Son of the Sun

"Mother?!" Twilight shouted with utter denial. Princess Celestia let go of Burns and immediately the blue flames rekindled around his body. Celestia walked to Twilight and then hugged her ever so lightly, but it was comforting to Twilight. Of all the ponies in Equestria, no the world, Celestia never even had to try to make somepony feel special. She never had to try to bring Twilight up even if she was having the worst day ever. Celestia was like the sun, warm, comforting, and lively. She always somehow knew what was best. Twilight never really thought about it, but could always sense a motherly side to her. Then again, to actually think she was a mother was a whole new concept to Twilight.

"Thank you for leading Silver home, Twilight Sparkle." Twilight could almost feel the shakiness in Celestia's voice. She could tell that the good news was almost too good to be true for Celestia. Celestia now let go of Twilight and they were facing each other.

"Princess Celestia, how come you never-" She was cut off by Celestia

"I know you must have a lot of questions, but for now, could you leave us alone? If you would like, I can arrange for your brother to take leisure from his duties today."

"Shining Armor is here?" Twilight gasped.

"Yes, and he had a lot of work to attend to, but one day shouldn't be a problem." A guard walked in and Celestia took a piece of paper and wrote:

Shining Armor,

It would do you some good to take the day off today. I have arranged for you and your sister to have a day to yourselves. After which, could you please come to dinner with us at 7 P.M.? Your presence would be most appreciated.

Signed,

Princess Celestia.

She left her signing mark and then gave it to the guard. "Please give this to Shining Armor," she used her magic to give the guard the note, "and tell him that its urgent. Take Princess Twilight Sparkle with you as well." He did as they asked, and then the only ones in the room were Burns and Celestia. She turned to him. "Where have you been?" She sounded angry when she asked him.

"I've been around," he said, avoiding the question.

"Don't you lie to me. You and I both know that you even being alive is impossible."

"Wait, so Luna," he paused for a moment, then began to speak again when Celestia interrupted him.

"This is not about Luna, this is about you and where you have been for nearly the last 1100 years." She stood very tall, and stared down to the stallion. "You left, and never even said goodbye. You left your post and in place stood a demon with a note attached to him saying that he could do the job we entrusted to you!" Burns now lowered his head. "Look at me when I'm talking to you," Celestia demanded." You have no idea the pain you caused me, and why are you on fire?"

"I know," he said lowering his head again, " and I have done things that I wish I could take back, mother. Things I thought you were already aware of, and I was unsure that I could ever face you again." He looked back up to her, " I can't turn stop burning things," his voice cracked and tears began running down his face, "I turned myself into a monster, so I left to the only place where monsters are welcome." Celestia looked a little confused. She knew where he spoke of, but his youth and reason still made no sense to her. Then a stunning dark blue alicorn entered the room.

"Sister, I can't sleep for some reason, I get this uneasy feeling that-" Luna noticed Burns sitting behind Celestia. "You!" she shouted angrily. Burns only looked down in shame. "You dare show your face here again? After what you have done?"

"Luna calm yourself, he knows what he's done." Celestia said calmly herself. "It seems I am the only one that does not."

"I came here to try to repair the damage I have done," Burns said with his head still lowered. "I cannot look you in the eyes until I have been absolved of my past actions. I know I have hurt you, Princess Luna, you of all ponies should have the right to permanently do away with me-" then he was interrupted by Luna

"But I cannot. Even if I wanted to,"  she said still angry. "You of all ponies should understand the meaning of balance and harmony, but you chose to ignore balance when it mattered the most."

"Does anypony mind filling me in here?" Celestia said. "You know I pride myself with being in the loop of most things, but it seems this one escaped my wandering eye."

"Mother," Burns now stood tall, but it was easy to see that he was broken. "I will show you, but first, I need to know two things."

"And those two are?"

"One: that you will not treat me differently after you have seen what I have done." Burns tried to sound dignified.

"What is your second request?" Burns then again looked down, blushed and smiled a bit cheesy.

"I forgot my name, could you tell me again?" Celestia laughed, but Luna only stared.

"Silver Radiance, is the name I gave you," she said, "because you had the ability to shine day or night." She looked at him again, "Though now it looks like that silver coat could use a bath." He only grimaced.

"Actually I thought of one more thing that is a bit more important," he said. "Can you turn this off? I can't hardly go five steps without scorching something because of it." Celestia's horn glowed and the fire lowered and dissipated once more.

"Your fire is uneasy and will appear again if you cannot control your mind,"  Celestia said worriedly. "This kind of magic should not even be used in the most dire of situations because it can harm the user so much more than he realizes. Now it is your turn, Silver, but before you show me, you must agree to tell Princess Twilight Sparkle as well. You will also teach her how to use the fire magic you use."

"You want me to teach a princess?" Burns laughed, but Celestia only stood there. "Wait, you are serious?" he now looked confused. "Does she not know fire magic?" Celestia shook her head. "But fire is the easiest spell to learn, she should know that by now."

"While it is easy, even the unicorns can acknowledge that something easy to start is not always so easy to stop," Luna walked away from the door and closer to Celestia. "Again, you of all ponies should know that."

"Okay," Burns said, "I agree. Are you prepared?" He looked to Celestia, she nodded her head and he walked to her, his horn glowed a bright orange, then turned white as he touched his horn to Celestia's. Mere seconds pass by and the princess that once stood tall, sat down and tears fell down her face.

"Luna," Celestia said with a quiet voice, "leave us."

"But Tia-"

"Now!" She shouted. Luna left and closed the door softly. She now turned to Burns. "Why?" she asked, her eyes almost squinting at him.

"I thought you would-" he tried to start explaining himself, but Celestia cut him off.

"I don't care why you did it," she said in a menacing tone,"but why did you run away? I could have helped you; we could have helped you!"

"I know," He left for the door. "It took me a few years to learn that, but I know now." He opened the door, "I know I have some apologies to make, and I will hopefully make this up to you." He looked back up to Celestia one last time before saying, "I know you are the one who was hurt the most, and I can only hope that my actions will ever be forgivable." He closed the door and left Celestia.

"As do I young stallion," she said as she walked back to her desk.

Silver wondered around the castle looking at all the intricacies to the castle's halls and rooms and doors until he came to meet a group of six guards around a door. All them stared at him, then looked at each other and spoke among themselves. A few seconds later a guard walked up to him. "Are you him," he asked still walking to Silver. "Are you that pony that has the," he stopped and looked at Silver's cutie mark, "Yep that's you. Boy," he chuckled, "I feel sorry for you pal." Silver looked curious. The guard turned and sat next to him. "That's Princess Luna's room. She ordered us to maul you if you found her room." The guard looked at him and smiled. "What in the world did you do to her to make her hate you this much? Are you like a crush of hers or something?" Silver looked at the guard and cocked his eyebrow.

"I only wish it were that simple," he laughed and then the rest of the guards laughed along with him. "Well tell her I said hi, and also can you direct me somewhere I can clean up?" Silver looked at his body, "I think I am a little overdo for some water and soap."

"Follow me and I'll take you there," the guard said still coughing a few laughs as he spoke. They walked for a while and Silver told him of some journeys he had been on through the years and the guard was nearly mesmerized by his tales. "You know you could definitely make a living off of telling stories," he said looking at him in awe.

"Actually you may be on to something," Sliver remarked looking back at the guard. "The tales of Burns the fire mage!" Silver shouted to the ceiling. "Ooh hey that is catchy, maybe I can add you in there somewhere." They both laughed and continued walking. The walk lasted for a little while longer until they reached the bathing area. He thanked the guard and he went inside. He walked to the bath, then turned back to where the guard was standing. "So where's the," he stopped and noticed the guard was no longer there. Silver stood there and now marveled at the nobs over the bathtub. What are these?, he thought to himself.  He moved one of the nobs and hot water came down from the spout. He laughed. Indoor pluming was not a surprise to him, but running water and hot water were new to him. He turned it back off, then back on, and off again. He repeated the process until he accidentally broke the nob off. He panicked and then decided he would clean himself up and leave. When he left he spoke to a guard walking by. "Hey somepony broke something in there and if I were you I would check it out." The guard nodded and Silver ran off, still dripping wet.

A few hours passed and it was time for dinner. Princess Celestia was there extra early sitting in her normal seat, waiting on the others to arrive. The next to arrive were Twilight and Shining Armor. They both proceeded to sit next to Princess Celestia. A few minutes passed and no one else arrived so Princess Celestia asked the servants to begin the meal. They ate in an uproar of silence until Twilight could no longer take it.

"So where's Luna?" Twilight asked, taking a bite of steamed hay.

"I don't expect she will be here tonight, she did have her Nightmare Night to attend to," Princess Celestia smiled and winked to Twilight. Then Twilight made the connection.

"Oh no," she gasped. "I completely forgot!" She stood up and ran for the door, but as she ran towards the door, Princess Celestia stopped her.

"There's no need," she said quietly and comforting. "I informed Princess Luna that you were with your brother. She agreed it would be best to let you two have your day so she left for Las Pegasus earlier today."

"Oh," Twilight sounded a bit disappointed. "Well I hope she has fun." She walked back to her seat.

"Twily," Shining Armor shouted, "I think you would understand the Princesses' logic behind their decision." he turned to Celestia. "After all, they did spend a long time without each other." Celestia smiled and nodded.

"Shining Armor," she took a drink allowing time for him to look back to her, "I always admired your astute observations." He smiled. "How is Princess Cadence?"

"Lately it's a miracle if I get her to sleep," he said smiling.

"And why is that?" Celestia asked.

"She's started planning for the Crystal Fair," still smiling, Shining Armor took another bite of his food.

"Isn't is a bit early?" Celestia asked.

"Well we seem to be expecting someone very special around that time and we want to make sure it's ready before then."

"Who?" Twilight asked perplexed. "I know the fair is popular with the ponies here that know of it. Is it a celebrity?" Shining Armor simply looked at Twilight with a huge grin on his muzzle.

"Not yet, but I'm sure-" Shining Armor was interrupted by Celestia.

"You don't mean?"

"Yes!" He shouted loud enough it echoed.

"Congratulations!" Celestia shouted after him.

"What?!" Twilight shouted angrily. Celestia and Shining Armor both still smiling.

"Twily," Shining Armor scooted closer to Twilight, "You're going to be an-" he was cut off again by a door throwing itself open.

"ANTS!" The pony shouted, his body covered in little moving dots. He begins to yell at Celestia, "Who has a room full of ants?! Get them off, get them off, get them off!" There was something familiar about him. Celestia gave an uneasy look toward the pony and then Twilight could see her trying to hold back a laugh. "I see you laughing at me," he shouts. "This is in no way funny!" Then Shining Armor began laughing hysterically, followed by Twilight and Celestia herself. Shining Armor, wiping a few tears from his eyes, lit his horn and cast a spell to make the ants disperse from the pony's body. The pony then tried to look dignified as he straightened his mane and then he cleared his throat. "Sorry, I got lost and apparently found a few places in need of renovation." He began dusting himself off. "Well this shiny coat is not going to last long." Twilight then made the connection.

"Burns?" she said squinting her eyes.

"From what I've heard, my name is Silver Radiance," he stood tall when he said his name, "and if it is okay with my mother, I would like to continue going by that name." Celestia nodded her head, still chuckling. He certainly was his namesake. Silvery coat with a deep blue mane. With the lights around him, he truly was radiant. It was almost as if he were lighting the room himself. "I think a few more baths are an order once I figure out how they work," he looked at his coat, then he walked to a seat on Celestia's right side.

"So what were you saying Shining Armor?" Twilight asked.

"Well Silver pretty much finished my sentence for me," Shining Armor said trying to keep from laughing again.

"What?" Twilight thought back for a moment. Then her eyes widened. "WHAT?" Twilight jumped out of her seat. "No way!" Her eyes were brighter than the sun thinking about it.

"What did I miss," Silver asked.

"I'm gonna be an aunt!" Twilight shouted. He could see how elated she was. He smiled and nodded to Shining Armor.

"Congratulations," Silver now began loading his plate with food to the point that there was no clear definition to where the plate ended and the table began. Twilight simply smiled to Silver and Shining Armor's brother instincts kicked in.

"Well you certainly have an appetite," Shining Armor scoffed, "And what gives you the right to interrupt us anyway?" Silver looked at Celestia with that Do I really have to put up with this face and made gestures toward Shining Armor.

"If you were listening earlier," Silver grimaced then mumbled, "rather than laughing, you would have heard me apologize for being late." He began stuffing his face. "Forgive me," he said with his mouth still full of food. "It has been a while since I have had food." Shining Armor only shook and lowered his head.

"Who are you?" Shining Armor asked impatiently.

"I'm Twilight's new teacher for the time being," Silver then took another huge bite off his plate. "Or at least until mo-" he stopped himself "Princess Celestia sees fit."

"Silver," Celestia looked down on him. "Wouldn't it be more polite to finish your food and then explain?" He swallowed and wiped his mouth looking at Celestia with sad puppy dog eyes.

"Yes ma'am," he said and then looked to Shining Armor. "I apologize for my ignorance. It has been sometime since I have been in the company of others." Shining Armor nodded and then finished his plate, and the others all ate in silence until plates were cleaned and the table was as well.

"Well this has all been fun," Shining Armor stood up, "but I think it's time for me to check on things with the new captain of the guard."

"Sit down Shining Armor," Celestia said without raising her voice. "We need you to stay here. Twilight, I'm sure your friends are missing you." Twilight looked to the door.

"Do you want me to go?" she asked. Silver stood and spoke up.

"Only for now, but come back at the start of the week, and be here no later than four in the morning." She nodded and left.

"Watch your order barking around my sister," Shining Armor stood again from his seat. Silver mirrored him. "She is a princess after all. You have next to no power in comparison to an alicorn," he leaned over the table and spoke softly, "or me."

"Actually that's why Princess Celestia asked you here," he smirked and glared. "You need to know some things, and why I am going to be her teacher is at the top of that list." Shining Armor stood waiting for an answer, but Silver only turned and walked to the doors.

"Where do you think we're going?" Shining Armor shouted to Silver. He continued walking.

"To sooth a young one's mind," he said still walking towards the doors. "There's a young filly outside spying on us." He opened one door and there stood Twilight trying not to look suspicious. She even gave a silly smile and started to speak, thinking of an excuse to say. "Come on," Silver said. You'll miss the train if you don't hurry." Shining Armor began running after them, but Celestia stopped him.

"He'll be back quickly," she said. He sat back down and pouted for a moment as the door closed.

"So why are you my new teacher?" Twilight asked.

"Well I was told you are not familiar with fire magic," he said without looking at her.

"I know fire magic!" Twilight scoffed.

"Yes, probably a simple lighting spell, but not fire." Twilight glared at him. "Fire magic is very powerful, and very easy, so I doubt you will need long to master what I have to teach." Silver gave a comforting smile. "Hey look at that, we're already at the front door," Silver smiled again. Twilight looked at the large double doors and then realized what Silver did, and when she looked back to him, he was already gone. She tried to teleport herself back, but every time she tried, she only ended up closer to the front door. She eventually gave up and left for the train. Wondering how she was going to tell her friends about the news.