Chapter 18 – One Final Night

Midnight

I had rubbed Anon’s arms and shoulders, soothing her to sleep in a rare mid-afternoon nap for her. I was content to sleep beside her, knowing that time was running out. My dreams were troubled… reliving battles long past… almost as if mentally preparing me to fight another epic and tragic battle. A battle that I really wasn’t ready for, despite my preparations.

I woke up after sunset, and looked upon Anon’s sleeping form, bathed in the moonlight. She was radiant… and looked so peaceful. So at ease. So trusting of me to do the right thing… not only for her, but for us.

One mistake… and that would be it.

But could I raise a hoof to Luna? Even as Nightmare Moon… she was my love. My thoughts both consumed me and tore me asunder.

Was… my love. Do I not love Anon now? Do I love them both? Do I love one more than the other? For a thousand years I’ve kept my detachment and now… this. How could I be such a fool? And what of her… does Anon truly love me? Will I ever really know?

Anon stirred from sleep and I leaned in and kissed her. “Good evening, my love. Did you sleep well?”

She yawned as I broke the kiss. “Well enough. What time is it?”

I looked towards the wall clock. “It’s 8:30. Do you have plans?”

She nodded. “Yes… I’m going to get dressed. Meet me on our favorite hill. Go. Now.”

I was slightly startled by her authoritative tone but was also intrigued enough not to question it. I left her to her plans and walked to the hill. The large hill that overlooked both the estate and the town.

It was a beautiful night, full of stars and the full moon. My pace was slower than normal. I was taking in all the beauty of a perfect, cloudless night. When I got to the hill, I paused.

The hill had been decorated with a lattice archway and the archway itself was decorated with a set of lighting commonly known as fairy lights. A few long tables littered the hill and also had candles on it. I walked up to the archway and surveyed the scene.

It was clear that a lot of work had been done in a very short amount of time, arranged in advance.

A flash of light and the popping of teleportation magic was my only warning.

I turned back to the lattice only to find Princess Celestia standing on the other side of it and smiling at me. “Good evening, Midnight. Are you ready?”

A dubious expression crossed my face. “Ready for what?”

Celestia’s smile grew wider. “…For your wedding, of course.”

My… Wedding?

I swallowed hard. “Um. No?”

Celestia giggled. “Look at you… still making jokes on the big day.”

Panic barely described how I felt. Our wedding was supposed to be months away… after the Grand Galloping Gala. I didn’t even have a solid date for it in mind yet. Of course… I had put off making plans because I didn’t know if I would survive my battle with Nightmare Moon.

And yet… this looked suspiciously like a genuine wedding.

More than that… with the Summer Sun Celebration tomorrow morning… there is no way that Celestia would have time to play a joke on me. Not that she wouldn’t make the time to perform the ceremony if it had been requested.

The wind blew towards me from the estate, and it carried the sweet scent of Anon’s favorite perfume. I turned to look at her… and my jaw dropped. Anon was walking towards me… wearing a wedding dress. But not the one I thought I had ordered.

Her dress was as black as my coat and there were little diamonds sewn into the fabric that glistened like little stars as the light caught them while she walked. She wore a crown of flowers that were colorful and somewhat at odds with the dress, and yet… it seemed to fit. She wore no veil, her face as clear as the night. The train of the dress was being held up by two of my thestrals… I had no idea she had roped them into helping her, but they seemed honored to be part of the ceremony. All and all, the dress was beautiful, and it really looked good on her.

The diamonds remind me a little of Luna’s mane… no… focus.

Anon smiled at me as she stood beside me at the makeshift altar. She nodded to the thestrals and they took their place as part of a growing audience of thestrals, who seemed to be arriving in droves. My throat went dry.

Nearly my entire private army is here… with their families too. There must be over a thousand ponies here.

Moon Watcher took her place beside me as my Best Mare and several of my soldiers were in their armor, acting as an honor guard. As I looked over the proceedings with a mix of shock and awe, Moon Watcher bowed to me and whispered.

“I’m aware that this was Anon’s idea… but please don’t be too mad at us for going along with it. We just want you to be happy, my lord.”

I simply nodded and cleared my throat. “Well… since you’re all dressed up… maybe I should be too.”

With a flash of my horn… my illusion spell faded, and my wings appeared. The only thing I wore was a simple silver circlet which crowned my head in a fashion that would denote me being both a prince and an heir to the throne. Celestia’s chest tightened when she remembered that Luna had given me the crown before our wedding to denote me being next in line to throne, immediately after Celestia and Luna herself. My wings didn’t seem to bother her at all.

I gave Celestia a small smile. “Nothing to say?”

Celestia shifted on her hooves. “I have nothing to say… publicly. We will need to talk about you being an alicorn… in private… later.”

Anon nodded. “Then we are ready to begin.”

Celestia cleared her throat. “We are gathered here to today, to join this stallion with this mare, in holy matrimony. Midnight has been a loyal subject and an even better friend for over a thousand years. Anon… although new to our land… has been made welcome by our ponies and has gained acceptance by the same. She appears to be the Moon that Midnight has been denied for so long and I am pleased to give them both my blessing. Does anypony have an objection?”

Nopony did.

“Would you like to recite your own vows?”

Anon nodded. “Yes. Midnight… You have made me the happiest that I have ever been. I look forward to every day knowing that you are going to be a part of it. I know that love is hard for you and as a proud warrior it’s probably harder for you to express it openly, and I completely understand and accept you for what you are. That being said… I need you to know that I will love you for the rest of my life and if I can give your life meaning, then I will certainly give you my best. Whatever you need from me… all that I can give you… all of my love… is yours.”

My throat closed as all the assembled ponies ‘awwwed’ at her statement.

What in Tartarus am I supposed to say to follow up her vows? I have nothing prepared!

I cleared my throat, emotion coloring my words. “When I was told that slavers were operating in my province, I was angry, but I also saw it as just another hunt. I never expected to find you. I never expected to save you. I offered you a place to stay because it was the right thing to do. I never expected you to steal my heart. My past made it hard for me to love but you make me believe that anything is possible. You make me want to try. You make me want to care. You make me a better pony. And for that… I do love you… and I always will.”

Happy tears rolled down Anon’s face and even Moon Watcher seemed to be moved. I sighed in relief that it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be, but I still wished it was better.

Celestia seemed pleased as well. “By your vows and my authority… I pronounce you husband and wife; you may kiss the bride.”

I leaned in and gave Anon a wedding appropriate kiss, and the guests clapped their hooves together.

Anon wiped away her happy tears and turned back to Celestia. “And now… the food please.”

With a glow of Celestia’s horn, several more tables appeared and then just as quick, every table was stuffed with foods of all types. The assembled ponies helped themselves to the food and Celestia pulled us both aside to speak to us.

With a gentle smile, Celestia started. “I am glad I was able to finally marry you to a pony that you love. Luna might be upset… if we get her back…”

Midnight sighed. “I have a plan… it might work. I’m not that good at non-lethal combat but I am prepared to do what I must.”

Celestia nodded. “I was wondering when you were going to tell me about your wings. Being an alicorn should give you combat options that you didn’t have before.”

My mouth opened in shock. That wasn’t something I expected her to say. “You mean… you knew?”

Celestia pursed her lips. “Of course I knew. The amount of power radiating off you is too much for a normal unicorn, though only an Alicorn could probably detect it. Your story about gaining agelessness from the corruption of Calamity was quite… original. A pony that didn’t know any better would probably believe it without a second thought. I never called you out on the lie because I figured you had a good reason not to tell me.”

I sighed. “I guess I really don’t have a good reason not to have told you sooner but I guess I didn’t know what you would do if I became another Nightmare Moon without the elements to stop me. As a unicorn… you could have simply overpowered me. As an Alicorn? I didn’t want you to worry about how much damage I was capable of with my war training and an alicorns’ power. I suppose even the wise can be foolish.”

Celestia nodded, a touch more serious. “Do you want the other ceremony?”

I winced. “Only if you feel like doing it. You never did like performing the ritual or giving such absolute orders.”

Celestia drew herself up to her full height. “Prince Midnight Stalker, Grand Lord General of the Death Lords. I hereby give you the order to pave the way for the purification of Nightmare Moon, should she appear. If purification is not possible, you are to aide in the efforts to re-banish her. If re-banishing her is also not possible… you have my blessing to kill her.”

Anon sucked in a breath and exhaled slowly, not actually speaking. She stayed silent watching the back-and-forth exchange with Midnight speaking followed by Celestia.

I bowed. “By your command, Princess. May your enemies fear the light.”

“May your enemies fear the shadows.”

“Give the peace and justice that I cannot.”

“Give the war and bloodshed that I cannot.”

“I accept the burden of blood on my hooves in the service of the kingdom.”

“I accept your loyalty and will reward it in kind.”

A moment passed where neither of us spoke. Celestia walked forward and nuzzled me. She spoke ever so softly. “Please… don’t die.”

A tear rolled down my cheek as I nuzzled her back “Those who are about to die… salute you.”

Celestia took a step back and tried very hard to hide her tears. “Well. I have to return to Ponyville to get ready for the Summer Sun Celebration. I hope you both enjoy the rest of the wedding party.”

Without waiting for a reply, she teleported away. Anon had mixed feelings about the whole thing but simply kissed me before she placed a hand on my withers, and we returned to the main party.

We cut the cake, ate the many portions of food waiting for us and danced the night away. The party just continued without an end in sight. With the tradition of the Summer Sun Celebration to party all night and wait for the raising of the Sun, it kinda felt good being able to spend so much time with ponies that I cared about, and their families. Anon also liked meeting the various important ponies within my private army and took a liking to many of the foals that were playing around the estate. The night seemed to last forever but a glance at a garden clock showed it to be only 6 am.

Should be anytime now…

Anon interrupted my thoughts. “Midnight! Look at the moon!”

My eyes turned upwards, as did the eyes of everypony at the party. Four stars seemed to drift towards the moon and then, like an illusion, the Unicorn shaped shadow disappeared from the surface of the moon.

It happened. It really happened. I’ve waited so long for this…

My throat was dry as a mixture of excitement and dread filled me. “And the stars shall aide in her escape… by the mother, the prophesy… exactly as foretold. EVERYPONY TO ARMS!!!”

My bellow shocked everypony out of their stupor as I cast a series of interlocking spells. A red, white and red flare shot up into the sky to signal for combat preparations. The very ground quaked, and near the estate, not far from the party, the ground opened up and a building almost as large as the main house rose from beneath the earth. Before long, the foundation of the building was at ground-level as if it has always been there. It was very clean considering it had just been underground.

“The armory is open, everypony gear up!”

Anon found her voice. “You have an entire armory on the estate grounds?”

I looked at her. “Of course I do… what kind of Death Lord would I be without weapons and armor ready to deploy my soldiers?”

My tone suggested that it was the most obvious thing ever and I walked away to continue to issue orders. To their credit… no pony was panicking. The older colts and fillies were playing with and keeping the younger colts and fillies calm, which made me smile.

Anon herself watched the organized chaos with a smile of her own and rejoined my side, offering a quiet and calm support that I didn’t know I needed. Her presence vaguely reminded me of Luna during a similar yet simpler time.

How many times had me and Luna watched the preparations before a battle together? Too many to count…

In less than 20 minutes, ponies were armored and ready to go, forming up into preassigned units that was made in just this type of emergency situation. Out of nowhere, an armored thestral filly came bouncing up to us.

“Prince Midnight! Sergeant Fire Hooves reporting for duty!”

I smiled at the filly. She was roughly ten years old and full of energy. “Excellent, Sergeant. That’s your mother’s old armor, yes?”

The filly grinned with great enthusiasm. “Yes sir! And it’s a perfect fit!”

Anon looked concerned. “Midnight? You have children in your army?”

I shrugged. “It’s more of a training program. Fire Hooves is the NCO in charge of the ‘Filly Knights.’ They learn disciple and basic combat as a precursor to either joining my personal army, the Night Guard or move on to civilian pursuits. Does your people not have something similar?”

Anon nodded slowly. “In some high schools and a few colleges, they have a program called the ROTC which does something similar. Gives the recruits a taste of military life without committing to it. The main difference might be that we don’t give our ROTC members real weapons. That armor looks heavy, and her sword looks sharp.”

Fire Hooves batted her eyelashes at Anon. She tried to look endearing, but she sounded a little condescending, which at her age was cuter than it was annoying.

“Of course the armor is heavy… how else would you build endurance? And the sword has to be sharp! I can’t kill anything with a dull blade. 160 of us fought for the 48 slots to be in this unit and I will not let my efforts be wasted ‘pretending’ to be a soldier. I am a knight!”

Anon smiled at the filly. “Yes, of course! I should have taken you more seriously!”

I chuckled. “Yes… you are a knight… and I have a real assignment for you.”

Fire Hooves remembered that she was standing before her Prince and stood at attention. “This knight is ready to receive orders!”

In a serious tone, I gave the order. “Gather the other Filly Knights and secure the perimeter of the Estate. Protect Princess Anon.”

Fire Hooves offered a sword salute and replied. “At once, your highness!”

As Fire Hooves scampered off, Anon frowned and asked slowly… “Princess Anon?”

I gave her a look. “Well… yes? I am a Prince and unless this was the best prank ever… we are now married. So, by default, you are a Princess… and 4th in line to the Throne of Equestria unless Tia can create a few more Alicorns.”

The words sank in slowly and I could see her thoughts… the turmoil, in her mind. She snorted… and tried to downplay her unease.

“Create a few more Alicorns? You say that like you were made in a lab.”

I shrugged. “In my case… that’s not far from the truth. My Alicorn nature was granted from a potion. It was an unnatural and somewhat unearned ascension… which is why they thought I had died. I was fighting for the right to ascend. I had to prove my worth to the Mother. Only when I proved my worth did I awake… only to find my world shattered.”

Anon considered that at face value. “What about Tia and Luna?”

I smiled. “Tia and Luna earned their wings as Unicorns by doing what was considered impossible at the time… raising the sun or moon by themselves under their own power without help from other unicorns. Cadence solved a love problem so great that it saved her village, giving her a horn… given that she was originally a pegasi. Alicorns are living Gods or Goddesses and I hold the rare honor of being the only living male Alicorn. We can be killed like anypony else, but we are ageless and otherwise immortal with a level of magic that is hard to describe. However… we could benefit from having a few more.”

A few of the thestral unit captains approached. “We are ready for orders. Your highness.”

I spoke up. “I need Alpha Company to deploy to the Everfree. Control the monster population and make sure nothing leaves the forest. Beta, Delta and Gamma Companies are to deploy to the nearest 3 cities and maintain order. If this doesn’t end swiftly tonight… the ponies will need you. The reserves will stay on standby to deploy as needed. Stay here and protect Princess Anon along with the Filly Knights. Does anypony have any questions?”

A chorus of ‘No Sir!’ rang thorough the air. “Very well. The Mother guide you all.”

They all left quickly and with a dark flash of my magic, I donned my war armor. My war armor was very different from my hunting and stealth armor. It was heavy and largely unbreakable. I was curious what Anon would say about it. She had never seen it before…

Anon

Once the magic faded, my breath caught in my throat. This was not the armor I was used to. Midnight looked like a pony version of a Nazgul from ‘Lord of the Rings.’ My throat went dry as I quickly realized how serious this really was. Midnight’s voice seemed darker coming from under a helmet so completely enclosed that I couldn’t see his eyes.

“How do I look?”

I spoke softly. “You look like a walking nightmare. That armor is terrifying. Spikes and jagged edges… the armor is as offensive as it is defensive. I don’t think I can even give you a hug while you’re wearing it. What the hell is it made out of?”

Midnight seemed to chuckle, and it sounded… darker than normal. “It’s made out of dragon bone.”

My mouth fell open as the memory of Spike flashed through my mind. “Dragon bone? Why?”

Midnight nodded once and took off the helmet so I could look into his eyes.

“It enhances magical power. The technique is called ‘Hornbane.’ Unicorn horns, dragon bones and moondust all enhance magical power. The harvesting of unicorn horns has been illegal for a 1,000 years and was taboo even before that. But… we’ve had enough wars with dragons over the millennium for me to have hoof crafted Dragon Bone armor. The Death Lords were unique in that we were allowed to use whatever armor we wanted… but we had to provide it for ourselves. I wore this armor to the last negotiation I was invited to with the dragons. It sent a less than subtle message…”

I sighed. To be so kind… he really is kinda evil. Or maybe human morals can’t play into this.

I locked my eyes unto his. “Do you… think you can win?”

Midnight sighed. “This wedding really put my future into focus. Our future. I can’t very well die now but I fear that my old feelings for Luna will prevent me from doing what I have to in order to stop Nightmare Moon. I just wish… That I had… something. Something more… to anchor me to this world.”

I froze. Was now the time to tell him? “Um. Midnight? Do you… remember when Calamity took control, and then afterwards when you regained control… we made love all night?”

He smiled, a look at odds with his armor. “Yes. Not my finest moment but a very fond memory. Why do you ask?”

I bite my lip. “I don’t know… how… exactly… but… I’m pregnant. Congratulations… you’re going to be a father.”

Midnight stood stock still. Shocked might not be an adequate word to describe him.

He hedged around his next question. “Is that… normal… for your people? Can women in your culture mate with ponies?”

My face burned hot with the many ways that made the question nearly impossible to answer.

“Um. I’ll admit that there are some human males that mate with mares and some human females that mate with stallions… however, on my world… doing so is illegal in far more places than it’s legal… and even in the few cases of the places that it’s legal… it’s still considered taboo. However… horses and ponies on Earth aren’t sapient, and our species can’t interbreed. Mind you… you are sapient and two different races marrying or mating isn’t illegal here… but I’m still not sure how I got pregnant. I didn’t honestly think it would be possible for me to carry your… um… foal.”

Midnight sighed without enthusiasm. “Magic is a wonderful thing. I told you putting my horn in you felt wrong. I would bet everything I have that the ‘horngasm’ inside your marehood allowed my normal seed to impregnant you. Or maybe it’s just an alicorn thing. Hmm… maybe I’ll have to do a few experiments with other creatures to see if it works on them too…”

I snorted. “You mean if you live?”

Midnight’s eyes shone with an intensity I had rarely seen from him. “Oh… I’m going to live… I now have too much to live for to allow myself to die. I just wish…”

He stopped and seemed unable to continue speaking. I tilted my head in a question. “You wish what?”

He sounded contrite. “The old Death Lords used to use a saying when they departed for battle to gently remind their loved ones that they may not return. Any mission that required a Death Lord was automatically very dangerous. I never really had a family so I never got to use the phrase… and now it doesn’t seem appropriate because I know I have the will to live. The anchor to this world. I wouldn’t want to upset you needlessly, especially while pregnant.”

I smiled at him. “I would never deprive you of an honored tradition. You better hurry or you’ll be late to the battle.”

He nodded and put his helmet back on. “The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our separate ways, I to die, and you to live. Which of these two is better, only Celestia knows.”

With that… he turned and walked away. Once far enough away… he seemed to merge into a shadow and simply vanish.

I found it hard to breath. It was hard to imagine that anypony had ever taken any comfort from hearing such a thing. I sat down in the grass and looked up at the moon.

“Oh my god… my life is an Avril Lavigne song.”

With that depressing thought pressing down on me… I started to cry.

Author's Note

Fall to Pieces is the Avril Lavigne song referenced in the story. Listen to it in the link below.

(71) Fall To Pieces - YouTube

'Hornbane' concept borrowed from Empty Horizons by Goldenwing, specifically Chapter 5.

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/316852/empty-horizons