic spell, one that could help me escape. I just didn’t want it to come to that. “Now Shadow-Walker, do you have any last words before we set your soul free?” The zebra mare brought my attention back to her by a spear held to my neck. A little bit of pressure broke the skin and caused a little trickle of blood to flow down on her spear head. I took a deep breath, and smiled to the zebras. “Just one.” My horn glowed an unsettling black glow. “Inferno.” With that word, many of the zebra’s masks burst into flame. Along with the ropes restraining me and some of the cone-tents that I had seen earlier. Distracted by the fire, the zebra mare removed the spear from my neck and ran to her companions. Now with nothing stopping me, I got to my hooves as quick as I could and grabbed the back pack. “Get the savages! Strike them down!” An angry voice yelled from my right. I looked over to see several unicorns charging at the distracted zebras with spears of their own and crude wooden armor. “Don’t let any of them get away! I don’t want any free survivors this time.” The source of the voice was a stout orange unicorn with a short, blond mane and tail. He seemed to be the one in charge of the new arrivals. The zebras, not prepared for the assault, were easily taken down by the magically wielded spears of the unicorn invaders. Any attacks the zebras fought back with were useless against even the crude wooden armor that most of the unicorns wore. I could only sit in silence as this fight ruined the absolute beauty of the flames and ashes around me. NO! What I did was horrible and was nothing but self-defense! Right? “Now aren’t ya glad you had help now lass?” Warner? I turned around, hopes high that he was doing something weird again and was right behind me. But he wasn’t. All I saw was the wooden post that I was tied to before I cast the spell. But his voice was so vivid, how could he not be here? “You, by the post!” I didn’t even look up from my staring at the post, I was still thinking. “Prisoner! I swear, if you don’t move your ass and get over here I’m going to kill you myself!” Wait a second. Sharpe? I turned my head to the red, wooden clad unicorn yelling at me from a small distance to my left. “Come on! We’re going!” “Alright, I’m going!” I ran to Sharpe, but he didn’t wait up for me. He started off in the direction we were heading, leading me towards the trees. Trees that were close to the quickly spreading fire that I had started. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, weaving between tree trunks as carefully as I could while running for my life. But I kicked something on the ground, something made of glass. I looked back and saw my glasses that had dropped earlier. “Yes!” I put them on quickly and followed after Sharpe once more. Once out of the shade of the trees, I slowed my pace and stopped next to Sharpe. I had to catch my breath a bit, so I hung my head down. “Sharpe! How did you survive the crash? Who are those other unicorns? Why are you helping me?” Again, always good with the order of questions Midnight. Always. “Sharpe? I hate to disappoint, but I am not him” I looked up at the unicorn and stepped back a bit. That wasn’t Sharpe at all. He had a dark red mane, and a brown coat. His eyes were brown too but he looked just as sour as Sharpe, if not more sour. “I mean, I used to have a brother named Sharped but that was a long time ago. Have you met him?” “Uh. Um.” I was at a loss for words. I was certain that I saw Sharpe back there. I was certain that I heard Warner. So certain back there, and here I had nothing. “Y-yes, I have met him. He uh, he seems nice I guess.” Really Midnight? “Okay, whatever. Sorry for calling you a prisoner, they kind of did have you as a prisoner for a while. You are some kind of lucky girl! If we weren’t planning to charge in and that fire hadn’t miraculously started, you would have been zebra chow for sure.” I looked away from the broadly built stallion. “Yeah. Some kind of lucky.” I looked back to him. “Are you from the Colony?” “Yeah, ‘sentenced to a fate worse than death.’ But I’m still alive, so are the rest of us. So either those damned unicorns under that silly Platinum’s rule didn’t expect as much from us, or we are just great enough to thrive in a place like this.” He seemed quite proud of himself for that. A lot coming from a guy wearing armor made out of wood. “Why are you here? Some kind of missionary sent to save these savages or something?” I thought about lying to him. Maybe things could go better if he didn’t know that I was sentenced to the Colony as well. But I couldn’t stop myself. “No. Actually I was sentenced to the Colony as well.” The brown stallion looked down at me critically. “What?” “Well, just that I didn’t expect a mare like you to get sentenced to the Colony. Not exactly the best of places for some pony delicate like a flower.” He chuckled a little at his own words. “Hey! I was doing just fine on my own before.” For whatever reason, this elected even more laughter. “Really? You were doing just fine on your own back there hmm?” “Yeah, I had it under control.” I said indignant. The brown stallion turned around and walked a few paces, then turned back to me. “Alright. What was your plan?” I didn’t answer. “Nothing? No plan out here will get you killed girl. So either you start thinking quick, or you do your best to get off this forsaken continent. It’s no place for you.” He started trotting off to the right, not even looking back to me. “Hey wait!” I trotted after him and matched his pace. “Alright, you made your point. Thanks a lot for helping me back there. Since I’ve been sentenced to the Colony too, you think I could come with you?” Great, now I was begging for help. Really the independent image I was trying to put forth. “I don’t know, not for me to decide.” He gave me a side gaze, noticeably looking down at me. “What do you have to offer aside from being zebra bait?” I huffed a little, but kept my frustration in check. “Well, I-uh. Hmm.” We continued trotting in silence for a moment. Several times, I had something like ‘magical powers beyond comprehension’, or ‘the ability to cause wildfires that I cannot control’. Nothing that really seemed believable or even useful. Was I really so boring? “Um, I got pretty close to killing Princess Platinum. Does that count for anything?” Another laugh from this nameless brown stallion. Maybe I should become a court jester or something if I was apparently so funny. “Really now? You, the mare that was about to be eaten by zebras, were close to killing Princess Platinum?” The disbelief was rife in his voice. “Yeah, I was. I would have succeeded too, but I trusted some pony and everything fell apart. Years of planning were ruined, and I went from speaker of the council to a criminal in the matter of a day. It wasn’t how that was supposed to end at all. Then again, maybe Platinum is just destined to stay on the throne for a while longer.” Reminding myself that a lifetime of planning falling apart before me was a great way to make me feel like a failure. “Wait, you were speaker of the council?” Well, at least it wasn’t a fit of laughter this time. “Yeah, I had everything nice and planned out. I rose up from a servant, to council member, and to speaker of the council. It was going so well, but Clover the Clever found me out. So now I’m here.” I stopped and looked back, the brown stallion had stopped a few paces ago and I hadn’t even noticed. “You alright?” “Alright girl, you’ve got me interested.” He started his trot again. “I want to hear about this more, details you know? But not here, let’s get you set up. Any pony with the gall to try and kill the Princess has a place among the ponies of the Colony.” He caught up with me and we started off again. “Come on, I’ll take you there. I’m sure that Captain Courageous is already making his way back with the rest of the brutes. I think they’d all like to know about the mare that got close to finally shutting up that dumb broad Platinum.” Well, I guess all it takes to get respect is attempted murder. Cool. “Sounds like a plan. By the way, what’s your name? I’d like to at least know who this heroic stallion who saved me is.” I did my best at the whole ‘princess’ thing, but I figuratively fell on my face. “Hah! Oh you certainly aren’t the type that usually gets sent here.” Well, at least I was still funny. “Edgeworth the second, at your service. But call me Edge, or I’ll gut you. No pony uses my family name. Got it?” Right, don’t call him the name he just told me. Instead, just a simpler one. “Got it, I’m Midnight Star.” We continued trotting away from the sun, making it much easier on my eyes than direct sunlight. “It’ll be a while. Colony’s on the coast, next to a beach. So keep up girl.” Edge spoke up, quickening his pace a little. I matched his pace, not wanting to fall behind. It may not have been the best of starts, but I was finally going to reach the closest thing to civilization I could find here. Sure it was a bit bumpy and dangerous, but I never expected it to be easy. Sure I was going to have to make a good first impression on several ponies that I didn’t know and would probably like to kill or rape me, but it could be worse. Furthermore, if they were anything like Edge it couldn’t be all that bad. Either way, I was going to find a herd at last. Suck on that gazelles. Author's Note Special thanks to Klei entertainment as their game Don't Starve really got me going on this chapter. I love the game very much ;D Otherwise! Moving the story right along in the usual sassy manner of miss Midnight Star. Hope you enjoy Chapter Five: The FamilyNight was falling fast. I saw the moon poke over the horizon before Edge started to slow down. We had been at a quick pace for quite a while, so I simply though he was stopping to rest. “Alright then girl. Here we are. Welcome to the Colony, home sweet home.” He said in the darkness. Of course, he had the luxury of using his illumination magic. I looked around the shadows a bit, not seeing anything at all. “Really? This is…the Colony?” I gave the clearing we were in another look around, but I couldn’t see anything but trees and dirt. This elected a laugh from Edge. I was starting to think that I wasn’t that funny and that he was just being an ass, but kept my thoughts to myself. “Yup! This is the place, guess the brutes aren’t back yet after all. Guess they either had some trouble with the last of those zebras or… never mind. Here they come now.” Edge turned my attention back the way we came, what I saw surprised me. A huge mob of illuminated unicorns were all trotting our way, some were holding what looked like bags of things and some had… zebras? There was the orange unicorn I had seen earlier in the lead, not carrying anything. Great leader. I moved out of the way as Edge met the mob of eight or so unicorns. “Well, I see that you were successful Blight. Supplies I presume?” It was as if it was a status report or something. Was this guy some kind of general or something? I crushed that idea quickly though, he was a criminal just like me. The orange unicorn in the lead nodded a few times, giving a toothy smile. “Yeah boss. Them zebras had all kinds of food and materials. You were right, just like always.” My jaw dropped before I could even stop it. Edge was the leader in this place? “Of course, supplies. And I presume that you will be putting those zebras back were you found them?” Edge gestured toward the two zebras that some of the unicorns carried unconscious. Blight, the orange unicorn, suddenly changed his tune. “Aww! Come on Edge. We’ll just have fun with ‘em a few times before we kill ‘em.” My skin crawled as soon as I realized what they were talking about. “We’ll even let you have first go at ‘em too! Promise!” However, Edge seemed to be as disgusted by the idea as I was. “No Blight!” The orange pony in question backed away from Edge’s raised voice. “You know how I feel about this sort of thing. I’m not going to stand for a Colony of rapists. Now either you let them go and forget about it, or I’ll see how you like it when some pony sticks something where you don’t want it to go. Like my hooves up your ass. Got it?” By the time Edge was done, Blight had positively shrunk into the ground. I couldn’t help but smile. “Oh to hell with this Edge! You and your damn ethics. You obviously don’t know what it’s like to go without for so long. We’ve got needs Edge, and some of us have been here longer than you have. So screw you and your ethics!” One particularly sickly looking green unicorn threw his captive zebra to the ground while several others kept Edge held back. I simply watched from the dark, but something caught my eye. The zebra mare had a small Mohawk and a single small braid down her neck. This was the zebra that was talking to me earlier. She didn’t deserve this, no pony did. Throwing all doubt away, I ran from the shadows and kicked the green unicorn in the mouth, effectively knocking him on his back and freeing the zebra mare. “GO!” I yelled at the zebra, but she simply sat there and stared at me horrified as I was surrounded by spears pointed directly at my neck. “Who the hell are you?!” “Give me a reason not to kill you” “What the hell are you doing?” Accusations of all natures were thrown at me at once, I couldn’t focus on them all. I stood bravely over the zebra mare, even though I was scared out of my mind on the inside. “Well! That is an excellent way to make a first impression Midnight.” I searched the aggressive unicorns for the source of the voice, trying to find who was talking. But I knew that voice already. “Every pony I’d like you to meet Midnight Star, she’s the one we freed from that camp today. Give her a round of applause won’t you?” With some pushing and shoving in the crowd around me, Edge made his way to my side and pushed back the spears pointing at me. “What do you say we give her a big welcome to the Colony hmm?” “Midnight Star?” “What is this? Some kind of trick?” “Why’s Edge standing up for her?” I stayed silent, glaring at the group of unicorns before me. None of them looked happy to see me. “She’s tryin’ to ruin my fun!” The green unicorn complained, getting back to his hooves. Edge stepped between me and the green unicorn. “Your ‘fun’ is a crime worse than anything any of us has committed scum. Some of us probably had our reasons for stealing, maybe even for disrespecting that Platinum broad back in the day. But for absolutely no reason whatsoever do you have the right to become worse than the animals that damn Platinum crown has sentenced us to be.” The green unicorn wavered slightly in his gaze, looking down to the ground angrily. “Now, Midnight here, has some integrity. She may be here, but she’s not taking advantage of any pony helpless to stop her. In fact she’s saving a zebra, one of the one’s that had her captive, from being exploited in the most disgusting of ways.” Was he trying to guilt this guy into not trying to rape this zebra? If so, it seemed to be working quite well. He looked genuinely disgusted with himself. “Now, what are you going to do with these zebra?” Blight quickly sided with Edge. “We’re going to let em go boss.” With that, the other unicorns holding zebras captive let them go, allowing them to run into the darkness away from the scene. But the one I was standing over stayed. “Good.” Edge nodded to the other unicorns. “Now! All of you delinquents put those supplies in the stock tree. Need to get to work on putting them to use tomorrow.” Some groans could be heard in the group of unicorns, but the ones with supplies moved away out of sight. “The rest of you go to sleep. We got work to do tomorrow, and we can all meet miss Midnight in a bit better circumstance alright? She’s family now and I don’t want to hear complaints about it. Now go! Ya did good today, gonna do better tomorrow yeah?” With a groan, the crowd answered with a less than enthusiastic “Yeah.” They all started filing away out of sight and in between trees in the darkness. Finally feeling less attacked, I let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks Edge. I don’t know what came over me, I just….didn’t want to see that happen.” I stepped away and gave the poor zebra mare some breathing room, but she didn’t move. She just regarded me with wide eyes and a terrified gaze. “Just because they are idiots doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous Midnight.” The tables had turned, and suddenly I felt like I was being lectured instead. “That was a great stunt you pulled, but just be glad I was there to pick up the pieces. That could have ended very badly for both of you two if I didn’t say something.” “But I-” “Just wanted to do the right thing?” Edge took the words right out of my mouth. “Look that’s noble and all Midnight, but noble is a little something that most of these ponies aren’t. A lot of them are probably thinking of having you as their next victim if they get a chance. Alright? If you think this is some adventure story where the heroes get rewarded for their bravery, you’re wrong Midnight. Here, we struggle to survive and sometimes have to do things we aren’t proud of to do so. Taking from the local tribes is just one thing we have to do to keep from falling to savagery to survive. It’s not right, and if I could have it my way we wouldn’t be doing this. But then again, if I had things my way none of us would be here. We’d all be in prison, happily rotting away for the rest of our lives rather than fighting for survival. So the next time you think about doing something risky or dumb, just remember that I won’t always be there next time to help you.” Edge turned away and started off towards where the others went, lighting his path with magic. In the remaining shadows of the night, I looked back down at the zebra mare. “I couldn’t let it happen. I couldn’t watch that happen again. I-” Before I could continue, the zebra simply got up and ran away into the darkness as well. I sat there for a moment and thought of following her, but that wouldn’t lead me anywhere but to my probable doom. My best bet was following the fleeting light of Edge turning the corner of some trees. “Wait!” I called after him, quickly galloping to his side. “Where am I supposed to sleep tonight?” Edge stopped and turned to me with a raised eyebrow. “It’s just that, I don’t really think it’s safe for a girl like me to sleep out in the darkness. I don’t want to give some of your friends that opportunity to….take advantage of me.” I put on my best ‘hopeless mare face’ to try and convince him, even though it was really probably sillier looking than sad. After a few moments of him being skeptical about my question, he finally caved. “Alright, tell ya what. Since you’re new and I’m the one that keeps these bastards in line, you can sleep in the empty hovel beside mine. Sound good?” I gave the brown stallion a short nod. “Alright, lead the way Mister Edge.” I almost said Edgeworth, but I didn’t want to test him right after he agreed to help me. He simply returned the nod and kept going the direction before I had interrupted him. I followed him a short distance before he stopped. “Alright, here it is. Sleep tight girl.” Earlier when he said ‘hovel’, I had no idea that he meant ‘hollowed out tree that was still standing.’ I figured that he at least meant a small shack or something that had an actual roof over it. “Is this it?” I asked quite obnoxiously before I could even stop myself. Edge laughed a bit, once again reminding me that I should try comedy. “Hah, no it’s not. That’s just the front door, on the inside you’ve got marble hallways and fluff pillow beds.” I gave him a frustrated look. “What? Did you expect us to live in extravagant homes like royalty?” Honesty I expected something a little better than trees. “It’s uh… got character?” I ventured hopefully, giving him the best smile I could muster for the situation. “How long have you ponies been living like this?” Edge simply gave an unknowing shrug. “Longer than I’ve been here. These guys were doing this since before I came along around three years ago. Now just take it and get some sleep. If any of those ruffians give you any trouble just give me a yell, I’ll come by. Now good night.” Edge turned and cantered over to his own hallowed out tree. When he thought I was out of earshot, I could hear him mutter. “Such a princess.” Without any light of my own and Edge stopping his illumination spell, I was left in the dark. But it wasn’t so bad, the sky was clear and the moon was waxing past its third quarter. The stars in the night sky twinkled in their own sinister way, as if laughing at my reliance on light to see. I retreated into the hallowed out tree that Edge brought me to and tried to get comfortable. For the first few minutes, I couldn’t find the reason I was unable to let myself relax. Then I remembered I still had Warner’s backpack on. I shrugged the now slightly worn down pack and laid on my side and put my glasses on top of it, keeping my eyes on the open side of the tree. I didn’t want to leave myself so vulnerable if some night predator decided to come eat me in the middle of the night or to give one of those other stallions an opportunity. After counting the stars in my view for a good long while, I finally fell to sleep. I heard the sound of birds singing, but they weren’t tweeting or singing really. It was more of a lame honk or something. Something with such a voice should never be allowed to sing. I forced my eyes open to the dim morning light and seagulls flying overhead. “Stop that noise please.” I moaned at the birds. “You shouldn’t be allowed to make noise.” I tried getting up, but my body ached more than it had the previous morning. I thought I had managed to stand up in the hollowed out tree, but hitting my head on the low ceiling of my tree hovel threw me back down to the ground. Rolling out of the wooden prison, I managed to make myself stand up. “Stupid tree.” I muttered, levitating my glasses onto my muzzle and strapping the back pack to my back. It had become similar to my glasses in that I hardly felt that it was one once I had it. Even if it was uncomfortable to lay down in. I made a quick visual sweep of the Colony now that it was actually lit, albeit dimly, by the sun. Within other hollowed out trees, I could see the sleeping forms of other unicorns. Some of them were recognizable from the night before, the orange Blight and nameless green one most notably. This place was kind of a dump to be honest. Nothing but mud and hollowed out trees. Of course they were in a somewhat circular shape, making it at least feel kind of like a town. That feeling quickly fell away when I considered that these were all former criminals. In the distance, I could hear the sound of waves and the smell the wetness of the ocean. I followed that sound and smell past some trees to my right and found a small beach looking out to sea. It was an absolutely beautiful view looking at the rising sun on the horizon. The sky was painted a shade of orange that bled into the ocean, making the sight quite bright for the morning. “Ponies don’t often get to see something so beautiful in their entire lifetimes.” I quickly whipped around to the voice behind me, but saw nothing. “Having never seen anything but the sunset, it really makes the sun rise all that more special.” “Where are you? Who are you?” I asked out to the empty beach, turning in circles to try and find who was talking to me. “What are you?” “Well, that’s really up for debate. Some call me a criminal, others call me a smuggler. Me? I like to think of myself as a painter and a visionary.” I continued to spin around, looking for the voice. “Oh and if you want to get technical, a Pegasus.” I looked up to see the smiling face of a yellow Pegasus looking down at me with green eyes. His orange mane was mixed with some streaks red, looking like lazy fire sitting on his head and tail. He quickly descended to my side, prompting me to back away a few paces. “Why were you-?” “Looking out to the ocean? I like to look out and think that somewhere out there, my family is looking for me; trying to find their wrongly convicted son and brother. But I know better. Those bastards disowned me as soon as they heard that I was in unicorn hoo-” “No! Why were you spying on me? That’s really weird you know!” Upon hearing my words, the yellow Pegasus put on the most offended expression I had ever seen on a stallion. “Oh! Oh goodness don’t flatter yourself girl! I was simply looking out to the ocean, thinking of how well I could capture it in painting. Then you showed up and ruined my view! I simply wanted to start conversation since clearly I wasn’t going to have my previous purpose for coming here fulfilled.” I gave him an unconvinced expression. “Honest! I’m a painter, that’s what I do.” “Really? You paint huh? Well then, show me. Go ahead and paint a picture right now with the brush and canvas that you don’t have.” The yellow Pegasus’ eyes shifted side to side uneasily. “Also, didn’t you just say that you were thinking about your family that disowned you? I’m somehow not surprised they did since you like to sneak up on ponies and throw out lies to cover up the fact that you’re creeping on them.” The yellow Pegasus gave out an exasperated sigh. “Alright, fine. You got me. I was totally creeping on you. But I didn’t mean to! I was simply stretching out my wings and then this pretty unicorn mare just waltzes out on the beach! What’s a guy supposed to do, just ignore that and keep on his marry way?” “Well you could at least walk over to her instead of flying around where she wouldn’t think to look! And another thing….you think I’m pretty?” I couldn’t filter the words fast enough, they just spilled out. A smile crept on the Pegasus’ muzzle. “Of course! How could one ignore such beauty before them? Truly, you are a gift to my eyes.” Well, he certainly was a romantic. “Have you not heard such things before?” Honestly, no. “Of course I just…haven’t been uh, in best of company recently.” I really had to brush up on conversational norms. Especially in the case of this guy clearly flirting with me. While it was flattering, I just didn’t really know how to take the notion. “I see.” The yellow Pegasus said nodding. “Well, let me tell you that you will be hearing it a lot my beautiful friend.” That’s okay, I didn’t need that kind of attention. I think. “Stick with Sunset Gale and all of your problems will go away.” He continued, answering my next question. “Alright uh, Sunset Gale. Are you with the rest of the ponies here in the Colony?” I wanted to move on from the whole ‘flirting to distract me from how creepy you were’ talk and actually learn something about this place if possible. Sunset gave another exasperated sigh, clearly not wanting to move on. “Yes, I am with the Colony. I was apparently caught in airspace belonging to some Princess of Platinum or something and they put me on a boat, tied my wings, and shipped me to the wonderful place you see here. I would have been able to get a good sense of direction and where this place is, but they blindfolded me so I couldn’t see where they were taking me. Now, this place is all I really know. Been at least two and a half years here.” Well, that was certainly different than my voyage here. “They brought you here because you were in their airspace?” I asked a bit confused. Was there such a thing? Airspace belonging to unicorns didn’t seem right. “Yeah, brought me down with some sort of pulling magic. They called it telekinesis or something, and started barking something about my transgressions against the crown and found some vegetables in my bags that they found illegal or something. We Pegasus don’t find peppers to be illegal by any stance, so I know they were just trying to find some reason to punish me for coming close to their fancy rock city.” That was dumb, there wasn’t any kind of law against peppers. “Well if it really was peppers you were holding, they really had no reason to do anything. Sending you to a settlement for criminals is a bit of a racist overreaction.” At least Sunset brightened up a bit at that. “See? I knew that they were just being racist! Edge tries to tell me that there is a strict policy that the crown has against anything grown aside from strictly food produce, but I knew better. Peppers help us Pegasus stay warm in the winter when we have to move around those damned freezing clouds for the snowfall to let the land refresh itself. It had been getting colder sooner in recent years, and I just wanted to get those to my weather team as quick as possible. Clearly, using a shortcut over whatever city they called it was a bad idea. Otherwise I’d be with my team moving clouds, not all the way across the ocean in zebra lands hoping that something doesn’t kill me.” Didn’t the Pegasus control the weather? If that were the case, why was it getting colder quicker in recent years? I didn’t think about it too much, Pegasus problems not mine. “Well, what is it that you actually do here beside look at the sunrise and creep on mares having a look around?” The sass wasn’t needed, but I felt at least a little justified. Sunset had a laugh at that, again reminding me that I was apparently the most hilarious girl that any pony had seen. Seriously, I wasn’t that funny. “Ha-hoo. Oh goodness, if that were my day job I’d be less than useless. No, I don’t just spy on beautiful mares all day.” I could only suspect not, I hadn’t really seen any other mares here aside from myself and the zebra prisoners last night. That could be the reason that he was being so flirty, but I didn’t point it out. I didn’t mind it that much. “I actually keep tabs on zebra movements, addressing possible threats and reporting them to Edge. I’m a lookout essentially, but I like to think of myself as a sort of over watch instead. Sounds better my way.” The way he said it made it sound more like a military position. “While they haven’t been hostile to our being here as of late, I think that the raid on that camp yesterday probably gave them a reason to hunt us down or at least retaliate.” This much was true, but it would have ended badly for me had they not done something when they did. I still had to ask Edge about that. “Well enough, I don’t suppose you know anything about a ship wreck that happened recently?” If Sunset Gale was a scout of sorts, perhaps he could lead me to where Warner and Sharpe were. Certainly they could deal with the company if they were still alive. “No, can’t say that I have. Why you ask?” I thought a moment. Perhaps it wasn’t best that I tell him about Warner and Sharpe. Then again, having a flying set of eyes looking for them or the boat could be more effective than trying to find it on my own eventually. “I was transported here by boat as well, but it wasn’t by a royal ship or anything. I was transported by a ship called the Silver Sapphire, I don’t know where it crashed. It wasn’t close to sunrise or sunset when I woke up and I wasn’t even near the boat. Anyway on the boat were two other ponies, one’s name was Wa-” “Sunset are you harassing that girl? Is he harassing you Midnight?” I turned to see who had interrupted me, seeing Edge cantering over to where Sunset and I were standing. “You have to forgive him, he suffers from diarrhea of the mouth.” The large, brown stallion stopped a few feet from the both of us giving us a look over. “I’m really sorry Edge I…” “We were simply getting to know each other. He wasn’t bothering me, not really. We were discussing how we got here actually.” I don’t know why I stood up for this stallion I hardly knew, but he was certainly grateful and gave me a knowing side glance. “I see.” Edge contemplated for a moment. “Well that’s all fine and dandy, but I think it would be good for you to meet the rest of the Colony. You know, make a better name for yourself other than Edge’s little pet. They found your stance on the situation last night to be quite….offensive? At any rate, I think it could do all of us some good if we got to know you a little better.” That concept frightened me. I didn’t want to stand in front of a bunch of stallions and tell them why they shouldn’t use me as their personal play toy. I wanted to go out and search for Warner and Sharpe, or at the least stay here. There was definitely worse company than Sunset. “Aright Edge, lead the way.” I answered softly. “Good. Come with me, you too Sunset.” Edge said assertively, beckoning both Sunset and I to follow him back to the tree line that contained the Colony’s main circle. If anything, the ponies of the Colony were true to Edge’s word. About twelve of them had formed an impromptu crowd awaiting my arrival. There were whispers among them, but they weren’t too obnoxious. I was still scared that they might suddenly have a change of heart and charge me with those spears they used to stab and cut down the zebras yesterday, or something else entirely. Most notable of the crowd were two stallions sitting at the front: Blight, and his green friend from last night. Really they were the reason that I was most terrified, but I had to get over that pretty quickly. “Good morning to all!” Edge’s voice boomed from right next to me. “This here is Midnight Star if you haven’t already heard or seen her. Now I know some of you are…focused on the fact that she’s a mare, but I want you to try and see past that for what she is: another member of our little family that we have here.” As far as introductions go, I could have had worse than Edge. As the brown stallion stepped to the side, I stepped forward in his place. “Uh, hey there. I’m Midnight Star. How are all of you today?” I asked uneasy. Still worried about them thinking about killing me or worse. “This isn’t the place for you!” I heard a yell from the back, clearly one of the stallions last night that were against Edge’s view on things. “You wouldn’t last a day here!” I wasn’t going to let myself be made a fool of. “Really now? One day hmm?” I had in fact survived a day by myself, even if nothing particularly interesting happened. You know, aside from black magic and stuff. “How about this: if I survive for more than a day here, you guys will hear me out hmm?” No answer. “Actually I’ll do you one better. I’ll not just survive here with you ponies of the Colony, I’ll make things better. With the right know how and conviction, I’m sure we could make this a much better place to live. What do you think of that hmm?” There was silence for a moment, as if they were actually considering my words. “Who are you to tell us what to do?” Great, not what I was looking for at all. I had just about enough of this voice in the back. “I’m Midnight Star. I was sentenced to the Colony recently for the crime of attempted murder of Princess Platinum. If I can get close enough to slit her throat, I’m more than sure that I won’t have a problem finding a way to make you break.” I threatened back. There was silence. Most of the ponies looked at me with either a look of fear or disbelief. Several muttered things under their breath, but none of them spoke up. Edge stood at my side, addressing the muttering ponies. “See? She’s one of us after all. We’ve all done something that is despicable one way or another, so it’s best that we not try to turn on one another. In fact, it is best if we all try to work together to make things better. What do you say we give Miss Midnight a chance to prove her worth?” Instead of silence, Edge’s words were met with nods and cheers. He really had a lot of gravity for choices made here. It was amazing how he could get these outcasts and thieves to band together so easily. I looked up to the brown stallion and whispered. “Thank you.” He gave me a small side nod. “Alright! I want you to sort through to supplies we got from yesterday’s raid, make sure that it’s all useful things that won’t just end up being a waste of time.” Obeying his words the ponies of the Colony, all twelve or so, filed over to the hollowed out tree where they had put the loot from yesterday. As they went about their business, I felt a weight get lifted from my shoulders. “Midnight, I actually have something I want you to do.” Edge said quietly once we were alone. “Alright, what’s that?” I guess I was going to have to prove my worth sooner rather than later. “I want you to go to the camp we raided yesterday and make sure that there isn’t anything left there that could be used. If there’s any kind of tools or food, bring it back here. I know that they probably did a good job, I just want to make sure that nothing was left. Alright?” Edge wore an expression of concern, obviously trying to give me something to do away from the Colony while the rest of the ponies were settling with the thought of me staying. I gave the tall Edge a firm nod. “Alright, got it. I’ll go see if anything was left.” Giving me a confirming nod, Edge went off to join the other ponies sorting through things. I wasn’t one to procrastinate, so I made my way in the direction I had come from last night. I had to prove that I was worth keeping to the Colony and if that meant searching through the burnt remains of the zebra camp I destroyed, so be it. It had taken a good while, but I finally found my way back to the devastated zebra camp form yesterday. The cool morning had given way to a much warmer daylight. It would have felt better if it wasn’t so dry out here, I was surprised that the grass around me didn’t just burst into flame from the sun baring down on it. Of course, I could help it…but that wasn’t my thoughts prevailing. It was hers. Passing through the now burnt tree line, I found that not everything was destroyed. There were a few of the cone tents still standing, not burned or destroyed. It was remarkable really. How could they have avoided the beauty of my fire spreading? NO! I shook my head quickly, as if that would shake out that little voice in my head that continued to undermine my thoughts. I knew it wouldn’t though. I walked towards the burnt remains of the pole I had been tied against. If I had the opportunity to do it over again, I would have rather just died than caused so much pain. Sure Edge and the Colony were going to attack anyway, but I still felt responsible for how brutal this was. Grass burned to ashes, scorched zebra corpses laying unmoving, and even the vacant tents were all reminders of how much suffering I could cause. It was amazing. I walked over to one of the three cone tents and entered solemnly. I was here to look for any remaining supplies after all. No surprise, it was mostly empty. There were some grass mats, but that wasn’t something I could fit into my back pack. Other than that, there was simply the center branch keeping the cone tent up. A quickly searched the second and found nothing, but in the third there was a small sack made of some kind of animal leather. The idea of using something else’s skin as a container repulsed me, but I looked inside anyway. Within was a wooden mask, like the ones that I had seen the zebra wear. This however was different. It was smaller, and could just fit over my face. Also, it seemed kind of eerie. As if this thing had life of its own, but was simply unable to be happy. I felt wrong to just leave it. I slung the back pack to the ground and opened it to put it inside, but I stopped. I found myself pulling out another one of the black books without my knowing. One moment I was going to put the mask inside, the next I was opening one of the black books and staring at the words that marched across the page. “No.” I said to myself and shut the book, leaving it on the ground. I finished putting the mask in my back pack, but stared again at the book laying there. “It’s rude to leave a book lying on the ground you know.” A disembodied voice echoed through my ears, sending chills down my spine. “Honestly, I wake you up before you get killed by ruffians and you just throw me on the ground like some discarded toy. Inconsiderate!” I slung the back pack over and put my forelegs through the straps, putting on the most indignant expression I could. “I never asked for you to do that. I very well could have woken up by myself, given the time to do so. I think that I would have been just fine without your help.” “Oh, but that’s where your wrong Midnight. Without me, you would have met a very different fate yesterday.” The book gave a cold, unearthly chuckle that echoed long after it was supposed to dissipate. Then again, I wasn’t an expert on how long books were supposed to laugh. “How do you know my name? How do you know what the day is?” I demanded quickly. “Why do you keep talking to me?” There was silence for a while, I almost gave up and left but the book finally answered. “Quite simply, I knew you before Midnight. I knew you and your parents.” I couldn’t find an answer for that. “A few short years ago your parents received a black book, me, and found a way to convey some of my secrets to you before you knew about black magic. Well, it short for my understanding of time. For you, it was almost a third of your life ago. I believe you were seven.” I took a step back from the book. “What are you saying?” No answer. “How could you have possibly known my parents?” Still nothing. “What do you mean some of your secrets?” “There we are! That’s the question I was waiting for. You see, black magic isn’t as simple as you or I would like it to be. It’s not just words on a page, it’s more like…understanding. Understanding that is passed from one pony to another through the writing. I’m sure you’ve noticed that Inferno’s book is empty? That’s because her understanding is now yours. Maybe one day when the time comes, you will pass that understanding back into the book and allow another pony to be blessed with its power.” That made a bit of sense as to why the book was blank when I woke up. “Well, what if I don’t? What if I don’t pass the…understanding back into the book?” “Simple. The spell dies with you.” I let that sink in a moment. Magic that couldn’t be understood unless the last known learner wrote it down? That seemed rather unnecessary and inefficient. “Alright, then what did you mean earlier when you said that my parents passed some of your secrets to me? If I have an understanding of your magic, why are there still words in your book?” The book responded by giving another unearthly chuckle that made me shiver like I was freezing. “They only scratched the surface. They didn’t receive that full understanding of the magic I’ve been…chosen to bare. You can use a part of my magic to see in the darkness, as that is the portion of my cur- uh…spells that you have an understanding of. There’s more in here than just seeing in the dark Midnight.” Why would a book stutter like that? There was something else on my mind though. “Why is it that a voice seems to change my thoughts whenever I think about what that spell did? It’s like she’s trying to get out or something.” It was one of the more unsettling things on my mind. It was as if I was losing myself slowly. “Oh that? Quite simply, that’s just her voice echoing through your understanding. It’ll go away after a few years.” Well that didn’t sound good. “But I can actually make that better.” “I doubt that. The last time I thought one of you black books could help, I ended up burning down a zebra camp.” I didn’t want something else like that to go completely wrong. “Alright, one: this place was going to be burned down anyway by your friends. Two: I can simply silence her voice. You may think it’s complicated, but it’s really not. All I have to do is stop her echoing voice. Like stopping a bell from continuing to ring really. Simple as that. You just need to be able to touch it, and you can’t touch her voice. But I can.” Was it really that simple? “So you can make her stop ‘echoing’?” That certainly sounded like a plus. Getting my own thoughts back in my mind was always a plus. “But what’s the downside?” “What downside? You’ve already grown a need for glasses my dear. You’ve already received any sort of ‘downside’ that you could get from my spells. So quite simply, there is none.” I still had a feeling that he was lying. If it even was a he. “I still don’t see why I should ask for your help. I don’t think that anything could possibly help me in my situation here.” I really was a little curious. A little. But I didn’t want anything to do with any more black magic, it had caused enough trouble. “Don’t you want to know what your parents were like?” I stared at the book in silence. “What do you mean? I grew up with my parents in the Gold family. I know who my parents are.” “You are so lied to my dear. So very ignorant. You don’t even know who your parents were. You’re convinced you were born into that wretched Gold family aren’t you?” “Family isn’t where you’re born into, it’s where you find your home and friends.” I defended, knowing that it was a weak excuse. I didn’t have any friends when I was young. “A lot of good that is isn’t it then? Born into a family wanting to use you from the beginning, no friends aside from your criminal companions and that boat pony, and left to die in zebra lands that will be the end. Tell me again how much your ‘family’ cares about what happened to you Midnight.” It had a point. The closest thing I had to a friend was Warner, who was just transporting me here before his ship crashed. Somehow, the only pony that ever really showed any heart for me ended up being punished. “What’s your point?” “I can show you your parents Midnight. They’re here with me.” “I don’t believe you.” The idea was absolutely insane. “The reason they were able to pass some of my spells to you is that they sacrificed themselves to do so. The Gold family simply used that to convince you that they weren’t your real parents. You’ve been lied to for so long that my truths seem to be nothing but fake.” “Prove it!” I yelled at the book, anger really getting the best of me. “As you wish, my dear.” With that, the book opened back up and a sickening cold sensation washed over me like a freezing breeze. Black smoke oozed out of the pages of the black book, blocking my eyesight and taking away my senses one by one. First sight, then hearing, then feeling. Soon I was numb to the world around me and felt nothing but the blackness. My eyes shot open and I stood up from the cold flooring beneath me. Wait flooring? I looked around and tried to assess where exactly I was. On the ceiling was marble tiles, and the walls were another variety of stone. I was in some kind of foyer, but something was wrong. I was upside down, standing on the ceiling and looking down at the floor. A quick inspection confirmed my suspicion, as chandlers were hanging away from me and had candles pointing down at me. But their flames weren’t moving. It was as if they were frozen in one spot. I tried moving, and to my surprise I could without falling up or down or whatever the other direction was. I walked around the ceiling-floor a bit and got used to the strangeness of it all. I stopped my tentative trot on the ceiling and looked around again. The colors of the candles were greyed over, and the ceiling I stood on was a dull black color. Scanning the foyer stairs again, I suddenly recognized them. This was the Gold Manor. My realization was cut short as the foyer doors swung open and a black mane and white coated stallion barged in. I crouched down low, as if crouching on the ceiling upside down would help. “I can’t believe our luck! This is the perfect opportunity! This truly is a work of the gods!” He yelled almost fanatically. A mare with a grey coat and charcoal mane walked in, shaking her head at the stallion. “What if something goes wrong? She could be hurt or killed! Do you want to be the one responsible for a young girl being put to her demise?” “With the proper plan, nothing will go wrong. We just have to-” The stallion’s words were cut off mid-sentence, and he froze in place. I waited for a moment, waiting for him to continue but he simply wasn’t moving. He wasn’t even breathing. It was as if he was like the candles. “Odd isn’t it? They always stop in the strangest of places. Stranger now though. Then again, why shouldn’t it? You’re here now.” A low, smooth voice crept into my ears. Chilling me to the bone. “Hello? Where are you?” I pleaded out into the grey upside-down house. “Why am I here?” “Just find your way to the dining room my dear. Everything will make more sense there.” I didn’t want to follow what this voice was telling me, but I didn’t have much of another choice. It was either that or just sit here and stare at the frozen ponies on the floor. So, with doubt in my mind I made my way towards the stairs. Walking on the ceiling above them was strange, but I had to do it. The stairs went up a few steps and then split left and right. I knew that the dining room was on the right, so I cantered along the ceiling above that flight of stairs and came to a hallway. There were many doors on both sides, and led to different rooms that belonged to different members of the Gold family. I would have taken the time to explore each one, but in all honesty I wanted to leave as soon as possible. About halfway down the hallway ceiling, I heard voices all around. Yelling voices that wanted me to stop and listen, but I did no such thing. In my passing I heard several arguing. “That’s not how things work here!” “I hate it here!” I felt like I knew that voice, but I didn’t stop. “Now you see, the trick to getting them to bend to your will is simply to play their game until you have them right where you want them.” “Isn’t that manipulating? Isn’t that wrong?” “Not here it isn’t. It’s only manipulating if it’s the more powerful force making the weaker bend to their laws, not the other way around.” I shut out the whispers as I climbed over the wooden molding that separated the hallway ceiling from the dining room. I didn’t want to hear them anymore. “Welcome, my dear. Isn’t it great to remember what has so long been forgotten?” I spun around to look for the voice, but couldn’t find it. He was still hiding. “Just watch, this is important. For you at least. I could care less.” I looked down at the dining hall, obeying the voice like a good little tool. At the large grey dining table were three ponies. One was the black and white stallion from before, the other was the grey and charcoal mare. The third…was me. “Now do you understand what you must do?” The stallion asked quietly. “Yes father. It’s the only way. I understand.” I wanted to shout at myself, but I couldn’t make myself open my mouth. “You do realize that you can never speak of us until it is your time to pass the torch?” The mare said, almost whispering. “We’ve been over it mother, I cannot be caught no matter what. Trust no pony.” I remembered this. It was the last time I saw any of the Gold family. I thought that these ponies were my parents but now looking back, I hardly recognized them. I watched the young version of me walk away from the table and to the hallway behind me. I started to follow, but a voice stopped me. “Wait, no stay for a bit more. This is the best part.” I turned back to my not-parents and waited. “I can’t believe she bought all that.” The stallion murmured. “I can’t believe that worked!” “Are you proud of yourself? You single hoofedly trained that poor orphan into believing she is a killer. She’s going to die out there if she gets found out!” The mare’s voice boomed and echoed against the walls. “If! If she gets found out. If she gets found out I have no doubt that Platinum will strike her down like the criminal she is going to be, but if she’s successful? If she is successful, our family will be the one ruling over the unicorns instead of that stupid Princess Platinum! Either way, we stay innocent. The law can never track her to us, we aren’t related! She’s the perfect catalyst!” Those words struck through me like a bolt of lightning. My whole life was a lie, and I didn’t even know about it. Accepting that I was a failure was one thing, but finding out that my life was a catalyst? That was a whole other level of wrong. “You see now Midnight? They never cared about you. All they saw in you was opportunity for them. They had you brainwashed to believe you were going to change the world, but all they wanted you to do was give them the power. It’s a justice really, you being sent to the Colony. The alternative is an Equestria ruled by unicorns that only want power for themselves. You may have seen this place as worse than death, and Clover saw it as a second chance for you to live. But really your sentence is the better choice from letting the world fall to pieces at the hooves of greed and corruption.” Tears rolled down my muzzle as the voice echoed through my ears. This was not at all like what Inferno, this was worlds more painful than smoke. “I’ve seen enough.” I whimpered, falling to the lowest level of pathetic I could see. “I don’t want to be here anymore.” The voice chuckled, echoing eerily in my mind. “My thoughts exactly.” Suddenly, the world fell away and I found myself falling into more blackness. There was no up or down, only the dark. It was somehow soothing, if only because it meant I was falling away from what I had just witnessed. As quickly as everything around me disappeared, it suddenly came back in a blink. Instead, I was not on the ceiling anymore. I was on black and white marble tiling that seemed to go on forever. It went on and on in its patterned eternity until it met a black horizon. I looked around for a moment, trying to get any kind of sense where I was. “Hello there Midnight. It’s good to see that you can stand even in such a realization.” Was I standing? I had become numb to what I felt and didn’t really care. “Now we come to the main event of this little trip down memory lane.” I looked behind myself and saw a massive throne. Large marble pillars towered above the actual throne, and made it look more like a pillar structure than a throne. Upon the actual throne was a grey stallion with white mane. He looked board sitting on the throne. “Who are you?” I asked weakly. “Oh, that’s not important. Not yet anyway. What’s important now is that you understand something. Your parents loved you very much before they were silenced Midnight. You were their pride and joy, and they wanted so many things for you to accomplish in your life. They wanted the world to be at your hooves, just waiting for you to take it.” I stared into the pitch black eyes of the pony on the throne. “And now it can be.” The pony got up from his throne and started to canter over to me. I couldn’t even bring myself to run away. “What do you mean?” “You think the world is run by the light, but no you’d be wrong. You think that the light gives everything life in the world, but you’d be misguided. You see, before the light there was the shadows. The shadows that are ever present in the world. Ever present even in your mind.” The stallion was mere steps from me, looking down at me. He was about a foot or so taller than me, making me feel rather small here on this empty plane of marble. Even when I wanted to run, I stayed and stared into the blackness of his eyes. “The shadows that hide, the shadows that consume, the shadows that in the end are everywhere. That is what I give you now Midnight: the shadows.” I shook my head, trying to grasp the concept and finally snapping out of his black gaze. I back peddled a few steps, but didn’t run away. “What do you mean?” I pleaded, repeating my earlier question. I tried to move back more, but I suddenly couldn’t. A quick look at my hooves and I found that the darkness was literally holding me in place. “Where are my parents, you said you’d show them to me.” “Up until now, you thought your parents were the very ponies that led you into what you are now. Do you really want to see your real parents?” He sounded as if he was just trying to infuriate me. “Yes! Of course I do!” I yelled back. “As you wish my darling.” With a black glow of his horn, a gnarled pile of blackness surfaced on the endless marble. It looked like it used to be something, but it wasn’t anymore. Six legs stuck out of the pile as if they were just twisted and thrown into a pile. “This is what your parents looked like before they met their ends. Of course, their ends were by my hooves but who is really keeping track?” I wanted to scream. This pony was lying to me! I opened my mouth, but couldn’t scream. I couldn’t make a sound. “Now then! Shall we move on to more important things?” With a stop of his hoof, the pile of black vanished into thin air. Fighting the inability to talk, I shook my head quickly. I didn’t want anything else to do with this pony. The grey pony however continued anyway. “A cloak to hide from the ignorant, an energy that needs only itself to multiply, a weapon that can silence your opponents with the slightest of touch. Speak its name and you will know ‘Blackmore’, me.” The grey stallion somehow formed a blade from the surrounding darkness and cut one of his forelegs, bleeding a sticky blackness that hissed as it reached the marble tiling below. “Calm down now Midnight, this’ll only hurt for an eternity.” With a blinding quickness, Blackmore’s shadow sword turned around and cut my foreleg open as well. Immediately my leg screamed out in excruciating pain. I wanted to scream out and fall to the marble tiles, but I couldn’t. I simply whispered: “Blackmore.” The sick, hissing blackness that oozed from Blackmore’s leg then floated over and began to flow into my own injury. It felt like my blood was boiling all throughout my body. Starting at my right foreleg, spreading to my chest, then to my stomach and other limbs, then to my neck and face. I felt like my body was going to melt. “The shadows, though they may always be there need something to give them form.” Blackmore spoke up casually while his acidic blood flowed throughout my body. “Blood is the most effective of forms, as you can manipulate it with ease and it will listen only to you. All you must do is make yourself bleed and the shadows will obey. Not only that my dear, but simply calling to them with my name will make them bend to your will. Others will lose sight of you, as all they will see is the darkness. The last gift of my spell is seeing past the shadows as if they were never there, but you already knew how to do that.” As he continued to speak, he stared to fade away. As if his form and being were flowing straight into my leg wound. “Don’t become too reliant on the shadows though Midnight. They will try to consume you if you let them. Don’t let them control you Midnight. Your parents did and they no longer have being.” “Wait, what?” I demanded. But by the time I had asked, he was gone. Blackmore was gone. I fell to the marble tiles in absolute pain. My ears roared as if I was standing near a waterfall. My eyes leaked black tears onto the tiles. My lungs stung like a thousand tiny needles were piercing through them. Somehow through all the pain, I heard a voice whisper. “We’re sorry Midnight Star. We’re so, so sorry.” I looked up through my black tears, trying to find the source of the voice. “We know you will do better.” I felt like I knew that voice, but I couldn’t put my hoof on it. It was so distant, yet so close. When I tried to speak out though, I simply screamed in pain. I screamed as loud as I could on the marble tiles that went on forever. I screamed until the tiles fell away and all I could see was blackness. I screamed until I couldn’t hear it anymore. Chapter Six: The MissionaryMy eyes shot open to see glorious daylight. I managed to sit up, but found something strange. I was in a very cushy bed looking at the inside of what looked like a log cabin or something. There wasn’t any kind of flooring, just dirt but it was refreshing to have a roof over my head. But why was I here? More importantly, where was here? I started to look around, but then the pain started. Just like in the black book, I felt like my blood was boiling under my skin. My face was hot and I felt like I needed fresh air. I fought my way off the very soft bed I was laying on, no matter how much my body protested. Managing to get to my hooves once more, I looked for a door or entrance of some kind. To my relief, there was a quaint little door on my left. It was very sophisticated for where I was. Pushing the door open, I looked out to see a much less aggressive sun shining high in the sky upon actual green grass. There wasn’t any of the dry, yellow prairie grass here. There was only lush, green grass and tall pine trees. It wasn’t too hot, it was relaxing even. There was a lovely breeze that swept through my mane. I suddenly realized that the lace I used to tie my mane back in a ponytail was missing. While it was relaxing to not have it pulling back on my head, it was still unsettling that it was missing. The idea that I was suddenly here in this little log cabin was unsettling. “How did I get here?” I asked aloud. In response, the wind simply blew again on my face. Strange, someone or something usually answered my questions at convenient times like that. I looked around at the surrounding area to see more pine trees and more green grass. Why was this place so lush and green while where I had been was so dead and dry? Where the hell was I? I walked back into the small cabin and looked around for my stuff. Next to the cushy bed, I found Warner’s backpack that I had grown so attached to. Even if the only contents were those damned black books and that zebra mask that I had found in that third cone tent. What were those things actually called? On a little, if not crude, bedside table were my glasses and a note. Wait, paper? I quickly floated my glasses over to put them on, and grimaced at the cracks on the left lens. I really should be more careful with these things. They were made specifically for my eyes, and I was just being brutal to them; dropping them all over the place and throwing them in my back pack with books to be smashed in. If there was a spell to repair these, I couldn’t find it fast enough. Dismissing my thoughts on my glasses, I put them on and picked up the note on the table. How there was paper here was completely baffling, but I didn’t think on it further. The note seemed to actually be part of a book, as it was torn on one side and had scrawled writing on one side reading ‘table of contents.’ I looked on the other side and read the note aloud. Because that’s what sane ponies do when their alone right? “If you wake while we are gone, simply stay put. There is much reason for you to leave in your mind, but stay here. The red one, Sharpe, knows you and says that he wants to help. We will return relatively soon, so don’t run off. Graham.” Who the heck was Graham? Either way, he knew Sharpe. While he wasn’t specifically the pony I wanted to find, I felt like I had to help him get off this continent. I was kind of responsible for his being here in a sense, so I wanted to help him if possible. No matter how much he probably hated my guts. If he was here before, and didn’t kill me while I was knocked out or ‘sleeping’ then he obviously didn’t have too much of a vendetta against me. I put the note back on the table and sat on the bed again. I wanted to find out where I was, hopefully still on the same continent. Then again, maybe it was best if I was somewhere else. If that were the case then I wouldn’t have to worry about the Colony, zebras, or…Sunset. Even though he was a bit of a creep, I couldn’t help but like Sunset a little. He wasn’t terrible for living where he was for so long. If being in these zebra lands had changed me as much as I had in a few days, I could only imagine how difficult it was to remain as charming as he was for two and a half years. I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss him, or Edge. They seemed nice enough, and I would feel bad if I somehow got out of here without them…or Warner. I had a lot to talk to Warner about, from these black books to apologizing for his ship crashing. I needed to know more about these books, and he had them for much longer than I. Maybe he knew something about the yellow fire pony, I dare not think her name or I might catch this nice log cabin on fire, or the grey shadow one. Then again there was still the third book, but I didn’t want to read it or even try. I had enough of those books already. Then why didn’t I just throw them into a fire? Oh yeah, I couldn’t make fire without burning absolutely everything around me. I got up from the bed and slung the back pack on again. I felt like getting up and going somewhere, but I had to stay here. While I was indeed letting a piece of paper dictate my decisions for me, it did ask that I stay here. That wasn’t telling me, but it wasn’t the kind of thing that one should just ignore. In light of all this, I decided to stay. There wasn’t a point in trying to find Sharpe and Warner if one of them was here at least. Maybe he knew where I could find Warner and we could all try to find the Silver Sapphire shipwreck. Why did I feel like that was something that could happen? Sharpe was a guard whose purpose was to make sure I got to the Colony without escaping, and Warner was simply the sailor burdened with the task of taking me there. Why would they have any mind to go anywhere with me? I shrugged the back pack off again and laid on the bed. I suddenly felt really helpless and alone. The closest pony I thought as a friend was simply my transport to a faraway prison. What kind of pony thinks that? And the thought that my delivery assurance was a friend too was absolutely crazy. I could only guess that Sharpe hadn’t killed me in my sleep was just because he wanted to do so while I was alive to see the light fade from my eyes. Some ‘friends’ I had. I wallowed in my thoughts for quite a while. When I had went outside before, the sun was high in the sky around what I could assume was noon. Now it was sinking on the horizon getting closer and closer to evening. If I could guess, I’d say it was around four hours past noon. I was stirred from my thoughts by voices I hear outside. They were low, and somewhat distant but they were approaching. Perhaps Sharpe and whoever Graham was were approaching, or maybe it was zebra. My last encounter with them had been less than pleasant. What if they found me and were going to spear me? What if I couldn’t run away fast enough? As the voices got closer however, my suspicion was alleviated. “I understand what you think about zebra, but they are living things just like you. They have as much of a right to freedom as the rest of us Sharpe. There is no reason incarceration would convince them to adopt more as you say ‘civilized’ behavior.” “I see your point. But don’t they know that there is a better way to live than in tents and in the mud? Wouldn’t they want to better themselves?” Was that Sharpe? Asking about bettering another pony, or zebra’s life? The two were close now, right outside the door. “Just because we see something as better for them doesn’t mean they do too. It’s a matter of perspective and tradition. What if one of them came to you with a potion that cures headache? You wouldn’t be too keen on partaking since you know about magical spells that do the same thing without consuming anything. They don’t know that, so their medicine is their best way to cope with such things. Zebra are a race rooted in tradition, organization is not very prominent. Even their Caesar know this and does not outlaw tribes and provinces. Now, I want to end this discussion. Alright Sharpe?” Whoever this Graham was had a very refined understanding of the zebra. Wait a moment, they were coming in. And I was still laying down like a lazy mule. I made a valiant effort to jump out of bed to my hooves, but ended up undershooting the jump and ended up on my back in a very unceremonious position right as the door swung open. Great first impression. I looked to the open door at the two stallions standing in the doorway. “Uh, hey there.” I greeted as normal as possible. Then again, laying on the ground with my hind legs still on the bed wasn’t very normal. Sharpe tilted his head slightly giving me a very confused look while the other pony, of tan coat and short black mane, simply raised an eyebrow. “So this is your friend awake.” He deadpanned. Awesome, just awesome. The first impression this Graham had of me is my clumsiness. I fought my way to my hooves and tried to act as if nothing had happened. I would have been better off just lying in bed, and being invisible seemed like a great idea right about now. “Midnight, what the heck was that all about? If you’re trying to send me a message, you’re kind of going about it the wrong way.” Sharpe ventured humorously. He wasn’t wearing his silver armor anymore, strange. I never realized it, but Sharpe had a really nice brown mane that fell down half his neck and just above his eyes. I couldn’t see before because of his armor. “I-um, I just don’t know what went wrong.” Somehow the words just seemed natural to say. “I’m guessing that you are this Graham name that I saw on the paper?” The tan pony nodded his head slowly, and it was immediately evident. Graham was an earth pony. “Yes, a missionary sent here to zebra lands to try and convert them to civilized living and organized religion. However, the longer I stay here the more they seem to change my thoughts instead.” Well, the missionary part explained his book cutie mark. “And it’s good to see you too Sharpe! I’m so sorry I didn’t say hello. How did you find your way around and to here?” I suddenly realized that I had almost completely forgot to greet him. Really considerate Midnight. “Clearly you had a different idea of greeting from what I was thinking. Like I said, there are better ways of sending messages Midnight.” Yeah, I get it Sharpe. “As for how I found my way here? I was found by Graham.” The two stallions cantered into the cabin. Sharpe sat down near the center of the room and Graham near the door, closing it quietly. I sat down against the bed, as it was pretty comfortable. What was it made out of? “Alright, I guess that makes sense. Have you seen Warner?” Sharpe shook his head slowly. “No, haven’t seen him since he ran us onto land. You flew off the ship and I have no idea where he went. Me? I was onboard the damned thing when it hit the rocky shore. I didn’t know where to go, so I simply stayed put for a while. Warner never showed up and you seemed to have just flown away, so I stayed onboard the ship for a day or so. Eventually, Graham found the shipwreck and offered to give me a place to stay. I couldn’t just say no to such an offer, so here I am. Welcome to the Mission.” “The Mission?” I asked confused. It was Graham that spoke up however. “Not a proper one no, but one in a sense. A mission is usually where a large number of non-believers are converted to being saved, but my superiors didn’t really think that through when they only sent me here. Since they only sent me, I simply only built quarters for myself and perhaps a few guests. Instead of having a large fort built, I simply decided on visiting the local tribes. While one tribe was inviting to me at first, they changed their mind when they realized that I was there to spread religion. They found their deities of logic and reason more appealing than an ideological salvation from my higher power.” I had no idea that earth ponies were such religious types. Then again, without magic it would seem that a lot of things were made wonderful by unknown means. For better or worse. “I see. Then it must have been you that the zebra mare was talking about.” I concluded aloud. “Indeed. Zavalla, if that is the same zebra we are both thinking of, was open to learning our language if only out of curiosity to what I was saying. However, when that curiosity was sated she demanded that I move on. Out of respect, I did so. Moved onto another tribe. I had more luck with this tribe as well. They don’t sacrifice other animals to appease their deities of rain and sun, and are even open to the ideas of salvation. But there is only one problem: I fear that they accept this salvation only in reverence of me, not for religious purposes.” Graham seemed to be downtrodden about this. “What do you mean by that? Do they think that you are some sort of higher power yourself?” I asked, a tad confused. Graham chuckled quietly. Damn it! Why was I apparently so funny? “Well, they see my helping them with farming and teaching them self-defense as a blessing from the deity I represent to them. I fear that they will follow me instead of finding their way to Harmony.” I guess that would be a pretty significant failure in a missionary’s view. Converting them not to follow the religion, but to simply follow the pony giving out stuff. Even if it was farming and self-defense techniques. Wait, self-defense? “So you taught these zebra how to farm and how to defend themselves? What does that mean?” “Quite simply, they asked for help. This tribe, the grounded rocs, have been in a scuffle with the first tribe I encountered for many years. They needed assistance, and so I gave them my knowledge of self-sufficiency and self-defense. Now they are thanking me by honoring me as a God. I didn’t ask for that, and it’s not something one who is with Harmony is supposed to enjoy.” From the repetition of Harmony, I guess that’s what religion he stood for. How could Harmony be a religion? “Worse though is that now the rival tribe, the blooded bark, have had their camp burned to the ground. Stranger though, I found you there. Care to explain yourself?” Suddenly I felt very uneasy. This went from a little strange to aggressive in the blink of an eye. I wasn’t ready for the sudden change in tone and feeling. I looked to Sharpe, but he too seemed interested in this topic. “Um, well I was on a mission really.” I wasn’t sure if telling a religious pony like Graham about my black magic was a good thing. I didn’t know if he would denounce me as a demon or something like that. “I had been taken as a prisoner by this tribe the day before, and when they were about to kill me I was saved. The unicorns of a criminal settlement called the Colony charged on the encampment and killed a majority of the zebras then burned the rest of the camp. I was taken in by the leader, and he sent me on a mission to retrieve anything else of use left in the camp.” It pained me to lie and put the burning on some pony else, but I wanted to keep things civil here. No need to call on the shadows to aid me. Oh great now it wasn’t just thinking fire was beautiful, now I thought that I could use the shadows to make a weapon. All I needed was some of my blood and-NO! I was not doing that! Graham was unconvinced however. “Not the answer I was looking for young lady. I want to know about those black books you have in your bag.” Oh great, he knew anyway. “Sharpe here tells me you were supposed to burn those, but something tells me that you haven’t been as motivated to do so as you were instructed. Sharpe told me of Warner and his books, and I know these books. They have caused much destruction and doubt to my race for generations. I don’t have to ask if you’ve been reading them, as their pages are blank. I want to know why you are here and to what ends you wish to use your dark influence. What say you, monster?” I was not a monster! At least…not in my eyes. I only burned down that camp in self-defense. “I-I don’t see what ground you stand on Mister Righteous. You say you’re here to spread religion and salvation to the zebra, but all you’ve done is make them more dangerous and believe that you are some kind of God. If my reading of supposed dark and forbidden magic is so wrong, I dare you to sink to my level and tell me how wrong I am knowing that you have changed not just the lives of zebras as I have, but misguided them.” Why was I so aggressive to this pony I hardly knew? I hadn’t been like this when questioned in court at all. I was submissive before these black books. Maybe they really did turn me into a monster. Graham kept his gaze on me throughout my little tantrum, and kept it up even after I finished. He really did have a piercing look though. I was on the offensive of this argument, and I felt like I was under attack by his green eyes and silence alone. Then he spoke. “Perhaps I was wrong. That is…unusual. But you have a point monster; one shouldn’t throw rocks if they live in a glass house.” “I’m not a monster!” I insisted. Graham gave a slow nod. “Perhaps, perhaps not. That is for you to decide, not me. It is not what one has that dictates their own salvation, it is how they use the gifts and curses they are given. Maybe there is purpose to your dark magic after all; a sort of release for those who cannot go on living with the curse that they have bared for so many years.” What did that mean? Religious jibber probably. “At any rate, I believe it is really Sharpe here who wanted to talk to you more than I. I’ll leave you to discuss, but I’ll be around.” Graham then walked out the door calmly, as if nothing had ever happened. He was certainly a strange one. “Midnight Star.” Oh good, now to face Sharpe. I hoped this would end well. “You and I have a lot to discuss.” “Yes, I know. And I’m so sorry for the way things ended up! I didn’t mean to cause you such pain and confusion by simply being around me. I never meant to do any kind of harm.” As I spoke, Sharpe got up and cantered over to me. I got up as well, fearing that I may have to run away or something. But if he was going to kill me for what had happened, I wouldn’t stop him. It was probably for the best anyway. “Sharpe, I know that things haven’t exactly been good between us since we met but I assure you that I plan to make things better. I just don’t know how I’ll-mmph?!” While I was trying to give Sharpe reason not to kill me, he…kissed me. I was confused beyond measure, and it was by no means a good kiss. Just strange and out of place. After we were done he simply looked at me and smiled. “Sorry, you were kind of blabbering on. It was an effective way to shut you up for now.” I was not blabbing! And he could have just shushed me with a hoof or something! “Look, I know you feel responsible for my being here. In truth you really are. Thing is though, I couldn’t be happier about it.” I found it nearly impossible to find the words, as I was still confused by that kiss. “Wait, what?” Was all I could come up with. Sharpe looked me dead in the eyes. “All my life, I’ve been told what to do. All my life, I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to make my own choices. You and Warner gave that to me Midnight. I always wanted a life where I could make my own decisions of where to go or what to do. Now I can. I may have thought that you were just a curse on my day and that I’d just go to my life again when this whole ordeal was over, but it has been something much greater than that. I’m free here. Free to do what I want for once.” I had never thought that a guard would feel imprisoned by his own duty. “I-I don’t know what to say. I thought that you were just waiting for the opportunity to kill me or something.” “No Midnight. I wanted to thank you. Here, I’m not under the order of some higher up officer or Princess. I buried my armor in the sand before I came here with Graham, in celebration of my freedom. So long had I been imprisoned and blinded by that armor that I forgot how to see and how to feel normally. All I knew was my duty to the Princess, but no more.” That certainly answered a lot. “Well, why did you kiss me? You could have shushed me with a hoof or something.” It’s not like it was the worst thing I had experienced since I’ve been here, but it was still weird because if was Sharpe. The red pony just smiled though, tossing his brown mane to the side a bit with his neck. “In my family, before I was sent to guard training, that was how we showed affection or appreciation. Of course no, I wasn’t trying to show the former as much as the latter. In all honesty, you aren’t really my type.” Hey wait a second, I wasn’t his type? Who was denying who here? “Uh, alright then. What do you plan to do with your new freedom Sharpe?” I asked tentatively, trying to change the subject. Sharpe smiled. It was a bit strange to see him smile, but a good kind of strange. “Well, I actually intended to make sure you were safe foremost. Then was finding Warner, wherever he has gone. Lastly, I actually wanted to travel these lands with Graham. He has a strong sense of duty and honor about him, and I think that having some pony else around would do him some good. He’s a bit reclusive, but can be a really great pony. Generally wants the greater good for all ponies and zebra, most importantly he isn’t discriminant of who he helps. He’s a lot like my brother I think, back before he was executed.” Wait, Edge said his brother was Sharpe. Did he really think that Edge was executed? “Um, actually Sharpe I don’t think he was executed like you think.” Sharpe gave me a critical eye, like he actually wanted to kill me this time. “Don’t toy about my family Midnight. They weren’t the best of families, but they gave me a sense of duty and honor.” “No seriously Sharpe, I’ve seen your brother.” He continued his disbelieving gaze. “His name is Edge isn’t it? He’s here, in the Colony!” Sharpe shook his head, again looking as sour as he had back on the Silver Sapphire. “I know my brother was executed because I heard about it from the new guard captain. They told me that he was burned at the stake. They told me-” “That’s exactly it Sharpe. They told you. I’ve met him, in fact he saved me from that zebra camp. When I saw him in the distance, I thought it was actually you! But when I got a better look at him, I saw that he was different. He’s a bit taller than you, has a brown coat and red mane, and is the leader of the Colony last I heard.” Through Sharpe’s disbelieving gaze, I could see a flicker of hope. “How do you know that it’s my brother?” He demanded, eyes glassy with tears. “When I asked if it was you, he said he had a brother named Sharpe. I don’t know a lot of other ponies named Sharpe, do you?” He remained unconvinced. “I don’t believe you Midnight. My brother is dead, it’s better that way.” “Why don’t we go meet him then?” I asked quickly. “Then you can decide if I’m lying or not.” Sharpe gave a curt nod. “Fine. We will go to this Colony tomorrow and I can prove how wrong you are.” For a moment, there was silence in the cabin. In the silence, Graham entered once more with two grass mats. “Well, it’s good to see you two getting along. I brought these so that we could all sleep comfortably for the journey tomorrow.” Both Sharpe and I gave Graham a confused look. “What? Just because I’m a religious stallion doesn’t mean that I can’t hear two ponies yelling inside my home. Reminds me of my family all too well really.” “Um, thanks Graham. It’s thoughtful of you.” There wasn’t any use in courtesy if it wasn’t used. “Of course. We shall depart in the morning. Good night.” Graham laid down on one of the grass mats he brought in, turning away from me and Sharpe. “It’s a bit early for sleep don’t you think? Also, shouldn’t you sleep on the actual bed? It is yours after all.” The sun was still visible on the horizon! That is way too early for sleep. Graham chucked in his deep register. “It’s rude to not offer the best for a lady. As for the earliness? We will need as much time as possible to arrive at the Colony at a reasonable hour. So getting as much sleep as soon as possible is for the best. Good night.” Sharpe and I exchanged a confused look but just shrugged and accepted it. “He makes a point Midnight, we should try to save as much energy as possible.” Sharpe laid down on the other mat, a few paces from Graham’s. “Good night, if there was such a thing.” I sat there for a moment and thought. I didn’t really deserve to sleep on the actual comfy bed, but it wasn’t like I was going to complain. I laid down on the cushiness and was instantly comfortable again. You never realized how much you missed something like proper cushioning until you have slept in the dirt and on rocks for a few days. Even though I wasn’t sleepy, I at least tried to get to sleep. After an hour or so the sun was below the horizon and no light entered the cabin from the door frame. Soon after, I found myself drifting away into sleep. Turns out, the Mission that Graham called home was actually on the mountain that I kept seeing before. For the longest time I kept away from it, in fear of falling off one of the cliffs or something. In actuality, there was a nice decline on the leeward side; making for a pleasant morning of trotting downhill and listening to Graham talk about the secrets of farming. While most of it didn’t make sense, there were some easy things to take away from it. Planting during the winter was a bad idea, and planting in the spring made for a bountiful fall harvest to keep food for the winter. While these were all fine and dandy, I had a feeling that a lot of common sense or trial and error could have told me the same thing. While the conversation wasn’t an actual conversation as much as a horticulture lesson, it did make the time pass faster. Before we knew it, we were nearing the zebra camp that I had burned. Oh such fond memories. “Here is where I stop leading Midnight. I have not been to this Colony, as I have no place among criminals. You lead from here, you know the way better than I.” Graham stated, slowing his pace a bit. The first words out of the subject of plants were a good change, but not one that I was looking forward to. I had no idea how Sharpe would react to seeing his brother that he believed was dead, or how the other ponies of the Colony would react to a religious pony like Graham. Then again, both of them were trained in some kind of self-defense apparently and I had my black magic. No! No black magic against ponies that were supposed to be a sort of family to me. Finished thoroughly racking my brain, I finally responded. “Alright, next stop: The Colony!” I took the lead and made off in the direction I knew the Colony lied. I had a good sense of direction when I knew where I actually was, but it you asked me what cardinal direction it was I wouldn’t have a clue. While Graham and Sharpe conversed quietly behind me, I simply stayed silent on the last leg of our journey to the Colony. The sun was setting at our backs as we made it closer and closer to the circle of trees that was The Colony. “Alright guys, we’re here!” I announced loudly. “Welcome to the Colony.” With a look around, both Sharpe and Graham stated the same thing. “Is this it?” This time, I had a chuckle at the silliness. It felt good to laugh, apparently being so funny myself, I felt a little better to pass the mirth on to someone else. I looked around the empty trees in confusion. “Where is every pony?” I asked aloud, hoping to get an answer. There was only silence though. “Isn’t there supposed to be more than just trees here?” Graham asked rudely, apparently doubting that I had taken them to the right place. “I know it’s here, I just don’t know where they all are.” I defended quickly. Suddenly wood crashed down all around us. At first I thought that a tree had fallen down upon us and we would be buried by twigs and branches, but that was not the case. Instead of branches and leaves, it was a crudely made wooden cage. “Whoa! What is the meaning of this?” Sharpe demanded within the cramped space of the trap. “Should have known that a criminal would lead us into a trap.” Graham accused angrily. “What do you plan to do now that you have us trapped Midnight?” “If you haven’t noticed, I’m stuck in here too! Why would I set up a trap that I would get caught in?” I knew that he didn’t trust me that much, but that idea was ridiculous. While the three of us were arguing in our wooden prison, ponies started approaching tentatively with magic wielded spears pointed at us. A look upwards and I saw Sunset looking down on us with a smile, but when he saw my eyes his smile faded to surprise. “Who do you think you ponies are? I don’t know what your intention is, but I think that we can reach a fair agreement as long as you behave yourselves.” I looked back down to see Edge approaching slowly to my right. “And Midnight, so good to see you alive. Most of us thought you were dead, being gone for the past three days.” “Been a bit busy. You know, just looking around. Stuff like that.” I answered sarcastically. “That’s excellent. I’d just like to know who are new guests are, and why one of them is a mud pony.” Edge certainly didn’t have any kind of manners toward Graham. “My being here is by Midnight’s doing. Then again, I suppose I’m to blame for this. Trust isn’t something that should so easily be given.” Graham sure had a cryptic, if not rude way of putting things like that. “Enough.” I demanded. “I’m here because I found your brother Edge. He’s in here.” There was silence for a moment. Edge walked over to the wooden cage and gave the red stallion beside me a critical look. “Sharpe, is that really you?” I turned my head around to look at Sharpe, and he had a similarly disbelieving frown on his muzzle. “Edge. I thought they killed you.” Edge looked up at Sunset. “Hey! Get this cage off them Sunset!” To his command, the yellow Pegasus lifted the wooden cage off us with some difficulty. Now with no wooden bars to contain us, most of the surrounding unicorns pointed spears at me and Graham’s necks. Sharpe was spared such spear pointing. “Sharpe. What are you doing here kid?” Edge asked after some silence. “I was here with Midnight when our boat crashed. How are you here?” Sharpe was simply baffled at his brother’s being here. Edge looked down to the ground, not wanting to face his brother. “I…was sentenced to the Colony for taking justice into my own hooves. When that thief killed mother, I just couldn’t let him get away. The guard was sad to sentence their captain here, but they didn’t want to see me put to death.” That explained a lot. That’s why he had taken such charge here, he had been the captain of the Platinum guard before. Sharpe and Edge hugged each other close while the rest of the Colony ponies lowered their spears. “I can’t believe you’re here brother. It’s been too long.” Sharpe muttered. I could swear I saw a tear in Sharpe’s eye. Even Edge’s eyes were watering. The two toughest ponies I knew were crying over their reunion. It was touching, until Edge gave me a sour look. “Midnight I sent you out to get any remaining supplies from that zebra camp, and you come back with my brother and another pony? That’s either a terrible failure or a great success in my eyes, I just can’t decide on which.” Edge took a step away from his brother, breaking the embrace. “More importantly, why have you brought this other one here?” I tried to take a step back, but I didn’t have anywhere to go. Behind me were two unicorns bearing down on me with spears again. They just couldn’t make up their mind could they? “I needed a guide. Graham led me to the zebra camp again after I…got lost.” I looked at Graham, who gave me a knowing nod. “But I think that he can help us here.” “Really now?” Edge seemed skeptical, of course. “What exactly does your earth pony friend here have to offer us that we don’t have?” Graham smiled, as if he was in on a joke or something. “Well as I can simply see from where I am standing, a lot. You don’t have any kind of living conditions that are actually safe, you don’t have a permanent source of food, and your pony’s spear maneuvering is terrible. I can help with all of those things actually. I’ve been living here for at least five years now, and I can honestly say that I have been living much more comfortably than inside trees and such. I could help with those sorts of things, if you don’t simply choose to end my life here at the end of a badly used spear.” Edge gave Graham a critical look, but nodded a few times. “You have a point mud walker, but what makes you think we can trust you?” “Well for one, there’s around twenty of you in total counting the one’s hiding in the tree line. Twenty plus two, Midnight and Sharpe here, means that there are twenty one more of you than me. Twenty one of you that can use magic where as I cannot. It would be in my best interest to help you rather than rebel against you, I don’t think even I could take on all of you with your magic. Maybe just half.” Graham could asses a situation really quickly. Edge nodded a few times, as if gauging the earth pony. “You make a good point, but why would you help us? We have you captive at the moment. Furthermore, our kind has been at ends with yours for years. Why help us knowing that we are all criminals?” Graham smile. “Assistance, in its very essence, is not discriminant. What kind of pony would I be if I denied another assistance of any kind? I would be the very thing that I am here to fight against, hardship and denial.” Edge stared into Graham’s eyes critically, looking for any sign of wavering. There was none however. “Alright. I trust you, for now.” I couldn’t help but smile. “But give me a reason to take that trust away, and I will. Along with your life.” That was dark. “What is your name anyway? I like a good mystery, but names are good if you’re going to help us.” As the surrounding unicorns stepped away, I felt much better. Less spears, more trust. Always a good thing. “My name isn’t important really, just a missionary. But if you must know, I am Graham. Like my father before me.” “Well then, Graham, welcome to the family…temporarily. Pick a tree and go ahead and sleep under it, if you want. I don’t really care where you go, just don’t cause any trouble and we won’t be any trouble. For now.” Edge turned around, walking toward his tree hovel. “Tell me brother, this Colony, how did you come to be the leader?” Sharpe said, following his brother swiftly. I didn’t care to listen in on their conversation, I simply looked at Graham now that the other unicorns were clearing out. “Graham, I’m sorry the way things turned out. I didn’t mean to tie you up in my problems.” Graham smiled down at me, reminding me how short I was compared to most other ponies here. “I go where I am needed. How I get there is for Harmony to decide, not me. I will assist these ponies in the way that I help all who need help: until they don’t need me anymore. May be a short time, may be a year or so. Until that appointed time, I will remain here. The Mission will be there when I return, if not I can always go elsewhere.” He started off towards my right, looking at the trees. “If anything, I should thank you. If I am to be an instrument of assistance to those in need, then I must be utilized in all ways possible. Even if I am not wanted, as long as I am needed I will help. Whatever form that takes.” He certainly had a…interesting outlook on life. “Alright. I’ll see you later then Graham, I have something I need to check on.” Graham gave me a nod and continued to look around. I however went towards the beach. With no sun rise, there wasn’t very much light on the peaceful beach that bordered the Colony’s tree line. All I had to light my vision was the fading light given off by the setting sun hidden by the trees. I knew he would be here though. “Sunset Gale! You can stop hiding or whatever! I know you’re here!” I yelled out into the orange sky above me. A few moments of silence passed and I almost thought that Sunset wasn’t actually here, but then a rustling in the trees behind me told me otherwise. I turned around to see the yellow Pegasus emerge from some of the branches, a shameful look on his face. “Look Midnight, I’m sorry for dropping that cage on you and your friends earlier. I was just following orders and cues. I didn’t know it was you until I had already dropped the damn thing.” I scrunched up my face into a frustrated looking frown, but probably just looked silly. “I’m not a cage girl Sunset.” The yellow Pegasus in question landed in front of me, eyes downcast. “Unless I’m the one putting the cage on some pony else. I’m not into the whole ‘being left helpless’ thing.” Sunset looked up and gave a wide-eyed expression of surprise. “Wha-huh? What’s that supposed to mean?” I couldn’t help but laugh. I was really bad at the whole dominating personality. “Nothing, really. Just thought I’d break the tension or something. You take yourself way too seriously. Also, you act like I’ve never heard of having to do something by and order before. Trust me, I understand that feeling of regret. I lived my whole life under some pony else’s order. If anything, I happen to be an expert on the subject.” Sunset looked like he was searching for the words, but couldn’t find them. “It’s alright, okay? I don’t hold it against you, I’ve done worse before.” These words just kind of found their way into my mind. I hardly had to think to find them. “Uh, um alright.” Sunset finally looked me in the eye without such a ridiculous wide expression. “Would you mind me asking about what you did that was worse?” Damn it. Knew I shouldn’t have said anything about that. “Um, well you know that zebra camp?” Sunset nodded. “Well, I kind of…burned it to the ground.” This time, Sunset had no silly expression. “Well, according to what Edge told me they were going to kill you. So I’d say that self-defense is a good reason to strike back. You say that like I’ve never had to fight back at something for being aggressive to me.” Oh good. Now he was using what I said against me. It was kind of cute, if anything. At any rate, he brought a smile to my face. “Thanks Sunset.” “Anytime.” He responded easy. “But we have got to discuss something.” Whoa, wait a second. “What do you mean?” I asked, confused. Sunset wore his best pouty face. “You can’t just go off and make me think you are dead! You were gone for three days with no word as to if you were alright. I checked the zebra camp and found nothing but ashes and some tents. I’m going to keep an eye on you, I don’t want you to make me think something like that again.” I smiled once more. “Alright Sunset, just don’t stare too hard.” Sunset looked around at the purple sky above, fading into the darkness of night. “Well, it’s getting pretty late. We should probably get back soon.” Sharing a look around, I couldn’t help but agree. “Yeah, darkness can be pretty scary can’t it?” As we turned back around and started towards the Colony, Sunset looked like he got an idea. “Hey, want to see something cool?” He asked, slightly excited. We stopped for a moment. “Sure, what’s that?” “Depends, do you trust me?” He asked quickly. I narrowed my gaze at him. Trust was something that I had issues with. But I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. “Yes, I do.” Not exactly what I was thinking. Damn it brain! Why didn’t you say what I wanted you to? Sunset wore an expression of absolute giddiness. His smile was a bit contagious. “Alright then! Hop on.” He laid down on the sand expectantly. I stared at him, endlessly confused. “What?” He looked up at me, still with a smile on his face. “Hop on my back. Got something I want to show you.” Still skeptical, I continued to stare for a moment. “Alright.” I slowly maneuvered myself onto his back, wrapping my hooves around his neck like a foal would her parent. “But if this is some kind of trick, I’m never going to-Whoa!” Before I could even finish my sentence, Sunset took off. Flying high into the sky with me hanging onto him for dear life. I may have screamed a little, or a lot. I was deaf to my own screaming with the wind whipping by my ears. We passed through a layer of clouds, where Sunset finally stopped and stepped onto the clouds! “Here we go, check it out.” Sunset said calmly, as if he hadn’t just taken off and scared me half to death. “I ought to kill you, you stupid…” I looked in the direction he was and couldn’t help but gasp. From the ground, you never got to look at the last seconds of the setting sun with such a gorgeous view. The sun was just setting over the horizon, a great orange ball of light that shined ever dimmer and dimmer. “That’s, that’s just spectacular.” I whispered. “Yeah, it’s really something the first time you see it. I wanted to capture it in painting once, but I couldn’t make myself trap such beauty onto canvass. It would be a crime against nature.” Sunset seemed rather…reflective looking at the sun set. “When I arrived here, I thought it was like my hope setting over the horizon. Like my hope was figuratively setting on all possibilities.” In the orange-purple light of the night taking over the sky with the absence of the sun, I could see a tear in Sunset’s eye. “Hey, don’t be sad. It’s beautiful, remember?” There was silence. On the ground, the night was alive with birds chirping their night song and bugs calling out to each other. But up here there was nothing of the sort, just the silence of the night. Sunset closed his eyes, causing a teardrop to fall onto the cloud he stood on. “Hey, none of that now. If you cry, I’m going to cry.” In truth, I could feel my eyes well up too. He didn’t open his eyes though. “Alright look. There’s no such thing as hope setting like the sun. Not when you got me anyway.” That got Sunset’s attention. “Wait. Wha-” “Oh, I’m sorry. I was under the impression that I was sticking with you. Didn’t you say something really cute about that sort of thing earlier when you were creeping on me on the beach?” I asked, attempting to cheer him up. “Yeah I-wait…but. Huh?” Sunset tripped so badly over that, it made me laugh. “What? I thought you were mister confident or something like that. Can’t find the words here?” Sunset looked back at me with a tear in his eye and a smile on his face. “Yeah, but that was when I didn’t know if you felt the same. Um, do you?” Oh man he was so cheesy, but then again so was I. Like a cheese sandwich. Is that a thing? “Well that depends.” “On what exactly?” Oh he was so curious. “Stuff.” I looked up at the purple-blue hue of the sky. “But tell you what.” “What?” He asked quickly. I got really close to his ear. “You can start by taking me back down. I want to feel solid ground under my hooves.” Clearly that wasn’t what he had wanted me to whisper in his ear, but he smiled anyway. “Alright miss Midnight. Ground floor it is!” He splayed out his wings and took off again, descending back towards the ground at a soft angle. When we were back on the ground, night had taken over the sky. Leaving only the rising moon and the stars to shine down on Sunset and I. As soon as the yellow Pegasus touched down, I jumped off his back and was instantly relieved to have ground under my hooves again. Oh sweet ground, I will never leave you again. “So, what exactly did all of that mean up there?” Sunset asked while I was figuratively making promises to the ground. I put on a sly smile and turned to the confused Sunset. “It means what it means.” I said nonchalantly, walking towards him slowly. “So does this.” As I passed the Pegasus by, I gave him a peck on the cheek and continued as if nothing had happened. Sunset sat there for a moment, endlessly confused and tripping over several different attempts at speaking. “Um, I guess I’ll see you later then?” He asked as I slipped into the tree line. I didn’t answer though, it was more fun that way. After a short canter through the dark, I found the empty hollowed out tree that Edge had given to me before. I had to squint in the darkness to see, but the moon was generously full tonight making it rather easy. I slung my back pack to the ground once more and put my glasses on top of it, I then proceeded to make myself as comfortable as possible on the muddy earth below me. It was definitely not the same as the bed that Graham had in his Mission, but it was better than not having ground below me. I again looked up to the sky in the night, seeing several clouds covering the stars. I was up there just a while ago, but ground was much better than clouds. I could stand on the ground. Finished contemplating the advantages of ground and walking, I started to count the stars that weren’t hiding behind the clouds. Unlike the time before, I had only made it to fifty-two or so before I drifted off into sleep. Author's Note Graham obviously inspired by Joshua Graham from Fallout: New Vegas: Honest Hearts. Cheesy romance at the suggestion of a friend. This is why I don't write romance, I'm terrible at it. Enjoy! Chapter Seven: The CursedThe next week or so went by exceedingly quickly. Graham was working with the colonists to teach them how to farm, how to build proper living arrangements, and effective spear techniques. Until the time came the plants that were planted could be harvested, we still had to find food. I found myself taking the lead of several of these groups. We would look for things like berries, flowers, and the occasional banana tree. While it wasn’t the most glamorous task at hoof, it made the days seem to pass quicker. Several successful ‘hunts’ a day gave the Colony an abundant food supply, one that would last for at least three more days before we would have to go out and find more. Edge told me that there was more luck with such food hunts with me around, but I didn’t really think he was honest. About two days ago, Graham decided it was time for him to leave. With the Colony now relatively well secured as far as shelter and food went, the ruffian ponies couldn’t help but be sad about his leaving. While they didn’t like him at first, they found that he made a certain amount of sense in some ways. Others just wanted him to keep giving them more stuff, but didn’t object to his leaving. As he said, it was his time to move on. He couldn’t be discriminate who he helped, so he went back to his Mission to pray or something. Said he’d be there for a few days if we needed anything, so it was good to have a friend to go to for help. One of the most annoying things however was the fact that I still didn’t have any lace to tie my mane back. It was irritating most of the time, and made me unnecessarily sweaty on my neck. I wished that I could either cut my mane, or just find another piece of lace. Graham told me he found me that way and that he didn’t know what I was talking about, but I still suspected that he did. It may have taken a while, but as the week went by I found that the other ponies of the Colony were actually becoming friendly to me. There were several who were still obsessed with the fact that I was the only female they had seen in the longest of times, but the others were actually pretty stand up ponies. Several of them were wrongly accused, according to them of course. I didn’t know if that was entirely right, but I was willing to give the benefit of the doubt. While I hadn’t needed to use my black magic for anything, I found myself wanting to read the last black book. There were so many questions that I had, but couldn’t find an answer for. Several nights, I found myself almost opening it just out of curiosity in the small log cabin that Graham helped me build. While I always decided not to, I got ever closer to just reading it to alleviate my curiosity about it. Today, I decided that I had to find the shipwreck of the Silver Sapphire. I convinced Sharpe and Sunset to come with me, but the ladder of whom was simply for my own personal whims rather than directional as with the former. We just left the Colony, and it was actually a very clear day. Sharpe led our little band of merriment, and was noticeably bright. “I have to say Midnight, it’s about time that we went back to the shipwreck. I haven’t been there since Graham offered me a better place to stay.” I found myself somewhat somber over the decision to find the shipwreck though. “Well, there’s been a lot going on and we all have had better things to do. Now however, I just want to see what’s left and hopefully get a clue as to where the hell Warner is.” Sunset was picking up the rear of our group, if only to stare at mine. I didn’t mind too much, but he could be a little less obvious. “There’s that name again, Warner, who exactly is he? You two have talked about him like he’s some sort of saint or something. What’s the big deal about him anyway?” Clearly, Sunset had never met any pony like Warner. I was about to explain why we had to find the mysterious blue sailor pony, but Sharpe started talking first. “Warner is, to say the least, different. He has a unique skill with sailing. If we ever want to get out of here instead of just fester where we are, it would be wise to find him. That’s not to mention that he has a remarkable positive outlook on life.” It had been a while since I had seen Warner, the last time being before the shipwreck, but I still remembered a lot about him. “He’s like Graham but actually happy instead of expositional happy. If we do manage to find him, you will know exactly what I mean.” I couldn’t help but smile while Sharpe and I reminisced about Warner. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss him.” I gave Sunset a look behind me, and couldn’t help but laugh a bit. He was noticeably jealous about the whole Warner thing, but he didn’t say anything. Still had the silliest expression on his face though. A few hours of traveling, and we had finally found the shipwreck. It was amazing how we preserved everything was after a good ten days. The ship itself was lodged on a rocky beach that tore into the wooden hull. While the bottom had seen the worse of the wreck, the upper part of the ship was too high to get up on without climbing the anchor carefully. Once we were all on board, we organized a sort of search plan. Sunset, not knowing anything about the place would just search the upper deck, Sharpe would search the hull, and I would search Warner’s quarters. While I didn’t really want to go back, I complied. I don’t know why it felt wrong. I guess I thought if Warner actually was dead he’d be pretty steamed about the fact that I was going through his personal belongings. I wouldn’t want any pony doing that with my stuff when I was dead. Then again, all I had was a wooden cabin with a grass mat and the back pack I was wearing. What was in it wasn’t even mine. Once inside Warner’s room, I stopped and marveled. The room was perfectly undisturbed. The mirror upon the dresser was not cracked, the painting of the yellow mare above Warner’s bed was unmoved, and even Warner’s journals were nicely lined up on his bookshelf. It was…almost disturbing. I couldn’t bring myself to read any of Warner’s journals again, it was just wrong. Instead, I perused the rest of his room. I looked at the intact mirror at my reflection. My mane was still, annoyingly, down around my neck and sweaty. Other than that, I was mostly the same as when I had looked into the water reflection almost nine days ago. Except, my eyes. Instead of their once blue color, my eyes had faded to a much duller silver or grey. I blinked, and they turned the sinister completely black color that I had seen in the ponies residing in the black books I read. I started to panic a little. I felt my heart racing, and sweat on the back of my neck. I stared into the black abyss of my own eyes for a few more seconds, until I blinked and they were gone. Back to the blue that I had before seen in the water’s reflection. I looked away from the mirror and instead looked at the picture of the light yellow mare in the white dress, trying to calm down a little. When I saw the painting however, I was a bit disturbed. The sad looking mare in the white dress looked exactly like the mare who breathed red smoke. She looked just like Inferno. I suddenly very much didn’t want to be here at all. Warner wasn’t here, so there wasn’t any reason I should stay right? I started to walk back through the door. “What’s wrong lass? Don’t like what you see now that you know?” That voice. I turned around quickly, but saw nothing. I swore I heard Warner’s voice though. Was I going crazy? Well, crazier? “Hello?” Yeah, calling out to an empty room where you heard the voice of a pony you hadn’t seen in a good long while was a great idea. “Is any pony in here?” “Not in there, no.” The strikingly familiar voice sent chills up my spine. “In here, yes. Along with you lass. Always been with ya’, you just didn’t know it.” “What? Is that you Warner?” I looked around again, getting frustrated and creeped out at the same time. “I swear, if you are hiding somewhere in here I’m going to be so mad at you!” There was silence for a moment, but only for a moment. “That names empty lass. Might as well forget it if you know what’s good for ya’. Too many memories tied to that old worthless name. But you may want to try looking at me if you want to communicate better.” I spun around again, looking to every corner of the room. “Then where are you? What are you?” The disembodied voice gave out a sigh, if that was possible. “In the bag lass. You act like this has never happened before.” I slung the back pack to the floor boards and took out the final black book, the only one that wasn’t blank anymore. “Has it been you?” I accused the book, putting it on the floor. “Has it been you this whole time?” The damn thing chuckled. The book freaking laughed at me! “Ha-ha! Oh goodness, about time you caught on. I was thinking you were going to search the damn room again looking for your precious Warner. What? Think that seeing that old bastard is gonna make all your problems go away and make everything alright? No, he can’t do that. He never could, and never will.” “Well if you hate Warner so much, why do you make such an effort to sound exactly like him?” I demanded. Once again, the damned book laughed at me. If I didn’t get a good explanation from this thing, I was going to burn it along with the rest of the boat. All I had to do was say a name. “Alright lass. Gonna let you in on a little secret alright?” I stared the book down, as if that was going to do anything. “Warner is all that’s left of what we were before he forced me out into this book. In a way, I’m more Warner than he ever could be.” That didn’t make any sense. How could a book be more like a pony than himself? “What the hell is that supposed to mean? Are you implying that you are more than Warner or something? You’re just a pony stuck in a book.” The book sighed again, apparently getting tired of talking to me. “You think you know how these books work, but you don’t. It’s more complicated than ponies in books lass. There’s more at work here than supposed ‘evil spells.’ Then again, I don’t think you really want to know. Better off in your ignorance really.” I was getting tired of this damned book making me feel like an idiot. “Well then, since you’re inevitably going to demoralize me until you show me then just make it happen alright? That’s what you damned book ponies seem to be after.” Sure, anger was driving my thoughts but I had enough of these stupid books. Should have just burned them in the first place. “Well if you’re going to take the fun out of it.” The book almost complained. I waited expectantly for a maw to swallow me up or some black smoke to suffocate me, but nothing happened. I looked around a bit in confusion, but when I tried to open my mouth to say something I was struck with a bolt of lightning from the book itself. Consciousness immediately left me and was replaced with dull blindness and numbness. I opened my eyes quickly and got to my hooves, trying to assess the changes around me. However, there were none. I was still in Warner’s room, in the same place. “What?” I asked myself. Usually these books took me elsewhere or something like that. This time, I hadn’t even moved! Was this some kind of joke? I then realized that things were different. The flooring wasn’t the normal brown color, but a dull grey. Oh great, more grey. I looked over to the books on Warner’s bookshelf, but they were all missing. I turned around to the mirror on the dresser but it was shattered, the pieces strewn about on the flooring. I then looked up above Warner’s bed to the painting of the yellow mare, and gasped at it. Where once the beautiful yellow mare was in a white dress, was now a sinister version of her covered in blood. Her eyes as black as Inferno’s, crying more blood. It was terrifying to say the least. I turned to the exit and pushed on the door, finding that it was locked or something. No matter how much I pushed on it, it didn’t budge. I stepped back a bit and hurled myself at the door but when I expected to hit it, the door instead swung open and let me fall to the floor boards. After I got up and gave the doors a sour look, I found that I was no longer on the boat. Under my hooves was grey sand, behind me were ghostly seas, and above my head were black skies. These things didn’t surprise me anymore though. I knew strange things happened with books struck you with lightning. I looked about the grey beach and found three ponies dressed in black staring at something that I couldn’t see on the sand behind them. “Hello there, um what are you doing?” I asked the black clad ponies, but got no answer. “Hello?” I stepped forward and stood beside the ponies and tried to look at their faces, but I shouldn’t have. They were all wearing black masks, each with a different expression. There was one on the far left that was sad, and had white painted tears rolling down from closed eyelids its wooden face. The one in the center of the three was angry, with teeth bared and white eyes screwed up in hatred. The third one that was closest to me was simply nothing. It was completely black, with no sort of eye holes or expression. I took a few steps away from the black clad ponies and looked at what they were all staring at. I felt myself grimace at the broken and battered form of the same earth pony mare I had seen in the painting before. She wore a white dress and had a vale, but both were caked with blood. What the hell was wrong with this book? Instead of visions of the unknown field or my home where I was lied to, here I found the scene of either murder or mourning. I had a feeling I knew which it was too. “Painful to look at isn’t it?” I turned around to the source of the voice and both smiled and grimaced at the same time. There behind me was Warner, the light blue sailor pony with his brown mane and tail. Except his eyes. Those eyes that were once green and filled with life were now black and empty as the other two ponies’ had been. “Warner, what the hell is this? Why are you in this book? Why is she-?” “Because this is where he let go of me and her. I wanted to show you where I came from, so you wouldn’t have a doubt in your mind.” The empty Warner figure took a few steps toward me with a frown on his muzzle. “This is where I was born, in a sense.” I took a look back at the scene behind me. “What do you mean this is where you were born?” Not-Warner laughed a bit, a slight chuckle. “Well I can thank them really, those ponies in black, for my existence. They were on a mission to be set free from their curses, and found Warner and his Carlotta here on the beach. Long story short, they wanted to move on but couldn’t. They needed souls to take their place in the books so that they could pass on at last. Warner wasn’t going to have that though. He was too protective of Carlotta, and tried to stop them. They ended up killing the girl, and making her into what you saw. Not just a bloody corpse, but the mare of fire: Inferno.” I turned back to the empty Warner, confused. “What the hell do you mean by that? If she died here, why was she in the first book?” “That wasn’t her lass. That was her broken and corrupted soul, waiting to be released. You finally gave her that, so she could give up her existence at last. You took her burden.” While I stared into his black, empty eyes, I found that I wasn’t feeling lost as I had before when I stared at Blackmore or Inferno. I could still think and focus. “So what about the other pony? What about Blackmore?” “Oh that one? I think he found a pony to consume eventually. Perhaps one of your family?” I narrowed my gaze at the Warner-figure in anger. “Not really sure though, I don’t keep up with every pony’s problems.” “Then what about you then? If Carlotta had to die to give up her soul and the other pony found one eventually, why are you here? If Warner is what’s left after he gave you up, where is he?” Nowhere on the beach did I find a light blue pony, except right before me. “That’s because Warner didn’t want the same for himself as he saw happen to Carlotta. He didn’t want to die like her. So instead he split himself from his soul, leaving him as a husk of his former self to walk the land for eternity.” Not-Warner walked a ways towards the black clad ponies in the masks. “Crafty pony I was.” I followed for a bit, trying to wrap my head around the concept. “So how exactly does Warner still live, apparently for an eternity, if he doesn’t have a soul?” The premise seemed a bit wrong. Weren’t souls the reason things were alive? To be honest, I had no idea what souls had to do with anything. Not-Warner stopped and turned to me. “It’s not that simple lass.” Of course not! Why would anything be as simple as what I thought it should? “Souls, as many religions would have you believe, is what makes ponies and creatures individual. They aren’t quite spot on though. It’s more like a spark starting life. Existence is started by biology of course, but it isn’t truly alive until it has a soul. After that it just kind of lingers on forever, even after that thing has died. That’s why you get ghosts lass, souls that linger around because they feel spiteful or something.” I didn’t believe that in the slightest. Ghosts weren’t real. Then again, what did I know? Here I was believing things could possibly be simple. “Alright, but that doesn’t answer my question. Why is Warner still around, or at least I think he is, if he apparently doesn’t have a soul because of you?” “Oh you got the wrong idea lass. I didn’t do anything to separate myself from Warner, he did that with these ponies’ help. What you didn’t wait for me to explain, is that souls are needed for something to be and to cease to be.” I stared blankly at the apparent soul of Warner, with his black eyes and angry expression. “Ugh, you aren’t making this easy with your simple mindedness lass. A pony can exist without a soul, but does so until the soul is vanquished or absorbed or dies!” Well, he certainly sounded aggravated. “Hey! This concept can be a bit difficult to grasp. I haven’t exactly taken ‘souls 101’ alright?” I couldn’t have sounded more like an angry student not getting the right classes for magic school. The light blue pony sighed exasperated. “Alright, fair enough. Souls, after their needed spark for life, linger within the being until the being dies. It is then that it is released and allowed to pass on alright? They just want to get to the afterlife so they can stop being. But when a soul is torn away from something before that, the being can still be alive. However, the being is still tied to the soul like a sort of spiritual string until the soul passes on. In such cases though the soul is usually sealed into something, to make it indestructible or into a spell like I was.” I stared blankly for a moment, taking the explanation into consideration. Heavy consideration. “So if those ponies’ souls were trapped in the spell books, why does some pony else have to go beyond reading to understand the spell?” “It’s not just a spell that you cast when you use ‘black magic’, it’s the pony’s soul that you call on. Like I said earlier, a soul can move on through absorption. It still ceases to be, but its power can be used by others. The power of ‘black magic’ is from those ponies who gave their souls up, willing or not. Poor Carlotta wasn’t willing, and after seeing what happened to her, Warner became willing.” The blue pony turned his head again to the black clad ponies. I too looked at them, standing in place like they were frozen. “So, Warner willingly gave his soul to live forever because the alternative was to die?” Not-Warner nodded in confirmation. “So, are you like Warner before he became Warner?” “A part of him, yes. What he is now is simply what’s left.” He almost seemed sad at the thought. I looked around a bit, trying to find a nice lovely door that said exit. There was none however. “Alright then, it’s been fun and all but I really must be going.” I started off towards the grey ocean in an attempt to find the door that I apparently flew in through before. “That’s not how this works.” Not-Warner said solemnly. I turned around to look at him, but he wasn’t there. I again looked forward and found the light blue, black-eyed pony standing in front of me with a sad look on his face. “I think you know better than that.” “Right, of course.” I did know better by now. “Is this going to be painful?” “Do I have to answer that?” “Isn’t there some way that you can let me leave without giving me some kind of powerful magic? Can’t you just answer my questions and let me go?” I pleaded to the familiar, yet foreign pony. Not-Warner shook his head sadly. “Even if I wanted to just let you go, you can’t until you absorb my power. Otherwise, you would just stay in a magic induced coma forever.” Right, no moving on until the whole ‘absorption’ thing happens. “Fine. Just, make it quick please. The last pony made me feel like I was dying from the inside. At least Inferno just made me cough for a while.” “Unfortunately, I think this will be the most painful experience for you yet Midnight.” The light blue pony said solemnly. “Wait, before you go on. Can you tell me where Warner is and how you all seemed to know my name?” I pleaded, looking into his black eyes. “I can actually. He’s a lot closer than you thought he was Midnight, right next to you actually. He won’t be happy with you when you wake up. As for how we know your name? Blackmore knew you when you were young, even books get bored and talk sometimes Midnight.” That was a bit disappointing. I thought it would be some kind of excuse about prophecy or something convoluted like that. Apparently not though. Just books getting bored. “Alright then. Go ahead and do your thing.” Not-Warner smiled a little. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to move on Midnight. Thank you.” I smiled back at the light blue pony. Just for a moment, I saw a pang of sadness on his face. If only for a moment. “The gift I give you is a dangerous one. While fire and darkness may be destructive by your hooves, mine is one that is destructive without control.” That certainly sounded worse than what I already learned. “Twisters and howling winds from every direction, bolts of lightning to strike the life from all who stand against you, and rain to wash away the charred remains of everything that meets your wrath. Speck its name and you will know ‘Charon’, me.” Around us, a storm began to brew. Thunder erupted from its clouds, and rain poured down in stinging sheets. While I could hardly hear myself, I willingly whispered “Charon.” Hell’s boat pony smiled down upon me. “Don’t let the storm overtake you Midnight.” As if waiting for his last little comment, a bolt of lightning struck down on my horn like it was a lightning rod. It was only for a moment, but I felt like all the nerves in my body just begged for the life to wink away. I blacked out, screaming in pain. I didn’t even know when the magic induced dream ended and reality began. I woke up from the blackness screaming. A hoof quickly covered my mouth, making me simply let out a muffled yell. “Shh, Midnight. It’s okay.” I managed to quell my screaming and looked at the light blue, green-eyed, frowning face of Warner looking down at me. As I stopped screaming, he lifted his hoof away and shook it a bit. “Do ya really have to slobber all over my leg lass?” I rose up from my laying down position and hugged Warner tight around his neck. “Oh my goodness! Warner where have you been!?” Warner let out a choking sound that told me I was hugging a bit too tight. I let go of the choking pony and stared up at him with a smile on my face, but he didn’t return it. “Midnight, why did you read those books?” Oh yeah, he wouldn’t be happy about that. “I told you to burn them!” He really did, I just didn’t listen. “Yeah, I know Warner. But you don’t understand I-” “Oh don’t worry, I understand. You just thought you’d take a peek, won’t be so bad right? Next thing you know, you’ve been given terrible magical power. Which one did you read Midnight? Which one?” I looked up at Warner, a little hurt. “All three of them.” Warner stared down at me looking both surprised and disturbed. “All of them?” I nodded. “As in, all three of them?” I nodded again. Warner ran a hoof through his mane, looking rather stressed. “That’s impossible. You must have miscounted or something. One pony can’t have three black magic spells Midnight. It’s never been done without a pony going insane.” I gave him an indignant look. “What? Don’t think that I can handle it or something? I’m a bit tougher than you think Warner.” Warner walked away from the bed that I was laying on. Was it bad that I woke up in ponies’ beds like this as often as I did? “No, no, no, no. You don’t understand Midnight.” Of course I didn’t. I’m miss ignorant remember? “It’s not a matter of if you’re strong or not. It’s a matter of having souls that aren’t yours. It’s a matter of losing yourself.” “Well, I don’t feel any different Warner. I still feel like me. I just sometimes have an insistent voice in my head, but nothing serious. I don’t lose control of myself or anything.” I got up from the bed and found myself on wooden floor boards. I was still in Warner’s room. “Where have you been?” Warner looked back at me, noticeably still angry. “I’ve been around. Thought I’d come back and see the old ship one more time before I accepted where I was, but who did I find? Sharpe and some bloke with wings onboard looking for me. Told me they’d been looking for me for a while on your behalf, then they tell me that you’re looking for me in my room like a mad pony. And just like they’d said you were here, reading a book. A black book.” “Hey! In my defense, I had already read the other two and only wanted some answers. Your soul gave me all the answers I needed too.” Warner was taken aback by that. “You…you know then don’t you? You know why I didn’t want you to read them.” I looked around confused. “Um, no not really. Something about souls and you not having one?” Warner shook his head, looking at the floor. “No. It’s not that Midnight. It’s that now that you’ve absorbed my soul, I don’t have a lot of time left.” He looked up at the painting of Carlotta. “I suspect I’ve only got a week before my body decays. Time is going to catch up to me pretty quick, then I’ll just die. End of the line.” Wait, what? “But, isn’t that what you wanted Warner? Didn’t you want to die long ago?” “No. I should have died long ago, with Carlotta. I was a coward though. I wanted to cling to this world like a foal. I wanted to live because I feared forever. Then I experienced it, couldn’t die no matter how much I tried to end my life. Rocks wouldn’t crush my bones, blades wouldn’t do anything but break the surface of my skin and when it did, my blood wouldn’t flow. I was cursed to live forever, even though I wanted to die. And yes, for a time I did want it all to end. In that time, I scrawled out the spell that consumed my soul in a twisted hope that I could get some pony to take away my curse. I thought the nightmare would never end.” Warner looked up from the floor. “Then I realized that I had a purpose. As long as I held the curse, some pony else wouldn’t. If I could just keep some pony else from experiencing forever in this hell of a world, I would have beaten it. Stopped it in it tracks. I would have won.” I looked at the sorrowful Warner. “Warner…I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know-” “Of course you didn’t. And until you pass on the curse, you will not die either. I’ll decay from this world and my soul won’t transcend into eternity because of my foolishness. I’ll never see Carlotta again, just like she feared.” Warner looked down again, crying. I couldn’t help but feel terrible. “Look, Warner I’m sorry. But what’s done is done. I know you think that everything is over for you, but there’s one thing that you can do that can help ponies in need.” Warner looked up from his tears, more still rolling down his face. “What’s that exactly? I don’t think an old washed up walking corpse like me can do much of anything.” I smiled at Warner. “You know a thing or two about boats. And I happen to know a group of ponies who need one.” Warner looked at me, a smile slowly creeping upon his face. “When can I start?” Author's Note Gotta say, Warner is one of my favorite characters to write. Hell's boat pony sounds like something similar to Hell's kitchen. Anyway, enjoy! and don't eat too many fruit roll-ups Epilogue: The SelfishAfter the burning of the Colony, life went on. In scale few lives were changed, but those that were changed couldn’t ever return to the way things were. The Colony was left a pile of spent ashes with nothing but the burnt corpses of its deceased inhabitants buried amongst the destruction. While it was occasionally picked over by local zebra tribes, it was widely considered to be a cursed place to walk. Life, as if in fear of another blaze, simply didn’t return to the ashes. While the ponies who died in the Colony were never remembered, they were never really forgotten. The ashes of the Colony remained an ever present reminder that when turned against her own kind, the Shadow-Walker would not hesitate to spread her ruin. Princess Platinum was hardly even notified of the fate of the Colony. Its fate was left, as it always had been, out of the hooves of those that didn’t care. While it had initially been successful in its mission to remove criminals without killing them, no pony else was ever sentenced to the desolate settlement of criminals that only promised to kill whoever found its shores. It hardly mattered to Princess Platinum though. She was far too caught up in her own agenda. Clover the Clever, feeling much remorse after tricking Midnight Star into being brought to justice, always swayed a hearing’s verdict away from the Colony. She didn’t want to feel anymore guilt sending ponies to die by nature rather than by execution. She had bigger problems to deal with. She had to find out why the weather was getting colder and colder each passing month, even though it was scheduled to be getting warmer. While she suspected the Pegasus, she never spoke up when she attended meetings between Princess Platinum, Commander Hurricane, and Canceler Puddinghead. Eventually the cold weather came to a freezing point, but that is another story entirely. The Gold family, with its last hope of achieving the throne presumed dead, fell into obscurity. As the months went on, less and less ponies of its bloodline claimed to so proudly have Gold in their blood. As a last ditch attempt at the throne, several of the final members of the family attempted to murder the Princess in clear daylight. They were promptly executed on the spot, not even given trial for their crime. Sunset Gale, the wrongly condemned painter, ran from the Colony and Midnight star. With time, he eventually found himself facing the Caesar of the zebras. He had begged for safe haven among the striped ones, he was given a much different fate entirely. The Caesar found much humor in the yellow winged pony, and put him in the coliseum to see how long he would amuse the crowd and himself. He was sorrowfully disappointed. Graham, savior of ponies and zebra alike, continued his journey throughout the zebra lands. While the tribes and factions that he helped always held the upmost respect for the traveling earth pony, it was not his teachings that they remembered. While Graham regretted their false reverence, he never stopped his journey. If he had to trek across the entire continent spreading his teachings and spirituality to find a tribe willing to accept a higher power other than their own, he would. He found that his religion was harder to spread with no book containing the word, but didn’t regret his decision to leave it with the one the zebra called Shadow-Walker. Warner, the cursed sailor with regrets, found that his life did not end. He was filled with sadness when he realized that he would continue his existence, never to move on from it. Over the course of his existence, he found himself forgetting about his adventures more and more. With his boat, the Silver Sapphire, wrecked on a rocky shore he had to build a new one. However without the journals from his past, he eventually forgot who he was. His mind simply melded with his regrets and formed a murky mess of thoughts that the sailor found himself mulling over at night. While he always regretted his past, he never remembered any pony but Carlotta. Rumors spoke of an empty sailor, always looking back to find nothing. They spoke of a pirate that had no remorse, always looking forward to find fortune. They spoke of a husband at sea, who could never look anywhere but where he was. Warner was all of these, he just could never remember which he was. Time played a cruel trick on the cursed pony, and he could never forgive it. Sharpe found Midnight’s lifeless body the next morning and mourned for her, burying her in the ashes he knew she regretted. While he stayed by her grave for a time, he knew he had to move on. Midnight was gone, and there was nothing he could do about it. He searched for a time, and eventually was reunited with the mysterious Graham in his crusade of Harmony. Regretting his failure with Midnight, he swore to protect the priest for the rest of his days. When nature became rampant or a tribe rejected Graham and his Harmony, Sharpe was there to protect him. They trekked across the zebra lands for many years, causing the tribes and organized legion to eventually regard the duo with respect. Midnight Star, criminal, monster, Shadow-Walker, became nothing but a myth and a story. Zebras would tell stories of the cursed unicorn for years, always regarding the name with respect so as to not anger her vengeful spirit. Her name meant fear and regret to the tribes and legion. Not even the Caesar of the legion would speak her name without reason. Her body lay in the shallow grave under the burnt remains of the Colony, a fitting destination for the selfish mare. Even when every pony she considered a friend pleaded that she choose life, she chose death. She was too selfish to face the consequences for her actions, and chose to end it all. In her last moments, Midnight thought of those she felt were close to her. She thought and regretted until she chose to give up her life. Though she left her friends wanting her to live, she left them with drastically changed views. Just as she wanted, life went on without her. Ponies were killed, lies were believed, and legends were forgotten. Author's Note For those who want a dark ending, here you go! although, it could be happy in a way. Epilogue: The AcceptingAfter the burning of the Colony, life went on. In scale few lives were changed, but those that were changed couldn’t ever return to the way things were. The Colony was left a pile of spent ashes with nothing but the burnt corpses of its deceased inhabitants buried amongst the destruction. While it was occasionally picked over by local zebra tribes, it was widely considered to be a cursed place to walk. Life, as if in fear of another blaze, simply didn’t return to the ashes. While the ponies who died in the Colony were never remembered, they were never really forgotten. The ashes of the Colony remained an ever present reminder that when turned against her own kind, the Shadow-Walker would not hesitate to spread her ruin. Princess Platinum was hardly even notified of the fate of the Colony. Its fate was left, as it always had been, out of the hooves of those that didn’t care. While it had initially been successful in its mission to remove criminals without killing them, no pony else was ever sentenced to the desolate settlement of criminals that only promised to kill whoever found its shores. It hardly mattered to Princess Platinum though. She was far too caught up in her own agenda. Clover the Clever, feeling much remorse after tricking Midnight Star into being brought to justice, always swayed a hearing’s verdict away from the Colony. She didn’t want to feel anymore guilt sending ponies to die by nature rather than by execution. She had bigger problems to deal with. She had to find out why the weather was getting colder and colder each passing month, even though it was scheduled to be getting warmer. While she suspected the Pegasus, she never spoke up when she attended meetings between Princess Platinum, Commander Hurricane, and Canceler Puddinghead. Eventually the cold weather came to a freezing point, but that is another story entirely. The Gold family, with its last hope of achieving the throne presumed dead, fell into obscurity. As the months went on, less and less ponies of its bloodline claimed to so proudly have Gold in their blood. As a last ditch attempt at the throne, several of the final members of the family attempted to murder the Princess in clear daylight. They were promptly executed on the spot, not even given trial for their crime. Sunset Gale, the wrongly condemned painter, ran from the Colony and Midnight star. With time, he eventually found himself facing the Caesar of the zebras. He had begged for safe haven among the striped ones, he was given a much different fate entirely. The Caesar found much humor in the yellow winged pony, and put him in the coliseum to see how long he would amuse the crowd and himself. He was sorrowfully disappointed. Graham, savior of ponies and zebra alike, continued his journey throughout the zebra lands. While the tribes and factions that he helped always held the upmost respect for the traveling earth pony, it was not his teachings that they remembered. While Graham regretted their false reverence, he never stopped his journey. If he had to trek across the entire continent spreading his teachings and spirituality to find a tribe willing to accept a higher power other than their own, he would. Days after the burning of the Colony, Warner finally closed his eyes for the last time. After years of scouring the world for purpose, he finally was allowed the peace that comes with death. While he always regretted being unable to save his love, he knew that there was nothing that he could do to bring her back. Nothing that he could do. The empty shell found himself…satisfied with whom he had left to take his place. While she was still young and naïve, he knew she would become wise of her ways with the years. Years have a tendency to do that, he knew better than most. In his last moments, Warner thought of Carlotta….regretting as he always had. Sharpe continued to watch over Midnight, keeping true to his promise to keep her safe; even from herself. While he knew that his promise was more than just a simple vow he kept, he never accepted it. Eventually he learned to accept his affection for the young, cursed mare, but always kept it quiet. Sharpe made it common practice to remember the days before his assignment to keep Midnight alive, if only to give him something to escape from. Those memories stayed with him, even when fending off wild animals and rogue zebras with his retrieved armor and spear, pushing him towards a brighter future. He always questioned his choice to defend the mare who both condemned and saved him, but never acted on his questioning. Midnight Star closed the books that Warner had once given her for good. Using the very black magic she learned from them, she burned the empty tomes to protect those she may hurt from their misuse. While it was an empty gesture, she felt justified to watch the long yellowed parchment of the cursed books curl up into wasted ashes. Rather than run away from her actions, and simply let life move on without her, Midnight Star made it her purpose to seek out other black books and destroy them. If that meant that she would have to become more corrupted and twisted to keep other ponies from suffering an eternity without a soul, she would. While she always urged that Sharpe not follow her in her journey, he always stayed with her. Eventually, the two met up again with Graham. Unfortunately Graham wouldn’t accept the holy tome of which he sealed the cursed spirits in, so Midnight simply joined him in his crusade. She knew he needed his holy book to make a better example of scripture, and if her story of how the earth pony literally saved her soul would turn the beliefs of a misguided zebra tribe, then it was all the more reason she justified her traveling with him. Graham was skeptical at first, but found that the powerful unicorn and her guards pony were a welcome addition when things turned sour. Midnight Star looked back on her choices and actions, and smiled. While she didn’t always make the best decisions, she knew there was always the next day to make better ones. Chapter Eight: The EndWhile I sent Warner, Sharpe, and Sunset back to the Colony, I went on my own to find and speak to Graham again. I had some questions for him that I was rather concerned Warner would just get angry about if I asked him. Most importantly however, I needed some time to think. The travel time to reach Graham would give me exactly that. It would be a bit of a journey from the wrecked Silver Sapphire to Graham’s Mission, at least the rest of the day. If not, some of the night as well. Since everything I heard from the spirits in the black books was the truth and I shouldn’t doubt then in the slightest, I had to ask Graham if anything of the sort was possible in the first place. Obviously Warner would have a slightly skewed view on the whole predicament, so an outside opinion on the matter would do nicely. Another thing, if only for my own sanity, I had to know if what I did was something that he had seen happen before. It was mostly for my own self-loathing, but I had to know if entire tribes were wiped out by situations like what had happened here with my victims. Was it self-defense? Or had I gone too far? As I made my way up the mountain of which the Mission stood upon, I found myself making excuses as to why this was a dumb idea. I found myself trying to think of any kind of reason to go back and brave the night instead of ask the religious pony about what the hell was going on with my life. Many thoughts such as ‘he probably doesn’t know a lot about the subject’ or ‘he is going to call you a monster and send you away anyway.’ I found myself stifled in the last moments of evening at Graham’s door. I couldn’t bring myself to open the door. No, instead the door opened to me. In the open door frame sat Graham with a confused look on his face. “Why are you here again miss Midnight? I know I told you that I would be willing to help with anything else, but I was not expecting you to be back so soon.” There was a certain grace to his voice, it was deep and almost deserved a song to go along with it. I fumbled over some words for a moment. I didn’t know what I wanted to ask first. “Um, actually there’s nothing wrong at the Colony no. It’s actually something personal I wanted to ask you. Could I come inside?” Graham looked at me for a moment, contemplating me. Then he smiled. “Of course, my door is always open for those seeking answers. Come in.” I backed away from the door, beckoning me inside. As I passed through the door frame, the warmth of a proper home hit me like a warm blanket. It may not have been that much to marvel over, but it really felt like Graham had made a place for himself here. The Colony on the other hoof, was simply temporary until we could get transportation elsewhere. Edge said that he was sure the zebra tribes here had enough of the Colony and wanted to find some kind of way off the island, hopefully Warner would solve that. I sat on the ground next to the comfy bed and started mulling over my thoughts. “What is it that brings you back here Midnight?” Graham asked, sitting a few paces from me. I knew he wasn’t going to like this. “I was wondering if you could tell me everything you know about the Black books.” As the question passed Graham’s ears, he sighed. “You read another didn’t you?” I grinned sheepishly. “Little bit.” Another sigh from Graham told me that he was a bit labored by this topic. “Well as you know the black books contain very powerful spells, but these spells are not powerful simply by their own right. While most spells simply draw on the energy of the caster, black magic draws on the bound soul of a pony who has either been sacrificed or convinced to do so.” Well, in that case Charon wasn’t lying. At least in one sense. “Well, could you explain a bit about that? I’m completely in the dark about soul binding and the consequences of such.” “Consequences.” Graham nodded at the word, as if it were fitting in his mind. “If a pony were to be sacrificed in order to give up their soul to be bound to a spell, they would die in the process and their soul would simply continue to exist in the bound spell or object.” Another point for Charon, maybe he was the only honest one. “If a pony were to simply have their soul bound and not be sacrificed, their empty shell would walk the world until their soul has been released.” So Warner was just an empty shell, not fully himself. “I see.” I looked at the ground for a moment, trying to find the words for my next question. “Um, what would happen to that shell once their soul was released or absorbed?” Graham frowned at me. “Absorbed? You really have been listening to those books haven’t you?” I avoided eye contact with the religious pony. “If a bound soul is released, or absorbed in your case, the shell will simply catch up with all the lost time it had been empty. I have heard legends in which kings of the olden times have risen and fallen by the whims of black books and their souls keeping them on this world. The body will decay, but the pony will live until they have been turned to nothing more than a pile of bones. It is the most painful way I have witnessed a pony die. Death in war or by sickness is more merciful then rotting while you still live.” So that’s how he knew so much about this sort of thing. I was beginning to suspect that maybe he had read a black book himself, but I suppose a religious figure like him would have all kinds of ponies coming to him for help. Even those without souls to save. “What about a pony who has absorbed the souls of more than one pony? What happens to her?” I couldn’t even stop the words before they spilled out. Graham stared at me for a moment, until I looked him in the eyes as well. “Your eyes aren’t usually silver are they?” I froze for a moment, then shook my head slowly. “You’re worried about what will happen to you aren’t you?” I felt myself almost crying as I nodded, still keeping eye contact. Graham returned the nod and looked around for a moment. He got up, retrieved something from his bedside table and sat back down in front of me. I tried my best not to blink. I didn’t want my eyes to be empty and black here. I didn’t want to be a monster. “Here, look at this.” Graham pointed to the thing he had retrieved, a book open to a sort of hexagonal shape thing. I looked down at it and felt myself back away from it a little. “I see. Then you aren’t fully yourself then.” I looked back up to Graham slightly panicked, if that was a thing. “How many black books did you read?” I felt my heart rate soring. Why was I breathing so quickly? “Um, three? I think. Yeah, three.” I avoided looking at the hexagon shape at all costs. It frightened me for some reason. Graham picked up the book and read something, his eyes darting across the page quickly before turning it around and making me look at it. I turned my head away from it. “No! Midnight, I need you to look at this book. Look at this seal, I’m trying to help you.” I forced myself to look at the shape on the page, no matter how much I wanted to look away. Was I growling at it? Yes I was. I was actually growling at a shape on a page. “They are trying to get out Midnight. They are trying to surface themselves and take over your mind. There is one problem however, up until now they have been fighting. Now in the presence of this seal, they are trying to all force their will on you. You have to focus and do exactly as I say Midnight. Alright? Are you still there?” Graham reached out with a hoof to try and touch me, but I batted it away with my own hoof. Why did I do that? “I think so. Graham, what’s going to happen to me?” “Nothing Midnight. You’re going to be fine.” Why was it that I didn’t believe him? “Now I want you to count to seven alright? If you mess up or stop suddenly, start over.” That seemed really stupid. “Alright Graham. One, two, five-” “No! Start over.” I wanted to kick Graham in the face for that. On the other hoof, why did I say five? Five wasn’t until after four right? “Fine. One, two….three.” “You slowed down, try again.” I actually got up and was about to kick Graham in the face this time, but he forced me to sit back down with his forelegs. “Midnight. Start again.” I hated his face so much. Why was he so angry? Why was I so angry? “Fine, you worthless swine!” Graham didn’t even react to my words. Were they my words? I didn’t know anymore. “One! Two! Three! FourFiveSix-” “Evenly Midnight! This doesn’t work if it’s not you counting!” What the hell was that supposed to mean? I was trying my best and he was yelling at me! I felt myself start to cry a little. Tears welled up in my eyes. “One…two…three-he.” I was absolutely bawling by this time. I couldn’t speak evenly. My face was hot with either sadness, or hate. I couldn’t decide. “Midnight.” I looked up at Graham through my tears. He didn’t hold the slightest contempt for me, whereas I wanted to burn his face off until he didn’t have any more skin. “I know you’re in there somewhere.” I suddenly felt numb. The tears continued to stream down my face and I wanted more and more to burn his face off, but now I felt these things in a totally calm sort of way. Did that make sense? Calmly crying and wanting to melt face? “You’re not going to succeed here priest. She’s ours now.” I was surprised at the words that came from my mouth. That was definitely not me, I think. Was it? “You won’t fool me monster. I can have you killed right now. Removed from this world, with the uttering of a few words.” Graham stared at me with hating eyes. “I don’t want it to come to that.” “Like hell you can, worm.” As if I was guided by string, I bit down on my own foreleg as hard as I could. I didn’t even wince at the pain, instead I smiled. “Blackmore will lead you to eternity, you don’t have to show me the way. I already know that road priest.” At the uttering of his name, my blood oozed out into the shape of a black sword pointed at Graham. “Any last words worm? Or should I just cut out your throat out for you?” Okay, that was definitely not me. “When my time comes, I will go monster. You won’t be the judge of that.” Graham turned around and kicked me in the face, really hard. So hard that I dropped the blood sword and fell to my haunches, surprised. “Midnight! Count now! Seven!” As if I was hit with a sudden epiphany, I finally felt as though I was in control of my thoughts. I shook the kick off and focused. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven! There! Now what Grah-” All of the sudden, I felt myself fall to the ground and pass out. I opened my eyes to bright sunshine in the sky. I blinked a few times, getting used to the brightness and realized that I was lying on the ground. Getting up and looking around, I found that I was outside of Graham’s cabin. “What the heck happened?” I asked aloud. “The spirits of the black books almost consumed you Midnight.” I turned around to see Graham sitting in the grass with his eyes shut as if he was meditating. “I thought that they had completely taken you away, but you pulled through. I’m proud of you, for what it’s worth.” I cantered over to him and sat next to the meditating pony. “Um, thanks. What exactly do you mean almost consumed me? What happened?” Graham opened his eyes and looked at me. “They almost took over your mind, but you pulled through.” Great, that didn’t really explain a lot. “Had you not done so, I would have been forced to vanquish both them and you. I am glad it did not come to such violence.” I laughed a bit uncomfortable. “Hah, I am too. Being vanquished doesn’t exactly sound fun.” I looked around a bit. “How long has it been?” “Two days. The binding process is lengthy, but can be done.” I gave Graham a surprised look, at which he laughed a bit. “What? You look at me as if you have never heard of such a thing. Didn’t I already tell you a bit about binding and such already?” “Yeah, but I didn’t know it could be done by a pony that wasn’t… well wasn’t-” “A unicorn?” He took the word right from my mouth. “It is difficult, but with the right equipment a binding can require only the right words.” Something still bothered me though. “What do you mean binding? Did you bind my soul to something?” Graham hesitated for a few moments, but found the words he was looking for. “Not entirely Midnight. Only partially.” I didn’t like the sound of that. “What do you mean partially?” Graham looked me dead in the eyes. “They had embedded themselves enough to control your consciousness, I had to bind such parts of your soul lest they do the same thing again. It was not an easy choice, but it was the moral one.” Moral choice? “I’m still not understanding what any of that means. You keep saying you bound them, but that doesn’t exactly tell me what that does.” I suddenly very much felt like a child getting early spell classes…from an earth pony. Graham closed his eyes again, either thinking or just not wanting to look at my confusion. “They are bound to a powerful seal, but not permanently. Since part of your soul was caught up in the binding, I didn’t want to make it too powerful of a seal. While their spirits and some of you are bound to the seal, it is permeable enough for you to remember who you are. In that sense, also permeable enough for you to use the magic you gained from those spirits.” I thought for a moment on this, but was still bothered. “So, am I just a soulless shell now?” Graham laughed a bit, again reminding me that I really have to get into the field of comedy. “Hah, well not really Midnight. It is only a partial soul binding, not a complete one. So no, you are very much yourself in that you shouldn’t feel any different than before you read your first black book. You shouldn’t feel any whispers of those spirits in your mind.” I smiled a bit. “Well that certainly sounds good. But…what if I die?” I suddenly felt much more somber at the thought, but I needed to know. Graham stayed silent for a good, long while. I’m sure he was trying to find a simple way of explaining it. “I don’t know Midnight.” Or not. “Well, can I die? Since I’m not completely soulless, what happens if I end up dying?” He stayed silent once more. “I need to know Graham.” Graham looked into my eyes very seriously. “Midnight. There is no right answer to that.” He let that sink into my mind for a bit, the continued. “While I think you are indeed still completely able to have the life leave your body, I doubt that it will be anything that I have ever seen. Quite simply, I have never seen any kind of situation like yours Midnight. It’s normally one pony’s soul I’m saving, not binding a pony who has four.” I wanted to be angry at him, but had no ground to stand on. While I wanted to know more, I didn’t have any right to be angry at Graham for doing his best. “I see.” I looked away from Graham, suddenly wanting to change the subject. “So what happens now?” I returned my gaze to the religious, tan pony. “Where do we go from here?” “We go about our lives Midnight.” Graham got up and started cantering over to his cabin, beckoning me to follow. “I have a feeling that your friends are very concerned for you, being here for so long.” I looked to the ground. He was right, I didn’t know I would be away for two entire days. That was too long to just disappear again. “I guess you’re right Graham.” I got up from my haunches and looked back to the tan earth pony. “I suppose I’ll see you when I see you, if I see you again.” I turned to start the path back down to the plains and to the Colony. “Midnight, wait.” I turned back around to Graham cantering over to me with a back pack, my back pack. “I think you should take this.” I hadn’t even realized I had brought it or dropped it. “Oh, thanks Graham.” I took the thing in my telekinesis and plopped it on the ground. “Inside, you will find your three empty black books. Also, you will find mine. It’s not much to you probably, but I find that when I am lost most I can find comfort in the verses within. I am by no means a saint, and that book is proof. While most pastors would have nigh a scratch on it, mine has been beaten and worn down for years. It’s rather difficult to find the…I’m getting off topic. Inside you will find the very seal that contains the three spirits and part of your soul. If you can find such a way to put the lost spirits back into those black books of yours or simply release them, find me and bring that book. Then I can unbind your soul. But one step at a time Midnight. Don’t rush it, think it over.” Graham looked rather distant as he explained everything to me. Almost like he wasn’t sure he could actually do such a thing. I searched inside the back pack, and sure enough there was a white book inside that was worn almost to falling apart. Yet it remained in one piece somehow. “Thanks Graham. I guess it’s a little assuring to have part of my soul with me.” Graham smiled. “Check the bottom of the bag Midnight.” Confused, I shrugged and did so. I pulled out the four books and the wooden zebra mask, and gasped at what I saw at the bottom. “Graham, you don’t know how much I’ve missed this!” I pulled out my missing piece of lace from the back pack and smiled giddily. After replacing the rest of the contents, I pulled back my mane back into a manageable pony tail and tied the lace around it tightly. It felt so great to have wind meet my neck again. “Graham, where did you?” I looked up from the back pack and frowned. There was no Graham. The religious pony was simply gone. After looking around a bit, I gave up and smiled. “Thanks Graham. May you go where you are needed always.” With a smile, I turned and started down the path to the plains. I was going to miss him, but I had a feeling that I would see him again someday. Night was finally falling as I made my way closer to the Colony. Now with the living quarters being more than a few hollowed out trees, the place looked like ponies could actually live here. Perhaps I really had made a difference here. “Midnight!” I was stirred from my thoughts by the oddly out of place Sunset Gale galloping towards me. It was strange to see him not flying around as he usually was. “Sunset!” With a smile, I met the panting Pegasus and tried to give him a hug; that’s what ponies did when they were happy to see one another right? I was confused however when he pushed me away and sat down to catch his breath. “What’s wrong? Forgot how to fly or something?” After panting and trying at words several times, Sunset sat up and caught his breath properly. His face was hilarious. “No, not that.” More panting, had he been running or something? “It’s Edge. He’s gone insane!” That certainly didn’t sound good. “What do you mean?” I asked quickly, reflecting on how many times I had asked that in the past few days. “Edge doesn’t go crazy. He makes sure the crazy ones don’t go, well, crazy.” Sunset had finally managed to get his breath back fully. “It’s not that! You’ve got to talk to him, he’s not thinking right.” I nodded firmly. “Alright, let’s go. Lead the way.” “No, can’t. Said if he saw me again he’d kill me himself.” Sunset looked around, as if expecting to find something that was going to assault him. “You’ve got to talk some sense into him. I tried and he told me I was banished from the Colony or something.” No pony had the right to banish another. Even if he was some kind of commander of a rag tag group of exiles. That seemed a bit ironic. “Alright, where will you be? Where will you go?” I asked the yellow Pegasus. Sunset looked into my eyes. “I don’t know Midnight. I just can’t stay here. I’ll find you, I promise!” With that, he continued his gallop in the direction opposite of the Colony. “Wait! Sunset!” He was gone, didn’t even hear me. Without as much as a hug too. Damn it. I turned back the way I was heading, towards the Colony. If there was something wrong with Edge, he had to be removed. I didn’t think that I had much a chance at fighting the stallion since he was like twice my size, so words were going to be my best friend. I hoped. With concern rife in my mind, I galloped as fast as I could to the Colony. Things seemed quite when I arrived at the circle of ramshackle log cabins that made up the Colony. No pony was around, or even in their small homes. What was going on? I trotted over to my cabin, and found nothing inside. “Where is every pony?” I asked aloud, hoping for an answer. My answer however, was a tree falling down in front of my cabin doorway. That was not a good sign. I leaped over the fallen tree and looked around. Just outside my door on the left, I saw Sharpe and Edge hugging over by the uprooted base of the tree. Wait, hugging didn’t usually have anything to do with forelegs around one another’s necks. Edge was choking Sharpe while he flailed about uselessly against his big brother. “Edge! Stop! What are you doing?” I demanded, quickly trotting over to the two. “What is the meaning of this?” Edge looked up from his brother choking and gave me a sour look. “This doesn’t concern you girl, move along now before I decide you’re next.” “I think this very well concerns me! That’s my friend you’re choking!” I forced Edge’s forelegs away from his brother’s neck long enough for the red pony to crawl towards me coughing. Edge simply watched with a sick grin on his face. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Edge’s sick smile simply broadened. “Removing a traitor. So sad it happens to be my only living sibling.” I looked into Edge’s eyes, but only found anger in them. “Would you stop justice from being served?” I looked down at Sharpe, finding his breath at last. “Midnight, don’t listen to him. He’s gone crazy, you’ve got to stop him.” He coughed out, getting to his hooves. “Should have never brought Warner back here.” “What? Why?” I stammered, confused. “Didn’t he show the other’s how to make a boat like I said he could?” “Oh yes he did.” Edge answered. “And all it took was a few logs and clay all along. Soon enough, we will have a boat and finally be able to get off this forsaken place.” Well, that was exactly the plan wasn’t it? “Not just that Midnight!” I looked over to Sharpe, in a defensive stance. “He wants to go to the Marble City. He wants to get revenge for his being here.” “Justice is not revenge brother. If you stayed in your damn place and did as you were told, you wouldn’t be here! None of us would be here!” Edge yelled loudly at me and Sharpe. “No! We’d all be happy in our death. We’d serve as warning to others that the unicorns are ruthless animals! They said the Colony was going to be merciful, they were wrong.” With Edge’s yelling, some of the other ponies of the Colony started to gather around the three of us in a sort of sparse circle. “You and I both know it is petty revenge brother!” Sharpe yelled back from beside me. “The Marble City will deny us and put us to death anyway! You have the chance to live. A chance for all of us to live! You just want to throw it away on your revenge though. You want us all to hurt innocent ponies in the name of revenge. I won’t do it brother. I won’t hurt the ponies that we both defended just because you don’t like the place they sent you to.” Edge smiled sickly again. “It was them that decided to send us here brother. They wanted to simply sweep us under the rug so they didn’t have to look at us. Instead of simply putting us to death, they sent us away. Why am I even talking to you? You don’t know how much this place can take away from you Sharpe.” Edge looked around at the ponies circled around us. “I think I speak for us all when I say that it’s about time that we got a little bit of payback for their insolence.” He looked directly to me, eyes filled with hate. “Would you join us Midnight? Would you join us in serving justice to the sheep that watched idly by as the crown tried to keep our blood from its own hooves?” He held out a hoof to me, as if to beckon me over. “Don’t listen to him Midnight!” Sharpe pleaded beside me. “He only wants to go out in a blood bath. Don’t follow him in his march on death.” “If you refuse, you will be a traitor like my brother. A traitor to the downtrodden and the evicted. You can either ride valiantly with justice on an assault on the ponies that put you here, or you can die here as a traitor to the greater good.” Some of the other ponies floated over a spear to the tall stallion. He took it in his magic and pointed it to me, spearhead towards himself. “Make your choice Midnight.” I looked to Sharpe once more, then to the ponies entrapping us in a circle like a preschool fight. I then looked at Edge, his face staunch and determined. “Edge.” I stared. “You do know that this is a suicide mission right? The guards aren’t going to welcome you back with open forelegs and just let you march on the Platinum palace. They’ll kill you, all of you.” “Then we shall take as many as we can with us. They are better off dead than under the tyranny of the Platinum crown.” Edge did not even blink. He knew he was throwing away his life and the lives of the other ponies of the Colony, just to get a last bit of revenge against the crown for putting him here instead of simply killing him. I thought for a moment. On one hoof, I had death by my fellow exiles. It would be quick, and I would die with Sharpe. On the other, I had death by the Platinum guard. Probably just as quick, and I would be remembered as a murderer. Neither one sounded like a good idea. Death or death? No. I wasn’t about to let this be where I fall. I wasn’t about to throw my life away because some pony told me to. I wasn’t about to brand myself a traitor to any pony. “I’m sorry Edge. I can’t accept what you’re doing.” I had to raise my voice enough to be heard at the slight distance, but not to the yelling point that Edge had been at. “I refuse to throw my life away on the whims of some pony that just thought he would take control. I refuse to let you dictate these ponies’ lives as if they belong to you.” Edge dropped the spear and looked around the circle of ponies around us. “Midnight, you think that you can call me a dictator and just have me cast away?” He looked back to me, hate in his eyes once more. “These ponies are the ones who told me what they wanted. It was not my plan to use a boat to strike back to the Platinum crown! It is the will of the Colony that calls me to lead them, and they call me to lead them on a path of justice. I am not the mastermind you may think I am, I am simply what I am asked to be: a leader.” I didn’t believe it. My one weapon against the worst possible outcome was a dud. Usually when you throw the word dictator around, ponies get rampant and want to oust the dictator. I hadn’t counted on this settlement of criminals to desire revenge on the ponies that put them here. Then again, that made more sense that Edge being a dictator. I gave a quick look to Sharpe, whom of which gazed at me with sorrow in his eyes. “Midnight that was noble of you, but I don’t think there’s any way we can get out of this. Tell him you’ll go, tell him you’ll go with him so you can have a chance to run. You don’t deserve to die here with me.” There was such determination in the red pony’s eyes. He was ready to die here if only I had the chance to continue living. I had another plan though. “I can’t do that Sharpe, I’m sorry.” I looked back over to Edge. “Well since you are dead set on this choice and are certain of what will happen, why not a little duel to spice things up? I’m sure you are aware of the rules of a duel?” I gave a side glance to Sharpe, giving me the most pleading look I’d ever seen on him. Edge laughed at the idea. “Hah, so you think you can defeat me girl? Is that what this is? You think you can defeat me and save the day? Be the hero?” I stared into his eyes, unwavering. “I can tell you one thing girl, you certainly have guts. Another thing I can tell you, even on the off chance that you kill me in this stunt it won’t change a thing. My living doesn’t change the ideals of the Colony. You are aware that there is no good way this can end for you right?” I nodded firmly. “Be that as it may, I’d rather die in an honorable duel with the commander than by the blade of execution.” Sharped begged that I desist, but I ignored him. “Well, I can honestly say that would be more fun than just having you put to death traitor. I accept your challenge Midnight.” Edge looked around the circle of watching ponies. “Do no interrupt, unless it is necessary.” He looked back to me. “Would you prefer to fight with spears? Or shall we devolve ourselves to hooves and horns?” Sharpe was pulled behind the crowd that circled me and Edge. I hoped that he would be okay. If I was lucky, my diversion would give him a chance to escape. “No, spears would be adequate. They aren’t proper dueling weapons, but they will have to do.” At my words, a spear was tossed over to my side. I picked it up in my magic, and suddenly realized I had no idea how the hell to use it. The pointy side went towards the thing I was tryin to stab right? “Excellent.” Edge scoffed, picking up a spear of his own with magic as well. “Shall we count down from three then?” “Go ahead.” The two of us circled each other defensively. “Alright then. May the best pony win.” Edge cracked his neck and smiled at me. “Three, two, one, draw!” With a whip of his horn, Edge hurled his spear at me with a frightening speed. “Whoa!” I jumped out of the way, just barely moving my hind legs out of the way in time. With his weapon stuck in the ground, I charged up to Edge with magically wielded spear alongside me. I would have stabbed him in the chest, but with a flash he was gone. Suddenly without a target, I looked around and found the tall brown pony picking up his spear with a smile on his face. “Oh come on Midnight. Don’t make this too easy now.” With another flash he was right in front of me, ready to run me through with his spear. I quick wave of my own spear knocked his away just in time to keep me from becoming a Midnight kabob, but before I could relish the small victory I was kicked in the chest with powerful hooves. The impact made me lose focus on my spear and sent me flying backwards a good few feet. I fought back to my hooves, coughing. When I looked up again, Edge was cantering toward me with two spears in his magical levitation fields. “If you were going to challenge me to a fight, you could at least make it interesting.” He lunged forward with spear aimed at me. I was able to get out of the way of the first, but a quick flick of his telekinesis sent the wooden end of his second spear into my chest. Being thrown off balance a bit, I fought to catch my breath again while putting a bit of distance between me and Edge. “What? Giving up already? I thought you were doing this for honor girl, not to be remembered as a coward.” With another flash, Edge was behind me with one spear pointed at my neck and the other at my forelegs. “There’s a reason not just any pony gets selected to be the captain of the guard. You have to be ruthless!” I jumped away from the angry spear-wielding pony as he attempted to perforate me. “You have to be smart!” I tried to kick one of the spears from his magical grasp, but he simply pulled it away and advanced with the other putting a stinging cut on my right foreleg. “You have to be three steps ahead of your opponent at all times!” With another flash Edge was to my right, trying to pincer me with his two spears. I jumped up to avoid them, but a high kick sent me on another flight to the ground. I barely managed to get to my hooves in time before he hurled a spear at me again. I wasn’t prepared for the projectile and now had a spear sticking out of my left hind leg. Searing pain shot though my entire body, forcing me to collapse again and stay down. I fought the screams of pain, but couldn’t help but cry out in agony. “What’s wrong Midnight? Suddenly not in the mood to go anywhere?” Edge taunted at me. I tried to pull my leg away from the spear, but it was rooted in the ground. I was literally pinned to the ground, and couldn’t get out. “Oops, that’s just because you aren’t able to. That’s much too bad, I was hoping this would at least be a challenge.” I watched as the smug stallion cantered closer and closer to me, certain of his victory. I forced myself to look back at the spear in my leg, trying to figure out how I could get it out. It was a gruesome sight with my blood pouring onto it from both sides. If he just left me here, I would bleed out before I could force the thing out. I was dead, I just hadn’t come to terms with it yet. Unless I did something stupid. I weighed the options as quickly as I could. I couldn’t find a better option, I had to. “You think you’ve won Edge.” I taunted, fighting the pain with gritted teeth. Edge stopped a few feet from me, looking down at me with a smile and spear pointed at my neck. “Oh, I don’t think that is something I am going to have to worry about Midnight. I just have one question: any last words?” Couldn’t have chosen a better phrase for me. “Yeah actually. I think you’ll regret asking.” Edge raised an eyebrow at me, amused at the slightest. “Charon!” As I yelled the name, a bolt of lightning erupted from my horn. A surprised Edge was sent flying a good distance, dropping his spear. I looked back at the spear protruding from my leg and grimaced. With grit teeth and a black aura eradiating from my horn, I forced myself to speak again. “Blackmore!” As if responding to my call, my blood turned an inky black color and swirled around the spear stuck in my leg. I quickly formed a sword from the abundance of ooze from my leg, one as long as my foreleg, and sliced the upper half of the spear away. I was free from most of it. Now was the worst part though. I forced myself to my hooves once more and looked away from the wound. Fighting all urges to stop, I pulled my leg out from the shortened end of the spear. I couldn’t stop myself from screaming. Every bump and imperfection on the spear’s handle made my leg scream with pain. After fighting every instinct to stop, I soon felt the spear release me from its wooden clutches. I was free! Even though the spear wasn’t in my leg anymore, I still felt as if it was. I couldn’t put any weight on my left hind leg, lest it burn more than it already was. I grit my teeth and pointed my blood blade at the now upright Edge. “And you call me the fool.” I taunted with a gritting smile. Edge narrowed his gaze at me. “So you learned some tricks did you? Well, that certainly makes this more interesting. However, I don’t think I’m going to allow that.” With a jerk of his neck, ponies grabbed my hind legs and pinned me to the ground. “Black magic? I don’t think so Midnight.” I tried to hurl my blood blade at Edge, but he dodged it easily and continued to canter towards me. With my focus no longer on its shape, my blood blade fell to the ground as a simple puddle of blood. Still black. With a spear once more at my neck, Edge laughed. “Hah, you silly girl. While this is a fight I know I can win, I’d rather avoid the unnecessary injury to your soul before I send you to hell.” This was it. I was going to die here. No more tricks up my sleeves. I looked up at Edge standing over me with a smug smile on his muzzle. I closed my eyes, readying myself for the end. “Midnight!” “Call on her! Use her magic!” I opened my eyes to the whispers of Blackmore and Charon. They could still whisper to me? I thought that they were bound to the seal in Graham’s book…until I called upon them. “But I can’t, there’s no time!” I thought back. “Don’t be daft lass! Use her magic! Now!” I looked around me. Edge stood over me with a spear at my neck, three ponies kept me grounded, and several others watched with smiles on their faces. These ponies didn’t care for anything but hate. They didn’t want anything but revenge, and anything standing in their way was just another hurdle to cross. They wanted me to die. I may not have meant anything to the ponies of the Marble City. Hell I probably didn’t mean anything to any pony aside from Sharpe, Warner, Sunset, and Graham. But I’d be damned before I let these ruthless criminals kill innocent ponies in the name of revenge. If I could save the lives of many innocent ponies by taking the lives of a few criminals, then I didn’t care what they thought of me. Edge brought his spear back, ready to slit my throat and end my life. I wasn’t going to let him though. My horn glowed black, and I felt myself go numb as I spoke the name I swore I would never speak again. “Inferno!” Upon her name, my captors caught fire and let go. Edge was set ablaze before me. He screamed as he dropped his spear and rolled around trying to put out the flames. I could only smile as he continued to roll. “Burn now, you pig.” I smiled sickly at her choice of words. While I usually didn’t think well of the thoughts of Inferno, here I couldn’t have approved more. “All of you! Burn! Burn until there is nothing but beautiful ash!” It seemed that everything that I looked at simply caught fire; trees, makeshift cabins, even grass. Everything, and every pony was consumed in the beautiful blaze that surrounded me. I was deaf to the screams of the burning ponies, I could only hear the cackle of flames licking at everything around me. As I watched the world around me get consumed by the orange flames, I suddenly felt myself again. I no longer relished in the fire, no I felt its heat on my body. I had to get out of here! I looked around, but couldn’t make heads or tails of anything. In desperation, I picked a random direction and ran. I ran through the flames that licked at my sides and hooves. I ran until I felt sand under my hooves and slowed down. Here it was cool, and calm. I felt the waves of the ocean wash over my hooves and was brought back to my senses. After taking a few moments to collect myself, I thought about what I just did. I just burned the very place that I once tried to assist. All I wanted to do was help, but I could only manage to destroy it. Then again, was it better this way? Was it better that the Colony burned to ashes before it became a threat to innocent ponies? Why did I care anyway? I could have just let them go. Sure they would have attacked the Marble City, but was I no better before my coming here? Then again I tried to kill the Princess, not just try to attack some ponies before being killed myself. Were they any worse than me? Then again, was I worse than them? I didn’t know, everything was so confusing. I didn’t know what was good anymore. I wished that the voices would come back. I wished they would make some kind of comment on what I just did. I wished they could at least bring my sprits back up after what just happened. A dark joke or something would be perfect, but they remained silent. Then something hit me. Sharpe was in there too. I started to trot back to the blaze of trees, but couldn’t continue. I fell to the sand, exhausted from the loss of blood. I looked back at my leg and found that it was still bleeding. Why didn’t it listen to me? Why didn’t it stop? These questions faded to obscurity as I passed out. “You can wake up now Midnight. You’re not dead anymore.” My eyes shot open to the words whispered in my ears. Were the voices back? I tried to get up, but pain and constriction around my hind leg stopped me. Instead I simply looked up to see Warner frowning down at me. “Warner! I thought they killed you.” I made an effort to get up and hug him, but he backed away. Confused, I gave him a hurt look. “Don’t try to give me those eyes lass. You aren’t you anymore.” His furrowed brow and distasteful look in his eyes told me everything. Still, his words confused me. “No, I am me though. Graham found a way to bind the other ponies’ souls enough so I wouldn’t lose myself. I’m the same Midnight, I just-” “No. You aren’t the Midnight I brought over here to be left to die. That Midnight didn’t have the right to choose if ponies had the right to live or die. That Midnight simply wanted to belong.” He got up and cantered a few steps away from me. “That Midnight was like Carlotta, young, hopeful, with a curious outlook on life. Now you’re nothing like her. You think simply binding souls to a book can change who you are. You think doing the right thing is killing ponies because they want freedom from their prison.” He looked back at me coldly. “You aren’t the same Midnight anymore, there’s nothing but fear and hate in your eyes.” I found myself almost crying at his words. Tears welled up in my eyes and made my vision blur. Blinking them away only hurt, I didn’t know why. “Warner, you don’t understand. I had to do something. They were going to hurt innocent ponies. If I didn’t stop them, it would have resulted in more lives being lost. It was the moral thing to do.” Warner stared at me coldly, not blinking. “Moral huh? There’s morality to murder then? Is that what you’re saying?” “Yes, I couldn’t let that happen. I had to take responsibility for what I helped start.” Even as I said the words, I didn’t believe them. Why did I suddenly think I was responsible for what the ponies of the Colony wanted? I wasn’t a judge to free will. Warner nodded slowly, taking in my excuse. “So, there was no other option? Killing them was the only way that this could be solved?” I started to respond, but Warner didn’t let me. “If there’s anything I’ve learned from being on this cursed plain of existence for as long as I have, it’s that things happen Midnight. Things beyond our control happen. Sometimes prisoners escape from their prison, and riot to the ponies who put them there. Sometimes ponies are taken as slaves, and forced to work until they die. Sometimes we have no responsibility for what happens.” His words made me angry. “Warner, what are you saying? Are you saying that when things such as this happen, we are just supposed to sit idly by and let them happen?” Warner didn’t deviate his gaze. “No Midnight. I’m saying that we shouldn’t have the authority to say what happens in the world and what doesn’t. You think you did what was right here, but when you see the same things happen again you will know different. Everything that you think is right is an illusion Midnight. There isn’t morality in murder. There is morality in letting the world sort itself out. We aren’t responsible for anything that occurs, only what we do and think. We aren’t supposed to go about the world and make it what we find to be what we find to be ‘good.’ Our ‘good’ can very well be a nightmare for others. Do you think that the Colony ponies you burned thought your decision was ‘good?’ Because I think their burnt skeletons think otherwise. Do you think Edge wanted to have his life ended by an ignorant mare who blindly lashed out at his beliefs?” His words hit me like a bricks. I didn’t have the right to make any one thing justified. Having power doesn’t mean that we are supposed to waste it. I looked down at the injury in my leg, loosely wrapped in grass? “What is this then?” Warner remained silent though. “Why did you do this?” Warner looked me in the eyes, but less coldly. “I couldn’t let go. This was all too familiar. I couldn’t let her go again, she deserved better.” “What ever happened to the whole ‘no pony deciding who has the right to live and die’ thing you were telling me earlier? Why should I be allowed to live when you didn’t help the Colony ponies?” I looked him in the eyes with contempt. “Why me?” Warner closed his eyes and shook his head. “It was a moment of weakness. I couldn’t let Carlotta die again like she had before. Even as warped and corrupted by the books and your own intention as you are, I couldn’t let her just die again. Your soul may be corrupt and misguided, but you are still more like her than any other pony could be. Even though you have a marred and murky outlook on right, you still want to do right.” I fought the pain and forced myself to my hooves. “It was my last gift to the world before I go. I’m not going to be here much longer, the least I could do is leave some pony in my place who won’t abuse her curse.” I forced myself to limp over to the light blue stallion. “I can stop your death Warner. I just have to put the writ back in the book. Graham said he didn’t know what would happen, but I don’t care. You are a gift to the world Warner. I don’t care what happens to me, so long as-” “I don’t have the right to decide if you live or die Midnight, but I can tell you right now that plan won’t end well.” He looked down on me with pity. “I’ll be left on this world until it falls to pieces, but you won’t survive the splitting. I’ve been waiting for many a decade for some pony to take my burden. Now that you have, I can’t make you give it back. I’m not going to trade your life so mine can continue, curse or not. I don’t have that right.” He turned around and started to canter away along the beach. “But I can’t change your mind either Midnight. If you sign your life away, I won’t let it be in vain. As tired as I am of the world and it of me, I’ll take the burden of eternity if you cannot bare it. It’s your choice, but make it quick. I won’t be around for much longer.” I started to follow Warner, but stopped. He wanted to be alone in his last few days, or not be around me if I signed his soul back into one of the books. I couldn’t plague him with my existence forever, so instead I picked up the back pack containing the black books and turned to the burnt tree line containing the Colony. While I limped from the hole in my leg, I did so with conviction. Suffering for my choices was the only way I could pay for them. As I entered the clearing that was once the Colony, I marveled at my surroundings. Everything was covered in a layer of grey ash. Like some kind of horror painting, burnt corpses of ponies lay half buried with their forelegs sticking out for mercy. I couldn’t recognize any of them, they were just blackened and charred skeletons that retained a thin layer of skin just for the gore of it. All of it was gone. Nothing but death and ashes remained. As I marveled at the sight, I bumped into something. “Ah!” I screamed, turning around in a defensive pose. What I saw however was an astonished Sunset, his eyes wide with fear and mouth hung open in awe. “Oh my goodness Sunset!” I hugged the yellow Pegasus warmly, but he didn’t return it. I looked up at him confused. “Are you okay?” He slowly looked down at me, shaking. “Midnight, what happened here?” If I was going to burn down settlements, I could at least take responsibility for doing so. “I burnt it down Sunset. I burnt it down because they turned against me.” I didn’t have to glorify it into the moral situation I had with Warner. There was not moral in lying. Sunset pushed me away, regarding me with disgust. I took a step toward him, but he took three back. “You…burnt them? All of them?” I looked down at a burnt corpse next to me and nodded slowly. “Midnight I…I don’t think I can look at you.” I turned to the yellow Pegasus, his eyes wide with fear. “A pony doesn’t do this sort of thing, not without being forced into it. A pony doesn’t just choose to wipe life away like this. A monster does.” I suddenly had second thoughts on the telling of this whole thing. I didn’t want to be a monster. “Sunset no, they made me-” “Get away from me!” Sunset took to the sky, looking down at me from a few feet up. “I thought you were different Midnight. I didn’t want to believe that you could be the same as the others, but I was wrong. You were by far the one that needed to be sent away the most. You are more of a monster than the ponies that were here combined.” With that he took off, flying away from my view. I didn’t chase after him though. I knew I would never see him again. I sat down in the ashes in anger. I brought out the black books from my back pack. I may not have had a pen to write in them, but I had my blood. I held out my fore leg, about to bite it. “Midnight!” The voice surprised me. Had Sunset come back? Instead of Sunset though, Sharpe trotted to me in the ashes. I smiled and got up to hug the red stallion. “Sharpe, I thought they killed you. How did you survive the fire?” I looked up through tearful eyes. Sharpe just laughed a bit. “Hah, nope I’m still around. Two of the bastards were taking me away to execute me or something, then a fire broke out. They panicked and let me go to go check on what went wrong, but I didn’t let them. When I was done knocking them out, the fire spread to where I was. I ran until I was out of the trees and watched the fire consume everything. When they finally stopped burning, I ran back here as fast as I could to see if you made it. You don’t know how happy I am to see you alive Midnight!” He hugged me even tighter, tears of his own falling from his eyes. “I thought we wouldn’t make it, but we survived.” When he finally let go of me, I stepped back a bit. “Sharpe, I don’t deserve your tears. I’m the one who burnt this place to the ground. I killed them all.” I again looked about the ashes surrounding us. “I really am a monster.” I returned to the black books I had set down in the ashes. “A monster that doesn’t deserve life anymore.” Sharpe sat down next to me, finding the words he wanted. “Midnight, you aren’t a monster. Were they going to kill you?” I nodded slowly. “Self-defense isn’t something a monster thinks about Midnight. A monster would be the one to burn this place if it was a settlement for orphans and puppies.” I looked to the red stallion with tears streaming down my face. “Sure, it’s self-defense. Just like last time when I burned those zebras that just wanted to keep me from hurting everything around me. Too many lives would be saved if I had just let them kill me.” Sharpe stared down at me, eyes filled with concern. “Midnight you think you are a bad pony for doing this don’t you?” I nodded again. “If you are a bad pony, then I’m a terrible pony.” I looked up at him confused. “When I was in the guard, I would kill ponies that I was told to no questions asked. I didn’t know if they were only stealing to feed their families, and I didn’t care. I simply did so because I was told to.” He stood up and looked around again. “This is probably a fraction of what I’ve been told to kill in my years of ‘protecting.’ Sure those smugglers, thieves, and such were bad, but they weren’t murderers. They didn’t kill ponies just because they wanted to. At least I did it because the pony in charge had a reason for it, they just wanted to kill for the sake of killing Midnight. You shouldn’t feel bad for them, you did the right thing.” I buried my face in ashes and mumbled into them loud enough for Sharpe to hear. “What right did I have to decide if they die or live? I’m no better than them no matter how you look at it.” I sat up and brushed my face off. “That’s why I’m giving Warner this burden again. With the power I’ve been given, I’ve simply murdered with it. I don’t deserve it, or the right to continue living.” Sharpe looked down on me confused. “What do you plan on doing? Giving your life to him?” “In a manner of speaking, yes.” I opened one of the books and looked at its blank pages. “I’ll probably be killed by the exchange, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.” I brought my fore leg up to bite down on it again and write in the book with my blood, but Sharpe stopped me. I looked up at him teary eyed. “Look Midnight. My assignment with you was to watch over you until you got to the Colony, to make sure you were protected from Warner and yourself. I was supposed to keep you from jumping off the boat. Though we may be in the ruins of the Colony, I’m not going to stop my assignment. I’m going to protect you alright? You aren’t going to go and kill yourself now. Not until I’m dead anyway.” The determined look in his eyes was so sincere. He knew I was a monster and didn’t care, but I did. “Well, what are we going to do now?” Sharpe thought for a moment, looking up at the sky. “Well it’s getting pretty late, I think we need to find some place to get some rest. It’s too far to get to the Mission before night falls, and I don’t want to be caught in the dark. You said that old zebra camp had some tents still standing right?” I nodded slowly. “Well then! We’re going there then. And don’t think you’re not going Midnight. I’ll carry you if I have to.” Accepting that he wasn’t going to leave me alone until I complied, I got up and placed the black books back in my bag. “Fine.” With a smile, Sharpe turned around and started trotting. I followed him regrettably. I really didn’t want to, but having him come back and carry me sounded even worse. The night was alive with noise around us. Sharpe was asleep, sitting up near the front of the zebra cone tent entrance facing out. He insisted I try to get some sleep, but I couldn’t. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t make myself sleep. Their screams echoed through my mind instead. I laid awake while they lay dead. I found myself bringing out the black books and thinking. I could give it all up now, I could let it all end now and I’d never harm some pony else. If what Warner said was true that is. If I would simply cease to be. That would be the most moral thing to do. Was that the moral thing to do? Kill a killer? While it felt like the right choice, it was a selfish one. Instead of facing my actions and living with them, I would just throw my life away to avoid them. I didn’t deserve life, but throwing it away was the coward’s way out. Was I a coward? Would I run from my actions? I looked at the sleeping form of Sharpe, sitting up in the entryway. He stayed with me because he believed in me, he believed that I was better than the choices I had to make. I don’t know why he had such a good view of me, I was nothing but a burden to him since we met when he escorted me through the Marble city. Things were simpler then. I was a suspected criminal simply being escorted to my fate and he was the guard tasked with taking me there. I clung to the life given back to me by Clover and he doubted the decision. It was simple then, nothing complicated. Just justice being served. Now things were too different. I was a monster killing in the name of self-defense and he was a guard who tasked himself with keeping me alive. I wanted to let go of my life, half taken by a priest and half taken by black magic and he doubted my decision of wanting to kill myself. I didn’t know what the just choice was. I didn’t deserve to. The night sang on as I contemplated all this. It was beautiful, the song birds sang their foreign melody and the crickets chirped in their own dialect. Why didn’t any pony else stop and listen to the night? It was more gorgeous than any symphony in a concert hall and so thick in the air, I swore I could reach out and touch it. It was then that I had a realization. Life, regardless of my decision tonight, would go on. If I lived, life would go on. If I died, life would go on. Either way, the world would still move onward. It really put things into perspective. I was nothing more than a single pony, not some gifted leader, not some great scholar, not some kind of hero. I was just a pony. I smiled at my epiphany. Maybe I couldn’t find my answer in a blank book. Maybe my answer was elsewhere in the world. Maybe my answer was some pony, not something. Maybe my answer wasn’t life. I stared at the black book, contemplating for hours. When I made my decision, I smiled. “This one’s for you Warner. Gonna miss you, you crazy pony.” So finally after all these years, I made my own decision. Not one directed by some leader or by circumstance. I made a decision, and life would go on. Author's Note I hate how my browser thinks words like couldn't are misspelled even after I add them to the dictionary. Anyway, here's the end. Would have broken it into two chapters, but ehh. read the epilogues yes, epilogueS
Chapter One: The Sentence“Midnight Star, your crimes against the Platinum royalty are great and without provocation. The royal prosecution finds you guilty for attempted murder of our very own Princess Platinum. What say you in your defense?” How did this happen? Why did this go so wrong? So many questions ran through my head, but there wasn’t a lot I could answer. Quite simply I needed time, and no pony was going to give me that. “I deny any knowledge of an attempt of murder upon Princess Platinum. Why would I try to kill the ruler that we all know and love? I plead not guilty.” The words I said, as quickly as they were formed together, had to sound as though they were planned out. But that was exactly what I didn’t have: a plan. “That is for the jury to decide Miss Star. Court will now commence on the case of Midnight Star and the attempt of Princess Platinum’s life.” The old greying judge, with his dark blue distrustful eyes, wanted to sound neutral as he was required to be but I knew better. I knew better than to think this was at all going to go in my favor. With opening statements over the prosecution, which was led by Clover the Clever and her associates and the defense, just myself were given time to review evidence and formulate statements. It was tradition. As I was escorted out of the dreary wooden court room. I breathed a sigh of relief for such silliness. Otherwise, I’d be on the proverbial chopping block in five minutes. No, it was better to have some time to think about my eventual failure and maybe try to win my life back in the seclusion of the defendant’s room. ~~~ When I was born, I was intended for one purpose: to kill the Princess. The Gold family had lived in the shadows of the Platinum bloodline for much too long, and the timing for my upbringing was perfectly in line with the dying out of the older members of the Platinum family. If we all played our cards right and nothing unexpected happened, I would have killed the princess as of yesterday. Unicorn life is easy to predict like that. With all of the routine and laws we followed, it was surprising how much such things had not been abused. In order to get as close as I needed to the Princess I needed to make some friends in high places, play the game right, and not get caught. After I was old enough to do so, I became a servant to house Platinum. They were suspicious as to why a comparative peasant was in their midst, but I eventually fit in among the servants who may as well have been slaves. I became one of them over the course of three years. Being only 17, I was the youngest in service to house Platinum at the time. Only one other servant had a particular problem with me being so young and new, but nothing serous had happened. However, I may have stepped on his lifestyle choices to defend my own position. It wasn’t my fault that homosexuality was seen as an abomination, but it was my fault for bringing it up. Over those three years, I had gained the liking of one of the royal advisors. I befriended the old mare, and made her feel like she was coming to peace with her life so I could take her place on the advising counsel. In her will, she relinquished her position of power to me. Just as planned. Being on the advising counsel, I only needed one more jump to get as close as I needed to be. I had to take the speaker’s place. The former speaker of the counsel was a dopy red stallion by the name of Candle Bright, although he was not as bright as his name. He let the counsel do all of the thinking and writing for him, which was his downfall. I had to cozy up to the idiot to get my place as second in the counsel. It was degrading. After a certain important speech was replaced with and incriminating confession, it was still all going according to plan. All I had to do was get rid of this Candle Bright, and I’d be the speaker of the counsel. I fabricated a confession, framing Mr. Bright for several crimes going on near the Earth pony border. Being in the place of distrust and in the nature of race, the recipients of Candle’s speech turned on him immediately and tried him for high treason against the crown. He lost. Worse though, he didn’t even try to plead innocent. He just took the guilty verdict. It didn’t matter much to me though, I just needed his spot as speaker. But one thing did bother me. I knew he never really read the speeches we wrote for him but this was obviously a set-up, he didn’t even waver much when he announced his association with Earth pony criminals. Even he should have known the words in that fake confession were going to get him killed, but he read it anyway. It stopped bothering me when I got his position though. As speaker of the counsel, I got audience with Clover the Clever and Princess Platinum herself. It only took two more years past being a servant, and I was third along the chain of command given that the Princess didn’t have any next of kin, children of her own, or living relatives to take her place. Five years and I went from being an unknown to the speaker of the counsel. Being 19 at the time, many unicorn citizens and nobles saw this as ludicrous. None of them challenged tradition though. Challenging tradition was not how things worked. Five years, and everything was still going according to plan. As speaker of the counsel all I needed to do was find the right time and place to kill the Princess and eventually her assistant Clover, and I would be the first of house Gold to take the crown in more than five hundred years. Finding the time, place, and strategy for killing them either individually or together was difficult however. Clover made sure to make herself as difficult to sneak around as possible. But things changed one day. I was simply giving Clover the reports of the counsel for her to look over, and she addressed me. “I know exactly why you are doing what you are doing Midnight Star.” Were her words. For the first time in five and a half years, something not according to plan slipped by. I of course feigned ignorance, but she knew better. Turns out, the Gold family weren’t the only ones who wanted Princess Platinum dead. She had watched over the quote ‘brat’ and her family for too long, and wanted some pony else aside from herself or a foal that Platinum may later have to take the place of ruler of the unicorns. So a week ago, we came to an agreement. Clover would disappear for a few days and the Princess would mysteriously die from poisoning of her drink. The chef would be put to death, Clover would never come back so she could die peacefully, and I would take the crown just as I had wanted for my family. It was strange, but I had to trust this mare as she knew why I was where I was. At any rate, though it was faster than planned, I was still going to achieve my purpose. The purpose that was emblazed as my cutie mark: a black tiara. An undeserving ruler simply used to figurehead a vast change in the operations of all of unicorn kind. After achieving the crown, I would simply die of either a faked death or a changed name. Another one of the Gold family would take my place and they would be the one to make the changes the family wanted. Just a figurehead. Yesterday was the day that the plan came to a close. Needless to say, I was sure that I would have been in the clear. Clover had several search parties after her, I had poisoned the Princess’ beverage, and she was going to meet with some of her guards to boost moral for the search. Everything was in place. But then the slip happened. By some divine prank, the very servant whose sexuality I stepped on was the one to serve the Princess her traditional tea. By either hate of me or the Princess, he assaulted her in the middle of the meeting. Right after the tea was set down. He was taken into custody to be put to death, and the guards investigated. Unsurprisingly, they found the poison in the Princess’ drink. Being the last on to oversee preparations in Clover’s absence, I was suspect. The final nail in my coffin though was Clover’s miraculous return. She showed up immediately after I was put in prison to await trial. Timing was all too perfect, this was a set-up. Ironic really. Having relied on set-ups and the like to get where I was, I never suspected that I would be the one who was tricked. Now she was prosecuting me into my death sentence, and all I can do is watch. I literally have nothing to defend myself with. I was suspected to be out of the ordinary from the beginning, no pony really trusted me as speaker for the counsel, and Clover had me framed for an attempt at murder. Had it not been for my eagerness to complete my purpose and finally stop having to trick ponies into dying, I would have succeeded and lived quietly knowing that I could never make up for all of my transgressions. Instead I would be put to death for attempted murder and life would go on unfazed. The public would assume justice was had, and Clover would probably have that servant acquitted for his actions. I go down in history as the failed assassin, and the Gold family never gets another chance to take the throne. Ultimate and utter failure because I placed my trust in an aging unicorn that had me figured from the start. A banging at the door stirred me out of my thoughts. “Hey in there! It’s time to face your crimes whelp!” The guards then oh so courteously barged into my small, dark room of contemplation and shoved me back to the court room. ~~~ As I sat on the stands listening to the judge bark out words of tradition and justice, I thought of how screwed I really was. I had nothing to prove my innocence in this case. I had indeed overseen the preparation of the Princess’ meal, but no pony to prove that I wasn’t the one to actually poison it. Even if it wasn’t me that poisoned her drink, I would still be in the same place with no pony to stand up and say they didn’t see me do it. It was my word against evidence and the word of Clover, the closest advisor to the Princess. The absolute best I could do in this case is frame Clover for collaborating with a murderer and give her some jail time and sully her name. In the best case scenario. Worst case, I would die either by burning at the steak or by stoning. Execution by heads-pony had been outlawed by the Princess a few years before I was born, so there wasn’t any chance of instant ratification of my death. It was going to be painful. “And we can see from this evidence, found in Princess Platinum’s beverage, Midnight Star had attempted to poison the Princess and usurp her throne. Had it not been for the fake attempt at Prince Platinum’s life by Mr. Torches, the conniving Miss Star would have taken the crown in my absence and be ruling over the graceful unicorn race by day’s end.” Clover certainly knew how to bring my attention back to the court case, even if it was a bit late. The judge nodded at her statement knowingly. “This all seems very convincing Miss Clover. What say you in your defense Miss Star?” His gravelly voice was not even trying to hide the distaste at saying my name. All eyes on me, so I stood up. There was no way I could get out of this alive, but I was at least going to take Clover down a notch before I was done. I adjusted my glasses and began my statement. “Of course, it is convincing. How could it not be more perfect? My quick ascension from servant to speaker of the counsel, Clover’s disappearance, and of course my overseeing of the preparations on that particular speech. Perfect foundation for me to take the Princess’ place as ruler and do what I want with it.” I didn’t want the entire Gold family to suffer for my mistake. “All to perfect. Even from where each and every one of you jury members are sitting, you can see that this was a set-up from the beginning.” I received a few nods of either hate or interest among the silently judging jury. “What are you getting at Miss Star?” Even the judge was interested in where I was taking this. I couldn’t help but smile, even in the position I was in. “Certainly a perfect crime doesn’t just happen, there has to be an accomplice.” Silence. “Miss Star, you do know that you are openly admitting to attempted murder of the Princess don’t you?” Of course the judge had to voice the collective thoughts of every pony in the room. “I’d like to call to the stands some pony you have hear from immediately before myself. I call to the stands: Clover the Clever.” More silence as Clover creped over to the questioning stand. “Miss Star, I hope that you know that you are already pretty much tagged for this murder. But as we should always ask, Clover the Clever do you swear to answer all questions to the best of your knowledge and with full honesty?” The Judge recited to the no longer smug unicorn. “I do swear.” Clover answered. “To answer all questions to the best of my knowledge and with full honesty.” The smile on my muzzle did not leave, though hers had. “Clover, you and I both know why you are up there. It’s not just because law requires that I get at least one witness called to answer questions. You know better don’t you?” My smile dropped as I finished my statement. Clover simply stared at me. “Answer her silly question so we can end this sure trial Miss Clover.” The judge conveyed, sharing the opinion of the audience behind me. Clover opened her mouth to speak, but stopped. Everything was silent while she found the words. “I… I don’t know what you are talking about Miss Star. I am simply here so law is met.” I couldn’t help but sigh. “You knew about me from the beginning. You knew that I was going to try and take the crown for myself. You knew. And though you may have formulated this case against me in a last second attempt to save face, you and I both know that for at least a moment you thought it could happen. You thought you could be a part of the turning of the age and make a difference for the good unicorns under the oppressive rule of the Platinum reign. You thought that some pony would care about what your take on things is. You thought that maybe, just maybe, you could make a difference.” The court room was deathly silent. “Answer me this Clover: why?” Every pony had expected me to continue, but that was the statement. Clover’s eyes were downcast. Tears welled up in her eyes. “I don’t have to answer that….I….” “She is correct, you are only required one answer by law. She doesn’t have to say anything at all. But from the evidence presented, I think we are all ready for the jury to step out and discuss a verdict.” With the judge’s word, the mentioned jury filed out to the back room and the audience began their chatter. “What is she getting at?” “Still a criminal if you ask me.” “What a waste.” “I can’t believe I bathed for this dribble.” The audience clearly wasn’t moved by my last stunt. But that wasn’t unexpected, I didn’t want to move any pony’s heart. I just wanted to have some compensation for my fall. Clover on the other hoof, was almost crying silently still at the stand. The bailiff escorted her back to her spot as the prosecution almost out of simple adherence to code. I may not have won my life, but I did at least get Clover to question herself. Even that was a victory for me, if not a final one. ~~~ After the required one hour of discussion, the jury filed back into the court room quickly. As if wanting nothing more than to just get this over with. With all of the audience members and other court essentials back in their seats as well, it was time for the verdict. It was not going to be pretty. Once more, the judge graced the room with his gravelly voice. “Members of the jury, what verdict have you come to on the case of Midnight Star and her attempted murder of the good Princess Platinum?” The voted upon jury speaker rose and cleared his throat. “We the members of the jury find the defendant, Midnight Star, guilty of attempted murder of our very own Princess Platinum.” The younger blue stallion would have been cute if he wasn’t the one hoofing over my death sentence. “Well then, that is not surprising.” Thanks dirt bag. Way to stay neutral in a case. “Then I hear by pronounce the defendant, Midnight Star guilty as charged. She will be put to death by the days-” “Wait!” The court room was hushed by the unexpected voice of Clover the Clever. I had to admit, I couldn’t help but widen my gaze at her as well. I had to bring my reading glasses down below my eyes to give her the look on my face. “We only caught her before she succeeded in murdering the Princess.” She paused for a moment, either to think of what to say or simply for dramatic effect. “We cannot put her to death simply for association of attempt, the laws don’t allow it.” I had no idea what was going on. Neither did the judge or the jury. “However, her crimes are still unforgivable. Instead of bloodying our hooves with her death, I rule that we send her to the Colony. Being the Princess’ advisor, I know what she’d want for this crime.” Clover, the aging mare who had played me into forfeiting my life, was suggesting I don’t go to prison or get put to death? From the nods and murmurs about the court room from the audience and the jury, it was clear that they agreed with what she said. That was a good sign for me at least. Maybe. “I see.” The judge too was contemplating her words. “Then by the word of the Princess’ advisor I sentence the defendant, Midnight Star, to be shipped out to the Colony.” The judge levitated the wooden gavel and hammered it down three times to adjourn. “Court Adjourned!” As the guards took me away, I shot a look to Clover. She returned it and mouthed ‘I’m so sorry.’ My spirits dropped like a rock. I wanted to ask one question before they took me away, but I didn’t have the chance. What was the Colony anyway? Author's Note Props to the obvious inspiration for this court room scene from the great crossover series Turnabout Storm. If you haven't seen it, and want a very well done work of animation and voicing done right, GO WATCH IT!! NOW! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUDfoZGhLjE Thanks much to my brother for the awesome proof-reading. Were it not for his watchful gaze, i would have missed many a bad grammar more than I already have.
Chapter Two: The JourneyMy oh-so-kind guard escort was silent as they led me through the streets of the Marble city, I guess you could consider it a capital for the unicorns. The occasional chatter of the ponies we crossed by reminded me that every one of them saw me as a criminal. Much to be expected though, I was one after all. I didn’t even try my hoof at talking to the guards, they wouldn’t even acknowledge me aside from kicking me in the gut for not trotting fast enough. They lit the way in the dropping light of the late evening. “We’re taking you to the harbor prisoner. Hopefully that’ll be the last we ever have to see of scum like you.” The dark green rear guard pony actually spoke to me. So they could talk after all. “Who tries to murder their own ruler?” Under his helmet, I could see nothing but hate in his brown eyes. “Well, me apparently.” Neither of them found that funny. Figures. “So where is this Colony anyway?” No answer. Right then, more of this walking in silence thing. Fun times. At the edge of the horizon, just next to the setting sun, I saw the harbor. Since unicorns couldn’t fly around like those arrogant Pegasus, we had to ship our things around by boat because those lousy earth ponies keep all of the land routes to themselves. Of course there was teleportation, but it wasn’t as reliable as we’d like it to be for some things. So boats it was for the time being. “Ow!” An insistent kick from the rear guard brought me out of my thoughts. “Fine, I’ll speed it up a bit.” I trotted just a bit quicker to keep up pace with the lead guard. I didn’t want any more of that, so I stayed the pace until we got to the harbor. The sun finally fell below the horizon as we arrived at the harbor. The waves crashed up against the stone docks and walls, sending sprays of sea mist into the darkening evening. It would have been pretty if it were not for the circumstance of my being here. “Hold.” The lead guard barked to me and the rear guard. He turned his armored head back and forth a few times before turning to the rear guard altogether. “Where is the boat?” “Oh no. Darn. Looks like you guys are gonna have to let me go then. We can come back another day I suppose.” I feigned frustration as well as I could. “I guess we’ll have to go back then.” “Quiet whelp!” Yet another sharp kick in the gut. Any more of those and he would crack a rib or something important. I guess they weren’t at all in the mood for jokes of any form. “How are we supposed to ship off this refuse if there isn’t a boat for her to fester on?” The rear guard certainly had a vocabulary and wasn’t afraid to use it. “What are you two brutes doing here?” An on looking pony trotted over and gave the two guards and myself a look over. “What is this all about?” He asked. In the darkness, I could make out his light blue coat, brown mane, and green eyes. If only just barely. The lead guard turned to the newcomer with a sour look on his face. “We need to transport this prisoner. However, it appears that no boat was prepared. Figures, Clover and her antics are never thought ahead.” “Well that seems like a personal problem sirs, if your business is concluded I ask that you leave.” Well this chap wasn’t all to open for conversation at all. “Their business is here Warner.” All heads turned to the lavender mare illuminated by her own purple light spell. “These two are in need of transport for this prisoner. To my knowledge, you have a vessel that would fare well enough to do the job. I do believe that you can relinquish its use if royalty demanded it so.” The guards turned back to Warner. “Well, I do have a ship. But it’s not for transporting prisoners and ruffians like that. I ship spell books and supplies, not ponies and prisoners. I don’t think this falls under my responsibility.” Warner somehow had the ability to not trip over his words when talking to some pony as high up as even Cover the Clever. It was a bit impressive. Clover nodded at this. “Well you do have a point, but would a sizable advance from the Princess herself convince you otherwise? I’m sure she would understand given the circumstances.” Warner paused. “Depends madam, how much of an advance are we talking about here?” “You wouldn’t have to ship supplies for the months to come until the next cycle begins, living comfortably in the Platinum palace with everything you could ever want.” That made even the guards widen their gaze at Clover. That wasn’t the sort of thing that you offered to just any pony. Though, I hardly doubted I was worth that much. Even given the circumstances. “I accept your offer Clover.” Warner replied quickly, as if it was an offer that would end soon. “I’ll go ahead and take this prisoner wherever it is she is going to need to go. Just let me get some things in order first.” With that Warner made his way over to the only ship in port. My lovely escort and Clover followed over to the boarding platform. Warner disappeared into the ship’s cabin while we waited on the platform. “You, leave us. Your duty is done for now. We thank you.” Clover dismissed the rear guard as soon as we were idle. “And you, stay on board the ship. You will make sure this one doesn’t try to escape. But first I would have a few words with this traitor.” The red lead guard nodded and climbed aboard the ship, leaving me and Clover alone at the platform. “Clover, what exactly is this colony? Why didn’t you just have me killed?” I asked quickly. However, she didn’t answer as quickly as I would have liked. “The Colony is… a different approach to justice. Some crimes are of the egregious nature, such as yours, but do not call for the death sentence. Such criminals are simply too expensive to incarcerate, so we just send them somewhere else. That somewhere else came to be known as the Colony.” That didn’t answer much. “Why did you change the ruling? I would have just been killed and justice would have been served. Isn’t that what the court is all about? Justice?” “No, you were right Midnight.” I blinked a few times, just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. “I was what now?” “You were right Midnight. I knew about your from the beginning. It was a secret to every pony, except me. Sure others were suspicious, but none of them really knew about what your intention was. No pony would even think of killing the Princess. It’s the ultimate crime against the crown after all.” She paused again, sniffling just a bit. “You were right Midnight. Just for a moment, when you thought all the cards were on the table, I felt like I could make a difference. I thought that change was possible.” “It could have been Clover. All you needed to do was disappear, and none of this would have happened.” I pleaded her, as if begging could change everything back to a week ago when she first talked to me. “We could have changed things for the better for all unicorns.” Clover nodded again. “Indeed. It could have been Midnight. But that’s not how things are. You don’t know what it’s like to rule though. You don’t know the kind of stress involved. I didn’t think you could handle it, and I didn’t want to usher in a fool to the throne. I know better.” It crushed me how badly I wanted to tell her how things were going to be, but I couldn’t rat out the Gold family. Not now. This was my fall. “It’s true that things could be different, but the fact is that they aren’t. You are still a criminal for what you tried to do, but you don’t deserve to be put to death either. That’s why I am sending you to the Colony. It’s a fate worse than death, but I know better than to think that you will die there. You are crafty, smart, and resourceful. You know how to put things into place. I don’t think that the Colony will kill you, but I know that it will test you. Don’t you see? I’m giving you another chance at life Midnight.” The weight of her choice hit me hard as I realized her point. “What’s gonna happen to me Clover? What am I supposed to do?” Clover turned around and started cantering back toward the Marble city. “You make those choices and you answer those questions Midnight. It’s your life, and I’m giving it back to you.” She turned back to look at me one last time. “But I can never see you here again. You will never be able to return to the way things were. You were raised in hate and fear of the Crown, so you will never live under it again. Good luck Midnight. I know you will make the right choices.” With that, she turned her back to me for the last time and trotted out of sight. I sat there and contemplated for a moment what I was just told. It may have been my nature, but I wanted nothing more than to defy her. I wanted to run back to her and prove just how wrong she was and take the crown myself. But I couldn’t do that, not now. It was too late. “Hey you there, prisoner. Get your sorry ass on this boat before I have to break your bones and drag what’s left onboard.” The guard yelled over the side of the boat, ever the polite one. Warner was suddenly right beside me. When did he get there? “He is right, come on now. Let’s get you onboard and underway hmm?” The way his voice seemed to just flow into my ears was so sweet, but I wasn’t in the mood for sweet. “Fine whatever. You even know where you’re going?” I asked bitterly as I climbed up the platform onboard the ship. Warner followed me every step of the way. “Of course I do. Been around these seas my whole life lass. I know just about everything there is to know about ‘em. Been around the zebra lands this Colony is supposed to be on plenty a times.” How did he suddenly know where we were going? Must have been the guard. “I’ll just drop your fine criminal butt off on that forsaken place, and enjoy the high life when I get back.” Well he certainly was a charmer and honest to boot. Great, one of those. “Good, I don’t want to go and get killed before we arrive at this place that is intended to kill me. How long exactly is the journey going to be?” Now onboard, I could see the ship wasn’t very big at all in the darkness. There was room for the main mast, the cabin, some standing room, the bow platform and that was just about it. How exactly did this thing ship large quantities of supplies? Warner joined me and the guard on board. “Well that’s a good question lass. I’m not exactly an expert on nautical nonsense and arrival times, and compensating for the weather? Oh no.” I gave the blue stallion a wide eyed look, nearly dropping my glasses. “Oh look at that face. Priceless. No, I’m kiddin’ ya lass. Should take no longer than three days, arriving on the dawn of the third day. I was raised on the seas, and she is my life. I know her backwards and forwards, and I’m not talking about her personally you pervert.” I couldn’t help but blush a little. “I didn’t think… what do you mean by that?” “Ha-ha! Oh, sailing with you is going to be a blast lass I can already tell. Just as long as you stay onboard, I don’t think we’ll be havin’ any problems.” Warner climbed the stairs up above the cabin to the ship’s wheel. “Alrighty then kiddos! Settin’ sail for the Colony!” With a glow from Warner’s horn, several ropes untied and the sails unfurled. The wheel spun around as he simply laughed at his magic work. It was a bit frightening. “Please keep all hooves and tails onboard the Silver Sapphire at all times, as she can be a bit of a kicker! Don’t be afraid to beg her to stop though, even though she won’t. Come on now! Let’s go!” I gave the guard a pleading look, but he simply gave me the same sour gaze that he always did. “I’m just supposed to make sure you get to your destination without finding your way off the ship. Talk to me and you lose a leg prisoner.” He growled at me, almost menacingly. Alright then no talking to that guy, just weird Warner. This was going to be such the blast, I could already tell. Waves, crazy sailors, guard dogs, all on the way to some place meant to be worse than death. What more could a girl want? If Warner didn’t kill me, I’m sure the guard would. Then again, might just jump off anyway. That night, I slept in the hull upon the wet wooden flooring. Fitting for me I suppose. That wasn’t the bad part though, the bad part was what I woke up to. I flittered my eyes open to see the smiling face of a certain blue stallion right in my face. “Hallo there.” He whispered very quietly. “AHH! What the blazes?! Why are you down here you freak?!” I yelled as I jumped up and backed away against the wall. The whole time, his sorry ass was laughing like a maniac. “Ha-ha! I knew you’d be fun to mess with lass. Rise and shine! It’s day one of our lovely little cruise to Death Island. How are you feelin’ so far hmm?” “A little invaded personally. Why are you down here? Aren’t you supposed to be up at the wheel steering this stupid thing?” I fumbled around a bit, getting a bearing of my surroundings. It was a lot darker at night. “Where am I?” “Well, you see I thought it would be fun to tell you that there was a brig. Because you thought that you’d be like a prisoner or something silly like that like ‘urrgghh woe is me as I don’t deserve to live’ but I had a better idea! What if there is no brig and instead it’s just where I keep my supplies? And then I thought that was stupid, so I just put you in the back of the hull like the molasses and other barrels. So here you are! Happy first day to you and stuff!” Warner smiled at me as I took in my surroundings and regarded the various barrels around me. I was suddenly wishing they just burned me at the steak. This pony was going to be the death of me. “You moved me around while I was asleep?” Warner nodded a few times, still a smile on his face. “Do you have any idea how creepy that is? Ugh! Honestly!” I stormed off in the direction past Warner, toward the exit of the hull. Hoof steps behind me told me that Warner was close behind me. After the climb above deck, I saw that the guard had almost not moved from his post next to the main mast. He simply regarded me and Warner with the same sour look he always had. The sun shined brightly down on the boat, as if reflecting how bright Warner seemed to feel. “Ah! I see that your friend there doesn’t too much like the idea of sleeping huh? Well that’s okay.” Warner chirped as he pranced in past of the guard and looked back at me and him. The guard just snorted at him and looked ahead again. I moved from the hull entrance over to the side of the ship, looking over the side. The dark blue wave lapped at the sides of the ship, turning into that salty spray that I had seen earlier at the docks the previous night. “Oh no Mr. Guard horse! I think She’s gonna jump!” I looked back at the dramatic look on Warner’s face in absolute disgust. The guard wasn’t too impressed either. “I wasn’t going to jump, just haven’t been on a boat before and I wanted to know what it was like to look over the side.” I defended indignantly. Warner rolled his green eyes. “And what did you expect to see lass? A sea monster?” I gave him an unimpressed look. “Oh no. Those are to the south and north where the griffons roost. It’s the smell that draws them from the depths, and on the third full moon of every month… they strike unsuspecting ships unexpectantly!” Warner bared his teeth in a fake attempt at being scary, even if he wasn’t when he was trying. When he wasn’t on the other hoof, it was a bit scary. I didn’t know whether or not to take this stallion seriously. He was more experienced at this sailing thing, but certainly there was a joke or two in that. I just rolled my eyes back at the mysterious Warner and cantered over to the stairs leading up to the wheel. “So how is it exactly that you keep this thing going the right way?” I asked as I reached the wheel. “Oh that? It’s no big deal. I just hoist the sails, straiten the rudder, pull up the anchor, check the wind direction, keep everything in order, and make sure that there isn’t any approaching pirates or such. For most ships, it would be a four or five pony job. But me? I can do it all by myself. It’s what being a captain is all about lass.” He finished his listing with probably the most modest of statements. One of those kind of guys. “How’d you learn to do all this exactly? It’s a lot to think about at the same time isn’t it?” Even if he was being arrogant, I couldn’t help but think that it was all a difficult job to do. Warner laughed once more with his annoying giggle. “Well you see, I was born at sea lass. It’s kind of what I do. When my mother and father died, I took up their place in the shipping industry. I had a crew to start out with, but they were lazy as rocks. So, I started to just do some of their jobs for them, because they weren’t following my orders. Wasn’t long before I was able to keep the whole ship running without their help, and that day I got my mark.” I gazed at the sailing ship on his flank. Fitting enough. “I found that since I don’t have to pay any crew but myself, I get along just fine. Sleep on my ship, transport spells and supplies for the crown, and never have to answer to any pony but myself. It’s really a great business to be in when you don’t have to worry about mutiny or lazy ponies.” Warner puffed out his chest, trying to look like a regal pony or something. “I’m kind of glad that I am where I am, would hate to be living in the city like every pony else.” I looked back at my own life. Maybe I was exactly where I needed to be too. Was there such a thing as destiny? No, if I was born where I was destined to be I’d still be in the Marble city for some reason or another. I doubted a fake princess would have a place anywhere in the world. “How about you lass? What’s your pretty black tiara supposed to be about or whatever?” Warner of course had to break me from my thoughts. “I um… don’t worry about it. I just… fix tiaras that are broken and stuff like that. Yeah! That’s it. Fix tiaras.” Even I wasn’t convinced by my words, and neither was Warner. “I doubt that a tiara repair pony would end up being a criminal worthy of going to the Colony lass. How about you try being a bit honest this time hmm?” I didn’t want to look at his joy filled face. I didn’t want to ruin his good mood or shatter his view of me if he had one. But if I didn’t tell him, I’m sure the guard would eventually. “I’m not a tiara repair pony. I’m an assassin. Well, a failed assassin. Ever since I was born, I was raised with one purpose.” I paused a moment, trying to come to terms with myself. “I was supposed to kill the Princess. I tried to, and failed. Clover the Clever found me out and sentenced me to the Colony for my crimes.” I dared not look at Warner’s face, I didn’t want to see how he reacted. “Would have worked, but I was a fool and got caught.” I stared at the floor boards, avoiding Warner’s gaze as best as I could. Hoof steps told me that he was moving away from me. “Really now? That’s an interesting claim there lass. Failed assassin hmm?” I dared a look at the blue stallion whom I could expect was now looking out at sea. “Not the worst I’ve hear about, but still pretty despicable. Would you care to answer why lass?” I looked up at his words and he turned to look me in the eye. I was too late to advert his gaze. “I was born to do it Warner. I was supposed to be the one to bring about the turning of the age. And I blew it.” “Now who told you to do it hmm? Family? You can’t go doing everything some pony like family says lass. We’ve been stuck in a veritable dark age with the Pegasus and earth ponies for the past few hundred years because no pony wants to think different from the way that things are. By doing what others think you’re supposed to do, you end up being like every pony else in the world that just wants to hate and mistrust each other.” He cantered over to me, still holding my gaze. “Only you can decide what you’re supposed to do lass. Understand? If I did what my parents thought I was supposed to do, I’d be some two bit bard or some kind of servant to high royalty. I didn’t want that at all, so I took my own path and took over my late family’s ship. Look at me now; got enough money to keep myself happy, I do something I enjoy, and I have plenty of time to do what I want. I broke the mold my parents made for me and I’m doing great lass. Why don’t you do the same?” Warner, the random sailor that I never knew about, was giving me better advice to live by that any of the Gold family ever did. All they ever wanted was for me to fulfill my purpose for their whims. I never thought about what I wanted. Was I simply being a tool for their own ends? I felt… good. In the event of my life completely turning around at the words of this kind sailor, I was happy. It was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders, and for once I didn’t have to impress on any pony. I was no longer living on the expectation of succeeding for my ‘family’, and I was never going to be under the rule of the Platinum crown either. I was on my own terms at last. I couldn’t help myself. In my wash of feelings and thought, I hugged Warner. It was the best way I could show him that I was at least grateful for his words. I was on the verge of crying and would have stayed there if this stupid, sweet sailor pony didn’t hug me back. For the first time since I was a foal, I cried. I hadn’t cried when I was sure I was going to die. I hadn’t cried at that old mare’s funeral. But here, because of some almost complete stranger, I was crying like a foal. “Whoa there lass, no need to get all sentimental on me now.” Warner huffed, pulling away from my hug. “I’m not that kind of fellow. Go find some pony else’s shoulder to cry on yeah?” I gave him a sad, tearful look and that bastard smiled. “Nah, I’m just kiddin’ with ya. Even grown ponies cry from time to time now right?” He pulled me back into a warm hug, and I felt so much better. “Warner, thank you.” I whispered almost to myself. But he had heard. “Don’t mention it lass, no really don’t. I got a name to hold up yeah?” After a good few more moments, I finally let go of him and looked off towards the horizon. It was already afternoon. Either this little moment was much longer than it seemed, or I woke up way too late. “Now, I say that we all sit down for a nice meal. All this mopin’ and feelings stuff have got me starving. Shall we lass?” Warner gave me a smile, and for once I returned it. As the two of us got down from the wheel platform, the guard gave us both his usual sour look. “What were you two up to hmm? I demand to know why you two were whispering. Do you have some secret?” I rolled my eyes at the red armored guard. “I am in a position to have you both brought to justice if you don’t answer.” Warner laughed a bit at the guard’s empty threat. “What? Can’t a guy and a gal get to know each other ya blithering buffoon? We were just talking about how much we loved the way this boat swayed oh so slowly from side to side when it’s moving. Don’t you just love it?” Even the guard could tell that Warner was lying, but was too distracted by an apparently nauseous stomach to do anything about it. “Well then! We are going to have a bite to eat now. You are welcome to join us if you can get that wad out of your arse.” I couldn’t help but giggle a little at that. The guard made several attempts at words, but said nothing in the end. He just gave Warner a sour look. Warner turned towards the cabin, where I could suspect we would be eating. A glow from Warner’s horn and a swung door later, and I was happy to be right. I followed the light blue sailor pony inside with much a lighter heart. Hoof steps behind me told me that the guard would indeed be joining us, or at least coming in to watch and make sure that I wasn’t going to make a break for it out one of the windows. The Cabin of the Silver Sapphire was a bit more elegant than the rest of the ship. The table, literally bolted to the floor boards, was of a round tasteful design. There were several chandeliers hanging from the walls, all of them lit. There was a door off to the right side with white tiling, the kitchen obviously, and a door at the back of the room where I could suspect was Warner’s quarters. It was nice. “Alrighty! I don’t really know what kind of foolishness they have been serving you two up in your marble palace calling a delicacy, but I am going to show you how a real king eats! I’ll just be a moment to actually cook up the beast.” With a wink, Warner disappeared into the white tiled kitchen. I looked around at the simple green table cloth and porcelain plates on the round table. They weren’t polished, but they were clean enough if you didn’t mind some dust on your dishes. Some bent forks and spoons lay upon napkins, and clouded drinking glasses were stacked in a glass paned cabinet off to the side hugging a wall. I would worry about it falling over, but it too was bolted to the floor. “He better not come out here with an actual beast, though it wouldn’t surprise me if he ate meat. That’ll make a pony go crazy, like him.” The guard growled from next to the door. I gave the sour pony a smug look. “Oh come on now, I think that was more of an expression really. Eating meat is forbidden in the Marble city, and he is from the Marble city. Isn’t he?” The guard rolled his eyes and waved a hoof around. “No. ‘Born on the seas’ wasn’t he?” The guard’s attempt at emulating Warner’s voice was a bit humorous, but I wasn’t laughing. “He’s crazy prisoner. If he doesn’t run us into a reef or cliff, I’d be absolutely shocked.” “I have a name you know. It’s Midnight Star if you didn’t know!” I barked at the guard pony, emulating his sour tone. “I have one too. But it’s not like any pony cares. All you and every pony else sees me as is an extension of the law. They don’t see me for who I am! Do you think I like being seen as a tool?” As aggressive as they were, his words touched me. They sounded a lot like I felt not too long ago. “Why am I even talking to you prisoner? You aren’t worth any pony’s time. Clover the Clever made a mistake changing the ruling on your case.” And the hint of warm feeling for this pony was gone. “Well, maybe ponies don’t see anything but your armor because that’s exactly how you act. Maybe if you were a bit nicer to others, they’d see you as more than just a spear at their necks.” The guard pony cantered over to me and stared down at me. I had to turn my neck up just to meet his eyes. “Don’t. Talk. To. Me. Prisoner. Or I swear. I’m breaking you myself.” There was a growl to his voice that legitimately frightened me. “Hey now there you two!” Warner’s voice broke the tense felling of the moment. “Can’t a pony cook a meal for you two without ya tryin’ to kill each other?” The guard pony backed away from me slightly at Warner’s words. “Alright that’s better. Food’s almost ready. Go ahead and sit down or whatever.” Warner again disappeared behind the wall leading to the kitchen. I kept my eyes trained on the guard pony as he stomped over to where he was going to eat. I was suddenly wishing he didn’t come in here at all. I took a spot on the opposite end of the table, leaving as much room as possible between the two of us. We sat in silence for the next few minutes until Warner came back with three plate of colorful things. “Alrighty then you two! This is food fit for a king!” Warner put one of the plates down in front of me. “I’ve been eating this since I was just a wee lad. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.” After giving the guard his share and sitting down close to me, he started eating without using any of the bent silverware around him. It was a bit grotesque. “Um, Warner, what is this exactly?” I asked tentatively, using a levitation spell to poke it with a particularly bent fork. In response, the pile of colorful stuff hissed and steam or some other kind of gas poured out from the hole. “I don’t think food is supposed to still be alive when you serve it.” Warner looked up from his half eaten pile of blue, green, and red. Without wiping his mouth off or anything. “Oh this? This is boiled sea cabbage and sea weed and…umm…what else was it? Oh yeah! Sea lilies.” He continued his gabbling of the colorful mush as soon as he was done talking. I looked at the colorful pile of what was apparently all plants. “Right, just sea food. This is what sailors and stuff eat all the time. No big deal. Just, seafood.” I gathered my wits and took a forkful of it out of the pile. “No big…deal.” I held my breath and stuffed the steaming stuff into my mouth, trying not to gag. But I didn’t need to. I chewed on the mush for a bit, trying not to be grossed out at the texture. And to my surprise, it was delicious. I swallowed the stuff and gave the still steaming pile of plants another look. Warner was looking at me expectantly, a huge smile on his face. “Um, it’s not terrible. It has a….unique flavor.” I stammered over my words, trying to avoid saying how much I hated the texture. “See now? Told ya you’d love it!” Warner chirped, looking down to the other end of the table at the guard pony. “How about you? What do you think?” I continued eating the tasty mush while sharing a look down at the guard pony. He was not impressed though. “I’m not eating this. You could have poisoned it or something. Though, by the look of it you may not have had to. I wouldn’t be surprised if she keeled over dead from this crap.” Warner looked slightly hurt by the guard’s words. “Oh well, can’t win ‘em all over. Anyway! I think that we should all get to know each other better yeah? How’s that sound?” Well, his mood was certainly contagious. I couldn’t help but smile. “That does sound good, I could deal with knowing more about this sailor pony that is in this trip for the money. Furthermore, I’d like to know about this guard pony at the end of the table. I want to have a name to call him, because I’m getting right sick of just calling him by his job.” While the guard pony gave me the stale sour look, I just smiled back at him while chewing on more delicious sea mush. “Yeah sour pony, why don’t you at least tell us your name now. It’s been a little less than a day together, and I hate having unknowns aboard my ship for too long.” Warner turned his head to me again. “That goes for you too lass, I’m gettin’ a bit tired of callin’ you lass.” I shrugged lightly. “Sure thing, I’m Midnight Star. Born into the Gold family with the intent to murder Princess Platinum. I like long walks through town, love being caught in the rain by myself, and…. Oh! My favorite thing to do is plan other’s downfalls so that I can usurp your authority.” I ended my forthcoming speech with a winning smile. Warner saw the mirth in the whole explanation, but the guard pony didn’t. “Oh now see? Now I feel better having young Midnight Star aboard my ship then. Little dark at the end there but hey, can’t be picky now yeah? What about you sour puss?” Warner looked down at the guard, batting his eyes like a filly would do to her crush. The guard was not pleased, still giving the sour frown I was familiar with. “Alright then my turn!” Warner shrugged with a smile. “When my parents died at the hooves of marauding pirates, I saved the day with the remaining crew and took over my parent’s ship. Though I started out with that same crew working for me, I found that it was quite easier just to do the job myself. So, I fired those lazy bastards and now I work the ship myself. Been doing that ever since, shipping out spells and supplies to those that need ‘em.” Warner finished with a satisfied nod to himself. “I may sound like a hero, I know, but I’m not. Just a hard working sailor earning an honest living. I think at least. Some of those spells aren’t exactly what I’d call safe, but that’s not my quarrel!” Warner again looked down to the guard at the end of the table. “Now either I make you tell us what your name is now, or we can just keep calling you sour puss. Which would you prefer?” I couldn’t help but share Warner’s smile. The guard kept up on his sour look, but finally caved to pressure. Either that, or he was just too tired to argue with Warner about it anymore. “My name is Sharpe.” He growled, still looking sour as a lemon. “Oh come on now lad you and I both know that name is as fake as an entertainer. Now what’s your real name? Hmm?” Warner wasn’t going to let this go. “It really is Sharpe you fool!” Alright then, some pony was getting a little offended. “I was named that by my father. Like him, I was born to be a guard pony. I was raised with the intent of protecting the Princess and her laws. I never got to have close friends growing up because I was too busy being drilled with laws, bulking up to enforcing them, and being shut out from the normal world.” There was an anger to his voice that was not just for show. He really was angry about this. “I would have killed for a life of my own choosing. There’s-” Sharpe stopped for a moment, realizing that he had gotten carried away. “There’s nothing else you need to know whelps. I’m done talking.” Sharpe then busied himself with eating the mush before him, still looking as sour as ever. Warner gave this information a knowing nod. “Seems that you two have a bit more in common than you thought.” He looked to me then to Sharpe, compelling the two of us to share a glance for a moment. Just for a moment, I held Sharpe’s gaze and he didn’t give me the absolute worst look imaginable. He then looked down at his mush, ignoring that the moment had ever happened. “One thing I’ve got to know though Midnight.” Warner brought my attention back to his green eyes. “Why do you wear those glasses? You hardly look through them. In fact, I see you actively turning your head down to see past them.” I honestly forgot my glasses were there most of the time. “Oh these? I just have them for reading.” I smiled at the light blue sailor pony, swallowing the last bit of mush on my plate. It surprised me, I thought I’d hate the stuff. Warner gave me an unbelieving smirk. “Oh come on Midnight, you’re too young for reading glasses. Reading glasses are for old mares and foals going blind. You’ve got to have a better story than that.” I was taken aback by his words, clearly he thought I was lying. “Well, I do need them. I guess you’re right though, I am a bit young for them. I didn’t think that any pony really thought about them very much. But there is a reason I need them to read. When I was young, my parents tried a ‘seeing in the dark’ spell on me so that I could sneak around the palace and other places at night or in the dark. I could just use an illumination spell, but they wanted me to be able to avoid detection though. Long study short, I learned it perfectly. Whenever I would use it, I could really see in the dark just fine without any lighting. There was a downside to it though. After I was done with the night vision and the spell wore off, my normal vision suffered more and more. Eventually it got to the point that I couldn’t read writing in front of me without glasses. The night vision spell made me farsighted to an extent. I can see normal things just fine, but I need help reading things up close.” I shivered a little, the rest of the story always gave me chills. “Turns out, the ‘seeing in the dark’ spell I had learned was actually black magic; kind of illegal for citizen practice. Black magic, to my understanding, always has a tradeoff. It may give you a certain advantage, like being able to see in the dark and not alert others by doing so, but it takes something away at the same time.” “So, the farsightedness is the tradeoff?” Warner asked, giving me a look that told me how much he was trying to wrap his head around what I was saying. “I wish that was so. The farsightedness isn’t what I unknowingly traded away. That was just from me using it so much when I was young. My eyes just didn’t develop the way they should have I guess. No, what I traded away was knowledge and use of illumination spells in general.” Warner blinked a few times. In one ear, out the other. I sighed, frustrated I had to spell it out. “I can’t use or learn a regular illumination spell Warner. No matter how much I try or study, I cannot perform the normal and simple illumination spell that most unicorns learn at a young age.” Warner blinked a few more times. “So, black magic huh?” He looked down at Sharpe, still eating the mush but listening in on our gabbing, then back to me. “Well, that’s a bit strange. Didn’t think that black magic really got out much in the Marble city. How exactly did your parents get their hooves on something like black magic Midnight?” I thought hard on that. “I don’t remember in the slightest Warner.” I shook my head side to side slowly. I couldn’t figure out what exactly I was feeling, either sad or disappointed. A mix of both perhaps? Oh well. “I was too young, I really can’t remember.” I gave him a confused look. “Why do you ask?” Warner stared at me for a moment, tapping his hoof on the table a few times. “I don’t know for sure, just that I’ve shipped my share of magic. I would say that I would be the one responsible for your eyes, but that’s too far back I think. I only started this shipping spells stuff seven years ago.” I narrowed my eyes at Warner dangerously. “Wait Warner, do you ship black magic around?” Warner just shrugged. “I don’t know, not like I read them or anything. I just transport them.” I gave him same sour look that Sharpe gave me for the entirety of the day. “What? Am I supposed to care what things ponies need moved around?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Yes Warner, you should! Do you know how many ponies could have been harmed or killed because of your callous disregard for what you’re moving around the world? Honestly!” I made an effort to actively ignore Warner’s eyes. “Oh come on now Midnight, you can’t be that mad about this. You didn’t seem to care about the spells I transported when they were just spells. Aren’t some spells just as deadly as black magic?” Now he was just trying to justify himself. If that wasn’t proof that he knew more than he was letting on, I didn’t know what was. “Why is this such a big deal for you?” He asked sheepishly. “Because, black magic is dangerous Warner. If something like a night vision spell can make me need glasses to read and unable to use basic magic, think about what more dangerous spells could do. And that’s not even taking the actual spell into consideration.” I got up from my seat and pushed my empty plate forward. “Where do you keep these spell books anyway?” Warner stayed sitting, but held a concerned look. “Midnight, just drop it alright. If there was any damage done, it’s been done. I don’t think that getting angry about it is going to make any difference. Let’s just forget this yeah? It’s getting late and I’m tired. I’m sure you can show yourself to the hull again Midnight, and Sharpe you can sleep wherever. Goodnight.” With that, Warner got up and retired to the back door. I waited a few moments listening for activity in his room, but I couldn’t hear anything. Sharpe snickered at his end of the table. “You two certainly are a sight to watch.” I gave the red pony a glare, but he simply smiled. “You can have your hull or whatever, just don’t ask me to keep you warm.” Sharpe too got up from his spot, but took his leave through the exit we came in through. Leaving me to my thoughts. Warner certainly was getting rather defensive about the mention of black magic, more importantly near the end there. He didn’t seem to care much before. That was a bit concerning. I walked out the exit as well, no need to stay in an empty room. Warner wasn’t lying. When I exited the cabin, the moon was rising on the horizon. It was rather beautiful, but I didn’t feel like marveling at it. I had black magic to search for. I moved quickly to the hull, passing Sharpe sitting down next to the main mast with his eyes closed. I didn’t understand how he could sleep while sitting up. At any rate, I opened the door leading down to the hull but stopped. If he was shipping spell books, they wouldn’t be with molasses and other supplies within the barrels. I closed the doors and turned around. There had to be another storage room or something for spell books somewhere. I gave the front platform a search and easily found a small trapdoor held shut by a latch. “Is it really that easy?” I asked myself as I lifted the latch open with my levitation spell, revealing a small set of stairs that descended into darkness. If only I could use an illumination spell right now. I guess I could use the night vision spell, but I swore I would only use that in emergencies. So, bumbling around in the dark it was. I gave the deck another quick look to make sure neither Sharpe nor Warner was around to see me sneak down, closing the door behind me. This supply room was drowned in an inky darkness, but it was broken by a single candle upon a table a few steps from the bottom of the stairs. I crept along in the darkness until I was at the table. Upon it were a few books and papers. Some of the papers were notes on wind direction, others were scribbles that didn’t make any sense. Of the three books that were stacked, one was a water manipulation spell, the other two had something to do with mending sails and other nautical nonsense. Next to the papers were some quills and an inkwell. There was dust on the books, but not on the papers and quills. Maybe Warner just wasn’t organized with his books? Suddenly, I felt a cold chill down my spine. I couldn’t help but shiver. I looked around, but no pony was there. When I looked back at the small table the candle flickered in the wind, but there wasn’t any wind around. Then the worst possible thing happened. “Midnight.” A soft voice hissed. It felt like it was right in my ear. “Warner?” I asked almost hopeful. I would rather be found somewhere I’m not supposed to be by Warner than hear voices like that. “Sharpe?” I didn’t think that it could possibly be him, but it was worth a shot. “No, not those fools my dear…..No one here but us.” Every word sent more chills down my spine, I may as well been freezing. “But you can see can’t you? You’re just pretending not to.” “Who are you? Is any pony there?” I asked in the darkness, almost scared I’d get an answer. “We are not a pony my dear, not anymore. Merely….an idea. One that was given form and essence. A purpose. One that can only be fulfilled with your help my dear.” I backed away toward where the exit stairs were. “Midnight, why do you seek to escape from us? We are the closest thing to friends that you have.” Okay, really creeped out now. I started my blind climb up the stairs, feeling every step up in hopes of not falling back down to the floorboards. As I got further up, the chill lessened until I got to the top and opened the trapdoor to the light of the moon. I got out of the storage room and shut the door behind me. For a moment I just stood there in the moonlight, waiting for the hissing voice to come back. After five minutes, I decided it wasn’t coming back and made my way back to the hull doors. Sharpe was now sitting up asleep, it was a bit remarkable. I opened the hull doors and climbed down the stairs to the relatively well lit storage area of many barrels. Near the back was a stack of some hay with a single sheet thrown over it. I guess this is where Warner put me last night, so I laid down on it and collected my thoughts for a moment. Maybe it was best to not go and snoop around for black magic books after all. Twenty minutes later, I was calmed down enough to start feeling drowsy. “Midnight.” My eyes shot open and a chill ran down my spine again. I got up and looked around. Did the voice follow me here? “Midnight.” It hissed again. I ran up the stairs to the deck, slamming the hull doors shut. Poor Sharpe was awoken by my racket. “Hey! Didn’t I tell you not to make any noise prisoner?” I gave him a sheepish grin. “No, uh, you just said don’t try to snuggle with you for warmth.” I looked side to side, hoping I wouldn’t find the voice again. Sharpe blinked a few times. “Oh yeah.” He again closed his eyes, still looking sour in his sleepiness. “Don’t make noise.” He grumbled. I gave the sleepy stallion a nod that he didn’t see and sat on the other side of the main mast. Maybe if I stayed up here the voice wouldn’t come back. Certainly Sharpe’s scary size would scare it away right? I stopped trying to lie to myself and just focused on staying alert. I didn’t want to be taken by surprise again by hissing voices lurking in the shadows. I counted every second, trying to stay focused and on guard. Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes into hours. Not long after two hours, I passed out into the land of sleep. Author's Note Yay! The plot thickens. Warner is perhaps one of my favorite characters to write ever, and this was probebly more fun to type than a barrel of monkeys. Well, maybe not them. Haven't tried barrels of monkeys myself. ANYWAY! watch out for evil voices
Chapter Three: The StormMy eyes creaked open after I felt rain drops on my face. I was laying on the deck floorboards against the mast in what felt like a very painful sideways position. I fought my body to get up, and eventually convinced it that I had to get up on my hooves to face the second day of the voyage to The Colony. I was sore all over for some reason. I shook it off as much as I could and looked around the deck. No wonder I was awoken by rain drops. There were grey storm clouds all around, thick and volatile things that threatened to pour down on me with everything they were worth. “Hey Sharpe, you awake over there?” I asked to the other side of the mast. After a few moments, I looked around it and found that I was alone on the deck. “Well damn.” I cursed. “They must be inside the cabin or something.” I cantered over to the cabin door in the soft drizzle that would no doubt be followed by rain. With a flick of some magic, the cabin doors swung open to reveal Sharpe and Warner sitting at the round table with some more colorful mush on plates. “Hey.” I whimpered as I entered and closed the doors. None of them reacted much, Sharpe just gave a slight nod. I cantered over to the spot I sat at last night, trying to grasp at some form of consistency, and looked at Warner. “I could not sleep last night, I think I’ve been off dry land for too long and my mind is trying to freak me out or something. How’d guys sleep?” Sharpe just grunted, not surprising. Warner on the other hoof just nodded with a soft “mhmm.” There was something wrong here. “You doing alright Warner? Is this about last night?” Things had gotten a little out of hoof. There was no need for me to get offended or anything over shipping books, no matter what they were. It wasn’t my business, it was his. “Well, I couldn’t help but hear some racket last night. Were you and Sharpe getting a little too close for comfort or something Midnight?” Warner asked easy, ignoring his previous silence. I looked over to Sharpe, who hadn’t even looked up. “She barged out of the hull, panting like a dog for some reason. I couldn’t tell why. Maybe she saw a ghost.” He grumbled from a mouthful of green mush. “Hey, I heard something last night okay? I heard a voice whispering my name. I was a little freaked out okay?” I defended quickly. I was not a coward, I just had a very good reason to leave. “Oh, that must be the spirit of the sea.” Warner finally looked up at me. “I hear she haunts ponies who take their problems to the sea when they could simply work them out in their own home. They say that she….” Warner scrunched up his face. “Hey, you alright? Warner? What do they say?” I begged him to go on. Maybe that was the voice I heard. Warner….laughed. I gave the sailor pony a truly concerned look. When he finally finished, he took some time to catch his breath. “Oh, Midnight. You should have seen the look on your face.” Oh good. “You were totally taking that whole story about the ‘spirit of the sea’. Oh my, that is just too much. You can’t just fall for something like that Midnight, you just can’t!” I stood up from my chair. “Hey! You’re more experienced at this whole sailing thing than me. I don’t know everything there is to know about whatever spirits or apparitions there are. Why is this so funny to you?” Warner giggle a little again, electing a sour look from me. “It was totally me last night. There’s a little knothole in the bottom of my cabin that looks straight down at where I put that bedding and stuff, I could see you getting all nice and cozy to sleep so I thought maybe I’d pull a little joke on you to lighten you up a bit. I whispered ‘Midnight, Midnight,’ down at you and oh did you react. Except I just expected you to look around a bit and think nothing of it, but you ran out of there so fast I hardly saw you get up!” He took another moment to laugh it up. “Oh! You should have seen the look on your face! Priceless!” “Hey! I was still a little shaken up from the last time you did that okay? It takes a bit more than just a few minutes to get calmed down after hearing a hissing whisper in your ear you know?” I gave Warner a serious look. “What other time? I only said your name twice girl. No need to be so frightened.” He giggled. Wait. “What you been hearing things Midnight? Who know, maybe the spirit of the sea really is after you. Ha-ha! Oh have ta make yourself laugh sometimes you know?” Warner got up from his seat and went into the kitchen with his plate. He wasn’t making that voice the first time? If it wasn’t Warner then who, or what, was talking to me last night in that dark supply room? Warner entered the room again with one plate. “Well, I did some thinking last night Midnight and decided you are right.” I still wanted to ask him about the supply room, but moving on from it was probably for the best. “No pony should have access to something like black magic.” I felt myself breathe a sigh of relief. “When we make landfall at the Colony, you and I are going to burn these.” From under the table, Warner pulled out a brown bag and opened it. Within were four black books, they almost pained my eyes to look at. “These are indeed black magic spell books. I got them from an old trader a few years back, and they have simply sat on the shelves of my study since I got them. I never read them in fear of what I might find. Since they never did anything wrong, I just never thought they were dangerous. But if what you say is right, they should never be able to hurt any pony or thing again.” He put them back in the bag with his hooves. “You and I are going to burn them when we get to the Colony. After that, I suppose Sharpe will have you stay there while I bring him back to the Marble city where I can enjoy the reward from this. I know it isn’t exactly a storybook ending for ya, but at least these things won’t be around anymore right?” I stared at Warner for a few moments. “Warner, you don’t have to do this. I just got a little touchy last night. There isn’t any need to burn books if they aren’t hurting any pony.” Warner shook his head firmly. “No Midnight. If a simple night vision spell can take away your ability to light things up, who knows what some of these other things could do? They may not be now, but they could be dangerous if they get into the wrong hooves.” I held Warner’s gaze for a moment longer, then chanced a look at Sharpe. He simply sipped on some water from a cup. “You’re right Warner. We will destroy them when we arrive at the Colony. These shouldn’t be allowed to stay intact.” Warner nodded firmly. “Good. Now as a sign of my good word and gesture of trust, I want you to hold on to them for now.” Warner shoved the bag across the table to me, where it stopped just short of my hooves. “What?” I jumped back from the brown bag. “You can’t be serious. These things belong to you. You hold onto them.” I tried to push them back to Warner, but a red aura of magic stopped me. Both Warner and I looked over to Sharpe, staring me down with a staunch look on his face. “For the sake of my own sanity, and the fact that I wish this sequence doesn’t become a shoving match between the two of you, just do it Midnight. Warner is asking you to carry his burden, the least you can do to make up for his hospitality is do as he asks.” I was absolutely stunned. Sharpe, the guard pony that hardly let slip his name, called me something other than ‘prisoner.’ I had to close my mouth hanging agape at the strangeness of the event. After I gathered myself from his statement, sighed. “Alright. I’ll hold onto these for now. But as soon as we are on dry land, we are setting these things on fire.” I took the bag and slung it over my shoulders, using the straps to secure it tightly. I felt a little colder with them so close to me, but the feeling went away rather quickly. “Now, let’s get back to the way things were shall we?” I smiled at Sharpe and Warner, in false hopes. Warner shook his head sorrowfully. “No can do Midnight. There’s a storm brewing, and I’ve got to be in top form to combat it. Usually I can just operate the ship in calm waters while doing any number of things and even in my sleep, but storms are unpredictable. I need to be alert as possible to avoid any kind of wreck that could occur. No need for us all to die a horrible death on some rocks poking out of the sea now yeah? Sharpe.” At the mention of his name, the red guards pony looked up again. “You can sense criminal scum right? I need you to scout for pirates off in the distance. Sometimes they like to strike when the storm’s got a ship all confused and disoriented. Keep watch for any black flags or quickly approaching ships.” Sharpe nodded firmly and exited the cabin, apparently all too eager to get started in his search for pirate scum. “What do you need me to do Warner?” I asked hopefully. I wanted to feel a little bit more useful than a mule holding a bag at least. Warner smiled sadly. “No duties, just a request. I understand that you felt a little uncomfortable with me moving you around the other night when you were asleep. So, to make it up to you I want you to enjoy the sanctum that is my room in the back of the cabin.” I gave the light blue pony a concerned stare. “There’s not a lot to do, just a window to look out of, but there’s a bed. From the looks of you though, that’s exactly what you need. I suppose sleeping on the deck isn’t exactly something you’re used to, so you can go ahead and just nap on that for a while if you want. Otherwise, just stay inside with that bag. I don’t want there to be any chance at all the wind and rain could work at those straps and unlatch them. Savvy?” While it wasn’t what I had wanted, I couldn’t deny that sleeping on an actual bed sounded absolutely amazing right now. “Are you sure?” I asked tentatively, hoping he would say yes. However, the light blue sailor pony just shook his head and made his way to the exit. I watched him go, almost with sorrow. Why was I suddenly feeling so concerned for this reckless pony that twice made a joke of me? I didn’t know, he probably didn’t either. Deciding to take Warner up on his offer, I moved to the back door of the cabin that led into Warner’s quarters. I felt like I wasn’t invited, even though I was. I stowed my inhibition and pushed to doors open, what I saw made me gasp. There above a small window, was a magnificent painting of a light yellow mare in an elegant white dress. Her dark red mane fell down about her shoulders and bordered her sad, wistful eyes perfectly. Upon her red mane was a white veil pulled back, allowing her face to be grace the world with its presence. She was absolutely gorgeous. I was straight, and this was probably the most beautiful mare I had ever seen in my life. And she wasn’t even moving. She was a painting. Done questioning my sexuality, I looked about the rest of the room. It was…shabby at best. There was the bed which had simple white sheets and pillows, a small desk and chair off to the right next to a bookcase, and a sink and mirror on the other side. On the mirror were the words: ‘goodbye, my love.’ The words themselves were cliché, but it was the way that they were written that made me sad. Small and off to the corner with some of the letters turned in strange ways, as if there was an attempt to hide them from others that entered the room. I myself could hardly recognize what it said. I looked away from the mirror, not wanting to cry at the simple words. I instead cantered over to the desk next to the bookcase. Perhaps some reading would get my mind off the mirror. I sat in the creaky wooden chair and floated some of the poorly bound books over to me. There were ten in all, I pulled out the first four and flipped open the first book to the first page. Day one, year one, They seem to call out to me Carlotta, I don’t know what it means. They whisper to me in the night. Is it you my love? Why is fate such a cruel spirit? This wasn’t a book, it was a journal. Warner’s journal, or at least one of them. I suspected these must have been from his years of sailing. Was it really right for me to read them? Ignoring the feeling, I flipped to the second page. Day two, year one, Rain brings about the rage of the sea. It’s nothing I can’t handle, but it’s just a bit harder without you. Each rain drop reminds me of the tears. Tears that I will never get back. I wasn’t a fan of his penmanship but the style certainly was sad to me. Was Warner writing to her? That mare on the painting above his bed? I kept on reading. Day twelve, year one, I see you at night Carlotta Melody. I see your broken and bloody body on the beach. No matter how much I reach and yell, the boat keeps getting farther away from that beach. The nightmares are more common now. They used to only come once in a while, now it seems every time I close my eyes I wake up in another terror. End it all my love. That explained a bit. But how could Warner be such a cheery pony and be haunted by such terrible nightmares? I closed the journal with ‘year one’ written on it and pulled the next few books on the shelf out. ‘Year five’ it was titled. I flipped it open and read the first entry. Day one, year five, They don’t care about you anymore. Right. I flipped a few pages through the short entries and squinted at the words. Either his writing style had changed, or some pony else altogether was writing. Day sixty-seven, year five, When the door opens, I shy away from the light These weren’t at all the same. Day one-hundred-fifty-six, year five, When it all ends, I will search for the tunnel at the end of the light. I shut ‘year five’ and put it back on the shelf, I was almost afraid of what else I would read in it. Instead, I looked at ‘year seven’. I could suspect this was the more recent journal. I flipped it open. Day one, year seven, Another year, another book. Why does he continue? Were these becoming a burden to write? Honestly, if you didn’t want to write you didn’t have to. It’s not like any pony was forcing you to Warner. I read on, skipping a few of the stranger ones. Day seventy-two, year seven, Why do the whisper their lies to me? I pray that these voices find some pony else to plague. Warner is tired of this game. I don’t want Warner to have to bare this curse any longer. It was here that I seriously questioned Warner’s sanity. Who writes in the third person in a personal journal? Referring to one’s self by name was not normal, it was crazy. Some of the next entries were ripping out, so I read the next intact one. Day? Year seven? They are finally gone. The voices are finally gone. They have not plagued my mind for some time now. Is it finally over? The rest of the journal was blank. Not ripped out of, but blank. I guess he never wrote any more for ‘year seven.’ So I floated the rest of the journals over. There was no ‘year eight’ or ‘year nine,’ so I opened ‘year ten.’ And read the first entry. Day one, year ten, I look back at these journals and cringe at their contents. Not only do they frighten me, they are foreign to me. I don’t remember writing any of them, yet they are mine. Name written in the back cover, next to yours. I still miss you, but you wouldn’t want me to live in sorrow. So I simply won’t. This sounded more like the Warner I knew. I continued reading through ‘year ten’ and concluded that this was a saner Warner altogether. He didn’t refer to himself in the third person, and he didn’t mention any whispers. I picked up ‘year eleven’ and flipped to the back. Just like ‘year ten’ it had Warner’s name at the top of the back cover, next to Carlotta Melody. Maybe it was a consistency thing for him? I flipped back to the first page and read through. Day one, year eleven, I don’t need these books anymore. I can remember who I am and what I do now. I can recall as far back as three and a half years or so. I need not these journals for my mind, I can keep myself in line by simply shipping supplies around. Contact with others does wonders for the mind. I will write again only when I need to Carlotta, even though I miss you greatly. True to the words written down, there was nothing else written. Furthermore, there was only one book left: ‘year twenty.’ I replaced the others and flipped to the first page. Day one, year twenty, Everything was going so well. Nearly thirteen years, and I heard nothing. However it was only once. Been three days since they whispered to me last. Maybe it was just my imagination. I’ll keep writing anyway. Not like it’ll hurt any pony. This sparked my interest, so I read on. But most of it was simply writing about the mundane days of Warner in his shipping business. Not a lot of it really grabbed my attention, but this one did. Day seventy-six, year twenty, They whispered again, in my sleep. Not like a dream, but when I try to sleep. They whisper about midnight, but I know not if that is the time they speak of. After finishing the entry, I felt my head drooping. I had read for much too long, and was getting quite tired. “That’s enough of that Warner.” I closed ‘year twenty’ and dragged myself over to shabby white bed. I pulled the bag off my back and got comfortable on the relatively soft down of Warner’s bed. It was by no means perfect, but I was tired and achy. Sleep quickly crept over me. Rain lashed against the small window behind me, waking me from a somewhat nice dream about whoever Carlotta was. No matter how much I speculated, there wasn’t any avoiding the fact that I probably thought of her to be nothing that she really was. A bolt lightening tore down from the sky outside, startling me enough to jump out of Warner’s bed and scramble to my hooves on the floorboards. I fumbled around in the candlelight to find the bag Warner gave me and strapped it on my back tightly. I had to make sure that Warner and Sharpe were okay, they might still be out there in this storm. Another screech of lightening compelled me to just ignore the idea and stay put, but I fought against the urge and pushed my way through the exit doors to the main cabin room. I would have made it there quickly, but the swaying of the ship made it difficult to get a good grip on the flooring. It was empty, and no pony was in the kitchen either. “You idiots.” I cursed, forcing myself out the doors into the downpour that awaited me. A huge bolt of lightning screamed across the sky as I entered the storm, followed by a deafening pound of thunder that echoed for what seemed like forever. “Warner? Sharpe?” I called out into the stinging rain and howling winds, stuffing my glasses into the bag to keep them from obscuring my vision too much. “Where are you?” A familiar laugh responded, almost completely covered by the rain and wind. “Oh! It’s a great day to be alive isn’t it lass?” The somewhat crazed sounding voice of Warner brought my attention to the wheel platform. I climbed up next to him and tried to urge him inside the cabin, but he didn’t even hear me. “This storm’s not getting the best of us! We are arriving on schedule dear, no buts about it!” With a spin of his wheel, Warner laughed once more. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t terrified out of my mind. Quite clearly, Warner wasn’t going to listen. I made my way down to the main mast and looked for Sharpe, who was hanging onto the base of the mast as best as he could in the swaying of the ship. “Sharpe! Are you okay!?” I yelled over the storm, but even I could hardly hear myself over the lashing of rain. Sharpe grumbled something, but I couldn’t hear him in the slightest. I moved to the bow of the ship and looked ahead into the churning waves and rain. A huge wave pushed me back a few feet, but I fought my way back and looked ahead. The waves ahead were violent and foamy. I doubted that anything could swim in it and stay alive for long. It was as if there was another sea above pouring down on the lower one in pure spite. The little needles of rain stung all that they struck. That was enough of this, I was going to go back inside. Just then however, Warner screamed something on his side of the ship so I battled the swaying and slipping of the ship to get next to him again. “What did you say?!” I yelled at the light blue crazy sailor pony. He gave me the absolute craziest look I had ever seen on him and laughed. “It’s a good day to die lass!” As soon as he finished, I heard a loud crack that shook me to my bones. I remember being sent into the air, toward the port side. I looked down and there was only the violent churning of water, water that I was plummeting toward at an alarming rate. I didn’t even have the chance to scream before the water rushed up to swallow me whole. I struggled in the violent waved, trying to fight my way back up to the surface. I couldn’t though. No matter how much I paddled and thrashed, I didn’t make it any further up. My lungs screamed for oxygen, but when I breathed in all I got was water. I slowly stopped fighting it as I came to terms with my fate. I wouldn’t even make it to the Colony, I would simply drown here and become another skeleton on the beach somewhere. I was surprisingly calm as I lost all sense of being and my vision became dark. All I wanted to do was go back, but I would never see the surface again. Author's Note DUN DUN DUN! this relatively short piece explores the dark secrets of the mysterious Warner. OoooOOooohhh. I hope I got the ship name stuff right. If I didn't please feel free to point it out and call me a nautical nincompoop.
Chapter Four: The Wilderness“Midnight.” “It’s time to wake up.” “You’re not dead anymore.” My eyes shot open and I violently coughed up more sea water than I thought was possible. After catching my breath and pulling myself to my hooves, I looked around for the voices I’d heard. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t shaking a bit, either from the cold feeling that being damp brings or just out of fear. “H-hello?” I asked the empty clearing I woke up in. Giving the place a few circling looks, I found that I was alone. Surrounded by strange looking willow trees. I had no idea where to go, I was completely at a loss for direction. “Is any pony there?” I called out, hoping for an answer. None came however. I sat down and thought for a moment. Wasn’t I underwater the last time I checked? I looked around myself and listened, only silence. If I was anywhere as close to the ocean as I should have been, I would hear it. That was concerning. I picked a direction to walk in and started a quick trot. I wasn’t going to get anywhere by simply sitting in that clearing, but as I left it I had the harrowing feeling that I would never see it again. SMACK! I fell to my haunches, rubbing my forehead in slight pain. Apparently I didn’t see that tree either. I let out an aggravated sigh. Last place I had my glasses was on Warner’s ship the Silver Sapphire. Wait, no it wasn’t! I remembered the bag on my back and pulled it off to look inside. Then I remembered what else was inside. The three black books that Warner stuffed in here were still there. A chill ran up my spine as I reached past them with my hoof in search of my glasses. Hopefully they had survived the crash. I did crash didn’t I? That’s what happened wasn’t it? I didn’t remember anything but being flung off board and failing to swim. Frustrated with my inability to find my glasses, I turned the bag upside down to pour its contents over the grassy soil I sat on. Our came the three books, and with a few good shakes my glasses as well. A warm feeling of joy overcame me at the sight of my tacky little reading glasses, but it was quickly squelched. The left lens was cracked almost down the middle. I wanted to cry for a moment, but after putting them on I found that they still functioned much the same. Happy again. Then I looked to the black books laying in the dirt. I should just leave them here, better yet bury them. No pony would ever have to see them again and they could do no wrong. There were evil after all….right? I picked them up in my hooves and stared at them in the canopy filtered light of the sun. I looked around the trees and plants that surrounded me, and a frightening thought crept over me. I was probably alone out here, in a foreign land. I had no idea where I was, or if I could ever find any type of help at all. I could die out here at the claws of some predator or crazy zebras, this was zebra land after all. What if I needed them? What if the only thing that could keep me alive was powerful dark magic? What if there was a spell in one of these that could protect me? As these questions swirled through my head, I heard a growling off in the distance. In a rush, I picked up the backpack and stuffed the black books back inside. I could burn them later with Warner, if I could find him. There wasn’t any time to sit and think about leaving these dangerous spell around for some animal or zebra to find. I slung the backpack on again and tightened the straps so it wouldn’t fall off. Finding the direction I was heading again, I headed out at a quick trot to avoid being followed. I only looked back occasionally to make sure no wild dogs or wolves were after me. After a few minutes of trotting, I found myself looking out over a vast plain. Mostly it was flat planes aside from the hill I was standing on. Forests of closely grouped trees dotted the flat planes, as if they were trying to make a point to hide dangerous animals. There was a mountain off in the distance, prevailing over most of what I saw. Tall, yellow grass dominated almost every inch of open land. I would have to be careful of things hiding in it. I started forward, descending a slight decline to flatter land ahead. The occasional high blade of grass tickled my nose, but it wasn’t anything to complain about. Once I had reached flat land, I noticed some gazelle traveling in a pack to the distance on my right. If only I had a pack to travel in, I felt rather exposed on the flat planes. After more forward trotting, I noticed something about the grass I was standing on. It was lower than what I had just exited, meaning this was used as a trail at some time. If there was a trail, there was a camp of some kind at the end of it. More likely than not, it would lead me to zebra but I wasn’t going to be picky. Any kind of companionship was good at a time like this. With uplifted spirits, I set off toward the left. Whatever direction it actually could be was a mystery. I just went with my gut feeling that this lead somewhere important. Hopefully it would end up somewhere soon. For a pony who had just coughed up what felt like gallons of water, I was parched. I prayed for a river or clean water source as I quickened my pace. I continued along the path until it simply ended. I sat and looked around for where it might signify, but saw nothing. “Well damn.” I cursed at the grass. “Why don’t you keep going?” I kicked at some of the grass in spite, though I’m sure it would fare well after my attack. I had effectively wasted what I could suspect were the last two hours following this trail, and had nothing to show from it except being thirstier than when I started. “Well whatever.” I huffed, and continued in the direction the trail should. That’ll show that grass for not telling me where to go, I’ll just go my own direction. After feeling rather proud of myself for a few moments of trotting, I had a realization. I had let grass tell me where to go for the past two hours. Trying to ignore the shame, I continued onward. It looked like there was some trees ahead, so at least it would be cooler under the canopy. I stopped for a moment and looked at the yellowing shade of the sky. It was going to get dark soon, and I would be easy prey in the night for something like a jungle cat that could see in the dark. So I had to get something to start a fire and make a livable campsite for the night. Or I could use that night vision spell and easily navigate the night without being detected as easily with my own light source. It would be much safer and…I was letting the magic do the thinking for me. I promised I would never use that spell unless it was an emergency, even if this kind of was. No! I wasn’t going to use black magic unless my life was in danger, even if it sort of was at all times here. “Damn it!” I cursed unnecessarily loud. I quickly trotted into the small forest in front of me, deciding to make a camp instead of use that spell. Very un-unicorn of me. I stowed that thought as I made my way deeper into the trees. My ears twitched as I heard something whispering softly. It wasn’t like the voices I heard earlier or on Warner’s ship, it was a sound like….water! I rushed toward the sound, bypassing trees and crunching twigs under my hooves. What I found was beautiful. It was a small mountain in a clearing that let loose a somewhat small waterfall into a round lake feeding to a river off to the right. “Oh yes!” I squealed as I rushed to the water’s edge and literally stuck my face in the cool refreshing water. You never realized how good water tasted until you went without it for a good, long while. It may as well have been the drink of the gods to me at the moment, because I couldn’t get enough of it. After drinking probably more water than I coughed up earlier, I stared at the mare reflected on the slightly calm water surface. My blue eyes seemed uncertain and worried, my deep purple coat was a bit frazzled. Still nothing to complain about though. Miraculously, my dark blue mane was exactly as it was: a tight pony tail angled upward to keep it off my neck. Inspection of my tail revealed that it too was mostly the same and somewhat well maintained. I adjusted my glasses to not obscure my vision, mostly liking the reflection I saw. “Well, at least I don’t look like I’ve drowned.” I said to myself. Maybe I should stop talking to myself, couldn’t be good for the brain. Finished drinking delicious water and admiring myself in the water mirror, I turned my thoughts to the next task at hoof: making camp. I was lucky enough to find this small mountain, so I could put that to use. I trotted over towards the side of the rocky mountainside and smiled at what I saw behind the waterfall. There was a small cove behind it that I could use as a place to sleep and stay warm. I found myself surprised at the latter consideration I had. It was getting cold rather quickly out here, and fire would be good to keep me warm. There were several twigs and branches I could use near the trees, but they would need to be tended and I would need a lot of them. To stay warm through the night I needed some logs or something substantial like that. “Alright Midnight, how to cut down a tree?” I trotted over to on such tree near the mountain and stared at my woody adversary. It wasn’t very tall, so cutting it down and making a few burnable logs out of it would be fairly easy if not simply time consuming. I just needed something to cut it down with. I wasn’t blessed with earth pony strength, so kicking it down wasn’t an option. I trotted back to the rocky mountain side with an idea. Picking out two particularly sharp rocks, I made my way back to my selected victim. “I’m sorry I need to do this.” I consoled the tree as I started chopping at its somewhat thin base with the sharp rocks in my magical aura. After a few chops, I looked at my magic work and frowned. This was going to take a bit longer that I thought. After losing count of how many times I hit this stupid tree at least three times, I had several moderately sized logs to make a fire with and keep myself warm. Yay. It would feel like more of an accomplishment if the sky above me wasn’t orange from the setting of the sun. I stuffed a few of them in my backpack and held the others in a field of levitation magic. I jumped a few rocky outcroppings towards the cove under the waterfall and jumped inside. It was spacious enough considering it was just going to be me in here, so I pulled out the rest of the victory logs and put them down. I needed some dry grass and sticks to actually start this fire, so I jumped back to the rocky outcroppings from the mountain and back to the lakeside. The grass and branches weren’t hard to gather, just a matter of pulling at the grass hard enough with magic and stuffing branches in a backpack. Satisfied with my twiggy bounty, I made my way back to my personal little cove. Unloading my grass and sticks on the rock floor, I went to work building a fire. Bed of grass with a little twig house on top, it really would be nice for a foals’ doll to sleep in. I smiled at my construction and took the two sharp rocks from earlier. I could try rubbing two twigs together to get friction to start a fire, or I could get a spark. I used my telekinesis spell to bang the two rocks together a few times. Unfortunately these rocks were being difficult. Several attempts later, and I got what I was looking for. A single spark flew off the two rocks, landing on the dry grass. I smiled excitedly and softly blew on the baby fire. It quickly spread over the grass, and to the twigs. I pulled one of my victory logs onto the small blaze and hoped I wouldn’t smother it, but the flames crept over the top of the log and spread from the base. Success! I quickly constructed a log cone and watched them slowly catch fire. Fully satisfied with my accomplishment, I sat up next to the fire. It was so warm, perhaps even a little reassuring. If a city mare like me could put her wits together and build a fire, surely I could survive long enough to find this Colony I was sentenced to in the first place right? I smiled and basked in the warmth of my fire. It was nice, until I found myself opening the backpack and looking at the black books Warner gave me to burn. I could do it right now, I could burn them. I had a fire after all, I built it with my wits and two sharp rocks that could now hardly pass as gravel. But why was it that I couldn’t bring myself to throw them in? Instead, to my horror, I found myself saying one thing. “A peek couldn’t hurt.” I opened the first book of the stack and looked at the words on the first page. Except, they weren’t words. Letters and characters were there, but they made no sense! Worse though, they were moving on the page. They marched across the page in neat little rows like an unorganized army. I squinted my eyes and adjusted my glasses to make head or tails of it. “Need some help?” My neck shot up, looking around for the source of the whisper I had heard. There was nothing here but me, my fire, and the books though. “I’m not there Midnight, I’m in here.” I looked down at the book in front of me and gave it a concerned look. “In…the book?” I asked insanely. Worse, it responded. “Yes, I’m in here. Always been here Midnight, always will.” A chill ran down my spine, despite the warmth of my fire. “Why are you talking? You’re a book.” I deadpanned, obviously going crazy. “I’m not the book, I’m in the book. A lost spirit, simply trying to help. You looked like you needed some help reading these words. Do you?” The voice was little more than a whisper, yet I heard it in my ears loud enough to not strain my senses to hear it. “I just wanted to take a look actually. I never saw what these things looked like, and was just curious. I’ll be closing you now.” I started to close the book. “Wait!” The voice pleaded. To my own disgust, I complied. “I can help you!” I opened the first page fully again. “I don’t need help book, I already built a fire myself. With a little searching, I’m going to find what I need tomorrow and I’ll be able to go from there. I don’t need you or your help.” “If you didn’t need my help, you would have left all of us in the dirt.” I considered that for a moment. “What do you mean?” “I think that you felt like you knew you wouldn’t be able to survive without us, so you brought us anyway. You feel, at some level, like we can help you survive. Right?” The voice was sounding more sure of itself the more it talked. “Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. Maybe I just wanted to burn you when I had the chance so no pony or thing could get a hold of you again. What say you to that? Hmm?” I had it now. “If that were the case, you would have used us as fuel instead of those logs you cut from a tree.” It had a point. “Alright, maybe you’re right there. But why should I trust you? These books contain nothing but black magic. Black magic can be nothing but trouble from my experience.” The voice whispered a scoff, if that was possible. “Of come now, there’s an easy explanation for that. Whoever taught you that particular spell simply didn’t use the correct caution. Spells of this caliber need to be…considered, and practiced to be used correctly. Downsides only occur when things are rushed. Rushing that I know you will do if you try to understand this book on your own. Let me help you Midnight.” I gave the book an uncertain look, and caved. “Fine.” The voice started to form a sentence. “But under one condition.” I interrupted. After a few moments, the voice finally responded. “What’s that exactly?” I smiled. “Tell me how you know my name.” Seconds passed, consolidating into a minute or so before I got an answer. “You said your name to yourself earlier when you asked how you were going to cut down a tree.” Damn it, it was right. I kind of did. “Alright, I’ll take that.” I focused on the book. “Now how exactly can you help me?” The voice chuckled a quiet laugh. “Well, I can’t tell you. It’s something that I have to show you. You just have to ask for my help. Be specific though, things can…go wrong if you aren’t specific.” I contemplated throwing the book into the fire, but decided against it. “Alright. Um. Black book, please share with me your secrets so that I may better understand your contents and perform said contents.” I announced to the book. “I can work with that.” Suddenly, a large black mouth sprouted from the book. I backed away from it but it opened up, revealing rows of sharp red teeth. Before I could run, they closed down around me and everything was plunged into a cold darkness. I couldn’t see, couldn’t breathe, and couldn’t hear. Everything was black as I lost all sense of being. My eyes shot open, looking around in absolute terror. Everything around me was…wrong. I was out standing on that grassy plain I had looked down at before, but the grass was an unhealthy shade of grey. There was of course, the mountain like I had seen before. However, it too was an unsettling dark grey that seemed sick for rocks and the trees upon it. It was just like the plains and hills I had seen earlier, just grey and dead. Nothing moved, not even the grass in the wind as there was no wind. “Welcome Midnight.” I spun around to see the source of the voice behind me, to see a pony. She was relatively normal given where we were: yellow coat, and a fiery red mane. She was somewhat familiar and foreign at the same time. There was something else strange though. Her eyes were completely black. There was no iris or pupil, just an empty blackness. “Um. Hi.” I stared into her black eyes, they seemed to consume all thought and feeling when I did. There were just her eyes, nothing else. “Don’t, you won’t wake up if you stare into them too long.” I promptly avoided her gaze. “As you can probably suspect, none of this is real. Simply an image of your memory. I thought that maybe we could talk here better than whispering through a book.” Her voice seemed to echo across the grey plains, with a low growling tone in the back of her words. Almost like she was holding back anger and hatred strong enough to burn this entire field. So this was the source of the voice in the book? “Oh, I see. Why is it that I needed to ask for your help anyway? Surely I could understand those characters eventually if I learned what they meant.” She gave an unearthly chuckle. It was…unsettling. “Quite simply Midnight, you wouldn’t.” Great. That made me feel good about my ability to learn. “You see what you call ‘black magic’, is simply a different variety of magic. Only difference is that it is of a higher caliber and strength. With this ‘black magic’, you could do the job of fifteen unicorns focusing intently with a simple thought of the spell. It is….efficient to say the least.” No kidding. This really did sound like powerful magic. “Alright, but why is it that all I ever hear about black magic is that it causes pain and terror?” “Oh Midnight, that is simply the words of those who fail to comprehend that their jealousy manifests into fear and contempt. Ask any pony who has used such powerful spells, and they will tell you that it is powerful and….versatile.” I had to suspect that this yellow mare was avoiding the whole truth. “Well, alright. Um, can I leave? I’m having second thoughts about this whole ‘powerful magic thing.’ I think I’ll be just fine-” “Silly Midnight, you just don’t know what you want yet.” I tried to move away from this yellow mare, but my hooves wouldn’t comply. I found myself staring into her eyes, no matter how much I wanted to look away from the two black abysses that stared back. “You don’t know it yet, but you are meant for great things. Things of which, you will need our help.” “Who is this ‘us’ you keep referring to?” I pleaded, making as much effort as I could to run away. I simply stayed put though. “You will find out very soon Midnight. You will find out and you will know.” Thanks for restating the same thought. “But for now, I give you....a gift.” This didn’t sound good. “What do you mean?” “A flame to burn your greatest adversaries. The light to show all the way to death. Release for those that need to let go of their lives. Speak its name and you will know ‘Inferno’, me.” The yellow mare opened her mouth wide and let out a cloud of sinister, red smoke. I wanted to shy away from it and avoid breathing it in, but I couldn’t. All I could do was watch myself breathe the red smoke like it was oxygen. “Now, the knowledge has been passed. The writ is complete. Speak my name Midnight. Speak my name and it will burn, it will all burn.” I fought myself, tried with every ounce of my will, to stay quiet. But I couldn’t stop myself. “Inferno.” I coughed out. Just like that, the grass around me burst into a wall of flame three ponies tall. Its orange blazes settled into the grey grass and became a sea of flames. All that was burned by the orange flames turned to an unnatural red ash that seemed to gleam in the light of the flames. When it all died down, there was nothing but ashes for at least a hundred feet in every direction around me. A few seconds passed, and the ash turned to a more normal blackish grey. I should have been terrified, I just watched fire burn a huge section of grass. But I wasn’t. No, I wasn’t scared. I was elated. I found myself smiling at the loss of life around me. It was beautiful really. “Now you understand Midnight.” The yellow mare, Inferno, brought my attention away from the ruin around us and back to her. “But with such power, there is always a price.” I frowned at her. “But you said-” “There is always a price Midnight. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. May you bear this curse better than I.” Inferno started to dissipate into a wind that suddenly blew behind her. “Control it Midnight. Don’t become the very fuel for the Inferno you cast. Focus on your target. Remember who you are Midnight. Don’t let it control you.” Her last words echoed on the empty grey ash field. She was gone, nothing but specks blown away. I wanted to cry. I hated her and missed her. I needed her and never wanted to see her again. “Why? Why did you do this?” I called out into the emptiness, but there was no answer. I was alone. I laid down on the barren ground below me and cried. Why was I feeling this way? Was this some kind of joke or trick? I never cried, not since…. Warner. As soon as I thought of his name, the ashes began to swirl away into blackness. I tried to get up and run away from the abyss, but my body didn’t comply. I simply sat there and allowed myself to be swallowed up by darkness and accepted the loss of feeling that crept over me. My eyes shot open to the small campfire I had built the night before dying before me in a small fit of flying sparks and ashes. I couldn’t breathe, no I was coughing. I was coughing up red smoke. It was painful, and burned me from my lungs to my nostrils and mouth. After choking for a good minute or so, I suddenly stopped. Was that a dream? I looked to the black book I had read, but there was something wrong. The pages were empty. Where unreadable characters had once been was simply blank pages. “What? Where did the letters go?” I asked aloud, as if any pony or thing could hear me. Well there was the other two books, but I didn’t want anything else to do with them for the time being. I struggled to get to my hooves, but my body argued with me. I ached as if I had been running for hours, but all I had done was wake up from a nightmare that may or may not have been real. In the end I won and managed to get up, but I still hurt. I closed the now blank magic book and put it into the bag with the others, and hoisted said bag onto my back. I stamped at the pitiful pile of ashes and stay sparks that was my fire, as if I really needed to. I didn’t think that waterfall caves stone was particularly in danger of catching fire and burning to the ground. Satisfied with my preparations to leave, I jumped the outcropping stones to the lake shore. I looked up to the sky and smiled a bit. It was morning, and that meant that it was a new day. A new day meant that I had succeeded in surviving the night, even if I was dreaming or having a nightmare most of that night. I made my way through the trees back to the trail that I had been following, and trotted a ways before I realized that I had left the trail long before the previous day. Oh yeah, I showed that trail. Still meant that I had no sense of direction to go though. I gave the plains a look around, trying to make an executive decision. Off to the right was that prevailing mountain, could be dangerous or safe, more collections of trees ahead of me, and on my left was a trail of smoke billowing in the air. Smoke meant that there was a campfire! I rushed towards it as fast as I could, certainly whoever had built a fire would be civilized enough for conversation right? The smoke originated behind more trees, but that wasn’t a problem for me. I slowed my pace a bit to not bump into too many of them, making it rather easy to weave between the woods. Between some of the trees, I saw the flickering of firelight. I was getting closer! Zip! “Whaa?!” Suddenly my hooves were pulled out from under me, and were pulled up towards the trees. I hit my head on the ground on my way up, disorienting my vision quite a bit and causing my glasses to fall to the ground that was now a good few feet away from my head. I hung there upside down for a few moments, my thoughts still swimming from what had just happened. Was this magic? Did some pony set up a magical trap to make me hover here? I tried to crane my neck up enough to look at my hooves, but it just made the blood rush to my head all that much quicker. “Ugh…some pony help me. Hello?” I groaned out, feeling the sickeningly familiar sense of unconsciousness creeping over me. The trees started fading to an eerie dark color, and I saw some roughly pony-shaped beings approaching around me. “Hello? Please help me.” I muttered to the pony shaped things. One got close to me, maybe to talk? “Could you help me down please?” I pleaded. “Ni nini hii??” A gruff, accented voice grumbled as if asking a question. “Unasemaje?” “What?” I asked, confused. That just earned me a sharp poke in the neck, causing me to lose sense of feeling and everything to fade to black. “Midnight. Wake up.” “There’s no time for napping now, princess.” I awoke once again to whispering voices, had to be those damned black books sitting in my back pack. I flittered my eyes open to find cone-shaped tents around me, and an open fire before me. Well, this was the fire I saw earlier. I looked to my side to see the back pack sitting on its side, well at least it was still around for what it was worth. I started move to retrieve it, but I couldn’t. I looked down at the ropes restraining me. Panic set in as I struggled against them to no avail. I was tied against what felt like a wooden post in an uncomfortable sitting up position, completely making my struggles useless. I heard a sort of horn that sounded throughout the camp, I couldn’t discern what exactly it was but it sounded nothing like the brass instruments that I had grown up around. This horn was followed by a steady beat that sounded like…drums? As the beat grew faster, I saw…things surround me. They had massive wooden faces, some with large grassy manes and some with large red-ringed eyes with no iris. The panic turned to fear as I lost count of the wooden beasts. “Greetings, Shadow-Walker.” Understandable language? With a feminine voice? “We know who you are, and where you come from.” One of the wooden faced beasts approached me, getting dangerously close to my nearsighted handicap but it stopped before it got blurry. “What are you things? Please don’t hurt me.” I had my priorities straight. Insult them before begging for your life Midnight, very nice. “Your kind calls us zebra.” The one that approached me took off her wooden face and stared at me with blue eyes of her own. Now that the mask was gone, I saw that these were in fact zebra. They had white bodies with black stripes and this one in particular had a small Mohawk, but a long twisted braid that fell down the length of her neck. “We have roamed these plains mostly undisturbed, but now you have come here. You and those other manipulators that cling to the shoreline like some they will be saved. As for bringing about harm to you, it will not hurt for long.” Okay, that didn’t sound good at all. “What do you mean those others that cling to the shoreline?” That had to be The Colony, my one good chance at surviving if they didn’t outright kill me. The zebra mare gave me a smug look. “As if you don’t know, for all we know you sent them here Shadow-Walker.” “There’s that word again, Shadow-Walker, what do you mean?” I had to keep this going at a nice, calm level for long enough to think of something. “Really? Do you not even know what you are?” I gave her a shrug, as restrained as I was. “Those books.” She pointed at the back pack with the black books in them. “Those books and their spells make you what you are. Clearly you are new to the shadows, but they will draw you in. You will think that nothing else can be done lest you give in and read your black magic.” She seemed to get angrier about the whole black magic thing the more she talked about it. “We will kill you now while you still have a soul Shadow-Walker. It is merciful compared to what we know will come.” Of course they were going to kill me, why didn’t I see that coming? “Hold on now, before you do that. Can you explain why you know how to speak the same language as me? I didn’t know that zebra could speak equestrian.” I still hadn’t come up with a plan, and those other zebras were getting spears out. The zebra mare chucked a bit. I had no idea that unicorns were so funny to them. “If it makes you feel better, sure I’ll tell you.” Good, more time to think. “There was once a missionary from your lands, one without a horn. We had no way of understanding him, so I was chosen to learn your language to communicate with him. After a few months, I became able to speak well enough to understand his purpose for coming here. He wanted to make the world a better place by spreading his religion of the sun and the moon, but there was no place for him among us. So we let him go, to wonder wherever he might end up. He found it as us letting him achieve higher understanding, but we simply didn’t want anything to do with his nonsense.” Well, that didn’t really give me the time that I wanted. I still didn’t have any sort of idea what I could do to get out of here alive. “Midnight.” “Don’t just sit there.” My eyes darted to the side, at the back pack, while the zebra mare went on about how their religion was more accurate than the missionary’s. “We can help you Midnight.” I didn’t have time to read another book, or the ability to, given the current circumstance. But I did already know one black magic spell, one that could help me escape. I just didn’t want it to come to that. “Now Shadow-Walker, do you have any last words before we set your soul free?” The zebra mare brought my attention back to her by a spear held to my neck. A little bit of pressure broke the skin and caused a little trickle of blood to flow down on her spear head. I took a deep breath, and smiled to the zebras. “Just one.” My horn glowed an unsettling black glow. “Inferno.” With that word, many of the zebra’s masks burst into flame. Along with the ropes restraining me and some of the cone-tents that I had seen earlier. Distracted by the fire, the zebra mare removed the spear from my neck and ran to her companions. Now with nothing stopping me, I got to my hooves as quick as I could and grabbed the back pack. “Get the savages! Strike them down!” An angry voice yelled from my right. I looked over to see several unicorns charging at the distracted zebras with spears of their own and crude wooden armor. “Don’t let any of them get away! I don’t want any free survivors this time.” The source of the voice was a stout orange unicorn with a short, blond mane and tail. He seemed to be the one in charge of the new arrivals. The zebras, not prepared for the assault, were easily taken down by the magically wielded spears of the unicorn invaders. Any attacks the zebras fought back with were useless against even the crude wooden armor that most of the unicorns wore. I could only sit in silence as this fight ruined the absolute beauty of the flames and ashes around me. NO! What I did was horrible and was nothing but self-defense! Right? “Now aren’t ya glad you had help now lass?” Warner? I turned around, hopes high that he was doing something weird again and was right behind me. But he wasn’t. All I saw was the wooden post that I was tied to before I cast the spell. But his voice was so vivid, how could he not be here? “You, by the post!” I didn’t even look up from my staring at the post, I was still thinking. “Prisoner! I swear, if you don’t move your ass and get over here I’m going to kill you myself!” Wait a second. Sharpe? I turned my head to the red, wooden clad unicorn yelling at me from a small distance to my left. “Come on! We’re going!” “Alright, I’m going!” I ran to Sharpe, but he didn’t wait up for me. He started off in the direction we were heading, leading me towards the trees. Trees that were close to the quickly spreading fire that I had started. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, weaving between tree trunks as carefully as I could while running for my life. But I kicked something on the ground, something made of glass. I looked back and saw my glasses that had dropped earlier. “Yes!” I put them on quickly and followed after Sharpe once more. Once out of the shade of the trees, I slowed my pace and stopped next to Sharpe. I had to catch my breath a bit, so I hung my head down. “Sharpe! How did you survive the crash? Who are those other unicorns? Why are you helping me?” Again, always good with the order of questions Midnight. Always. “Sharpe? I hate to disappoint, but I am not him” I looked up at the unicorn and stepped back a bit. That wasn’t Sharpe at all. He had a dark red mane, and a brown coat. His eyes were brown too but he looked just as sour as Sharpe, if not more sour. “I mean, I used to have a brother named Sharped but that was a long time ago. Have you met him?” “Uh. Um.” I was at a loss for words. I was certain that I saw Sharpe back there. I was certain that I heard Warner. So certain back there, and here I had nothing. “Y-yes, I have met him. He uh, he seems nice I guess.” Really Midnight? “Okay, whatever. Sorry for calling you a prisoner, they kind of did have you as a prisoner for a while. You are some kind of lucky girl! If we weren’t planning to charge in and that fire hadn’t miraculously started, you would have been zebra chow for sure.” I looked away from the broadly built stallion. “Yeah. Some kind of lucky.” I looked back to him. “Are you from the Colony?” “Yeah, ‘sentenced to a fate worse than death.’ But I’m still alive, so are the rest of us. So either those damned unicorns under that silly Platinum’s rule didn’t expect as much from us, or we are just great enough to thrive in a place like this.” He seemed quite proud of himself for that. A lot coming from a guy wearing armor made out of wood. “Why are you here? Some kind of missionary sent to save these savages or something?” I thought about lying to him. Maybe things could go better if he didn’t know that I was sentenced to the Colony as well. But I couldn’t stop myself. “No. Actually I was sentenced to the Colony as well.” The brown stallion looked down at me critically. “What?” “Well, just that I didn’t expect a mare like you to get sentenced to the Colony. Not exactly the best of places for some pony delicate like a flower.” He chuckled a little at his own words. “Hey! I was doing just fine on my own before.” For whatever reason, this elected even more laughter. “Really? You were doing just fine on your own back there hmm?” “Yeah, I had it under control.” I said indignant. The brown stallion turned around and walked a few paces, then turned back to me. “Alright. What was your plan?” I didn’t answer. “Nothing? No plan out here will get you killed girl. So either you start thinking quick, or you do your best to get off this forsaken continent. It’s no place for you.” He started trotting off to the right, not even looking back to me. “Hey wait!” I trotted after him and matched his pace. “Alright, you made your point. Thanks a lot for helping me back there. Since I’ve been sentenced to the Colony too, you think I could come with you?” Great, now I was begging for help. Really the independent image I was trying to put forth. “I don’t know, not for me to decide.” He gave me a side gaze, noticeably looking down at me. “What do you have to offer aside from being zebra bait?” I huffed a little, but kept my frustration in check. “Well, I-uh. Hmm.” We continued trotting in silence for a moment. Several times, I had something like ‘magical powers beyond comprehension’, or ‘the ability to cause wildfires that I cannot control’. Nothing that really seemed believable or even useful. Was I really so boring? “Um, I got pretty close to killing Princess Platinum. Does that count for anything?” Another laugh from this nameless brown stallion. Maybe I should become a court jester or something if I was apparently so funny. “Really now? You, the mare that was about to be eaten by zebras, were close to killing Princess Platinum?” The disbelief was rife in his voice. “Yeah, I was. I would have succeeded too, but I trusted some pony and everything fell apart. Years of planning were ruined, and I went from speaker of the council to a criminal in the matter of a day. It wasn’t how that was supposed to end at all. Then again, maybe Platinum is just destined to stay on the throne for a while longer.” Reminding myself that a lifetime of planning falling apart before me was a great way to make me feel like a failure. “Wait, you were speaker of the council?” Well, at least it wasn’t a fit of laughter this time. “Yeah, I had everything nice and planned out. I rose up from a servant, to council member, and to speaker of the council. It was going so well, but Clover the Clever found me out. So now I’m here.” I stopped and looked back, the brown stallion had stopped a few paces ago and I hadn’t even noticed. “You alright?” “Alright girl, you’ve got me interested.” He started his trot again. “I want to hear about this more, details you know? But not here, let’s get you set up. Any pony with the gall to try and kill the Princess has a place among the ponies of the Colony.” He caught up with me and we started off again. “Come on, I’ll take you there. I’m sure that Captain Courageous is already making his way back with the rest of the brutes. I think they’d all like to know about the mare that got close to finally shutting up that dumb broad Platinum.” Well, I guess all it takes to get respect is attempted murder. Cool. “Sounds like a plan. By the way, what’s your name? I’d like to at least know who this heroic stallion who saved me is.” I did my best at the whole ‘princess’ thing, but I figuratively fell on my face. “Hah! Oh you certainly aren’t the type that usually gets sent here.” Well, at least I was still funny. “Edgeworth the second, at your service. But call me Edge, or I’ll gut you. No pony uses my family name. Got it?” Right, don’t call him the name he just told me. Instead, just a simpler one. “Got it, I’m Midnight Star.” We continued trotting away from the sun, making it much easier on my eyes than direct sunlight. “It’ll be a while. Colony’s on the coast, next to a beach. So keep up girl.” Edge spoke up, quickening his pace a little. I matched his pace, not wanting to fall behind. It may not have been the best of starts, but I was finally going to reach the closest thing to civilization I could find here. Sure it was a bit bumpy and dangerous, but I never expected it to be easy. Sure I was going to have to make a good first impression on several ponies that I didn’t know and would probably like to kill or rape me, but it could be worse. Furthermore, if they were anything like Edge it couldn’t be all that bad. Either way, I was going to find a herd at last. Suck on that gazelles. Author's Note Special thanks to Klei entertainment as their game Don't Starve really got me going on this chapter. I love the game very much ;D Otherwise! Moving the story right along in the usual sassy manner of miss Midnight Star. Hope you enjoy
Chapter Five: The FamilyNight was falling fast. I saw the moon poke over the horizon before Edge started to slow down. We had been at a quick pace for quite a while, so I simply though he was stopping to rest. “Alright then girl. Here we are. Welcome to the Colony, home sweet home.” He said in the darkness. Of course, he had the luxury of using his illumination magic. I looked around the shadows a bit, not seeing anything at all. “Really? This is…the Colony?” I gave the clearing we were in another look around, but I couldn’t see anything but trees and dirt. This elected a laugh from Edge. I was starting to think that I wasn’t that funny and that he was just being an ass, but kept my thoughts to myself. “Yup! This is the place, guess the brutes aren’t back yet after all. Guess they either had some trouble with the last of those zebras or… never mind. Here they come now.” Edge turned my attention back the way we came, what I saw surprised me. A huge mob of illuminated unicorns were all trotting our way, some were holding what looked like bags of things and some had… zebras? There was the orange unicorn I had seen earlier in the lead, not carrying anything. Great leader. I moved out of the way as Edge met the mob of eight or so unicorns. “Well, I see that you were successful Blight. Supplies I presume?” It was as if it was a status report or something. Was this guy some kind of general or something? I crushed that idea quickly though, he was a criminal just like me. The orange unicorn in the lead nodded a few times, giving a toothy smile. “Yeah boss. Them zebras had all kinds of food and materials. You were right, just like always.” My jaw dropped before I could even stop it. Edge was the leader in this place? “Of course, supplies. And I presume that you will be putting those zebras back were you found them?” Edge gestured toward the two zebras that some of the unicorns carried unconscious. Blight, the orange unicorn, suddenly changed his tune. “Aww! Come on Edge. We’ll just have fun with ‘em a few times before we kill ‘em.” My skin crawled as soon as I realized what they were talking about. “We’ll even let you have first go at ‘em too! Promise!” However, Edge seemed to be as disgusted by the idea as I was. “No Blight!” The orange pony in question backed away from Edge’s raised voice. “You know how I feel about this sort of thing. I’m not going to stand for a Colony of rapists. Now either you let them go and forget about it, or I’ll see how you like it when some pony sticks something where you don’t want it to go. Like my hooves up your ass. Got it?” By the time Edge was done, Blight had positively shrunk into the ground. I couldn’t help but smile. “Oh to hell with this Edge! You and your damn ethics. You obviously don’t know what it’s like to go without for so long. We’ve got needs Edge, and some of us have been here longer than you have. So screw you and your ethics!” One particularly sickly looking green unicorn threw his captive zebra to the ground while several others kept Edge held back. I simply watched from the dark, but something caught my eye. The zebra mare had a small Mohawk and a single small braid down her neck. This was the zebra that was talking to me earlier. She didn’t deserve this, no pony did. Throwing all doubt away, I ran from the shadows and kicked the green unicorn in the mouth, effectively knocking him on his back and freeing the zebra mare. “GO!” I yelled at the zebra, but she simply sat there and stared at me horrified as I was surrounded by spears pointed directly at my neck. “Who the hell are you?!” “Give me a reason not to kill you” “What the hell are you doing?” Accusations of all natures were thrown at me at once, I couldn’t focus on them all. I stood bravely over the zebra mare, even though I was scared out of my mind on the inside. “Well! That is an excellent way to make a first impression Midnight.” I searched the aggressive unicorns for the source of the voice, trying to find who was talking. But I knew that voice already. “Every pony I’d like you to meet Midnight Star, she’s the one we freed from that camp today. Give her a round of applause won’t you?” With some pushing and shoving in the crowd around me, Edge made his way to my side and pushed back the spears pointing at me. “What do you say we give her a big welcome to the Colony hmm?” “Midnight Star?” “What is this? Some kind of trick?” “Why’s Edge standing up for her?” I stayed silent, glaring at the group of unicorns before me. None of them looked happy to see me. “She’s tryin’ to ruin my fun!” The green unicorn complained, getting back to his hooves. Edge stepped between me and the green unicorn. “Your ‘fun’ is a crime worse than anything any of us has committed scum. Some of us probably had our reasons for stealing, maybe even for disrespecting that Platinum broad back in the day. But for absolutely no reason whatsoever do you have the right to become worse than the animals that damn Platinum crown has sentenced us to be.” The green unicorn wavered slightly in his gaze, looking down to the ground angrily. “Now, Midnight here, has some integrity. She may be here, but she’s not taking advantage of any pony helpless to stop her. In fact she’s saving a zebra, one of the one’s that had her captive, from being exploited in the most disgusting of ways.” Was he trying to guilt this guy into not trying to rape this zebra? If so, it seemed to be working quite well. He looked genuinely disgusted with himself. “Now, what are you going to do with these zebra?” Blight quickly sided with Edge. “We’re going to let em go boss.” With that, the other unicorns holding zebras captive let them go, allowing them to run into the darkness away from the scene. But the one I was standing over stayed. “Good.” Edge nodded to the other unicorns. “Now! All of you delinquents put those supplies in the stock tree. Need to get to work on putting them to use tomorrow.” Some groans could be heard in the group of unicorns, but the ones with supplies moved away out of sight. “The rest of you go to sleep. We got work to do tomorrow, and we can all meet miss Midnight in a bit better circumstance alright? She’s family now and I don’t want to hear complaints about it. Now go! Ya did good today, gonna do better tomorrow yeah?” With a groan, the crowd answered with a less than enthusiastic “Yeah.” They all started filing away out of sight and in between trees in the darkness. Finally feeling less attacked, I let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks Edge. I don’t know what came over me, I just….didn’t want to see that happen.” I stepped away and gave the poor zebra mare some breathing room, but she didn’t move. She just regarded me with wide eyes and a terrified gaze. “Just because they are idiots doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous Midnight.” The tables had turned, and suddenly I felt like I was being lectured instead. “That was a great stunt you pulled, but just be glad I was there to pick up the pieces. That could have ended very badly for both of you two if I didn’t say something.” “But I-” “Just wanted to do the right thing?” Edge took the words right out of my mouth. “Look that’s noble and all Midnight, but noble is a little something that most of these ponies aren’t. A lot of them are probably thinking of having you as their next victim if they get a chance. Alright? If you think this is some adventure story where the heroes get rewarded for their bravery, you’re wrong Midnight. Here, we struggle to survive and sometimes have to do things we aren’t proud of to do so. Taking from the local tribes is just one thing we have to do to keep from falling to savagery to survive. It’s not right, and if I could have it my way we wouldn’t be doing this. But then again, if I had things my way none of us would be here. We’d all be in prison, happily rotting away for the rest of our lives rather than fighting for survival. So the next time you think about doing something risky or dumb, just remember that I won’t always be there next time to help you.” Edge turned away and started off towards where the others went, lighting his path with magic. In the remaining shadows of the night, I looked back down at the zebra mare. “I couldn’t let it happen. I couldn’t watch that happen again. I-” Before I could continue, the zebra simply got up and ran away into the darkness as well. I sat there for a moment and thought of following her, but that wouldn’t lead me anywhere but to my probable doom. My best bet was following the fleeting light of Edge turning the corner of some trees. “Wait!” I called after him, quickly galloping to his side. “Where am I supposed to sleep tonight?” Edge stopped and turned to me with a raised eyebrow. “It’s just that, I don’t really think it’s safe for a girl like me to sleep out in the darkness. I don’t want to give some of your friends that opportunity to….take advantage of me.” I put on my best ‘hopeless mare face’ to try and convince him, even though it was really probably sillier looking than sad. After a few moments of him being skeptical about my question, he finally caved. “Alright, tell ya what. Since you’re new and I’m the one that keeps these bastards in line, you can sleep in the empty hovel beside mine. Sound good?” I gave the brown stallion a short nod. “Alright, lead the way Mister Edge.” I almost said Edgeworth, but I didn’t want to test him right after he agreed to help me. He simply returned the nod and kept going the direction before I had interrupted him. I followed him a short distance before he stopped. “Alright, here it is. Sleep tight girl.” Earlier when he said ‘hovel’, I had no idea that he meant ‘hollowed out tree that was still standing.’ I figured that he at least meant a small shack or something that had an actual roof over it. “Is this it?” I asked quite obnoxiously before I could even stop myself. Edge laughed a bit, once again reminding me that I should try comedy. “Hah, no it’s not. That’s just the front door, on the inside you’ve got marble hallways and fluff pillow beds.” I gave him a frustrated look. “What? Did you expect us to live in extravagant homes like royalty?” Honesty I expected something a little better than trees. “It’s uh… got character?” I ventured hopefully, giving him the best smile I could muster for the situation. “How long have you ponies been living like this?” Edge simply gave an unknowing shrug. “Longer than I’ve been here. These guys were doing this since before I came along around three years ago. Now just take it and get some sleep. If any of those ruffians give you any trouble just give me a yell, I’ll come by. Now good night.” Edge turned and cantered over to his own hallowed out tree. When he thought I was out of earshot, I could hear him mutter. “Such a princess.” Without any light of my own and Edge stopping his illumination spell, I was left in the dark. But it wasn’t so bad, the sky was clear and the moon was waxing past its third quarter. The stars in the night sky twinkled in their own sinister way, as if laughing at my reliance on light to see. I retreated into the hallowed out tree that Edge brought me to and tried to get comfortable. For the first few minutes, I couldn’t find the reason I was unable to let myself relax. Then I remembered I still had Warner’s backpack on. I shrugged the now slightly worn down pack and laid on my side and put my glasses on top of it, keeping my eyes on the open side of the tree. I didn’t want to leave myself so vulnerable if some night predator decided to come eat me in the middle of the night or to give one of those other stallions an opportunity. After counting the stars in my view for a good long while, I finally fell to sleep. I heard the sound of birds singing, but they weren’t tweeting or singing really. It was more of a lame honk or something. Something with such a voice should never be allowed to sing. I forced my eyes open to the dim morning light and seagulls flying overhead. “Stop that noise please.” I moaned at the birds. “You shouldn’t be allowed to make noise.” I tried getting up, but my body ached more than it had the previous morning. I thought I had managed to stand up in the hollowed out tree, but hitting my head on the low ceiling of my tree hovel threw me back down to the ground. Rolling out of the wooden prison, I managed to make myself stand up. “Stupid tree.” I muttered, levitating my glasses onto my muzzle and strapping the back pack to my back. It had become similar to my glasses in that I hardly felt that it was one once I had it. Even if it was uncomfortable to lay down in. I made a quick visual sweep of the Colony now that it was actually lit, albeit dimly, by the sun. Within other hollowed out trees, I could see the sleeping forms of other unicorns. Some of them were recognizable from the night before, the orange Blight and nameless green one most notably. This place was kind of a dump to be honest. Nothing but mud and hollowed out trees. Of course they were in a somewhat circular shape, making it at least feel kind of like a town. That feeling quickly fell away when I considered that these were all former criminals. In the distance, I could hear the sound of waves and the smell the wetness of the ocean. I followed that sound and smell past some trees to my right and found a small beach looking out to sea. It was an absolutely beautiful view looking at the rising sun on the horizon. The sky was painted a shade of orange that bled into the ocean, making the sight quite bright for the morning. “Ponies don’t often get to see something so beautiful in their entire lifetimes.” I quickly whipped around to the voice behind me, but saw nothing. “Having never seen anything but the sunset, it really makes the sun rise all that more special.” “Where are you? Who are you?” I asked out to the empty beach, turning in circles to try and find who was talking to me. “What are you?” “Well, that’s really up for debate. Some call me a criminal, others call me a smuggler. Me? I like to think of myself as a painter and a visionary.” I continued to spin around, looking for the voice. “Oh and if you want to get technical, a Pegasus.” I looked up to see the smiling face of a yellow Pegasus looking down at me with green eyes. His orange mane was mixed with some streaks red, looking like lazy fire sitting on his head and tail. He quickly descended to my side, prompting me to back away a few paces. “Why were you-?” “Looking out to the ocean? I like to look out and think that somewhere out there, my family is looking for me; trying to find their wrongly convicted son and brother. But I know better. Those bastards disowned me as soon as they heard that I was in unicorn hoo-” “No! Why were you spying on me? That’s really weird you know!” Upon hearing my words, the yellow Pegasus put on the most offended expression I had ever seen on a stallion. “Oh! Oh goodness don’t flatter yourself girl! I was simply looking out to the ocean, thinking of how well I could capture it in painting. Then you showed up and ruined my view! I simply wanted to start conversation since clearly I wasn’t going to have my previous purpose for coming here fulfilled.” I gave him an unconvinced expression. “Honest! I’m a painter, that’s what I do.” “Really? You paint huh? Well then, show me. Go ahead and paint a picture right now with the brush and canvas that you don’t have.” The yellow Pegasus’ eyes shifted side to side uneasily. “Also, didn’t you just say that you were thinking about your family that disowned you? I’m somehow not surprised they did since you like to sneak up on ponies and throw out lies to cover up the fact that you’re creeping on them.” The yellow Pegasus gave out an exasperated sigh. “Alright, fine. You got me. I was totally creeping on you. But I didn’t mean to! I was simply stretching out my wings and then this pretty unicorn mare just waltzes out on the beach! What’s a guy supposed to do, just ignore that and keep on his marry way?” “Well you could at least walk over to her instead of flying around where she wouldn’t think to look! And another thing….you think I’m pretty?” I couldn’t filter the words fast enough, they just spilled out. A smile crept on the Pegasus’ muzzle. “Of course! How could one ignore such beauty before them? Truly, you are a gift to my eyes.” Well, he certainly was a romantic. “Have you not heard such things before?” Honestly, no. “Of course I just…haven’t been uh, in best of company recently.” I really had to brush up on conversational norms. Especially in the case of this guy clearly flirting with me. While it was flattering, I just didn’t really know how to take the notion. “I see.” The yellow Pegasus said nodding. “Well, let me tell you that you will be hearing it a lot my beautiful friend.” That’s okay, I didn’t need that kind of attention. I think. “Stick with Sunset Gale and all of your problems will go away.” He continued, answering my next question. “Alright uh, Sunset Gale. Are you with the rest of the ponies here in the Colony?” I wanted to move on from the whole ‘flirting to distract me from how creepy you were’ talk and actually learn something about this place if possible. Sunset gave another exasperated sigh, clearly not wanting to move on. “Yes, I am with the Colony. I was apparently caught in airspace belonging to some Princess of Platinum or something and they put me on a boat, tied my wings, and shipped me to the wonderful place you see here. I would have been able to get a good sense of direction and where this place is, but they blindfolded me so I couldn’t see where they were taking me. Now, this place is all I really know. Been at least two and a half years here.” Well, that was certainly different than my voyage here. “They brought you here because you were in their airspace?” I asked a bit confused. Was there such a thing? Airspace belonging to unicorns didn’t seem right. “Yeah, brought me down with some sort of pulling magic. They called it telekinesis or something, and started barking something about my transgressions against the crown and found some vegetables in my bags that they found illegal or something. We Pegasus don’t find peppers to be illegal by any stance, so I know they were just trying to find some reason to punish me for coming close to their fancy rock city.” That was dumb, there wasn’t any kind of law against peppers. “Well if it really was peppers you were holding, they really had no reason to do anything. Sending you to a settlement for criminals is a bit of a racist overreaction.” At least Sunset brightened up a bit at that. “See? I knew that they were just being racist! Edge tries to tell me that there is a strict policy that the crown has against anything grown aside from strictly food produce, but I knew better. Peppers help us Pegasus stay warm in the winter when we have to move around those damned freezing clouds for the snowfall to let the land refresh itself. It had been getting colder sooner in recent years, and I just wanted to get those to my weather team as quick as possible. Clearly, using a shortcut over whatever city they called it was a bad idea. Otherwise I’d be with my team moving clouds, not all the way across the ocean in zebra lands hoping that something doesn’t kill me.” Didn’t the Pegasus control the weather? If that were the case, why was it getting colder quicker in recent years? I didn’t think about it too much, Pegasus problems not mine. “Well, what is it that you actually do here beside look at the sunrise and creep on mares having a look around?” The sass wasn’t needed, but I felt at least a little justified. Sunset had a laugh at that, again reminding me that I was apparently the most hilarious girl that any pony had seen. Seriously, I wasn’t that funny. “Ha-hoo. Oh goodness, if that were my day job I’d be less than useless. No, I don’t just spy on beautiful mares all day.” I could only suspect not, I hadn’t really seen any other mares here aside from myself and the zebra prisoners last night. That could be the reason that he was being so flirty, but I didn’t point it out. I didn’t mind it that much. “I actually keep tabs on zebra movements, addressing possible threats and reporting them to Edge. I’m a lookout essentially, but I like to think of myself as a sort of over watch instead. Sounds better my way.” The way he said it made it sound more like a military position. “While they haven’t been hostile to our being here as of late, I think that the raid on that camp yesterday probably gave them a reason to hunt us down or at least retaliate.” This much was true, but it would have ended badly for me had they not done something when they did. I still had to ask Edge about that. “Well enough, I don’t suppose you know anything about a ship wreck that happened recently?” If Sunset Gale was a scout of sorts, perhaps he could lead me to where Warner and Sharpe were. Certainly they could deal with the company if they were still alive. “No, can’t say that I have. Why you ask?” I thought a moment. Perhaps it wasn’t best that I tell him about Warner and Sharpe. Then again, having a flying set of eyes looking for them or the boat could be more effective than trying to find it on my own eventually. “I was transported here by boat as well, but it wasn’t by a royal ship or anything. I was transported by a ship called the Silver Sapphire, I don’t know where it crashed. It wasn’t close to sunrise or sunset when I woke up and I wasn’t even near the boat. Anyway on the boat were two other ponies, one’s name was Wa-” “Sunset are you harassing that girl? Is he harassing you Midnight?” I turned to see who had interrupted me, seeing Edge cantering over to where Sunset and I were standing. “You have to forgive him, he suffers from diarrhea of the mouth.” The large, brown stallion stopped a few feet from the both of us giving us a look over. “I’m really sorry Edge I…” “We were simply getting to know each other. He wasn’t bothering me, not really. We were discussing how we got here actually.” I don’t know why I stood up for this stallion I hardly knew, but he was certainly grateful and gave me a knowing side glance. “I see.” Edge contemplated for a moment. “Well that’s all fine and dandy, but I think it would be good for you to meet the rest of the Colony. You know, make a better name for yourself other than Edge’s little pet. They found your stance on the situation last night to be quite….offensive? At any rate, I think it could do all of us some good if we got to know you a little better.” That concept frightened me. I didn’t want to stand in front of a bunch of stallions and tell them why they shouldn’t use me as their personal play toy. I wanted to go out and search for Warner and Sharpe, or at the least stay here. There was definitely worse company than Sunset. “Aright Edge, lead the way.” I answered softly. “Good. Come with me, you too Sunset.” Edge said assertively, beckoning both Sunset and I to follow him back to the tree line that contained the Colony’s main circle. If anything, the ponies of the Colony were true to Edge’s word. About twelve of them had formed an impromptu crowd awaiting my arrival. There were whispers among them, but they weren’t too obnoxious. I was still scared that they might suddenly have a change of heart and charge me with those spears they used to stab and cut down the zebras yesterday, or something else entirely. Most notable of the crowd were two stallions sitting at the front: Blight, and his green friend from last night. Really they were the reason that I was most terrified, but I had to get over that pretty quickly. “Good morning to all!” Edge’s voice boomed from right next to me. “This here is Midnight Star if you haven’t already heard or seen her. Now I know some of you are…focused on the fact that she’s a mare, but I want you to try and see past that for what she is: another member of our little family that we have here.” As far as introductions go, I could have had worse than Edge. As the brown stallion stepped to the side, I stepped forward in his place. “Uh, hey there. I’m Midnight Star. How are all of you today?” I asked uneasy. Still worried about them thinking about killing me or worse. “This isn’t the place for you!” I heard a yell from the back, clearly one of the stallions last night that were against Edge’s view on things. “You wouldn’t last a day here!” I wasn’t going to let myself be made a fool of. “Really now? One day hmm?” I had in fact survived a day by myself, even if nothing particularly interesting happened. You know, aside from black magic and stuff. “How about this: if I survive for more than a day here, you guys will hear me out hmm?” No answer. “Actually I’ll do you one better. I’ll not just survive here with you ponies of the Colony, I’ll make things better. With the right know how and conviction, I’m sure we could make this a much better place to live. What do you think of that hmm?” There was silence for a moment, as if they were actually considering my words. “Who are you to tell us what to do?” Great, not what I was looking for at all. I had just about enough of this voice in the back. “I’m Midnight Star. I was sentenced to the Colony recently for the crime of attempted murder of Princess Platinum. If I can get close enough to slit her throat, I’m more than sure that I won’t have a problem finding a way to make you break.” I threatened back. There was silence. Most of the ponies looked at me with either a look of fear or disbelief. Several muttered things under their breath, but none of them spoke up. Edge stood at my side, addressing the muttering ponies. “See? She’s one of us after all. We’ve all done something that is despicable one way or another, so it’s best that we not try to turn on one another. In fact, it is best if we all try to work together to make things better. What do you say we give Miss Midnight a chance to prove her worth?” Instead of silence, Edge’s words were met with nods and cheers. He really had a lot of gravity for choices made here. It was amazing how he could get these outcasts and thieves to band together so easily. I looked up to the brown stallion and whispered. “Thank you.” He gave me a small side nod. “Alright! I want you to sort through to supplies we got from yesterday’s raid, make sure that it’s all useful things that won’t just end up being a waste of time.” Obeying his words the ponies of the Colony, all twelve or so, filed over to the hollowed out tree where they had put the loot from yesterday. As they went about their business, I felt a weight get lifted from my shoulders. “Midnight, I actually have something I want you to do.” Edge said quietly once we were alone. “Alright, what’s that?” I guess I was going to have to prove my worth sooner rather than later. “I want you to go to the camp we raided yesterday and make sure that there isn’t anything left there that could be used. If there’s any kind of tools or food, bring it back here. I know that they probably did a good job, I just want to make sure that nothing was left. Alright?” Edge wore an expression of concern, obviously trying to give me something to do away from the Colony while the rest of the ponies were settling with the thought of me staying. I gave the tall Edge a firm nod. “Alright, got it. I’ll go see if anything was left.” Giving me a confirming nod, Edge went off to join the other ponies sorting through things. I wasn’t one to procrastinate, so I made my way in the direction I had come from last night. I had to prove that I was worth keeping to the Colony and if that meant searching through the burnt remains of the zebra camp I destroyed, so be it. It had taken a good while, but I finally found my way back to the devastated zebra camp form yesterday. The cool morning had given way to a much warmer daylight. It would have felt better if it wasn’t so dry out here, I was surprised that the grass around me didn’t just burst into flame from the sun baring down on it. Of course, I could help it…but that wasn’t my thoughts prevailing. It was hers. Passing through the now burnt tree line, I found that not everything was destroyed. There were a few of the cone tents still standing, not burned or destroyed. It was remarkable really. How could they have avoided the beauty of my fire spreading? NO! I shook my head quickly, as if that would shake out that little voice in my head that continued to undermine my thoughts. I knew it wouldn’t though. I walked towards the burnt remains of the pole I had been tied against. If I had the opportunity to do it over again, I would have rather just died than caused so much pain. Sure Edge and the Colony were going to attack anyway, but I still felt responsible for how brutal this was. Grass burned to ashes, scorched zebra corpses laying unmoving, and even the vacant tents were all reminders of how much suffering I could cause. It was amazing. I walked over to one of the three cone tents and entered solemnly. I was here to look for any remaining supplies after all. No surprise, it was mostly empty. There were some grass mats, but that wasn’t something I could fit into my back pack. Other than that, there was simply the center branch keeping the cone tent up. A quickly searched the second and found nothing, but in the third there was a small sack made of some kind of animal leather. The idea of using something else’s skin as a container repulsed me, but I looked inside anyway. Within was a wooden mask, like the ones that I had seen the zebra wear. This however was different. It was smaller, and could just fit over my face. Also, it seemed kind of eerie. As if this thing had life of its own, but was simply unable to be happy. I felt wrong to just leave it. I slung the back pack to the ground and opened it to put it inside, but I stopped. I found myself pulling out another one of the black books without my knowing. One moment I was going to put the mask inside, the next I was opening one of the black books and staring at the words that marched across the page. “No.” I said to myself and shut the book, leaving it on the ground. I finished putting the mask in my back pack, but stared again at the book laying there. “It’s rude to leave a book lying on the ground you know.” A disembodied voice echoed through my ears, sending chills down my spine. “Honestly, I wake you up before you get killed by ruffians and you just throw me on the ground like some discarded toy. Inconsiderate!” I slung the back pack over and put my forelegs through the straps, putting on the most indignant expression I could. “I never asked for you to do that. I very well could have woken up by myself, given the time to do so. I think that I would have been just fine without your help.” “Oh, but that’s where your wrong Midnight. Without me, you would have met a very different fate yesterday.” The book gave a cold, unearthly chuckle that echoed long after it was supposed to dissipate. Then again, I wasn’t an expert on how long books were supposed to laugh. “How do you know my name? How do you know what the day is?” I demanded quickly. “Why do you keep talking to me?” There was silence for a while, I almost gave up and left but the book finally answered. “Quite simply, I knew you before Midnight. I knew you and your parents.” I couldn’t find an answer for that. “A few short years ago your parents received a black book, me, and found a way to convey some of my secrets to you before you knew about black magic. Well, it short for my understanding of time. For you, it was almost a third of your life ago. I believe you were seven.” I took a step back from the book. “What are you saying?” No answer. “How could you have possibly known my parents?” Still nothing. “What do you mean some of your secrets?” “There we are! That’s the question I was waiting for. You see, black magic isn’t as simple as you or I would like it to be. It’s not just words on a page, it’s more like…understanding. Understanding that is passed from one pony to another through the writing. I’m sure you’ve noticed that Inferno’s book is empty? That’s because her understanding is now yours. Maybe one day when the time comes, you will pass that understanding back into the book and allow another pony to be blessed with its power.” That made a bit of sense as to why the book was blank when I woke up. “Well, what if I don’t? What if I don’t pass the…understanding back into the book?” “Simple. The spell dies with you.” I let that sink in a moment. Magic that couldn’t be understood unless the last known learner wrote it down? That seemed rather unnecessary and inefficient. “Alright, then what did you mean earlier when you said that my parents passed some of your secrets to me? If I have an understanding of your magic, why are there still words in your book?” The book responded by giving another unearthly chuckle that made me shiver like I was freezing. “They only scratched the surface. They didn’t receive that full understanding of the magic I’ve been…chosen to bare. You can use a part of my magic to see in the darkness, as that is the portion of my cur- uh…spells that you have an understanding of. There’s more in here than just seeing in the dark Midnight.” Why would a book stutter like that? There was something else on my mind though. “Why is it that a voice seems to change my thoughts whenever I think about what that spell did? It’s like she’s trying to get out or something.” It was one of the more unsettling things on my mind. It was as if I was losing myself slowly. “Oh that? Quite simply, that’s just her voice echoing through your understanding. It’ll go away after a few years.” Well that didn’t sound good. “But I can actually make that better.” “I doubt that. The last time I thought one of you black books could help, I ended up burning down a zebra camp.” I didn’t want something else like that to go completely wrong. “Alright, one: this place was going to be burned down anyway by your friends. Two: I can simply silence her voice. You may think it’s complicated, but it’s really not. All I have to do is stop her echoing voice. Like stopping a bell from continuing to ring really. Simple as that. You just need to be able to touch it, and you can’t touch her voice. But I can.” Was it really that simple? “So you can make her stop ‘echoing’?” That certainly sounded like a plus. Getting my own thoughts back in my mind was always a plus. “But what’s the downside?” “What downside? You’ve already grown a need for glasses my dear. You’ve already received any sort of ‘downside’ that you could get from my spells. So quite simply, there is none.” I still had a feeling that he was lying. If it even was a he. “I still don’t see why I should ask for your help. I don’t think that anything could possibly help me in my situation here.” I really was a little curious. A little. But I didn’t want anything to do with any more black magic, it had caused enough trouble. “Don’t you want to know what your parents were like?” I stared at the book in silence. “What do you mean? I grew up with my parents in the Gold family. I know who my parents are.” “You are so lied to my dear. So very ignorant. You don’t even know who your parents were. You’re convinced you were born into that wretched Gold family aren’t you?” “Family isn’t where you’re born into, it’s where you find your home and friends.” I defended, knowing that it was a weak excuse. I didn’t have any friends when I was young. “A lot of good that is isn’t it then? Born into a family wanting to use you from the beginning, no friends aside from your criminal companions and that boat pony, and left to die in zebra lands that will be the end. Tell me again how much your ‘family’ cares about what happened to you Midnight.” It had a point. The closest thing I had to a friend was Warner, who was just transporting me here before his ship crashed. Somehow, the only pony that ever really showed any heart for me ended up being punished. “What’s your point?” “I can show you your parents Midnight. They’re here with me.” “I don’t believe you.” The idea was absolutely insane. “The reason they were able to pass some of my spells to you is that they sacrificed themselves to do so. The Gold family simply used that to convince you that they weren’t your real parents. You’ve been lied to for so long that my truths seem to be nothing but fake.” “Prove it!” I yelled at the book, anger really getting the best of me. “As you wish, my dear.” With that, the book opened back up and a sickening cold sensation washed over me like a freezing breeze. Black smoke oozed out of the pages of the black book, blocking my eyesight and taking away my senses one by one. First sight, then hearing, then feeling. Soon I was numb to the world around me and felt nothing but the blackness. My eyes shot open and I stood up from the cold flooring beneath me. Wait flooring? I looked around and tried to assess where exactly I was. On the ceiling was marble tiles, and the walls were another variety of stone. I was in some kind of foyer, but something was wrong. I was upside down, standing on the ceiling and looking down at the floor. A quick inspection confirmed my suspicion, as chandlers were hanging away from me and had candles pointing down at me. But their flames weren’t moving. It was as if they were frozen in one spot. I tried moving, and to my surprise I could without falling up or down or whatever the other direction was. I walked around the ceiling-floor a bit and got used to the strangeness of it all. I stopped my tentative trot on the ceiling and looked around again. The colors of the candles were greyed over, and the ceiling I stood on was a dull black color. Scanning the foyer stairs again, I suddenly recognized them. This was the Gold Manor. My realization was cut short as the foyer doors swung open and a black mane and white coated stallion barged in. I crouched down low, as if crouching on the ceiling upside down would help. “I can’t believe our luck! This is the perfect opportunity! This truly is a work of the gods!” He yelled almost fanatically. A mare with a grey coat and charcoal mane walked in, shaking her head at the stallion. “What if something goes wrong? She could be hurt or killed! Do you want to be the one responsible for a young girl being put to her demise?” “With the proper plan, nothing will go wrong. We just have to-” The stallion’s words were cut off mid-sentence, and he froze in place. I waited for a moment, waiting for him to continue but he simply wasn’t moving. He wasn’t even breathing. It was as if he was like the candles. “Odd isn’t it? They always stop in the strangest of places. Stranger now though. Then again, why shouldn’t it? You’re here now.” A low, smooth voice crept into my ears. Chilling me to the bone. “Hello? Where are you?” I pleaded out into the grey upside-down house. “Why am I here?” “Just find your way to the dining room my dear. Everything will make more sense there.” I didn’t want to follow what this voice was telling me, but I didn’t have much of another choice. It was either that or just sit here and stare at the frozen ponies on the floor. So, with doubt in my mind I made my way towards the stairs. Walking on the ceiling above them was strange, but I had to do it. The stairs went up a few steps and then split left and right. I knew that the dining room was on the right, so I cantered along the ceiling above that flight of stairs and came to a hallway. There were many doors on both sides, and led to different rooms that belonged to different members of the Gold family. I would have taken the time to explore each one, but in all honesty I wanted to leave as soon as possible. About halfway down the hallway ceiling, I heard voices all around. Yelling voices that wanted me to stop and listen, but I did no such thing. In my passing I heard several arguing. “That’s not how things work here!” “I hate it here!” I felt like I knew that voice, but I didn’t stop. “Now you see, the trick to getting them to bend to your will is simply to play their game until you have them right where you want them.” “Isn’t that manipulating? Isn’t that wrong?” “Not here it isn’t. It’s only manipulating if it’s the more powerful force making the weaker bend to their laws, not the other way around.” I shut out the whispers as I climbed over the wooden molding that separated the hallway ceiling from the dining room. I didn’t want to hear them anymore. “Welcome, my dear. Isn’t it great to remember what has so long been forgotten?” I spun around to look for the voice, but couldn’t find it. He was still hiding. “Just watch, this is important. For you at least. I could care less.” I looked down at the dining hall, obeying the voice like a good little tool. At the large grey dining table were three ponies. One was the black and white stallion from before, the other was the grey and charcoal mare. The third…was me. “Now do you understand what you must do?” The stallion asked quietly. “Yes father. It’s the only way. I understand.” I wanted to shout at myself, but I couldn’t make myself open my mouth. “You do realize that you can never speak of us until it is your time to pass the torch?” The mare said, almost whispering. “We’ve been over it mother, I cannot be caught no matter what. Trust no pony.” I remembered this. It was the last time I saw any of the Gold family. I thought that these ponies were my parents but now looking back, I hardly recognized them. I watched the young version of me walk away from the table and to the hallway behind me. I started to follow, but a voice stopped me. “Wait, no stay for a bit more. This is the best part.” I turned back to my not-parents and waited. “I can’t believe she bought all that.” The stallion murmured. “I can’t believe that worked!” “Are you proud of yourself? You single hoofedly trained that poor orphan into believing she is a killer. She’s going to die out there if she gets found out!” The mare’s voice boomed and echoed against the walls. “If! If she gets found out. If she gets found out I have no doubt that Platinum will strike her down like the criminal she is going to be, but if she’s successful? If she is successful, our family will be the one ruling over the unicorns instead of that stupid Princess Platinum! Either way, we stay innocent. The law can never track her to us, we aren’t related! She’s the perfect catalyst!” Those words struck through me like a bolt of lightning. My whole life was a lie, and I didn’t even know about it. Accepting that I was a failure was one thing, but finding out that my life was a catalyst? That was a whole other level of wrong. “You see now Midnight? They never cared about you. All they saw in you was opportunity for them. They had you brainwashed to believe you were going to change the world, but all they wanted you to do was give them the power. It’s a justice really, you being sent to the Colony. The alternative is an Equestria ruled by unicorns that only want power for themselves. You may have seen this place as worse than death, and Clover saw it as a second chance for you to live. But really your sentence is the better choice from letting the world fall to pieces at the hooves of greed and corruption.” Tears rolled down my muzzle as the voice echoed through my ears. This was not at all like what Inferno, this was worlds more painful than smoke. “I’ve seen enough.” I whimpered, falling to the lowest level of pathetic I could see. “I don’t want to be here anymore.” The voice chuckled, echoing eerily in my mind. “My thoughts exactly.” Suddenly, the world fell away and I found myself falling into more blackness. There was no up or down, only the dark. It was somehow soothing, if only because it meant I was falling away from what I had just witnessed. As quickly as everything around me disappeared, it suddenly came back in a blink. Instead, I was not on the ceiling anymore. I was on black and white marble tiling that seemed to go on forever. It went on and on in its patterned eternity until it met a black horizon. I looked around for a moment, trying to get any kind of sense where I was. “Hello there Midnight. It’s good to see that you can stand even in such a realization.” Was I standing? I had become numb to what I felt and didn’t really care. “Now we come to the main event of this little trip down memory lane.” I looked behind myself and saw a massive throne. Large marble pillars towered above the actual throne, and made it look more like a pillar structure than a throne. Upon the actual throne was a grey stallion with white mane. He looked board sitting on the throne. “Who are you?” I asked weakly. “Oh, that’s not important. Not yet anyway. What’s important now is that you understand something. Your parents loved you very much before they were silenced Midnight. You were their pride and joy, and they wanted so many things for you to accomplish in your life. They wanted the world to be at your hooves, just waiting for you to take it.” I stared into the pitch black eyes of the pony on the throne. “And now it can be.” The pony got up from his throne and started to canter over to me. I couldn’t even bring myself to run away. “What do you mean?” “You think the world is run by the light, but no you’d be wrong. You think that the light gives everything life in the world, but you’d be misguided. You see, before the light there was the shadows. The shadows that are ever present in the world. Ever present even in your mind.” The stallion was mere steps from me, looking down at me. He was about a foot or so taller than me, making me feel rather small here on this empty plane of marble. Even when I wanted to run, I stayed and stared into the blackness of his eyes. “The shadows that hide, the shadows that consume, the shadows that in the end are everywhere. That is what I give you now Midnight: the shadows.” I shook my head, trying to grasp the concept and finally snapping out of his black gaze. I back peddled a few steps, but didn’t run away. “What do you mean?” I pleaded, repeating my earlier question. I tried to move back more, but I suddenly couldn’t. A quick look at my hooves and I found that the darkness was literally holding me in place. “Where are my parents, you said you’d show them to me.” “Up until now, you thought your parents were the very ponies that led you into what you are now. Do you really want to see your real parents?” He sounded as if he was just trying to infuriate me. “Yes! Of course I do!” I yelled back. “As you wish my darling.” With a black glow of his horn, a gnarled pile of blackness surfaced on the endless marble. It looked like it used to be something, but it wasn’t anymore. Six legs stuck out of the pile as if they were just twisted and thrown into a pile. “This is what your parents looked like before they met their ends. Of course, their ends were by my hooves but who is really keeping track?” I wanted to scream. This pony was lying to me! I opened my mouth, but couldn’t scream. I couldn’t make a sound. “Now then! Shall we move on to more important things?” With a stop of his hoof, the pile of black vanished into thin air. Fighting the inability to talk, I shook my head quickly. I didn’t want anything else to do with this pony. The grey pony however continued anyway. “A cloak to hide from the ignorant, an energy that needs only itself to multiply, a weapon that can silence your opponents with the slightest of touch. Speak its name and you will know ‘Blackmore’, me.” The grey stallion somehow formed a blade from the surrounding darkness and cut one of his forelegs, bleeding a sticky blackness that hissed as it reached the marble tiling below. “Calm down now Midnight, this’ll only hurt for an eternity.” With a blinding quickness, Blackmore’s shadow sword turned around and cut my foreleg open as well. Immediately my leg screamed out in excruciating pain. I wanted to scream out and fall to the marble tiles, but I couldn’t. I simply whispered: “Blackmore.” The sick, hissing blackness that oozed from Blackmore’s leg then floated over and began to flow into my own injury. It felt like my blood was boiling all throughout my body. Starting at my right foreleg, spreading to my chest, then to my stomach and other limbs, then to my neck and face. I felt like my body was going to melt. “The shadows, though they may always be there need something to give them form.” Blackmore spoke up casually while his acidic blood flowed throughout my body. “Blood is the most effective of forms, as you can manipulate it with ease and it will listen only to you. All you must do is make yourself bleed and the shadows will obey. Not only that my dear, but simply calling to them with my name will make them bend to your will. Others will lose sight of you, as all they will see is the darkness. The last gift of my spell is seeing past the shadows as if they were never there, but you already knew how to do that.” As he continued to speak, he stared to fade away. As if his form and being were flowing straight into my leg wound. “Don’t become too reliant on the shadows though Midnight. They will try to consume you if you let them. Don’t let them control you Midnight. Your parents did and they no longer have being.” “Wait, what?” I demanded. But by the time I had asked, he was gone. Blackmore was gone. I fell to the marble tiles in absolute pain. My ears roared as if I was standing near a waterfall. My eyes leaked black tears onto the tiles. My lungs stung like a thousand tiny needles were piercing through them. Somehow through all the pain, I heard a voice whisper. “We’re sorry Midnight Star. We’re so, so sorry.” I looked up through my black tears, trying to find the source of the voice. “We know you will do better.” I felt like I knew that voice, but I couldn’t put my hoof on it. It was so distant, yet so close. When I tried to speak out though, I simply screamed in pain. I screamed as loud as I could on the marble tiles that went on forever. I screamed until the tiles fell away and all I could see was blackness. I screamed until I couldn’t hear it anymore.
Chapter Six: The MissionaryMy eyes shot open to see glorious daylight. I managed to sit up, but found something strange. I was in a very cushy bed looking at the inside of what looked like a log cabin or something. There wasn’t any kind of flooring, just dirt but it was refreshing to have a roof over my head. But why was I here? More importantly, where was here? I started to look around, but then the pain started. Just like in the black book, I felt like my blood was boiling under my skin. My face was hot and I felt like I needed fresh air. I fought my way off the very soft bed I was laying on, no matter how much my body protested. Managing to get to my hooves once more, I looked for a door or entrance of some kind. To my relief, there was a quaint little door on my left. It was very sophisticated for where I was. Pushing the door open, I looked out to see a much less aggressive sun shining high in the sky upon actual green grass. There wasn’t any of the dry, yellow prairie grass here. There was only lush, green grass and tall pine trees. It wasn’t too hot, it was relaxing even. There was a lovely breeze that swept through my mane. I suddenly realized that the lace I used to tie my mane back in a ponytail was missing. While it was relaxing to not have it pulling back on my head, it was still unsettling that it was missing. The idea that I was suddenly here in this little log cabin was unsettling. “How did I get here?” I asked aloud. In response, the wind simply blew again on my face. Strange, someone or something usually answered my questions at convenient times like that. I looked around at the surrounding area to see more pine trees and more green grass. Why was this place so lush and green while where I had been was so dead and dry? Where the hell was I? I walked back into the small cabin and looked around for my stuff. Next to the cushy bed, I found Warner’s backpack that I had grown so attached to. Even if the only contents were those damned black books and that zebra mask that I had found in that third cone tent. What were those things actually called? On a little, if not crude, bedside table were my glasses and a note. Wait, paper? I quickly floated my glasses over to put them on, and grimaced at the cracks on the left lens. I really should be more careful with these things. They were made specifically for my eyes, and I was just being brutal to them; dropping them all over the place and throwing them in my back pack with books to be smashed in. If there was a spell to repair these, I couldn’t find it fast enough. Dismissing my thoughts on my glasses, I put them on and picked up the note on the table. How there was paper here was completely baffling, but I didn’t think on it further. The note seemed to actually be part of a book, as it was torn on one side and had scrawled writing on one side reading ‘table of contents.’ I looked on the other side and read the note aloud. Because that’s what sane ponies do when their alone right? “If you wake while we are gone, simply stay put. There is much reason for you to leave in your mind, but stay here. The red one, Sharpe, knows you and says that he wants to help. We will return relatively soon, so don’t run off. Graham.” Who the heck was Graham? Either way, he knew Sharpe. While he wasn’t specifically the pony I wanted to find, I felt like I had to help him get off this continent. I was kind of responsible for his being here in a sense, so I wanted to help him if possible. No matter how much he probably hated my guts. If he was here before, and didn’t kill me while I was knocked out or ‘sleeping’ then he obviously didn’t have too much of a vendetta against me. I put the note back on the table and sat on the bed again. I wanted to find out where I was, hopefully still on the same continent. Then again, maybe it was best if I was somewhere else. If that were the case then I wouldn’t have to worry about the Colony, zebras, or…Sunset. Even though he was a bit of a creep, I couldn’t help but like Sunset a little. He wasn’t terrible for living where he was for so long. If being in these zebra lands had changed me as much as I had in a few days, I could only imagine how difficult it was to remain as charming as he was for two and a half years. I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss him, or Edge. They seemed nice enough, and I would feel bad if I somehow got out of here without them…or Warner. I had a lot to talk to Warner about, from these black books to apologizing for his ship crashing. I needed to know more about these books, and he had them for much longer than I. Maybe he knew something about the yellow fire pony, I dare not think her name or I might catch this nice log cabin on fire, or the grey shadow one. Then again there was still the third book, but I didn’t want to read it or even try. I had enough of those books already. Then why didn’t I just throw them into a fire? Oh yeah, I couldn’t make fire without burning absolutely everything around me. I got up from the bed and slung the back pack on again. I felt like getting up and going somewhere, but I had to stay here. While I was indeed letting a piece of paper dictate my decisions for me, it did ask that I stay here. That wasn’t telling me, but it wasn’t the kind of thing that one should just ignore. In light of all this, I decided to stay. There wasn’t a point in trying to find Sharpe and Warner if one of them was here at least. Maybe he knew where I could find Warner and we could all try to find the Silver Sapphire shipwreck. Why did I feel like that was something that could happen? Sharpe was a guard whose purpose was to make sure I got to the Colony without escaping, and Warner was simply the sailor burdened with the task of taking me there. Why would they have any mind to go anywhere with me? I shrugged the back pack off again and laid on the bed. I suddenly felt really helpless and alone. The closest pony I thought as a friend was simply my transport to a faraway prison. What kind of pony thinks that? And the thought that my delivery assurance was a friend too was absolutely crazy. I could only guess that Sharpe hadn’t killed me in my sleep was just because he wanted to do so while I was alive to see the light fade from my eyes. Some ‘friends’ I had. I wallowed in my thoughts for quite a while. When I had went outside before, the sun was high in the sky around what I could assume was noon. Now it was sinking on the horizon getting closer and closer to evening. If I could guess, I’d say it was around four hours past noon. I was stirred from my thoughts by voices I hear outside. They were low, and somewhat distant but they were approaching. Perhaps Sharpe and whoever Graham was were approaching, or maybe it was zebra. My last encounter with them had been less than pleasant. What if they found me and were going to spear me? What if I couldn’t run away fast enough? As the voices got closer however, my suspicion was alleviated. “I understand what you think about zebra, but they are living things just like you. They have as much of a right to freedom as the rest of us Sharpe. There is no reason incarceration would convince them to adopt more as you say ‘civilized’ behavior.” “I see your point. But don’t they know that there is a better way to live than in tents and in the mud? Wouldn’t they want to better themselves?” Was that Sharpe? Asking about bettering another pony, or zebra’s life? The two were close now, right outside the door. “Just because we see something as better for them doesn’t mean they do too. It’s a matter of perspective and tradition. What if one of them came to you with a potion that cures headache? You wouldn’t be too keen on partaking since you know about magical spells that do the same thing without consuming anything. They don’t know that, so their medicine is their best way to cope with such things. Zebra are a race rooted in tradition, organization is not very prominent. Even their Caesar know this and does not outlaw tribes and provinces. Now, I want to end this discussion. Alright Sharpe?” Whoever this Graham was had a very refined understanding of the zebra. Wait a moment, they were coming in. And I was still laying down like a lazy mule. I made a valiant effort to jump out of bed to my hooves, but ended up undershooting the jump and ended up on my back in a very unceremonious position right as the door swung open. Great first impression. I looked to the open door at the two stallions standing in the doorway. “Uh, hey there.” I greeted as normal as possible. Then again, laying on the ground with my hind legs still on the bed wasn’t very normal. Sharpe tilted his head slightly giving me a very confused look while the other pony, of tan coat and short black mane, simply raised an eyebrow. “So this is your friend awake.” He deadpanned. Awesome, just awesome. The first impression this Graham had of me is my clumsiness. I fought my way to my hooves and tried to act as if nothing had happened. I would have been better off just lying in bed, and being invisible seemed like a great idea right about now. “Midnight, what the heck was that all about? If you’re trying to send me a message, you’re kind of going about it the wrong way.” Sharpe ventured humorously. He wasn’t wearing his silver armor anymore, strange. I never realized it, but Sharpe had a really nice brown mane that fell down half his neck and just above his eyes. I couldn’t see before because of his armor. “I-um, I just don’t know what went wrong.” Somehow the words just seemed natural to say. “I’m guessing that you are this Graham name that I saw on the paper?” The tan pony nodded his head slowly, and it was immediately evident. Graham was an earth pony. “Yes, a missionary sent here to zebra lands to try and convert them to civilized living and organized religion. However, the longer I stay here the more they seem to change my thoughts instead.” Well, the missionary part explained his book cutie mark. “And it’s good to see you too Sharpe! I’m so sorry I didn’t say hello. How did you find your way around and to here?” I suddenly realized that I had almost completely forgot to greet him. Really considerate Midnight. “Clearly you had a different idea of greeting from what I was thinking. Like I said, there are better ways of sending messages Midnight.” Yeah, I get it Sharpe. “As for how I found my way here? I was found by Graham.” The two stallions cantered into the cabin. Sharpe sat down near the center of the room and Graham near the door, closing it quietly. I sat down against the bed, as it was pretty comfortable. What was it made out of? “Alright, I guess that makes sense. Have you seen Warner?” Sharpe shook his head slowly. “No, haven’t seen him since he ran us onto land. You flew off the ship and I have no idea where he went. Me? I was onboard the damned thing when it hit the rocky shore. I didn’t know where to go, so I simply stayed put for a while. Warner never showed up and you seemed to have just flown away, so I stayed onboard the ship for a day or so. Eventually, Graham found the shipwreck and offered to give me a place to stay. I couldn’t just say no to such an offer, so here I am. Welcome to the Mission.” “The Mission?” I asked confused. It was Graham that spoke up however. “Not a proper one no, but one in a sense. A mission is usually where a large number of non-believers are converted to being saved, but my superiors didn’t really think that through when they only sent me here. Since they only sent me, I simply only built quarters for myself and perhaps a few guests. Instead of having a large fort built, I simply decided on visiting the local tribes. While one tribe was inviting to me at first, they changed their mind when they realized that I was there to spread religion. They found their deities of logic and reason more appealing than an ideological salvation from my higher power.” I had no idea that earth ponies were such religious types. Then again, without magic it would seem that a lot of things were made wonderful by unknown means. For better or worse. “I see. Then it must have been you that the zebra mare was talking about.” I concluded aloud. “Indeed. Zavalla, if that is the same zebra we are both thinking of, was open to learning our language if only out of curiosity to what I was saying. However, when that curiosity was sated she demanded that I move on. Out of respect, I did so. Moved onto another tribe. I had more luck with this tribe as well. They don’t sacrifice other animals to appease their deities of rain and sun, and are even open to the ideas of salvation. But there is only one problem: I fear that they accept this salvation only in reverence of me, not for religious purposes.” Graham seemed to be downtrodden about this. “What do you mean by that? Do they think that you are some sort of higher power yourself?” I asked, a tad confused. Graham chuckled quietly. Damn it! Why was I apparently so funny? “Well, they see my helping them with farming and teaching them self-defense as a blessing from the deity I represent to them. I fear that they will follow me instead of finding their way to Harmony.” I guess that would be a pretty significant failure in a missionary’s view. Converting them not to follow the religion, but to simply follow the pony giving out stuff. Even if it was farming and self-defense techniques. Wait, self-defense? “So you taught these zebra how to farm and how to defend themselves? What does that mean?” “Quite simply, they asked for help. This tribe, the grounded rocs, have been in a scuffle with the first tribe I encountered for many years. They needed assistance, and so I gave them my knowledge of self-sufficiency and self-defense. Now they are thanking me by honoring me as a God. I didn’t ask for that, and it’s not something one who is with Harmony is supposed to enjoy.” From the repetition of Harmony, I guess that’s what religion he stood for. How could Harmony be a religion? “Worse though is that now the rival tribe, the blooded bark, have had their camp burned to the ground. Stranger though, I found you there. Care to explain yourself?” Suddenly I felt very uneasy. This went from a little strange to aggressive in the blink of an eye. I wasn’t ready for the sudden change in tone and feeling. I looked to Sharpe, but he too seemed interested in this topic. “Um, well I was on a mission really.” I wasn’t sure if telling a religious pony like Graham about my black magic was a good thing. I didn’t know if he would denounce me as a demon or something like that. “I had been taken as a prisoner by this tribe the day before, and when they were about to kill me I was saved. The unicorns of a criminal settlement called the Colony charged on the encampment and killed a majority of the zebras then burned the rest of the camp. I was taken in by the leader, and he sent me on a mission to retrieve anything else of use left in the camp.” It pained me to lie and put the burning on some pony else, but I wanted to keep things civil here. No need to call on the shadows to aid me. Oh great now it wasn’t just thinking fire was beautiful, now I thought that I could use the shadows to make a weapon. All I needed was some of my blood and-NO! I was not doing that! Graham was unconvinced however. “Not the answer I was looking for young lady. I want to know about those black books you have in your bag.” Oh great, he knew anyway. “Sharpe here tells me you were supposed to burn those, but something tells me that you haven’t been as motivated to do so as you were instructed. Sharpe told me of Warner and his books, and I know these books. They have caused much destruction and doubt to my race for generations. I don’t have to ask if you’ve been reading them, as their pages are blank. I want to know why you are here and to what ends you wish to use your dark influence. What say you, monster?” I was not a monster! At least…not in my eyes. I only burned down that camp in self-defense. “I-I don’t see what ground you stand on Mister Righteous. You say you’re here to spread religion and salvation to the zebra, but all you’ve done is make them more dangerous and believe that you are some kind of God. If my reading of supposed dark and forbidden magic is so wrong, I dare you to sink to my level and tell me how wrong I am knowing that you have changed not just the lives of zebras as I have, but misguided them.” Why was I so aggressive to this pony I hardly knew? I hadn’t been like this when questioned in court at all. I was submissive before these black books. Maybe they really did turn me into a monster. Graham kept his gaze on me throughout my little tantrum, and kept it up even after I finished. He really did have a piercing look though. I was on the offensive of this argument, and I felt like I was under attack by his green eyes and silence alone. Then he spoke. “Perhaps I was wrong. That is…unusual. But you have a point monster; one shouldn’t throw rocks if they live in a glass house.” “I’m not a monster!” I insisted. Graham gave a slow nod. “Perhaps, perhaps not. That is for you to decide, not me. It is not what one has that dictates their own salvation, it is how they use the gifts and curses they are given. Maybe there is purpose to your dark magic after all; a sort of release for those who cannot go on living with the curse that they have bared for so many years.” What did that mean? Religious jibber probably. “At any rate, I believe it is really Sharpe here who wanted to talk to you more than I. I’ll leave you to discuss, but I’ll be around.” Graham then walked out the door calmly, as if nothing had ever happened. He was certainly a strange one. “Midnight Star.” Oh good, now to face Sharpe. I hoped this would end well. “You and I have a lot to discuss.” “Yes, I know. And I’m so sorry for the way things ended up! I didn’t mean to cause you such pain and confusion by simply being around me. I never meant to do any kind of harm.” As I spoke, Sharpe got up and cantered over to me. I got up as well, fearing that I may have to run away or something. But if he was going to kill me for what had happened, I wouldn’t stop him. It was probably for the best anyway. “Sharpe, I know that things haven’t exactly been good between us since we met but I assure you that I plan to make things better. I just don’t know how I’ll-mmph?!” While I was trying to give Sharpe reason not to kill me, he…kissed me. I was confused beyond measure, and it was by no means a good kiss. Just strange and out of place. After we were done he simply looked at me and smiled. “Sorry, you were kind of blabbering on. It was an effective way to shut you up for now.” I was not blabbing! And he could have just shushed me with a hoof or something! “Look, I know you feel responsible for my being here. In truth you really are. Thing is though, I couldn’t be happier about it.” I found it nearly impossible to find the words, as I was still confused by that kiss. “Wait, what?” Was all I could come up with. Sharpe looked me dead in the eyes. “All my life, I’ve been told what to do. All my life, I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to make my own choices. You and Warner gave that to me Midnight. I always wanted a life where I could make my own decisions of where to go or what to do. Now I can. I may have thought that you were just a curse on my day and that I’d just go to my life again when this whole ordeal was over, but it has been something much greater than that. I’m free here. Free to do what I want for once.” I had never thought that a guard would feel imprisoned by his own duty. “I-I don’t know what to say. I thought that you were just waiting for the opportunity to kill me or something.” “No Midnight. I wanted to thank you. Here, I’m not under the order of some higher up officer or Princess. I buried my armor in the sand before I came here with Graham, in celebration of my freedom. So long had I been imprisoned and blinded by that armor that I forgot how to see and how to feel normally. All I knew was my duty to the Princess, but no more.” That certainly answered a lot. “Well, why did you kiss me? You could have shushed me with a hoof or something.” It’s not like it was the worst thing I had experienced since I’ve been here, but it was still weird because if was Sharpe. The red pony just smiled though, tossing his brown mane to the side a bit with his neck. “In my family, before I was sent to guard training, that was how we showed affection or appreciation. Of course no, I wasn’t trying to show the former as much as the latter. In all honesty, you aren’t really my type.” Hey wait a second, I wasn’t his type? Who was denying who here? “Uh, alright then. What do you plan to do with your new freedom Sharpe?” I asked tentatively, trying to change the subject. Sharpe smiled. It was a bit strange to see him smile, but a good kind of strange. “Well, I actually intended to make sure you were safe foremost. Then was finding Warner, wherever he has gone. Lastly, I actually wanted to travel these lands with Graham. He has a strong sense of duty and honor about him, and I think that having some pony else around would do him some good. He’s a bit reclusive, but can be a really great pony. Generally wants the greater good for all ponies and zebra, most importantly he isn’t discriminant of who he helps. He’s a lot like my brother I think, back before he was executed.” Wait, Edge said his brother was Sharpe. Did he really think that Edge was executed? “Um, actually Sharpe I don’t think he was executed like you think.” Sharpe gave me a critical eye, like he actually wanted to kill me this time. “Don’t toy about my family Midnight. They weren’t the best of families, but they gave me a sense of duty and honor.” “No seriously Sharpe, I’ve seen your brother.” He continued his disbelieving gaze. “His name is Edge isn’t it? He’s here, in the Colony!” Sharpe shook his head, again looking as sour as he had back on the Silver Sapphire. “I know my brother was executed because I heard about it from the new guard captain. They told me that he was burned at the stake. They told me-” “That’s exactly it Sharpe. They told you. I’ve met him, in fact he saved me from that zebra camp. When I saw him in the distance, I thought it was actually you! But when I got a better look at him, I saw that he was different. He’s a bit taller than you, has a brown coat and red mane, and is the leader of the Colony last I heard.” Through Sharpe’s disbelieving gaze, I could see a flicker of hope. “How do you know that it’s my brother?” He demanded, eyes glassy with tears. “When I asked if it was you, he said he had a brother named Sharpe. I don’t know a lot of other ponies named Sharpe, do you?” He remained unconvinced. “I don’t believe you Midnight. My brother is dead, it’s better that way.” “Why don’t we go meet him then?” I asked quickly. “Then you can decide if I’m lying or not.” Sharpe gave a curt nod. “Fine. We will go to this Colony tomorrow and I can prove how wrong you are.” For a moment, there was silence in the cabin. In the silence, Graham entered once more with two grass mats. “Well, it’s good to see you two getting along. I brought these so that we could all sleep comfortably for the journey tomorrow.” Both Sharpe and I gave Graham a confused look. “What? Just because I’m a religious stallion doesn’t mean that I can’t hear two ponies yelling inside my home. Reminds me of my family all too well really.” “Um, thanks Graham. It’s thoughtful of you.” There wasn’t any use in courtesy if it wasn’t used. “Of course. We shall depart in the morning. Good night.” Graham laid down on one of the grass mats he brought in, turning away from me and Sharpe. “It’s a bit early for sleep don’t you think? Also, shouldn’t you sleep on the actual bed? It is yours after all.” The sun was still visible on the horizon! That is way too early for sleep. Graham chucked in his deep register. “It’s rude to not offer the best for a lady. As for the earliness? We will need as much time as possible to arrive at the Colony at a reasonable hour. So getting as much sleep as soon as possible is for the best. Good night.” Sharpe and I exchanged a confused look but just shrugged and accepted it. “He makes a point Midnight, we should try to save as much energy as possible.” Sharpe laid down on the other mat, a few paces from Graham’s. “Good night, if there was such a thing.” I sat there for a moment and thought. I didn’t really deserve to sleep on the actual comfy bed, but it wasn’t like I was going to complain. I laid down on the cushiness and was instantly comfortable again. You never realized how much you missed something like proper cushioning until you have slept in the dirt and on rocks for a few days. Even though I wasn’t sleepy, I at least tried to get to sleep. After an hour or so the sun was below the horizon and no light entered the cabin from the door frame. Soon after, I found myself drifting away into sleep. Turns out, the Mission that Graham called home was actually on the mountain that I kept seeing before. For the longest time I kept away from it, in fear of falling off one of the cliffs or something. In actuality, there was a nice decline on the leeward side; making for a pleasant morning of trotting downhill and listening to Graham talk about the secrets of farming. While most of it didn’t make sense, there were some easy things to take away from it. Planting during the winter was a bad idea, and planting in the spring made for a bountiful fall harvest to keep food for the winter. While these were all fine and dandy, I had a feeling that a lot of common sense or trial and error could have told me the same thing. While the conversation wasn’t an actual conversation as much as a horticulture lesson, it did make the time pass faster. Before we knew it, we were nearing the zebra camp that I had burned. Oh such fond memories. “Here is where I stop leading Midnight. I have not been to this Colony, as I have no place among criminals. You lead from here, you know the way better than I.” Graham stated, slowing his pace a bit. The first words out of the subject of plants were a good change, but not one that I was looking forward to. I had no idea how Sharpe would react to seeing his brother that he believed was dead, or how the other ponies of the Colony would react to a religious pony like Graham. Then again, both of them were trained in some kind of self-defense apparently and I had my black magic. No! No black magic against ponies that were supposed to be a sort of family to me. Finished thoroughly racking my brain, I finally responded. “Alright, next stop: The Colony!” I took the lead and made off in the direction I knew the Colony lied. I had a good sense of direction when I knew where I actually was, but it you asked me what cardinal direction it was I wouldn’t have a clue. While Graham and Sharpe conversed quietly behind me, I simply stayed silent on the last leg of our journey to the Colony. The sun was setting at our backs as we made it closer and closer to the circle of trees that was The Colony. “Alright guys, we’re here!” I announced loudly. “Welcome to the Colony.” With a look around, both Sharpe and Graham stated the same thing. “Is this it?” This time, I had a chuckle at the silliness. It felt good to laugh, apparently being so funny myself, I felt a little better to pass the mirth on to someone else. I looked around the empty trees in confusion. “Where is every pony?” I asked aloud, hoping to get an answer. There was only silence though. “Isn’t there supposed to be more than just trees here?” Graham asked rudely, apparently doubting that I had taken them to the right place. “I know it’s here, I just don’t know where they all are.” I defended quickly. Suddenly wood crashed down all around us. At first I thought that a tree had fallen down upon us and we would be buried by twigs and branches, but that was not the case. Instead of branches and leaves, it was a crudely made wooden cage. “Whoa! What is the meaning of this?” Sharpe demanded within the cramped space of the trap. “Should have known that a criminal would lead us into a trap.” Graham accused angrily. “What do you plan to do now that you have us trapped Midnight?” “If you haven’t noticed, I’m stuck in here too! Why would I set up a trap that I would get caught in?” I knew that he didn’t trust me that much, but that idea was ridiculous. While the three of us were arguing in our wooden prison, ponies started approaching tentatively with magic wielded spears pointed at us. A look upwards and I saw Sunset looking down on us with a smile, but when he saw my eyes his smile faded to surprise. “Who do you think you ponies are? I don’t know what your intention is, but I think that we can reach a fair agreement as long as you behave yourselves.” I looked back down to see Edge approaching slowly to my right. “And Midnight, so good to see you alive. Most of us thought you were dead, being gone for the past three days.” “Been a bit busy. You know, just looking around. Stuff like that.” I answered sarcastically. “That’s excellent. I’d just like to know who are new guests are, and why one of them is a mud pony.” Edge certainly didn’t have any kind of manners toward Graham. “My being here is by Midnight’s doing. Then again, I suppose I’m to blame for this. Trust isn’t something that should so easily be given.” Graham sure had a cryptic, if not rude way of putting things like that. “Enough.” I demanded. “I’m here because I found your brother Edge. He’s in here.” There was silence for a moment. Edge walked over to the wooden cage and gave the red stallion beside me a critical look. “Sharpe, is that really you?” I turned my head around to look at Sharpe, and he had a similarly disbelieving frown on his muzzle. “Edge. I thought they killed you.” Edge looked up at Sunset. “Hey! Get this cage off them Sunset!” To his command, the yellow Pegasus lifted the wooden cage off us with some difficulty. Now with no wooden bars to contain us, most of the surrounding unicorns pointed spears at me and Graham’s necks. Sharpe was spared such spear pointing. “Sharpe. What are you doing here kid?” Edge asked after some silence. “I was here with Midnight when our boat crashed. How are you here?” Sharpe was simply baffled at his brother’s being here. Edge looked down to the ground, not wanting to face his brother. “I…was sentenced to the Colony for taking justice into my own hooves. When that thief killed mother, I just couldn’t let him get away. The guard was sad to sentence their captain here, but they didn’t want to see me put to death.” That explained a lot. That’s why he had taken such charge here, he had been the captain of the Platinum guard before. Sharpe and Edge hugged each other close while the rest of the Colony ponies lowered their spears. “I can’t believe you’re here brother. It’s been too long.” Sharpe muttered. I could swear I saw a tear in Sharpe’s eye. Even Edge’s eyes were watering. The two toughest ponies I knew were crying over their reunion. It was touching, until Edge gave me a sour look. “Midnight I sent you out to get any remaining supplies from that zebra camp, and you come back with my brother and another pony? That’s either a terrible failure or a great success in my eyes, I just can’t decide on which.” Edge took a step away from his brother, breaking the embrace. “More importantly, why have you brought this other one here?” I tried to take a step back, but I didn’t have anywhere to go. Behind me were two unicorns bearing down on me with spears again. They just couldn’t make up their mind could they? “I needed a guide. Graham led me to the zebra camp again after I…got lost.” I looked at Graham, who gave me a knowing nod. “But I think that he can help us here.” “Really now?” Edge seemed skeptical, of course. “What exactly does your earth pony friend here have to offer us that we don’t have?” Graham smiled, as if he was in on a joke or something. “Well as I can simply see from where I am standing, a lot. You don’t have any kind of living conditions that are actually safe, you don’t have a permanent source of food, and your pony’s spear maneuvering is terrible. I can help with all of those things actually. I’ve been living here for at least five years now, and I can honestly say that I have been living much more comfortably than inside trees and such. I could help with those sorts of things, if you don’t simply choose to end my life here at the end of a badly used spear.” Edge gave Graham a critical look, but nodded a few times. “You have a point mud walker, but what makes you think we can trust you?” “Well for one, there’s around twenty of you in total counting the one’s hiding in the tree line. Twenty plus two, Midnight and Sharpe here, means that there are twenty one more of you than me. Twenty one of you that can use magic where as I cannot. It would be in my best interest to help you rather than rebel against you, I don’t think even I could take on all of you with your magic. Maybe just half.” Graham could asses a situation really quickly. Edge nodded a few times, as if gauging the earth pony. “You make a good point, but why would you help us? We have you captive at the moment. Furthermore, our kind has been at ends with yours for years. Why help us knowing that we are all criminals?” Graham smile. “Assistance, in its very essence, is not discriminant. What kind of pony would I be if I denied another assistance of any kind? I would be the very thing that I am here to fight against, hardship and denial.” Edge stared into Graham’s eyes critically, looking for any sign of wavering. There was none however. “Alright. I trust you, for now.” I couldn’t help but smile. “But give me a reason to take that trust away, and I will. Along with your life.” That was dark. “What is your name anyway? I like a good mystery, but names are good if you’re going to help us.” As the surrounding unicorns stepped away, I felt much better. Less spears, more trust. Always a good thing. “My name isn’t important really, just a missionary. But if you must know, I am Graham. Like my father before me.” “Well then, Graham, welcome to the family…temporarily. Pick a tree and go ahead and sleep under it, if you want. I don’t really care where you go, just don’t cause any trouble and we won’t be any trouble. For now.” Edge turned around, walking toward his tree hovel. “Tell me brother, this Colony, how did you come to be the leader?” Sharpe said, following his brother swiftly. I didn’t care to listen in on their conversation, I simply looked at Graham now that the other unicorns were clearing out. “Graham, I’m sorry the way things turned out. I didn’t mean to tie you up in my problems.” Graham smiled down at me, reminding me how short I was compared to most other ponies here. “I go where I am needed. How I get there is for Harmony to decide, not me. I will assist these ponies in the way that I help all who need help: until they don’t need me anymore. May be a short time, may be a year or so. Until that appointed time, I will remain here. The Mission will be there when I return, if not I can always go elsewhere.” He started off towards my right, looking at the trees. “If anything, I should thank you. If I am to be an instrument of assistance to those in need, then I must be utilized in all ways possible. Even if I am not wanted, as long as I am needed I will help. Whatever form that takes.” He certainly had a…interesting outlook on life. “Alright. I’ll see you later then Graham, I have something I need to check on.” Graham gave me a nod and continued to look around. I however went towards the beach. With no sun rise, there wasn’t very much light on the peaceful beach that bordered the Colony’s tree line. All I had to light my vision was the fading light given off by the setting sun hidden by the trees. I knew he would be here though. “Sunset Gale! You can stop hiding or whatever! I know you’re here!” I yelled out into the orange sky above me. A few moments of silence passed and I almost thought that Sunset wasn’t actually here, but then a rustling in the trees behind me told me otherwise. I turned around to see the yellow Pegasus emerge from some of the branches, a shameful look on his face. “Look Midnight, I’m sorry for dropping that cage on you and your friends earlier. I was just following orders and cues. I didn’t know it was you until I had already dropped the damn thing.” I scrunched up my face into a frustrated looking frown, but probably just looked silly. “I’m not a cage girl Sunset.” The yellow Pegasus in question landed in front of me, eyes downcast. “Unless I’m the one putting the cage on some pony else. I’m not into the whole ‘being left helpless’ thing.” Sunset looked up and gave a wide-eyed expression of surprise. “Wha-huh? What’s that supposed to mean?” I couldn’t help but laugh. I was really bad at the whole dominating personality. “Nothing, really. Just thought I’d break the tension or something. You take yourself way too seriously. Also, you act like I’ve never heard of having to do something by and order before. Trust me, I understand that feeling of regret. I lived my whole life under some pony else’s order. If anything, I happen to be an expert on the subject.” Sunset looked like he was searching for the words, but couldn’t find them. “It’s alright, okay? I don’t hold it against you, I’ve done worse before.” These words just kind of found their way into my mind. I hardly had to think to find them. “Uh, um alright.” Sunset finally looked me in the eye without such a ridiculous wide expression. “Would you mind me asking about what you did that was worse?” Damn it. Knew I shouldn’t have said anything about that. “Um, well you know that zebra camp?” Sunset nodded. “Well, I kind of…burned it to the ground.” This time, Sunset had no silly expression. “Well, according to what Edge told me they were going to kill you. So I’d say that self-defense is a good reason to strike back. You say that like I’ve never had to fight back at something for being aggressive to me.” Oh good. Now he was using what I said against me. It was kind of cute, if anything. At any rate, he brought a smile to my face. “Thanks Sunset.” “Anytime.” He responded easy. “But we have got to discuss something.” Whoa, wait a second. “What do you mean?” I asked, confused. Sunset wore his best pouty face. “You can’t just go off and make me think you are dead! You were gone for three days with no word as to if you were alright. I checked the zebra camp and found nothing but ashes and some tents. I’m going to keep an eye on you, I don’t want you to make me think something like that again.” I smiled once more. “Alright Sunset, just don’t stare too hard.” Sunset looked around at the purple sky above, fading into the darkness of night. “Well, it’s getting pretty late. We should probably get back soon.” Sharing a look around, I couldn’t help but agree. “Yeah, darkness can be pretty scary can’t it?” As we turned back around and started towards the Colony, Sunset looked like he got an idea. “Hey, want to see something cool?” He asked, slightly excited. We stopped for a moment. “Sure, what’s that?” “Depends, do you trust me?” He asked quickly. I narrowed my gaze at him. Trust was something that I had issues with. But I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. “Yes, I do.” Not exactly what I was thinking. Damn it brain! Why didn’t you say what I wanted you to? Sunset wore an expression of absolute giddiness. His smile was a bit contagious. “Alright then! Hop on.” He laid down on the sand expectantly. I stared at him, endlessly confused. “What?” He looked up at me, still with a smile on his face. “Hop on my back. Got something I want to show you.” Still skeptical, I continued to stare for a moment. “Alright.” I slowly maneuvered myself onto his back, wrapping my hooves around his neck like a foal would her parent. “But if this is some kind of trick, I’m never going to-Whoa!” Before I could even finish my sentence, Sunset took off. Flying high into the sky with me hanging onto him for dear life. I may have screamed a little, or a lot. I was deaf to my own screaming with the wind whipping by my ears. We passed through a layer of clouds, where Sunset finally stopped and stepped onto the clouds! “Here we go, check it out.” Sunset said calmly, as if he hadn’t just taken off and scared me half to death. “I ought to kill you, you stupid…” I looked in the direction he was and couldn’t help but gasp. From the ground, you never got to look at the last seconds of the setting sun with such a gorgeous view. The sun was just setting over the horizon, a great orange ball of light that shined ever dimmer and dimmer. “That’s, that’s just spectacular.” I whispered. “Yeah, it’s really something the first time you see it. I wanted to capture it in painting once, but I couldn’t make myself trap such beauty onto canvass. It would be a crime against nature.” Sunset seemed rather…reflective looking at the sun set. “When I arrived here, I thought it was like my hope setting over the horizon. Like my hope was figuratively setting on all possibilities.” In the orange-purple light of the night taking over the sky with the absence of the sun, I could see a tear in Sunset’s eye. “Hey, don’t be sad. It’s beautiful, remember?” There was silence. On the ground, the night was alive with birds chirping their night song and bugs calling out to each other. But up here there was nothing of the sort, just the silence of the night. Sunset closed his eyes, causing a teardrop to fall onto the cloud he stood on. “Hey, none of that now. If you cry, I’m going to cry.” In truth, I could feel my eyes well up too. He didn’t open his eyes though. “Alright look. There’s no such thing as hope setting like the sun. Not when you got me anyway.” That got Sunset’s attention. “Wait. Wha-” “Oh, I’m sorry. I was under the impression that I was sticking with you. Didn’t you say something really cute about that sort of thing earlier when you were creeping on me on the beach?” I asked, attempting to cheer him up. “Yeah I-wait…but. Huh?” Sunset tripped so badly over that, it made me laugh. “What? I thought you were mister confident or something like that. Can’t find the words here?” Sunset looked back at me with a tear in his eye and a smile on his face. “Yeah, but that was when I didn’t know if you felt the same. Um, do you?” Oh man he was so cheesy, but then again so was I. Like a cheese sandwich. Is that a thing? “Well that depends.” “On what exactly?” Oh he was so curious. “Stuff.” I looked up at the purple-blue hue of the sky. “But tell you what.” “What?” He asked quickly. I got really close to his ear. “You can start by taking me back down. I want to feel solid ground under my hooves.” Clearly that wasn’t what he had wanted me to whisper in his ear, but he smiled anyway. “Alright miss Midnight. Ground floor it is!” He splayed out his wings and took off again, descending back towards the ground at a soft angle. When we were back on the ground, night had taken over the sky. Leaving only the rising moon and the stars to shine down on Sunset and I. As soon as the yellow Pegasus touched down, I jumped off his back and was instantly relieved to have ground under my hooves again. Oh sweet ground, I will never leave you again. “So, what exactly did all of that mean up there?” Sunset asked while I was figuratively making promises to the ground. I put on a sly smile and turned to the confused Sunset. “It means what it means.” I said nonchalantly, walking towards him slowly. “So does this.” As I passed the Pegasus by, I gave him a peck on the cheek and continued as if nothing had happened. Sunset sat there for a moment, endlessly confused and tripping over several different attempts at speaking. “Um, I guess I’ll see you later then?” He asked as I slipped into the tree line. I didn’t answer though, it was more fun that way. After a short canter through the dark, I found the empty hollowed out tree that Edge had given to me before. I had to squint in the darkness to see, but the moon was generously full tonight making it rather easy. I slung my back pack to the ground once more and put my glasses on top of it, I then proceeded to make myself as comfortable as possible on the muddy earth below me. It was definitely not the same as the bed that Graham had in his Mission, but it was better than not having ground below me. I again looked up to the sky in the night, seeing several clouds covering the stars. I was up there just a while ago, but ground was much better than clouds. I could stand on the ground. Finished contemplating the advantages of ground and walking, I started to count the stars that weren’t hiding behind the clouds. Unlike the time before, I had only made it to fifty-two or so before I drifted off into sleep. Author's Note Graham obviously inspired by Joshua Graham from Fallout: New Vegas: Honest Hearts. Cheesy romance at the suggestion of a friend. This is why I don't write romance, I'm terrible at it. Enjoy!
Chapter Seven: The CursedThe next week or so went by exceedingly quickly. Graham was working with the colonists to teach them how to farm, how to build proper living arrangements, and effective spear techniques. Until the time came the plants that were planted could be harvested, we still had to find food. I found myself taking the lead of several of these groups. We would look for things like berries, flowers, and the occasional banana tree. While it wasn’t the most glamorous task at hoof, it made the days seem to pass quicker. Several successful ‘hunts’ a day gave the Colony an abundant food supply, one that would last for at least three more days before we would have to go out and find more. Edge told me that there was more luck with such food hunts with me around, but I didn’t really think he was honest. About two days ago, Graham decided it was time for him to leave. With the Colony now relatively well secured as far as shelter and food went, the ruffian ponies couldn’t help but be sad about his leaving. While they didn’t like him at first, they found that he made a certain amount of sense in some ways. Others just wanted him to keep giving them more stuff, but didn’t object to his leaving. As he said, it was his time to move on. He couldn’t be discriminate who he helped, so he went back to his Mission to pray or something. Said he’d be there for a few days if we needed anything, so it was good to have a friend to go to for help. One of the most annoying things however was the fact that I still didn’t have any lace to tie my mane back. It was irritating most of the time, and made me unnecessarily sweaty on my neck. I wished that I could either cut my mane, or just find another piece of lace. Graham told me he found me that way and that he didn’t know what I was talking about, but I still suspected that he did. It may have taken a while, but as the week went by I found that the other ponies of the Colony were actually becoming friendly to me. There were several who were still obsessed with the fact that I was the only female they had seen in the longest of times, but the others were actually pretty stand up ponies. Several of them were wrongly accused, according to them of course. I didn’t know if that was entirely right, but I was willing to give the benefit of the doubt. While I hadn’t needed to use my black magic for anything, I found myself wanting to read the last black book. There were so many questions that I had, but couldn’t find an answer for. Several nights, I found myself almost opening it just out of curiosity in the small log cabin that Graham helped me build. While I always decided not to, I got ever closer to just reading it to alleviate my curiosity about it. Today, I decided that I had to find the shipwreck of the Silver Sapphire. I convinced Sharpe and Sunset to come with me, but the ladder of whom was simply for my own personal whims rather than directional as with the former. We just left the Colony, and it was actually a very clear day. Sharpe led our little band of merriment, and was noticeably bright. “I have to say Midnight, it’s about time that we went back to the shipwreck. I haven’t been there since Graham offered me a better place to stay.” I found myself somewhat somber over the decision to find the shipwreck though. “Well, there’s been a lot going on and we all have had better things to do. Now however, I just want to see what’s left and hopefully get a clue as to where the hell Warner is.” Sunset was picking up the rear of our group, if only to stare at mine. I didn’t mind too much, but he could be a little less obvious. “There’s that name again, Warner, who exactly is he? You two have talked about him like he’s some sort of saint or something. What’s the big deal about him anyway?” Clearly, Sunset had never met any pony like Warner. I was about to explain why we had to find the mysterious blue sailor pony, but Sharpe started talking first. “Warner is, to say the least, different. He has a unique skill with sailing. If we ever want to get out of here instead of just fester where we are, it would be wise to find him. That’s not to mention that he has a remarkable positive outlook on life.” It had been a while since I had seen Warner, the last time being before the shipwreck, but I still remembered a lot about him. “He’s like Graham but actually happy instead of expositional happy. If we do manage to find him, you will know exactly what I mean.” I couldn’t help but smile while Sharpe and I reminisced about Warner. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss him.” I gave Sunset a look behind me, and couldn’t help but laugh a bit. He was noticeably jealous about the whole Warner thing, but he didn’t say anything. Still had the silliest expression on his face though. A few hours of traveling, and we had finally found the shipwreck. It was amazing how we preserved everything was after a good ten days. The ship itself was lodged on a rocky beach that tore into the wooden hull. While the bottom had seen the worse of the wreck, the upper part of the ship was too high to get up on without climbing the anchor carefully. Once we were all on board, we organized a sort of search plan. Sunset, not knowing anything about the place would just search the upper deck, Sharpe would search the hull, and I would search Warner’s quarters. While I didn’t really want to go back, I complied. I don’t know why it felt wrong. I guess I thought if Warner actually was dead he’d be pretty steamed about the fact that I was going through his personal belongings. I wouldn’t want any pony doing that with my stuff when I was dead. Then again, all I had was a wooden cabin with a grass mat and the back pack I was wearing. What was in it wasn’t even mine. Once inside Warner’s room, I stopped and marveled. The room was perfectly undisturbed. The mirror upon the dresser was not cracked, the painting of the yellow mare above Warner’s bed was unmoved, and even Warner’s journals were nicely lined up on his bookshelf. It was…almost disturbing. I couldn’t bring myself to read any of Warner’s journals again, it was just wrong. Instead, I perused the rest of his room. I looked at the intact mirror at my reflection. My mane was still, annoyingly, down around my neck and sweaty. Other than that, I was mostly the same as when I had looked into the water reflection almost nine days ago. Except, my eyes. Instead of their once blue color, my eyes had faded to a much duller silver or grey. I blinked, and they turned the sinister completely black color that I had seen in the ponies residing in the black books I read. I started to panic a little. I felt my heart racing, and sweat on the back of my neck. I stared into the black abyss of my own eyes for a few more seconds, until I blinked and they were gone. Back to the blue that I had before seen in the water’s reflection. I looked away from the mirror and instead looked at the picture of the light yellow mare in the white dress, trying to calm down a little. When I saw the painting however, I was a bit disturbed. The sad looking mare in the white dress looked exactly like the mare who breathed red smoke. She looked just like Inferno. I suddenly very much didn’t want to be here at all. Warner wasn’t here, so there wasn’t any reason I should stay right? I started to walk back through the door. “What’s wrong lass? Don’t like what you see now that you know?” That voice. I turned around quickly, but saw nothing. I swore I heard Warner’s voice though. Was I going crazy? Well, crazier? “Hello?” Yeah, calling out to an empty room where you heard the voice of a pony you hadn’t seen in a good long while was a great idea. “Is any pony in here?” “Not in there, no.” The strikingly familiar voice sent chills up my spine. “In here, yes. Along with you lass. Always been with ya’, you just didn’t know it.” “What? Is that you Warner?” I looked around again, getting frustrated and creeped out at the same time. “I swear, if you are hiding somewhere in here I’m going to be so mad at you!” There was silence for a moment, but only for a moment. “That names empty lass. Might as well forget it if you know what’s good for ya’. Too many memories tied to that old worthless name. But you may want to try looking at me if you want to communicate better.” I spun around again, looking to every corner of the room. “Then where are you? What are you?” The disembodied voice gave out a sigh, if that was possible. “In the bag lass. You act like this has never happened before.” I slung the back pack to the floor boards and took out the final black book, the only one that wasn’t blank anymore. “Has it been you?” I accused the book, putting it on the floor. “Has it been you this whole time?” The damn thing chuckled. The book freaking laughed at me! “Ha-ha! Oh goodness, about time you caught on. I was thinking you were going to search the damn room again looking for your precious Warner. What? Think that seeing that old bastard is gonna make all your problems go away and make everything alright? No, he can’t do that. He never could, and never will.” “Well if you hate Warner so much, why do you make such an effort to sound exactly like him?” I demanded. Once again, the damned book laughed at me. If I didn’t get a good explanation from this thing, I was going to burn it along with the rest of the boat. All I had to do was say a name. “Alright lass. Gonna let you in on a little secret alright?” I stared the book down, as if that was going to do anything. “Warner is all that’s left of what we were before he forced me out into this book. In a way, I’m more Warner than he ever could be.” That didn’t make any sense. How could a book be more like a pony than himself? “What the hell is that supposed to mean? Are you implying that you are more than Warner or something? You’re just a pony stuck in a book.” The book sighed again, apparently getting tired of talking to me. “You think you know how these books work, but you don’t. It’s more complicated than ponies in books lass. There’s more at work here than supposed ‘evil spells.’ Then again, I don’t think you really want to know. Better off in your ignorance really.” I was getting tired of this damned book making me feel like an idiot. “Well then, since you’re inevitably going to demoralize me until you show me then just make it happen alright? That’s what you damned book ponies seem to be after.” Sure, anger was driving my thoughts but I had enough of these stupid books. Should have just burned them in the first place. “Well if you’re going to take the fun out of it.” The book almost complained. I waited expectantly for a maw to swallow me up or some black smoke to suffocate me, but nothing happened. I looked around a bit in confusion, but when I tried to open my mouth to say something I was struck with a bolt of lightning from the book itself. Consciousness immediately left me and was replaced with dull blindness and numbness. I opened my eyes quickly and got to my hooves, trying to assess the changes around me. However, there were none. I was still in Warner’s room, in the same place. “What?” I asked myself. Usually these books took me elsewhere or something like that. This time, I hadn’t even moved! Was this some kind of joke? I then realized that things were different. The flooring wasn’t the normal brown color, but a dull grey. Oh great, more grey. I looked over to the books on Warner’s bookshelf, but they were all missing. I turned around to the mirror on the dresser but it was shattered, the pieces strewn about on the flooring. I then looked up above Warner’s bed to the painting of the yellow mare, and gasped at it. Where once the beautiful yellow mare was in a white dress, was now a sinister version of her covered in blood. Her eyes as black as Inferno’s, crying more blood. It was terrifying to say the least. I turned to the exit and pushed on the door, finding that it was locked or something. No matter how much I pushed on it, it didn’t budge. I stepped back a bit and hurled myself at the door but when I expected to hit it, the door instead swung open and let me fall to the floor boards. After I got up and gave the doors a sour look, I found that I was no longer on the boat. Under my hooves was grey sand, behind me were ghostly seas, and above my head were black skies. These things didn’t surprise me anymore though. I knew strange things happened with books struck you with lightning. I looked about the grey beach and found three ponies dressed in black staring at something that I couldn’t see on the sand behind them. “Hello there, um what are you doing?” I asked the black clad ponies, but got no answer. “Hello?” I stepped forward and stood beside the ponies and tried to look at their faces, but I shouldn’t have. They were all wearing black masks, each with a different expression. There was one on the far left that was sad, and had white painted tears rolling down from closed eyelids its wooden face. The one in the center of the three was angry, with teeth bared and white eyes screwed up in hatred. The third one that was closest to me was simply nothing. It was completely black, with no sort of eye holes or expression. I took a few steps away from the black clad ponies and looked at what they were all staring at. I felt myself grimace at the broken and battered form of the same earth pony mare I had seen in the painting before. She wore a white dress and had a vale, but both were caked with blood. What the hell was wrong with this book? Instead of visions of the unknown field or my home where I was lied to, here I found the scene of either murder or mourning. I had a feeling I knew which it was too. “Painful to look at isn’t it?” I turned around to the source of the voice and both smiled and grimaced at the same time. There behind me was Warner, the light blue sailor pony with his brown mane and tail. Except his eyes. Those eyes that were once green and filled with life were now black and empty as the other two ponies’ had been. “Warner, what the hell is this? Why are you in this book? Why is she-?” “Because this is where he let go of me and her. I wanted to show you where I came from, so you wouldn’t have a doubt in your mind.” The empty Warner figure took a few steps toward me with a frown on his muzzle. “This is where I was born, in a sense.” I took a look back at the scene behind me. “What do you mean this is where you were born?” Not-Warner laughed a bit, a slight chuckle. “Well I can thank them really, those ponies in black, for my existence. They were on a mission to be set free from their curses, and found Warner and his Carlotta here on the beach. Long story short, they wanted to move on but couldn’t. They needed souls to take their place in the books so that they could pass on at last. Warner wasn’t going to have that though. He was too protective of Carlotta, and tried to stop them. They ended up killing the girl, and making her into what you saw. Not just a bloody corpse, but the mare of fire: Inferno.” I turned back to the empty Warner, confused. “What the hell do you mean by that? If she died here, why was she in the first book?” “That wasn’t her lass. That was her broken and corrupted soul, waiting to be released. You finally gave her that, so she could give up her existence at last. You took her burden.” While I stared into his black, empty eyes, I found that I wasn’t feeling lost as I had before when I stared at Blackmore or Inferno. I could still think and focus. “So what about the other pony? What about Blackmore?” “Oh that one? I think he found a pony to consume eventually. Perhaps one of your family?” I narrowed my gaze at the Warner-figure in anger. “Not really sure though, I don’t keep up with every pony’s problems.” “Then what about you then? If Carlotta had to die to give up her soul and the other pony found one eventually, why are you here? If Warner is what’s left after he gave you up, where is he?” Nowhere on the beach did I find a light blue pony, except right before me. “That’s because Warner didn’t want the same for himself as he saw happen to Carlotta. He didn’t want to die like her. So instead he split himself from his soul, leaving him as a husk of his former self to walk the land for eternity.” Not-Warner walked a ways towards the black clad ponies in the masks. “Crafty pony I was.” I followed for a bit, trying to wrap my head around the concept. “So how exactly does Warner still live, apparently for an eternity, if he doesn’t have a soul?” The premise seemed a bit wrong. Weren’t souls the reason things were alive? To be honest, I had no idea what souls had to do with anything. Not-Warner stopped and turned to me. “It’s not that simple lass.” Of course not! Why would anything be as simple as what I thought it should? “Souls, as many religions would have you believe, is what makes ponies and creatures individual. They aren’t quite spot on though. It’s more like a spark starting life. Existence is started by biology of course, but it isn’t truly alive until it has a soul. After that it just kind of lingers on forever, even after that thing has died. That’s why you get ghosts lass, souls that linger around because they feel spiteful or something.” I didn’t believe that in the slightest. Ghosts weren’t real. Then again, what did I know? Here I was believing things could possibly be simple. “Alright, but that doesn’t answer my question. Why is Warner still around, or at least I think he is, if he apparently doesn’t have a soul because of you?” “Oh you got the wrong idea lass. I didn’t do anything to separate myself from Warner, he did that with these ponies’ help. What you didn’t wait for me to explain, is that souls are needed for something to be and to cease to be.” I stared blankly at the apparent soul of Warner, with his black eyes and angry expression. “Ugh, you aren’t making this easy with your simple mindedness lass. A pony can exist without a soul, but does so until the soul is vanquished or absorbed or dies!” Well, he certainly sounded aggravated. “Hey! This concept can be a bit difficult to grasp. I haven’t exactly taken ‘souls 101’ alright?” I couldn’t have sounded more like an angry student not getting the right classes for magic school. The light blue pony sighed exasperated. “Alright, fair enough. Souls, after their needed spark for life, linger within the being until the being dies. It is then that it is released and allowed to pass on alright? They just want to get to the afterlife so they can stop being. But when a soul is torn away from something before that, the being can still be alive. However, the being is still tied to the soul like a sort of spiritual string until the soul passes on. In such cases though the soul is usually sealed into something, to make it indestructible or into a spell like I was.” I stared blankly for a moment, taking the explanation into consideration. Heavy consideration. “So if those ponies’ souls were trapped in the spell books, why does some pony else have to go beyond reading to understand the spell?” “It’s not just a spell that you cast when you use ‘black magic’, it’s the pony’s soul that you call on. Like I said earlier, a soul can move on through absorption. It still ceases to be, but its power can be used by others. The power of ‘black magic’ is from those ponies who gave their souls up, willing or not. Poor Carlotta wasn’t willing, and after seeing what happened to her, Warner became willing.” The blue pony turned his head again to the black clad ponies. I too looked at them, standing in place like they were frozen. “So, Warner willingly gave his soul to live forever because the alternative was to die?” Not-Warner nodded in confirmation. “So, are you like Warner before he became Warner?” “A part of him, yes. What he is now is simply what’s left.” He almost seemed sad at the thought. I looked around a bit, trying to find a nice lovely door that said exit. There was none however. “Alright then, it’s been fun and all but I really must be going.” I started off towards the grey ocean in an attempt to find the door that I apparently flew in through before. “That’s not how this works.” Not-Warner said solemnly. I turned around to look at him, but he wasn’t there. I again looked forward and found the light blue, black-eyed pony standing in front of me with a sad look on his face. “I think you know better than that.” “Right, of course.” I did know better by now. “Is this going to be painful?” “Do I have to answer that?” “Isn’t there some way that you can let me leave without giving me some kind of powerful magic? Can’t you just answer my questions and let me go?” I pleaded to the familiar, yet foreign pony. Not-Warner shook his head sadly. “Even if I wanted to just let you go, you can’t until you absorb my power. Otherwise, you would just stay in a magic induced coma forever.” Right, no moving on until the whole ‘absorption’ thing happens. “Fine. Just, make it quick please. The last pony made me feel like I was dying from the inside. At least Inferno just made me cough for a while.” “Unfortunately, I think this will be the most painful experience for you yet Midnight.” The light blue pony said solemnly. “Wait, before you go on. Can you tell me where Warner is and how you all seemed to know my name?” I pleaded, looking into his black eyes. “I can actually. He’s a lot closer than you thought he was Midnight, right next to you actually. He won’t be happy with you when you wake up. As for how we know your name? Blackmore knew you when you were young, even books get bored and talk sometimes Midnight.” That was a bit disappointing. I thought it would be some kind of excuse about prophecy or something convoluted like that. Apparently not though. Just books getting bored. “Alright then. Go ahead and do your thing.” Not-Warner smiled a little. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to move on Midnight. Thank you.” I smiled back at the light blue pony. Just for a moment, I saw a pang of sadness on his face. If only for a moment. “The gift I give you is a dangerous one. While fire and darkness may be destructive by your hooves, mine is one that is destructive without control.” That certainly sounded worse than what I already learned. “Twisters and howling winds from every direction, bolts of lightning to strike the life from all who stand against you, and rain to wash away the charred remains of everything that meets your wrath. Speck its name and you will know ‘Charon’, me.” Around us, a storm began to brew. Thunder erupted from its clouds, and rain poured down in stinging sheets. While I could hardly hear myself, I willingly whispered “Charon.” Hell’s boat pony smiled down upon me. “Don’t let the storm overtake you Midnight.” As if waiting for his last little comment, a bolt of lightning struck down on my horn like it was a lightning rod. It was only for a moment, but I felt like all the nerves in my body just begged for the life to wink away. I blacked out, screaming in pain. I didn’t even know when the magic induced dream ended and reality began. I woke up from the blackness screaming. A hoof quickly covered my mouth, making me simply let out a muffled yell. “Shh, Midnight. It’s okay.” I managed to quell my screaming and looked at the light blue, green-eyed, frowning face of Warner looking down at me. As I stopped screaming, he lifted his hoof away and shook it a bit. “Do ya really have to slobber all over my leg lass?” I rose up from my laying down position and hugged Warner tight around his neck. “Oh my goodness! Warner where have you been!?” Warner let out a choking sound that told me I was hugging a bit too tight. I let go of the choking pony and stared up at him with a smile on my face, but he didn’t return it. “Midnight, why did you read those books?” Oh yeah, he wouldn’t be happy about that. “I told you to burn them!” He really did, I just didn’t listen. “Yeah, I know Warner. But you don’t understand I-” “Oh don’t worry, I understand. You just thought you’d take a peek, won’t be so bad right? Next thing you know, you’ve been given terrible magical power. Which one did you read Midnight? Which one?” I looked up at Warner, a little hurt. “All three of them.” Warner stared down at me looking both surprised and disturbed. “All of them?” I nodded. “As in, all three of them?” I nodded again. Warner ran a hoof through his mane, looking rather stressed. “That’s impossible. You must have miscounted or something. One pony can’t have three black magic spells Midnight. It’s never been done without a pony going insane.” I gave him an indignant look. “What? Don’t think that I can handle it or something? I’m a bit tougher than you think Warner.” Warner walked away from the bed that I was laying on. Was it bad that I woke up in ponies’ beds like this as often as I did? “No, no, no, no. You don’t understand Midnight.” Of course I didn’t. I’m miss ignorant remember? “It’s not a matter of if you’re strong or not. It’s a matter of having souls that aren’t yours. It’s a matter of losing yourself.” “Well, I don’t feel any different Warner. I still feel like me. I just sometimes have an insistent voice in my head, but nothing serious. I don’t lose control of myself or anything.” I got up from the bed and found myself on wooden floor boards. I was still in Warner’s room. “Where have you been?” Warner looked back at me, noticeably still angry. “I’ve been around. Thought I’d come back and see the old ship one more time before I accepted where I was, but who did I find? Sharpe and some bloke with wings onboard looking for me. Told me they’d been looking for me for a while on your behalf, then they tell me that you’re looking for me in my room like a mad pony. And just like they’d said you were here, reading a book. A black book.” “Hey! In my defense, I had already read the other two and only wanted some answers. Your soul gave me all the answers I needed too.” Warner was taken aback by that. “You…you know then don’t you? You know why I didn’t want you to read them.” I looked around confused. “Um, no not really. Something about souls and you not having one?” Warner shook his head, looking at the floor. “No. It’s not that Midnight. It’s that now that you’ve absorbed my soul, I don’t have a lot of time left.” He looked up at the painting of Carlotta. “I suspect I’ve only got a week before my body decays. Time is going to catch up to me pretty quick, then I’ll just die. End of the line.” Wait, what? “But, isn’t that what you wanted Warner? Didn’t you want to die long ago?” “No. I should have died long ago, with Carlotta. I was a coward though. I wanted to cling to this world like a foal. I wanted to live because I feared forever. Then I experienced it, couldn’t die no matter how much I tried to end my life. Rocks wouldn’t crush my bones, blades wouldn’t do anything but break the surface of my skin and when it did, my blood wouldn’t flow. I was cursed to live forever, even though I wanted to die. And yes, for a time I did want it all to end. In that time, I scrawled out the spell that consumed my soul in a twisted hope that I could get some pony to take away my curse. I thought the nightmare would never end.” Warner looked up from the floor. “Then I realized that I had a purpose. As long as I held the curse, some pony else wouldn’t. If I could just keep some pony else from experiencing forever in this hell of a world, I would have beaten it. Stopped it in it tracks. I would have won.” I looked at the sorrowful Warner. “Warner…I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know-” “Of course you didn’t. And until you pass on the curse, you will not die either. I’ll decay from this world and my soul won’t transcend into eternity because of my foolishness. I’ll never see Carlotta again, just like she feared.” Warner looked down again, crying. I couldn’t help but feel terrible. “Look, Warner I’m sorry. But what’s done is done. I know you think that everything is over for you, but there’s one thing that you can do that can help ponies in need.” Warner looked up from his tears, more still rolling down his face. “What’s that exactly? I don’t think an old washed up walking corpse like me can do much of anything.” I smiled at Warner. “You know a thing or two about boats. And I happen to know a group of ponies who need one.” Warner looked at me, a smile slowly creeping upon his face. “When can I start?” Author's Note Gotta say, Warner is one of my favorite characters to write. Hell's boat pony sounds like something similar to Hell's kitchen. Anyway, enjoy! and don't eat too many fruit roll-ups
Epilogue: The SelfishAfter the burning of the Colony, life went on. In scale few lives were changed, but those that were changed couldn’t ever return to the way things were. The Colony was left a pile of spent ashes with nothing but the burnt corpses of its deceased inhabitants buried amongst the destruction. While it was occasionally picked over by local zebra tribes, it was widely considered to be a cursed place to walk. Life, as if in fear of another blaze, simply didn’t return to the ashes. While the ponies who died in the Colony were never remembered, they were never really forgotten. The ashes of the Colony remained an ever present reminder that when turned against her own kind, the Shadow-Walker would not hesitate to spread her ruin. Princess Platinum was hardly even notified of the fate of the Colony. Its fate was left, as it always had been, out of the hooves of those that didn’t care. While it had initially been successful in its mission to remove criminals without killing them, no pony else was ever sentenced to the desolate settlement of criminals that only promised to kill whoever found its shores. It hardly mattered to Princess Platinum though. She was far too caught up in her own agenda. Clover the Clever, feeling much remorse after tricking Midnight Star into being brought to justice, always swayed a hearing’s verdict away from the Colony. She didn’t want to feel anymore guilt sending ponies to die by nature rather than by execution. She had bigger problems to deal with. She had to find out why the weather was getting colder and colder each passing month, even though it was scheduled to be getting warmer. While she suspected the Pegasus, she never spoke up when she attended meetings between Princess Platinum, Commander Hurricane, and Canceler Puddinghead. Eventually the cold weather came to a freezing point, but that is another story entirely. The Gold family, with its last hope of achieving the throne presumed dead, fell into obscurity. As the months went on, less and less ponies of its bloodline claimed to so proudly have Gold in their blood. As a last ditch attempt at the throne, several of the final members of the family attempted to murder the Princess in clear daylight. They were promptly executed on the spot, not even given trial for their crime. Sunset Gale, the wrongly condemned painter, ran from the Colony and Midnight star. With time, he eventually found himself facing the Caesar of the zebras. He had begged for safe haven among the striped ones, he was given a much different fate entirely. The Caesar found much humor in the yellow winged pony, and put him in the coliseum to see how long he would amuse the crowd and himself. He was sorrowfully disappointed. Graham, savior of ponies and zebra alike, continued his journey throughout the zebra lands. While the tribes and factions that he helped always held the upmost respect for the traveling earth pony, it was not his teachings that they remembered. While Graham regretted their false reverence, he never stopped his journey. If he had to trek across the entire continent spreading his teachings and spirituality to find a tribe willing to accept a higher power other than their own, he would. He found that his religion was harder to spread with no book containing the word, but didn’t regret his decision to leave it with the one the zebra called Shadow-Walker. Warner, the cursed sailor with regrets, found that his life did not end. He was filled with sadness when he realized that he would continue his existence, never to move on from it. Over the course of his existence, he found himself forgetting about his adventures more and more. With his boat, the Silver Sapphire, wrecked on a rocky shore he had to build a new one. However without the journals from his past, he eventually forgot who he was. His mind simply melded with his regrets and formed a murky mess of thoughts that the sailor found himself mulling over at night. While he always regretted his past, he never remembered any pony but Carlotta. Rumors spoke of an empty sailor, always looking back to find nothing. They spoke of a pirate that had no remorse, always looking forward to find fortune. They spoke of a husband at sea, who could never look anywhere but where he was. Warner was all of these, he just could never remember which he was. Time played a cruel trick on the cursed pony, and he could never forgive it. Sharpe found Midnight’s lifeless body the next morning and mourned for her, burying her in the ashes he knew she regretted. While he stayed by her grave for a time, he knew he had to move on. Midnight was gone, and there was nothing he could do about it. He searched for a time, and eventually was reunited with the mysterious Graham in his crusade of Harmony. Regretting his failure with Midnight, he swore to protect the priest for the rest of his days. When nature became rampant or a tribe rejected Graham and his Harmony, Sharpe was there to protect him. They trekked across the zebra lands for many years, causing the tribes and organized legion to eventually regard the duo with respect. Midnight Star, criminal, monster, Shadow-Walker, became nothing but a myth and a story. Zebras would tell stories of the cursed unicorn for years, always regarding the name with respect so as to not anger her vengeful spirit. Her name meant fear and regret to the tribes and legion. Not even the Caesar of the legion would speak her name without reason. Her body lay in the shallow grave under the burnt remains of the Colony, a fitting destination for the selfish mare. Even when every pony she considered a friend pleaded that she choose life, she chose death. She was too selfish to face the consequences for her actions, and chose to end it all. In her last moments, Midnight thought of those she felt were close to her. She thought and regretted until she chose to give up her life. Though she left her friends wanting her to live, she left them with drastically changed views. Just as she wanted, life went on without her. Ponies were killed, lies were believed, and legends were forgotten. Author's Note For those who want a dark ending, here you go! although, it could be happy in a way.
Epilogue: The AcceptingAfter the burning of the Colony, life went on. In scale few lives were changed, but those that were changed couldn’t ever return to the way things were. The Colony was left a pile of spent ashes with nothing but the burnt corpses of its deceased inhabitants buried amongst the destruction. While it was occasionally picked over by local zebra tribes, it was widely considered to be a cursed place to walk. Life, as if in fear of another blaze, simply didn’t return to the ashes. While the ponies who died in the Colony were never remembered, they were never really forgotten. The ashes of the Colony remained an ever present reminder that when turned against her own kind, the Shadow-Walker would not hesitate to spread her ruin. Princess Platinum was hardly even notified of the fate of the Colony. Its fate was left, as it always had been, out of the hooves of those that didn’t care. While it had initially been successful in its mission to remove criminals without killing them, no pony else was ever sentenced to the desolate settlement of criminals that only promised to kill whoever found its shores. It hardly mattered to Princess Platinum though. She was far too caught up in her own agenda. Clover the Clever, feeling much remorse after tricking Midnight Star into being brought to justice, always swayed a hearing’s verdict away from the Colony. She didn’t want to feel anymore guilt sending ponies to die by nature rather than by execution. She had bigger problems to deal with. She had to find out why the weather was getting colder and colder each passing month, even though it was scheduled to be getting warmer. While she suspected the Pegasus, she never spoke up when she attended meetings between Princess Platinum, Commander Hurricane, and Canceler Puddinghead. Eventually the cold weather came to a freezing point, but that is another story entirely. The Gold family, with its last hope of achieving the throne presumed dead, fell into obscurity. As the months went on, less and less ponies of its bloodline claimed to so proudly have Gold in their blood. As a last ditch attempt at the throne, several of the final members of the family attempted to murder the Princess in clear daylight. They were promptly executed on the spot, not even given trial for their crime. Sunset Gale, the wrongly condemned painter, ran from the Colony and Midnight star. With time, he eventually found himself facing the Caesar of the zebras. He had begged for safe haven among the striped ones, he was given a much different fate entirely. The Caesar found much humor in the yellow winged pony, and put him in the coliseum to see how long he would amuse the crowd and himself. He was sorrowfully disappointed. Graham, savior of ponies and zebra alike, continued his journey throughout the zebra lands. While the tribes and factions that he helped always held the upmost respect for the traveling earth pony, it was not his teachings that they remembered. While Graham regretted their false reverence, he never stopped his journey. If he had to trek across the entire continent spreading his teachings and spirituality to find a tribe willing to accept a higher power other than their own, he would. Days after the burning of the Colony, Warner finally closed his eyes for the last time. After years of scouring the world for purpose, he finally was allowed the peace that comes with death. While he always regretted being unable to save his love, he knew that there was nothing that he could do to bring her back. Nothing that he could do. The empty shell found himself…satisfied with whom he had left to take his place. While she was still young and naïve, he knew she would become wise of her ways with the years. Years have a tendency to do that, he knew better than most. In his last moments, Warner thought of Carlotta….regretting as he always had. Sharpe continued to watch over Midnight, keeping true to his promise to keep her safe; even from herself. While he knew that his promise was more than just a simple vow he kept, he never accepted it. Eventually he learned to accept his affection for the young, cursed mare, but always kept it quiet. Sharpe made it common practice to remember the days before his assignment to keep Midnight alive, if only to give him something to escape from. Those memories stayed with him, even when fending off wild animals and rogue zebras with his retrieved armor and spear, pushing him towards a brighter future. He always questioned his choice to defend the mare who both condemned and saved him, but never acted on his questioning. Midnight Star closed the books that Warner had once given her for good. Using the very black magic she learned from them, she burned the empty tomes to protect those she may hurt from their misuse. While it was an empty gesture, she felt justified to watch the long yellowed parchment of the cursed books curl up into wasted ashes. Rather than run away from her actions, and simply let life move on without her, Midnight Star made it her purpose to seek out other black books and destroy them. If that meant that she would have to become more corrupted and twisted to keep other ponies from suffering an eternity without a soul, she would. While she always urged that Sharpe not follow her in her journey, he always stayed with her. Eventually, the two met up again with Graham. Unfortunately Graham wouldn’t accept the holy tome of which he sealed the cursed spirits in, so Midnight simply joined him in his crusade. She knew he needed his holy book to make a better example of scripture, and if her story of how the earth pony literally saved her soul would turn the beliefs of a misguided zebra tribe, then it was all the more reason she justified her traveling with him. Graham was skeptical at first, but found that the powerful unicorn and her guards pony were a welcome addition when things turned sour. Midnight Star looked back on her choices and actions, and smiled. While she didn’t always make the best decisions, she knew there was always the next day to make better ones.
Chapter Eight: The EndWhile I sent Warner, Sharpe, and Sunset back to the Colony, I went on my own to find and speak to Graham again. I had some questions for him that I was rather concerned Warner would just get angry about if I asked him. Most importantly however, I needed some time to think. The travel time to reach Graham would give me exactly that. It would be a bit of a journey from the wrecked Silver Sapphire to Graham’s Mission, at least the rest of the day. If not, some of the night as well. Since everything I heard from the spirits in the black books was the truth and I shouldn’t doubt then in the slightest, I had to ask Graham if anything of the sort was possible in the first place. Obviously Warner would have a slightly skewed view on the whole predicament, so an outside opinion on the matter would do nicely. Another thing, if only for my own sanity, I had to know if what I did was something that he had seen happen before. It was mostly for my own self-loathing, but I had to know if entire tribes were wiped out by situations like what had happened here with my victims. Was it self-defense? Or had I gone too far? As I made my way up the mountain of which the Mission stood upon, I found myself making excuses as to why this was a dumb idea. I found myself trying to think of any kind of reason to go back and brave the night instead of ask the religious pony about what the hell was going on with my life. Many thoughts such as ‘he probably doesn’t know a lot about the subject’ or ‘he is going to call you a monster and send you away anyway.’ I found myself stifled in the last moments of evening at Graham’s door. I couldn’t bring myself to open the door. No, instead the door opened to me. In the open door frame sat Graham with a confused look on his face. “Why are you here again miss Midnight? I know I told you that I would be willing to help with anything else, but I was not expecting you to be back so soon.” There was a certain grace to his voice, it was deep and almost deserved a song to go along with it. I fumbled over some words for a moment. I didn’t know what I wanted to ask first. “Um, actually there’s nothing wrong at the Colony no. It’s actually something personal I wanted to ask you. Could I come inside?” Graham looked at me for a moment, contemplating me. Then he smiled. “Of course, my door is always open for those seeking answers. Come in.” I backed away from the door, beckoning me inside. As I passed through the door frame, the warmth of a proper home hit me like a warm blanket. It may not have been that much to marvel over, but it really felt like Graham had made a place for himself here. The Colony on the other hoof, was simply temporary until we could get transportation elsewhere. Edge said that he was sure the zebra tribes here had enough of the Colony and wanted to find some kind of way off the island, hopefully Warner would solve that. I sat on the ground next to the comfy bed and started mulling over my thoughts. “What is it that brings you back here Midnight?” Graham asked, sitting a few paces from me. I knew he wasn’t going to like this. “I was wondering if you could tell me everything you know about the Black books.” As the question passed Graham’s ears, he sighed. “You read another didn’t you?” I grinned sheepishly. “Little bit.” Another sigh from Graham told me that he was a bit labored by this topic. “Well as you know the black books contain very powerful spells, but these spells are not powerful simply by their own right. While most spells simply draw on the energy of the caster, black magic draws on the bound soul of a pony who has either been sacrificed or convinced to do so.” Well, in that case Charon wasn’t lying. At least in one sense. “Well, could you explain a bit about that? I’m completely in the dark about soul binding and the consequences of such.” “Consequences.” Graham nodded at the word, as if it were fitting in his mind. “If a pony were to be sacrificed in order to give up their soul to be bound to a spell, they would die in the process and their soul would simply continue to exist in the bound spell or object.” Another point for Charon, maybe he was the only honest one. “If a pony were to simply have their soul bound and not be sacrificed, their empty shell would walk the world until their soul has been released.” So Warner was just an empty shell, not fully himself. “I see.” I looked at the ground for a moment, trying to find the words for my next question. “Um, what would happen to that shell once their soul was released or absorbed?” Graham frowned at me. “Absorbed? You really have been listening to those books haven’t you?” I avoided eye contact with the religious pony. “If a bound soul is released, or absorbed in your case, the shell will simply catch up with all the lost time it had been empty. I have heard legends in which kings of the olden times have risen and fallen by the whims of black books and their souls keeping them on this world. The body will decay, but the pony will live until they have been turned to nothing more than a pile of bones. It is the most painful way I have witnessed a pony die. Death in war or by sickness is more merciful then rotting while you still live.” So that’s how he knew so much about this sort of thing. I was beginning to suspect that maybe he had read a black book himself, but I suppose a religious figure like him would have all kinds of ponies coming to him for help. Even those without souls to save. “What about a pony who has absorbed the souls of more than one pony? What happens to her?” I couldn’t even stop the words before they spilled out. Graham stared at me for a moment, until I looked him in the eyes as well. “Your eyes aren’t usually silver are they?” I froze for a moment, then shook my head slowly. “You’re worried about what will happen to you aren’t you?” I felt myself almost crying as I nodded, still keeping eye contact. Graham returned the nod and looked around for a moment. He got up, retrieved something from his bedside table and sat back down in front of me. I tried my best not to blink. I didn’t want my eyes to be empty and black here. I didn’t want to be a monster. “Here, look at this.” Graham pointed to the thing he had retrieved, a book open to a sort of hexagonal shape thing. I looked down at it and felt myself back away from it a little. “I see. Then you aren’t fully yourself then.” I looked back up to Graham slightly panicked, if that was a thing. “How many black books did you read?” I felt my heart rate soring. Why was I breathing so quickly? “Um, three? I think. Yeah, three.” I avoided looking at the hexagon shape at all costs. It frightened me for some reason. Graham picked up the book and read something, his eyes darting across the page quickly before turning it around and making me look at it. I turned my head away from it. “No! Midnight, I need you to look at this book. Look at this seal, I’m trying to help you.” I forced myself to look at the shape on the page, no matter how much I wanted to look away. Was I growling at it? Yes I was. I was actually growling at a shape on a page. “They are trying to get out Midnight. They are trying to surface themselves and take over your mind. There is one problem however, up until now they have been fighting. Now in the presence of this seal, they are trying to all force their will on you. You have to focus and do exactly as I say Midnight. Alright? Are you still there?” Graham reached out with a hoof to try and touch me, but I batted it away with my own hoof. Why did I do that? “I think so. Graham, what’s going to happen to me?” “Nothing Midnight. You’re going to be fine.” Why was it that I didn’t believe him? “Now I want you to count to seven alright? If you mess up or stop suddenly, start over.” That seemed really stupid. “Alright Graham. One, two, five-” “No! Start over.” I wanted to kick Graham in the face for that. On the other hoof, why did I say five? Five wasn’t until after four right? “Fine. One, two….three.” “You slowed down, try again.” I actually got up and was about to kick Graham in the face this time, but he forced me to sit back down with his forelegs. “Midnight. Start again.” I hated his face so much. Why was he so angry? Why was I so angry? “Fine, you worthless swine!” Graham didn’t even react to my words. Were they my words? I didn’t know anymore. “One! Two! Three! FourFiveSix-” “Evenly Midnight! This doesn’t work if it’s not you counting!” What the hell was that supposed to mean? I was trying my best and he was yelling at me! I felt myself start to cry a little. Tears welled up in my eyes. “One…two…three-he.” I was absolutely bawling by this time. I couldn’t speak evenly. My face was hot with either sadness, or hate. I couldn’t decide. “Midnight.” I looked up at Graham through my tears. He didn’t hold the slightest contempt for me, whereas I wanted to burn his face off until he didn’t have any more skin. “I know you’re in there somewhere.” I suddenly felt numb. The tears continued to stream down my face and I wanted more and more to burn his face off, but now I felt these things in a totally calm sort of way. Did that make sense? Calmly crying and wanting to melt face? “You’re not going to succeed here priest. She’s ours now.” I was surprised at the words that came from my mouth. That was definitely not me, I think. Was it? “You won’t fool me monster. I can have you killed right now. Removed from this world, with the uttering of a few words.” Graham stared at me with hating eyes. “I don’t want it to come to that.” “Like hell you can, worm.” As if I was guided by string, I bit down on my own foreleg as hard as I could. I didn’t even wince at the pain, instead I smiled. “Blackmore will lead you to eternity, you don’t have to show me the way. I already know that road priest.” At the uttering of his name, my blood oozed out into the shape of a black sword pointed at Graham. “Any last words worm? Or should I just cut out your throat out for you?” Okay, that was definitely not me. “When my time comes, I will go monster. You won’t be the judge of that.” Graham turned around and kicked me in the face, really hard. So hard that I dropped the blood sword and fell to my haunches, surprised. “Midnight! Count now! Seven!” As if I was hit with a sudden epiphany, I finally felt as though I was in control of my thoughts. I shook the kick off and focused. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven! There! Now what Grah-” All of the sudden, I felt myself fall to the ground and pass out. I opened my eyes to bright sunshine in the sky. I blinked a few times, getting used to the brightness and realized that I was lying on the ground. Getting up and looking around, I found that I was outside of Graham’s cabin. “What the heck happened?” I asked aloud. “The spirits of the black books almost consumed you Midnight.” I turned around to see Graham sitting in the grass with his eyes shut as if he was meditating. “I thought that they had completely taken you away, but you pulled through. I’m proud of you, for what it’s worth.” I cantered over to him and sat next to the meditating pony. “Um, thanks. What exactly do you mean almost consumed me? What happened?” Graham opened his eyes and looked at me. “They almost took over your mind, but you pulled through.” Great, that didn’t really explain a lot. “Had you not done so, I would have been forced to vanquish both them and you. I am glad it did not come to such violence.” I laughed a bit uncomfortable. “Hah, I am too. Being vanquished doesn’t exactly sound fun.” I looked around a bit. “How long has it been?” “Two days. The binding process is lengthy, but can be done.” I gave Graham a surprised look, at which he laughed a bit. “What? You look at me as if you have never heard of such a thing. Didn’t I already tell you a bit about binding and such already?” “Yeah, but I didn’t know it could be done by a pony that wasn’t… well wasn’t-” “A unicorn?” He took the word right from my mouth. “It is difficult, but with the right equipment a binding can require only the right words.” Something still bothered me though. “What do you mean binding? Did you bind my soul to something?” Graham hesitated for a few moments, but found the words he was looking for. “Not entirely Midnight. Only partially.” I didn’t like the sound of that. “What do you mean partially?” Graham looked me dead in the eyes. “They had embedded themselves enough to control your consciousness, I had to bind such parts of your soul lest they do the same thing again. It was not an easy choice, but it was the moral one.” Moral choice? “I’m still not understanding what any of that means. You keep saying you bound them, but that doesn’t exactly tell me what that does.” I suddenly very much felt like a child getting early spell classes…from an earth pony. Graham closed his eyes again, either thinking or just not wanting to look at my confusion. “They are bound to a powerful seal, but not permanently. Since part of your soul was caught up in the binding, I didn’t want to make it too powerful of a seal. While their spirits and some of you are bound to the seal, it is permeable enough for you to remember who you are. In that sense, also permeable enough for you to use the magic you gained from those spirits.” I thought for a moment on this, but was still bothered. “So, am I just a soulless shell now?” Graham laughed a bit, again reminding me that I really have to get into the field of comedy. “Hah, well not really Midnight. It is only a partial soul binding, not a complete one. So no, you are very much yourself in that you shouldn’t feel any different than before you read your first black book. You shouldn’t feel any whispers of those spirits in your mind.” I smiled a bit. “Well that certainly sounds good. But…what if I die?” I suddenly felt much more somber at the thought, but I needed to know. Graham stayed silent for a good, long while. I’m sure he was trying to find a simple way of explaining it. “I don’t know Midnight.” Or not. “Well, can I die? Since I’m not completely soulless, what happens if I end up dying?” He stayed silent once more. “I need to know Graham.” Graham looked into my eyes very seriously. “Midnight. There is no right answer to that.” He let that sink into my mind for a bit, the continued. “While I think you are indeed still completely able to have the life leave your body, I doubt that it will be anything that I have ever seen. Quite simply, I have never seen any kind of situation like yours Midnight. It’s normally one pony’s soul I’m saving, not binding a pony who has four.” I wanted to be angry at him, but had no ground to stand on. While I wanted to know more, I didn’t have any right to be angry at Graham for doing his best. “I see.” I looked away from Graham, suddenly wanting to change the subject. “So what happens now?” I returned my gaze to the religious, tan pony. “Where do we go from here?” “We go about our lives Midnight.” Graham got up and started cantering over to his cabin, beckoning me to follow. “I have a feeling that your friends are very concerned for you, being here for so long.” I looked to the ground. He was right, I didn’t know I would be away for two entire days. That was too long to just disappear again. “I guess you’re right Graham.” I got up from my haunches and looked back to the tan earth pony. “I suppose I’ll see you when I see you, if I see you again.” I turned to start the path back down to the plains and to the Colony. “Midnight, wait.” I turned back around to Graham cantering over to me with a back pack, my back pack. “I think you should take this.” I hadn’t even realized I had brought it or dropped it. “Oh, thanks Graham.” I took the thing in my telekinesis and plopped it on the ground. “Inside, you will find your three empty black books. Also, you will find mine. It’s not much to you probably, but I find that when I am lost most I can find comfort in the verses within. I am by no means a saint, and that book is proof. While most pastors would have nigh a scratch on it, mine has been beaten and worn down for years. It’s rather difficult to find the…I’m getting off topic. Inside you will find the very seal that contains the three spirits and part of your soul. If you can find such a way to put the lost spirits back into those black books of yours or simply release them, find me and bring that book. Then I can unbind your soul. But one step at a time Midnight. Don’t rush it, think it over.” Graham looked rather distant as he explained everything to me. Almost like he wasn’t sure he could actually do such a thing. I searched inside the back pack, and sure enough there was a white book inside that was worn almost to falling apart. Yet it remained in one piece somehow. “Thanks Graham. I guess it’s a little assuring to have part of my soul with me.” Graham smiled. “Check the bottom of the bag Midnight.” Confused, I shrugged and did so. I pulled out the four books and the wooden zebra mask, and gasped at what I saw at the bottom. “Graham, you don’t know how much I’ve missed this!” I pulled out my missing piece of lace from the back pack and smiled giddily. After replacing the rest of the contents, I pulled back my mane back into a manageable pony tail and tied the lace around it tightly. It felt so great to have wind meet my neck again. “Graham, where did you?” I looked up from the back pack and frowned. There was no Graham. The religious pony was simply gone. After looking around a bit, I gave up and smiled. “Thanks Graham. May you go where you are needed always.” With a smile, I turned and started down the path to the plains. I was going to miss him, but I had a feeling that I would see him again someday. Night was finally falling as I made my way closer to the Colony. Now with the living quarters being more than a few hollowed out trees, the place looked like ponies could actually live here. Perhaps I really had made a difference here. “Midnight!” I was stirred from my thoughts by the oddly out of place Sunset Gale galloping towards me. It was strange to see him not flying around as he usually was. “Sunset!” With a smile, I met the panting Pegasus and tried to give him a hug; that’s what ponies did when they were happy to see one another right? I was confused however when he pushed me away and sat down to catch his breath. “What’s wrong? Forgot how to fly or something?” After panting and trying at words several times, Sunset sat up and caught his breath properly. His face was hilarious. “No, not that.” More panting, had he been running or something? “It’s Edge. He’s gone insane!” That certainly didn’t sound good. “What do you mean?” I asked quickly, reflecting on how many times I had asked that in the past few days. “Edge doesn’t go crazy. He makes sure the crazy ones don’t go, well, crazy.” Sunset had finally managed to get his breath back fully. “It’s not that! You’ve got to talk to him, he’s not thinking right.” I nodded firmly. “Alright, let’s go. Lead the way.” “No, can’t. Said if he saw me again he’d kill me himself.” Sunset looked around, as if expecting to find something that was going to assault him. “You’ve got to talk some sense into him. I tried and he told me I was banished from the Colony or something.” No pony had the right to banish another. Even if he was some kind of commander of a rag tag group of exiles. That seemed a bit ironic. “Alright, where will you be? Where will you go?” I asked the yellow Pegasus. Sunset looked into my eyes. “I don’t know Midnight. I just can’t stay here. I’ll find you, I promise!” With that, he continued his gallop in the direction opposite of the Colony. “Wait! Sunset!” He was gone, didn’t even hear me. Without as much as a hug too. Damn it. I turned back the way I was heading, towards the Colony. If there was something wrong with Edge, he had to be removed. I didn’t think that I had much a chance at fighting the stallion since he was like twice my size, so words were going to be my best friend. I hoped. With concern rife in my mind, I galloped as fast as I could to the Colony. Things seemed quite when I arrived at the circle of ramshackle log cabins that made up the Colony. No pony was around, or even in their small homes. What was going on? I trotted over to my cabin, and found nothing inside. “Where is every pony?” I asked aloud, hoping for an answer. My answer however, was a tree falling down in front of my cabin doorway. That was not a good sign. I leaped over the fallen tree and looked around. Just outside my door on the left, I saw Sharpe and Edge hugging over by the uprooted base of the tree. Wait, hugging didn’t usually have anything to do with forelegs around one another’s necks. Edge was choking Sharpe while he flailed about uselessly against his big brother. “Edge! Stop! What are you doing?” I demanded, quickly trotting over to the two. “What is the meaning of this?” Edge looked up from his brother choking and gave me a sour look. “This doesn’t concern you girl, move along now before I decide you’re next.” “I think this very well concerns me! That’s my friend you’re choking!” I forced Edge’s forelegs away from his brother’s neck long enough for the red pony to crawl towards me coughing. Edge simply watched with a sick grin on his face. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Edge’s sick smile simply broadened. “Removing a traitor. So sad it happens to be my only living sibling.” I looked into Edge’s eyes, but only found anger in them. “Would you stop justice from being served?” I looked down at Sharpe, finding his breath at last. “Midnight, don’t listen to him. He’s gone crazy, you’ve got to stop him.” He coughed out, getting to his hooves. “Should have never brought Warner back here.” “What? Why?” I stammered, confused. “Didn’t he show the other’s how to make a boat like I said he could?” “Oh yes he did.” Edge answered. “And all it took was a few logs and clay all along. Soon enough, we will have a boat and finally be able to get off this forsaken place.” Well, that was exactly the plan wasn’t it? “Not just that Midnight!” I looked over to Sharpe, in a defensive stance. “He wants to go to the Marble City. He wants to get revenge for his being here.” “Justice is not revenge brother. If you stayed in your damn place and did as you were told, you wouldn’t be here! None of us would be here!” Edge yelled loudly at me and Sharpe. “No! We’d all be happy in our death. We’d serve as warning to others that the unicorns are ruthless animals! They said the Colony was going to be merciful, they were wrong.” With Edge’s yelling, some of the other ponies of the Colony started to gather around the three of us in a sort of sparse circle. “You and I both know it is petty revenge brother!” Sharpe yelled back from beside me. “The Marble City will deny us and put us to death anyway! You have the chance to live. A chance for all of us to live! You just want to throw it away on your revenge though. You want us all to hurt innocent ponies in the name of revenge. I won’t do it brother. I won’t hurt the ponies that we both defended just because you don’t like the place they sent you to.” Edge smiled sickly again. “It was them that decided to send us here brother. They wanted to simply sweep us under the rug so they didn’t have to look at us. Instead of simply putting us to death, they sent us away. Why am I even talking to you? You don’t know how much this place can take away from you Sharpe.” Edge looked around at the ponies circled around us. “I think I speak for us all when I say that it’s about time that we got a little bit of payback for their insolence.” He looked directly to me, eyes filled with hate. “Would you join us Midnight? Would you join us in serving justice to the sheep that watched idly by as the crown tried to keep our blood from its own hooves?” He held out a hoof to me, as if to beckon me over. “Don’t listen to him Midnight!” Sharpe pleaded beside me. “He only wants to go out in a blood bath. Don’t follow him in his march on death.” “If you refuse, you will be a traitor like my brother. A traitor to the downtrodden and the evicted. You can either ride valiantly with justice on an assault on the ponies that put you here, or you can die here as a traitor to the greater good.” Some of the other ponies floated over a spear to the tall stallion. He took it in his magic and pointed it to me, spearhead towards himself. “Make your choice Midnight.” I looked to Sharpe once more, then to the ponies entrapping us in a circle like a preschool fight. I then looked at Edge, his face staunch and determined. “Edge.” I stared. “You do know that this is a suicide mission right? The guards aren’t going to welcome you back with open forelegs and just let you march on the Platinum palace. They’ll kill you, all of you.” “Then we shall take as many as we can with us. They are better off dead than under the tyranny of the Platinum crown.” Edge did not even blink. He knew he was throwing away his life and the lives of the other ponies of the Colony, just to get a last bit of revenge against the crown for putting him here instead of simply killing him. I thought for a moment. On one hoof, I had death by my fellow exiles. It would be quick, and I would die with Sharpe. On the other, I had death by the Platinum guard. Probably just as quick, and I would be remembered as a murderer. Neither one sounded like a good idea. Death or death? No. I wasn’t about to let this be where I fall. I wasn’t about to throw my life away because some pony told me to. I wasn’t about to brand myself a traitor to any pony. “I’m sorry Edge. I can’t accept what you’re doing.” I had to raise my voice enough to be heard at the slight distance, but not to the yelling point that Edge had been at. “I refuse to throw my life away on the whims of some pony that just thought he would take control. I refuse to let you dictate these ponies’ lives as if they belong to you.” Edge dropped the spear and looked around the circle of ponies around us. “Midnight, you think that you can call me a dictator and just have me cast away?” He looked back to me, hate in his eyes once more. “These ponies are the ones who told me what they wanted. It was not my plan to use a boat to strike back to the Platinum crown! It is the will of the Colony that calls me to lead them, and they call me to lead them on a path of justice. I am not the mastermind you may think I am, I am simply what I am asked to be: a leader.” I didn’t believe it. My one weapon against the worst possible outcome was a dud. Usually when you throw the word dictator around, ponies get rampant and want to oust the dictator. I hadn’t counted on this settlement of criminals to desire revenge on the ponies that put them here. Then again, that made more sense that Edge being a dictator. I gave a quick look to Sharpe, whom of which gazed at me with sorrow in his eyes. “Midnight that was noble of you, but I don’t think there’s any way we can get out of this. Tell him you’ll go, tell him you’ll go with him so you can have a chance to run. You don’t deserve to die here with me.” There was such determination in the red pony’s eyes. He was ready to die here if only I had the chance to continue living. I had another plan though. “I can’t do that Sharpe, I’m sorry.” I looked back over to Edge. “Well since you are dead set on this choice and are certain of what will happen, why not a little duel to spice things up? I’m sure you are aware of the rules of a duel?” I gave a side glance to Sharpe, giving me the most pleading look I’d ever seen on him. Edge laughed at the idea. “Hah, so you think you can defeat me girl? Is that what this is? You think you can defeat me and save the day? Be the hero?” I stared into his eyes, unwavering. “I can tell you one thing girl, you certainly have guts. Another thing I can tell you, even on the off chance that you kill me in this stunt it won’t change a thing. My living doesn’t change the ideals of the Colony. You are aware that there is no good way this can end for you right?” I nodded firmly. “Be that as it may, I’d rather die in an honorable duel with the commander than by the blade of execution.” Sharped begged that I desist, but I ignored him. “Well, I can honestly say that would be more fun than just having you put to death traitor. I accept your challenge Midnight.” Edge looked around the circle of watching ponies. “Do no interrupt, unless it is necessary.” He looked back to me. “Would you prefer to fight with spears? Or shall we devolve ourselves to hooves and horns?” Sharpe was pulled behind the crowd that circled me and Edge. I hoped that he would be okay. If I was lucky, my diversion would give him a chance to escape. “No, spears would be adequate. They aren’t proper dueling weapons, but they will have to do.” At my words, a spear was tossed over to my side. I picked it up in my magic, and suddenly realized I had no idea how the hell to use it. The pointy side went towards the thing I was tryin to stab right? “Excellent.” Edge scoffed, picking up a spear of his own with magic as well. “Shall we count down from three then?” “Go ahead.” The two of us circled each other defensively. “Alright then. May the best pony win.” Edge cracked his neck and smiled at me. “Three, two, one, draw!” With a whip of his horn, Edge hurled his spear at me with a frightening speed. “Whoa!” I jumped out of the way, just barely moving my hind legs out of the way in time. With his weapon stuck in the ground, I charged up to Edge with magically wielded spear alongside me. I would have stabbed him in the chest, but with a flash he was gone. Suddenly without a target, I looked around and found the tall brown pony picking up his spear with a smile on his face. “Oh come on Midnight. Don’t make this too easy now.” With another flash he was right in front of me, ready to run me through with his spear. I quick wave of my own spear knocked his away just in time to keep me from becoming a Midnight kabob, but before I could relish the small victory I was kicked in the chest with powerful hooves. The impact made me lose focus on my spear and sent me flying backwards a good few feet. I fought back to my hooves, coughing. When I looked up again, Edge was cantering toward me with two spears in his magical levitation fields. “If you were going to challenge me to a fight, you could at least make it interesting.” He lunged forward with spear aimed at me. I was able to get out of the way of the first, but a quick flick of his telekinesis sent the wooden end of his second spear into my chest. Being thrown off balance a bit, I fought to catch my breath again while putting a bit of distance between me and Edge. “What? Giving up already? I thought you were doing this for honor girl, not to be remembered as a coward.” With another flash, Edge was behind me with one spear pointed at my neck and the other at my forelegs. “There’s a reason not just any pony gets selected to be the captain of the guard. You have to be ruthless!” I jumped away from the angry spear-wielding pony as he attempted to perforate me. “You have to be smart!” I tried to kick one of the spears from his magical grasp, but he simply pulled it away and advanced with the other putting a stinging cut on my right foreleg. “You have to be three steps ahead of your opponent at all times!” With another flash Edge was to my right, trying to pincer me with his two spears. I jumped up to avoid them, but a high kick sent me on another flight to the ground. I barely managed to get to my hooves in time before he hurled a spear at me again. I wasn’t prepared for the projectile and now had a spear sticking out of my left hind leg. Searing pain shot though my entire body, forcing me to collapse again and stay down. I fought the screams of pain, but couldn’t help but cry out in agony. “What’s wrong Midnight? Suddenly not in the mood to go anywhere?” Edge taunted at me. I tried to pull my leg away from the spear, but it was rooted in the ground. I was literally pinned to the ground, and couldn’t get out. “Oops, that’s just because you aren’t able to. That’s much too bad, I was hoping this would at least be a challenge.” I watched as the smug stallion cantered closer and closer to me, certain of his victory. I forced myself to look back at the spear in my leg, trying to figure out how I could get it out. It was a gruesome sight with my blood pouring onto it from both sides. If he just left me here, I would bleed out before I could force the thing out. I was dead, I just hadn’t come to terms with it yet. Unless I did something stupid. I weighed the options as quickly as I could. I couldn’t find a better option, I had to. “You think you’ve won Edge.” I taunted, fighting the pain with gritted teeth. Edge stopped a few feet from me, looking down at me with a smile and spear pointed at my neck. “Oh, I don’t think that is something I am going to have to worry about Midnight. I just have one question: any last words?” Couldn’t have chosen a better phrase for me. “Yeah actually. I think you’ll regret asking.” Edge raised an eyebrow at me, amused at the slightest. “Charon!” As I yelled the name, a bolt of lightning erupted from my horn. A surprised Edge was sent flying a good distance, dropping his spear. I looked back at the spear protruding from my leg and grimaced. With grit teeth and a black aura eradiating from my horn, I forced myself to speak again. “Blackmore!” As if responding to my call, my blood turned an inky black color and swirled around the spear stuck in my leg. I quickly formed a sword from the abundance of ooze from my leg, one as long as my foreleg, and sliced the upper half of the spear away. I was free from most of it. Now was the worst part though. I forced myself to my hooves once more and looked away from the wound. Fighting all urges to stop, I pulled my leg out from the shortened end of the spear. I couldn’t stop myself from screaming. Every bump and imperfection on the spear’s handle made my leg scream with pain. After fighting every instinct to stop, I soon felt the spear release me from its wooden clutches. I was free! Even though the spear wasn’t in my leg anymore, I still felt as if it was. I couldn’t put any weight on my left hind leg, lest it burn more than it already was. I grit my teeth and pointed my blood blade at the now upright Edge. “And you call me the fool.” I taunted with a gritting smile. Edge narrowed his gaze at me. “So you learned some tricks did you? Well, that certainly makes this more interesting. However, I don’t think I’m going to allow that.” With a jerk of his neck, ponies grabbed my hind legs and pinned me to the ground. “Black magic? I don’t think so Midnight.” I tried to hurl my blood blade at Edge, but he dodged it easily and continued to canter towards me. With my focus no longer on its shape, my blood blade fell to the ground as a simple puddle of blood. Still black. With a spear once more at my neck, Edge laughed. “Hah, you silly girl. While this is a fight I know I can win, I’d rather avoid the unnecessary injury to your soul before I send you to hell.” This was it. I was going to die here. No more tricks up my sleeves. I looked up at Edge standing over me with a smug smile on his muzzle. I closed my eyes, readying myself for the end. “Midnight!” “Call on her! Use her magic!” I opened my eyes to the whispers of Blackmore and Charon. They could still whisper to me? I thought that they were bound to the seal in Graham’s book…until I called upon them. “But I can’t, there’s no time!” I thought back. “Don’t be daft lass! Use her magic! Now!” I looked around me. Edge stood over me with a spear at my neck, three ponies kept me grounded, and several others watched with smiles on their faces. These ponies didn’t care for anything but hate. They didn’t want anything but revenge, and anything standing in their way was just another hurdle to cross. They wanted me to die. I may not have meant anything to the ponies of the Marble City. Hell I probably didn’t mean anything to any pony aside from Sharpe, Warner, Sunset, and Graham. But I’d be damned before I let these ruthless criminals kill innocent ponies in the name of revenge. If I could save the lives of many innocent ponies by taking the lives of a few criminals, then I didn’t care what they thought of me. Edge brought his spear back, ready to slit my throat and end my life. I wasn’t going to let him though. My horn glowed black, and I felt myself go numb as I spoke the name I swore I would never speak again. “Inferno!” Upon her name, my captors caught fire and let go. Edge was set ablaze before me. He screamed as he dropped his spear and rolled around trying to put out the flames. I could only smile as he continued to roll. “Burn now, you pig.” I smiled sickly at her choice of words. While I usually didn’t think well of the thoughts of Inferno, here I couldn’t have approved more. “All of you! Burn! Burn until there is nothing but beautiful ash!” It seemed that everything that I looked at simply caught fire; trees, makeshift cabins, even grass. Everything, and every pony was consumed in the beautiful blaze that surrounded me. I was deaf to the screams of the burning ponies, I could only hear the cackle of flames licking at everything around me. As I watched the world around me get consumed by the orange flames, I suddenly felt myself again. I no longer relished in the fire, no I felt its heat on my body. I had to get out of here! I looked around, but couldn’t make heads or tails of anything. In desperation, I picked a random direction and ran. I ran through the flames that licked at my sides and hooves. I ran until I felt sand under my hooves and slowed down. Here it was cool, and calm. I felt the waves of the ocean wash over my hooves and was brought back to my senses. After taking a few moments to collect myself, I thought about what I just did. I just burned the very place that I once tried to assist. All I wanted to do was help, but I could only manage to destroy it. Then again, was it better this way? Was it better that the Colony burned to ashes before it became a threat to innocent ponies? Why did I care anyway? I could have just let them go. Sure they would have attacked the Marble City, but was I no better before my coming here? Then again I tried to kill the Princess, not just try to attack some ponies before being killed myself. Were they any worse than me? Then again, was I worse than them? I didn’t know, everything was so confusing. I didn’t know what was good anymore. I wished that the voices would come back. I wished they would make some kind of comment on what I just did. I wished they could at least bring my sprits back up after what just happened. A dark joke or something would be perfect, but they remained silent. Then something hit me. Sharpe was in there too. I started to trot back to the blaze of trees, but couldn’t continue. I fell to the sand, exhausted from the loss of blood. I looked back at my leg and found that it was still bleeding. Why didn’t it listen to me? Why didn’t it stop? These questions faded to obscurity as I passed out. “You can wake up now Midnight. You’re not dead anymore.” My eyes shot open to the words whispered in my ears. Were the voices back? I tried to get up, but pain and constriction around my hind leg stopped me. Instead I simply looked up to see Warner frowning down at me. “Warner! I thought they killed you.” I made an effort to get up and hug him, but he backed away. Confused, I gave him a hurt look. “Don’t try to give me those eyes lass. You aren’t you anymore.” His furrowed brow and distasteful look in his eyes told me everything. Still, his words confused me. “No, I am me though. Graham found a way to bind the other ponies’ souls enough so I wouldn’t lose myself. I’m the same Midnight, I just-” “No. You aren’t the Midnight I brought over here to be left to die. That Midnight didn’t have the right to choose if ponies had the right to live or die. That Midnight simply wanted to belong.” He got up and cantered a few steps away from me. “That Midnight was like Carlotta, young, hopeful, with a curious outlook on life. Now you’re nothing like her. You think simply binding souls to a book can change who you are. You think doing the right thing is killing ponies because they want freedom from their prison.” He looked back at me coldly. “You aren’t the same Midnight anymore, there’s nothing but fear and hate in your eyes.” I found myself almost crying at his words. Tears welled up in my eyes and made my vision blur. Blinking them away only hurt, I didn’t know why. “Warner, you don’t understand. I had to do something. They were going to hurt innocent ponies. If I didn’t stop them, it would have resulted in more lives being lost. It was the moral thing to do.” Warner stared at me coldly, not blinking. “Moral huh? There’s morality to murder then? Is that what you’re saying?” “Yes, I couldn’t let that happen. I had to take responsibility for what I helped start.” Even as I said the words, I didn’t believe them. Why did I suddenly think I was responsible for what the ponies of the Colony wanted? I wasn’t a judge to free will. Warner nodded slowly, taking in my excuse. “So, there was no other option? Killing them was the only way that this could be solved?” I started to respond, but Warner didn’t let me. “If there’s anything I’ve learned from being on this cursed plain of existence for as long as I have, it’s that things happen Midnight. Things beyond our control happen. Sometimes prisoners escape from their prison, and riot to the ponies who put them there. Sometimes ponies are taken as slaves, and forced to work until they die. Sometimes we have no responsibility for what happens.” His words made me angry. “Warner, what are you saying? Are you saying that when things such as this happen, we are just supposed to sit idly by and let them happen?” Warner didn’t deviate his gaze. “No Midnight. I’m saying that we shouldn’t have the authority to say what happens in the world and what doesn’t. You think you did what was right here, but when you see the same things happen again you will know different. Everything that you think is right is an illusion Midnight. There isn’t morality in murder. There is morality in letting the world sort itself out. We aren’t responsible for anything that occurs, only what we do and think. We aren’t supposed to go about the world and make it what we find to be what we find to be ‘good.’ Our ‘good’ can very well be a nightmare for others. Do you think that the Colony ponies you burned thought your decision was ‘good?’ Because I think their burnt skeletons think otherwise. Do you think Edge wanted to have his life ended by an ignorant mare who blindly lashed out at his beliefs?” His words hit me like a bricks. I didn’t have the right to make any one thing justified. Having power doesn’t mean that we are supposed to waste it. I looked down at the injury in my leg, loosely wrapped in grass? “What is this then?” Warner remained silent though. “Why did you do this?” Warner looked me in the eyes, but less coldly. “I couldn’t let go. This was all too familiar. I couldn’t let her go again, she deserved better.” “What ever happened to the whole ‘no pony deciding who has the right to live and die’ thing you were telling me earlier? Why should I be allowed to live when you didn’t help the Colony ponies?” I looked him in the eyes with contempt. “Why me?” Warner closed his eyes and shook his head. “It was a moment of weakness. I couldn’t let Carlotta die again like she had before. Even as warped and corrupted by the books and your own intention as you are, I couldn’t let her just die again. Your soul may be corrupt and misguided, but you are still more like her than any other pony could be. Even though you have a marred and murky outlook on right, you still want to do right.” I fought the pain and forced myself to my hooves. “It was my last gift to the world before I go. I’m not going to be here much longer, the least I could do is leave some pony in my place who won’t abuse her curse.” I forced myself to limp over to the light blue stallion. “I can stop your death Warner. I just have to put the writ back in the book. Graham said he didn’t know what would happen, but I don’t care. You are a gift to the world Warner. I don’t care what happens to me, so long as-” “I don’t have the right to decide if you live or die Midnight, but I can tell you right now that plan won’t end well.” He looked down on me with pity. “I’ll be left on this world until it falls to pieces, but you won’t survive the splitting. I’ve been waiting for many a decade for some pony to take my burden. Now that you have, I can’t make you give it back. I’m not going to trade your life so mine can continue, curse or not. I don’t have that right.” He turned around and started to canter away along the beach. “But I can’t change your mind either Midnight. If you sign your life away, I won’t let it be in vain. As tired as I am of the world and it of me, I’ll take the burden of eternity if you cannot bare it. It’s your choice, but make it quick. I won’t be around for much longer.” I started to follow Warner, but stopped. He wanted to be alone in his last few days, or not be around me if I signed his soul back into one of the books. I couldn’t plague him with my existence forever, so instead I picked up the back pack containing the black books and turned to the burnt tree line containing the Colony. While I limped from the hole in my leg, I did so with conviction. Suffering for my choices was the only way I could pay for them. As I entered the clearing that was once the Colony, I marveled at my surroundings. Everything was covered in a layer of grey ash. Like some kind of horror painting, burnt corpses of ponies lay half buried with their forelegs sticking out for mercy. I couldn’t recognize any of them, they were just blackened and charred skeletons that retained a thin layer of skin just for the gore of it. All of it was gone. Nothing but death and ashes remained. As I marveled at the sight, I bumped into something. “Ah!” I screamed, turning around in a defensive pose. What I saw however was an astonished Sunset, his eyes wide with fear and mouth hung open in awe. “Oh my goodness Sunset!” I hugged the yellow Pegasus warmly, but he didn’t return it. I looked up at him confused. “Are you okay?” He slowly looked down at me, shaking. “Midnight, what happened here?” If I was going to burn down settlements, I could at least take responsibility for doing so. “I burnt it down Sunset. I burnt it down because they turned against me.” I didn’t have to glorify it into the moral situation I had with Warner. There was not moral in lying. Sunset pushed me away, regarding me with disgust. I took a step toward him, but he took three back. “You…burnt them? All of them?” I looked down at a burnt corpse next to me and nodded slowly. “Midnight I…I don’t think I can look at you.” I turned to the yellow Pegasus, his eyes wide with fear. “A pony doesn’t do this sort of thing, not without being forced into it. A pony doesn’t just choose to wipe life away like this. A monster does.” I suddenly had second thoughts on the telling of this whole thing. I didn’t want to be a monster. “Sunset no, they made me-” “Get away from me!” Sunset took to the sky, looking down at me from a few feet up. “I thought you were different Midnight. I didn’t want to believe that you could be the same as the others, but I was wrong. You were by far the one that needed to be sent away the most. You are more of a monster than the ponies that were here combined.” With that he took off, flying away from my view. I didn’t chase after him though. I knew I would never see him again. I sat down in the ashes in anger. I brought out the black books from my back pack. I may not have had a pen to write in them, but I had my blood. I held out my fore leg, about to bite it. “Midnight!” The voice surprised me. Had Sunset come back? Instead of Sunset though, Sharpe trotted to me in the ashes. I smiled and got up to hug the red stallion. “Sharpe, I thought they killed you. How did you survive the fire?” I looked up through tearful eyes. Sharpe just laughed a bit. “Hah, nope I’m still around. Two of the bastards were taking me away to execute me or something, then a fire broke out. They panicked and let me go to go check on what went wrong, but I didn’t let them. When I was done knocking them out, the fire spread to where I was. I ran until I was out of the trees and watched the fire consume everything. When they finally stopped burning, I ran back here as fast as I could to see if you made it. You don’t know how happy I am to see you alive Midnight!” He hugged me even tighter, tears of his own falling from his eyes. “I thought we wouldn’t make it, but we survived.” When he finally let go of me, I stepped back a bit. “Sharpe, I don’t deserve your tears. I’m the one who burnt this place to the ground. I killed them all.” I again looked about the ashes surrounding us. “I really am a monster.” I returned to the black books I had set down in the ashes. “A monster that doesn’t deserve life anymore.” Sharpe sat down next to me, finding the words he wanted. “Midnight, you aren’t a monster. Were they going to kill you?” I nodded slowly. “Self-defense isn’t something a monster thinks about Midnight. A monster would be the one to burn this place if it was a settlement for orphans and puppies.” I looked to the red stallion with tears streaming down my face. “Sure, it’s self-defense. Just like last time when I burned those zebras that just wanted to keep me from hurting everything around me. Too many lives would be saved if I had just let them kill me.” Sharpe stared down at me, eyes filled with concern. “Midnight you think you are a bad pony for doing this don’t you?” I nodded again. “If you are a bad pony, then I’m a terrible pony.” I looked up at him confused. “When I was in the guard, I would kill ponies that I was told to no questions asked. I didn’t know if they were only stealing to feed their families, and I didn’t care. I simply did so because I was told to.” He stood up and looked around again. “This is probably a fraction of what I’ve been told to kill in my years of ‘protecting.’ Sure those smugglers, thieves, and such were bad, but they weren’t murderers. They didn’t kill ponies just because they wanted to. At least I did it because the pony in charge had a reason for it, they just wanted to kill for the sake of killing Midnight. You shouldn’t feel bad for them, you did the right thing.” I buried my face in ashes and mumbled into them loud enough for Sharpe to hear. “What right did I have to decide if they die or live? I’m no better than them no matter how you look at it.” I sat up and brushed my face off. “That’s why I’m giving Warner this burden again. With the power I’ve been given, I’ve simply murdered with it. I don’t deserve it, or the right to continue living.” Sharpe looked down on me confused. “What do you plan on doing? Giving your life to him?” “In a manner of speaking, yes.” I opened one of the books and looked at its blank pages. “I’ll probably be killed by the exchange, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.” I brought my fore leg up to bite down on it again and write in the book with my blood, but Sharpe stopped me. I looked up at him teary eyed. “Look Midnight. My assignment with you was to watch over you until you got to the Colony, to make sure you were protected from Warner and yourself. I was supposed to keep you from jumping off the boat. Though we may be in the ruins of the Colony, I’m not going to stop my assignment. I’m going to protect you alright? You aren’t going to go and kill yourself now. Not until I’m dead anyway.” The determined look in his eyes was so sincere. He knew I was a monster and didn’t care, but I did. “Well, what are we going to do now?” Sharpe thought for a moment, looking up at the sky. “Well it’s getting pretty late, I think we need to find some place to get some rest. It’s too far to get to the Mission before night falls, and I don’t want to be caught in the dark. You said that old zebra camp had some tents still standing right?” I nodded slowly. “Well then! We’re going there then. And don’t think you’re not going Midnight. I’ll carry you if I have to.” Accepting that he wasn’t going to leave me alone until I complied, I got up and placed the black books back in my bag. “Fine.” With a smile, Sharpe turned around and started trotting. I followed him regrettably. I really didn’t want to, but having him come back and carry me sounded even worse. The night was alive with noise around us. Sharpe was asleep, sitting up near the front of the zebra cone tent entrance facing out. He insisted I try to get some sleep, but I couldn’t. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t make myself sleep. Their screams echoed through my mind instead. I laid awake while they lay dead. I found myself bringing out the black books and thinking. I could give it all up now, I could let it all end now and I’d never harm some pony else. If what Warner said was true that is. If I would simply cease to be. That would be the most moral thing to do. Was that the moral thing to do? Kill a killer? While it felt like the right choice, it was a selfish one. Instead of facing my actions and living with them, I would just throw my life away to avoid them. I didn’t deserve life, but throwing it away was the coward’s way out. Was I a coward? Would I run from my actions? I looked at the sleeping form of Sharpe, sitting up in the entryway. He stayed with me because he believed in me, he believed that I was better than the choices I had to make. I don’t know why he had such a good view of me, I was nothing but a burden to him since we met when he escorted me through the Marble city. Things were simpler then. I was a suspected criminal simply being escorted to my fate and he was the guard tasked with taking me there. I clung to the life given back to me by Clover and he doubted the decision. It was simple then, nothing complicated. Just justice being served. Now things were too different. I was a monster killing in the name of self-defense and he was a guard who tasked himself with keeping me alive. I wanted to let go of my life, half taken by a priest and half taken by black magic and he doubted my decision of wanting to kill myself. I didn’t know what the just choice was. I didn’t deserve to. The night sang on as I contemplated all this. It was beautiful, the song birds sang their foreign melody and the crickets chirped in their own dialect. Why didn’t any pony else stop and listen to the night? It was more gorgeous than any symphony in a concert hall and so thick in the air, I swore I could reach out and touch it. It was then that I had a realization. Life, regardless of my decision tonight, would go on. If I lived, life would go on. If I died, life would go on. Either way, the world would still move onward. It really put things into perspective. I was nothing more than a single pony, not some gifted leader, not some great scholar, not some kind of hero. I was just a pony. I smiled at my epiphany. Maybe I couldn’t find my answer in a blank book. Maybe my answer was elsewhere in the world. Maybe my answer was some pony, not something. Maybe my answer wasn’t life. I stared at the black book, contemplating for hours. When I made my decision, I smiled. “This one’s for you Warner. Gonna miss you, you crazy pony.” So finally after all these years, I made my own decision. Not one directed by some leader or by circumstance. I made a decision, and life would go on. Author's Note I hate how my browser thinks words like couldn't are misspelled even after I add them to the dictionary. Anyway, here's the end. Would have broken it into two chapters, but ehh. read the epilogues yes, epilogueS
