Three days had passed since Midnight had returned to Ponyville, along with his brother, cousin, and their guest, Mini Claire. After the tower had collapsed, Midnight had sent for EUP forces to quarantine the area so a team of alchemists could examine and study the cursed area so as to determine the best methods of purifying the malevolent magical residue to ensure the taint would have no further adverse effects on anyone who might wander into the area in the future once the quarantine was lifted.

Once Midnight was content the situation there was under control, he’d contacted Twilight to let her know he was bringing guests.

It’d been an awkward reunion for Twilight meeting Watcher all over again, but she’d welcomed him gladly. Seeing Faerie Tail however had been somewhat harder for Watcher but still bittersweet.

They’d had a long talk about mending the wounds in their family and removing the wedge that had driven them apart, and so they agreed that it was long past the time to see it done.

Standing in the grand hall of the Castle of Friendship, Watcher was pacing while Midnight and Twilight stood at the foot of the stairs and Twinken and Mini were with Faerie Tail. Faerie Tail had not been happy about Twinken sneaking off but was concerned when he hadn’t protested to her grounding him, simply taking his medicine and squaring his accounts in a way that made Faerie Tail suspect something was wrong with her youngest foal.

“We should call this whole thing off before she gets here,” Watcher muttered aloud as the charcoal unicorn continued to pace back and forth. A part of him just wanted to ditch everypony and leave while he still could, but he knew that would be impossible, especially when his cousin could track him down and drag his butt back whenever, but the real question was if he wanted to leave. Watcher hadn’t seen his family for over four years and now was the time to fix the mistakes of the past.
“You can meet up with my mother, but I should leave-”

“Watcher…” He looked to his aunt as Faerie Tail gave him a sympathetic yet stern look that only a mother could. “I understand this is going to be difficult, but this divide of our families has gone on long enough. I respected your mother’s wishes back then because I knew she was grieving and needed time to come to terms with everything, but neither she nor you have ever truly healed from your loss.

“It’s time to rip off the bandage and let the infection bleed out, however painful it may be. We didn’t always get along, but Blossom Guide is still my sister-in-law and I wish to help her and you, and that starts by bringing our family back together to face the issues instead of continuing to ignore or run away from them.”

“It’s not as simple as that, Aunt Faerie Tail! After my father died, my mom controlled every aspect of my life to the point I had to give up on becoming a royal guard. She took my dream and crushed it to pieces… So I said I wasn’t going to deal with her and just left… I left and never once looked back because I never wanted to see her again. Now, after all these years, I have to face her… This completely sucks,” Watcher explained, taking a seat in an empty chair near a window.

“Well, like I said, nephew,” Faerie Tail came over to place a comforting hoof on her nephew’s cheek, giving him warmth and comfort that he had unknowingly been starved of that left him speechless. “It’s time to stop running away. I can’t imagine how hard it’s been for you, and how your mother treated you wasn’t fair.

“But, to be fair, it wasn’t fair of you either to run off and drive another wedge into the family. I’m not scolding you, simply pointing out that mistakes have been made and that we must address them before they divide us forever. I know, deep down, you still love your mother and I am certain she still loves you. But grief and bitterness changed her, and instead of looking for help she let it guide her actions and you suffered for it. This is as much an intervention as it is a reunion. Everyone will get their turn to speak their minds but everyone will also listen, and that includes her. We are here for you, Watcher, and we will support you, because that is what family is for.”

Watcher felt a sense of relief from his aunt’s words, feeling his anxiety abate a little, and he noticed the encouraging smiles his cousins and even Mini were all giving him that he couldn’t help but smile back. Remembering that calming technique Twilight showed him, Watcher took a deep breath, holding his hoof to his chest, and then exhaled while pushing his hoof outwards as though he were banishing the stress and felt a little better.

“I’ll talk with my mother today… I don’t think I’ll really be able to forgive her. But if it’s to help bring us together again, I’m willing to try and fix things,” Watcher said, giving his aunt a genuine smile, one that she hadn’t seen for a very long time.
“I still don’t like this though… Feels like something bad is going to happen.”

Faerie Tail smiled with gentle pride, “The first step is always the hardest, but that’s why it’s called the first step. You don’t have to forgive your mother just like that, because that will take time and effort on both of your parts. But as long as you both work at it I’m sure you can find the strength to forgive her one day and the peace that will come with it.”

The sound of the doors opening alerted everypony and they looked to see Spike step in.
“They’re here. Should I…?”

All eyes turned to Watcher, who gulped but then did the calming technique again. It didn’t completely stop his heart from pounding but it eased him a little before he said, “...Let them in.”

Spike nodded before peering through the door, saying, “Alright, come on in.”

He opened the door and in walked a mare and a filly, both unicorns. The mare had a dark grey coat with white spots. She had a mane that was almost as white as snow with red streaks flowing through it. Her cutie-mark was a flask with a green chemical or potion in it, and she wore round frame glasses over her purple eyes, the same eyes Watcher had inherited from her. While the filly beside her stuck close to her, everypony could see that she had a jet black coat just like Watcher, but her mane and tail were red with white streaks flowing through them while she had inherited the silver eyes of her late father.

Watcher let out a sigh as he approached the two, though hesitant to say anything to them. It was strange seeing them again after nearly four years, and he was honestly expecting his mother to start scolding him for leaving both her and his sister. Instead…

… He was pulled into a tight embrace by the two of them.

“Watcher… I’ve missed you so much! I can’t tell you how worried I was!” Blossom Guide uttered as tears began to flow down her cheeks.

“Me too, Watch!” Winter Rose added, squeezing the stallion’s foreleg as tight as she could. “I missed you so much!!!”

The charcoal stallion was speechless, but even though he still felt a gut-twisting resentment towards his mother, that didn’t stop him from reciprocating with a tight embrace as well.
“I… I missed you too.”

Everypony couldn’t help themselves as they themselves let out a few tears of joy. It was a bit before the hug ended as Blossom and Winter stepped back, both of them now looking a little uncomfortable themselves as they noticed Watcher’s own discomfort.

Watcher was glad he wasn’t getting the self-righteous scolding he’d expected, but there was still a lot to talk about and work through. So Blossom said, “We… We have much to discuss.”

“Yeah…” Watcher nodded softly with a curt tone.

Mother and daughter shared a sad look when Blossom noticed everypony else in attendance. She recognized her sister-in-law, her nephew, and Twilight Sparkle, but she didn’t know the two foals there as well.

Old hurts ached but she knew she had to do this, and so… she stepped past her son to approach the others before she said, “Hello, everypony. It’s… it’s been a long time, hasn’t it.”

“Yes, yes it has, Blossom,” Faerie Tail replied kindly, “You haven’t aged a day.”

“Me? Look at you!” Blossom responded with an indignant smirk, “If anypony hasn’t aged a day here, it’s you! Although…”

Blossom narrowed her eyes as she hmm’d while giving Faerie Tail a closer look, confusing her sister-in-law, who uttered, “Uh… is something wrong?”

Then, Blossom chuckled to herself before stepping back as she asked, “When are you due?”

Faerie Tail softly gulped nervously as she heard her son and daughter-in-law.

“Huh? Due?”
“Mom, what does she…!!”

The prince and princess both put two and two together as they softly gasped! Watcher had been confused too, but he also understood the implication as his eyes widened.

“What’s going on?” asked innocent Winter as she looked at her mother and aunt.

It was then she noticed Twinken and Mini coming over to stand next to her, the colt looking stunned as he stared at his mom and her tummy.

“I, uh… I think my mom is…” Twinken was too stupefied to get it out.

“Uh- Heheh, how did you…?” Faerie Tail asked with a nervous smile.

“Oh, you can’t fool me, Faerie,” Blossom teased, “I’m a mother too, plus I'm a scientist. Besides, you’re positively glowing!”

“Mom!” Midnight came over, “Are you really…?!”

“Welp! I guess the cat’s out of the bag,” Faerie Tail shrugged with a self-conscious smile, “I was going to tell you all, it was… well, just the matter of finding the right time.”

“This is so wonderful, Aunt Faerie Tail!” Twilight came over to give her surrogate aunt/mother-in-law a happy hug before remembering who else was here as she noticed Blossom and Winter were present. Recomposing herself, she cleared her throat, “Well! Um… if anypony’s hungry, we can whip something up and continue this in the dining room.”

“That’s for me!” Watcher jumped at the suggestion, “Lead the way, Twi.”

As they followed Twilight to the dining room, Midnight noticed his mother was bringing up the rear, a troubled look on her face. Walking beside her, he softly asked, “Are you alright, Mom? Is it… the baby?”

Midnight couldn’t believe he was asking that, but Faerie Tail shook her head no, “I’m worried about Twinken.”

Midnight looked towards his brother, standing by Mini who was talking with Winter, the both of them looking like they were friends already. But Twinken’s expression had this hollowness to it.

“Yeah, he’s… he’s been kinda distant since the tower,” Midnight sighed deeply. “I’m so sorry, Mom. I should have sent him home the moment I found out he’d stowed away.”

“Midnight… What happened to him?” Faerie Tail asked her firstborn with deepest worry, “What happened to my little colt?”

“I don’t know,” Midnight answered, sounding ashamed and troubled himself. “The Entity that haunted that tower… Twinken, he got into its head with his telepathy. I don’t know what he saw in that thing’s mind, but he hasn’t said a word about it. I didn’t ask him, only alluded to it, but he didn’t answer me. All I got was this… blank look, then he was confused, then he shrugged it off.

“But when it happened, he screamed! He looked so terrified that he fainted. Honestly, Mom, I’m afraid of asking him because I don’t want to- To… well, pick the scabbing wound, if you will.”

Now Faerie Tail was truly worried. Besides being a librarian back in Canterlot, she had worked part time as a therapist. What Midnight had described to her about Twinken, she strongly suspected, Whatever he saw in that monster’s mind… is it possible it was so horrible he couldn’t take it?

Faerie Tail knew that sometimes someone could be so psychologically traumatized that their mind couldn’t handle it, and there was no telling how the mind would react to such trauma. In this case, she suspected that Twinken may very well have blacked out the memory of whatever he had seen in the Entity’s mind.

That troubled her. For her colt to have been so traumatized that his mind had to black out the trauma to avoid damage to his psyche, it scared her and left her with a confusing emotional mix. At least he wouldn’t remember the trauma, but there was no telling how this might affect her colt in the future.

Perhaps I should consult Princess Luna... Faerie Tail thought.

“What are you guys talking about?” Faerie Tail snapped out of it and noticed Twinken was walking next to her.

She quickly glanced at Midnight, who came to the rescue by saying, “Oh, we were just saying how you and I are both gonna be big brothers soon!”

Those words lit up a smile on Twinken’s face and he replied, “I guess we are!”

The family sat down together for a delicious meal of spaghetti and wheatballs. It’d been awkward, but there’d been meaningful dinner conversation. Blossom had even taken the time to compliment her nephew, Midnight, by saying he’d grown into a fine stallion, and was happy to meet her other nephew Twinken while happily introducing her daughter, Winter Rose, to the family. However, she’d asked about Mini Claire and Watcher had explained they’d rescued Mini from a terrible situation but she was alone and had no one.

Upon hearing that, Winter had spontaneously asked her mother if Mini could be her new sister, to Blossom and Watcher’s mutual bafflement.

It was strange, but Watcher didn’t see any real issue with it, especially since the little filly needed someplace to call home. It was the least that they could do since she had been alone for most of her life and if it wasn’t for her, Twinken couldn’t have made it out of there without some help.

“Winter, we’ll have to see, do remember that mom is busy with work and I’m moving to Manehattan for a little while-” Watcher tried to explain when he was suddenly hit in the face with a wheatball.
“Oh, real mature!”

“Mom, pleeeeaaaassssee!?!?!”

“Well… We’ll just have to see, but throwing food at your brother isn’t going to help your case!” Blossom said while raising her brow at her daughter, an expression the filly was familiar with, that she shrank back down into her chair.
“Apologize to your brother now.”

“Sorry, Watch…” Winter said meekly.

“It’s fine… Anyways I was going to say that I’ve already considered taking care of her as her legal guardian.” Watcher explained, pulling out a folded piece of paper from his saddle bag and began to unfold it.
“It says here that I’ve agreed to look after Mini Claire as her legal guardian. Of course there’s legal stuff that I have to go through before taking full custody.”

“W-Wait!” Mini Claire spoke in soft disbelief, “A-Are you saying that-”

“That I’m adopting you?” Watcher finished Mini Claire’s question for her. “In four months I’ll be your legal guardian, Mini. I see a lot of potential in you and I’d love for you to be a part of this family.”

Mini couldn’t believe what she was hearing, this pony was willing to adopt her and it was all just so difficult to tell if it was a dream or if this was really happening. The little filly couldn’t help but cry, as tears of joy filled her eyes. For the first time in her whole life, she was finally where she belonged.

It was truly a new beginning for Midnight’s family, after years of being separated he was finally reunited with his cousin, he had the chance to meet his newest cousin for the very first time, and now his mother was soon to add another member to their family. It truly felt like he was home.

On the steps outside the front doors of the castle, Watcher sat, ale in hoof, having taken a moment to step away from everyone to have some alone time. A lot had happened after only a few days and now he could finally be alone with his thoughts to make sense of it all. The ale just made the train of thought easier to process.

Alas, it was derailed as he heard the doors open and he peered over his shoulder to see it was Midnight, who was surprised to see Watcher on his front steps.
“Oh! Uh, sorry, I didn’t realize you were out here. I’ll leave you al-”

“Nah, Midnight get out here,” Watcher waved him over, “I… I think I could use someone to talk to, and you’re probably the only one I can at this point. Besides, we need to talk, stallion to stallion.”

“Okay…” Midnight obliged and sat down on the steps besides his cousin, who levitated over another mug of ale, the alicorn accepting it with a soft thanks.

They both took a long swig before they each let out an obnoxious BELCH, Watcher winning as his was louder, a little longer, and definitely sounded more disgusting. They shared a laugh, glad the other remembered one of their oldest games, belching contests. It’d been one of their favorites, for various reasons.

But then silence befell them… and Watcher took a deep breath, “Midnight, I’m sure you can guess why I’m out here, right?”

“I can, but I’d probably be wrong… So what’s bothering you, cuz?” he asked, earning a groan from the charcoal stallion.

“I think I really need change… I mean for the past four years now, I’ve been doing nothing but running from the past. Ever since my father died, things just… haven’t been the same. I remember him telling me that if I was ever going to be part of the royal guard… to become a hero like him someday. He’d always say that ‘Heroes always look ahead.’ At the time, I didn’t really understand what that meant, but I think he was trying to tell me that I should always look forward and not worry too much about the past… but I just can’t seem to let go and move forward.

“It’s a ridiculous saying now that I’ve said it out loud, but that saying has always stuck with me and for a time I believed that I was doing the right thing, becoming a mercenary, killing the bad guys, getting money for my sister. But the truth was, I was just… running. I couldn’t face my mother, I left my sister all alone, and I became a criminal. How ironic…” Watcher explained, taking in another big gulp of his ale before turning to his cousin.
“I thought I could be a hero when instead I became just another criminal, like the ones that my dad would lock up.”

Midnight took a moment to think before he responded, “Coal was a great stallion. I didn’t get as much time with him as I wish I could have, but he said those same words to me. But I became an alicorn and due to a freakin’ buttload of circumstances I had to be hidden away… Becoming an alicorn was my destiny, but it was a miserable one, Watcher. My father, Ignitus, he suddenly decided that my foalhood was over and all that mattered from then on was training, studying, and preparing for my future.

“After my mother was cursed, he left me and Twinken with Celestia to look for the witch who cursed my mom. I understand…why he left, Watcher. But I still felt abandoned! I hated my father for leaving us, and to a degree I still do. My point is that I’m guilty of the same thing. I started the Brotherhood of the Evening Hoods to do good, but I steeped myself in darkness, doing the dirty work, taking down the bad guys that the law couldn’t touch. But there’s a difference between serving justice and punishing the guilty. I wish Coal was still here, Watcher. Not just for your sake, but for our whole family’s sake, even Equestria! I miss him, very-very much. But… for all our mistakes, for all our missteps, we’ve found our way back to the right path. Not on our own, but that’s what family and friends are for. I think our dads would be proud of us.

“So… stop living in the past, Watcher. Learn from it, but don’t hold onto it for the wrong reasons because it’ll just drag you down. Especially when it’s so painful that you just want to escape it,” Midnight looked to his cousin with a firm resolve, “No more running.”

Watcher looked at Midnight and for the briefest moment, he swore he saw something that reminded him of his father. He couldn’t help himself as he smirked. “Looks like I’ve got no choice but to listen, huh?”

“Yep and there’s no backing out,” Midnight replied with an evil smirk.

“Well cuz, I’m glad that I was able to have this last mug of ale with you… It’s about time I stopped drinking anyways.”

“Eh, it’s okay to indulge every now and then. I do!” Midnight raised his mug to Watcher, who got the idea and raised his own. “To family.”

“To family.” They bumped their mugs together and took a good chug before letting out another duel of belches, Midnight winning this one, and they shared another laugh.

Then, an envelope floated in front of Watcher, who saw it was with Midnight’s turquoise aura, and he asked, “What’s this?”

“The key and deed to your new Manehatten apartment,” Midnight replied with a shrug and taking another swig, like it was no big deal.

“N-No, Midnight, I can’t accept this, it’s too much.” Watcher tried to refuse, but Midnight just dropped it into his hooves.

“It’s in your name, it’s non-refundable, so… tough,” Midnight chuckled before getting serious, “And who says I’m just giving it to you? Your ass is mine now, remember?”

“I’ll get you back for this… you know that, right?” Watcher smirked, pulling the alicorn into a headlock and began to give him a noogie.

“Augh! Geddoff, ya brute!” Midnight chuckled as he freed himself before giving Watcher an evil smirk, “Besides… do you think it’s wise to swear revenge upon the pony who got bouncy balls outlawed on April Foals Day?”

“There’s more than one way to get vengeance cuz… heh! Jokes aside, thank you, Midnight, I’ll do you proud.”

“It’s not gonna be easy work, Watcher. There may even be assignments or missions that will be of great risk to you,” warned Midnight. “All the same, I won’t be sending you into a meat grinder without proper training and preparation.”

“I’d be pretty disappointed if it wasn’t dangerous… I’d probably ditch your group otherwise.” Watcher said. “There is something I am wondering about… That Tower, whoever sent me there was after something and I doubt it was just to get a piece of tar.”

“I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter now… It’s been reduced to rubble, and the quarantine will see to it that that place never becomes a threat to anyone ever again,” Midnight said firmly.

Meanwhile, back in her secret lair, the feline witch, Catrina, lounged upon her fainting couch, smoking another joint of witch-weed. A familiar presence approached and she purred with anticipation before opening her eyes to see her obedient servant, the armored unicorn Destrier, standing before her.

“Ah, right on time,” Catrina sat up before asking, “I take it there are no witnesses?”

The armored unicorn nodded, to Catrina satisfaction, “Good… wouldn’t do for witnesses to blab. Regardless of what little they see, if anything, even the smallest detail could have been detrimental to my plans… You have it then?”

Destrier’s horn burned with a seething mana, conjuring a rusted and weather-worn piece of metal almost three pony-lengths long. At first glance, it seemed like a random piece of metal, but a closer look revealed it was actually the hand of a clock.

Catrina purred as she waved her hand, bringing the clock hand floating before her. She sensed an enchantment on it and so dispelled it, causing the hand to shrink down until it was hardly bigger than a sewing needle. On the base point, where the hand would be set onto the face of a clock, there was a fragment of a gem, minuscule but still discernible.

“To think… this tiny little thing created a temporal anomaly so powerful it went undetected for well over five hundred years,” Catrina mused.

“Catrina?” The witch looked towards the doorway into the lounge and there stood Sunset Shimmer, “What is that?”

“Oh, just another important acquisition, my dear,” Catrina purred though she then huffed with irritation, “Alas, it is but a mere fragment of something quite powerful, something of equal power to the Aegis Armor, perhaps more so.”

“So then… there’s more pieces to this thing?” inquired Sunset.

“Three more pieces, to be exact,” Catrina brought the seemingly insignificant bauble closer to her eye, “but now that I have this piece of it, divining the locations of its remaining pieces is now possible. It will take time… but very soon, time will most absolutely be on our side…

“You are both dismissed.”

Destrier gave a respectful bow and turned while looking directly at Sunset. She got the message, as he’d done this before. So she turned around and left, Destrier following to make sure she left their mistress to her privacy.

Once she was certain she was alone, Catrina waved her hands, closing and locking all the doors into the lounge while also dimming the lights.

She took a deep breath as she closed her eyes… and then they opened, revealing the whites had turned pitch black while the green of her pupils glowed an intense poisonous shade.

“...divide and conquer… a distraction? Yes… the idea has merit,” Catrina’s voice was chilling and dissonant, thoughts and feelings mixing and contrasting within her fiendish brain as it constantly schemed and planned.
“Finding the rest will take time, but like I said…”

She held up the clock hand and sneered a twisted grin, “Time is certainly on our side…”

This was a long and complicated arc to do but Pen and I had a lot of fun working on it together

For those of you who didn't get the explanation, Silver and the Entity were always one and the same - A time anomaly, caused by a piece of a powerful relic (which was just delivered to Catrina) was what caused Silver to become the Entity by being transported centuries into the past after he fell down the elevator shaft. He fell into a literal pit of evil that transformed him into the Entity and that fractured his mind, explaining the Entity's insanity

A direct connection between the Entity, the time anomaly, and the pit of malevolence was what warped and twisted the Tower into a place of evil, and once the Entity was finally vanquished, that caused it all to collapse, ending the Tower's threat for good

The armored unicorn, Destrier, went to the ruins to obtain the piece of the relic, which is a hand from a clock. By itself, it couldn't have caused all of this to happen, but influence from the pit of evil beneath the tower, as well as a ley line providing raw power, the nightmare became possible and so Silver stepping into the tower sealed his fate, terrible as it was

So now, Watcher and Midnight had begun healing the rifts in their family and Watcher has become Mini Claire's legal guardian. Also, Midnight has "conscripted" his cousin into the Brotherhood and given him a place to stay in Manehatten to do work there. Watcher will return in the future, just not sure when

I thank Pen for collaborating with me and allowing me to feature his characters: Watcher, Silver Smith, Mini Claire, Blossom Guide and Winter Rose (as well as the mention of Coal Obsidian)