A World Forged at Midnight

Time.

What was time if not the one thing that haunted every living thing? Some would say death was the thing that eventually knocked on everypony's doorstep, but was death itself not chained to the torment of time as much as us?

Perhaps. It was a worthwhile thought.

The Canterlot library was off limits to most ponies after the departure of the Princesses. After all, I could never trust anypony to come near such ancient literature which was often times personally reviewed by one or both of the royal sisters. They could damage them... or destroy them outright! Not to mention that witnessing such radiant glory - by proxy - was not their to bathe in.

Yes... only I, their personally chosen regent, was fit to stand up to their divine glory, if not with a graceful bow of my head. Only I was fit to read what was written. It was I, after all, who needed to know all that I could to advance and secure harmony and friendship. If anything or anypony obstructed me, then it might have severe consequences.

And so it was that I studied on my own, in the deepest depths of the Library - the restricted section. Nopony to bother me, nopony to interrupt my studies. Here, I could learn to advance friendship further still. To truly put my powers to use and create a world that was forever grateful and forever bonded in friendship.

My aquamarine magical aura shone through the room, both from my horn and glowing hooves. The fireplace opposite to the entrance shone in that same colouration, its fire burning with a bright blue instead of warm, crackling fiery red and orange.

Gradually the bookshelves began to empty. One after another, book after book I read, sitting at the table in the center of the hallowed, ancient chamber as a mount of literature grew behind me. Some pieces were of more immediate use than others, given how a few were mere novels or biographies, all mixed together with spellbooks and the like. It didn't make for a particularly easy or quick search.

Dozens, hundreds, probably close to a thousand books of varying sizes and ages gathered behind my back as I placed one finished read there after another. I skipped a few just from reading their names - a book on magical dental care was not what was needed, for example - but even so the process was taking ages.

Time.

Time.

There it was again. Every passing moment, every lost second grinding away at the mind, at the body and world at large. Every minute spent reading there, in the library, was a minute gone to waste. A minute that some creature would spend in error, hating another or worse. It was precious time that was fast running out.

I didn't quite notice at the time, but the light blue corona around my eyes had gone out at some point as I continued my studies, and my wings had folded themselves together against my body as I idled and chafed away, word after word. I didn't hate studying or reading, far from it, but now? Now was not the time to... well. Waste time.

A mixture of anger and desperation crept up inside me as I came across another nonsensical one. Something about taming timberwolves...? Gah.

I flinched and enveloped the dark green book in aquamarine. I was about to hurl it across the room, or perhaps toss it away through a rift... when I managed to let out a calming sigh just in time. No. No, I had to do things right, after all. This was the property of the holy majesties, and even as their regent it was not my call to demolish what they owned.

The book landed gently on top of one of the many piles behind me, and I moved the next one in front of me with a sizeable, audible groan. I cursed under my breath that I was under pressure to get this done in time, or else I would have taken far greater joy in all the literature.

The next book landed in front of me, and I furrowed an eyebrow at the sight. A pinkish cover and a silver cover art depicting a wreath normally seen only during hearth's warming eve. Sure enough, the title complied with the iconography.

"Hearth's Warming Eve: The Fated Holiday," I spoke aloud, repeating what was written.

I pondered, momentarily. It did seem interesting to give it a read but... it was quite clearly not what I needed. Then again, I couldn't take my eyes off it, and the tapping of one of my hooves could only mean...

Oh, fine.

Briefly, the book lit up in my aquamarine aura, presenting to me the first page of the first chapter. I took a breather and lowered my head slowly as I began to read.

It quickly appeared to me that the book was no ordinary tale. Indeed, it seemed to be the retelling of the original events that led to Hearth's Warming Eve, the unification of the three tribes.

Page after page I flicked through the read. Some chapters I skipped, but it was... odd, really. To read about a time before Equestria was... well, Equestria. Three tribes, disunited and at odds with one another. Yet they were all driven together by the threat of the Windigoes, by a common foe and threat.

"The foundation of friendship and harmony," I thought out loud as I read a passage about Chancellor Puddinghead.

To say I was not at the very least intrigued by the tale would be a lie. It was... interesting, in a way, to learn how the tribes truly found together, and just as the fillytales described, it was a unity born out of friendship. The very first time that friendship showed its magic and power, in fact.

And yet, was it not odd, in a way?

The three tribes had been so defiantly opposed to one another, to a point where someone lesser would have likely assumed they were never going to find true friendship between one another. Like the griffons of today, they were isolated, caring only about themselves, and blew even the tiniest grudge and slight out of proportion for self-gain.

Had ponykind really come such a long way? From humble beginnings such as that? I had always known ponies were not always united, of course, but to think they were this petty before? It... certainly seemed to bother me more than I would like to admit.

Ponies had been so self-absorbed and ignorant, and yet, they found unity, friendship and harmony with one another still. They elevated the holy sisters to the status of their rightful rulers, and with them they prospered.

But what did that say about... other races out there? Were the dragons not similar? The griffons, yes, even the changelings in part? There were so many tribes and species out in the world who were conniving and self-serving, whom I had, until then, put off as relatively hopeless failures. I had thought friendship could never reach their hearts.

Was I wrong? All this time? Puddinghead, Hurricane and Platinum were enemies, or at least rivals for quite some time, and they never needed violence to find a place together in the end. No friendship trials to decide whether the others were fit for friendship or not. It just... happened, it seemed. Sort of.

Ugh.

I shut the book and placed it off to the side, perhaps to continue my read later. I'd already spent too much time on it, more than I would have liked, and still hadn't found what I was looking for. All that thought about Equestria's founding had completely side-tracked me away from ensuring Equestria stayed united in the present day!

My horn buzzed, and the room brightened considerably as books flew out of their shelves all over the room and towards me, engulfed in radiant, blue magic of mine. They all gathered above and next to me, floating mid-air, as I passed one after the other in front of my eyes to quickly judge.

A Guide on exotic fungi.

A novel-sized read about Discord's reign of chaos.

A tale about Luna's banishment? Bah, what terrible heresy.

A... cooking recipe collection for meals including magical crystals...?

I grew a little... annoyed, passing one book past my eyes after another, with one topic being more annoying than the next. Truth be told, when first I discovered the restricted section I had assumed it was filled only with the most treasured, sacred, albeit dangerous tomes imaginable.

To say I was wrong about that was understating it now that I was looking at what seemed to be the fourth excerpt of some ancient 'comic book' series, or what compared to such back in the day. The pile behind me grew and grew, taller and taller, when...

...when I stopped.

*Thud*

Books dropped flat to the ground all across the room, the vibrations toppling a few of the taller towers my magic had constructed behind me. I cared little for it then, as my every sense appeared focused on what hovered in front of my eyes.

A tome, as ancient as most in this collection, with the bronze lettering on the cover quickly denoting the author. Starswirl the Bearded.

Jackpot.

I slammed the spellbook onto the table and flipped it open to the second next page. The contents page. A few seconds of scanning... and yes. Yes, there it was!

Aquamarine magic enveloped Starswirl's work as page after page rapidly turned over without physical interference. When the magic subsided, the tome presented one particular spell to me. The one thing that I was missing, still, in my work to create perfect harmony and friendship! A spell that-

"Regent!"

Sounds of hoofsteps fast approaching pulled me away from my destiny and towards an intruder. Who? Who would dare interrupt now of all times!?

"Regent!!" the voice called again. It was clearly a male one.

I frowned. Standing up on all fours again, I turned away from the table and allowed my horn to light up. A portal appeared a short distance in front of me, and just as the sound of hoofsteps from the entrance hall to the restricted section stopped, so did a guardspony charge out of the portal.

"Wh- OW"

I stood firm, unaffected, as the stallion ran straight into me. Shaking my head for a brief moment - as did he - I decided to stare at him. He seemed to come back to his senses gradually as his brain rebooted after the instant dimensional travel across the short distance.

"What."

I stomped the ground with one of my rear hooves and sent neon blue ripples of energy across the floor as if lightning had struck. The guardspony, upon getting back on all fours, retreated a few steps but visibly tried to straighten himself out.

"Regent, t-the... err..."

He winced as the fiery, aquamarine corona of a mask around my eyes flared back into existence.

"Speak. Now."

He gulped, opened his mouth to speak, and then gulped again. Briefly closing his eyes and moving his mouth as if silently saying a prayer of some sort, he finally spoke.

"The Princesses have returned."