The Ballad of Midnight Edge

by DoctorDoguu

Rating: mature
Tags: Babs Seed, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Main 6, Romance, Original Character, Science Fiction, Other, Adventure, Crossover, Sex, Random
Length: 65160

A travelling stallion returns to Equestria after five years of exploring the multiverse.

When Midnight Edge returns to Equestria from a five year journey, his life is changed by his new neighbors and a filly he eventually falls in love with. The bonds of affection he forms during his stay in Equestria prove him there was something for him in the land he used to call home.
His love for a filly named Babs Seed will strengthen his confidence, leading him to face many challenges and defy their fate. Together they will encourage each other to become stronger, leading the stallion to face things he once ran away from and regain confidence.
This is a story of how even the most battle hardened adventurer turns into a soft hearted romantic before love, and how the pursuit of freedom and pleasure shakes the world for two ponies who would seem incompatible.

Published 2016-10-12 04:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-10-17 09:05:21 UTC

Back Home

"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.

Never Alone

The library was vast, but there were a few books he cared about. He sought information on what he called dynamic cutie marks. Unusual marks which displayed change with certain actions. In his travels, Midnight Edge would tell his companions about other worlds he visited, his birthplace in particular, and about cutie marks. One of his companions, another planeswalker, was a curious one like him, and asked him if his cutie mark, displaying changes and movement, was something common. The question made him plan to go back home and learn more about events. He knew only of three, and two of them were in his family, his mark, and that of one of his siblings.

"Are you still looking for it? I must go to sleep. – Twilight Sparkle seemed extremely tired."

"I will see you tomorrow then. I will check my friends."

"About that. Well. You should talk to the mayor before the building continues. I don't mind it, but maybe she could object, and you need a permit to build anyway."

"I just hope that won't cost much, most of my currencies are meaningless here. Did you know there is a world where iron oxide is used as currency? They literally use rusty iron coins!"

"I just finished reading that part of your journal."

"Sleep well your highness."

With those words Midnight Edge left the castle, heading to his temporary outpost in the former location of the library. Upon arrival he noticed the building was almost complete, walls of polished stone and windows of fine crystals held together by a mortar made of sticky resin. The finishing touches would take a bit of wood, but that would be his part of the building process.

"Well my friends. We should stop here. It seems I must talk to the mayor before the work is complete, just a formality, the princess already green-lit my project."

The creatures looked at their “master” in shock, some of them revealing anger or sadness, one of the fungi emitted a sound which seemed like a combination of an angry moan and a pained wail.

"Calm down guys, it is going to be fine, and you can go back to your nests for a while. I will call you for the finishing touches once I am done with this silly formality." With this words a ring formed near each creature, all but one walked into the ring to rest. The fungus refused to leave, Midnight Edge could force him to leave by placing the ring around him, but those were not his intentions, he would only force them to leave if they were in danger.

They had a contract after all, when they were called the ring formed in a location they agreed upon previously and they would hear the call, only those available would step in the ring to be sent to Midnight Edge's location. That is how he handled the real ones, he could always summon lifeless copies for more dangerous tasks. And the real ones were free to leave or stay as long as they wanted, they could even request him to place the return ring before the task was done.

"Do you want to stay? Fine, just stay out of trouble, and don't look for food. No hunting of locals, no pantry looting, no grave robbing, no trashcan digging, and definitely no latrine inspection. Understood?"

The fungus seemed intelligent enough and loyal enough to comply. But it looked at a trashcan with a sort of longing.

"I know you love food leftovers. I will get you some apple cores tomorrow."

Midnight Edge placed the force field again and both rested for the night.

…

The next day Midnight Edge went to have a talk with Mayor Mare, Ponyville's mayor for a long time. She was good enough at managing Ponyville to keep every single local pleased.

"Mayor, I think we should talk."

"Oh, you are the mysterious newcomer. What can I help you with... What is that thing?" The mayor was shocked by the sight of the strange faceless creature which somehow felt as if it was staring at her.

"My friend and construction worker in my current project. He helped building my house. That is exactly what we must talk about."

"Oh yes. The building near the former location of Golden Oaks library. I talked about it with somepony else earlier."

"I feared so. Everypony is angry about it."

"I know, but if Twilight Sparkle has no objection. I will allow the project." The mayor did not seem bothered by the building at all, but that was only half of the process. "Of course you will have to fill some forms to get a permit, but it won't take long."

"I hope so, I promised my friend here a meal and the little guy would not like to see it interrupted."

The process was rather quick and efficient, something strange in most worlds but rather common in Equestria. In just a few hours Midnight Edge had a permit to build and there were no issues with him starting the project already. In Equestria it was a lot easier to get a place to stay compared to other nations, and in small towns there were fewer restrictions for such activities.

...

With everything in order, the traveler moved on to his next goal, getting a fair amount of apple cores for his unusual friend. There was only one place to go with as many apple cores and apples in general as required, Sweet Apple Acres. As he approached he noticed the workers. A burly big red stallion and a gorgeous orange mare, both with blonde mane. Once he was there he was greeted by the mare.

"Howdy mate! Need something?"

"Hello. I would like to buy some apple cores."

"Cores? Just the cores?"

"Yes, you see, my friend here is a bit weird, others would eat the apple whole, but he only likes the cores, and he prefers red ones. Red is his favorite color."

Applejack looked at the creature, she was not truly shocked by the thing itself, she noticed them the previous day and Twilight Sparkle told her they were harmless. However she was very confused by the traveler's words. Whatever that thing was it had no eyes at all. How could it have a favorite color if it was blind?

"I am not sure that thing can see anything at all sugar cube."

"Oh, but he does. Just pay attention to his face. He has no eyes, but just like flies taste things with their feet, he has his very own means of looking at things, and his sight is as good as ours if not better."

"I don't want to be rude, but that thing is as faceless as a tumbleweed."

"Not really, there is a head and a mouth. Look closely."

As she looked at the things head, with those strange vine like tentacles, she began to feel observed, but not by something ominous, she felt as if the thing looked at her with invisible puppy eyes.

"Color me surprised! An eyeless animal that can see!"

"It is not an animal or a plant. He is a fungus."

"How do you know it is a he?"

"I don't, but he does not seem to mind at all. I just treat him as a he because I find it hard to imagine a girl releasing sticky goo to build a nest."

Applejack felt a bit disgusted by the idea of nests made with sticky goo, but had little words to respond, only one word came to her mind. "Gross."

"Not so much, but well, I need apple cores, from red apples. Puffy is rather picky with his meals."

"I will see what I can do. Nopony buys cores at all."

"Applejack!" Two fillies ran toward the mare, they seemed extremely scared "The timber wolves are coming!" Applejack was shocked at those words. She knew that was not normal, maybe it had something to do with the big timber wolf she faced once.

"Hide in the barn! I won't let them get there!"

"No, don't do that!" Midnight Edge yelled following his instinct. "It is common strategy, never hide in a place easily flanked by an army."

"What should they do then?" Applejack replied, clearly angry by Midnight Edge's response. "Stand there and get eaten?"

"Maybe this is a family feud with those wolves, but I hope you don't mind if I interfere." Midnight edge lifted his sword and prepared to fight.

"Be my guest mate, I will get the little ones to safety then."

"Run. And avoid the barn, it gives me a bad feeling."

Midnight edge ran toward the horde of timber wolves ready to face them all. He was already used to fight large crowds, and a bunch of decaying wood in the shape of a wolf would not change that. He threw a rock to divert their attention from the fillies.

"Hey rot bags! Here! I am going to teach you a lesson."

The enraged beasts began to leap on a single place, clashing and breaking apart. Midnight Edge was confused, but he fought many monsters to know what that meant. They were getting ready to give him a good thrashing at the same time. As he steeled himself, the atrocious beasts merged into a single gigantic one. The wood creaking and the stench flowing in the air. A nightmarish Gargantua of rotten wood and pure anger.

"Why do all monsters try to do that at some point? Why? Just to make it clear, I am not jumping into your maw, rot bag!"

The stallion leaped and struck the beast on a leg, but the hit did nothing, the beast tossed him away as if swatting a fly. His body struck one of the walls of the barn, leaving a hole in the wall, the only thing protecting him from more severe wounds was his magic. Before he could get back into action the creature directed all its rage at the barn in an attempt to bury him alive under the rubble.

After the beast stopped, believing it's enemy was gone, Midnight Edge rose from a pile of broken wood planks. "I knew it! I knew the barn was not safe! I always trust my gut on such things!" His eyes directed at Applejack, who was ready to face the monster.

"The little ones are safe. I will fight that thing now."

Applejack was ready to fight, but Midnight Edge replied before she could leap to battle. "You won't defeat it alone. We must fight it together, we must make sure it never strikes again!." Now it was personal for him, and he could not hold back his desire to fight. He felt compelled to protect those other ponies.

The fight did not seem to end, it was an endless cycle of attacking the beast, avoiding it's attacks and diverting it's attention from the rest of the farm. Every now and then the ponies would try to hurt the beast with the remains of the barn after Applejack mentioned sometimes timber wolves would break apart if something got stuck in their bodies, but it did not seem to work, and Midnight Edge insisted on finding a way to destroy the creature for good instead of temporary measures, often suggesting fire only to remember the fumes of toxic gas could ignite and burn the whole place.

"What should we do? The blasted thing refuses to give up!"

"I don't know! It wasn't that strong the last time! What in tarnation made it stronger!"

"Good question. Whatever that thing is taking, I could use some of it to hunt behemoths!"

After a desperate battle Applejack noticed something. "That isn't normal. What's that stone doing there?" A green stone with a pulsating glow stood right between the creature's twigs in it's head. It seemed ethereal, as if it was a physical manifestation of the monster's essence. Midnight Edge recognized that, solidified magic, the thing channeled enough magic to create a solid magic stone, both strength and weakness to it.

"Well, I think it is telling us where to strike to land the final blow. Puffy! Distract the creature!" The fungal creature hurled a blob of a sticky substance to the claws of the monster. It was not strong enough to halt it completely, but ti was just enough to distract it, like a puddle of molasses. "Hey country girl! How good are you at tossing ponies?"

"Well, I'm quite strong."

Midnight Edge's eyes sparkled with determination. "Then throw me as hard as you can right to where you saw that stone!" He was ready to deal the final blow. "I will let you take the credit if that means something to you."

"It's fine by me." Applejack got ready to launch the stallion to the air. "Let's do this mate!"

Midnight edge felt the thrill of battle again as he struck on the monster's head, breaking the stone and releasing a large amount of magic from it as the stone faded into nothingness and the beast fell apart. He remembered doing the same when fighting against an ice giant in another world. As he got ready to land a miscalculation made the fall in a lot less comfortable and impressive fashion as he intended.

"Ugh. Well, it is over, too bad I could not look a bit more impressive."

"Thank you sugar cube. I guess this could count as payment for the apple cores."

"Well, I will also help you fix the barn. I knew it was going to happen."

"Yup. The place is kinda jinxed. We must fix it several times a year. Sort of a family tradition. But friends can join too."

As the stallion put his sword away, his eyes crossed with those of one of the fillies. Her green eyes displayed awe and admiration toward him, she was clearly impressed by his feat, she expressed the same for Applejack, but not with the same surprise, which meant heroic feats from her relative were not a novelty to her.

Midnight Edge felt a strange feeling, but when he noticed the green light in his cutie mark completely covering the red trail he dismissed it as the effect of his talent. He learned a new spell and began to absorb the lingering green magic flow that covered the place. A magic drain spell. He was used to that, one of his companions compared it to the leveling up mechanics in video games. A rather uncommon cutie mark, and the reason for his current research.

"What was that? – Applejack asked, surprised by the sudden change."

"My special talent. I learned a new spell. Every successful action leads to a bit of progress in my cutie mark. Challenging tasks and new ones yield a lot more progress. Once it is done, well, I learn a new spell."

"Neat!"

"Yes, I am yet to fully understand it."

"Care to help with the barn?"

"I will, maybe I will learn a repair spell next." Midnight Edge replied with a smile while he gathered pieces of the fallen army of timber wolves, he avoided the pieces that still moved and squirmed on the ground which were still alive, taking the remaining pieces which reminded him of the tissue samples he would often take from wounded still living enemies after battle.

"What are you doing with those?"

"I will use them to craft things. Nothing better for crafting than fallen enemies."

"You sure? They attacked us, but I wouldn't want to harm them for no reason."

"These parts don't move, they are replaceable, just like broken claws and tufts of fur in other beasts. They will replace them with wood from Everfree later."

"If you say so."

"Once I am done with this I will repair the barn... Look, this one was part of the barn, they absorbed it. Looks different now. Right?" He seemed focused on analyzing every piece of wood with care, but no longer seemed to pay much attention to his surroundings.

Applejack noticed his words were no longer directed at her, but to himself, she thought he was similar to Twilight Sparkle, "But a lot more violent." The thought in her mind made her wonder what kind of stallion he was.

…

The ponies fixed the barn while Puffy stuffed it's strange tendril covered maw with apple cores, occasionally spitting one which was the “wrong color” according to its arbitrary alien minded standards. The repairs of the barn were done in a jolly manner, the ponies talked to each other and were cheerful. It really felt as some sort of tradition.

"Exactly what kind of animal is your pet?" Asked a yellow filly with red mane, looking at the creature as it spat a core from a yellow apple.

"It is not an animal. It is a magical fungus from far away lands. Imagine a walking mushroom, that is what it is."

"Really?" Asked the other filly, with a dark, almost brown, orange hide and reddish pink mane. "Where did you find it?"

"In a forest, there was an entire colony of those things. This one seems to like me a lot. I call him puffy, because the bulb on it's back looks a lot more like a puffball than the others."

"But where's that forest?" Asked the filly trying to find out more, she wanted to hear the full story. She was not pleased with just “in a forest”. She was truly curious.

"Oh, a curious one we have here." Responded Midnight Edge, still pondering what would be the right answer. He did not want to reveal everything. "Well, in a far away country, so far there are no ponies there and you can't get there by air, water, or land.

"You mean another universe?"

"Where did you get those ideas from?" Midnight Edge was surprised, he did not want to talk about it, he was afraid he would be seen as insane, lynched as a heretic, or bring any other form of trouble. He grew used to be cautious with that information, sometimes even fearful of revealing it. Even if nothing bad happened, he did not want such a young foal involved in it. He did not want her to become his companion. It was not safe for her.

"Don't be silly. Everypony has heard about those things. Movies, books, comic books, video games, it's everywhere! And my cousin knows it's real."

"Oh right. Twilight Sparkle mentioned it." Midnight Edge told to himself. "Well, yes, Puffy was born in another universe, but you must never try to get there. It is dangerous, full of wild animals and monsters, there are no ponies, and the natives are not very civilized, they tried to eat my friends and I when we arrived."

"And how did you escape? Did you use a spell to blast them away?" The filly was interested in his travels. The other ponies were talking about something else already, satisfied with his previous answers. But she was curious and excited about the novel situation.

"No, one of my friends lit a flashlight and they got scared. The power of the sun in a stick of plastic and metal. That was enough to keep them at bay. I bet they imagined it could burn them if we wanted to."

"That sounds like something out of a Daring Do book."

"Yes, I know. I told the same to my friend. He just said the best books were based on real events, but some happened away from the author."

"You mean Daring Do is real?" After the filly said that Applejack coughed and decided to interrupt the conversation. She and her friends promised that would be a secret.

"Come on sugar cube, don't make our new friend uncomfortable. We haven't even introduced ourselves properly."

"Oh, but I know your name. I met Twilight Sparkle yesterday, and I know you are Applejack. I guess I should introduce myself then. My name is Midnight Edge, traveler and collector of rare objects."

"Well, you already know my name mate. These are my siblings Big Mac and Apple Bloom, and this is my cousin Babs Seed."

"Pleased to meet you. You must be the Apple family then. You are rather famous if you ask me. Well, at least Sweet Apple Acres is famous. It's on my map." Midnight edge revealed an old outdated map of Ponyville. It was at least a least six years out of date, but most landmarks were still accurate, except for the castle and the library most of it was accurate.

"Yup. We are well known around Ponyville, and there are Apples all over Equestria."

"I'm from Manehattan." The filly said with joy.

"Manehattan. I have never been there. Many say everypony is on it's own there. I don't like the idea. All alone, in a big city..." Sad memories flowed in his mind "An outcast, a freak. Not my cup of tea if you ask me. I never travel alone."

"It's not that bad. I have friends, and I get along with all my relatives."

"I am glad to hear I have been lied to. Maybe I will go there next."

"If you do I could help you get used to the big city. You could tell me more of your stories, that's my fee."

Midnight Edge considered accepting the offer, but that would mean making her his travel companion, and he did not want to, he refused to put a filly in danger. And even if he was in a safe place, he was prone to seek danger just for the thrill of adventure and battle. Now he had to turn down the offer without sounding rude. "Maybe I will travel alone this time, but if I don't you can show me the best food joint in the city."

The filly looked notably uncomfortable with the response. Midnight edge felt deeply ashamed. He did not want to make her feel bad, all he wanted was to keep her safe from his reckless adventurous drive. He refused to take young companions for that reason, because not all his companions returned home alive.

"I... Must keep helping with the repairs. Maybe we can talk later."

Midnight edge focused on the repairs from that moment expecting the atmosphere to be less tense. For everypony else he just seemed shy, but for Babs Seed there was something else, and she wanted to know the truth.

Honesty

Midnight Edge left the farm feeling uneasy. Letting down adventurous ponies was not something he liked to do, but he refused to put a filly in danger. He liked to play the role of vigilante in big cities for the thrill of adventure, he often felt like jumping into the maw of monsters to cut them from the inside, he was not the kind of pony that kept foals as companions, his companions had to be at leas half as experienced adventurers as he was.

Any of Twilight Sparkle's friends was a good candidate for a travel companion, they did something he never did after all, saving a world. But a filly, a city girl to worsen matters, was not a useful candidate. And her cutie mark, a pair of scissors. What kind of adventurer had a pair of scissors as cutie mark? What kind of adventurer or fighter used scissors as a tool or weapon? The mere idea felt stupid and wrong in his mind.

Nevertheless he felt uncomfortable. As if he did something terrible by rejecting her. As if by trying to keep her safe from his own reckless behavior he insulted her. He imagined how she could feel, he was not only reckless and adventurous, he was also curious, always eager to know more. He found as much thrill in exploring a cave or ancient ruins as in reading books, and wondered if maybe he refused to share his knowledge with someone as curious as him. That was what made him uneasy, he could not focus, he was stressed, his way out was simple, play video games, he got that hobby from his travels in more advanced worlds. But video games were rare in Equestria. They were common in bigger cities, but not in Ponyville, and the technical aspects were rudimentary. There were no action packed mindless shooting games, no visually inspiring role playing games, no fast paced elaborate puzzles. At least the genres existed, but not as he was used to, and were harder to find.

He finally found a place. There was an arcade cabinet in front of an old grocery store. He stared at the display and noticed it was a shooter, one of his favorite styles in fact, a side scroll format game where the player controlled a space ship. He looked at the high scores before placing the bit in the cabinet, the There was space for three characters in each name, the first ones had names, BAB, BM, RD, PIE, the rest were just three A letters on the screen.

Midnight Edge felt extremely amused by the silly fact that few ponies cared about the name in the end. It seemed so common, almost common in all universes, there was at least one AAA in the top players wherever there was an arcade cabinet. He often made jokes about it, telling outlandish stories about a planeswalker who forgot his name and traveled worlds only to play video games and make it to the top ten, placing AAA as his name since it was the only letter in his name he remembered. The legendary player AAA was sort of an inside joke among his friends who played video games, a form of noticing that there was always a player among the top five who would always press the confirmation button three times without changing the default starting character out of laziness or ignorance.

As soon as he prepared to put a bit in the cabinet a small hoof placed a bit on the controller area. Midnight Edge recognized the meaning, a challenge, there were two controllers in the cabinet. The game was meant to be playable for more than one player simultaneously, and that made it possible to compete for the highest score.

"I challenge you. If you win I'll never talk to you again, but if I win you must explain why you don't like me." He recognized the voice, it felt almost ominous, as if his guilt played tricks on his mind.

"Were you following me? Why are you here?"

"I was not feeling fine. I go here when I am bored or need to distract myself from something."

"I get your point. Do you go here often?"

"Not really. My cousins are great, and things rarely get bored. But I used to play a lot in Manehattan."

"Is it boring?" Midnight Edge wondered if she was bored or she was like him. But why would a pair of scissors scare other foals? She was not a freak with a mark that changed with success, her mark was not notable after a violent feat, she would not have bad reputation for picking fights and then isolating herself to avoid rejection.

"We can talk once I win. Now get ready!"

"No best of three matches. Once you lose all continues you are out, and whoever gets the highest score wins. No rematches, no extra rounds. Deal?"

"Just put that bit and start playing. I'm not scared just because you are older."

"And I am not going easy on you just because you are a filly or because of your weird accent."

"As if you sounded like a prince!"

He found her reply funny. It was true, his accent sounded weird. A friend of him even pestered him for sounding like “An angry Scotsman a haggis away of having tartan for skin.” Not that their accents were different, but at least his friend was a Scotsman so the accent was more fitting.

"I will show you what a gamer tempered by the challenges of advanced technologies can do!"

"I'll make you take me to those inter-dimensional arcades of you if I win just to make you take back your words."

They completed the game in record time, every single enemy ship, every single boss, all destroyed. The game was cooperative, but each player had a separate score, and Midnight Edge lagged behind. With all his continues lost and only one life left by the end of the game he was ridiculed by Babs Seed's near perfect score. He placed his bit first so he took the player one place, the name MID figured right above the now seventh AAA, not a big surprise, he never reached the top five, the surprise would come from player two, his unwanted companion. The name on the screen was BAB, right there displacing BM which was now third, the highest score and the second place had the same name.

"Whoever that BM was, that was the first place before I played this one. That punk even asked the owner to reset the cabinet twice, but every time that happens I return and put my name in the highest one. Soon I'll put the poor kid in seventh place again if there's not another reset."

"That is technically cheating you know?"

"I won fair and square. I did not know you were going to be that bad. The last boss blasted me just because I felt like saving your flank."

"Ugh. Fine. I will answer your questions. But you better do as I say after that."

"Tell me why you hate me then." The filly was not going to take any half truth, she wanted honesty, even if it was blunt and painful.

"I don't. I actually like you. But you are too young..."

"Too young for what? It is not as if I asked you to make me a royal guard!"

"Too young to travel with me. I get in trouble, I go to dangerous places, I fight with monsters and craft things with what is left of them. I don't want you to get involved."

"My cousin saved the world at least twice! You think a few timber wolves are big deal?"

"You were scared the first time I saw you, and followed by a few timber wolves."

"Fine. I was scared. But you don't always do that. Do you?"

"Well, no, but I don't want you to follow me or grow fond of me. I don't want you to feel sad if you never see me again, and you can't join me in my biggest adventures."

"Are your best adventures always dangerous?"

"Well, I could take you to that world which is one big city, or the land of the stone creatures. But I am not taking anypony in my travels. None of my companions has been a pony and none will ever be."

"What about your travels here, In Equestria? At least you could let ponies join you in those."

"Not you. You are still in school, and your parents could not let you go."

"I am on vacation right now. That's why I am in Ponyville. I'll return to Manehattan once school starts again. At least now I'm glad to be there too."

"Tell me something. Do you know why I don't like to be alone?"

"No. But I don't know of anypony who likes to feel alone. I didn't like to feel that way."

"If you tell me what made you feel that way I will consider giving you a second chance. But it could be a bit boring, it implies a library."

"I got my cutie mark later than other ponies. They called me “blank flank” at school. Nopony liked me and I did not tell my parents."

"Is that so? I hate cutie marks."

"What? But that's what makes you special!"

"True. And I would never give mine away. But they also cause you trouble. I don't know if you are pleased with yours now, but I hated mine when I was your age."

"Why would you hate yours? It makes you a hero."

"No. It makes me a fighter. That is what it means, every task I complete makes it change, but there is something special that makes it change a bit more when I fight and win."

"Sounds like one of those fancy new video games."

"Everybody says that." Everybody, the word existed, but sounded weird, it did not fit unless there was a minotaur or something, and that was not usual.

"You mean everypony. Don't you?"

"No. You are the first pony to make the comparison."

"You mean your other friends?"

"Yes. But that means, for a foal, that you get the reputation of picking fights in school, that beating bullies was just an attempt at making your freak mark shine, that you were a crazy show off with a weird cutie mark that moved."

"But Countess Coloratura has a shiny cutie mark too. It shines and moves when she sings."

"When she sings. Not when she just threw a few colts to the ground for stealing a younger colt's lunch. When I was your age only my relatives liked me. I grew up looking for a way out of my boring home. That is what made me travel for five years away from Equestria."

He rarely told his past to anyone who was not another planeswalker. After all he only told about his past to those who knew what being an outcast felt like, one of his friends became a planeswalker after killing his own brother, another just before a group of bullies tried to kill him, another after being sent to prison without committing any crime, and one after decades of meditation.

He knew planeswalkers awakened by extreme situations, near death experiences, emotional loss, outstanding effort. At least he did not ignite his spark through pain. No, he got that power from the thrill of his first successful adventure. Leaving Canterlot hoping to never see that place again meant a lot to him, but even more realizing it was not a mistake. The excitement of taking an ancient artifact from a long forgotten tomb ignited his spark and sent him, with his new loot, to an unknown place. The memories of his first adventure floated in his mind as he continued.

"I found a way to reach other universes by mere luck after exploring an ancient tomb. And I felt there was no reason for me to return."

"What about your family?"

"My parents were fine with that. My brother moved to Cloudsdale, a city full of pegasi like him. My sister, well, last time I saw her she was too busy with her research, and when I returned after two years she was gone. Whatever she found it motivated her to leave and never come back. I know where she is, but I also know she went completely insane and that is why I don't look for her anymore. Well, maybe not completely insane, but she is a lot weirder and not very welcoming to visitors. She says others interrupt her magnum opus, whatever that means."

"So you don't have any ties to Equestria? Nothing that makes you want to return?"

"If that was the case I would not be here. But I rarely return to where I grew up. I prefer to be at places where there are creatures other than ponies."

"Why? Do you have a crush on a griffin? Or maybe a dragon? Who's the lucky girl?"

"It is not love, but it is something I like. You see, I was also a freak because... Well... Don't be scared when I tell you."

"What's it? Let me guess, you eat meat!"

"What? How did you? Do I smell like...?"

"No, but there had to be something other that just a weird cutie mark and picking a few fights that made you feel so rejected."

"You are a clever one. Is that the meaning of your cutie mark?"

"No, that's just an extra. I got my cutie mark while trimming my mane."

"I knew you were not cut for the adventurer style."

"I also cleared the name of a mare and put a thief behind bars in case you think I am not good enough."

"Half detective half hair stylist. You would be a great comedy movie heroine. I bet there is a film like that somewhere, an action hero who just wants to cut hair."

"Well, at least I don't eat other ponies."

"Neither do I. I just eat the same meats griffins and minotaurs eat."

"I know, I was just messing with you."

...

Both shared their past with each other. That day both got a new friend. One was a hair stylist, the other claimed to be the biggest freak ever born in Canterlot. And both headed to Twilight Sparkle's library, followed by a spore covered creature from a distant world.

...

Librarian

Twilight Sparkle was not expecting new visitors that day, the new visitors however were a welcoming sight. Applejack's cousin and an unknown organism. She Had seen the fungus before building Midnight Edge's future house which she authorized, and she found information about it in the journals, but she was curious to get closer to one of those walking puffballs.

"Hey! Nice to see you again?"

"Hello Twilight Sparkle." As midnight edge responded the greeting with a mildly informal response he noticed Babs Seed bowed before the princess, the confused fungus followed her in a near perfect mimicry with it's four short appendages bending to lower it's head before the princess and the two upper appendages placed on the floor in an almost religious and very ceremonial manner.

Twilight Sparkle responded to the unexpected reaction with a notable humility which made her presence even more regal. "You don't have to do that. We are friends."

"But we don't even know you." Replied the filly in surprise to Twilight Sparkle's kindness. Her tone was a combination of surprise and gratitude.

"You are Applejack's cousin, and she is almost like family to me, you don't need to bow before me. And that creature, well, I don't think it cares too much about nobility."

"A true regal behavior," Stated Midnight Edge with both joy and admiration. "Only a noble and benevolent leader asks it's subjects to not bow in the presence of nobility."

"Please, don't treat me like that," Twilight Sparkle blushed, she was not really used to or fond of being treated like a princess. "I am just a pony, just a librarian. Maybe I am an alicorn and my voice has been given as much weight as that of the mayor if not more. But I don't want to be treated as if I was superior."

"Praise the Ancient Architect for that." Midnight Edge's expression was notably alien in context, evidence of his years in foreign lands where Celestia was unknown. "Very few leaders in the multiverse would dare to admit that they are part of the people. Most would believe themselves above the commons."

Midnight Edge noticed his friend still vowed, ignoring the requests to stand as equals within the castle. In order to make it stand Midnight Edge struck the floor with his hooves, a sound the fungus recognized as communication more accurately than words since the resonance on the floor was more audible to it than the vibrations of the vocal chords in the air. The creature responded with a high pitched sound which resembled a trill.

"My friend here did not understand your request clearly. He was waiting for confirmation."

"Confirmation for what? If you don't mind answering."

"He wanted to know if his hearing was not mistaken. Sometimes he will hear things wrong and act in undesired ways, to prevent that an auditory cue which could be passed through the floor was established as confirmation of the course of action. You see, he, just like any other fungus, has little interest in our matters or customs, fungi have a different culture and hierarchy system, normally they don't bow, but he learned to because some unworthy leaders felt insulted by his reluctance to bow even though they considered him just a pet, so now he vows whenever he sees others bowing. If I bowed right now he would do so."

The explanation made sense, but left Twilight Sparkle uncomfortable. She knew such tyrants existed, she faced some of them, but she never imagined they could be as common as to have an effect on the behavior pattern of such an alien creature.

"You mean that thing is civilized? I thought it was a pet or maybe a trained creature."

"Not exactly. His sapience is in the middle. Puffy is intelligent, but I am not sure it is civilized. It might show certain patterns of behavior consistent with civilization and is both sentient and sapient, but saying it is civilized would be a bit of a stretch. You could say his species is in a stage of proto-civilization. Almost like domestic animals here in Equestria, which, unlike animals in the wilderness, display behaviors similar to ours and even understand written words."

"Interesting. Do you mind if I study your friend for a while? Don't worry, I will keep the little guy safe."

"If he wants to. You might want to interview him too. He has some cool stuff to say... Well, more like write since his vocalizations make little sense to ponies."

"Great! Are you going to continue your investigation?"

"Yes. In fact I just brought my new potential assistant. That is if she does not get bored reading lengthy books on cutie marks and magic."

"I can't believe there is nothing on cutie marks that present visual changes in them written on the books I gave you. I haven't been able to read them yet. I have so many new books now that I don't even know what to do with all of them."

"And I have considered providing you with copies of all my journals, so you might find yourself overwhelmed with new texts with details of five years of travel as well as future journals."

...

The hours passed without any useful leads. There were a few references to changing cutie marks in a couple of books which Babs Seed found. But none of them had any in depth study on them. All the reports on the matter seemed to consider it as something normal, something which was not really necessary to study in depth. Midnight Edge felt extremely frustrated. If he was the first to ever consider it worth to be studied then his research would become much harder and would force him to stay longer in Equestria, unless he decided to consign the task to another researcher.

"Thank you for your help." Midnight Edge spoke expressing gratitude to his new assistant.

"But we didn't find anything at all."

"Not exactly. We might have found very little, but even the smallest bit of information counts, and I am pleased to see you are eager to know more about it too."

"Well. I'm curious about cutie marks too. I don't like to think cutie marks should mean the only thing we are good at. I like my special talent, but I want to be more than just a hairdresser. Just because I like that doesn't mean I don't like other things."

"That is why I want to understand cutie marks too. I reject the idea of predestination. The future can't be written before it happens just like the past should not be rewritten. But we should take a break of all this. We will have a lot of time for such matters later if you wish to stay."

"If I'm going to be your friend I want to know more about you."

"Go ahead, ask. I already answered a lot, but there are many things to reveal."

"Fine, I won't ask you if you have killed before. I know you did."

"How did you? I won't deny it, but, how could a foal think of that."

"You carry a sword, you defeated that timber wolf, it is obvious you at least have killed a few pony eating monsters with that sword."

"I prefer to use nonviolent means when possible, but I am always ready for battle. I hope that won't change your opinion on me."

"It won't if you don't hurt innocents."

"Maybe your cutie mark was a mistake, your accent is strange, but your tone makes you sound like a detective."

"Maybe that's something I am good at without having a cutie mark for it."

"Then I will take this as an interrogation to clear my name. Detective Babs Seed, you may ask any questions, I will respond with the truth."

"What I want to know is, how did you began to eat meat? Why do you like it? I mean, I've heard some ponies tried it and they say it tastes awful. Did you go to war and you tried it there?"

"I once found myself in a war, and left the battlefield as soon as I could. But the first time I tasted meat was before I got my cutie mark. The story is long but I can tell you if you want."

"I want to know. I want to know as much as I can about you. If I don't I can't make sure my parents will approve our friendship. I mean, you are as old as Applejack if not older, and I just met you."

"Well, when I was a young colt, I had a friend, he was a griffin named Jacques. One day we agreed to swap our lunch bags without even knowing what was in there. My bag had a small tart and an apple. In exchange I got a BLT sandwich. A sandwich made with bacon, lettuce, and tomato." Midnight Edge smiled as he remembered that day, the day that made him a freak. "Jacques told me I could take back my lunch, but I was curious, so I took a bite. The taste was strange, but I liked it. I ended up eating the whole thing except for a tomato slice. Jacques was shocked, I made a bet. If I got sick he would owe me an apple pie, if nothing bad happened I owed him a cake. I ended up spending my savings to buy a big cake. Ever since then I manage to get some meat to eat in secret." His expression changed, there was sadness in his eyes. "But sometimes ponies find out and they reject me, even when I point there is historical evidence that other ponies did the same. It is just that most ponies don't like the taste."

"How did you get the meat? I mean, there aren't many places where you can buy meat in Equestria."

"Jacques' father was a cook. He had some providers who sold meat to griffins. I managed to get some meat from his kitchen, he didn't seem to have a problem with that, neither did my relatives. When I grew older I began to buy it directly from the providers. It is rather expensive since most of it is brought from Griffonstone or far away from Equestria. Minotaurs and griffins eat meat, but in Equestria that is a niche market."

"You really are weird. I like that, being all the same feels wrong to me. Anypony who thinks everypony should be the same, do the same, and think the same must be crazy."

"Believe it or not, there are places where such insanity is common, those who live there are not happy."

The interrogation went further until sunset when both took separate ways. Babs Seed managed to get almost all the information Midnight Edge wrote in his journals and she found out a lot about his past. She knew he had siblings. That his sister was a scientist and went missing not so long after he began to travel. She also knew Midnight Edge found her location and planned to take her back to Equestria. She knew his diet was unusual and he did not like fresh tomatoes and fish. That he felt uncomfortable with talking about the creatures he slayed with his sword because ponies were mostly pacifists. He wanted to visit the Crystal Empire. He had never been in love. He was afraid of himself sometimes because the customs of other places rubbed on him. He disliked time travel because most time travelers would not be cautious with their actions. And one thing in particular, that he refused to stay in Canterlot for too long because of the sad memories.

That night Midnight Edge went to sleep feeling uncomfortable thinking he made a mistake by accepting Babs Seed as a possible companion, meanwhile Babs Seed dreamed of the possible adventures. She was excited, eager to go on adventures as exciting as those her cousins went through. In her dreams they were catching criminals together, exploring mysterious forests, and facing monsters she knew only from folk tales. One was afraid of putting a new friend in danger, the other wanted to be there, knowing she would be safe as long as she was not alone.

That weird new neighbor

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."

…

What is the next step?

Midnight Edge woke up with vague memories of the night before. He remembered sharing a kiss with the filly he loved and then he locked himself in his room to calm down. He was scared and excited, the last thing he remembered of the night was the moment he remembered being witness of a public execution because of a similar situation. The memory was still fresh in his mind, a human male hanging at the gallows, his crime, kissing a girl a few years younger than him. The age difference was not even that notable, the difference between Midnight Edge and Babs Seed was higher, that scared him even more. He did not know how other ponies would react to their relationship, he feared the worst, but he did not want to give up, he considered love worth the risk. He wondered the proper course of action.

He remembered someone he met during his journey, someone who asked him about love before. "Someday you will find a mare who will make you take risks and do stupid things. But you will feel happy with her, and you will do anything to stay by her side. But what is next after that? Eventually you will seek stability, and it will be like a chemical reaction. Either it stabilizes and creates something new, or it will stay unstable and the littlest change in conditions will result in failure." The voice of his friend echoed in his mind. That was it, that kiss would be the catalyst, and it was up to both of them to make something great out of it, but they would need caution.

Midnight Edge left his room, everyone else was still asleep except for Muffins and Pinkie Pie. The stallion walked silently to the kitchen, everything was almost ready, except for the pancakes which had to be cooked at the moment, they had to be fresh, stale pancakes would be shameful, that would be an act of disrespect toward his guests. As he prepared the breakfast he began to imagine himself settling down and preparing a tasty breakfast for Babs Seed on her birthday.

"Don't be stupid. That won't happen!" He muttered to himself. "You will never marry her. Celestia could blast you into oblivion if she finds out." He did not know if there were laws in favor or against it, but he was still scared. He believed it was seen as wrong in all places, even he felt a bit of disgust for falling in love with such a young filly. Just a few weeks ago if he saw a stallion of his same age with a filly like Babs Seed he would have felt uncomfortable and he would not support him. But now that it was happening to him he understood it was not a depraved feeling, it was just love.

"I will ask Twilight Sparkle about the local laws later. My only hope is a legal loophole."

…

Babs Seed woke up with an unfathomable feeling of joy. She finally expressed her feelings for Midnight Edge, and even though he seemed reluctant, he did not reject her. She took the initiative knowing that was the only way it would work. She never heard of relationships with an age difference being wrong or a crime in Equestria, but she knew it was uncommon and most ponies would not even think of it. What she did was not unprecedented as far as she knew, but it was rare. She did not understand why Midnight Edge felt so scared of admitting his feelings, but she understood he needed time to think. And last night he took enough time to do so.

The smell of freshly cooked pancakes reached her nose. Everypony in the room was asleep. She could hear Rainbow Dash snoring from another room. "She's loud! No wonder why Scootaloo did not want to be in the same room." Most ponies were still asleep. She could only hear Pinkie Pie talking to somepony else in the living room. Other than Pinkie's voice and Rainbow's snores the place was silent enough to hear the otherwise unnoticed sound made by Puffy as it walked around the house. It had to be quite early. "Alright! Let's see who is baking those pancakes."

Babs Seed left the room walking carefully to keep it quiet. She did not want to wake her cousins and friends up with her steps. Her hooves moved with a grace no one could expect from her, silently reaching the exit and walking downstairs to the kitchen. As she walked through the halls she imagined who could be cooking those pancakes. First she imagined Pinkie Pie, leaving the kitchen made a total mess, maybe leaving a measuring spoon inside one of the pancakes accidentally. Then she imagined Muffins, the mailmare, she heard Pinkie calling her name, therefore she had to be the other pony awake, probably she would use a muffin mold to make the pancakes. Then she thought of Midnight Edge, she considered he could be awake, but was not sure. As soon as she imagined him cooking she wondered what would it be like to live with him. "I bet he keeps a secret stash of bacon somewhere." Babs Seed told to herself while walking down the stairs leading to the living room.

...

Once she reached the living room, Babs Seed found Pinkie Pie and Muffins talking to each other, which meant Midnight Edge was the one in charge of preparing breakfast. Babs Seed spoke trying to not seem surprised of seeing Pinkie Pie there. "Good morning."

"Good morning." Replied Muffins with a smile on her face.

"Good morning little one." Pinkie Pie spoke making a little pause before starting a long sentence. "I am glad you woke up everypony was still asleep except for Derpy she was awake and we thought we could help with the breakfast but Midnight locked the kitchen so we waited here then Midnight woke up and went right to the kitchen we wanted to help but he won't let us and..." The pink mare took a deep breath preparing to continue her fast paced single sentence, notably lacking of any pause and therefore stressing, but she was interrupted by Muffins.

"Midnight is in the kitchen. Maybe he will let you help him. You are close friends right?"

"Yeah. I might be his first friend in Equestria. Well, that's what he says."

"Just be careful with the flour. He is using clumps of flour as weapons!" The pink pony warned Babs Seed fearing she could end up covered in flour.

"I'll be fine. He wouldn't mess with me." Replied the filly, confident in her tough girl reputation. Her confidence and bravery made her well known for standing up for herself. "He knows I never chicken out of a challenge."

Babs Seed opened the kitchen door and saw a clump of flour propelling right toward her face, the cloud of white powder held together by magic stopped in the air as if it was afraid of touching her. "Sorry. I thought it was the pink one. I did not expect you would be awake, but come in, it would be nice to have somepony to talk to... Somepony who won't try to mess with my recipe." His voice sounded tired, as if he forced himself to wake up earlier only to get everything ready. Babs Seed walked into the kitchen, getting ready to have a rather serious talk with her coltfriend. Those were her thoughts, to her it was official, they were dating now.

"He is weird. I think his weirdness might rub on her if she spends too much time with him." Said the party pony wondering why he would let the filly in but would refuse to let two good bakers in.

"I think he is nice. And he cares about her."

"Yeah, he is fine. But he is still weird... Wait! I have an idea that will keep this party going!"

"Wasn't the party over already?" Asked the pegasus mare.

"Not at all. I will transform it from a slumber party into a breakfast party!"

"Just remember what Midnight Edge said. Don't break anything." Muffins felt concern over the plans her friend had in mind.

"Don't worry, it will be just fine. Now where is our spore covered friend?" The apex party planner had an idea, and she intended to get help from the fungal resident of Midnight Edge's abode.

...

Midnight Edge was almost done. Only a few pancakes left to get his breakfast banquet ready. He got everything ready to be served and intended to please the guests. He obsessed over following the recipe he mastered, reluctant to deviate from it. A filly helped him with the preparations while both had a conversation regarding their future together.

"I'm so glad we are dating now. I mean, we have no experience, but that's fine. We will discover new things together." The filly said with a smile on her face.

"Look Babs... It must remain a secret. Nopony shall know. If somepony finds out I could get in trouble... Or worse."

"Come on! It is not as if we were doing something bad!"

"You are too young." Replied the stallion who was still reluctant to make their relationship public.

"I'm not even that young! I know why you're scared. I already heard about that at school. You just want to keep it secret because other ponies could think you are taking advantage of me. This is not just a silly filly crush, I think I know at least as much as you do about serious mature relationships." Babs Seed felt angry. She hated when older ponies underestimated her. She accomplished things older ponies could only dream of, such as catching a burglar, and she would not let anyone tell her she was to young to pursue her dreams. She already got her cutie mark.

"It is not just that. I do not even want to talk about that thing right now. You should at least talk with your parents about it. But of all the guys out there you had to pick me... It is good for me, but I don't know if I am good for you... I am too old... I am too different... I am not even as cheerful as you are. How are we going to make it work? We must keep it in secret until we figure out how to make it work."

"Don't treat me like a little foal!" Babs Seed was reluctant to give up. "You don't have to protect me, and you shouldn't feel afraid of yourself! We'll figure out this together."

"I... Just don't want you to do something you could regret... Or something I could regret." Midnight Edge was still nervous, he was hesitant, he did not want to make any mistakes.

"We can keep it low for a while if you want. It will be our secret. But don't give up. Fine?! Babs Seed sounded a bit more mature than expected. "Look, that kiss didn't feel wrong. I don't think we are making a mistake. Just promise me you won't feel guilty for it. You are not hurting me, you are not doing anything bad at all."

"Then you must take the lead. I could rush things. I could think of things you don't feel ready for. And if you want to break up... Well, I hope you never do that, but I won't stop you."

"Don't think about that. You always worry too much about the future. You shouldn't worry about that, not when I am here, by your side, in the present."

"This is so new to me... I really don't know what to do." The stallion admitted. "But you are right. I want to stay by your side, just... Bear with me if I act a bit weird... Well, time to serve the guests!"

Midnight edge left the kitchen lifting several plates and jars with his magic. Babs Seed followed helping with as much as she could. Upon leaving the kitchen they found the dining room decorated with different party decorations brought by Pinkie Pie, held in place with Puffy's sticky resin. Midnight Edge was surprised, but he carefully placed everything on the table before focusing on the decoration.

"What is this supposed to mean?" Midnight Edge was uncomfortable, but not angry.

"It's your special welcome slumber breakfast party! Don't you like it?" Pinkie Pie responded excited and joyful.

"Dude... Are you her accomplice?" Midnight Edge spoke directing his words at Puffy. "I did not know you thought this was necessary."

"I needed his help. Don't worry, I asked him to use the less sticky goo and not the super sticky one you use as mortar."

"How did you know? Who told you?" Midnight Edge was truly surprised. He did not expect they would plan that.

"Twilight mentioned your friend made different types of sticky goo." The pink pony was starting to wonder if she made a mistake.

"Fine... But I am not cleaning this mess." Midnight Edge responded expressing approval. After that he took two frying pans and approached the stairs. "Alright everypony! Wake up! The artisans have blessed us with a joyful new day!" The stallion yelled as he walked all over the place using the frying pans to make as much noise as possible. All the guests woke surprised and even startled by the noise, except for the Apples who were used to that.

"Oh god! I have always wanted to do that!" Midnight Edge expressed with mischievous joy. "It was worth the wait!"

"I thought Granny Smith was the only one who did that." Babs Seed stated in surprise.

"Oh, but probably she does not derive as much joy from it as I do!" Midnight Edge was prone to pranks and minor mischief. Rainbow Dash would have loved his pranks if she was not on the receiving end of them.

...

After a delightful breakfast and a few hours of conversation all the guests returned to their daily routine. Midnight Edge was actually surprised when Pinkie Pie offered to clean up the place. He was expecting her to just leave and pretend nothing happened leaving behind the sticky mess she and Puffy created, but she politely offered to help without being asked to. His arrival was met with fear and rejection, but that party was a warm welcome. Midnight Edge finally felt at home again. He was no longer a foreigner or a wanderer, he was no longer a vagrant mage, now he was a resident of Ponyville.

"Well, Puffy, what do you think? Should I settle now? Or should I keep on dreaming I could be an adventurer?"

The creature directed the front of it's faceless head toward Midnight Edge, making him reflect on his words.

"What am I saying! I am not settling down! I am not just another background character! I am part of the play. I am the leading stallion! This is just a part of my story, the part where I find a place to call home, a place I will return when I feel tired. I will rest for now, but the journey is far from over." As he spoke those last word he took his latest journal and began to write. The last sentence in his newest entry read I have a home now, and I know what love feels like, I am eager to see what the future holds for me.

…

Horrors from beyond

A few days passed since Babs Seed and Midnight Edge started their secret relationship, both were extremely discrete about it since they wanted to make sure they would not get in trouble before making it public. Their secrecy however did not mean they would not rise suspicion at all, many ponies noticed they spent a lot of time together, which Babs Seed often stated was due to her interest in Midnight Edges unusual stories. Her claims were not baseless, she was interested in his stories, however it was evident they did not spend that much time on stories only, it was after all common to see them visiting different places in Ponyville.

One of the places they visited often was the bowling alley, which was a fairly good cover for their dates since Midnight Edge would often tell stories regarding how bowling was in different world, apparently it was popular in many, and in some worlds was a rather grisly sport in which rather round heads or skulls from fallen enemies were thrown at the pins. Interestingly enough they never actually played the game. Their dates were in general pleasant and slow paced. They did not rise suspicion most of the time during their dates, any bystander would think they were just friends, it was when they were not together when they would rise suspicion.

The reason for this was simple, both would make questions related to love and love relationships to other ponies. Babs Seed asked her cousins about what it was like to be in love, and sometimes she would imply she was in love. Midnight Edge on the other hand would read books seeking relationship advice and would review all Equestrian Law, with emphasis on love relationships and some other laws such as those related to land ownership in order to divert attention from his true interests. Even though Babs Seed considered what he found enough to relax, Midnight Edge preferred to be cautious. There were few laws regarding age disparity, and their relationship was legal enough for them to marry without opposition from authorities. The legal precedents were old, and so were the laws regarding such matters, some of them in fact written before Princess Luna was banished to the moon, that was their advantage, but also their greatest disadvantage. Even though the law stated what they were doing was completely legal, the public opinion was mixed, and an example of that were the answers given by the Apples and some of Babs Seed's friends.

Older ponies such as Granny Smith would have a positive opinion on it, stating that age disparity was common when they were younger, and often the stallion would be considerably older than the mare, sometimes even getting married when the mare was still a filly. For them it was commonplace even a few decades ago. Younger ponies such as Apple Bloom would actually find it cute and considered true love was all that matters in a relationship. It was ponies close in age to Midnight Edge who would have more varied opinion on the matter. Some ponies such as Twilight Sparkle would have a neutral opinion based on mere logic and using logical arguments and cold hard facts to compare the pros and cons reaching to the conclusion that in the end each case had to be taken individually, working ponies such as Applejack were neutral to it since all that matters to them was that both ponies were decent ponies, it was stallions, and the more cosmopolitan mares, such as Big McIntosh and Rarity who had a rather negative opinion on it mostly because they assumed the older pony could take advantage in such relationships.

It was evident the opinions were divided based on their views on life. Those who were extremely protective of others would often respond with a neutral or negative reaction, and so did those who followed fashion trend since such relationships became scarce in later decades. And those ponies who were rooted on tradition, had a carefree personality, or considered the laws written by Celestia as the ultimate authority held a mostly positive opinion. To Midnight Edge only Celestia could decide the fate of their love in many ways. He intended to request a meeting with her, but later, once he was knew it was worth the risk.

...

And so they continued their secret affair, they would not even hug in public, but when there were no witnesses they indulged in cuddles and kisses. Babs Seed found the secrecy a bit silly, but felt it was exciting to keep a secret, no matter how silly it was Midnight Edge found it hard to understand if his heart would pound out of excitement or fear, and remained always alert. For him even the sound of hoofsteps scared him enough to ruin the mood. But eventually they had to move on to something more “datelike” than going to a park or spending time at the bowling alley. The day came when Babs Seed asked Midnight Edge for a favor, something only he could do since everypony else refused.

"What if we go watch a movie?" The filly asked expecting to hear an affirmative answer. – It would be like a date.

"You mean, as in going to a theater and watch a film together? But that would cause suspicion wouldn't it?" Midnight Edge was not even that fond of most “foal friendly” films shown that season.

"Well, not exactly. You see, there is this movie... I can't watch it without a grown up, but nopony wants to go with me."

"Are you implying something compromising? I am not fond of that kind of films in case you wonder. I would never watch such things with you."

"Don't be silly. It's not that kind of movie. It's a horror movie. It is called Unnatural Disaster. My parents said I was allowed to watch it if I found a grown up willing to watch it with me. But they said nopony was that crazy."

"Have you asked somepony else? I mean, your sister, your cousin, a friend's relative? I would not want to get in trouble."

"You are not my last choice, but not the first either. I know you want to be cautious and you don't want to watch movies with me because of that, but nopony else agreed to go with me. Applejack and my sister said they would not stop me from watching it but would not take me there, Big Mac is too protective, I was about to ask him but he, well, I think he would not even let me watch it if I needed his permission, and Rainbow Dash already took Scootaloo to watch it, so, well, if you say no I might as well ask Rarity, she would say no anyway."

"Fine. I am not sure it is a good idea, but as long as I don't get in trouble for it, let's go. Just remember, if you get too scared or have nightmares it was not my fault. You brought it upon yourself little one."

"Scootaloo said it is not that scary, if she can take it I can. I am starting to think you are the one who is scared." Babs Seed tried to tease Midnight Edge with her words.

"A work of fiction would never scare someone who saw the things I saw. How could a film scare me when I fought against real zombies once, I joined a military campaign, and I even explored a real haunted castle." Midnight Edge responded in a way that made clear he failed to get the joke.

"But in the end it was the ghost of a mouse, you already told me that."

"A very angry ghost mouse. It was not as funny as you think. I bet the film will not be nearly as impressive as seeing the real thing. I could even bet my own life there are some parts where you can see wires holding objects that were supposed to float or a microphone on screen."

"Let's find out then!"

...

And so they agreed to watch the film. Unnatural Disaster was a film which to Equestrian standards was a bit over the top. The plot was simple, an alien species invades Manehattan using a portal to connect both worlds and a group of ponies fight back the invasion, finally they manage to defeat the aliens by joining forces with another faction on the other side of the portal. The special effects were not very good, and the producers apparently compensated by using exaggerated scenes and violence. Babs Seed was unamused by the visual effects, often pointing how some effects could be easily made with common household products, the blood looked fake, the amounts of it were unrealistic, and the alien blood looked ridiculous, but she did not point that to calm herself as one would expect, but to calm Midnight Edge who looked horrified from the moment the aliens were revealed until they were defeated, his face was almost literally that of someone who saw a ghost.

"Come on! It was not even scary! And the aliens looked kinda cool." Babs Seed tried to calm Midnight Edge once the film ended.

"They are... were not cool, not cool at all." Midnight Edge responded notably stressed and sweating.

"Are you scared by a bunch of fictional aliens made of plastic? I thought you were the one who traveled between worlds and faced monsters nopony has ever seen."

"Well, nopony saw those things on screen before... But I have seen them before." Midnight Edge's answer explained why he was scared, they were real, very real, and he knew how dangerous they were.

"You mean they are real? How? How could the movie producers know them?"

"Have you ever had a dream so real it makes you feel sick once you wake up?"

"Maybe... I don't really pay that much attention to dreams."

"How about having a dream where you see somepony you never met and then you meet that same pony in real life?2Midnight Edge sounded serious, he knew not all dreams were just dreams, some of them were visions from other places, some more distant than others. "Somepony must have seen them in dreams and put them on screen, and in a very accurate way. I was there... I saw them invading another world. I fought them, I could not let them destroy all those lives, I was one of the dozens of mages sent to fight in the war. In the end we won just like in the film. Their world is at war, there are many factions fighting each other. Some of them invade worlds to extract resources from them or force the natives to fight for them. They have invaded many worlds, and after they retreated they just moved on to the next world. I wanted to follow them and stop their next invasion, but I can't. I don't know where they are or where they are going next. For all I know, we are their next target."

"Then they could invade Equestria. Well... I am not scared." The filly spoke with confidence.

"Are you crazy? You just saw what could happen if they reached Equestria!"

"I saw what could happen if nopony expected them. But we know how they look now, and we know their weaknesses. I don't think they could win."

"But many could get hurt. You could get hurt." The once serious and defiant stallion now sounded weak and vulnerable. "I don't want you to suffer the same fate some of my friends went through back then."

"And I won't... Because you have defeated those things before, and you will do the same if they show their ugly heads. I am not scared because, no matter how real they are, no matter how dangerous they are, I feel safe as long as you are around. Just make sure to be here if they show up."

"I... I hope they never reach this place. I will do all I can to make sure they never reach this place." Midnight Edge regained his strength. Knowing somepony had faith in him struck something in his heart.

"That's the stallion I like!" Babs Seed smiled. She really had faith in him. But not only in him, she had faith in all of Equestria, she knew they would never let an army of inter-dimensional bullies win. When evil showed it's ugly head, Equestria would fight back and send the bad guys back to wherever they came from. Princess Twilight Sparkle already defeated Tirek, a bunch of weird aliens were not enough to defeat all of Equestria.

...

After that date, both Midnight Edge and Babs Seed grew more confident and relaxed the caution regarding their relationship. They spent more time together and seemed notably closer to every Ponyville resident. Their habits did not reveal they were in a love relationship, and were often seen as very good friends, however most ponies suspected Babs Seed had a crush on Midnight Edge, believing it was mere puppy love and not a real relationship built on trust and understanding.

Things were going perfectly fine except for one thing. Midnight Edge insisted on caution because he felt observed by something. He was not paranoid, he felt clearly when he was observed and when he was not. He noticed some places such as Twilight Sparkle's castle and Sweet Apple Acres were clear, but most locations in Ponyville often seemed under surveillance by an unknown force. And it was not a group, it was a single individual, separate from the rest, which seemed interested in them. Maybe it was just a local gossip or something, but that did not mean his concern was unfounded.

To worsen the situation Babs Seed would leave in a matter of days. She would return to Manehattan and go back to school. Midnight Edge knew it was necessary and actually made sure it would be that way. Babs Seed considering skipping classes for a few weeks in order to stay, but Midnight Edge made clear that would not work, if she missed classes because of him, they would break up. Both accepted they had to find a way to make a long distance relationship work or reduce the distance. Coming up with a plan could take time, but they wanted to enjoy those last few days together.

That afternoon they were at a local food joint drinking milkshakes and hayburgers together. Nothing especial, just a normal date, maybe a bit closer to feel romantic than other dates. Their conversation had a serious turn after Babs Seed suggested getting more serious.

"So... What could happen if we kissed? I mean, right now?"

"I would rather not find out. I think the resulting drama is not worth it." Midnight Edge was reluctant to show so much affection in public. "I am sure somepony is watching, even right now."

"You mean somepony is spying upon us? Why?"

"Not us, only me. Whoever is watching has been observing me ever since I arrived. Probably is one of those ponies who don't like me. I know it sounds a bit crazy, but I am sure of it. Maybe it's an amateur journalist or a local gossip."

"And who could it be? If you think somepony is watching you, there must be suspects."

"My suspects are Bon Bon, Roseluck, and Spoiled Rich."

"That bucking mare! I bet it's her! She almost ruined Diamond Tiara's life already. Spying on others is not below her."

"Watch your language. I bet you don't even know the meaning of that word."

"Of course I do. It's not big deal."

"Well, maybe you know the usual meaning of the verb, the act of applying force with the hind legs, but the other sense is a bit more... personal and adult."

"I know. But it is not big deal. I have heard worse things in Manehattan."

"Profanity does not fit such a cute filly. That is why you should avoid such words."

"But she makes me so angry. She made Diamond Tiara act like a cruel pony, she treats other ponies as if they were below her. She is horrible."

"I am certain of that, and if you ask me she deserves a terrible fate, but those words, well... I am sure Applejack would not approve that language."

"Yeah. It doesn't fit my style. I don't want to look like an angry cab driver."

"Being cute fits you better. Cuteness is better than toughness."

"You are a crappy coltfriend you know?" Babs Seed stated with a teasing tone.

"Why? Why would you say that?"

"You want to keep it low, but you say all those things. You make it hard to keep it low."

"I would really like to end that. I mean, end the secrecy. At least I wish we could let somepony else know before you go back to Manehattan."

"Well, maybe the Crusaders would keep the secret, but I guess my friends would tell others. What about your friends?"

"Derpy would try to keep the secret, but she would end up spilling the beans anyway. Doc would not talk about it, but he probably would not care at all. And Twilight and her friends... Let's say I don't want Applejack to find out."

"Let's make everypony find out!" With those words Babs Seed proceeded to kiss Midnight Edge expecting to break the secrecy once and for all. Her plans ended in failure, no one seemed to care. Every single patron at the place was too busy minding their own business to notice another couple kissing.

"I guess it did not work." Midnight Edge sighed with relief. "It's better that way."

"I was not expecting that." Babs Seed spoke in disappointment. "I really wanted somepony to notice."

"Maybe we should be glad. Maybe that is how it should be."

"What do you mean? I don't want to hide it anymore." Babs Seed was uncomfortable, she began to wonder if Midnight Edge was actually a bit of a coward.

"Exactly! Maybe nopony cares! We no longer have to hide... Well, not all the time, only in front of our relatives and their friends."

"But... That means none of my relatives should know... Not even mom and dad... That feels wrong."

"I know. I hate it too, well... You can tell them if you want, once you return to Manehattan."

"No. I don't feel like telling them. They would not understand. I just... Feel bad for it."

"Me too. My parents probably would kill me if they found out."

"The next date will be the last for a while. We should do something great." Babs Seed changed the subject to lighten the mood. "We should do something new."

"How about that visit to the Crystal Empire I promised? Would you like that?"

"Yeah. That would be nice. But I don't think I will be allowed to go without somepony else."

"I have that covered." Midnight Edge smiled. He knew somepony who would help him without even knowing.

...

The mysterious mare walked into an alley, concealing herself from the locals. She carried a small radio to contact her superiors. As soon as she made sure she was alone she turned the radio on and began to send her message. "Command. Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear agent. Report your situation." A voice responded from the radio.

"I have been watching him for weeks. Until now there is little of interest, but I am sure he is tied to something big. I am sure he has something to do with the mysterious signal we found in the desert. And also..."

"Is there something else we should care about?"

"Not really. It is not precisely illegal... Just... Well... Maybe She should intervene."

"Is he causing any trouble? Some sort of petty crime?"

"N... No. Just... Well... He is dating a filly. As in a younger filly, an actual foal. The laws say nothing about it, I think that is not right. They are trying to hide it. They think I don't know and I am making sure they think so until I get orders from you or another superior."

"Let the foal's parents fix it. As you said, it is not illegal. If she or her parents present charges the law will take care. If not... Well... Only Celestia and Luna have any authority over it and I don't think they care. They probably know already."

"But..." The mare was interrupted before she could complete her sentence.

"Stop wasting our time agent! Right now you are free to continue observing the target if you think he may be relevant, but don't call until you find anything useful. He is clean for now, until you prove otherwise. If you do then you may call us again." Her superior was clearly frustrated with her obsession, but she was certain she found something.

"But, what if he goes too far? I mean... What if they lay in bed and..."

"If the filly has her mark already only her family, the princesses, and herself, have any saying on it unless he hurts her. Then you may inform us. If you consider this so important, keep an eye on him."

"Understood..." The mare felt displeased. Her hooves were tied.

"I am glad you got it. Command out." Her superior ended the communication, leaving her stressed and angry. He would not get away with it. He had to be captured and interrogated.

"I am going to get you purple wizard. I am going to get you and make you pay." The mare walked out of the alley with determination.

...

One for the road.

The train moved with ease. The roads were well maintained and the train itself had little to no defects. For Midnight Edge it was an example of true Equestrian engineering. For a peaceful nation Equestria had a lot of advanced technology and even weaponry. He knew that, his family had a long line of craftsponies... "Or was it craftsmen?" Midnight Edge's mind drifted for a bit thinking about the differences between pony languages and those of other civilizations. They often sounded alike and the words were the same with few exceptions. He wondered why. As they got closer to the Crystal Empire, Midnight Edge and Babs Seed felt excitement and anticipation in their hearts. It would be their last date before Babs Seed returned to Manehattan, their first time in a place lost for centuries and filled with mystery. All they had to do in order to enjoy their date was creating a distraction for their additional companion.

"Thanks for asking me to help with your research." Twilight Sparkle spoke with a cheerful tone. "I have been waiting for a chance to visit the Crystal Empire Library without having to worry about anything else. I thought about paying a visit to my relatives too."

"You mean the princess?" The curious voice of a young filly was heard. "Her baby is an alicorn too. Right?"

"Yes. Would you like to meet her?"

"Maybe some other time. Right now we are a bit busy cause I must return to Manehattan tomorrow."

"How about you, Midnight Edge?"

"I would rather not deal with babies unless they are of my same bloodline. They are not precisely the best research assistants. And I don't understand their “language”, so there is little information I could get from them."

"I hope you don't reject your foals because of that other stuff. That would be horrible for your wife." Babs Seed teased, probably implying something.

"If I had one." Midnight Edge's response was a clever way to deviate attention from his beloved filly's implication. "I will think of that once I get married. For now I don't have to worry about my future progeny. It would be nice to have a son, but not yet."

"What about a daughter?" Twilight Sparkle inquired. "I mean, would you like to have a daughter?"

"That would be fine too. But I don't know how I would handle that."

"Why not? You look like an excellent big brother. In fact Babs Seed looks like your little sister right now. You are so close to each other you look like relatives." Babs Seed blushed upon hearing Twilight Sparkle's statement. "I bet you could handle a daughter."

"I am not a good brother. I... I am terrible at being a brother. Well, at least with my sister I was... She... I was a terrible example to her." The air grew tense, Midnight Edge rarely mentioned his family. Whatever happened he did not like to talk about it. "But she is doing just fine right now. Just that she never learned to make friends because of me. I made her think friends were pointless. Now she only cares about her work."

"Don't blame yourself for that! If she wants to be alone it's her fault." Babs Seed knew he felt guilty about it, but she did not like to see him taking blame for the choices made by others. "So what if she thought friends were a waste of time? You did not tell her that! If she followed the wrong example it's not your fault. You were just being yourself. She saw you focusing on your interests instead of making friends. It's her fault she did not have friends because of that. You are a great big brother and you would be a great father."

"Thanks. I just feel I should have been there to help her. Let's talk about something else."

The conversation lightened in mood for the rest of the trip. Once they arrived to the Crystal Empire they headed right to the library. It was a wild goose chase, but it was also the only excuse to go there.

Officially Babs Seed was Midnight Edge's assistant, nothing else. Some ponies wondered why would a quirky researcher would pick a little filly, an aspiring stylist to make it weirder, as his assistant, but her relatives actually got it. She once helped solving a criminal case, she was just what he needed, a pony who could see things from a different perspective. They had to keep the charade in front of Twilight Sparkle until they could get rid of her.

"All right! We are not borrowing any books unless we find something useful, so avoid the literature section. We are here for research only. Well. Maybe you can check one or two unrelated books, but I am not borrowing those I will already waste time getting my library card."

As they entered the library Midnight Edge prepared to set in motion his plan. They would search for information, but after a few minutes they would “take a break” knowing Twilight Sparkle would be extremely distracted reading. That would give them enough time to have a decent date. After spending enough time together they would return to the library and continue their research. There would be plenty of time for other things too, but probably Twilight Sparkle would join. By the end of the day they would take the train back to Ponyville and the next day Babs Seed would be on the train back to Manehattan.

The three looked for any information regarding atypical cutie marks within the many books in the library. Most of the books were outdated, probably due to the many ages the library remained concealed and frozen in time. Midnight Edge and Babs Seed browsed the shelves slowly, taking no more than three books at the time. Twilight Sparkle on the contrary would take several books at once, taking dozens of books to read, adding one for each book she returned and taking notes of anything she could find of interest not only for the research she was invited to take part on, but to her personal interests. Soon she found herself reading books which were entirely unrelated to cutie marks.

After an hour Midnight Edge decided it was time to proceed with the next step of the plan. Carefully and without altering the atmosphere he approached the princess of friendship making sure to not alert her or raise any suspicions. He had to make sure she would remain focused on reading rather than listening to his words. It was all part of the plan. He picked Twilight Sparkle of all the possible candidates they could invite to join them on that trip knowing how oblivious she became of her surroundings once she spent enough time reading anything she found of interest. Her intellect was the perfect excuse to bring her instead of other ponies who would prove to be a hindrance to their plans.

"Um... Twi... We are going to take a break for now. Care to join?"

"No. I'm fine." Twilight Sparkle responded without averting her gaze from the book or paying much attention.

"You sure? There are many cool things in this place. I am curious to know what these crystals are made of."

"O.K. Enjoy your break." She was not paying attention at all, her mind was completely focused on the book. Everything was going according to the plan.

"Well. Se you later dude."

Midnight Edge walked toward Babs Seed with a wide smile which made him look like an entirely different stallion. "All clear darling. She won't even notice our absence at all. We shall enjoy our date to the fullest."

"I was getting tired of waiting." Babs Seed giggled and headed out of the library. "What are you waiting for? Come on! This' gonna be great!"

The loving couple spent the afternoon exploring the city. They visited a cafe for lunch, went to a local park, bought souvenirs, and enjoyed the many things that make the Crystal Empire unique. Babs Seed even convinced Midnight Edge to visit the local spa. Their conversations during their date were light, nothing too serious or important, they just wanted to enjoy time together without worries or sad memories, they would have plenty of time for that in the future. A future they also avoided to mention, yet both knew what they wished for it.

At all times they were mistaken for siblings, with ponies commenting on how cute they were and how united their family could be. That was of course until Babs Seed intentionally shattered their view on them by kissing Midnight Edge. She did not revealed their relationship often, only with those ponies who annoyed her with their remarks, mostly mares expressing potential interest in Midnight Edge stating the possibility of him being as as good lover as he was as an older brother. The reactions were mostly of surprise, but not disgust as both expected. This was due to the different, and rather old, views held by the locals. The reactions of tourists however ranged from confusion to horror.

Babs Seed would not even think about it, but it was fortunate they never found any acquaintances in the city. That was not the best way for them to find out.

...

After a few hours enjoying their time together they headed toward the library, on their way they talked about how pleasant that date had been.

"I was not expecting to end up going to the spa. I am not that kind of guy." Midnight Edge spoke with a mirthful tone.

"But you loved it. And you would do anything for your “little sister”." The filly still found the situation humorous. "I loved to see their faces when I kissed you. A mare even fainted!"

"I am glad the crystal ponies did not mind. Otherwise we would have an unplanned meeting with Princess Cadence."

"Maybe we should meet her. She is the princess of love after all. She could help us!" Babs Seed imagined Princess Cadence may support them since she was probably the highest authority on love.

"Maybe. But I don't feel like having a formal meeting with royalty right now. I am not even sure she would like that stuff. I have heard a couple of rumors about the princesses and how much they dislike formalities and fancy stuff. I even heard the Grand Galloping Gala was intentionally sabotaged by Princess Celestia herself."

"Yeah. Applejack said the Gala was not that good the first time she went to it."

"I wonder why Princess Celestia never invited my siblings and I. If she wanted to sabotage a party she just had to invite the weirdest freaks around Canterlot."

"Are your siblings really that bad? I can't imagine that."

"Well, my brother is rather wild, he gets in trouble quite often. I sometimes wonder how he got hired at Cloudsdale's weather factory. And my sister, she is a bit awkward and short tempered. They are nice folks, but not precisely what you would expect at a fancy event. My brother even made it in a newspaper. The headline said “Local stallion causes rainstorm.”, he was kind of a troublemaker."

"I bet they aren't that bad. Those fancy Canterlot ponies consider anypony “too wild”."

"Maybe."

Just as they reached the library entrance, Twilight Sparkle walked out of the library.

"Did you find anything useful?" Midnight Edge inquired eager to know the results. Even though he knew the chances of finding anything were slim he did not discard the possibility of finding something.

"I could not find anything on atypical cutie marks. I don't think they have anything related. But I borrowed some books for later." She looked at her saddle bag with a smile on her face. "I think it was enough for today. Do you want to go somewhere?"

She was unaware of how long their “break” took and how much time they spent together. Probably she ignored how long she had been reading without taking any breaks at all. In fact she assumed they returned from time to time to the library to continue. She seemed so oblivious of Midnight Edge's plot it made both Midnight Edge and Babs Seed feel guilty.

...

Babs Seed and Twilight Sparkle went to meet Princess Cadence while Midnight Edge studied the properties of the different types of crystals found in the Crystal Empire. He was not only interested in knowing the crystals, but in comparing them to other crystal samples he collected from different places.

Deep inside both Twilight Sparkle and Babs Seed knew the true reason for Midnight Edge's reluctance to meet with the Princess of Love; He was not fond of royalty or formal events. The only reason he approached Twilight Sparkle was because they met before she became a princess, otherwise he would avoid all interaction with her. It was not that he disliked the Princesses that ruled Equestria, in fact he was loyal to them, what he disliked was the awkwardness he felt when interacting with royalty.

Heavy guarded buildings, servants, throne rooms; All those things felt wrong to Midnight Edge and knew they felt wrong for the most noble rulers. Why would they want to create such divides between their people and themselves when they were so fond of their subjects? It was not what they wanted most of the time, they were bound by tradition. Twilight Sparkle managed to keep guards away from her castle, and in fact she lived a rather humble life for a pony with such a lavish abode, that made Midnight Edge fond of meeting her within the confines of her royal library. He would find no such chance with the remaining rulers yet.

Midnight Edge took samples of every crystal he considered necessary, even taking samples from residences, the locals were more than willing to allow it once he mentioned it was for research. The only crystal he would not dare to take a sample from was the Crystal Heart. He knew that crystal kept the whole place safe, and even a scratch could upset the balance. After taking several samples, some of which actually became part of his personal collection of rare items, Midnight Edge stopped to rest. Hiding in an alley, away from any witness, he summoned a piece of beef jerky from his storage crystal, both brought from far away lands. The stallion took a bite of the chewy treat, it's strange savory taste stimulated his equine tongue, leaving a mix of pleasure and guilt in his mind. "Celestia, forgive me for being a bucking freak!" Midnight Edge spoke in a humorous tone. "I only regret I did not buy more of this thing. I am not going to eat sapient cows. But those primitive bovines... Prepare the grill!"

After his secret treat the mage walked out of the alley heading toward the royal palace. It was almost time to leave. As he approached the palace he saw a familiar yet unpleasant face on the reflection of a crystal, yet noticed none of the locals seemed to mind about the ominous entity. It looked a bit different, but it's eyes betrayed it "Do not move parasite!" Midnight Edge spoke ready to charge against the creature, he once fought one of them. "I have been waiting for my chance to finally slay the likes of you since the Canterlot invasion. Tell me why should I spare your life, filthy changeling!"

The locals reacted before Midnight Edge charged against the changeling. "Don't hurt him! He is our friend." The voices of the crystal ponies reached the ears of the mage before he unleashed his wrath upon the creature. "What do I hear? Tell me. Why do they call you friend?" The mage spoke surprised, yet it made sense, the changeling was not hiding it's form. The changeling spoke, shaking off the surprise of their first meeting.

"My name is Thorax. I decided to seek a new form of love, one that could feed the changelings without making us parasites, by feeding on the love ponies could feel for our true selves. Others have joined me"

Midnight Edge was surprised by the response yet it made sense to him. The changeling kept his true form, other ponies were not afraid of him, and he acted as if he was just one of the locals. "So, you are a deserter. My apologies. Ever since your species invaded Canterlot I expected to meet your kind on the battlefield again. But if your words are true I shall not fight you for the path you take is virtuous." Midnight Edge extended his hoof in a sign of friendship. "My name is Midnight Edge. I assume it is a pleasure to meet you then Thorax... Wait! Your name is Thorax?" All traces of solemnity left the stallion's tongue after he realized how strange the name was. "Do all changelings have names related to invertebrates and their bodies? Let me guess, you have a cousin named Proboscis."

Thorax did not feel discomfort about the question, he had noticed the strange naming pattern and actually wondered why ponies seemed to ignore it. "Actually that is my brother's name. Well, I have many brothers." Thorax responded in a cheerful tone. "Honestly, I should apologize too. I probably startled you since I have been following you for a while. I noticed something strange on you and felt curious, but I could not gather the courage to ask."

"Ask away then, we already had what could be considered the worst first meeting in the Crystal Empire since it's return."

"Well. I noticed the love you and that filly share. It was so strong. I have seen it before, but never in siblings. What are you two up to."

"Oh. That! We are not siblings, not even relatives. I guess it is really unusual to see a guy like me dating such a cute filly." Midnight Edge spoke holding back his laughter and then changed to a more serious, almost ominous tone. "But we are keeping it secret for now. I was actually heading to the royal palace to meet her there. Do you want to join?"

"Thanks. It would be nice. I could introduce you to some of my friends there."

"Hold on. Are you going to meet some friends over there too?"

"Well, that is where Princess Cadence lives."

"What the...! How did she befriend a changeling after Chrysalis tried to ruin wedding? You must tell me the whole story!"

Midnight Edge and Thorax headed toward the palace while the changeling told his story to a new potential friend.

Right when Midnight Edge and Thorax reached the palace Twilight Sparkle and Babs Seed came out of it. Twilight Sparkle greeted her changeling friend in surprise. "Hi Thorax! Midnight, you never mentioned you knew each other."

"To be honest, we just met." Midnight Edge replied. "I doubt there has been a worse first meeting in the whole Crystal Empire in years."

"Don't worry. The first time I made a friend in here the whole royal army was after me."

Babs Seed however did not feel so comfortable with a changeling around. She tried to not express discomfort since two ponies she trusted were acting calmly before what she knew as a threat from the news about Canterlot's invasion. Midnight Edge noticed her distrust and tried to calm her down.

"Can you believe I was about to slice this friendly dude in half? At first I found it hard to trust him, but he seems honest about his words, so it is all clear. If he does anything to betray my trust however... I do not take that lightly." It was evident by his words he was not trusting in the changeling completely, but he was willing to give him a chance.

"Don't worry. He can be trusted. He is even friends with Cadence now. He earned it."

"Are you sure Twilight? He looks a bit scary." Babs Seed broke her silence expressing concern over their trust and quickly thought a way to make sure she was not being tricked by changelings. "Besides, how would he feed without pretending to be somepony else?"

"From the love I have earned from other ponies, if they love me the way I am I don't need to steal love anymore. There would be no need to pretend to be somepony else, for example my new friend here, if ponies love me the way I am. Of course I could not get as much love from you as he does but..."

"But that is just because you really admire me and you barely know him, am I right?" Midnight Edge interrupted his friend giving him a nervous stare which begged him to keep his mouth shut. His reaction also proved Babs Seed he was not a fake since Changelings wouldn't have known he tried to keep their relationship in secret. She could still read him like a book. "We have grown really close since she is my personal assistant. She has helped me understand cutie marks better than anypony since she was a former Cutie Mark Crusader." As he spoke nervously the mark on his flank changed slightly, the things he learned during the day, combined with the stress of the situations he experienced had an effect on it, it was small but easily noticed. "I never thought not fighting a changeling would have an effect on my cutie mark. I shall take notes immediately. We should leave soon. I am sorry we have to end this first meeting so soon."

"Don't worry Spike stays in touch with me. If you have anything to tell let him know." The changeling sounded really happy, then changed his tone to a more serious one, yet still keeping his light mood. "Somepony should check the train schedules." As soon as he spoke those words Twilight Sparkle reacted. "I will check, I am great managing schedules. We don't want to be late."

As she left Thorax approached Midnight Edge and looked at Babs Seed expecting her to come closer. "Good, she is gone. Spike was right, she can't resist a chance to organize something. I feel sorry for doing this but I had to talk to you two alone. I must ask, why do you keep your relationship in secret? The love you produce is driving me crazy already!"

"He doesn't wanna tell. I promised I would keep it shut until he feels fine with it."

"Look bro, I want to keep it low because... It is not common you see? I could get in trouble. She is younger than I am."

"I almost blew your cover then. It feels so weird. It is everywhere! Your love is so strong it feels like a wedding! That was what got me curious about you. I thought you were siblings and that seemed weird."

"Siblings? Everypony thinks that. I like to kiss him in front of them."

"But until I think it is safe Twilight Sparkle must not know. Don't tell Spike about it. Please."

"Fine, I won't tell him. But promise you will end this charade soon. It feels just wrong to see such a loving couple keeping it in secret. Now go. I don't want to go crazy."

...

It was already night as the train moved on it's way to Ponyville. Soon Babs Seed would be on a train back to Manehattan. Back to the daily grind, back to school, and back to a place where she would never see the stallion she loved, but neither her nor Midnight Edge would suffer about it. They were too busy figuring out how to stay in touch beyond mere letters and how to get closer to each other without obstructing their lives. That night Midnight Edge was looking at the skies waiting for an epiphany. Babs Seed, who had trouble sleeping went to see how he was doing.

"I knew you'd be awake. Can't sleep uh?"

"I have some thoughts in my mind." As he spoke a strange object flew in the distant sky. Almost going unnoticed. Midnight Edge caught a glimpse of the flying machine and it struck a chord in his heart. "Soon I will have to face my mistakes, my sister. I must talk to her. I was such a terrible brother."

"Well. After spending a whole afternoon with you I can tell you are not a bad brother. And you would make a great husband."

"Not now." Midnight Edge felt disturbed by the flying object which seemed to beckon him to an encounter he avoided for too long. "I don't feel confident enough to talk about that. We are not ready yet."

"Don't be silly. You're great. A mistake or two won't change that."

"We shall see sooner than I expected."

"How about one last kiss before I leave to Manehattan? It will be our last chance for a while."

Midnight edge remained silent and kissed Babs Seed. Expressing in a single silent kiss all the feelings he had in his heart, all the joy, pain, love, and worry, as well as other less notable emotions in one single kiss. The best kiss for the night, a kiss that told Babs Seed her loving stallion would be hoping to see her again.

The next day Midnight Edge was among the ponies who wished Babs Seed a good trip back home, masking his love for her with an expression which made him seem more like a mentor proud of her than a friend or a lover. Only Babs Seed could see past his serious frown, sensing his love and the sorrow for her departure, she spoke a few words for him as she boarded the train. – I will help you with that cutie mark thing soon. I promise. Don't do anything silly. And don't travel alone, it doesn't fit you.

From that moment and for a few more weeks they would remain in touch only through letters.

...

The tomb

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.

...

Confidence

Several weeks passed, Midnight Edge and Babs Seed kept in touch by sending letters until Babs Seed came up with a plan during the sixth week. Her plan was simple, but it required an accomplice. There were ponies who knew about their relationship already and they would help with utmost care and secrecy, the ponies who knew were the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Babs Seed's friends, who knew about her feelings for Midnight Edge even before he did and took just a few weeks to find out they were already dating. Babs Seed gave them a simple task from very early, create a cover for their relationship, somehow they understood why it was kept in secret and decided to do their best to help. With her friends as excuse she would travel every week to Ponyville for the weekend, and some of those weeks she would spend little time with her friends, spending the rest of the weekend with her lover. Her strategy was nearly perfect, and whatever holes it had would be covered by her extremely creative friends who had another reason to help, they noticed Midnight Edge was uneasy when he mentioned his cutie mark, and wanted to help with that. For a while the plan worked perfectly, but Midnight Edge was troubled by doubt from the beginning, to him the more participants the higher the chance of failure became, eventually they would get caught.

...

Finally after weeks of being followed by the Crusaders, Midnight Edge accepted their help. He was still reluctant since he had to tell them his story, but what he feared the most was facing his true fear, the loss of his freedom, being tied to fate like a puppet. Talking to those who helped ponies find their place was not precisely the best way to get rid of his shackles.

"To be honest, my cutie mark is not a problem. The problem is having a destiny."

"Why would that be a problem?" Scootaloo inquired not understanding his words. "Would you rather have no destiny at all?"

"No. It is not that. I don't want to be forced to do anything. I want to be free. I don't want a sword on my haunches to tell me who I am and what I should do. I don't want to be a one trick pony."

"I think you are getting the whole cutie mark thing wrong." Apple Bloom was quick to speak her mind over the matter. "Your cutie mark won't force you to do anything. It's part of who you are."

"Right! And it will never make you do something you don't like." Sweetie Belle continued where her friend left off. "It will tell you what you are good at, or what you like the most, but never make you be somepony you can't be.

"That's right! Your cutie mark won't change you!" Scootaloo tried to cheer him up.

"But that won't help me. Everypony has a place, everypony has a destiny, something they will do, something they are meant to do. They find a purpose in life and it marks them forever. I don't want that. I don't want a purpose, I don't need it. All I want is to be free. All I want is to be myself! – Midnight Edge could not understand those fillies. How could they feel such a thing was right. Being branded forever with a fate some sort of cosmic force picked for you."

"But that's what your cutie mark means. It represents those things that make you feel good. And you always feel good when you are yourself." Apple Bloom tried to reason with the stallion fearing he would break to tears. It would not be the first time she would see a grown up stallion cry over frustration because of a misunderstood cutie mark. "Some ponies get a cutie mark for being lazy or silly. It's not a good thing, but that's who they are."

"Some ponies don't understand what their cutie mark means. And that's why we help them." Scootaloo said with an earnest smile. "Because when they don't know what their cutie mark means they end up doing things that don't make them happy. So, what makes you happy?"

"I don't know. I really don't know. I mean, there are many things that make me feel happy. But none of them has anything to do with my cutie mark. I just know I hate that feeling of having a destiny chosen by something other than myself. I hate the idea of predestination, of being a character in a play or a book acting at the whims of some unseen force, some dude behind a typewriter or some tentacled monster under the sea."

Sweetie Belle gathered their friends to speak in private about their current case. A pony who hated his cutie mark because it made him feel destined to something. They had never seen such a thing before. All the ponies they helped seemed to want a destiny, this one wanted nothing. "How are we going to help him? He doesn't seem to want anything at all." Sweetie Belle looked at her friends expecting a suggestion.

Apple Bloom was the first to answer. "Well. He wants something. He wants to be free. He is scared of losing that because of his cutie mark. Maybe he thinks it means something he doesn't like." Apple Bloom knew what it felt like, to be insecure about one's cutie mark and wanting to get rid of it. But that was not going to happen, all ponies had a cutie mark, all ponies had a calling.

Scootaloo was not sure they could find an answer soon. "But he won't settle for anything at all. I don't think we can help him. We help ponies find their calling, but he keeps running from it." The solution seemed distant, it was a battle between a pony's calling and his fear of predestination.

After a few minutes of thoughtful contemplation they finally came up with an idea. "That's it! You are an adventurer, right?" Scootaloo asked knowing the answer.

"Yes. But that makes no difference. What does that mean? That is my destiny? I can't change my mind and become a baker? So what if I decide to become a baker? Would mister underwater tentacles pull my strings and call me back to the stage? That is not good enough for me. I could figure that myself."

"You are just like Trouble Shoes. You are taking your cutie mark wrong." Apple Bloom responded. "You think your cutie mark makes you do something. But it is what you do that makes your cutie mark be. You like going on adventures, when you are looking for new things, fighting timber wolves, or looking for answers, you feel happy. Don't you?"

"Yes. That doesn't mean I want to do that all the time. Sometimes I just want to relax and sit in a comfortable armchair to read a book or draw something."

"And we don't always help ponies with their cutie marks. We are just good at it." Sweetie Belle tried to lead him to find the answer by himself.

"I still don't get the point of having a destiny. Why would I want a cutie mark then? I don't need a destiny, I make my own destiny."

"We all do. That's what we are trying to tell you!" Apple Bloom was nearly losing her patience. Midnight Edge was reluctant to understand what he wanted to do. "Our cutie marks just remind us what we like to do the most. It never meant you can't do what you want. It just reminds you what you want to do. So what is it?"

"Being free? But that makes no sense? What would a sword have to do with that?"

Scootaloo decided to complete the puzzle since Midnight Edge was too focused on a single part to see the big picture. "Because you feel free when you go on adventures. You are an adventurer because you feel free when you do that, not because somepony else wants you to."

"Then why do I feel so troubled? Shouldn't I feel complete and happy with that? But I am always worried about that multiple eyed, plated, reality bending horror pulling the strings."

"Because you are over thinking." Scootaloo continued, they were not going to fail him even if that meant joining one of his dangerous travels to prove their point.

Of course they hoped that wouldn't happen, and probably it wouldn't. "You think too much about that reality changing whatever..."

Sweetie Belle interrupted comically "He said reality bending."

After being interrupted, Scootaloo continued. "Whatever. It makes no sense. And that's why you feel that. Because you don't trust in your cutie mark. So you don't trust in yourself, and you end up thinking about something that just isn't there. When did you start to fear that?"

Midnight Edge responded. "I don't want to go with the whole story. But I used to end up in fights with other ponies. And I felt it had to do with my cutie mark. I did not want that to be my destiny."

Apple Bloom interfered before he began to dwell into bitter memories. "But you didn't get your cutie mark that way, did you?"

"Not exactly." Midnight Edge continued with his story. "I got my cutie mark because I helped my friend Jacques. He got in trouble with some bullies, they stole something important to him. So I went and got his valuables back and then fought every single bully until I defeated their “boss”. Ever since then I began to think it was because I fought that I had that cutie mark. I learned a few spells that day too."

"Did you ever learn any spell for something other than fighting?" Sweetie belle asked, and the response seemed almost predictable to the Crusaders.

"Yes. I learned many spells from other things later. Finding stray cats, my first camping night, finding parts for a vehicle."

Apple Bloom interrupted him before he went on listing all his five years of adventures. "That's because adventurers do that. They embark on quests, everypony knows that. That's how you got your cutie mark. Not for fighting bullies, but because you went on a quest to help your friend. You never give up, adventurers never do. That's why it is a sword. Not because you pick fights, but because you never give up, and that makes you a good adventurer."

Midnight Edge was surprised, he still felt the weight of his fear, but it felt as if it was nothing but doubt now and not a certain looming horror a step away from becoming the realization of his whole life being just the tapping of keys of some unseen entity on a typewriter, now he felt more freedom, as if the writer was more of a witness narrating for himself and not creating his future. "Could it be that simple? It makes sense. It make more sense than anything else. I don't give up, I couldn't even give up on letting you get your way. And you are wrong. It is not because I am an adventurer. That is why I rejected that over and over again. It is because I don't give up. You helped me realize that, but I had to find it myself. Thank you. I think you have proven your words right by doing exactly what you feel you want to do and you are good at. I haven't found my place, but I don't need one. Because as long as I don't give up, that is who I am."

Midnight Edge left without even saying goodbye, completely lost in his own contemplation of a new future ahead without the weight of doubt on his back. "Did we help him?" Sweetie Belle looked confused, they reached their goal, but it felt as if somehow they didn't.

"Another satisfied customer Sweetie Belle. We helped him find his calling after all, not the way we expected, but we did it." Scootaloo smiled, a bit surprised by how simple the answer was. "Babs was right. He needed our help."

...

"All right Babs, I talked to your friends. I hope you keep up your promise and avoid involving them in this from now on." Midnight Edge approached to a table at Sugar Cube Corner. Babs Seed was eating a cupcake. They agreed to meet there after Midnight Edge spoke to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, he took longer than expected.

"Fine. I could use their help in an emergency, but I will find another way to keep my cover. We shouldn't need one. So, how did it go?"

"You were right. I did not expect them to help me, but they did it. I no longer feel that weight on me." His words displayed relief, and so did his face, he did not have his usual frown, it might return later, but not because of concern, not anymore. "I am finally free."

"I knew they would help you." Babs Seed took a bite from the cupcake and continued. "All that “all mighty monster controlling your life” thing was just your imagination. Now you won't worry about those silly things anymore."

Midnight Edge took a seat to her left and placed his hoof on hers. "It took four fillies to heal a wound not even experienced guides could ease. Your friends are truly good at helping others, and you are quite clever. Maybe you are “cut” for adventuring after all."

"Finally! Where are we going first?" Babs Seed was extremely excited, she waited so long to join Midnight Edge on a real adventure.

"Patience my dear, your education goes first."

Midnight Edge replied, expecting her to display a disappointed look, instead he saw a bright in her green eyes, she came up with an idea, soon she spoke her mind. "Right, school. Maybe you could go to Manehattan soon. You say you are an adventure magnet. So, if I can't go to wherever your next adventure is, you could take it to where I am." The idea seemed great, but for the moment they had planned a date, and Midnight Edge was in the mood to focus on the present.

...

Green is the new red

The bowling alley was the place they had chosen for their date. A place where they easily managed to express their affection without gaining attention. The ponies there minded their own business and generally did not pay attention to most things unless they disturbed their game, not to mention only a few ponies were there, the manager often banned ponies for almost no reason. In fact there were only a small group of ponies, most of them males, who were not banned from that place. Midnight Edge was quite fond of the game, he played a very similar game with one of his friends, the major difference was that the pins were made of stone, Babs Seed on the other hand was rather new to the game.

"I guess I should go first since I am more experienced."Midnight Edge held the ball with his hooves, he preferred to use them instead of magic since that improved his rather poor aim. "This thing is easy as pie." The stallion prepared to launch the ball standing in two hooves, holding the ball with his front hooves and calculating the proper throw, his muscles were relaxed, prepared to let the ball's weight lead the movement. He took two steps backwards and then moved forward swinging his right hoof, throwing the ball and letting his left hoof rest on the floor at the same time.

The ball rolled through the lane slowly deviating to the left. It impacted the pins leaving the seventh, sixth, and tenth pins intact, Midnight Edge began to calculate the best course of action to improve his score. "Second roll, second chance." Midnight Edge aimed for the sixth pin planning to achieve the spare, he threw the ball calmly and it rolled toward the channel, in the end it only reached the tenth pin, pushing the sixth without knocking it. "Again. At least I am consistent. Six-seven..."

"What does that mean?" Babs Seed inquired expecting an interesting story, one of those stories that made her fall in love with him, the answer was barely as impressive.

"I always end up with the same split in the first frame. Some of my friends called me Six-seven because of that. Not a big deal. Your turn."

Babs Seed grabbed a lighter ball, which still looked large compared to her small body. She approached Midnight Edge and smiled at him. Then, holding the ball with only one of her hooves, she approached the lane and released the ball. The throw was worse than expected since she managed to leave the fifth, seventh, and tenth pins intact. "What the...? Stupid pins!" Babs Seed was extremely annoyed. She was not an experienced player, but she played the game a couple of times in Manehattan, and she knew that was a bad split. Midnight Edge was holding back laughter and looked at her with the dumbest expression his often serious face could make. "What's so funny about that?"

The stallion spoke, keeping the same abnormal facial expression as he managed to speak without laughing. "It's a pun... That split... It's called Sour apple in some places... And you are... I can't even... The Roller must be in quite a humorous mood today." Midnight Edge spoke of the deity of probability in a distant land. "She wanted to make sure an Apple would land a Sour apple."

The filly took the ball again, this time determined to get a spare. "I'm not done yet Six-seven." As she released the ball, her hoof slipped and she fell with her rear end upward. Midnight Edge still stupefied by his own laughter and lightened in mood looked at her without moving, his mind enthralled by his own unusual lack of seriousness. His attention quickly shifted from the ball to her rear end, which, due to her short tail, revealed everything there was to see. As he realized it, his laughter ceased, giving in to a choked cough resulting from the surprise. Babs Seed remained on the floor, out of shame rather than injury or anything else, expecting to land a spare before recovering from the fall.

The sound of the pins tumbling and hitting rang in her ears, commanding her to stand proudly with a wide smile. "Look at that! I told you! I knew I could do it, the ball was light enough... What's with the stupid faces now?"

Midnight Edge was blushing, changing his deep purple face to a more reddish color, now looking away as if avoiding her. His shaky voice only made him look worse. "Did you see that? That dude landed a strike. He looks totally like a cool dude, he is even dressed like one." The blushing stallion tried to deviate the attention from his burning red face, he pointed at a rather skilled stallion and his friends. Babs Seed was not amused by his reply.

"Were you watching at all? Did you see my spare?" After Babs Seed's angry reply, Midnight Edge coughed again, this time knowing there was no way out, but also knowing there was no way he could answer without sounding rude.

"I... I saw it... Yes... Saw it all, it was nice, and... A pleasant frame indeed, looked soft... What the heck am I saying... A cool frame... Yes, cool... No time to waste." Babs Seed stared at him confused, his words made little sense, he was sweaty and blushing, and he avoided her eyes when he looked at her.

"First the bad pun and now this... Are you sure you didn't catch something weird in the jungle? You say you saw everything but that doesn't make sense and then you talk about soft... Wait..." Babs Seed let out a gasp and blushed. She finally understood why he was so nervous and why his words made no sense. Then she pushed her face against his chest. "Tell me nopony else saw that."

Midnight Edge looked at her and recovered his senses, trying to cheer her up he cracked a rather poor joke. "Come on Sour apple! You just got a bowling failure nickname! Welcome to the club! Don't let a stupid slip ruin that for you. Let's keep playing." His face was still red, but he tried to regain his usual quirky manner, a mix of serious and informal at the same time.

Their eyes crossed, they thought of the amusing coincidence of both having green eyes. For a moment they wondered what to say next, the date could fall apart with the wrong answer.

Babs Seed broke the silence, still smiling and pretending nothing happened. "You jerk! At least I don't have a bowling curse." Both laughed and pretended nothing happened, then went back to the game.

The group of stallions next to them paid little attention to them for a while, then one of them spoke. "Are they on a date? Isn't that weird man?"

The other stallion looked at the happy couple and spoke. "It's not big deal man. Let them be."

That day nopony was banned from the bowling alley.

...

After leaving the bowling alley, Babs Seed and Midnight Edge went to Sweet Apple Acres, to remember their first meeting. It had been a few months since then. Both went through many things together. At first they felt their relationship was a bit rushed. They just met a week before they started dating, yet both felt things went just fine. Midnight Edge's quirky personality made a good match with Babs Seed's imaginative adventurous style, at first he could not imagine having a hairdresser by his side in unexpected and even dangerous adventures, but now he started to feel he wanted her to see those fantastic places he had been to. They were not all dangerous after all. The memories of that day filled their minds.

"Why did you end up pursued by timber wolves? They rarely leave the forest."

"Let's say the Apples don't get along with timber wolves. Now they must hate you too."

"You could say I am almost part of the family. Rising the barn, fighting timber wolves, and I prefer apples over pears... Pears are a bit messy."

"One of your letters said Time Turner hates pears. Right?"

"Yup. Doc says they are squishy and always make your muzzle wet. He is right."

"Do you like them? I mean, Time Turner, Muffins, and Roseluck."

"They are fine, but they are not you. And I think Roseluck is still scared of me. Not that I am good with first impressions. “Did that unicorn talk?” “Are you still alive?” “Lash that thing. I want it for my collection”. At least in Equestria I am just weird, not a delicacy for some old hag."

As they spoke it began to rain. The pegasi scheduled rain, but both ponies forgot about it. They were enjoying that date too much to care about the weather. They found cover in the barn, which felt inviting and warm, the perfect place to wait for the rain to stop. None of them would admit it, but they wanted to stay away from the rest of the Apples for the moment.

"Alright, the rain will not be a major nuisance here. The barn is almost new, so it is in perfect condition, there will be no leaks. Well, this wet cape will just get in the way." Midnight Edge left his cape on the floor, it was rare to see him without his cape, he looked like a different stallion, bolder, and a bit larger. "I remember when the timber wolves tried to crush me with the old barn. I am glad I had a magic barrier. I wonder what will I learn next. I hope I learn how to pick locks. Treasure chests are not always unlocked."

"What was your first memory of me?" Babs Seed blushed as she asked the question. She wondered what was the first impression he got from her.

"Other than you running away from those things... Well, the first thing I remember of you were those green eyes looking at me with surprise. I wonder what were you thinking in that moment."

"I thought you were cool."

"Well. I am quite awesome. If I am allowed to say so myself."

"But you aren't that good at bowling." Babs Seed teased him bringing back memories of hours earlier at the bowling alley.

"And you are better than I expected Sour apple." Midnight Edge teased her back expecting her to get angry, instead she seemed embarrassed.

"About that. When I fell... What you saw... Did you like it?" She found it hard to speak about it, but both knew what she was talking about.

"Well. I think you are a bit young to talk about that. But I love you, so yes. Well I did not like to see you hurt or anything but, well, your posterior is rather pleasant and your... Why!? Why did I end up talking about that with a filly!? Maybe I should go out there and let the rain cool my brains."

"It's fine. We already saw that at school, and I talked about that with mom even before that... I... Sort of caught mom and dad..." The filly was even more embarrassed, but she tried to push Midnight Edge and make sure there was no way out, for him, or for her.

"Stop. I... I can't get harder... I mean, this can't get harder... I am getting the hell out of here if you say anything else about that. I should not be thinking that way about you."

"Why not? I am your fillyfriend. I know all about that." She looked at him in the eye, he was burning with desire, and so did she, but she was not consumed by fear or guilt, and she was the one to take the lead. "I'm scared you know? But I wanna do it. With you. Unless you don't want to."

"I... I can not lie to you. But you are just a filly. We can't do that. Well, maybe we can, but I don't think..." Midnight edge was interrupted before he could reject her advances, advances he wanted to make but refused to.

"I wanna have sex with you! There! I said it! I know you won't say it because you don't want to hurt me. But it's O.K. You won't hurt me, and nopony will find out."

Midnight Edge sighed, both in relief and acceptance. "Fine. But... You take the lead. I don't want to go too rough on you. To be honest none of us has any idea what we are doing beyond theory, but I am not the one who is getting something inside."

"Stop talking and just lay on the hay. I think I might know a bit better what to do. I saw mom doing just that."

Midnight Edge complied with her request, he held back his desire to just let his passion burn and take her, all for the sake of her safety. The filly just stood there thinking, looking at the shaft, it was pretty much average, but for a filly her size it seemed rather large. She hesitated and then placed her small body on top of her lover. He tried to make her change their mind right before she attempted to ride it. "Look... It is not too late to change your min..." Before he finished she placed her hoof on his mouth and then inserted the member inside her privates.

The feeling was painful at first, she felt something break inside her, but she was not bleeding, she knew what was going on, she remembered her classes quite well, it had not been so long since they had their first class on that topic and ever since then she hoped for that moment. She stopped and saw both connected, she could not take it all inside her, but most of the pulsing phallus was inside. She began to move her hips slowly taking as much of her beloved stallion's penis she could fit inside her intimate parts. None of them spoke, they just looked at each other, still excited.

As Babs Seed continued, Midnight Edge felt the weight of her tiny body and her slit tightening the more she moved, it was just perfect, they felt as one, their heart beats almost in synchrony, following the rhythm of their movement. Midnight Edge just hoped she was a bit larger so they could share a kiss as they went on. Instead they conformed with holding their hooves together. Everything was perfect. Babs Seed leaned against Midnight Edge's body keeping his shaft inside her, moving her hips with little to no conscious action, her panting and sighing had grown into moaning, which Midnight Edge found adorable and arousing. He brushed her mane with his right hoof, which he held more meaningful than the left, she was well aware of that and it elicited a reaction, her insides tightened even more as her brushed her mane, tears of joy ran down her face. Both were enraptured in a moment of perfect ecstasy.

Eventually Midnight edge took the lead, carefully placing her on the hay and pushing against her body, he never attempted to make her take his member all the way to it's base knowing that could be not possible, or at least it could be painful. Instead he moved listening to her breath and moans timing his movement with the involuntary movement of her hips, for that night they were as one, together in body and soul, it all ended with her on top, and both reaching climax at the same time.

"Sweet Celestia!" Two voices screamed in unison, but none of them was that of a stallion. Both were from mares of the Apple bloodline. Applejack entered in the barn as soon as the couple reached their orgasm, screaming in shock as Midnight Edge, lost in pleasure, released his essence inside Babs Seed's barely ripening body.

Babs Seed did not notice her cousin standing there, baffled, torn between horror, anger, disgust, and an abnormal feeling of pride she would rather not even mention. Not that she wouldn't feel the same if she found her brother, or any other older relative with anypony, except for the anger of course. Babs Seed laid on top of Midnight Edge resting, both with their eyes closed, but the perfect moment was already shattered, it all happened so quickly, as soon as they opened their eyes, Babs Seed stared, still confused and lost in ecstasy, at her cousin, and Midnight Edge just released an expletive from far away lands. "Fuck the gods!"

...

Shotgun wedding ahead

After recovering their senses, the three stood in awkward silence. Applejack wondered what would be the proper course of action, Midnight Edge was scared, fearing the possible outcomes, and Babs Seed was merely ashamed. Finally Applejack broke the silence.

"What in all of Equestria is going on?W She was angry and concerned, she did not know what to do, and only wanted to inflict pain upon the stallion before her.

"I was... It was not his fault!" Babs Seed responded realizing Midnight Edge was in trouble.

"Hold on sugar cube. He should be worried, not you."

Midnight Edge spoke not in his defense, but to protect the one he loved the most. "It was her idea, but I take responsibility for this. I did nothing to stop her. I allowed this to happen. If anypony deserves punishment, that would be me."

"Oh! I wish it could be so easy. I would buck you in the face like an apple tree. But I think somepony else should handle this."

Applejack decided it was Granny Smith who should decide their fate, she was the head of the family after all, and therefore the highest authority. If there was somepony Midnight Edge should beg for mercy, it was her. Of course Applejack and Big McIntosh had voice on the matter, but it was the old mare who would dictate the fate of the couple.

...

The three ponies were inside the house, speaking as if it was some sort of trial. Applejack explained the situation first, and nopony seemed pleased with it, no matter what version of the events was said, the facts were clear, Midnight Edge had sex with Babs Seed, and she was much younger than him. Big McIntosh was not only angry, but actually enraged, holding back his desire to pummel the green eyed unicorn, Applejack was still shocked, and Granny Smith did not seem pleased, however she did not display any anger, she remained silent, thinking of a way to handle the issue.

"What he did was wrong!" Applejack spoke filled with rage. "We should call the royal guard and let him rot in a dungeon! And you little miss. Your parents will not like this.W

"Eyup!" The big red stallion responded, he was a pony of few words as usual.

"I know what I have done might be held as immoral. leave her out of this. I will carry the burden of our actions. She should not be shamed any further for my mistake."

"Um... Can I say something?" Babs Seed spoke scared, feeling things would end badly for her beloved stallion.

"No sugar cube." Applejack responded placing a hoof on the filly's mouth, then looked at Midnight Edge. "You took advantage of this little filly! Were you thinking there would be no consequences? Were you thinking nopony would find out?"

Midnight Edge looked at Babs Seed, his eyes showing regret, knowing his acts, or rather his lack of action, led to an unfortunate end for their relationship. "What I did... I had no regard for consequences." His mind took a turn in a different direction. In his mind he heard his own voice, Are you giving up now? Is that how it should end? Do you want this? Do you want this for her? He was scolded by his own mind, he could see both devil and angel on his shoulder. The devil rudely insulting him, compelling him to take the filly and run away, planeswalk if necessary, the angel ordering him to protect her, but without giving up on their love, begging him to find a way to emerge victorious and benefit the little filly. Both sides agreed on something, no matter how wrong or immoral their love could be, it was worth fighting for it. "And I knew somepony would find out. But I decided to let her take the lead because I love her. I would have stopped if she asked me to do so, in that moment I willingly followed her command and the passion in my heart."

Applejack was angry, but she could not detect any deception in the words spoken by the stallion. "There is something wrong with you, but I will let Granny Smith decide what to do. I want to leave you in a cell and throw the key away, she knows better than I about the laws and traditions of Equestria."

"Enough!" Babs Seed was angry, she was tired of feeling so powerless, as if she had no saying over her own fate. "I won't let him take blame for that! It was my idea. And for all I know, I knew what I was doing better than him." Midnight Edge blushed in shame as the fact that before that moment his knowledge on sex was merely theoretical and he had the sexual experience of a mango, or even less, hit him in the face. "I might be young, but I am old enough to know about all those things. He didn't take advantage of me, he just did what we both wanted to do."

"Babs, don't say such things. I already said I will take responsibility for my acts. I will not give up on our love, but first I must face the consequences."

"And you will." The Apple family matriarch spoke, she did not seem angry. "Back when I was younger this was common, but not anymore. I hope this is no surprise to you." She looked at Applejack and Big McIntosh. "You will do as the law and tradition say. Do you understand colt?"

"Yes ma'am. – Midnight Edge spoke, expecting a severe punishment, maybe not a horrible one, but still a form of penitence." I shall atone for my mistakes. All I hope is for the love Babs Seed and I share to be preserved.

"Enough of that nonsense." The old mare spoke in a not so solemn tone. "You will follow our tradition and marry my granddaughter."

"What?" Everypony in that room replied in surprise.

"But she is too young. She can't get married!" Applejack opposed the idea, wondering if her grandmother had grown senile.

"Eyup." The red stallion responded in shock.

"Of course they won't marry now." The old mare smiled, she would have laughed if the situation was not so serious. "But when she gets older, they must marry. And look at me young stallion. If you try to run away or abandon her, you will have all the apple family after your hide." She spoke hoping her warning would never come true.

"I understand. But what about the law? And what about her parents?"

"I'll handle that. I don't know how they would take it if it comes from somepony else." The head of the family knew it would not be easy to handle, and probably she would be vague when delivering the news.

"I think my sister shouldn't find out for now." Babs Seed hoped to keep such information away from her extremely protective sister.

It was settled. Midnight Edge was meant to marry Babs Seed once she reached adulthood, and until then if the relationship ended he would be the one in trouble. There was also the legal part. As far as he knew the law was in his favor, but that could change, and he was at disadvantage. The next day he would have an audience with Princess Twilight Sparkle to settle the dispute, that was Applejack's plan. As he wrote in his journal the final words for that day were a bittersweet reminder of the affair. A shotgun wedding doesn't seem that bad.

...

Twilight Sparkle was requested to handle the matter. When Applejack informed her of the situation she wrote a letter to Princess Celestia, this time it was her, and not spike, who wrote the letter, she could not allow such information to spread further. Celestia's reply was not what she expected. To Celestia age was less relevant than to everypony else, and her reply made it clear, there were no laws for, or against it, and so Celestia commanded Twilight Sparkle to handle it herself. It would be the first legal case she would handle. And so she was stuck in a meeting with two of her friends, and a filly, as the involved parties.

"Your case is quite unusual indeed." Twilight Sparkle kept the regal manner of a judge. "I had to read several legal cases to find a precedent and make a decision. But I found one."

"Can we cut the charade?" Midnight Edge seemed cocky and angry now, he wanted to get over with the situation before it escalated even further. "We should go to the part where both of you admit you hate me and want me dead so you found a precedent to justify my execution or something and now I must run away against the best of my interests and the promise I made to Granny Smith."

"Except we won't." Twilight Sparkle responded. "It is true that I feel upset about what you did, and so does Applejack, but we don't hate you. And the precedent is actually in your favor."

"It is?" Applejack responded, still upset about the events of the last night. "I don't hate him, but I really think he should be in jail or something."

"I would rather make sure it was in favor of Babs rather than myself." Midnight Edge changed his tone, expressing regret for his previous statement.

"It is in favor of both. And actually it has to do with the Apples. The record says Applejack's grand uncle had an affair with a filly who had obtained her cutie mark just weeks before they made it public. While the law no longer allows foals to get married, at the time it did, and they got married. The law was changed years later, but only the part about marriage." Twilight Sparkle had mixed feelings about the case, but it was clear there was no crime in this case.

"Wait! You mean he did nothing wrong!" Applejack was surprised.

"Not yet. But it's just as Granny Smith says. Midnight Edge has an obligation by law to marry Babs Seed once she reaches adulthood. If he refuses, or otherwise the relationship ends before, or after she reaches adulthood, he will face a jail sentence of fifty years." Due to her knowledge of the law Twilight Sparkle did not hold Midnight Edge's behavior in such a negative light as Applejack, and she was trying to convince her friend of listening to her grandmother's judgment and calm down.

"Fifty years in jail or staying in a long term relationship with the first individual I ever felt love in such a way for life... Sounds pretty great to me. There is only one logical choice of course, but it is a great choice. It's like being told I must chose between drinking hemlock extract or a milkshake."

"Not so fast. I don't think you should go away with just a slap on the hoof." Applejack was no longer that angry, but she was wary about him. She knew if he got away with it that night at the barn would not be the only night he would do that with her cousin

"And he won't. Babs... Could you leave for a minute. I will talk to you later, in private." Twilight Sparkle knew the law better than anypony else and would make sure everypony would uphold the law, it was her duty as an authority figure, but the next part was something Babs Seed should not know.

"Ugh. Fine." Babs Seed pecked Midnight Edge on the cheek and left the room.

"You know there will be consequences if we find out you took advantage of that filly, don't you?" Twilight Sparkle sounded more serious. "I believe in your words when you say you love her, but the law states that any sign of abuse means you will be charged as a criminal."

Midnight Edge sighed, knowing this was far from over, but also aware of the fact that his actions were not against the law. "I expected so. But I feel no concern about that. In fact I am glad it came to this." The two mares looked at him with surprise on their faces as he continued. "We were getting tired of hiding our relationship, and Babs was getting impatient, we even tried to slip it in front of everypony, to spread the rumor in order to make it public. In fact some ponies were aware of it, but did not seem to care."

"I know." Twilight Sparkle let out a sigh as she continued. "Babs Seed made some questions about it in the past, and I knew you spent a lot of time together back in the Crystal Empire, Babs also made some unusual questions about love to Cadence, and Thorax acted strangely when you were around. I imagined it could be because of something like this."

"Go easy on her." Midnight Edge made an unexpected request. "I know you will interrogate Babs to make sure I did nothing that could harm her. I don't know whether you will assume I am guilty or not, and I don't know what will be your predisposition about it. But I want you to go easy on her. If I did something wrong it was all my fault, don't make her feel bad about it."

There was silence in the room. Applejack and Twilight Sparkle did not expect him to act like that. Normally when ponies got in trouble, specially on trial, they would try to cover themselves and seek an easy way out. Midnight Edge was more concerned about Babs Seed instead, and seemed willing to accept the consequence of his acts. He also seemed earnest, which was made apparent because he was not precisely a good liar whenever he lied to those he liked. With his foes he was an expert in deception and manipulation, but with his friends any lie was made evident quite fast. His friends were not aware of such weakness, but that was only because he preferred to not even bother with lies, and so he did this time. He was telling the truth, he cared deeply about Babs Seed and loved her more than anything in the world. It was impossible for him to cause any harm to her or take advantage of her, at least intentionally.

After the pause, Midnight Edge continued. "I should leave now. I assume there are things you two should talk in private, and then you might want to have a talk with Babs... A date in the bowling alley was not a good idea after all. If you need me, I will be in my tower." Midnight Edge left the castle still uneasy but with hope in his heart. I tried my best. Now I let the dice roll and pray for a twenty. The words were on his mind.

"Should we let him go just like that?" Applejack was not pleased, she was no longer as angry as the night before, but still wanted to see the case go to an end before the stallion walked away.

"He won't run away Applejack."

"How do you know?"

"Because he would have done so already if he wanted to." Twilight Sparkle was right, ever since he was caught, Midnight Edge had many chances to planeswalk away and not face the consequences of his acts, and he considered doing so, but Babs Seed meant so much to him he could not leave her behind, and he did not feel like running away with her.

...

Main quest progression

Life went on, as time passed most ponies began to lose interest in the atypical affair and moved on to more juicy stories, eventually it was as if it never happened.

Granny Smith informed Babs Seed's parents about their daughter's relationship, carefully omitting some details to keep them calm. All they knew was that their daughter was dating an older pony who lived in Ponyville and Granny Smith approved him. The old mare's authority was enough to calm them, they considered her wise, and if the Apples had no problem with that pony dating Babs Seed, they would not object, the Apples knew what was best for the Apples.

Eventually summer gave in to autumn. Midnight Edge's research kept on turning few results, reaching the point in which it was no longer possible for him to continue due to his lack of knowledge in the field All he could find was historical evidence of other cutie marks similar to his own, but they were taken for granted, ponies did not seem to care much about their origins. His research managed to gain the attention of some ponies, including Starlight Glimmer, who eventually agreed to help him and continued once he could no longer go on. She confided him she knew a few spells which had effect on cutie marks, and her knowledge could help them find out more about the nature of cutie marks. He was no longer bound to his investigation, now somepony else took the lead, but it was not time for him to leave, not yet, there were some unfinished matters left, and so he moved on to the next thing on his list.

...

Babs Seed was taking the train back to Manehattan. Her visits to Ponyville were less frequent now, mostly because Applejack pushed her to visit less often after the charade fell. Applejack and Big McIntosh took longer to accept their relationship, and so concessions were made on both sides until there was less friction. It would take a while before she went to Ponyville again, but that didn't mean she would not see Midnight Edge soon, in fact he was taking the train with her. He decided to visit Manehattan and stay there for a while, Applejack approved as long as he had a place to stay. But his visit was not a mere sentimental whim, he intended to restock on meat, there were few places where a pony could buy meat in Equestria, and one of them was in Manehattan, the other was in Canterlot, and Midnight Edge had no plans to go back there soon.

Midnight Edge was looking out the window, contemplating his plans and enjoying the scenery. Babs Seed brought him back to the present with her words. – What are you thinking about?

"Not much, just wondering what should I buy once I am there, where to stay, and where to sell stuff. Filthy Rich buys many common jewels I brought from distant lands, but I bet there are ponies who would pay more for them in Manehattan."

"Did you sell him a black star hairpin?"

"The one made of jet black metal? Do you want one? I have like a dozen of those"

"Not really. Diamond Tiara was wearing one. Her dad said they were rare." Babs Seed giggled, knowing they were not as rare as her friend expected.

"In Equestria they are quite rare, but where they came from they are very common, every girl has at least one of those. But this one," Midnight edge released a hairpin from his magical crystal, it was made of a strange red metal and had a green leaf embedded in it. "This one is unique, a friend of mine crafted it and gave it to me."

"Why would you want a hairpin? Isn't it a bit too girly for you?"

Midnight Edge approached and put the hairpin on the filly's mane, then smiled and answered her question. "Yes, it is too girly for me, but it looks just great on you. My friend told me someday I would meet the right girl, and I should give her that hairpin. Keep it."

"I'm not that much into cute stuff, but it looks just fine. Thank you!" Babs Seed got of her seat and hugged Midnight Edge, often she wondered why he would never give any gifts to her, now she knew it was because he wanted to give her something meaningful and not just some trinket, that hairpin was not just any hairpin, it was meant for her.

...

The train arrived at the station on time. Babs Seed's sister, Sunflower, was waiting for her, a pink mare with blonde hair and a cutie mark matching her name. Midnight Edge behaved cautious before her, while he did not actively conceal his relationship with Babs Seed, he made sure to make it seem less serious. For him, nothing good could come from revealing they were engaged under Granny Smith's command. The introduction turned out to be rather awkward.

"Isn't he a bit old for you?"

"Come on sister! You said it was not big deal when I told you."

"I just... Didn't expect him to be that old..."

"He's not much older than you."

Midnight Edge looked with an awkward face, he feared Sunflower's objections could end up in a bigger challenge than Big McIntosh and Applejack. Attempting to regain his often serious expression he spoke with a monotone voice which could turn into nervous laughter without warning. "Babs refused to take “no” for an answer. She is full of determination, and quite clever. She could captivate anypony's heart."

"And of all the ponies she could find, she picked the weird one." Sunflower stated wondering why her sister would fall in love with such an awkward stallion.

"Hey! He is just nervous. He's not used to big cities."

Midnight Edge finally got over his concerns once he noticed Babs Seed kept on supporting him before her sister. The filly's faith in their love felt comforting. Now less stressed, the green eyed stallion managed to act naturally, ready to take on a new challenge, earning Sunflower's trust.

"I have been to some big cities before, larger than this one, however I am not fond of their bustle. Yet my stress was not related to my discomfort, I was overwhelmed by the situation at hand. Meeting my beloved's immediate family for the first time proved to be more stressful than expected."

Babs Seed giggled, noticing how the very same stallion who was held as a war veteran in distant lands found his weakness in something as simple as a first meeting. Sunflower on the other hand was not amused with his statement, it was not because she considered him a bad stallion, but because his manners seemed strange to her. "Is he always that weird?"

Midnight Edge took Sunflower's remark as an opening, a perfect chance to make a display of confidence, as well as a proper exit, he would rather stay with Babs Seed for a little longer, but he needed a place to stay, and the sooner he found one the lower his chances of spending his night as a homeless became. "Oh! I am actually weirder! But there is no much time for awkward introductions. I must find a proper place to stay for the night, I would rather not spend the night as a filthy hobo. I must go. Time is of essence. Farewell my love, I will miss your presence... Oh, and nice to meet you Sunflower, see you later dude!" Midnight Edge left with a wide smile as he walked away heading to the hotel district.

"How did you fall in love with him?"

"You'll get used to him sis. He's just messing with you."

Babs Seed and Sunflower talked about Midnight Edge on their way back home. Sunflower was not sure he was the right pony for her sister, but she trusted Babs Seed and knew she could handle herself quite well in difficult situations. It would take a while before Sunflower grew used to her sister's relationship, but for now she was not that concerned.

...

The hotel room was considerably more comfortable than expected, there was a bed with mints under the pillows, a nightstand with a lamp on it, a small desk with a matching chair, and a closet. The dim evening light came through the window, Midnight Edge left his cape on the chair and laid on the bed, taking the mints under the pillows. The wrapper on the mints had a name written on it, Golden Horseshoe, the hotel's name, it was a cheap rustic hotel which went mostly ignored by most ponies in the hotel district, most of it's profits came from gentlecolt clubs which organized meetings there, there was a meeting planned for that very same night.

A faint beeping sound came from Midnight Edge's gem, getting stronger as time passed, Midnight Edge held the gem with his hoof and released a small golden artifact. The object looked like a small metal flower with a cage like structure in the middle, the cage had three crystals, a red one composing its underside, a green crystal suspended inside of it, and a blue crystal on top of it. Midnight Edge spun the petals to the right and a beam of white light passed through the three crystals, forming an ethereal screen above the artifact.

An alien creature was shown on the screen. It's face was similar to that of the species known as humans, but with horns on it's forehead and scales on it, the face had slender male features and a long ponytail was visible, it was a young reptile like man, the signal was a real time holographic communication, and the reptilian being looked glad to see Midnight Edge on the other side. "Hello pony dude! How are things going! Are you done with your business there? The team is planning to explore a new plane and we wanted to invite you to join us."

"Riv! Long time no see. Yours is always a pleasant face to see. I am not done with my mission, right now I am sort of taking a break."

"So, you are not coming?"

"Not yet, but maybe I will join you later. Well... Maybe."

"Is there something wrong? Don't tell me you want to stay. You said there was nothing for you there anymore."

"I intend to continue traveling, the thrill of adventure calls my name, but I want to stay a little longer. Remember that hairpin?"

"The one made of rubica ore? Greth crafted it right?"

"Yeah, that one. I finally found it's rightful owner."

"A pony? I always thought you would end up with the Kalian nurse. You said she was cute. Well, she is pretty for a lizard face."

"I guess I am not into scales. How is she doing by the way?"

"She is still helping her people with the restoration project. The aftermath of the war revealed the best, and the worst of her people."

"I guessed so. Their loss was great."

"I know I wasn't there during the war, but I can imagine what it was like."

"I saw her..."

"Did you call her? How? I didn't give her a void communicator."

"No, I had a vision, but not through meditation, it was this magical mirror."

"Oh, you can tell me once you join us, I bet you won't miss the best part. Now tell me. How is she? The mare. Do you have pictures?"

The conversation went on for a few hours. Riv was surprised to know Midnight Edge fell in love with a pony younger than him, especially after the execution he once mentioned. The two friends ended the conversation expecting to meet again face to face soon.

...

Urban motion

The first two days after Midnight Edge's arrival to Manehattan were mostly uneventful, he spent those two days making a mental map leading to certain points of interests, museums, bakeries, parks, and any other place he considered relevant enough. Of course there was no point on locating everything, the city was vast, too vast for him to explore completely, he just marked some specific places near Golden Horseshoe, Babs Seed's house, and Steel Arm's Meats, the only place in Manehattan where a pony could buy meat. Once known as Bernard's Smoked Meats, the place was now managed by Steel Arm, a minotaur who was the previous owner's right hand. That previous owner was Bernard, a griffin who was living in retirement away from Manehattan. Midnight Edge found the whole story fascinating and considered that place was not just any meat deli, but an important part of Manehattan, even though there were few customers.

With the map in his mind, and a physical map scribbled on his journal, Midnight Edge was ready to set in motion his plans. Restocking on meat, mostly cured, fermented and smoked meats since they lasted longer and did not require cooking. Going on dates with Babs Seed, which included visiting an arcade venue near her house. Earning Sunflower's respect and acceptance, which was only possible by interacting with her in an honest manner. Those were his objectives, and knowing his way around the city would make it easier.

...

It was a calm afternoon, Babs Seed was on her way back home from school, the place was a four story condominium building, a common middle class house in Manehattan, her family lived in the third floor. Often nothing relevant happened in that neighborhood, that day was different, once she reached the building she saw a familiar face, Midnight Edge was standing there, waiting patiently for her arrival. She gave him her address on their way to Manehattan. He seemed nervous, she grew used to guess how he felt even when he tried to hide it with his frown.

"Did you miss me, or should I leave for a few weeks?" He spoke as he waved his hoof.

Babs Seed sprinted toward the entrance and greeted him with a kiss. "Nice to see you too. I hope I didn't make you wait."

"To be honest I had no idea when you would return from school, I guess I timed it right."

"Why didn't you ask me? You could walk with me to my place if you wanted to".

"I have been a bit busy with this." Midnight Edge showed her his map, he could read it with little effort, but to her those scribbles and words made no sense, it was just a bunch of lines and some names on paper.

"What's that supposed to be?"

"A map of sorts. I marked every important place I will visit. See that red spot over there? That's your house." Midnight Edge pointed at a small red spot surrounded by black lines with his hoof.

"You look tired. Is everything O.K.?"

"Well... I actually rang the doorbell, but your sister won't let me in. She said I should wait for you here. She must hate me."

"She'll get used to you. I promise. She'll have to let you in now anyway. Your mane looks like it could use a bit of help. Where have you been?" She looked at his mane, it was rather unkempt, ever since his last adventure he would just let it grow unchecked, and now it seemed it reached it's limit.

"Let's just say I managed to sneak in a gentlecolt club party and my mane could not keep up the pace."

"Well, let's go. I'll fix your mane." Babs Seed opened the entrance door and pulled Midnight Edge in, he was still surprised at the uncanny might earth ponies had, a filly was strong enough to pull him without effort, and he knew some earth ponies even smashed rocks with their bare hooves.

...

Babs Seed's bedroom was a rather common bedroom for a filly, adorned with simple yet pretty furniture, a comfortable bed, a nightstand, a chest of drawers, there were three things that seemed more relevant than the rest, skating equipment, a small television connected to a video game console, which reminded Midnight Edge video games were in a rather early stage in Equestria, and an orderly dressing table with a rather large mirror. The air in the room had a pleasant smell, a combination of hair products and a sweet scent of undetermined origin, it reminded Midnight Edge of his sister, it was the room of a girl who balanced girly and tomboyish traits.

Babs Seed smiled and took a brush and a pair of scissors. "Well. How would you like me to style your mane?"

"I trust you will come with a fitting style, just do your best."

"You can sit there." Babs Seed looked at the small stool in front of the dressing table, it was meant to fit a filly, but it was solid enough for a large stallion to sit on it without breaking. "It's a bit small, but sturdy, it can take you on without breaking." Babs Seed winked after her statement, it was surprising to see her mastering innuendo in such way, maybe it was an urban filly thing.

Midnight Edge blushed, understanding the meaning of her words, he approached, and sat on the stool. It felt firm, and seemed to be made of quality wood, it was completely different to the furniture he crafted, his work was crude, and mostly made of scavenged materials. He wondered how could such a fancy filly enjoy his presence in her bedroom, not so long ago he was covered in wounds and spider silk, and now he was in a filly's bedroom.

Babs Seed began to brush his mane, her gentle touch felt like salve in a sore wound, his mane was in such a disastrous state, it needed the touch of a professional. Babs Seed spoke in a tender and caring tone. "Did you miss me sweetheart?" Her words were not directed at Midnight Edge, but at his mane, the stallion found it amusing, it was meant to be humorous, but it was as if she deeply cared about his mane, she was a different filly while she worked on that, she was not as rough as usual.

"Come on. You will make me feel jealous, it feels as if you just fell in love with my mane."

"It needs a lot of TLC right now. Did you burn it or something?"

"TLC? What does that mean? I am unfamiliar with the term, is that some sort of chemical."

Babs Seed giggled, sometimes she felt Midnight Edge was an actual alien and not a pony, he would often use unusual mannerisms and found many common expressions unfamiliar. "Don't be silly. It means tender loving care. Seriously, what did you do? It's worse than I thought."

"Let's say gentlecolt parties are not as fancy as they are messy."

Babs Seed went on cutting the most damaged parts and carefully brushing the teal colored mane, she stopped once she noticed a knot covered in unidentified filth. "Aw! Come on! I can save this, but not here. Follow me." Babs Seed left the room with Midnight Edge following her and entered the bathroom, it was a common bathroom, bathtub with a flexible shower head, sink, toilet, nothing extraordinary, there was a faint smell of soap, shampoo, and hair conditioner.

Midnight Edge held the bottle of hair conditioner, levitating it with his magic, and began to read the label. "Cool. I need one of these... It has a rather pleasant smell."

"Don't drink it." Babs Seed spoke with a wide smile.

"What? I was not going to drink it. I just said it smells good, like fruits." In fact Midnight Edge wondered what it tasted like, he was just ashamed of admitting it.

"You sound like you could take a sip as soon as I look away."

"No, I wouldn't..."

"Wait here. I won't take long. Just want to make sure of something." Babs Seed left the bathroom and looked for Sunflower, her parents were usually away, and she knew they would not be around that day, but she wanted to make sure her sister would be distracted, she would rather avoid a misunderstanding.

...

The young filly walked through the hallway and checked her sister's bedroom, she saw her sister there, she fell asleep listening to some pop singer, Sapphire Shores, music came from one of her headphones which was moved slightly away from her ear. The nap probably would take long enough. Babs Seed walked back to the bathroom and locked the door.

"I must wash your mane first to fix it. It's so messy I'm starting to think you woke up in a dumpster." Babs Seed wondered what kind of party her beloved stallion got into.

"Not exactly, it was not that smelly, and certainly safe, let's just say it had something to do with food."

"How about a bath? You know... Together."

"I feel showers are more romantic but... Wait! No! No way! Your sister is here and I don't want to go through the whole “The Princess is O.K. with it.” routine."

"It's fine. It'll be just a bath. And my sister is asleep, so there shouldn't be any misunderstandings."

"You might want just a bath, but ever since I entered your bedroom I began to feel like doing lewd things to you. Maybe spanking your rump and rubbing your..."

"Stop there! I'm just a filly." Babs Seed winked with a grin on her face. She had no lewd intentions, but she knew Midnight Edge would start to use his silver tongue to arouse her if she allowed it.

"I even wondered what kind of underwear you keep in those drawers. Wait... I remembered ponies are often naked... I guess foreign customs rub on me quite often."

"Well. I bought a pair of panties once. I wanted to know how they feel. It was weird."

"I am aware some ponies wear lingerie and dresses. But where did you get panties your size?" Midnight Edge was curious, in his travels he saw so many things he ended up developing some fetishes which were uncommon among ponies, including an underwear fetish.

"One of my classmates has a sister who works at a boutique. She wanted to sell her own designs, but only my classmate supports her. Let's say her designs are not normal. Those ponies are a bit weird..." The story was true, she found out about her classmate's weird sister because her classmate wore long dresses to hide the lingerie she wore. Both were curious of how underwear felt like, and her classmate's sister was willing to calm their curiosity.

"You mean lingerie for fillies? I would love to see that."

"Not now. We still have a mane emergency. Get in that tub and let me fix your mane. And be careful with your..." Babs Seed looked at Midnigth Edge's crotch, he got aroused by their conversation. She had no intention of doing anything erotic at all in that moment. Midnight Edge's mane made her too uneasy to feel aroused, she was too focused on fixing it, the bath was too much of a distraction already.

"I guess this would normally be more awkward. Well, I can think of something that would certainly keep me distracted from those thoughts. Last night's events would certainly end it."

"Just a few days alone and you end up covered in... Seriously. What the heck is that?"

"Custard... Chocolate... Probably ketchup... And poof, I am no longer turned on. Could we take a shower instead? I feel it's more romantic... Almost like kissing under the rain."

"Fine, but you'll have to get the shower head ready. I'm too short."

"Do you use it for..."

"Whatever you're thinking about go back to the ketchup custard thing."

"But I want to think of you with that shower head shooting water streams on your..."

Babs Seed blushed, she was flustered by Midnight Edge's brash behavior. "Your willy gets in the way. Focus on that party! I'm not doing anything sexy with your mane like that."

"Sorry. I got carried away."

"It's O.K. There may be plenty of time for that later."

Babs Seed closed the shower door and Midnight Edge placed the shower head in its holder, Babs Seed opened the faucet and water began to stream down. "Sit down and stay put O.K.? I can handle this."

"Come on sweetheart, I am older than you, I can wash my own mane."

"And let you miss one of those dirty knots? No way! I'm washing it."

Babs Seed carefully cleaned and loosened the knots with her hooves. Her gentle touch untangled the stallion's mane, the teal strands looked almost silvery on their own, and they felt unexpectedly silky considering their poor condition, lumps of the unpleasant mixture fell and disintegrated as they reached the bathtub floor. Ash she washed Midnight Edge's mane she began to imagine the shape of her next work, a mane good enough for an adventurer. Once she was done she stopped and hugged the stallion with her small hooves, she just stood there holding him from behind. "Midnight... You were right... This feels more romantic."

Midnight Edge turned around to look at Babs Seed in the eye and both kissed, then moved on to wash each other, it was a romantic and intimate, yet not erotic shower, even though they touched each other in intimate places, they did not go too far. They gently caressed and kissed while soap and shampoo streamed down their manes and fur. For a few seconds they hoped they could stay a bit longer like that, but Babs Seed still had work to do

...

The bathroom door opened, releasing steam clouds upward, the couple walked out, with Babs Seed on the front, alert to any sign of witnesses, while nothing serious happened there, she would rather not end up in another situation like that at Sweet Apple Acres. Once she made sure the path was clear, both sprinted toward her bedroom.

Midnight Edge sat on the stool again, this time his mane looked different, it was no longer messy, instead it fell straight on his hide, each teal strand displaying a silvery shine, forming together a beautiful blue layer. Babs Seed still carried the shape she envisioned earlier, with it she began to shape the mane into a new shape, cutting it into a more uniform order, brushing it and observing its natural flow, after a few minutes she completed her work. "Do you like it?"

Midnight Edge's new style was more fitting. It was no longer the disorderly tangled accident result of a party. In it's place was a long flowing mane arranged in a high half ponytail, the half ponytail was tied with a dark red ribbon which Babs Seed intended to use on a customer someday, and the rest of his mane flowed straight and free. It felt orderly yet bold, the style of an adventurer, as he looked at it he began to imagine how it would look in action. "It's perfect... Do you have something like dunno, a stick, a baseball bat, something I could hold like a sword? I feel like striking a pose!"

Babs Seed handed him a small wooden sword prop she used in a theater play, she was not sure that would be good enough, but as soon as he laid his eyes on the rather pathetic prop he smiled.

Midnight Edge stood holding the sword with his magic in a defensive position, looking forward with a brave smile, his hoofs positioned ready to leap into battle, he looked at his reflection on the mirror, it was pleasing. "It's awesome! You are a natural with this!" He felt ready to take on any challenge now.

The door opened and Sunflower came in, the scene she saw was rather humorous, a grown up stallion holding a tiny wooden sword with a serious and defiant look, standing ready to battle and with a matching hairstyle, the same messy looking stallion she refused to let in now looking more convincing, except for the ridiculously small prop he held, which could barely be useful to swat a fly. Her sister looking at him with love and admiration, resisting the urge to leap and strike a pose by his side. Sunflower burst into laughter until she got close to grow breathless.

...

A different routine

Four weeks passed, Midnight Edge and Babs Seed spent as much time as they could together, sometimes he would wait for her at the school entrance and they would go play video games once classes were over. Her classmates did not know they were dating, but they knew he was the second best at the arcade, they believed they were rivals. When they were not at the arcade they were either at Babs Seed's house or sharing a meal at some restaurant or cafe.

Midnight Edge met Babs Seed's parents in one of his visits to her place, they didn't seem very comfortable with him being older than Babs Seed, and probably suspected of him since they were well aware Babs Seed already knew about mature topics such as sex.

After a while all her family grew used to him, it was thanks to Granny Smith that they were less likely to oppose their relationship. Yet still her father warned Midnight Edge that if he ever dared to hurt his daughter in any way, law enforcement would be the least of his concerns. Midnight Edge reacted to his warning in a way that made the older stallion feel both safer and terribly upset, his reply was short but felt as a mix of sincere kindness and defiant arrogance, it was as if the young stallion admitted his acts in such a blatant way he managed to get away with it." Worry not, for I seek her joy more than anything else. Her smile is worth a thousand worlds to me. If I dared to make her suffer I would betray myself."

Midnight Edge spoke bluntly and his words had no hidden meaning, but to Babs Seed's father it felt as if he promised to never harm his daughter yet at the same time bragged about taking her virginity, he did not know, and had no proof, but Midnight Edge's calm reply was not what he expected, most stallions would just shatter under the pressure of such words, it was logical, most stallions he knew were not seasoned adventurers, most stallions did not know what it felt like to face danger. Midnight Edge was like that because he had to, he had to feel sure he would never let harm come to those he loved.

Of course the fears in the future father in law were not baseless. When Sunflower and her parents were away Babs Seed and Midnight Edge engaged in intimate sexual activities. They pleased each other as much as they could, that often meant more effort for Babs Seed since she was more or less curious and did not know much about her own fetishes, however she often found herself aroused by Midnight Edge's ideas.

They would often start in Babs Seed's bedroom, sometimes it would start by sharing any thoughts they found arousing, sometimes Midnight Edge would ask Babs Seed to wear some clothes, in particular dresses and skirts which he would often lift to take a peek at her intimate parts, he also convinced her of wearing the panties she kept hidden, first she wore rather modest ones which were pink and had a ribbon near the frontal waist area, they resembled common underwear found in other worlds, but the other ones were more risque, almost see through frilly blue panties, they looked more like usual lingerie. At first Babs Seed felt embarrassed of wearing them, but after a while she felt attractive wearing them and even combined them with other garments. That was one of her ideas, and Midnight Edge welcomed it eagerly.

There was very little they would not do to each other willingly. Their limits however were clear, Babs Seed did not allow Midnight Edge to penetrate her anal cavity, and when she requested Midnight Edge to lick her intimate parts, he refused claiming his tongue was too sensitive. Babs Seed also refused to do anything painful, while she allowed Midnight Edge to spank her, he was not allowed to pull her tail or mane, and she didn't like when he bit her, except for her left ear. In general she preferred to take the lead, even when Midnight Edge was on top or taking care of the motion she was the one who would steer him in the right direction, and in particular never allowed him to go too deep for the sake of safety, stating he would have to wait for her to grow before he could do as he pleased.

The culminating sexual act was often in the bathtub to make disposal of evidence easier. Of course they would have to wash some clothes sometimes and clean some surfaces in case some fluids product of arousal dripped on the floor, clothes, or fabric, but their major concern was making sure there should not be semen stains on anything, Babs Seed could make up an excuse over her own fluids since she could just excuse herself claiming it was because she was already old enough to feel aroused, but if there was any sign of male fluids they could get caught. Water washed away all doubt, guilt, shame, and fear along with the evidence. They often shared a shower before, or during the act, and most of the time also after it. When it was not on the bathtub it was on Babs Seed's bed, and afterward they cleaned the room thoroughly.

Midnight Edge was actually not that concerned of leaving evidence, but Babs Seed decided they would never get caught again, she didn't want to see her beloved stallion in trouble again.

...

Life could go on like that, Midnight Edge grew used to the city life and even conducted a business operation selling trinkets, which the locals held as rare. But both knew there would be an end to that routine, Midnight Edge was used to the urban landscape now, but he still did not like it, he wanted to go back to Ponyville, and then move on to adventures beyond Ponyville, and beyond Equestria. He knew he had to make arrangements for that future, he would wait for a chance to go on an adventure in Manehattan, once that was over he would leave.

Midnight Edge was not eager to leave, and would often bypass possible adventures to stay for a little longer, to extend that momentary peace which he believed he earned after five years of traveling. Babs Seed came to him with some interesting cases they could investigate together, cases which deserved attention but the police considered could wait due to lack of clues.

The first case was the disappearance of a large cache of gems from a local university. The witnesses saw the thief entering an alley and leaving no trace. The second case was about a series of acts of vandalism in public areas, there were no suspects only a broken horseshoe drawn as signature. The third case was the scape of a noteworthy thief called Quick Rhyme, once an aspiring artist, the thief fell from grace when he started a series of bank robberies. The fourth and final case was the mystery of ponies which were seen entering alleys and disappearing like ghosts, which some believed was tied to the case of the stolen gems.

Babs Seed insisted on pursuing at least one of those cases, but Midnight Edge refused, it was the first time he wanted to stick up to a routine. One day he realized he could not stay like that anymore, and he might end up in something big if he refused to take on any case soon. And then he would go back to Ponyville, back to waiting for Babs Seed to visit him, eventually he would leave Equestria. The next day when he met Babs Seed after classes he brought a surprise for her.

"Babs. You know I can't stay for too long in one place right? I could suddenly just planeswalk somewhere else accidentally. But I don't want to let you go."

"Are you telling me to run away with you?"

"No! You must never do that. Even if I tell you we should. You are young, your life is here in Manehattan. But I want to stay close to you. I want you to have this." Midnight Edge gave her an artifact she had never seen before, it looked like a golden flower with a cage decorated with gems in the middle, it was the same artifact Midnight Edge used to speak to his friends.

"It's a void communicator, a magical object made to keep in touch with others even between worlds. I have no idea how it does it, but take this too." He gave her a note with instructions on how to use the artifact. "It's an instruction manual I wrote, I wish I had one when I began to use these things. I intended to give this to Princess Celestia if I managed to arrange a meeting, but you are more important. Read the notes I gave you, soon you will get used to this thing."

"Don't tell me you're leaving."

"Not yet. I want to take you on at least one of my adventures, that's why I am still here. But once I leave, I want to know I can still hear your sweet voice no matter how far I go. Maybe someday I will take you with me, but until then I want you to wait."

Babs Seed could no longer hold back her tears, both were crying as they held each other. They feared the future, but knew there was no other way. The filly looked at Midnight Edge in the eye. "Promise me you won't miss our wedding."

"I would never do that. If I could, I would marry you right now." He refused to let her go, no matter what happened, he feared she could someday change her mind and leave him, but he refused to let their love fade away. He was not afraid of the Apples' warnings because he actually wanted to marry her, he just hoped she would never change her mind. "I know it might be wrong, but I don't want to let you go."

"You don't have to. My family says I will someday grow up and look for somepony else. They say I am just a filly. But after all we have gone through together... I want to stay with you. I want you to never let me go."

"But you could change your mind."

"Don't let that happen then." Babs Seed kissed him, tears rolling down their faces, they feared the future, they also wanted to shape it, to make sure there was a place for their love in the future.

A hooded figure took a picture of them and moved on, that pony had been following them for a while already. Gathering evidence, watching, waiting for the right time to strike. It was not the future, but the present which posed a threat. The gears of fate were turning.

...

Underworld

Midnight Edge was reading the news articles, the four cases seemed interesting, and now he wanted to follow all of them. A prison break, stolen goods, vandalism, and apparent ghosts. It would be the first time he would take Babs Seed on an adventure with him, he couldn't take a dangerous case, but he could not take a boring one either.

The stallion could not make a choice, and so he decided to move on to the next step on his list, restocking. Using the bits he earned by selling trinkets, Midnight Edge bought a large amount of varied meats from Steel Arm's Meats. His purchase could last at least two seasons. As he left the venue, Midnight Edge felt tempted to taste some of the products he purchased, the smell of cured and smoked meats lingered in his mind as he walked back to his hotel.

He bought a newspaper to distract himself, the front page had news about several arson incidents taking place in different locations, most of them bakeries, the police was unable to find clues on the case. The case however had something in common with previous cases, a witness saw a possible culprit entering an alley and disappearing. There was something in the alleys, something that gave criminals an advantage.

Midnight Edge realized he could take on all five cases by finding out whatever was going on in the alleys. As soon as he found an alley he walked into it to find evidence. He could not find anything. It would take a while to check all alleys, but at that moment he decided to take a break, not only that, he would actually indulge in his craving. A piece of pepperoni was released from the green gem on Midnight Edge's cape, the stallion took a bite of the cured meat. The flavor was unusual, savory, salty, and spicy, its taste was unique, it felt delightfully strange, most ponies did not like it's taste, but to Midnight Edge it was amazing.

Midnight Edge was focused on enjoying every bite he took, while he was alert he was distracted enough to ignore a part of the paved floor sliding to reveal a trapdoor, and a brown stallion with red mane coming out of it. The stallion was surprised, he was not expecting anypony in his way, especially not a meat eater, rare among ponies. Midnight Edge noticed his presence a bit too late, he swallowed the last bite he took and made sure he could control the encounter by speaking first. "I am getting tired of being caught red handed in the middle of awkward situations. Enjoy the freak show man."

"Freak show? I'm not even impressed. If they sent you tell them their ambush was crap."

"Ambush? Who are you? Weren't you surprised by my feeding habits?"

"Don't be ridiculous, I know a couple of ponies who eat meat. At least the say so, and I have heard some soldiers do so too."

"I am no soldier. Now tell me what is that trapdoor and what are you doing before I hurt you."

"Intimidation. I see. At least I know you were not sent by them. I will tell you what I know." the stallion got ready for a long explanation. "But you go first. You didn't get here just for a snack."

"I won't tell much, but let's say I am here searching for clues, and I think I found them."

"Well mister snack. I am on a lead, maybe we are looking for the same. This trapdoor is part of a network of tunnels connecting different parts of Manehattan. Thieves and smugglers used them, and I think somepony is using them again."

"The guy who got out of jail?"

"Maybe, but I am sure the arsonists are using them, they target bakeries, and they might attack my sister next."

"Personal matters I see... Well. I shall introduce myself. My name is Midnight Edge. If you find any useful lead look for me at Golden Horseshoe."

"The name's Lock Pick." The stallion pointed proudly at his flank, showing a lock pick and a lock, his blue eyes were full of pride. "Master locksmith and baker assistant!"

...

After his meeting with the mysterious locksmith, Midnight Edge went to Babs Seed's home, he found a lead, not only to a case, but one that could probably solve all five cases. It was all tied to a tunnel network. They would start by meeting with Lock Pick, and would pull as much information from him as possible. Once they get things ready they went to Midnight Edge's hotel room and waited for their potential ally.

"I hope he doesn't take too long. I promised your sister you would be back at sundown."

"How are we going to catch the bad guys if we don't look for them at night?"

"Well, they must have a hideout somewhere, if we find it we find them. And then..."

"We fight them!"

"No! That won't happen. Actually you will stay as far from them as possible." A knock on the door ended their conversation, Midnight Edge opened the door, ready to fight in case it was an ambush. Before him there were Lock Pick and a younger mare, her cream colored fur, violet eyes and pink mane made her look like a calm version of the other stallion, her cutie mark was a rolling pin, and her mane was styled in two braids. Midnight Edge smiled and greeted them. "Come in. Time to plan this".

"Thanks. Well, I see we both brought somepony else. She's my sister, Sourdough."

"The bakery mare I guess. I hope you are ready for a bumpy ride!" Midnight Edge was extremely excited, he even forgot to introduce himself, the situation promised a great adventure.

"Hello! I'm Babs Seed, the big oaf is my coltfriend, Midnight Edge." Babs Seed smiled and then blew air at her mane.

Finally the young mare spoke, her voice like a chime. "Nice to meet you. My brother said you would help us stop the arsonists."

"Not only the arsonists." Midnight Edge spoke proudly. "I am sure this is connected to other cases. We will clean these streets."

"Cleaning Manehattan? I was a bit surprised when that filly called you her coltfriend, now I see you are just as naive as a foal." Lock Pick was skeptic toward Midnight Edge's claims. "Everypony thinks this city is full of glamour and style, but deep inside it's rotten and twisted."

"All cities are. There is always a Swarm, thought agents, and an Undercity. That doesn't mean we shouldn't try to keep the innocents safe." Midnight Edge spoke, full of hope and bravado.

"An optimist... You sure you want to help us? You will get hurt. That filly too."

"Come on brother. I am sure they will be fine. I can watch over the little one."

"So... What do you know about the tunnels? Do you have a map or something?" Midnight Edge inquired, he was not going to waste time with worries and pessimism, if they were going to get things done, they had to gather as much information as possible.

"The network is large, I haven't explored all the tunnels, but I can guide you through them." Lock Pick replied, he was rather well prepared to explore the tunnels.

"Then let's get moving! We should check all the entrances you already know and see if they have something in common." Babs Seed took the initiative and they left the hotel.

...

The group observed three different entrances, they couldn't find much, some graffiti on the walls, garbage, abandoned items, the kind of things you would expect from shady alleys, but there were no markings on the entrances and no signs of anything else. Babs Seed however took mental notes of all she could see, in her mind she was looking for a pattern and after exploring two more entrances she stopped when they passed near an alley which had no entrance.

The filly entered the alley and began to look for something around the place, after it was clear she found nothing she seemed rather excited for somepony who had no clues. "Guys! I got it!"

"What did you find little one?" Sourdough was the only one to speak. Midnight Edge was just observing, as if he was evaluating her, and Lock Pick didn't seem to expect anything from her.

"I found a clue, and I think I also found who is behind this. Well, maybe."

Midnight Edge looked at her, his expectation building up, if she really found something he couldn't notice, then she was made for adventure, no matter what her cutie mark was. "Elaborate my dear, don't just hype us with half answers. Just remember, if you don't deliver the fans will be angry."

"It's the graffiti. The ones in the alleys with hidden trapdoors are signed with the same mark we saw earlier. I think they are marking their turf with them. It's the same broken horseshoe." Babs Seed explained knowing she found something important. "All the alleys with an entrance were marked with that same symbol. I don't think it's just coincidence."

Another part of the puzzle was placed on it, revealing more details in the picture. Yet still Lock Pick didn't believe her. He was mistaken, but he wanted her to back her claims with more evidence. "That's probably just a gang symbol, it could have nothing to do with the tunnels."

"Then let's look for more alleys with the same symbol! You'll see I AM right. If you draw a straight line from the front of the symbol to the other wall it should cross the entrance."

The group moved on and checked five more alleys, only those marked with the broken horseshoe had a tunnel entrance, and it matched the pattern discovered by Babs Seed. She found a way to detect the tunnels. Whoever was using them made sure they could be found by their allies, but also left a weakness ready to be exploited by a clever pony.

"What do you think Babs? Are all cases related? I would find that amusing since you asked me to look on them earlier."

"Aren't you jumping to conclusions quite fast snack guy?" Lock Pick was not convinced. How could he overlook an obvious clue.

"There's only one way to find out. We go into the tunnels." Babs Seed was ready to dive into the vast darkness of the tunnels and find the culprits.

"You know how to open them. Don't you brother?" Sourdough politely asked her brother, expecting him to open the trapdoor.

"Fine. I will open it. But if there is some sort of danger you must go back home. Understood?" The brown stallion placed his hoof on a slate which seemed to be loose, then he rotated it to the right and the pavement moved revealing the entrance.

...

The group walked through the dark tunnels looking for clues. They used flashlights and Midnight Edge's magic to illuminate the dark passages, there were many dead ends and exits leading to different alleys, eventually Babs Seed noticed the tunnels had subtle markings which pointed in certain directions, they went on for hours finding wide areas which looked like rooms, they were mostly empty, but it was clear ponies had been there earlier. Some of the rooms had spray paint cans, food leftovers, and other tools. It was clear they were near a criminal hideout.

They reached a smaller chamber which looked like a storage room, there were many objects including stolen and smuggled goods. Babs Seed looked at a shining object on the floor and took it. "Look! It's a gem! I think we found one of the stolen gems."

"Now we know at least three cases are linked." Midnight Edge was amused by the turn of events.

"Four counting the arson." Sourdough stated.

"Let's move on. We should find more evidence." Lock Pick stated.

Finally they reached an intersection, it was dimly lit and they could hear faint pony voices coming from a distant area. Midnight Edge ordered the group to stop and plan a strategy.

"Well. You should leave." Midnight Edge looked at Sourdough and Babs Seed. "This may be dangerous."

"No way! I'm coming with you." Babs Seed replied. She didn't want to leave, she wanted to help catching those criminals.

"It was not a question. I don't want you to get hurt. Go home. Sourdough, you go and bring the cops here."

"What if they are behind this? You are gonna get us killed!" Lock Pick responded angry and worried. "We should take them on now!"

"We are. Babs, you may need this." Midnight Edge handed her a belt with a knife holstered on it and a coat. "If somepony gets in your way you might need to fight back. You might need a weapon too." Midnight Edge took a small dagger and offered it to Sourdough.

"Thank you. Let's go Babs!"

The girls left, armed and carrying flashlights. Midnight Edge and Lock Pick planned a strategy to fight the criminals hiding within the tunnels.

...

Babs Seed and Sourdough came out of the tunnels, they kept their weapons concealed. They were not sure what to do next, they only knew they had to find help.

"Let's go to the police office. I helped the cops once." Babs Seed was eager to help, she had no intention to just go home and stay put.

"But Midnight Edge said you should go home."

"And leave him behind? I know your brother doesn't trust them, but the cops are our only choice."

They went ahead toward the police station, on their way Sourdough made a question which she was keeping for later. "Is that stallion really your boyfriend? He looks too old for you."

"Is there something wrong with that?"

"Well. You are just a filly, he might be more experienced."

"My first kiss was his too. He is not experienced at all."

"You mean? How long have you been dating?"

"Since summer... Just for you to know... I want to marry him someday, that's why we must do something now before he gets hurt."

The girls finally reached the police station. They told the officers about the tunnels, and Babs Seed gave them the gem she took as proof. A group of armed officers got ready to help them and headed with them toward the tunnels. Sourdough was worried his brother could be right, but Babs Seed knew those officers, they actually were surprised she was helping them with another case.

...

Midnight Edge and Lock Pick planned a frontal assault, they were armed and ready to fight. Lock Pick was surprised when he noticed Midnight Edge carried a large amount of weapons and did not expect him to plan the whole attack. Midnight Edge was not only ready to fight, but willing to kill if needed. He didn't look like one, but he seemed as experienced in battle as a royal guard, if not more.

"Well. Are you ready snack guy?"

"Just one more thing before we leave. Tell me the truth. Who are you? What do you know about those guys?" Midnight Edge sought his secrets, he knew his friend was hiding something.

"I am a locksmith, my father was a locksmith too. But before that... I was a thief. I used these tunnels to get away with it. They never caught me, but when Quick Rhyme got caught. Well... I suspected he might tell other ponies about the tunnels and I retired. I began to work as a locksmith since there was no lock I could not open or fix. Then I began to help my sister with her bakery to distract myself. I missed the thrill I felt with robberies, but it was a nice life."

"Until the arsonists began to attack bakeries?" He didn't understand how that connected to everything yet.

"I suspected they could attack my sister. Maybe they were after me, I knew some gangs used the tunnels too. I worked alone, but knew some of those ponies."

"Do you know these guys?"

"No. Never heard of them before. The guys at the bar never mentioned them." Lock Pick began to wonder why he still went to that bar. He had some friends there, but maybe it was better to let them go.

"Good. We might have to kill them. You should leave that bar. It keeps you connected to that past you are running away from."

"What would you do?" Lock Pick sought advice, he blamed himself for getting his sister involved. "How would you handle this?"

"The way I am doing so. I will fight. I won't run away. I will face things and break any obstacle."

...

There were five stallions in the room, they were planning their next strikes, which places they would rob and which places they would attack. They planned to embolden their activities, maybe kidnapping a VIP or killing a few police officers. Their intentions were not good, and they had a group of obedient ponies, colts and stallions who would willingly do anything for their gang. Their leader was a large white pegasus stallion with golden mane, his face had a large scar in the shape of a crescent moon, and his cutie mark was a broken horseshoe, the symbol of their gang.

One of the stallions walked toward the door leading to the tunnels, as soon as he opened the door a fireball entered through the door and impacted the stallion on the entrance and another one. The blast took them by surprise and knocked them unconscious, the other stallions took muskets and waited for the smoke to clear.

Two stallions entered in the room and engaged in fight with the gang members, one was a brown earth pony with red mane and shining blue eyes carrying a baseball bat hard enough to work as a cudgel, the other a purple unicorn with blue mane and fierce green eyes covered in a black cape carrying a sharp sword.

The stallions struck before the gangsters could release the first volley, Lock Pick knocked one of them unconscious and broke the weapon held by another, Midnight Edge went straight for the pegasus and cut through his weapon.

The gang leader took a machete, got ready to fight, and spoke. "Kill the earth pony. The unicorn is mine!"

The thugs engaged in battle, the remaining lackey took a jury rigged device, it looked like a metal baton with a rubber handle and wires coming out of it, an electric baton designed for torture and interrogation.

The criminal used his electric baton to attack Lock Pick, who blocked the attack with his baseball bat. The leader tried to attack Midnight Edge with his machete, the green eyed warrior blocked the blow with his sword, then moved aside and kicked the gang leader. The large pegasus was barely affected by the hit, he just stumbled a little and then charged again.

The battle extended for minutes without signs of a clear outcome, then the gang leader managed to make Midnight Edge lose his footing and the caped mage fell to the ground. Before the criminal could land the final blow Lock Pick struck him, staggering him and saving his friend.

Lock Pick extended a hoof to help his companion, right after Midnight Edge got back on his hoofs a hissing sound ringed in his ears and the smell of ozone entered his nose. Lock Pick was struck by the depraved contraption, the shock caused pain to rush through his body as he fell to the round, he was still conscious, but the pain and shock kept him paralyzed, It was not a lethal hit, but he was no longer able to fight.

Before Midnight Edge could react, he felt a stab on his back, the leader was back on his hooves and stabbed him with a pocket knife. Midnight Edge fell to the ground, blood spilling from his wound, one of his lungs was probably punctured. He could not move.

Midnight Edge was consumed by anger and fear, those ponies represented the worst of his species, his friend was wounded, he knew Babs Seed and Sourdough might return to help them, and they would be in danger if he was defeated.

His sight went blurry, his body was trembling, he was about to fall unconscious. He saw the lackey take a knife and approaching his friend. Right before the thug could cut Lock Pick's throat, Midnight edge stood again and released a large ice needle from his horn. The frozen bolt hit the thug, nailing his front leg to a wall, then Midnight Edge threw another projectile to nail his other leg incapacitating the enemy. Then turned around and launched a fireball at the gang leader followed by a spider silk net. The large stallion could no longer move.

Midnight Edge approached his enemy holding his sword, resisting the pain of his wound as he prepared a healing spell, it was not enough to heal his wound completely, but it was no longer fatal. "Why are you doing this?! What do you want?!"

The gang leader tried to stand again. Before he could stand, Midnight Edge slashed his leg with his sword, damaging his tendons and keeping him on the ground. The gang leader realized he was in no place to fight anymore and decided to negotiate. "Maybe you will like this. I am the head of a gang of thieves and smugglers. I could pay you to work for me. You are ruthless and strong, just what I need"

"You were the ones who stole the gems. I get that, and probably the thief who escaped prison was one of your men. But why did you mark the city? And what about the fires?" Midnight Edge tried to piece together the whole puzzle as more pieces fell on it.

"Why do you think? Intimidation of course! We wanted to make sure nopony would challenge us. Every time the cops got in our way, every time they captured one of us, we just burn a place, bakeries were great for that, they are often managed by families." The crime lord was proud, he was the biggest threat to Manehattan in decades.

"So. She guessed right?" Midnight Edge got the whole picture now, Babs Seed inferred the graffiti and the fires were a form of intimidation, a worsened version of what bullies often did at schools, she even noticed the fires followed a pattern with the capture of some thieves and failed robberies where the culprits managed to run away. She considered the ones behind those crimes were not only criminals, but actual monsters.

Midnight Edge was disgusted by the stallion's pure cruelty and depravity. He felt so disgusted he decided to punish the gangster. He began by hitting him and thrashing him around the room, then electrocuted him with the morbid contraption used to knock his friend, finally he nailed him to a wall with an ice needle and stood before him placing the edge of his sword before the criminal's face. "Tell me why should I let you live?"

The crime lord was terrified, but suddenly he displayed a wide grin ad responded. "There are witnesses."

Midnight Edge looked at the criminal and saw something reflected on his eyes. A mare, a filly, and two armed police officers. His rage filled mind gave in to regret, horror, and doubt. His sword fell to the ground and he curled into a ball, as his anger faded he began to feel the tormenting sting of his wound which combined with guilt into crippling pain.

...

Midnight Edge woke up in a hospital bed, it was late at night. He didn't want to open his eyes, he felt disgusted by himself. Babs Seed saw him at his worst, surrounded by fallen enemies whose fate he ignored, and ready to kill. He did not remember much after that, he remembered he fell and a police officer called for an ambulance through his radio, then he remembered Babs Seed crying next to him as he faded into unconsciousness. He knew he was at a hospital because he could hear the sounds beyond the room, at least it was not a prison. He felt the pressure of a small hoof on his. Finally he decided to face his fate and opened his eyes.

"You're awake. – Babs Seed was sitting next to him, with her hoof on his, her face looked glad, but also pained. – You had me worried."

"You must hate me now." Midnight Edge feared the answer, but he had to ask.

"What for? You were right. It was better for me to leave."

"But I... Aren't you afraid of me? You saw me there. You were crying. I... I think I killed somepony."

"I'm not afraid of you. I love you. I will always love you."

"But you saw me there. I am not normal, I am... merciless."

"So are royal guards, and they still get married. I was crying because I thought you were going to die. Your wound looked worse than it was."

"I healed it a bit... It was worse... Where is Lock Pick? Is he safe?"

"He's fine, nopony died, the thugs were taken somewhere else." Babs Seed slid the curtain and Midnight Edge saw his friend, still unconscious, he was breathing normally, his vital signs were normal, but he was unresponsive. "He woke up a few hours ago. But he was too tired and went to sleep after having diner."

"I thought he was still affected by the shock. It's late, shouldn't you be at your place?"

"I told mom and dad you were attacked by some criminals. They don't know we were investigating. I asked the cops to not tell anypony about us." Babs Seed was clever enough to hide their involvement in the case, she feared her family wouldn't let her see Midnight Edge anymore if they found out.

"So the baker and her brother took the credit? That's good, I don't want those stupid journalists behind me."

"Are all your adventures that dangerous?"

"No... But you can't be my companion anymore."

"What? No! You can't say that!" Babs Seed was angry, she didn't want him to underestimate her.

"Technically you are my wife... You can't be my companion. I shouldn't put you in danger."

"But you said your adventures were not always that dangerous."

"I never know when things are going to get ugly. If you want to come with me you must leave when I tell you. Leave and wait for me to return safe and sound."

"I can't do that."

"You must. And we can't go alone. There must be somepony else you know, like your sister or another friend or relative."

"I guess it will never be just the two of us then?"

"It would never be just the two of us anyway. I never travel alone, remember?"

...

Campaign

Time went on, Midnight Edge left the hospital a week later. He decided to remain in Manehattan a bit longer, enjoying a momentary peace before facing his next challenge, a challenge he had been preparing for, an adversary he decided to face. Things changed, but not in the was Midnight Edge feared.

Babs Seed coped quite well with the truth, she was aware Midnight Edge killed enemies in battle before they met, once she saw him fighting she decided that should not change her perception of him. Instead she would support him no matter what happened. Midnight Edge feared she would reject him because of his violent behavior, but Babs Seed saw beyond his anger and found kindness in his heart, he was a warrior, a fighter, but he also tried to be a good stallion, a protector.

The passing of time strengthened their bond, and made both realize they would stay together for as long as they could. They were not just in love, they were determined to marry someday. Midnight Edge contemplated settling and leave his adventures behind, but Babs Seed explained to him that, just as he would not take her with him on adventures so she could stay in school, she had no intentions of chaining him to a single place. Midnight Edge returned to Ponyville the week after Nightmare Night.

Babs Seed's visits to Ponyville became more frequent. After the events in the tunnels her parents realized her feelings for Midnight Edge could not be changed, even more important, they grew fond of him. His strange behavior was no longer a nuisance, and even though they suspected their interaction was not as innocent as they wanted it to be, they noticed their daughter felt happy around him.

...

Midnight Edge was ready for his next objective in Equestria, his investigation on dynamic cutie marks, as he named the strange phenomenon, was placed on hold, he already met with a princess, he restocked on resources, there was one last thing to do. His next mission had been delayed for too long, he could no longer turn his back on his own blood. But he had no plans to face this quest alone, he considered this adventure was safe enough for Babs Seed, the chances of engaging in battle were slim, and Babs Seed was no longer as unprepared as she used to be.

After realizing Midnight Edge's life was a lot more dangerous than that of the average urban pony, Babs Seed convinced both Midnight Edge and Applejack to train her. She wanted to learn the basics of combat in order to travel with Midnight Edge someday, she knew she had to learn some combat skills to not become a burden. She didn't learn much, and nopony expected her to ever use what she learned, but she eventually learned the basics.

Both planned the trip, setting everything to have plenty of time and convincing applejack to join them. It was not hard to get her involved, she was not precisely eager to leave the couple alone without even knowing where they were heading. She was already used to Midnight Edge and no longer disliked him, but she preferred to go with them in case anything bad happened, and also considered it better if the were not too intimate on the way, it still made her extremely uncomfortable since that night at the barn.

...

Midnight Edge and Babs Seed were on their way to Sweet Apple Acres, it was the day they had chosen to start their journey, Babs Seed saw it as a family reunion, Midnight Edge felt it was a confrontation. As they approached the Apple's house, they saw Applejack leaving, she seemed in a hurry, her cutie mark released a rather unusual shine. She had little time to answer their questions so they followed her instead. Applejack led them to Twilight Sparkle's castle where Twilight Sparkle was waiting for her.

"Ready to see where the map is taking you to?" Twilight Sparkle was excited and actually surprised, this time the map called only one single pony, a rare happening.

Applejack sat on the seat marked with a symbol identical to her cutie mark. As soon as she sat, Midnight Edge and Babs Seed entered the room. Twilight Sparkle was actually excited to see them. "Come in! You will like this."

The group saw Applejack's cutie mark floating on the castle and then moving toward somewhere else on the map, a place in the Badlands which looked strangely distorted, it was as if the map couldn't see what lied on that place. Midnight Edge looked at the map surprised.

"The Badlands? What kind of friendship problem could happen there? Nopony lives there!" Applejack was surprised to see the map taking her to such a place, a barren wasteland which was mostly rock and dry ground, a place devoid of most life.

"Remember we were going on a trip today Applejack?" Midnight Edge spoke softly.

"Well. That will have to wait boy. This map says there's a friendship problem over there." The orange mare was surprised he could ask her about that in such an important moment.

"Yes. I know. That map wants you to go on that trip with us. That place is exactly where we are going." Midnight Edge was still surprised the map could signal that location, but he pretended it was all part of his plan.

"And you want to take my cousin there? Are you insane?"

"I know who lives there. I think we are part of that friendship problem thing. That's why I intended to take you. You would keep her safe on our way there." Midnight Edge intended to take Babs Seed there no matter what. It felt necessary now.

"Come on cousin! I'll be fine." Babs Seed was actually interested in finding out what would happen next.

"Applejack, I think you should take them." Twilight Sparkle convinced her friend. "If Midnight Edge knows who lives there that means he might be related to the friendship problem."

"But what about Babs? I don't want to put her in danger."

"Don't you get this strange feeling, a little voice telling you she is part of this too?" Midnight Edge was actually excited, and he struck a chord, Applejack actually was actually feeling that.

"Fine. But you better keep her safe."

"There is no need for worry, nopony shall get hurt this time."

Applejack went on with Midnight Edge's plan, suspecting the friendship problem was actually related to the three of them. The only way to find answer to her questions was going with the flow, even though she did not like the idea.

...

The train was on it's way to Dodge City, they would get everything ready for the rough ride toward the Badlands once they reached Dodge City. Midnight Edge was writing on his journals while Applejack and Babs Seed looked at the road, wondering what awaited them once they reached their destination. Applejack wished to know more about Midnight Edge once she faced the fact that no matter what, it seemed he was becoming part of her family at that point, and so she asked him a rather uncomfortable question, hoping that could help them get along.

"So... Is it true you eat meat?"

Applejack's question made Midnight Edge drop his journal in surprise, he quickly responded trying to deflect the question. "Where did you get that from? It makes no sense! Ponies don't..."

"Some ponies do." Applejack responded, then took a deep breath and continued. "Look. Somepony began to spread the rumor. Dunno who it was, I just know it seems to be true, you smell weird sometimes."

"Fine. I do. Just, well... I don't like to talk about it. I was rejected in Canterlot because of it."

Applejack understood she brought an unpleasant memory, it was not her intention, she just wanted to know him better and prove or disprove the rumors. "I find it weird, but it's not big deal. I bet most ponies don't even care. Maybe those fancy unicorns at Canterlot cared, but not everypony is like that."

"Maybe, but I would rather keep it in secret."

"What does it taste like?" Babs Seed asked, her curious mind imagining how it could taste.

"I bet you won't like it." Midnight Edge responded. "I can't describe the taste, savory... strong... weird."

"Can we try it?" Babs Seed sounded bolder as she asked, she was not likely to take a no for an answer.

"Do as you please." Midnight Edge took some small bits of cured meat expecting Babs Seed to change her mind. "But remember, if you don't like it spit it right away, there is no point in eating something you find unpleasant just to impress somepony. Oh, and if you actually like it I will do whatever you ask for a six weeks. Just to raise the ante."

"I'm not sure this is a good idea hun. You could get sick."

"Come on Applejack! You might like it too." Babs Seed took the bits of meat, shoving one in Applejack's mouth and placing one in hers. The taste felt awful, it was savory, salty, a bit greasy, and had faint taste of blood to it. She didn't know why Midnight Edge liked it, probably it did not taste the same way for him, she heard of warrior ponies who ate meat, maybe it was something inherited. Both mares spat the half chewed pieces of meat through the window in disgust, it was an almost involuntary act

Applejack was the first to express her disgust. "That was awful! I can't even tell what it tasted like!"

"It bucking tastes like blood!" Babs Seed was probably more uncomfortable than Applejack. Who interrupted her before she could continue complaining.

"Watch your language little miss."

"But it was horrible! I still feel it in my tongue!"

"I knew this would happen. I hope your views on me have not changed because of this." Midnight Edge responded, deep inside he actually felt like laughing, but he considered it was not a good idea.

"No. It's fine. It was my idea. I guess I won't like everything you like." The filly was sad, but not angry at her beloved stallion. She actually felt guilty and wanted to compensate for her reaction, which she believed made Midnight Edge feel bad. She was not aware his awkward tone was due to him holding back laughter.

"Actually it wasn't that bad. It was awful, but not the worst food I have tasted." Applejack was no longer that shocked, and she spoke with her characteristic honesty.

Babs Seed came up with an idea which could change the situation into something less uncomfortable. "Well, you said if I liked it you would do whatever I wanted, right?"

"For six weeks, anything you asked would have been a command I shall follow. What about that?" Midnight Edge responded.

"What if I do anything you ask? I sorta lost the bet, right?"

"Sweetheart... I love you, but... That is a terrible idea." Midnight Edge did not like the idea, he was not comfortable with forcing others to comply, and he had no idea what he would ask anyway.

"I'm with him on this one, Babs."

Babs Seed was not pleased with the answer she got, felt it was fair considering she would have accepted the offer. "But I want to do it? I bet you won't ask anything bad anyway."

"I assume you will insist until I accept your offer. Well, you shall follow my command then. And my command is as follows. Be free, but never try to eat things you may find unpleasant ever again. Wait... Let me rephrase it! Just be free, do what is best for you." Midnight Edge tried to use any loopholes to no longer carry the burden of commanding somepony else.

"You could ask for anything and you as for just that? Make it funny!" Babs Seed expected him to ask her things she would normally refused to do, even if that meant she would have to find a way out of them.

Midnight Edge approached and whispered something to the filly. "Not in front of your cousin. Ask me later."

Babs Seed smiled and complied with the request. "Fine. I'll ask later. Just don't keep me waiting."

"You better not be planning something weird." Applejack assumed midnight edge whispered something lewd to her cousin. The sight of the barn incident still made her uncomfortable and she would rather not see such thing again. In fact she was not comfortable thinking of what they could do in private, even though most of the time it was not what she expected, not even lewd at all.

"I would never ask her such a thing in front of you." Midnight Edge pretended to be surprised by her statement, displaying his abnormal sense of humor. "What do you think I am? A bard? A soldier? A purple, green eyed unicorn with blue mane? Oh wait... Forget about the last one."

The group continued their trip conversing about different topics. Preferring to stay in a generally positive mood. As they got closer to Dodge City, Midnight Edge saw a strange aerial machine gliding nearby. His reckoning was approaching, but he would not be alone, not this time. This time he was not leaving without her.

...

City of Steel

The train moved at a slower pace, the weather was perfect, the road clear, there was no need to move faster in order to reach Dodge City on time. In fact the vehicle would arrive earlier than expected. It was a rather relaxing trip, the train was an example of modern Equestrian technology. Midnight Edge walked through the different coaches, taking notes on the vehicle and drawing depictions of the different objects within it. His notes compared it to passenger trains he found in other worlds, some advanced and others archaic in comparison.

As he walked, he noticed Babs Seed entering the restroom, looking around as if she was hiding, and then noticing him. As soon as the filly noticed him, she looked again nervously and beckoned him with her hoof. Once both were sure there were no witnesses, Midnight Edge went in and the door was locked.

"Is there something wrong? Why are we here?" Midnight Edge was confused and not precisely amused, he avoided public restrooms most of the time. He was pushed to sit on the toilet to make room for both. He was slowly starting to feel uncomfortable.

"About earlier... Were you planning something?" Babs Seed spoke quietly, it was clear she didn't want to be heard.

"So you were expecting me to ask something lewd?"

"Well... I was just a bit curious. I bet you could come up with something cool." Babs Seed blushed.

"What if I asked you something you won't like?"

"If that makes you feel better... You mean..." Babs Seed hesitated, she knew what that meant, she didn't want to do it. "Would you do the same for me?"

"I don't know. Maybe, I don't feel like licking your down there, but I would try just for you. But that doesn't matter. I won't make you do something you don't like. It feels wrong."

"Well... You can ask me something else then. – Babs Seed was relieved, she feared Midnight Edge would ask her to engage in anal sex. She was not uncomfortable with being touched there, but she didn't want anything to be put in."

"What about doing it here? That's the second thing I could come up." Midnight Edge already ruled out his chances of actually getting her to do something she didn't want from the beginning. He wouldn't force her.

"What if somepony hears us?"

"That's half of the fun." Midnight Edge kissed Babs Seed and lifted her up. He began to rub her intimates with his hoof, soon she began to get wet.

Babs Seed moaned, her heartbeat went faster. "Is it going in... You know... Your willy?"

Midnight Edge inserted the tip of his member, placing a hoof on Babs Seed's face. Sex was actually easier in that position. "As deep as you can fit it." Midnight Edge accommodated himself to kiss Babs Seed. The kiss made her tighten a bit, it was a new experience for both.

The filly began to move her hips following the pace dictated by her heartbeats as her mouth exchanged fluids with that of her beloved. The kiss ended, their saliva still connected as their mouths took distance, feeling the warm breath of each other." It's the first time we kiss while we do it. It feels amazing.

Midnight Edge began to rub her clitoris with his hoof as she moved her hips up and down, trying to take in as much as she could inside her body, the tip of the shaft rubbing her cervix with each push. Pleasure overflowed their bodies. The stallion kissed his beloved filly and a jolt of excitement flowed down her spine, her vagina clamped on his shaft as pleasure built in her body. Using his magic, the stallion began to play with Babs Seed's anal region. The surprise made her gasp.

"Should I stop?" The stallion asked softly as he continued playing with the rest of her small body.

"N- No... It's fine." Babs Seed's heart raced as they continued. Midnight Edge resumed, stimulating as much of her body as he could with his hooves and his magic. This time both dared to go further than usual, taking their bodies to the limit of pleasure.

After several minutes of pleasure and love both felt they were near climax, they kissed right as they reached orgasm together, the stallion releasing his load inside the filly as her insides moved rhythmically to keep as much inside as possible. Both were as one in those last seconds. Sharing a kiss that both would cherish forever.

They made sure to dispose all evidence the best they could, the only thing they could not hide could be the smell, which both hoped would not be strong enough to prove anything. As they left the restroom as voice announced they were about to reach the station. The last words echoed in a rather amusing tone. – Please refrain from using the toilet at the moment.

Midnight Edge smiled and looked at Babs Seed. "I am starting to feel a bit guilty. I think I heard somepony knock a couple of times."

"If somepony asks, I got sick." Babs Seed giggled and pranced toward their coach.

...

Once they reached Dodge City, the group prepared everything for the next part of their trip to the badlands. They hired a wagon to take them closer to their destination, the wagon would follow the main road until they got near the location hidden in the map, then they would walk on their own. Midnight Edge was the only one who knew the exact location of whatever they were looking for.

They got on the road quite fast. As they approached their destination Midnight Edge noticed flying drones following them. They reminded him of vultures, but instead of waiting for them to die, these mechanical vultures were compelled to make sure they survived. They were not a hindrance, but their guides on the way to their fate.

Shortly after taking the road into the Badlands they finally reached the end of their path on the main road. The stallions pulling the wagon stopped and the group got of the carriage.

"Well, we will walk the rest of the way. It won't take long." Midnight Edge smiled looking in the distance. The drones were barely visible and easily mistaken for vultures, but he recognized their metallic gleam.

"Wait! How are we going back home? Did you ever think of that?!" Applejack was surprised he never mentioned his plan to get back to Ponyville once they were done.

"Of course I did! We are hitching a ride! See those things?" The stallion pointed at the mechanical winged drone, the ponies were surprised once they noticed it was not a vulture, it didn't even have a head or legs. "The pony who made those probably has some sort of sand ship or something crazy. That's how we shall return home."

"What are those things? They look like vultures waiting for us to kick the bucket." Applejack was scared, she was not able to trust those mechanical entities.

"I guess they are robots. Like those in comic books!" Babs Seed was curious, she wondered what kind of pony created those wonderful machines.

"You could say so. Don't worry, they will guide us. Babs, if you get tired you are free to hop on my back. The road ahead won't go easy on us." The stallion walked toward the place where the drones converged, following their path to an unknown destiny.

...

After hours of walking the group got close enough to their destination, allowing them to see the place they were heading to. The night sky reflecting on it's surface. Babs Seed looked into the distance, sitting on Midnight Edge's back.

"Look! Over there!" The filly was excited, the sight made her imagination run wild.

"What is that thing?" Applejack replied in surprise.

"Holly Cardinal chewing mother of vinegar! She did it! She really did it!" Midnight Edge's alien expletive made the situation stranger, but not more impressive. His eyes were fixed in the enormous city made of metal, as if it was cast in a forge and set in the middle of the Badlands.

"Was that a minced oath? It sounded like a half baked poem." Applejack giggled.

"It was a full blown curse in a faraway land. They are extremely religious, and their cardinal is the highest authority. Anything negative upon him is a severe form of profanity."

"What's mother of vinegar? Sounds gross." Babs Seed was not familiar with the term, she was not that familiar with vinegar.

"The thing of nightmares my beloved. The cumulus of organisms that corrupt alcoholic compounds and turn them into vinegar. Already bitter wine turns into barely bearable balsamic vinegar, strong cider into gross apple cider vinegar, and the lowly alcohols into the abomination known as white vinegar. The acetic horror that lives in a bottle!" Midnight Edge spoke in a speech which was mostly humorous, and found rather amusing for a group of nearby drones which recorded everything.

Applejack answered the question straight, stopping Midnight Edge from continuing with his theatrical disdain toward vinegar. "It's just the slimy thing that forms in vinegar bottles."

"Ugh. That thing is gross." Babs Seed understood why Midnight Edge disliked it, she knew he found the smell of vinegar rather unpleasant.

"Bottled evil! That is what it is. Or at least many think so. And in that world the idea of a cardinal chewing that thing was horrible enough to be considered profanity."

"Watch your tongue then colt. You don't want to talk like a pirate in front of a filly." Applejack warned the stallion expecting he wouldn't let out an actually foul term in front of her cousin.

"Big deal! I've heard worse." Babs Seed blew air on her mane after her sentence, taking pride in her knowledge. "You can't beat city ponies at that."

"Well. Let's keep moving. The city won't crawl closer to us... I hope it won't."

The group walked toward the city, following the winged machines in the sky.

...

The group finally reached the city, it was made of metal and glass, the floor composed of metallic tiles which spread beyond the city, machines threaded all over the city, some imitating life, others serving functions. The machines had varied shapes, some were quadrupeds, resembling ponies or entirely different creatures, others bipeds unfamiliar to most ponies, there were quadrupeds with extra limbs serving as arms, arachnids, and many familiar and unfamiliar shapes. Drones flew in the sky, showing their round winged bodies with shining single eyes and bright lights on their bodies, entering a large tower in the city.

A bipedal machine approached the group. It had two thin arms with smooth fingers, an almost featureless head with a single blue eye, and a body which revealed many gears, pistons, and other mechanisms protected by shining crystal surface, a mix of magic and technology which evoked a distant future and unfamiliar lands. On it's back there was a banner with an unfamiliar symbol, a city with gears under it.

"Welcome to Mechania, City of Steel! My name is Bernardt First of Twenty, how may I serve you?" The machine approached greeting the ponies, staring at them with his shining mechanical eye. His reverberant voice sounded like an exact mimicry of organic voices, if not for the mechanical pitch on it. It extended its hand before the ponies expecting a greeting.

"It is sapient. But, is it sentient?" Midnight Edge extended a hoof to greet the machine which rejected his hoof, expressing discontent.

"It has a name good sir, and considers being addressed in third person rather uncouth. I should also make clear that I consider it more fitting to be treated as male since I am no mere automaton like most of this city."

"A sassybot!"Babs Seed made a humorous remark about the machine. "Toy stores in Manehattan should sell those things!"

"How unpleasant! The first ponies to ever visit my dear city are rude savages!" Bernardt was not pleased with the statement, he considered himself a masterpiece after all.

"Take it easy. It was just a joke."

"Your attempt at humor was rather rude. I am fond of a good joke, but you are quite insensitive."

"It is clear you are sentient. Quite an improvement over the last time. A masterpiece indeed." Midnight Edge attempted to calm the mechanical biped with his words.

"Have we met before? As far as I remember I have always been sentient Of course I am a masterpiece, the other nineteen sentients were in fact mere copies of my greatness, and not half as charismatic. At least that is what they say. I am their leader after all."

"Take me before your maker, I have no time for this. I have a very important reunion and I intend to attend it on time." Midnight Edge spoke changing the tone.

"I understand now. You met with the Princess of Artifice before. I assume long before she built me. I will take you to her, but not yet. You must see her work first. This fine city was not built overnight."

"Who's that princess of artifice? Do you know her Midnight?" Applejack responded a bit confused by the situation, she found the machines a bit unsettling and was surprised Midnight Edge spoke with familiarity toward it.

"The Princess of Artifice, with the deserved capital letters in case you write about her, is our maker, she built the first of us, she commanded the creation of this city three years ago, and she built me with her own hooves and horn. It was her magic that gave me life! A truly fascinating being!" Bernardt responded the question joyfully as his mechanical eye changed in color to a clear purple, he was excited and extremely joyful, he took pride on his maker.

"I am actually surprised she didn't smash you in a fit of rage. I guess the one on the floor was your prototype."

"You met mark zero? Quite a disappointment indeed. He lacked actual sentience, he could only imitate emotion. The Princess is not fond of failures. His fate was more than deserved."

"Not fond of failure? I would rather say she has a short fuse." Midnight Edge continued, testing the sentient's temper.

"She is... Quite temperamental. But she loves her creations. She would never allow any harm to be inflicted upon us. She only destroys those who have failed on their first activation. She will even tolerate my mistakes. Not that I make many, but well, organics have tastes which are harder to satisfy. Of course she would no longer allow me to cook ever since then. I guess I was never meant to cook in the first place."

"So you know each other. Right?" Applejack asked, expecting an answer from Midnight Edge this time.

"You could say so. I also know she got better at crafting toys compared to the last time. She even made a sentient one, and nineteen more if he is not lying."

"Of course I wouldn't lie. We are the Princess' direct subordinates, all the automatons are under our command, we serve her directly. And I was tasked with being the major and her right hand." Bernardt spoke, if he had a mouth it would have been shaped in a large smile. "We are all irreplaceable, but I am the first, and so I am her favorite I assume."

The group was partially forced through a tour into the city, the different locations seemed quite interesting, each one directed by a sentient with an individual name, the Council of Twenty. A recreational facility designed for visitors and sentient locals. A large factory which produced varied forms of machines, which Midnight Edge recognized from the vision the mirror revealed. A water treatment facility which handled water collected by the drones from all over Equestria. A farm meant to provide food for all organisms that would ever enter the city, which also used resources collected by the drones. A residential area which had no inhabitants but was expected to be populated by ponies. A power plant, using different power sources including solar energy and compost from surplus produce. A mining facility which extracted and processed metal from an underground mine. A weather control plant imitating Cloudsdale's weather plant. A garden entirely composed of machines imitating life. The city was a perfect imitation of an urban environment minus the waste and imperfection of city life, replacing it with clockwork accuracy.

As they walked through the city, the ponies conversed with each other and with Bernardt who proved to be not only capable of conversation, but quite fond of it too.

...

Finally they reached a tower, the tallest building in the city, where many drones converged to bring information from the outside to the mysterious Princess of Artifice. There were little signs of her other than the tower, monuments, no decorations with her depiction. All monuments and depictions of relevant figures depicted Princess Celestia, who was admired by the Council of Twenty as the one greater than their maker. The only sign of the Princess of Artifice was a symbol, a gear with two curved pieces on it's side which looked as if they kept it locked. That same symbol was in the front door of her clockwork tower.

"And here we are my little ponies! The Tower of the Artificer! Home and workshop to our dear maker, the Princess of Artifice herself. Entering this place is an honor only a few ever earn. But you are the first ponies to ever come, so I assume you deserve a meeting with the Princess. Consider yourselves fortunate for nopony other than her ever comes through that door."

"Is she an alicorn princess?" Babs Seed asked, she wondered what kind of pony that so called princess could be. She also assumed it could be Midnight Edge's sister since she was the one they were meant to meet, however he never told her his sister was other than an average pony, therefore she assumed she could be somepony related to her.

"She is not supposed to be one." Midnight Edge responded, he would be surprised if the so called princess turned out to be an alicorn.

"All your questions will be asked once you meet her. She is the most impressive pony you could ever meet, unless you already met Princess Celestia, then she is the second most impressive pony."

"I am pretty much sure she can't be as impressive as Princess Luna, Cadence, or Twilight Sparkle." Applejack stated, she was surprised the mechanical being did not recognize the other pricesses.

"Princess Luna? You mean Nightmare Moon right? Sorry, but we refuse to acknowledge such dark power as a princess, and we do not know who those other ponies are. Maybe the Princess knows them, we have not requested updates on the Equestrian Princess population ever since the city was built. And unless they have their own palace as our Princess does, I doubt they would be recognized by the Council."

"You totally need that update." Babs Seed stated in response to Bernardt's apparent ignorance. "Princess Luna is not Nightmare Moon anymore."

"Oh. Is that so? I guess I should remind our Princess to stop procrastinating relevant updates. What if a new princess was crowned and we didn't find out? What if she forgot a princess in our first databank? Oh the thought terrifies me indeed."

"I'm afraid it all happened already." Applejack stated while Midnight Edge and Babs Seed laughed uncontrollably. "She missed Princess Cadence, Twilight Sparkle was crowned princess, and, well, Babs already told you about Princess Luna."

"Say no more pony! My core might not be able to take the weight of more bad news. I shall take you to your meeting with our Princess as soon as possible. The sooner she is done with the meeting the sooner she shall update us."

The sentient opened the main door and guided them through the tower going several floors up before reaching the throne room. Once they reached the throne room all of them were met with an unexpected surprise.

...

Method in Madness

"It's empty!" The group was surprised, they were expecting to meet somepony sitting at the throne waiting for them. They did not expect an empty throne room, it's lavish decorations making it an even stranger sight. Stained glass windows decorated the room with depictions of the most important moments in the city's history.

"For an empty room it is quite well guarded." Midnight Edge spoke looking at the guards inside the room. Large machines shaped like centaurs, their quadruped bodies with humanoid torso resembled that of Tirek himself, their heads however were not as reminiscent of the horrible tyrant. Their clockwork bodies had heads with three eyes and the engraved resemblance of a menacing face, with one horn in the center pointing upward. The guards were armed with shields and what looked like decorated metal pole arms. On their bodies they had all engraved the same name, “Efreet”.

"Oh! She must be asleep. Sorry about that. I shall wake her up shortly. Meanwhile enjoy the depiction of our history, It was inspired by the one in Canterlot. Look! That one depicts my birth!" Bernardt pointed at a window depicting a reddish purple unicorn assembling a bipedal machine.

Bernardt entered through a door near to the throne and locked it behind him. The ponies waiting for his arrival, observing the windows. They noticed the windows rarely depicted the so called Princess of Artifice, who was never fully shown.

...

After a long wait a pony entered the Throne room, followed by Bernardt. The hooded figure sat on the throne and then spoke. "Welcome to my kingdom. I hope you are pleased with what you have seen so far. For you have seen the future!"

"Behold! The mare of mystery!. Come on dude! Cut it out! Stop pretending to be some sort of high royalty. You are nothing but the daughter of a craftspony and a sorceress." Midnight Edge challenged the mare, he felt no contempt for her but was angered by her behavior.

"Oh my brother. Why do you hurt my heart with your words." The hooded figure took her hood off and revealed the face of a young unicorn mare. Her reddish purple hide contrasted with her blue mane, her eyes had strange red irises which made her look almost sinister.

"Well. You were kind of ruining this sweet family reunion with your silly princess role play, Gears."

"Princess Midnight Gears for you brother!" The mare laughed and looked at the other ponies, "You call this a family reunion. But you brought ponies I don't remember as blood. Who are these? What are they to you?"

"Well. Technically part of our family now."

"Which one links to our bloodline? Which have you granted your love my brother?" The unicorn mare looked at the group, not sure what to feel. "What kind of mare could accept a meat eating mutant?"

"I do! I am almost his wife already!" Babs Seed stood firm, challenging the mare with her eyes. "Got any problem with that, sister?"

"Insolent foal! Show some respect to the Princess of Artifice!" Bernardt looked at the filly, his eye red in anger.

"Quiet Bernardt! She is my brother's wife. Or so she says. I guess she has earned some privileges from that. A filly... Oh brother. I knew your tastes were weird, but I did not expect you to become a filly fiddler. I must admit I keep some surprises for you too. And who is the other mare? Her sister? Her mother? No... She can't be her mother, she would have killed you."

"I'm her cousin. And you shouldn't be so rude to us." Applejack responded, she was ready to fight against what looked like a villain to her.

"Forgive my manners. I have been here for so long. I guess I got a bit carried away. I can't help but mock my dear brother. He always amused me with his abnormal behavior."

"I have been a terrible brother. I acknowledge that. But it's over. We are going home now."

"Why should I leave. Here I rule supreme!" The mare stood removing her robe, as the robe fell, her secret was revealed, wings. The mare was an alicorn, wearing adorned decorations and a black cape. "See? I told you I had a surprise for you."

"It can't be!" Applejack was shocked, her eyes couldn't believe what she saw.

"Sister. What have you done! How did you get those wings!" Midnight Edge was as surprised as applejack, but he was also angry, whatever his sister did challenge the natural order of things in his eyes.

"Science brother! Science is the answer to everything! Tell me. Do you ever wonder why other ponies don't like the taste of meat?"

"I knew there was a reason." Babs Seed spoke. She was slightly less surprised than the others. She guessed right when she assumed the princess was also Midnight Edge's sister, and also expected she would reveal some sort of change to her own look at some point.

"We have some mutations which allow us to eat meat, by understanding those mutations I created a mutagen which allowed me to alter my form using my own bloodline as template. Remember our grandfather was a pegasus? Well, I realized, just like our brother was born a pegasus, I could grow wings with the right mutagen and become an alicorn."

"But that isn't how alicorns are made! You must earn it!" Applejack was surprised, she couldn't imagine somepony would try to become an alicorn through science.

"Is that why you were hiding that the last time we met. Right? Why?! Why would you hide it?"

"Well. My transformation is not complete. My magic is not strong enough. These wings are functional, but I can't walk on clouds, and my magic is not alicorn magic yet. I needed something else I guess. And it had a few side effects. It affected my temper."

"You did not just go insane then. I should have suspected before, that madness came from somewhere else. That mutagen of yours made you go insane."

"Silence! I can control my anger now, I am stronger, it is just a matter of time before I become a true alicorn."

"I'm sorry to tell you, but that's not how alicorns are made." Applejack responded trying to reason with the false alicorn. "You just can't become an alicorn by drinking some potion. It takes more than that."

"Sister. Listen to her. This is absurd. Insane. You ran away from home pursuing this madness. I should have never told you greatness was more important than a good life. I was wrong, I failed to be a good example. You pursued something impossible."

"You are wrong! I pursue the future! These machines will help and serve us, they will make everything easier for us. My automatons will take care of pointless menial tasks such as bucking apple trees and cleaning sewers."

"I'm pretty much sure ponies don't need machines to do everything for them." Applejack understood well how automation and mechanical labor could ruin some processes.

"How do you know? My workers could do the work of a single pony twice as fast, they are twice as efficient, and they don't make mistakes."

"But they can't cook." Babs Seed attacked her argument with the only weakness Midnight Gears was forced to acknowledge, the truth was they were unable to create new things when they required certain senses, such as new dishes, and even their cooking was bland and automated. "Maybe they could learn a recipe or two. But they will never come up with something new, they don't even know what things taste like. An apple pie made by your robots will never be as good as the ones Granny Smith makes."

"But there are few limits. They could make life easier."

"Maybe. But they won't make life better. Easier isn't always better. And there are many things ponies would rather do on their own." Applejack tried to reason with the mare.

"Sister. Listen to them. These are the ponies you want to help. But you can't help them like that. You want to make a better world for everypony, but this mechanical city is not a better place. At it's best is an amusement park, at it's worst a prison with golden bars."

"Machines are the future. But not like this." Applejack approached the mare and looked at her in the eye, finding kindness in those mysterious red eyes. "There's a place for your machines in Equestria, but you won't find it here."

"Come with us sister. Let's go back home. Let Bernardt handle this place in your absence."

– Maybe you are right. I spent so much time building this place, I didn't even care to think what everypony needed, I just wanted to make them need what I wanted them to need. Maybe it was not innovation, but pride that guided me. I should have created more machines like Bernardt and less like those simple drones and the Efreet. Machines that could be our friends, not our servants.

The mare stepped down from her throne and approached Midnight Edge, she was ready to let her crazed dream go and start anew. She could never revert her change or dismantle her city, but she could stop the growth of her city and face the truth of her transformation. She was not an alicorn princess with a great nation, she was just a mutant ruling a city with no inhabitants.

Right before she decided to leave, a window broke. A cream colored mare with pink and blue mane entered and impacted Bernardt with her hooves, damaging the sentient and forcing his deactivation. "Stop right there! You are under arrest for conspiring against Princess Celestia! I knew you would take me to something big if I followed you. I, Sweetie Drops, declare you as traitors!".

"What is this supposed to mean! Bon Bon! I knew you meant trouble. How long have you been following me?" Midnight Edge was enraged, he did not expect the intrusion of the only inhabitant of Ponyville who had no respect for him.

"Ever since you arrived. I knew you were behind something dirty. I couldn't get you for your acts with that filly, but now I have proof you have been conspiring with the creator of those strange machines. Did you think S.M.I.L.E wouldn't notice their presence?"

"You!" Midnight Gears held her broken creation with her hooves, treating it as if it was her own son. "This is all your fault! I had built a dream land and you brought this filthy mare upon us! I should kill you! Brother, you have betrayed me!"

"Calm down. There is no need to fight." Applejack tried to solve the situation avoiding any kind of conflict.

"Sister... It was not meant to end like this. I am so sorry." Midnight Edge was filled with rage and suffering, what was meant to be a warm reunion could end with the death of somepony, and an innocent was harmed already.

"You! Filthy mare! You broke my Bernardt!" The artificer looked at Bon Bon with murderous intent, her eyes full of tears. Her masterpiece, her friend, destroyed by an invader who had the nerve to accuse her of betraying the only one she was loyal to. "I should kill both of you! Maybe I should kill all of you! Efreet! Show these ponies the exit. You are allowed to use lethal force on the S.M.I.L.E agent if needed!" After issuing her command the mare left carrying the broken pieces of her cherished sentient. The artificer entered an elevator and went down several floors into her workshop.

As soon as the Princess of Artifice left, her Efreet guards proceeded to attack the group. Attempting to incapacitate their targets and take them as far from the tower as possible, and in the case of Bon Bon kill her if needed.

"I should leave you to fight these big boys alone. But I wouldn't like to see Lyra mourning your death. You should be thankful I kind of like her." Midnight edge decided to defend the mare who brought trouble upon all of them, he acted out of a recently discovered mercy. "Applejack, Keep Babs Safe, this is going to get ugly."

"No need to ask. I'm on it!" Applejack and Babs Seed took cover while Midnight Edge and Bon Bon handled the situation.

The team was outnumbered but they managed to dispatch their enemies with ease. The Efreet were powerful, yet their thinking pattern was limited and based on an identical template, any unusual strategy was all they needed to neutralize them, proving again that machines were not always the best for a task.

"If you have a way out you should leave now. My sister won't be pleased to find out you survived." Midnight Edge spoke to Bon Bon in a serious tone. "And thank you for causing so much trouble. You should be thankful Celestia is a merciful leader, otherwise you would be sent to the gallows for this."

"You are the traitors to the crown, not me!"

"Traitor my horseshoe! You have no idea what you are dealing with! My sister would never betray Princess Celestia. She was trying to help!"

"I don't think you are helping us at all Bon Bon." Applejack spoke to her friend who was reluctant to admit she was mistaken. "I am sure we're on the same side."

"If a savior of Equestria says so. But she is still a threat to Equestria. Just look at those monsters!"

"And we were about to stop her! But you came in through that window and made a big mess!" Babs Seed was harsher toward Bon Bon than Applejack.

"You should leave... The three of you. I can handle my sister on my own."

"I'm staying, and so does Applejack." Babs Seed responded, she was reluctant to leave Midnight Edge alone knowing he could need help to reason with his enraged sister. "Bon Bon should get the heck out of here though."

In the end Bon Bon was forced to leave and report her failure to her superiors, she was meant to inform Princess Celestia directly of the events and make sure she would meet with the involved parties. Celestia was the only one with enough authority to handle the situation worsened by her own secret agents commanded to protect Equestria. By the end of the day all that protected Bon Bon for serious retaliation was Celestia's kindness.

The three ponies took the elevator to follow Midnight Gears. She intentionally left everything set in case anypony managed to escape her Efreet guards. She would greet them with a surprise.

Author's Note

Midnight Gears. The gears of insanity.

Deus Vult

The elevator stopped, opening it's doors to a large, dim lit, underground room. The place looked like some sort of hangar. As the ponies left the elevator several lights turned on, showing the outline of a large object.

An enraged scream came from the machine. "AAAH! LEAVE THIS PLACE NOW!" The object released a volley of warning shots toward the group.

After it's threatening introduction the machine began to play a tune, the music sounded as that of a pipe organ, designed to intimidate enemies. The large object approached revealing it's complete form. The machine had four insect like legs connected to a central area, from the central area emerged a thick framed torso. Two arms were on it's sides as if it was a biped, one carried a large rotary cannon designed to fire non lethal rounds, the other had an enormous clawed hand designed to grab objects and hold opponents. From the lower central part of its torso grew two smaller arms with more complex hands used for delicate manipulation of objects. The upper part of its torso ended in an illuminated cockpit resembling a head. The creature was made almost entirely of metal and properly shielded. It was meant to last no matter what. A name was engraved on it's sides “Fomorian”

"Where is that music coming from?" Applejack asked in surprise looking at the enormous machine.

"It's coming from the robot. I guess my sister feels like making this battle one to be remembered! I can see you! Get off that thing now!" Midnight Edge looked at his sister, sitting in the cockpit ready to attack.

"Go away!" The voice echoed through the machine as she fired at her brother, expecting to incapacitate him.

"Take cover! I will handle her! Alright sister, time to knock some sense into your head." Midnight Edge released his sword, ready to attack the armored monster.

"It's your fault! It's all your fault! He's broken! Broken! Broken! BROKEN!" The enraged voice came from the machine as it rushed forward, trying to grab any of her targets with its clawed hand. It failed to hold anything in it's hand, crashing against a wall.

Babs Seed and Applejack hid inside the elevator which was protected by a steel cage, keeping it safe from the dangerous battle outside, Midnight Edge ran behind the machine and tried to slash it with his sword. The blade hit the armored back of the Fomorian without much effect, only gaining the attention of it's furious pilot.

"Is this the future you want? A future of war and destruction!" The stallion challenged his sister, casting a fireball spell toward her creation.

"It is the only future you deserve!" The machine released another volley of rounds, impacting Midnight Edge on a hoof. The non lethal round released an electric discharge into his body, causing pain and almost paralyzing him.

The stallion charged against the combat machine, which deflected the attack with it's large mechanical leg. Midnight Edge blocked the impact with his sword, avoiding all harm and carefully landing on the metallic surface. The stallion released a large ice needle from his horn, making the machine tumble backwards.

The Fomorian recovered quickly from the impact and fired again, landing three hits on Midnight Edge. The stallion was losing, Midnight Gears created a weapon without comparison. Babs Seed and Applejack witnessed the battle from the elevator, they wanted to interfere, but they knew it was too dangerous. Midnight Edge was barely recovering from the attack, he was wounded and could barely continue. The stallion recovered himself from the wounds using a healing spell, however his morale could not recover, the clockwork giant had no weaknesses.

Midnight Edge resisted the attacks of the combat machine, but he could not find an opening to attack. His words were ignored and there seemed to be no way out of that battle other than defeat. Babs Seed witnessed the battle, realizing Midnight Edge was on the verge of accepting defeat. She was not able to help him, but she could at leas try to make him react. "You can't give up! We traveled all the way to this place so we could help your sister! There's no way you can leave her like that!"

Midnight Edge snapped out of his despair, bent on giving his best no matter the results. He spoke to his sister one more time, attempting to reason with her. "This is wrong! Why did you build that thing?" He was responded by the Fomorian's clawed hand grabbing him and pinning his body against a wall.

"I made it to get rid of any obstacle! I can't believe my own blood would be one!" Midnight Gears was ready to end his brother's life, before she could land the final blow she heard his voice.

"Do you think that would please Celestia?" The question made the mare and her machine freeze, creating an opening. Midnight Edge found several exposed areas in the Fomorian's hand. Using his sword he slashed through the large clawed hand, making it fall apart and releasing himself.

Midnight Edge's success alerted his sister, her mind was clouded by anger, but there was doubt in her heart. Her creation could be an abomination before Celestia. She could approve the innovation in combat technology, but not its use on ponies. Her design had exactly that flaw, it was built expecting to use it on the very same beings it was meant to protect. Without somepony to guide her, Midnight Gears was capable of creating great things, but also cruel abominations of twisted steel. Even her Efreet guards felt as a mistake now. "Celestia's will. I no longer hear it. But I know she could not reject innovation!"

The mare pressed a switch, changing the electric ordnance of her rotary cannon to a magic energy beam designed for more resilient enemies. The machine fired the beam toward Midnight Edge, who swiftly avoided it. Unlike the shock pellets normally used by the Fomorian, it's magic weapon required time to charge again. The maddened mare tried to make time using the sturdy cannon as a battering ram, charging against her brother.

Midnight Edge found a new opening, using the momentum he could make the giant fall. Midnight Edge placed a small ice block in it's way, the clockwork abomination placed it's clawed leg on the block, slipping with it and falling to the ground. The impact left a crack on the cockpit window. The Fomorian struggled to stand again, it's small lower arms pushing to get back on it's feet.

Midnight Edge approached the struggling Fomorian and released an ice needle inside two of the barrels of it's cannon. The Princess of Artifice did not notice her brother's sabotage and continued charging her weapon. Once her eyes saw the gauge indicating full charge, she activated the firing mechanism. The energy fired from the barrels was meant to converge into a single beam, but with two blocked barrels the remaining three energy beams began to turn into disorderly bursts of energy.

The weapon was overloading, the blocked energy from the two obstructed barrels returned into the mechanism, overloading the machine and causing internal damage to most of it's structure. A chain reaction was unleashed, the energy waves made the shock rounds unstable, causing them to explode inside their containment tank.

The cannon arm exploded, leaving exposed gears which fell from the gigantic frame. The Fomorian could no longer sustain itself, it's tune began to fade signaling it's end. It's pilot had no control over the machine anymore, causing her to panic. Midnight Edge broke the cockpit window, holding his sister and quickly pulling her out of the machine as it crumbled into a pile of junk.

"Are you done? It's time to go home."

"I shouldn't be allowed to build weapons." Midnight Gears responded in a mildly humorous tone. She was no longer enraged. "I made a big mess out of my test room again."

Applejack and Babs Seed left the elevator, expecting there would be no more battles. "Are we going home or what?" Applejack spoke, she didn't feel comfortable in that place.

"More like or what if I am allowed to voice my opinion." The false alicorn answered Applejack's question. "I must get everything ready before we leave. Once I am done we will go to Canterlot. I must face Celestia's judgment now."

"What about Bernardt?" Babs Seed asked, worried about the fate of their new friend. "Is he...?"

"His core is intact. I can repair him. In no time he will be back to his sassy self. I wouldn't just leave him behind. He will come with me to Canterlot. The other sentients will handle the city."

"And what is going to be of it next?" Midnight Edge asked his sister, wondering why she insisted on creating a city of machines. It reminded him of a place he dreamed of, a place he feared, full of living machines with glistening oil for blood. "Gears, tell me you will dismantle the city."

"I can't. This place must exist. I could turn it into some sort of resort or something. I will command the factory to reduce its operations. There is no need to expand the city or large amounts of machines. Things are just fine the way they are."

...

The group stayed for a little longer in the city, resting in facilities designed for visitors. The place was not bad, but it didn't feel like home. Midnight Gears repaired Bernardt, most of the damaged parts were fixed with gilded brass plates and brass gears. His silvery body was now decorated with golden parts. It was repaired this way intentionally, to make his repairs more notable, he had no objection.

Midnight Gears commanded her security machines to look for Bon Bon and capture her if she was ever found inside the city. She wanted her to atone for her attack on Bernardt. The city was no longer as busy as it used to be, there were less resource and observation drones and new machines became scarce. Alan Second of Twenty was appointed as Bernardt's replacement in his absence, Midnight Gears was still the leader of those machines, making sure no one could command them to act against her will. The group was ready to leave Mechania.

...

The four ponies and the sentient rode on a mechanical air ship toward Canterlot. Midnight Edge was reluctant of going there, but he had no other choice. Her sister had no other place to go, and now they had to face Princess Celestia and explain the past events as well as Midnight Gears' mutation.

"Why don't you want to go back to Canterlot? It can't be that bad." Babs Seed asked her coltfriend, wondering why he refused to go there.

"There is nothing left for me there. Jacques moved a long time ago. Our parents moved after the changeling attack. And there is not even a good place to eat since Zesty Gourmand became famous. It is just a boring, pretentious, fancy city full of arrogant unicorns."

"Rarity said something about that. I think she changed things a bit." Applejack stated, hoping that would cheer the stallion up.

"Based on the drone reports I could even find a nice place for you to eat." Bernardt added with pride. "You just need to ask."

"Is there a place with something spicy, full of flavor, dunno, something exotic?" Midnight Edge asked, hoping the sentient machine could find a place fitting of his tastes.

"Currently many places could match that description based on the data provided by our drones, but I assume The Tasty Treat might be the place you are looking for."

"Well then! On our way to The Tasty Treat!" The stallion felt enthusiastic about the idea of a decent restaurant in Canterlot.

"Our meeting with Princess Celestia is our priority. We are free to stuff our faces with food once we are done with that." Midnight Gears reminded her brother of their priority.

...

Air of apotheosis

Princess Celestia sat on her throne waiting for something to happen, a guard rushed into the hall. He was visibly concerned. "Your highness. There is an alicorn requesting a meeting."

"Let her in. I have been waiting for her arrival." Princess Celestia expected her arrival, she was informed of the situation by an S.M.I.L.E agent. She was eager to know exactly what was going on. She also intended to meet the other involved ponies.

The group walked through the entrance, once they got close enough, they bowed before the princess. Applejack and Midnight Edge bowed in a less solemn manner, as if they were already familiar with her. In Applejack's case it was a sign of respect, to Midnight Edge it was a way to display security.

"Rise. There is no need to bow before me." Princess Celestia spoke kindly, she was not sure what to think, but considered it unfit for an alicorn to bow before her. Most of the group followed her request, except for Bernardt and Midnight Gears who kept their faces near the ground as if they were not able to see her.

"Bowing before you is the least we could do. We are not equals, even if I was an alicorn we would never be equals." Midnight Gears felt the weight of her actions every time the princess spoke.

"I would like to hear your side of the story. I was informed you built an entire city of machines. My agent suspects you intend to invade Equestria, but I doubt her words."

"I... I wanted to bring progress to Equestria, to offer new tools to our people. But I made a mistake. I should tell you everything from the beginning." The false alicorn finally looked at her in the eye, holding back tears as she spoke.

"Speak then."

"I am not an alicorn. I am just a unicorn with wings. I lack the might of true alicorns." The mare spoke, wondering the best way to explain everything. "I sought progress in science and attempted to become an alicorn through it, but it was impossible. I took a mutagen formula which gave me these wings, it made me stronger and provided me with unique inspiration to create, to bring progress. But the price I paid was greater than the benefits. The mutagen affected my sanity, it made me unstable. I created many things, but I have realized they were things Equestria never needed."

"Is that machine one of your creations? It looks almost alive. There is no need to underestimate your potential."

"Being praised by Princess Celestia herself is such a pleasant experience. I assume you already know our names, but I find it necessary to introduce ourselves. My name is Bernardt First of Twenty. The first sentient construct ever made. My master is Midnight Gears, the Princess of Artifice." The sentient spoke with pride

"I am not worthy of that title! I never deserved it." The mare spoke with tears rolling down her face. "After all I have done I would not be surprised if I was kept in a dungeon."

"I consider that is not necessary." The princess approached her penitent subject. "You need guidance, not punishment. I see great potential in your creations. Bernardt is an example of that potential. Our scientists have been trying to combine magic and science to create a lifelike machine for years. They could use your knowledge and skills."

"But I am unstable, I could end up building weapons and soldiers again."

"I trust you will not do that as long as you have friends to guide you. Would you like to work with our best scientists? I think it would be the opportunity you need to start anew." Princess Celestia extended an offer to the young mare.

"I... I accept your offer. I shall do my best."

"But master! What about your city, your kingdom, your creations, my brethren? We can't just let them rust into oblivion!" Bernardt was concerned with the fate of his master's creations.

"I have no kingdom. That city is just another part of Equestria. It's fate rests in Celestia's hoof now."

"That might be true, but your friend is right. We should not let an impressive engineering feat fall apart out of regret." The alicorn spoke with an idea in her mind. "That city represents a great opportunity to our researchers. It could serve its intended purpose after all."

"Well. You might hire a few cooks and other staff to send there. My sister's creations are apparently unfit for cooking. In fact except for the twenty sentients, her creations lack any creative skills. I don't think they should replace ponies in most activities." Midnight Edge spoke calmly.

"Perhaps Equestria is not ready for all those machines, and probably many of them will result unnecessary. But they possess great potential. Our scientists could learn much from them. Midnight Gears, I entrust you with a very important task. Work with our scientists to bring innovation through your creations. I know you will do great things from now on."

"Thank you."

"It is time to move on to the next reason for our meeting. Midnight Edge, I am well aware of your situation. My agent insisted I should interfere. Twilight Sparkle already decided what should be done, but I think you need my word too."

"I would like to know what you think of it." Applejack stated, curious about the stance taken by the highest authority in Equestria.

"My sister spent time observing your dreams. According to her, both of you are pleased with your relationship and how things have progressed since the time I was informed of it. As you know, My sister and I are older than all of you. We consider the disparity of age in your relationship nearly inconsequential, yet we know there will be many challenges you will face in the future."

"We will overcome them. Our love makes us stronger." Babs Seed spoke with joy and confidence.

"I know. We believe Twilight Sparkle made the right choice. Our agent is against your relationship, but she respects our decision."

"And so we will marry with your blessing. Once Babs reaches adulthood of course." The stallion was not surprised with Celestia's response. Somehow he felt she had been watching over them for a long time.

"I think our meeting is over now. Would you like to dine with my sister and I?" Princess Celestia relaxed before her guests.

"Actually your highness... I just came up with and idea." Midnight Edge responded, extending an invitation to the princesses.

...

The group, now including Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, dined at The Tasty Treat. The owners were surprised by the visit of such distinguished guests, as well as the strange appearance of some of them. The princesses found themselves in the need of requesting to be treated as equals, yet as soon as they requested so the mood lightened considerably.

The ponies enjoyed the delightful dishes served on the table. A deserved rest after the stressful events which took place earlier. After a peaceful night the ponies took separate ways. The princesses returned to their castle, pleased with the results of the meeting. Midnight Gears and Bernardt prepared themselves to join the Royal Science Division. Midnight Edge, Applejack, and Babs Seed stayed at the royal castle for the night and took the train back to Ponyville in the morning.

...

As the train advanced Midnight Edge looked through the window. The sky was clear and calm. He felt relieved, the weight of his quest finally gone.

"It is over. Now I can do whatever I want."

"That means you will leave soon, right?" Babs Seed knew the moment was closer, but she knew he would return someday.

"Soon, but not now. Maybe I could stay for Heart's Warming eve."

"Great! Too bad you might not be here for Hearts and Hooves day."

"Honestly I never liked that date. Not sure that will change soon. But I could give you a call on Hearts and Hooves day."

"I was planning to call you every week anyway. I think I understood how to use that flower thingy."

"The void communicator? Keep it safe. Those things are not easy to come by."

"Just like our love."

...

Packing up

Autumn gave in to winter. Midnight Edge began to prepare for his departure. The first change the locals noticed was the absence of Puffy, Midnight Edge's pet fungus. The small creature returned to its home world, it found the cold Equestrian winter unbearable and left before snow began to fall. The polished stone tower felt lonely and cold, Midnight Edge was ready to leave Equestria, staying only to spend Heart's Warming eve with Babs Seed and her family. The stallion had no interest in spending that day with his parents, and his siblings would be busy with other matters.

Midnight Edge sat on his desk, wondering what would happen next, where to go. He was eager to seek new adventures, and even expected to take Babs Seed on an adventure beyond Equestria. There were places he wanted her to see. As he pondered on his next move, he remembered the mirror that once revealed him the paths he was more likely to take. He was used to find visions and answers in dreams, but the mirror revealed even further, it revealed the answers he sought in an almost conscious way.

The stallion held the mirror and gazed into its black surface. Soon he was swallowed by it's smoky blackness. Then he saw his first vision. A wold he saw the first time he held the mirror, a city full of humans with varied skin tones, linked to Equestria in a mysterious way. But this time the vision was not the landscape of that world, but two humans arguing. One was a young man with dark purple skin, green eyes, and clear blue hair tied in a ponytail, the stallion found his face extremely familiar. The other human was a girl, slightly younger than him, her skin had a light brown color, green eyes, and dark pink hair styled in an unfamiliar way, her face also brought memories to his mind. They seemed angry at each other, their argument escalating until it got close to physical violence. Then both took separate ways with a sad expression on their face. Two voices spoke in unison “I wish we were nicer to each other”.

The second vision was a place he was familiar with. A vast city where people were divided in ten guilds struggling to keep the unstable population in balance. The ten guilds achieved a fragile peace after a long time of conflict. A riot initiated by the members of the most unruly of the guilds unleashed chaos in the city as the other guilds fought to restore order. The voice of a man spoke from a tower far from the conflict. “They can't get along without me.”

The third vision took him to a world where machines took the lead after the fall of their creators. The inhabitants were divided between those who sought their expansion by invading other worlds and those who preferred their constant improvement and understanding of the world around them. Their conflict was initiated by the discovery of magic. One of the machines looked at its reflection, realizing it was once a female of the species that created her. A voice echoed “Reborn in steel”.

The next vision led to an unfamiliar night landscape. The only familiar sight were his friends, in particular the one he recognized as Riv. He looked at the stars, wondering what his other friends, including Midnight Edge, could be doing at the moment. The mysterious man walked through the vast grass field he and his friends stood on. Then a voice of unknown origin spoke, “They are waiting for you”.

A fifth vision revealed before the stallion. A world he once saw in dreams. A world made of machines, it's floor covered in layers of metal. A black oil flowed everywhere polluting life and making it mechanical. A small group of living creatures resisted the spread of the taint as they fought back against the creatures born of it. The resistance was small and weak, but they refused to give in. The monstrous machines gathered before five of their own which seemed to be their leaders. The mechanical world infected with corruption seemed to be in a state beyond salvation. The echo of thousand voices spoke resisting corruption, “We must endure!”

Finally the creature shown in previous visions appeared. The mirror on it's leg reflecting light on it's dark surface. The creature spoke to Midnight Edge. “You seek my guidance again. Now I offer you to chose between glory and peace. Which path will you take? Will you try to become a legend, or seek the comforting peace of causing small changes in the lives of others?” The vision faded and Midnight Edge considered the options shown by the mirror, realizing the reason to keep it away from the wrong individuals. Following its visions lead in one way or another to influencing the lives of others. In the right hooves it could lead it's owner to heroic acts and the birth of strong bonds with others. In the wrong hooves it could create tyrants and frauds.

...

Midnight Edge spent Heart's Warming eve with Babs Seed and her family. He was even allowed to stay at their house. The stallion was no longer a stranger. He was part of the family now. The stallion noticed how his life changed. He was no longer troubled by his fear of predestination. His frown became less common than it was upon arrival. He was more determined and determined. It was all because of Babs Seed, the impact they had on each other was something everypony noticed.

Even though both had close friends they were fond of, before knowing each other they always felt lonely. They still felt something was missing. Midnight Edge believed ponies saw him as an outcast, and Babs Seed felt her family was too busy to pay attention to her and her friends were distant either in location or emotionally. Both felt incomplete, there was something missing, and they found it in each other. Now Babs Seed had somepony she could speak to, and Midnight Edge somepony who made him feel at home.

Even Babs Seed's family acknowledge they seemed to be meant for each other. They still came to terms with the possibility of them interacting beyond mere affection. They were aware of the fact that Babs Seed was an early bloomer in terms of sexuality and understanding an adult stallion would be prone to engage in sexual activities with his lover. They were not comfortable with the idea, yet still accepted it as Babs Seed's choice. In the end they decided to welcome the stallion into the family. He was not that bad after all, his behavior was strange, his diet abnormal, and his siblings seemed to be insane, but he was honest and loyal, and cared deeply about Babs Seed.

It was late at night, the festive air floated all over the place, not so long ago the whole family celebrated Heart's Warming eve with the unusual guest. All of them shared memories of past years, remembering both sweet and bitter memories of Heart's Warming eve celebrations which took place in previous years. Midnight Edge sat on the couch reading a message on his strange petaled device. The green light on the device illuminated the place with it's crystalline glow. In his ear the stallion heard small hoof steps drawing closer to his location.

“Can't sleep, uh?” Babs Seed spoke to him as she walked closer to him.

“Not exactly. More like I don't want to.” The stallion responded leaving the golden device on a table, the message on it still visible.

“Why so?”

“Because once I fall asleep this moment will end. I would like to enjoy it for a little longer.”

“Is it because of that thing? Are you leaving tomorrow or something?”

“No. I have a few days before leaving. I actually hope you could meet my friend Riv before we leave. He will come to pick me soon.”

“Is there something else then?”

“It has been so long since I actually enjoyed Heart's Warming eve. There were some winter celebrations I took part of in my travels, but this... I really feel at home now. I wish I could make this moment last for a little longer.” Midnight Edge had tears of joy in his eyes. He finally found what was missing in his life.

“But then it would not be as important.” The filly sat next to the stallion and placed her hoof on his.

“I am not sure I want to leave anymore.”

“Don't say that Midnight. I don't want to hold you back. I know you would never do that to me. I promised I will wait for you.” Babs Seed refused to allow him to give up on his goals because of her. She knew he would not feel free if he was forced to stay.

“But I feel so happy when you are around. I belong to no place, but I belong to you.”

“Then take me with you. Well, not now. But someday we could travel together. I would like to see some of the places you told me about.”

“Babs, I have no words to express how much I love you. I don't think there is a word for such strong feeling in any language I am aware of.”

“How about a kiss?” Babs Seed kissed the stallion, the kiss was passionate and long. Both knew it was more than just a kiss, it was a kiss to seal their promises.

They remained in silence, cuddling on the couch and thinking about their future. Their love was strong enough to endure all challenges, and they knew there would be many challenges in the future. Soon both fell asleep, embracing each other in their sleep in such a way that anypony would feel reluctant to disturb their sleep and end that wonderful moment.

Early at dawn Sunflower found the couple still asleep, she looked at them and thoughts passed through her mind. Her sister, she looked small and innocent, but her will was strong enough to change the world around her. And that stallion, the one her sister fell in love with, at first she did not approve of him, she saw him with suspicion, but now he felt like part of the family. She actually hoped they would marry, and wondered how their wedding would be. The mare smiled and spoke. “You were right. I got used to him. Your coltfriend has no idea how fortunate he is, he got the best filly around.”

...

Midnight Edge returned to Ponyville two days after Heart's Warming eve. The news about his departure spread quite fast. Pinkie Pie intended to organize a farewell party for him, but Midnight Edge convinced her of not doing so. He asked her to gather his friends the day he would leave. He wanted them to bid him farewell right before he left. He knew he would return someday, and so he wanted to make sure his friends would not feel his departure would be permanent, therefore a party should not be necessary.

After all the things that happened, things changed so much. Everypony in Ponyville grew used to him, even Bon Bon began to accept him after the events in Mechania. His research would be continued by Starlight Glimmer, who was now inspired to know cutie marks better in order to understand how they linked to friendship. Even his relationship with Babs Seed had an impact on others, inspiring Spike to not give up on his love. The dragon finally earned the attention of Rarity during Heart's Warming eve. If a stallion and a filly could make their relationship work, it should not be so difficult for a young dragon and a mare.

Midnight Edge's arrival to Ponyville left a mark on the locals, and they would miss him once he left, but he intended to return, he had a reason to do so.

...

The long way around

The day finally came. Midnight Edge was meant to leave soon, and so he gathered those he was fond of. It was a rather large group. Twilight Sparkle, the first pony he befriended since his return. Applejack, who accepted him as a member of her family. Fluttershy, who grew quite fond of Puffy. Rainbow Dash, probably the fastest pony he ever met. Rarity, the most stylish mare to ever befriend that stallion. Spike, the dragon who now dated Rarity. Pinkie Pie, the pony who tried to make Midnight Edge feel at home first. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, the three fillies gifted with the skill to guide other ponies. Starlight Glimmer, the mare trusted with Midnight Edge's research. Time Turner, a great scientist and a trustworthy friend. Muffins, the most cheerful mare Midnight Edge ever met. Roseluck, the reluctant adventurer. Sourdough and Lock Pick, the siblings who saved Manehattan from a criminal organization. And finally Babs Seed, the filly fated to marry Midnight Edge. These were the ponies who had a greater impact in Midnight Edge's life.

The ponies gathered close to Twilight Sparkle's castle, snow covered the ground and winter decorations still adorned the place. The ponies were dressed in an attire fitting the weather. Midnight Edge stood before the group holding a pocket watch, expecting his friend to arrive on time. As the hands on the watch moved to mark the hour stated in Riv's missive, the planeswalker appeared before the small crowd.

The alien creature appeared before he ponies without much warning. His body covered in formal clothes. Black pants, a white shirt, and an aristocratic looking blue coat with golden accents and red decoration. His body resembled that of the creatures known as humans which Midnight Edge and Twilight Sparkle were familiar with. However his features were rather slender and reptilian, covered in dark green scales, with a pair of reptile wings and a matching tail which required his clothes to be tailored specifically for his species, his face almost entirely human except for a pair of horns protruding from his forehead, with gold colored snake eyes, and long black hair tied in a ponytail. A noble looking dragon man.

The mysterious being looked at the ponies and spoke with a wide smile revealing his sharp reptile teeth. “Pony boy! I'm glad you brought your friends for this moment!” His gaze focused on Babs Seed, the small filly wore a red hairpin which quickly revealed her identity to the foreigner. “You must be the unlucky girl. I knew you were young, but I was not expecting you would be so... Small. Pony boy has no idea how fortunate he is.”

The filly looked at that strange creature, it was not threatening, but it looked entirely strange to her. And she was not comfortable with him teasing her lover, she was the only one who had the right to tease him. “Hey! He is the unlucky one. Having you for friend and travel companion sounds awful, and I just met you.”

“Impressive! A spirited one! Pony boy, this one's a keeper!”

The stallion looked at his friend and spoke. “This is Riv, fellow planeswalker and adventurer. He is rather...”

The stallion was interrupted by his friend who went through his own introduction.”Riv Arkat. The most wonderful half dragon in the multiverse!” He looked around observing the crowd and then spoke to his friend. “Honestly I am surprised you picked that filly. With all these pretty ladies close to you, in your place I would find it harder to pick just one.” The reptile aimed his eyes at Fluttershy and Muffins, probably flirting with them. “But of course, I am not a pony, so what do I know. Right?”

“Are you flirting with somepony?” Rainbow Dash spoke, confused by the behavior displayed by the visitor.

“I am honestly not sure. But your species is certainly gifted with general beauty. Enough to make a dragon fall in love. Such an uncanny reunion.” The outsider responded.

“I think it would be worth trying.” Rarity responded, and then winked at Spike, acknowledging their blooming love. A spark ignited by another uncanny love. Spike smiled at her in response.

“I am growing uncomfortable with this. You said we had no time for a meal with my friends, yet start flirting with them.” Midnight Edge spoke, wondering how to bid farewell to his friends.

“Fine! Do your thing and let's get moving.”

“Well... My friends... I honestly don't know how to do this. I am not good at this but... I will miss you guys.”

Twilight Sparkle smiled and then spoke friendly words at the stallion. “I think I speak for everypony when I say we will be waiting for your return.”

“Worry not purple one. I will borrow him just for a rather short time. He will be back before you start realizing how much better your peaceful town is without him.” The traveler spoke in a humorous tone.

“Well... Here goes the hardest part... Babs... I will certainly feel eager to return back to you. Every day and night in those distant places I will fondly remember your smile. Wait for me.”

“I will. We will always have that flower thingy when we miss each other.” The filly responded, holding back tears.

“Wait! You gave her the void communicator! I thought it was for someone important. Like very important. Like divine level important.”

“Not even The Artisans would be as important to me.” Midnight Edge responded making clear the order of his priorities to his friend.

“Before you go... I want you to have this.” Babs Seed held a box in her hoof, offering it to Midnight Edge.

“A parting gift, and all I offered you was meeting that simpleton. He is right. I am fortunate.” Midnight Edge accepted the gift and then looked at her in the eye. “One last kiss before I leave.”

The couple kissed, expressing their love without words while the traveler entertained the crowd with his strangeness. A moving sight which Riv could not help but capture with a strange object, turning the light into a portrait which captured the love they felt for each other.

“Well. I guess that's it. But I shall return soon. Until then, don't forget me.” Midnight Edge turned around as his friend held an artifact which opened a portal leading to another world. Then both walked through it and then waved at the ponies from the other side as the portal closed.

...

“So. Are you going to open it already?” Riv asked Midnight Edge, expecting to know what Babs Seed gave him as parting gift.

Midnight Edge opened the box and saw a locket, a crystal pane revealed a photograph of the couple and a lock of hair taken from Babs Seed's mane. A single tear fell from the stallion's face as he spoke. “I finally found a place to call home. Do you want to know where it lies, my friend?”

“Sure. I would rather hear you speak than stand the company of Pony boy sentimental mode.”

“The place I call home... It is wherever she is. Babs Seed... Even the name of that filly is enough to melt my heart.” The stallion smiled. “That is the place where I belong, the place I shall return, and maybe someday I will stay there.”

“You could bring her to our travels.”

“Someday, not yet, but someday. Well. Let's get moving. I wonder where are you taking us this time.”

“I could ask Him to set a portal to your world too.”

The two friends stood on a small dirt road in the middle of a forest. They were on the way to their next adventure.

...

Epilogue

“Aw come on Melis! That story can't be true!” A drunk soldier laughed at the bard's story, dismissing it as a mere fabrication of the man's mind.

“Melis is a horsefucker! That's why he made up that shitty story!” A man with an eye patch and a trimmed beard responded to his friend.

“Come on guys! I told you it was real. You should believe me. I know the guy. He really is a unicorn” The young bard spoke laughing.

“I believe in you Melis. It was such a lovely story. Tell me. Did they get married in the end?” A muscular dwarf with thick red beard and braided hair responded in support of Melis.

“Yeah right! This is the part where Melis takes some sort of thing as proof of his story. What was the last time? Oh right! The head of that orc!” The drunk soldier laughed letting out a burp at the same time.

“Sorry guys. This time you'll have to believe me without much evidence. How about another story? One with less ponies and more ladies.”

The tavern was full of joy, Melis entertained his friends with his stories. Right when Melis took his lute to start his next tale, the door opened and a reptilian figure came through. The reptile was dressed with elegant clothes which did not match his rebellious personality. “Melis! You twisted bard! I have been looking for you! We are going to be late! Pony boy is waiting!”

“Sorry guys. I will leave this one for later.” Melis stood and left with his friend.

“Told you there would be some proof of it. That was Riv!”

“I still think he's a horsefucker!” The eye patch guy laughed.

“I don't care. I hope the pony guy married that filly.”

“Aren't you a bit sentimental for a dwarf?”

“I have killed more men than both of you together! And you can't even take a full mead mug without going all drunk!”

The three friends continued their party without Melis.

...

Melis and Riv finally arrived at their destination. A large valley with a lake in it, the moon light reflected on it's surface. There was a ring with portals leading to different locations, one of them was from which the two friends arrived, the others led to places considered safe by them and their friends. Closer to the lake stood a small cottage with light coming out of it's windows.

Inside the cottage there was a family preparing things for a celebration. The father was a purple unicorn pony with blue mane and green eyes, his cutie mark was a sword with a red trail. The mother was a young brown mare with dark pink mane, whose eyes were close in color to those of her husband, her cutie mark was a combination of scissors and an apple. Two younger ponies sat near a fireplace, one was a colt which was close to become a stallion, with a hide of dark blue color and a purple mane, his cutie mark was a teal four point star with a purple apple in the middle, the star was crossed by a blue ring with four triangular shapes over it, forming some sort of magic symbol. The youngest pony was a brownish orange filly with red mane, she had no cutie mark yet, but someday would carry a cutie mark showing a sword placed in cross position with an apple for hilt. Both young ponies inherited the green eyes of their parents.

“I'm getting tired of waiting. We should start without them.” The filly spoke, she was losing her patience.

“Patience Ambrosia. I think two of them are close already.” The father responded with a smile on his face.

“Is aunt Apple Bloom coming?” The colt asked. “I bet she could help Ambrosia get her cutie mark.”

“That's not how it works. She will find it on her own.” The mare responded with a smile.

“I know. But Ambrosia doesn't.”

“Shut up Winesap!” The filly yelled at her brother. “I know I will find it if I try everything. What if I become an adventurer just like dad?!”

“What do you think Midnight? Is she cut for it?”

“Well. A cutie mark means nothing when you go on an adventure. You turned out to be the best companion I could find after all.” The stallion responded and embraced his wife. “No matter where we are, we are home as long as we are together.”

Someone knocked at the door. Then a voice spoke from outside. “I am sorry to keep you waiting Pony boy. This stupid bard was too busy telling your story again.” It was Riv. Melis and him were the first to arrive for the reunion.

“It's open. Come in. You are the first to arrive I fact.” Midnight Edge responded. Riv and Melis walked in in response to his prompt.

“I think I saw the Apples coming through the Equestrian portal on our way here.” The bard spoke. “Should we leave the door open for them?”

“Sure. I can't wait to see my sister and my cousins.”

The End

Author's Note

Yo have finally reached the end of this long slow paced fanfic. I am pleased to know you had the patience to read so far. I hope you liked it. Thank you for reading.

Prologue

Gather around my friends for I have a story to tell.

This is the tale of a stallion without comparison.
One who was capable incredible feats,
With a heart full of endless passion
and a strange liking for the taste of meats.

An adventurer who traveled so far
His hooves stood on lands unknown.
His knowledge was vast with no par
So much he saw he had a constant frown.

Artifacts from his travels he collected,
His sword many threats cut through,
With ink and brush his travels depicted,
And mysterious potions he brew.

But of all the things he had done
One that left this bard very impressed.
For other to dare such thing was none,
To have carnal knowledge of a filly he dared!

And so am I with the task of playing my lute
To tell the tale of this wandering mage
The one I gladly upon sight shall salute
The legendary and bold Midnight Edge!

Author's Note

I have realized many readers could actually grow frustrated with the pace of the story. Yes, it is slow paced. If you seek only the erotic parts the chapters you are looking for are Green is the new red, Urban motion, A different routine, and a part of City of Steel.
If what you seek are the chapters with adventure and action then you might be interested in The tomb, Underworld, Method in Madness, and Deus Vult. The vast majority of the remaining chapters are either background development or the process leading to the next chapters. I didn't feel like writing an "And then they fucked" story or a kind of story full of conflict.