The Ballad of Midnight Edge

Two weeks passed since Babs Seed returned to Manehattan. Midnight Edge continued his research, and began to seek a pony to help him with it, somepony he could appoint to take care of it in case he left on an adventure. During the first week he met Starlight Glimmer, Twilight Sparkle's disciple. She seemed reluctant to help him with his research on cutie marks, claiming it was not her thing. Even without Twilight Sparkle trying to convince her it was clear something about the research made her uncomfortable. Midnight Edge decided not to pry too deeply on it and convinced Time Turner to help him with his research. The Doctor, as his friends knew him, proved to be a useful asset in the research, but he displayed little interest in magic and his mind drifted quite often, making him unsuitable to take a leading role on the task. Midnight Edge began to consider Starlight Glimmer held more potential, but it would take time to earn her trust and convince her.

The second week was more eventful, he gathered a small group of friends. The Doctor managed to get Roseluck and Muffins involved, and Starlight Glimmer was no longer as reluctant to work on his research, she confided to him she was hesitant because she had a story with cutie marks. Midnight Edge assumed it had something to do with being a blank flank, a pony who took longer than normal to get a cutie mark. Muffin's antics proved to be a cause for many interesting events, she would make a mistake or two which would lead the whole team to help her solving a minor issue in Ponyville, issues often worsened by Midnight Edge's attempts at fixing minor things with overcomplicated methods. Near the end of the week Muffins would set in motion a series of events which placed her friends on the way to an adventure.

...

The blonde mailmare delivered a book to Twilight Sparkle's castle. The old leather bound book seemed ancient and had an eerie aura around it. As soon as Twilight Sparkle brought it to the library Midnight Edge asked her to let him check the old tome, believing it could hold useful information. Twilight Sparkle accepted, mentioning it could be fate, this made Midnight Edge feel upset, but he just decided to set aside his discomfort and focus on his task, there was no time to complain about predestination.

The tome was not only strange, but downright threatening, bound in leather made from pony skin, and entirely composed of animal materials, most of them taken from sapient species, parchment made with sheepskin, paste made with the bones of an unknown animal, sewn together with threads made with animal fibers, The cover had a medallion made of griffin bones, and the text written with the blood of different animals. But there was no magic in it. It was a book about ancient magical artifacts, and the words written on it made apparent the whole book was made from the bodies of those whose lives ended seeking those ancient artifacts.

Most of the artifacts seemed quite irrelevant, enchanted pendants which bestowed the power to communicate with non sapient animals, a pair of glasses with the power to perceive emotions as colors, an ancient sword which once held vast power until it's magic faded after it's last owner used it to cause harm, a dagger which imprisoned the souls of those slain by it now guarded by a dragon who got it stuck in his hide. But there was one which Midnight Edge considered should never fall in the wrong hooves, unless the wrong hooves were his, a mirror which showed visions of distant events and hidden things. The obsidian mirror of Tezcatlipoca, the book contained the location of the strange mirror. Not so far from the tropical regions of Equestria lies the abandoned tomb of Nezahualcoyotl. The tomb was the place where the ancient natives kept the mirror, resting with it's last owner.

...

Midnight Edge invited Roseluck, Time Turner, and Muffins to join him in a quest for the mirror. Muffins and Time Turner were eager to join, Roseluck was convinced, and technically forced by The Doctor, who had a tendency to get involved in unusual adventures for the sake of knowledge. Once they reached the tropical jungle where the tomb laid hidden, the path became more challenging, but Midnight Edge kept the whole party safe from danger.

"Ack! These mosquitoes are getting annoying!" Midnight Edge yelled, extremely uncomfortable by the blood sucking parasites floating around his face. "Filthy abominations! Stay away from my flesh! May a blight fall upon your progeny! Filthy parasites!"

"Aren't they fascinating? They feed on blood and turn it into nutrients for their eggs. Such a motherly yet disturbing act of devotion!" The Doctor spoke excited.

"Could you remind me how I got into this?" Roseluck responded clearly annoyed by the mosquitoes.

"Because we are friends with Doc," Muffins responded joyfully "and he wanted to go on an ad... Ugh, I think I swallowed a whole cloud of those poor little bugs."

"Stay careful, their bites are not the worse thing in this jungle, and stay out of any pond, swamp, or puddle in this place, it might be full of leeches. Oh! I hope I farm lots of xp from this blasted jungle! Where are the random encounters!"

"What are you talking about Midnight? – Roseluck spoke in confusion."

"Don't mind him, he says weird things from time to time. Just like Doc." Muffins replied, used to the strange mannerisms of her friends and making a funny face to put emphasis in the weirdness of the situation.

As they walked The Doctor stepped on a puddle filled with hungry leeches which were transported from a nearby lake after a flood, imprisoning the creatures in a puddle. "Ouch! I think I just found one of your bloodsucking friends. Look how thick it gets from my blood! I almost feel guilty for this. Sorry, but I can't let you suck my blood. I need it." The Doctor used his mouth to softly pull the leech, leaving it unharmed back in it's puddle. "They might dry to death soon, how unfortunate."

"Only a detached scientist could feel any kind of pity for slimy parasites such as those." Midnight edge spoke looking at the leeches floating in the puddle. "They are disgustingly useful if you stop and think about it. Ancient pony medics used them to heal many maladies. I prefer modern medicine."

"Wiggly squishy leeches are coming for your blood. Wiggle wiggle, suck suck. They just want to be friends." Muffins began to sing with a wide smile stopping to spit small clouds of mosquitoes from time to time.

"Derpy! Why are you making a song about those slimy worms? That's gross!" Roseluck was not pleased with the song, which reminded her she had to watch every step to avoid any ugly thing found in the dirt.

"It is rather endearing. Don't you think so Doc?" Midnight edge stated preferring the silly song over the annoying buzzing of the mosquito swarms.

"It is cheerful. It lightens the mood. It will make it easier to overlook the fact that none of us brought a can bug repellant."

The party pushed through the jungle, carefully avoiding any dangerous creature. Muffins would start singing about anything noteworthy they could find. Finally they reached the ancient tomb, which looked well preserved for an abandoned ruin. It was not overgrown by any plant and a clearing formed around it. It looked almost intact, as if some strange magic protected it for centuries.

...

"Here we are! The tomb of Nezahualcoyotl! The resting place of an ancient king!" Midnight Edge yelled.

"Fascinating! I bet it is full of puzzles. Everypony get ready! We are making a great discovery here. This place was thought lost. We are going in." An excited Time Turner headed toward the entrance which was covered by a large stone door.

"And how are we going in? The entrance looks sealed." Roseluck was not pleased, she would rather stay at home tending to her flowers. She lost count of how many times she got into weird things because of her friends. "Let's go back and pretend we couldn't find it."

"Look! There is something to the left of the entrance!" Muffins pointed at some sort of puzzle on the left left wall near the entrance. A set of nine beads which could be dragged and rolled around a panel. The beads had three different colors on it, when rolled they displayed one of the three colors, and there were symbols on the corners of the panel. They could not identify the symbols but it was clear the colors had something to do with them.

"Well, look around for clues. There could be something around to help us solve this puzzle." The Doctor said and began to fiddle with the beads trying to guess the right combination. "I will try to figure it out."

Midnight Edge looked at the symbols, leaf, flame, skull, sun, heart, fruit, wave, bird, lizard. He stood wondering for a while. The Doctor kept fiddling with the puzzle listening to it as it clicked when he placed some of the beads in the right order, but that click could mean anything, he was not sure it had something to do with the puzzle. Sometimes the same bead would click on more than one place when it was placed with a different color.

"I think I got it! Doc! Let me solve it!" Midnight Edge rushed pushing his friend aside. "So... Skull... death, black. Flame... fire, red. Sun... yellow. Save... wind, teal. Fruit, that one is obvious, orange. Leaf, green. Bird... hope... pigeon, white. Heart, magenta. And then lizard... not a great match, but this one will do." And so he placed a blue one. It did not work. Some clicked, but most of them seemed to be wrong.

The Doctor looked at his botched attempt and realized his mistake. The colors made it impossible to miss them all, and the clicks were the ones that made more sense to him. "Wait! You got it wrong! It was not death, it was a skull, a bone, it had to be white. The heart is wrong too, it is not a pink loving heart, it means blood,the red one. Which means fire is the orange one," As he fiddled the marks made more sense. "It was not wind, it was water! There!" The combination ended with Skull, white. Flame, orange. Sun, yellow. Wave, blue. Fruit, magenta. Leaf, green. Bird, teal. Heart, red. And finally lizard, black. They heard a loud click and the beads released light, the stone door moved aside opening the entrance, a large corridor. "It makes sense now! Bones are white! Fire looks orange! The sun looks white, sometimes yellow. Water reflects blue light. Some of the fruits in this region are magenta. Leaves are universally green. The bird is a tropical bird, not a pigeon, teal fits it better! The heart represented blood to these ponies, it was red! And the lizard, a black lizard made more sense than a blue one!" The Doctor was excited. "What were we thinking? We were thinking about what we imagine when we see those symbols, not what those ponies imagined! We were lucky there were no deadly traps."

The smell of stale air and death floated within the corridor, Roseluck's face expressed disgust and horror. "She is not going in. I am staying with her." The Doctor stated refusing to leave her friend behind. Midnight Edge knew that was the kind of adventure he would not take normal ponies to. "Sorry Derpy, you will stay too." Midnight Edge decided it was better to keep them away from the horrors within the tomb.

"But I want to go! I don't want to miss all the fun!" Muffins responded. She was determined to stay behind.

"No! You guys are leaving! Go back to the last settlement we passed by, the road there is safe. If I don't come back in five hours send help. I won't get us all killed." Muffins felt disappointed, but she agreed to leave if it was necessary. Midnight Edge walked in alone.

...

Midnight Edge walked the corridors with caution. Some of the traps were extremely obvious and easily avoided, a slate that looked different to the others, a thin rope, a puzzle that looked lacking in purpose other than distracting trespassers, another puzzle by a door which was easily opened, clearly meant to distract adventurers. The few traps he managed to trigger were not deadly, such as quicksand traps laid under a crumbling floor and nets that fell from the roof. The nets were made with thick spider silk, Midnight Edge marveled at the patience it took to gather that much spiderwebs. As it walked the tomb went downwards, but the ceiling did not go lower, reaching a large corridor in which it was no longer visible in the dim lit corridors.

...

After a few more obvious trap which he noticed with ease, probably made more obvious by the wear of time rather than their making, Midnight Edge reached a large corridor. It had a single door with a socket. It was awe inspiring, but before Midnight Edge could find the object that went inside the socket a large spider came down from the dark corners of the ceiling. "Aw buck! I hate spiders!" Midnight Edge was not pleased with the guardian. He always felt uncomfortable by spiders, even those adorned with lavish jewelry. Large gold jeweled bracelets covered it's legs, a necklace with large gold plates and gems hanged from it's ugly head, it's back was protected by a golden plate, and on its pedipalps, the front legs near the fangs, laid two gigantic gold rings with stone pieces which formed a stone key matching the socket on the door. "Alright ugly face! There is no turning back!" Midnight edge summoned his sword from the storage gem, ready to kill the spider.

The monstrous tomb guardian leaped trying to bite the stallion with its sharp fangs missing for a few centimeters. Midnight Edge failed to land a blow as he slid away from the venomous fangs. Taking advantage of his momentum the spider pushed him aside with its strong legs, landing a painful blow and slamming Midnight Edge against the wall. The impact was strong enough to burst open one of Midnight Edge's eyebrows, covering his eye with blood. With an eye blinded by both pain and blood running from his face, Midnight Edge felt at disadvantage as the eight legged abomination rushed toward him. This time he avoided the deadly tips of the creature's fangs by casting a fire spell, making the eight legged horror run in pain as it's fur on two of it's legs burned leaving the disgusting chitinous carapace intact. The burnt fur on it's legs crippled the creature's sense of touch, no longer unable to feel anything but pain as the nerve endings felt the damage on those legs.

"Seriously buck you dude!" Midnight Edge rushed to attack while the spider crawled in angry confusion. The Stallion landed a blow with his sword on the shiny chitinous shell, which was thick and hard as an armor, leaving only a tiny scratch on the gigantic cruel sentinel without even evoking pain on it's nerves. The horror turned and prepared to land it's atrocious fangs on Midnight Edge, scratching his back as they tangled on his mane. The fangs could not reach deep enough to inject their toxic load inside Midnight Edge, he was fortunate the monster could not projectile it's venom, his open wound managed to avoid the dripping substance, Midnight Edge found himself forced to cut his own mane to free himself from the deadly needles. The strands of hair fell as his sword slashed through his mane and he prepared to defend himself, this time throwing an ice spell on one of the monster's legs, preventing the furry invertebrate from running. This time Midnight Edge slashed the joint of it's leg, separating the enormous hairy arachnoid leg from it's cold hearted owner. Midnight Edge grew angry as the stinging pain of the scratch on his back finally overwhelmed the adrenaline rush and reached his brain.

"Say something! Stupid bug! Say something! Show some honor!" Midnight Edge spoke at the threatening beast, looking at it's large, black, beady eyes, expecting some sort of emotion from them.

Suddenly an alien voice, almost devoid of emotion other than territorial rage and hunger, displaying the cold feelings of an arachnid hissed with a deep sound. "Trespasser!" The creature leaped against a wall, this time hiding on the ceiling. The stallion felt fear and anger welling in his heart as the monster bellowed again. "Leave! Intruder! Die! Forfeit!"

Blinded, literally in one eye by the dripping blood and stinging pain, and figuratively in both by anger and pain, the stallion launched a fireball at the ceiling which burst into flames and fell in the form of a burning cobweb. As the cobweb fell, an even larger net made with the same silk fell, it was not very sticky, but it managed to stop Midnight Edge. The creature fell sinking one of it's monstrous fangs on Midnight Edge's flank, the fang did not reach deep enough to release the deadly ordnance into the stallion's body, but the sharp pain was enough to numb his leg. The pain forced him to release a flash spell from his horn, startling and blinding the creature which quickly released him from its grasp without releasing venom. As he slashed the net and stumbled in pain the atrocious arachnid hissed." Pony! Give up! Leave! There will be consequences!"

Midnight Edge felt the numbing pain give in to inebriating rage upon hearing the words. "You you can speak in full sentences! Are you mocking me! Are you pretending to act like a savage to make me feel unworthy of your words! Oh fucking wise spider! Go fuck yourself! "His last sentences mixing the expletives from far away lands.

...

After a lengthy battle Midnight Edge managed to slice off all the legs of the large guardian, finishing the last legs by slashing three in a single blow. Midnight Edge sustained wounds as stinging as the taunts of the spider were enraging, he was fortunate to avoid the toxic fluids the beast released, and was no longer focused on completing the puzzle. He wanted to see his foe dead, he wanted revenge. The legless creature laid on the floor, it's upper side protected both by gold and by it's carapace, it's pedipalps moving attempting to crawl to safety. "So you still crawl! Off they go!" Midnight edge slashed the pedipalps with the key rings falling with them, then he turned it's belly up revealing a thinner, softer shell in its downside. "Time to die degenerate inbred whoreson!"

Before he could land the death blow on his foe, a pained hissing voice echoed in the chamber. "Mercy! Let me live... I beg you!" The alien voice vibrated with fear and pain, physical pain, there was no sadness, no emotional attachment beyond the preservation of life. "There is no use in killing me! I am no longer a threat."

Midnight Edge hesitated and responded still addled by anger as his eyes cleared faster than his mind, regaining the sight on his left eye. "Why should I let you live? You are an abomination!."

The eyes of the spider displayed no emotion, there were no tears as it begged for mercy, more an attempt at bargain that a plea. "I have a purpose, a reason to live. I guard this place, protect it from intruders. I am immortal, lived for centuries here, alone. I find that comfortable. Have you nothing to live for? No purpose? No reason to show mercy? "

As the spider spoke Midnight Edge's mind cleared completely, remembering Babs Seed and thinking of how unsettling it could be if she saw him in such a terrible state, covered in wounds, blood, and arachnid hemolymph from his foe, enraged, ready to kill out of cruelty, failing his goal of avoiding cruelty and cowardice, yelling insults and showing no mercy for a now harmless adversary. He felt guilt, he never felt like a good stallion, but he tried to be one. His failure was shameful, but it was too late to turn back, the dismembered beast laid there, unable to survive. "But you will die anyway. You can't move, you will starve."

The spider replied still pained but displaying no fear. "I am unable to die by time or starvation as long as I remain within this tomb, only harm could kill me, but it will heal, as long as I live all wounds heal over time. My legs will grow again, just take me back to my lair."

Midnight Edge wondered what it meant. "Your lair? Where is that?"

The spider hissed again, this time uncomfortable with the dense guest. "Up there. My lair is full of webs. I am guardian, my webs extend all over the tomb, it starts where the ceiling gives in to darkness."

Midnight Edge released light from his horn illuminating the whole room. "Oh holly Artisans!"

The vast network of webs covered the whole ceiling, a hole leading to the next room. "The webs reach the whole tomb. The traps are not deadly, they are meant to slow you down so I can prepare an ambush. I sense the struggle, and where intruders stop. I know which room I must reach to catch them. It has been so long! The traps must have fallen apart. I could not feel much struggle from you, so I waited where you could no longer advance without the rings. So they made me, so they made this tomb. Those long gone. Only they knew the chant to appease me. Go! Take the rings, you proved your worth in battle, succeeded where no one else could. Just put me back in my lair to rest, to grow back my legs, and respect Nezahualcoyotl, respect his body. Behind the next chamber lies the altar, with his mortal remains, his ceremonial attire, and the mirror, you came for it. Take it."

Midnight Edge hesitated. "But that would mean you failed your purpose." The idea of taking the mirror now made him slightly uncomfortable.

The spider replied as its pain lessened. "The time would come when an intruder proved worthy, when an outsider earned the right to hold the mirror..." The creature tried to focus its many eyes on the ceiling, pointing at the bones and half rotten corpses of long dead intruders, some of them ponies, others from different species, all older than Midnight Edge by several generations. "Through battle."

...

Midnight Edge survived all the challenges of the tomb, and finally placed the spider on the edge of the tunnel in its lair. "You have shown honor. Take care! Oh, some ponies might come later, scholars, don't hurt them, I will make sure they respect the king's remains. Be nice to them. I hope I have earned enough authority to ask for that favor." Midnight edge took a slate from the floor which broke during the battle and carved words on it “Respect this sacred place, do not damage the tomb and do not touch the dead king. There is a really big spider and it will eat you if you don't do so.” He laid the slate on the wall next to the door and took the rings from the pedipalps on the floor.

The spider spoke it's farewell. "Your command is acceptable. I trust you. Farewell warrior."

Midnight Edge combined the stone halves on the rings and turned the key, opening the door reaching to a circular room with an altar and a dais with the sarcophagus of the king Nezahualcoyotl. The stallion placed a barrier spell around the sarcophagus and his cutie mark filled completely, learning three spells at once, one of them a healing spell which healed most of his wounds.

After preparing to leave, Midnight Edge held the mirror, finally in the right hooves. The mirror suddenly released a shine from its black surface, and the stallion saw visions of distant places, a large factory producing several machines, some of unknown shape, some an imitation of life, quadrupeds, bipeds, insectoids, then a large clockwork tower and spinning gears grinding at an accelerated pace, the word “Useless” echoed.

The second vision, a mirror, his perspective went through the mirror, beyond it, a world with humans, but strangely hued with multiple colors, and magic flowing around the world The words “Friendship is magic” echoed.

Another vision, the perspective floating away from Equestria, into a realm in conflict, a small furry human with wolf traits and red hair baked bread and prepared cured meats as she readied for a long journey, “Loyalty” the girl spoke as she embraced her companion.

A fourth vision, even further away, a silver moon, and within it a monstrous creature, shapeless, yet with a tentacled shape, vast, infinite, eternal, it tried to reach him, “It goes forever” a whisper in the darkness, and the vision rushed away, running, leaving fear in his heart.

The fifth vision, a world filled with humans, with advanced technology and neglecting all magic, constant struggle, soldiers ready to battle, and a large object, an atomic bomb, “Fat Man” the words echoed as the bomb fell.

The sixth vision, a place he once visited, a reptilian maiden working with her people to rebuild what the war razed, the corpse of one of the monstrous invaders he fought crucified, the maiden feeling shame at the cruelty of her peers, a single tear fell from her face “Run, pony boy, run and never give up” she spoke and turned away from the corpse.

Finally the seventh vision, a bustling city filled with ponies, as his perspective approached a familiar face, a filly with pink hair and green eyes, she was writing a letter, once she completed the letter she kissed the letter and placed it in an envelope. She held the letter near her chest and spoke “I love you”, the same words in the end of the letter.

Then darkness, a vast smoky darkness, yet calm, and a creature with a headdress and a mirror identical to the one the stallion held instead of one of his legs. His voice like a chorus of many voices. "The paths you may take. Some cross each other, some will never cross. Choose one, see where that stream leads, it might lead to others, or none. What will you choose?" And then the visions were over, he opened his eyes, he felt sick, but he shook the feeling and finally took the mirror.

Before he could leave he heard a voice coming from the open door. "Give me that mirror. It belongs to a museum." A mare stood before him, he could not believe what his eyes saw, it was Daring Do, or at least looked like her.

"Foolish mare, pretending to be her heroine. This mirror is a threat in the wrong hooves. I earned it, now it is mine, and I will keep its power away from evil. Speak to the spider! You may enjoy the rest of this place, just be respectful."

The mare would not take a no for an answer so easily. She came looking for the mirror and felt the need to place it in a museum where everypony could know of it. "That mirror is an archeological treasure. If it is so powerful give it to me. I will keep it safe."

Midnight Edge responded in defiance as he looked for a course of action, realizing she was the real Daring Do and figuring out how some ponies he met ended up as part of her stories. "If you are who you claim to be, then I can't just let you take the mirror. Lest Ahuizotl or that two bit black market smuggler manage to take it from you, as they usually do. I might be a fan of your books, but you trigger too many traps, you are reckless, careless. This mirror is safer in my hooves. See you later Daring Do. I shall keep your secret, nopony would believe it anyway." He released a magical net from his horn, another of the spells he learned from surviving the spider, and ran away, changing the outcome of a Daring Do book in a rather unexpected turn. As he ran through the hall his voice echoed. "You better write me in a flattering manner, just the way you wrote Rainbow Dash!"

...

Midnight Edge returned to the settlement just minutes before his friends decided to send a party to look for him. The mirror was now kept within his storage gem, his cape ragged and his body covered in partially healed wounds, blood, and different forms of filth, his mane having a disastrous look, but he carried a smug face. "Mission accomplished!"

As he approached muffins rushed to hug him. "You did it! You really did it! And more important, you are safe!" Muffins hugged him.

After a night in the settlement the party returned to Ponyville. There they heard news of the discovery of an ancient lost tomb boggling the whole archeological community and the mysterious hissing voices warning the archeologists, ordering them to respect the tomb.

...