"Almost there" the stallion told to himself as he got closer to his destiny. It was midnight, the moon had a pleasant shine, so had been for a while, ever since Nightmare Moon was cleansed of her evil and reverted back to her former self.

The stallion stood right before the road leading to Ponyville, his face had that usual frown revealing his concentration on his plans, "Back home, back to Equestria, those were my words, but I am not heading back home. No, I am not setting hoof on Canterlot ever again, not without a good reason." His last words made him bitter, the last time he visited Canterlot it was to witness a celebration, that was his only reason to be there, he was there out of respect to Princess Twilight Sparkle.

"To think she has a castle now, the one who encouraged me to travel. I wonder if she remembers... Of course she won't, she might still be the same absent minded mare I met. You know dude, I was like that too." He often had conversations with himself to focus. He never liked to be alone, but now, back home, there were no Vedalken, no Soratami, and more important no other planeswalkers, at least no ignited ones. Only his spark was lit nearby, a single beacon to the multiverse.

He stared at the castle, he knew it had a vast library, it was obvious considering who lived there. That was his reason to be there, he was looking for some books, and that was the first place to look. "The good thing is I might avoid Canterlot. The bad thing is that I took a detour to hide from Tirek." He considered facing the tyrant and turning him to molten slag with a combustion spell, but he could fail, and if Tirek could steal magic, he could take his spark away. Taking measures to protect the multiverse from such abomination delayed his plans, but it was safe now, his dreams revealed things. He knew it was safe to return.

"Calm down Midnight, you are not going on a date. Why are you so stressed? Could it be you feel fate took you here? Aren't you the owner of your fate?"

His clear blue mane, with an almost teal hue, his dark violet hide, every single inch of his frame trembled. He began to wonder if there was such a thing as fate, ever since he had visions of worlds that never were, all of them iterations of the very same world his hooves felt now. "Could it be that some events are meant to happen? No, that is why I despise time travel, because it could unravel the world we live in." The mere thought terrified him.

As he went further many thoughts floated in his mind. Maybe there were fixed points in time. There could be powerful beings pulling the strings, he saw that before on smaller scale. Everything could be just a book written by a great artisan so vast it's dreams were real. Or maybe reality is a tree with many branches and infinite possibilities. "Whatever! It won't make any difference! It never did..."

His green eyes had that strange shimmer again, the light of inspiration. He lifted the gem tied to his cape. As he uttered the commands a ray came from inside the green gem, a book and a box formed before him. "This is it! This will work!" Once he was done the very same landscape before him was captured in his journal. Every time a landscape inspired him or he met a new creature he would draw it in his journal. A thick tome with covers made of the iridescent skin of a lizard from far away lands. "Will I complete this tome before my next travel?

"Fine. Let's go!" He still had that frown, but now it was no longer bitter, it was full of determination. His black flowing cape revealed a strange cutie mark, a sword with a red trail, but that was not the strange part, the trail had a green outline which just extended a bit after he finished the painting. His last ties to the concept of predestination lied within that mark.

…

Finally Midnight Edge reached Ponyville, he was standing on a patch of soil that looked and felt different. As if it was a big grave recently covered, that was his first thought remembering his adventures in the last five years. But such a thing would make no sense in Equestria, not anymore, not without signs of destruction, and his map marked the location of a library there. "It can't be! Ponies are a bit more respectful of nature and education. They would never uproot a living tree, at least not one that is also a library... Unless..." He looked around and found the answer, some marks of the blast remained. "I hope the librarian was out at that moment. All those books... Lost. No wonder why Twilight Sparkle decided to set a royal library here, she decided to compensate the loss."

As he pondered on the demise of the Golden Oaks Library he realized something he remained oblivious of. It was late, and he had no place to stay at. He should improvise something soon. "Come my friends, lend me a hand." As he spoke, his horn released a shine and four circles with signs on them formed around him, from the circles four creatures emerged, they could easily be divided in two groups. The first group was made of bipedal beings which seemed to be made of crystals and metal. The second group was a pair of small mushy quadrupeds with dark green skin, they had four stubby leg like appendages, two tentacles emerging from their backs like vines, their heads were seemingly faceless and only had a few stringy tentacles which resembled a mouth, their skin was decorated with red and orange accents, and each had a small bulb on it's back which looked like a puffball.

"My friends, I require you to build an abode worthy of my person." The fungi and the crystal bipeds began to produce organic substances and stones respectively, which they would use as building material. "While you complete your task I will wait here, on the grave where lie words and wood alike." Midnight Edge summoned a mattress and created a force field which only allowed air and light to pass, all light within it was not more intense than that of the Equestrian moon. The force field was a spell he learned after surviving the harsh conditions of his first journey. "I am so tired. It will be tomorrow then." As he fell asleep the frown on his face faded, leaving behind a calm expression.

…

There was a crowd surrounding the place, many were scared, others were confused, most of them were angry and expecting somepony to solve it. The outsider was not different from them, but those other things were strange, new, unknown, threatening. Most of Ponyville's residents were fearful of the unknown, and to them unknown creatures pose a threat. "Somepony call Princess Twilight Sparkle! She will know what to do!" A cream colored pony with rose tinted mane yelled in panic.

"Lyra come on! We should not just sit here! Those things are creepy!" A mare with blue mane with pink accents yelled at her teal colored friend.

As he opened his eyes, the foreigner noticed the crowd surrounding him. His friends continued the task unimpeded by the panic around them. The barrier faded as he woke up. "Calm down guys. There is no need to be scared, these cute friends of mine are construction workers and they are building my future house in this lovely little town."

His words elicited a response from an outraged pony. "Nopony allowed you to build your house in this place!" Fearing a confrontation of violent nature Midnight Edge held his sword ready for combat, proving he was no longer capable of remember the local customs and used to more hostile ones. As soon as he prepared to repel an attack the crowd dispersed in fear.

"That was not what I expected... Now you really messed things up dude." The stallion spoke to himself

"What in all of Equestria is going on here!" The voice of a mare rumbled all over the place as the princess approached the location with far from regal steps.

"Dude! I can't even recognize you now!" Midnight edge seemed cheerful considering the severity of the situation.

"Dude? Your expressions are very strange. And I don't even know you." The mare's reply seemed obvious to her, but to the outsider it was a bit confusing.

"Oh right! How were you going to remember me? We only met twice in Canterlot and you were always so absent minded. But maybe this will help you remember..."

Before he could end his sentence he was interrupted by a white mare. "Twilight, darling. This brute here threatened us with a sword."

Midnight Edge blushed in shame after realizing the severity of his actions. "In my defense your highness. I was confused. After you advised me to follow my dreams I traveled to lands far from Equestria, it has been five years since the last time I set foot... I mean hoof, in this pleasant kingdom. I grew used to the words and manners of foreign and less welcoming lands." His words reminded the princess of an almost significant encounter, well, it was not significant for her, but she learned those insignificant events of her past had a greater impact on other participants.

…

Once the situation calmed, Midnight Edge introduced himself properly to a still surprised Twilight Sparkle. "So, let me see if I get it, during five years you have been traveling far from Equestria returning only to see important moments?"

"Such as your coronation, I had plans to stay a bit longer, but as I mentioned, Tirek's return forced me into hiding." His response still sounded suspicious, Twilight wanted to know more.

"Didn't you say you considered fighting him? Why did you run then?" She wondered what made him so special, his claims of facing Tirek made no sense, he might just be telling self aggrandizing stories.

"I considered facing him when he was still weak. But when I saw him draining the magic of many ponies in Baltimare I realized how dangerous it could be if he absorbed my... unusual magic." Midnight edge replied, hesitant of revealing everything.

The princess still suspected he could be a phony half baked wizard, after all she met a fair share of those already. "I am curious about that magic of yours. What is it exactly? If you find it necessary I promise absolute secrecy about it."

This reminded him he no longer had to be as cautious as he used to be, he was not a stranger, he should not be. "Long story short Twi, I hope you don't mind I call you Twi, I hate formal speech. Well, as I was saying, long story short, I might not be nearly as powerful as an alicorn, but I gained the power to move between planes. Some call it planeswalking, and very few are born with the spark required for it. I feared Tirek could steal that power from me. I could not fight him in his best condition, and if he defeated me and absorbed my spark... well, the whole multiverese would be doomed, and you defeated him better than I could ever try to do." His reply held more questions than answers and the conversation could extend for hours.

...

"Amazing! I did not know that was possible! Wizards so powerful they are almost deities!"

"Yes, I still suspect Starswirl might be one of them, and not even the strongest. Legends tell of a being named Urza, of a species called humans. You mentioned them right? Well, this Urza was so powerful he saved the multiverse once. But enough of this conversation. I am looking for some information in your library. In exchange I offer you the copies of my journals, they contain an extended version of the information I provided, with useful illustrations of all the awesome stuff I have seen."

Twilight's eyes lit. He offered more than enough to let him borrow all her books for a year. He was offering the knowledge of many universes after all. "I will gladly accept your offer."

…

Author's Note

For reference, this is Midnight Edge

And his cutie mark.