The Ballad of Midnight Edge

A week passed since Midnight Edge's arrival. Most ponies were still uncomfortable with his unusual behavior. He often seemed as if he looked for something, taking notes in that strange looking journal and attempting to engage in conversation with strangers. He often acted with no formality at all, calling every single pony “dude”, “bro”, or “pal”, and acting as if he already knew them. The worst part is that he knew a lot about Ponyville, he listened to anyone who talked to him, and after a few days he knew most of the public information available of every single place and inhabitant.

He made a few friends and spent time with them, sharing stories and having conversations. Time Turner, who was known as The Doctor for his vast scientific knowledge spent a lot of time exchanging information with the newcomer, both had interest in science, and soon Time Turner requested access to the journals Twilight Sparkle got from Midnight Edge to search for potential scientific breakthroughs, however both avoided discussions regarding time travel due to Midnight Edge's discomfort with the matter.

Another friend the local mailmare, who was known for being clumsy yet extremely friendly. Some believed there was a deep connection between both, however it would never flourish into something more than friendship since Derpy, as she was known by her friends, was too prone to accidents, which made both stay at a safe distance emotionally and sometimes physically.

He also was forced to befriend a local party planner, Pinkie Pie, who at first seemed a mayor nuisance but eventually became a pleasant sight, however she always seemed up to something when he was around, Midnight Edge did not know what it was, but Twilight Sparkle noticed she did not celebrate his arrival as usual, which meant either she did not like him at all or she was up to something big.

Most of the ponies who became acquaintances with Midnight Edge were interested in his stories which not all of them believed to be true until he presented evidence, ancient crystals containing spells in them, the chitinous carapace of an enormous insect, a photograph of a creature never seen in Equestria, a small trinket which functioned by means unknown in that world, and of course Puffy, who grew fond of Twilight Sparkle and decided to stay even after the building project was completed.

But if there was a friend he grew closer to in particular it was Babs Seed, he even did what most of his friends acknowledged as near impossible for him, allowing her to do with his mane and tail as she pleased. He was extremely protective of his hair, even threatening a goblin once to keep it's filth covered hands away from his mane. If there was something that could make him seem shallow it was how much he cared about his mane. He would only let it be trimmed and styled by those he trusted the most, and not even all his companions got the luck, not to mention that if they failed there were no second chances. But with Babs Seed he almost became a guinea pig, she would style his mane the way she saw fit with little to no opposition. Of course that was what her cutie mark meant, she was great at noticing which styles would fit a pony and which styles of those fitting that pony would like. She recognized the individual styles and had good taste so she would never allow herself make a pony look bad or feel displeased with her work.

He was still reluctant to take her with him on his adventures, but agreed on letting her follow him on most travels he made during vacation periods as long as she stayed away from danger and never neglected her studies, which meant she would have the chance of going with him on a trip to the Crystal Empire sooner or later. She was curious about that place, she never had the chance of paying a visit to that place before. But she was not pleased with another part of the deal, there had to be another grown up pony trusted by her parents with them. Applejack and her friends were nice, and most of the Apples if not all were likable too, but she sometimes wanted to be alone with her odd new friend, she wanted to know more about him and see him acting as he would usually do, and she knew he kept some of his quirks away from the public eye. She also wanted to share her experiences with him, he seemed to be one of the few grown ups outside of her relatives who listened and understood her.

…

That morning he prepared to continue with his routine, look for information, take notes, look for somepony to help him with his research, look for crafting materials of use, talk to the locals, but just before he opened his front door he noticed something unusual, somepony slipped a letter under his door. That was not usual since there was a mail box, it meant the letter could be something more personal or something sent in a hurry.

He opened the letter, it was a decorated piece of paper with a few words on it. “You are invited to Midnight Edge's welcome party at his house”. He felt pleased with the idea of a party, but he was by no means letting ponies in his house. There was enough room, the place was big enough to fit several ponies in the first floor, but he refused to let anypony in. It was his small tower, his personal palace, his private fortress of polished stone and enchanted wood, with windows made of sturdy transparent crystals and resin keeping it all together except for the moving parts, with all the commodities of any house and the style of distant lands. He was not going to let any party crazed pony in. Once he left the house he placed a barrier to keep his place safe from any trespasser, if any trespasser succeeded Puffy would lay resin on the floor to trap intruders, nopony would come in or out without Midnight Edge's permission.

Midnight Edge considered it would be cruel to place all those traps without even warning the naive pony who decided to start a surprise party in his residence, so he walked toward Sugar Cube Corner to tell the party pony a change of location was required.

"Um, I must talk to Pinkie Pie."

"Did you get my letter? Aren't you excited for the party? I wanted to make a party earlier but you did not have a house, and then you had one but nopony wanted to go, it took me a whole week to convince everypony to go and get everything ready, I wanted this party to be the best ever!"

"Calm down dude... You must change the location."

"What?!"

"You are not allowed to throw a party within my residence. You need my permission to enter my residence and you don't have it."

"Can I throw the party in front of your house?"

"That could work, but nopony gets inside my residence without my consent."

"Great! It will be the best outdoors welcome party ever! Nopony will get in if that is what you want, Pinkie promise." The mare made an unfamiliar gesture with her hoof. "I will make some changes to the decoration. Maybe I can put some fireworks!"

"Well, I will be pleased no matter the result as long as there are no intruders or unwelcome visitors. See you later dude."

"Oh silly wizard, I'm not a dude, I'm a party pony." Pinkie pie winked with a joyful smile.

"Whatever. I must go, there are so many things to do and so little time."

Midnight Edge left the place, he was mostly taking care of unfinished business, information he often neglected in search of something “more important”. But now he had time to work on those pending matters, he was taking a deserved break of all the adventuring stuff.

…

Upon returning from his daily routine Midnight Edge found his house surrounded by ponies. The streets were decorated. Banners, balloons hanging on trees, even a stage. He was baffled, How could a single pony do all that? Well, even a large group could not do that in a single day and go unnoticed by him. How could she get so close to his house without him catching her whenever he returned for something. Unless she asked other ponies to distract him. He understood why some ponies who rarely talked to him spent more time with him, and why Babs Seed and her friends asked him to tell them stories of his adventures, they were not curious, it was all a charade. He felt uncomfortable, but considered they did so because they thought that would be nice. He hated surprises, but he cared deeply about his friends and decided to play their game.

"Surprise!" Every single pony in Ponyville greeted him with a smile except for a few ponies who were there for the free cake. Bon Bon still hated him, mostly because she suspected he was related to one of her enemies. Midnight Edge did not know, but she was a secret agent working for S.M.I.L.E., an organization so mysterious only a small group of ponies knew they were real. Midnight Edge heard rumors of them, and their loyalty to Equestria, but he never found evidence. However, his ignorance of their presence did not mean their paths would never cross, he was a trouble magnet after all.

"Thanks for the party my friends. I wish I could take part in it with you, but I am worn out, I spent hours narrating my adventures and talking to ponies who usually don't talk to me, so all I want is to relax. If you don't mind I will sit in one of those chairs and enjoy the atmosphere, that is what I always do at parties."

Midnight Edge took a seat before the stage where Pinkie Pie arranged a comedy show, if he was going to be forced to stay at the party he planned to do it his way. He noticed the signs all over the place said the same thing, “Welcome”, some were aged a bit, he understood it was not much different to other outdoors welcome parties made by Pinkie Pie. The thought actually made him feel scared, a big party for every new pony in town, either they had parties very often or new residents were rare, whichever was the cause it was unsettling.

"Are you enjoying the party?" The voice of a filly spoke in a rather tired tone. – I am tired too, you know? I love your stories, but hearing many of them for hours is not the same as talking about your adventures with you.

"Then why did you ask me to tell as many as I could? You say you enjoy them, but I am not sure the other fillies liked them. Diamond Tiara did not even hide it, she fell asleep".

"Yeah, she is still a bit of a jerk, but she tries to be nice. We wanted the party to be a surprise, we did not know you would be so tired you could not enjoy it."

"I am doing what I always do at parties, I just chill and talk to those I like the most, well, the crass bards are missing, but Spike is a nice comedian."

"Yeah. I don't know why Rarity won't date him."

"Wait... What? You mean going on a date? Like a romantic date?"

"Everypony knows he has a crush on her, and she likes him. But she has never given him a chance."

"Please tell me she does not have a crush on stallions who turn out to be unworthy or not interested in her."

"Well... Uh... Better not talk about it. Sweetie Belle would be mad if I told you about her sister's love life."

"I guessed so. Actually it's predictable, many plays I have seen tell the same story of unrequited love triangles and dudes who end up with someone else... The tired old story of the multiverse, maybe we should stop writing love stories and start writing about something else."

"You mean there should not be love stories anymore? But what about adventurers who fall in love? Or a father who loves his wife and foals?"

"Well, there is nothing wrong with love, but a good story has more than just that, maybe a confrontation of cosmic forces, or the redemption of those who fell from grace."

"So... Is that why none of your stories has love in them?"

"No. It is because I have never been in love before, but some of my friends did, some are even married. I assisted to a wedding, but it was so boring the groom fell asleep, the bride was bored too, just not enough to fall asleep."

"So you never fell in love? Not even once?"

"Unless you count strong liking for food and treasures, no, not even once."

"What about now? As in right now? Do you have a crush on somepony?"

"Maybe, I don't know. How could I? If it is something I never felt before maybe I won't even notice."

"What if somepony had a crush on you? Would you say yes?"

"I wish I knew the answer. All I know is it would be nice to know if I fell in love."

As he spoke he wondered if he actually could fall in love, and if he did how could he know. He was so concerned with things beyond his understanding to even stop to think about love. Always eager to face a new challenge and uncover new secrets, there was room for love, but he could not imagine how it felt. He considered which ponies made him feel better when they were around to see if he could be in love or not, even thought about former companions who were close to him. By the end of his thoughtful analysis he was left with three ponies, Twilight Sparkle, Muffins, and Babs Seed, non ponies included a pale skinned lady who traveled with him for a year, a reptilian nurse who tended his wounds during a war and who narrated her life with her father before the war, a human who became his rival, and the younger sister of one of his fellow planeswalkers.

"If I ever was in love I never noticed, but there are ponies I like a lot more than others. – He continued still contemplating his list of favorite female friends."

"Do you imagine yourself dating one of them?"

"I am not sure, maybe. What about you? Maybe if you tell me what having a crush on somepony feels like I could know if I do?"

"I... I think I know how it feels, but I am not sure. I think it feels like you want to be with that pony for the rest of your life, and maybe it feels warm. Like feeling embarrassed, but without feeling bad about it."

"Then maybe I have a crush on somepony. But first I must find out if she feels the same. I would not like to waste time on an impossible dream, that is for the young ones, not for me."

"Can you tell me who is the lucky mare?"

"If I did she could find out. I would rather keep it a secret until I feel more confident."

Babs Seed giggled with his reply. "I never imagined you could feel shy for something like that."

…

The party went on without incident. Once most ponies left and only Midnight Edge's friends and a few other ponies remained, midnight edge decided to extend the party and allow his friends inside his house.

"My friends! I honor you with my trust. Now that only you, a rather small group who I hold dear, remain at this party I have decided to remove the barrier and allow you to enter my humble abode. Please, enjoy yourselves." As he uttered those words, his horn touched the barrier and released a faint glow, suddenly the barrier faded as if it was just an illusion and all traps within the house were deactivated, however not all locks went down, some rooms would remain locked, impossible to open without the right combination of spells. As the door opened, the ponies walked in feeling anticipation, they would finally know what the strange polished stone building looked like.

"Darling, you need an expert in interiors decoration. This place looks extremely plain don't you think? – Rarity stated as she looked at the simple looking furniture and the lack of decorations."

"I think it's nice and cozy. It is... Practical." Replied Twilight Sparkle before being interrupted by her friend with a rainbow colored mane.

"Come on Twi! Just because it's practical does not make it less... Boring."

"Hey, hold on! You are talking about my living room, my personal chambers are far more decorated, I just could not place all those wonderful treasures in a place which is a lot more vulnerable to intruders and accidents. I keep the best things in rooms which are notably safer, and I had to craft the furniture myself, it is plain because I rushed the construction."

"Wait. You made all of this by yourself? How?" Applejack inquired, believing it impossible for an untrained pony to craft all that furniture by himself.

"All it takes is an idea, raw materials, time, and effort. That is why it looks plain, I had time to make rudimentary furniture, a table, a couch, you know, a simple but comfortable living room."

Time Turner noticed the couch was covered in an alien material "Could you tell me, my friend, the nature of the strange substance covering the couch?"

"That is just a form of fungal tissue found in other worlds, the natives of those worlds use it to make furniture all the time, but it needs a wooden frame to remain stable, otherwise it would fall apart. It is a great substitute to fabric and filling."

"I will get this place ready for a party in no time!" Pinkie Pie stated with determination and began to bring some of the decorations from the outside into the house.

"Enjoy my friends. I will bring some refreshments for us." Midnight Edge left the living room heading toward the kitchen.

…

The party extended until very late, some of the guests fell asleep as the party went on, Puffy would guide them or take them already asleep to a small guests room designed for such situations as if Midnight Edge predicted it could happen. He made preparations for almost everything within that building, even an underground emergency shelter with enough room for a rather large amount of ponies. As the night went on he would intentionally unlock different rooms as a sign of trust toward the guests. Most of the rooms would turn out to be nearly identical, a bed, a small table and three chairs. A total of four rooms in each floor, not counting restrooms, kitchen, and other utility rooms, with two floors, the basement, and the entry floor where the guests room was located. Five identical rooms in total, with three rooms still locked, one was Midnight Edge's personal bedroom, the other two were a workshop room and another room which seemed to have no specific purpose.

By the end of the party only Derpy, Applejack, Twilight Sparkle, and Babs Seed remained awake, Midnight Edge stayed at the kitchen preparing things for the next day, considering the party transformed into a sleepover he decided to be a good host and prepare breakfast for his guests. While the other ponies were having fun at the party, Babs Seed entered the kitchen to continue her conversation with Midnight Edge.

"So... Um... About earlier..."

"About the love related questions? Well, I think you need another answer then. I have been thinking, and maybe I do have a crush on somepony, but I she does not feel the same for me I would feel very sad, so I will not even try, it is better to keep it in secret."

"And stay like Spike?"

"How? Sleeping on the couch next to Doc?"

"No, silly, you know what I mean."

"Well, I have already slept on a couch many times, it would not be that bad. And being Twilight Sparkle's assistant would be nice."

"Is it Twilight then? Why would you hide it?" Babs sounded disappointed, as if she heard bad news. "Why don't you just tell her? Like right now. We are at a party, nopony would mind, they might even forget it since they are a bit sleepy."

"I didn't say it was her, for all you know it's Fluttershy."

"Let's make a deal. I tell you a clue about who my crush is and you tell me a clue. The first to guess wins and does not have to give more clues."

"I hope it is not the cola drinks talking. All that caffeine could cloud your mind if it keeps you awake."

"Come on! I am not the one talking funny and sounding all drowsy!"

"You always talk funny. Your accent is weird, not the weirdest, but weird."

"Why do you like to tease me so much! I'm trying to be serious!"

"Alright, alright, I accept your challenge, but remember, I solve riddles quite often."

"And I solved a crime once. I don't even know why I didn't get a detective cutie mark."

"Well, I don't have a meat eating freak cutie mark. So. Who goes first? Should we throw a coin or something?"

"I will go first. Um... I don't want to make it too easy... Got it! He is older than me. Your turn."

"Well, at least I know it is not one of your classmates. Here is my clue. I met her in Ponyville."

"Not fair! It could be anypony! Well, at least any mare or filly. I am not going easy on you then. He lives in Ponyville."

"Please tell mi it is not Diamond Tiara's dad."

"Hey! I am not crazy! He is old enough to be my dad."

"Well. Next clue. Her mane is pink."

"Just to make it clear. Almost red dark pink still counts as pink?"

"Barely, depends on how close to red it is."

"But pink with another color other than a different shade of pink does not count right?"

"I am not giving any more implicit clues. For all you know Bon Bon counts."

"Fine. My turn. He is smart. Like very smart."

"That is cheating! When you are in love even ponies as stupid as that colt Apple Bloom mentioned, what was his name..."

"Snips, or Snails? She said both were very dumb."

"Well, I don't know, the dumbest of both. Well, even he could be “smart” for somepony who has a crush on him."

"Well. My crush is not one of them, and I am sure he is smart, or at least pretends to be."

"Fine... Let me think... You know her quite well."

"You don't want to let me win right? It could be Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Sweetie Belle." Babs Seed sounded uncomfortable with that. "At least is not Apple Bloom, unless you count her mane as pink. Whatever, it's my turn. He has confidence issues."

"Wow! I feel sorry for the poor colt. If you notice his defects before you date him you might end up hating him. Poor sap."

"Hey! Watch your language. Just because I am a city filly does not mean you can be rude."

"You called that BM kid a poor sap because you always beat his high score. You are not precisely ladylike."

"That is different, you are calling my crush that. What if he is in this house?"

"Doc? Spike? No way!"

"If you miss one more time just to fool around I will make you give me extra clues every turn."

"Well, she is younger than I am. Probably not Fluttershy then if that worried you."

"He doesn't like big cities. Or at least that's what he says."

"Hmmm. I am not gong to say the joke in my mind. I don't think it would be nice to say that."

"Stop it! Give me a clue already! I know you're going to make a joke about Big Mac."

"I was not. How could I? Do you really think I am that crazy?"

"You are. Now give me the clue! Or I will tell your crush what you feel if I win!"

"Would you do that? You are just bluffing, but I will give you the next clue. She is so cute I felt uncomfortable the first time we met."

"Hm... It could be anypony, well, not Bon Bon, you say she is not cute because she hates you."

"She does not hate me. She wants me dead. I am sure of it."

"Well. He has a blue mane."

"Ugh. You have a horrible taste. Just kidding, my mane is blue too. This is getting slow. I will give you as many clues as I can think now. She has green eyes, is a lot younger than I, and if we dated I am scared I could get in trouble."

"Wait! You mean... I can't believe it... Yes! I mean... It's me, right?"

"No silly. It's Sweetie Belle!" Babs Seed froze in shock when she heard the name of her friend. "Just kidding. It is you, but I... I don't think it will work so let's pretend nothing happened."

"If it's not gonna work then let's make it work! Come on! We love each other. Why giving up then? I know more about you than anypony else and I love you anyway. We can make it work!"

"No. It is not you who is talking. It must be the sleep deprivation. Go to sleep filly, and forget we had this conversation. Even if we tried we would be forced to keep it in secret. It will be better if we give up. Last time I heard of a guy falling in love with a younger girl he ended up at the gallows."

"But not in Equestria. Right?" Babs Seed approached and kissed Midnight Edge. They shared their first kiss. None of them had any idea how to make it right, but it felt worth the risk. "I won't be a snitch. I promise."

…