With Light and Dark

“Ok. I got an overcharged eco demon on my tail that can jump about as high as I can fly, he’s madder than ever, and I need to get to the Everfree Forest before he grabs me so that there aren’t more lives lost during round two. This would be easier if I could just get some more distance between me and…”

“Yikes!”

At that point, Light’s thoughts were interrupted by Dark’s claws scraping the bottom of his shoes as he soared above the streets of Canterlot. “That was too close.” thought Light as he continued to fly.

Some of the ponies on the ground were amazed when they saw Light. To them, he looked like a giant glowing bird and they were staring in awe at how majestic he looked. Others suddenly became terrified whenever Dark landed. As groups of ponies either walked or stopped to stare at Light, they would be startled by the loud thud of Dark’s landings; each one forming cracks.

As Light and Dark were nearing the edge of the cliff, of which Canterlot was built on, Light started to think of a way to get Dark into the forest even quicker.

“I got it!” said Light. He then abruptly turned around and waited for Dark to get close. On his next leap, Dark roared in triumph, thinking that he had finally caught his brother. Light hovered in place with a smug smirk and waited with his arms crossed. “Just a bit closer Dark.” he said.

When Dark was close enough, Light clapped his hands and slowed down time to an almost frozen state. Dark was only 5 yards in front of him and was drifting forward at a snail’s pace. Light hovered over to one of Dark’s arms and grabbed it. He then proceeded to spin him around and while making sure to time his release so that his brother landed in the forest.

After a few more seconds of gathering momentum, Light threw him with all of his might. The effects of the Flash Freeze making his flight look very slow. With another clap, he ended the time technique early and watched as Dark roared while rocketing towards their next battle ground.

“RRRRRRAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!” roared Dark. His voice fading as he drew further away from Light and closer to the Everfree Forest.

“Alright, looks like that’s taken care of. Now I just have to find him and knock him out.” said Light. He then took off with amazing speed; setting off on his new mission of finding his brother before resuming the other one of taking him down.

Meanwhile, Twilight and her friends were walking through the Everfree Forest, looking this way and that trying to find one of the eco brothers. After another minute of walking, Applejack spoke up.

“Hey Twi, you got a spell that can give us a heads up if that Dark varmint is near?”

Twilight looked to her right at AJ and shook her head, “Sorry, but it wouldn’t be that effective. The most I can do is cast a spell that shows when a large animal is near, but it wouldn’t be specific enough to pinpoint where Dark is or identify him. I would need a sample of this dark eco that he supposedly has in order to track him well enough to give us enough time to react. Remember what Princess Celestia said, dark eco mutates and kills, so we would need to be a few steps ahead of him in order to avoid getting cut by his claws.”

Rarity shuttered at the memory of Luna’s description, “I certainly hope we don’t get cut by one of that brute’s claws! Crystals are meant to be a part of some of my dresses, not my skin! I would barely be able to wear anything without those purple crystals clashing!”

Rainbow Dash, hovering nearby, rolled her eyes, “Uh, Rarity? I think the point is that you would be dead.”

Rarity gave a sheepish grin, “Oh, right.”

Suddenly, a loud thud and the sound of trees breaking came from just up ahead. After about a minute of running to the impact sight, they saw it and quickly ran behind a tree. They all poked their heads out from behind to get a better look at it. Thankfully, the creature got up and was facing the other way and subsequently, hadn’t noticed them. The guard’s description of Dark’s body seemed to match, but he left out a few things.

For one thing, the creature was furless, except for its long slicked back mane, which was a gray, almost silver, color. It was also wearing strange clothing. It consisted of a blue shirt with matching gauntlets on his hands, a thick, brown strap going over its chest while keeping a single grey shoulder guard in place, beige pants that were tucked into boots, and a weird set of goggles that had disproportionate lenses.

Rarity, not being able to suppress her fashionista instincts, commented on Dark’s attire, “For a brute, he does have a moderately good fashion sense, although, it could use a bit more pizazz.”

Everyone shushed her, but it was too late, Dark had heard her and spun around with a snarl. The mane 6 got out from their hiding place and most of them kept their fear off of their faces. The only one who couldn’t accomplish this was Fluttershy, as she was hiding her face under her hooves.

Twilight whispered to her friends her plan of getting around him, “Ok girls, here’s the plan. Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, you two will distract Dark while the rest of us go around him. After we’re far enough away, I’ll teleport both of you to our location so we can find Light.”
Dark had other plans. With a growl, he lunged at the group of mares, ready to cut them to ribbons. However a yell rang out that caused him and the girls to stop and look around.

“Not this time Dark!”

Suddenly, Light came in from the right with his identical clothes and a flying kick to Dark’s face. Light decided to give his entrance some more flare by shouting a weird phrase while delivering his kick.

“AAAANGELIC ENTRY!!!”

Dark flew through the air and collapsed a few more trees as he landed. Getting back up, Dark roared out his challenge, “RRRRAAAAAAAAAAH”

“You aren’t killing today Dark. I’ll do what I can to bring you down, so bring it!” Light said in a determined voice. He then flew at full speed at Dark, trying to tackle him. Dark, at the last second, ducked below his brother and uppercut him in the stomach. He then grabbed one of his legs and threw him back a few yards. Light got up and clapped his hands to initiate another flash freeze. However, he figured that he wouldn’t need to slow down time by too much, so he put less power into it, effectively making it so that everyone else would be able to actually see him, but he would still look as though he was going at super speed.

As Dark ran up to Light, trying to deliver some more damage, Light met him half way with speed that left Rainbow Dash stunned since he seemed to be slightly faster than her. Light then started up a devastating combo. Five super fast punches to the stomach, a speedy, but powerful right hook to the face, a side kick to the chest that pushed Dark back, another kick to the face, and a powerful underhanded punch to the stomach that had enough force to send him back a yard. Light was delivering a super-fast spinning kick to knock him down, but his foot was caught only six inches from Dark’s head.

“What the…” Light was at first confused as to how Dark could’ve caught his foot, but a look to his arms and legs told him why. Dark’s limbs had the glow of dark eco radiating off of them at the joints and muscles.

Dark grinned at his brother, “Fast…as…YOU!” with that, he threw him to the ground and jumped on the stunned eco being’s chest, trapping Light between his legs. He then proceeded to scratch his face up with several claw swipes. After that, Dark got off of him and grabbed Light with both hands by the shirt and threw him so that he was parallel with the ground. Light was then assaulted by Dark’s feet as he jumped on him and rode Light like a snowboard. Jumping off, Dark cackled to the sky.

“AAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

Light rolled onto his hands and feet and got back up, revealing his shredded face. Twilight and friends were understandably shocked. Blood was dripping all over the ground in front of him and part of the skin and muscles on his cheeks were torn away. His face looked like it was the victim of a wood chipper. Focusing his eco, even though the pain was excruciating, Light lifted himself into the air where a ray of light shined down on him. His wounds miraculously healed themselves before the mane 6’s eyes with Twilight being the most surprised.

“He can heal himself that quickly!? Not even the most advanced of medical spells can repair living tissue that fast! Only the princesses are supposed to have that kind of power.”

“Uh, Twilight? I don’t think tissues are alive.” interjected Pinkie.

Applejack rolled her eyes, “Pinkie, Twi’s not talking about the kind to blow your nose with. She’s talking about muscles and skin. She’s saying that not even the best unicorn doctors can heal wounds that severe that fast. It must be that light eco that the princesses were talkin about.” Twilight looked to AJ as the idea had just now dawned on her.

“You’re right, Applejack. The guard did say that the energy coming from him was able to cause rapid growth in plants, so maybe it has a healing effect on all living things.”

Suddenly, Dark skidded in front of them with his back turned. Getting his bearings, he sprinted back to Light who was still using his flash freeze ability to look like he had super-speed. When they were close enough to each other, their arms and legs became a flurry of flying limbs. The limbs became so fast that they were blurs. The only things that looked even remotely solid were the main bodies of the two eco beings. During all of this Rainbow Dash was looking at them starry eyed.

“THIS…IS…AWESOME!”

Right after she said that, Dark blocked a left hook and Light blocked a claw swipe at his abdomen. Both held a grip on the other’s arms, making it look as though they were at an impasse This was true for all of two seconds before Light used an attack that no one was expecting, to break the deadlock.

‘VVVZZZIIIINNNNG’

An eco beam was fired from his mouth, once again burning Dark’s face, except this time, all of the skin on it was burned off. He then pushed Dark away with a kick and walked back over to unleash a vicious combo while Dark was clutching his face.

‘CRACK’

A bone breaking punch to the ribs, not only fracturing it, but also causing Dark to remove his hands from his destroyed face.

“CRUNCH’

A crushing stomp to the foot; making Dark look down.

‘THWACK’

A dizzying elbow to the face, causing Dark to look up.

‘SNAP’

Finally, a hit to the shin, breaking it.

To get some distance, Light pushed Dark a few yards back; just in case he decided to take a claw swipe at him. Dark was on all fours now, unable to stand and in a lot of pain.

“Had enough?” said Light while folding his arms.

Dark just growled as he snapped his broken leg back in place. Dark energy crackled at each point of impact and his face, restoring the bones and skin to their former condition.

“So you’ve gained more abilities as well, hm? Let’s see if you can handle this.”

He then sprinted at Dark who tried to do a leg sweep, but Light hopped over it and kicked Dark in the face. Dark used the momentum from getting kicked to go into a backwards tumble and hand sprung back to his feet. He then crouched and lunged to get in close and delivered a powerful uppercut that sent Light flying ten feet into the air. Before he could fall though, Dark jumped up and used his claws to get a good grip on Light’s legs. He was then slammed down so fast that he landed wrong on a wing and broke it. Aiming himself so that his body was pointed straight down, Dark readied his claws to impale his brother.

Just before he hit his mark, Light rolled out of the way, letting Dark get his claws stuck in the ground. He tried to get them out quickly, but they were so deep that he had to tug on them for a bit. After quickly healing himself, Light saw an opportunity and kicked Dark in the stomach. This not only sent him flying for a few feet, but also broke him off of his own claws. Light thought that his brother was disarmed now, but that thought went away when he saw him use his new healing ability to grow replacement claws instantly. Light, having enough, decided to K.O Dark with one last eco charged attack, “Let’s see if you’re conscious after this.”

Putting his hands across from each other, Light generated more light eco between them. This time however, it didn’t look like a soft ball of the life giving substance, instead it was a big shining orb that appeared to have a rainbow-like outline. He was going to use this to stop Dark, once and for all, but Dark had different plans.

Dark charged up a quick strike and aimed it at the Mane 6. It fired from Dark’s hands at close range and the ponies were too scared to do anything but brace themselves for their deaths.

However, death never came. There was no pain or even slight discomfort. They opened their eyes and were surprised to see a blue barrier around them and Light in front of them. The ground around the protective bubble was completely bare of grass. In fact, it appeared that they were in a shallow crater. Light was looking angry as his balled up fists were shaking and his slightly unfolded wings twitched in agitation. The mares also noticed that the white glow that was around him flared a bit.

“That’s it, Dark. Our fight didn’t involve them. You were going to kill them just to get me angry. Well, now I am, and you know what? You are too good for simply being knocked out, you are going to be put down permanently dear brother. Light spat the last part out as though it were a piece of rotten meat.

Light let the shield down and gave a cold glare while sprinting at Dark, who was now grinning and getting into a fighting stance, preparing for one final round.

“STOOOOOOOOP”

That yell is what halted both of them a couple of yards away from each other. They looked up as Fluttershy came hovering down into view with her Stare turned on full blast. She looked very angry.

“I’ve been watching this fight and I’m disappointed in both of you!” Hovering over to Dark at eye level and turning the full power of her stare on him, she chewed him out.

“I’m disgusted with you, Dark. You broke out of your prison and what’s the first thing you do!? You try and kill your brother over literally nothing except an insult! You then tried to kill us for nothing except looking at you! You tore up your own brother’s face for Celestia’s sake! It doesn’t matter that he can heal quickly, you still shed your own brother’s blood over nothing! It doesn’t matter if he insulted you! You had no excuse for doing what you did. Now apologize!”

Dark, for the first time in his life, felt confused on how to react to this. On one hand, this mare had the nerve to yell at him as though she was his mother. On the other hand, her eyes held no fear, but instead an indomitable spirit that wouldn’t back down no matter what. Dark could respect that since he himself has never backed down from anything. However, the battle of wills ended when his newfound respect for her got the best of him. Sighing, he turned back to normal and grunted out what everybody assumed was an apology.

Fluttershy smiled for a bit, but then frowned as she turned to Light with a stern look that promised nothing but a lecture for him.

“Now for you; your brother may have involved us in your fight, but that is still no excuse for you to kill him.”

“But he slaughtered a large number of innocents when we first arrived in this world.” defended Light.

Fluttershy understood where Light was coming from, but stood her ground, “That may be true, but that massacre was long ago and at some point, misdeeds must be forgiven.” Her face then softened a little, “It was nice of you to save us, we’re very thankful for that, but you need to let it go. Show some mercy towards your brother and give him a chance to redeem himself.”

Light folded his arms to think for a bit. Dark had killed a lot of these ponies whom he had grown fond of and involved even more innocents in a battle that wasn’t even theirs. If he let it go, Dark might just decide to go on a killing spree. Although, if this pony’s idea of letting Dark redeem himself proves to be the correct choice, Dark could become a powerful ally; plus, those eyes of hers were hard to resist. With his mind made up, Light made his decision.

“Alright, I’ll let him off for now, but if he tries anything, I will battle him to the death and you won’t stop me.”

Fluttershy still smiled, even though he was still threatening his brother, “All I can as ask is that you give him a chance.” she then hovered back to her friends and landed. Dark continued to stare at Fluttershy intently.

Twilight then stepped forward and delivered some bad news, “It’s good that this conflict has been settled, but both you and your brother need to come with us. Princess Celestia has ordered us to bring you in.”

When Light looked at her, he had a sudden realization, “Well I’ll be, if it isn’t that filly from a while back.”

“What if I don’t want to?”

Twilight was afraid of this, “If you do not come with us then we will have to take drastic measures.” Out of the mane six’s saddlebags floated five necklaces and a tiara that had familiarly colored gems that were carved into the shape of each pony’s cutie mark. Light figured out immediately what they were and decided that history was not going to repeat itself.

“I have a better idea.” His hands clapped together and it appeared that Light had teleported. Suddenly, the small weight of the Elements disappeared from their bodies, causing them to look down at their necks, except for Twilight who looked up. They gasped as they realized that their Elements were gone and looked back to Lights original position to find him with his arms folded and smiling. Rainbow Dash tried to tackle him.

“What have you done with the Elements of Harmony, you jerk!”

Light simply side stepped and grabbed her hind hooves as she was passing. He then flung her back over to Twilight who caught her in her magic. Light just continued to smile.

“As I was saying, I have a better idea. I challenge you, Twilight Sparkle, to a duel, magic vs eco. If you win, you get your Elements back and I and my brother come quietly. If I win, you have to leave me and my brother alone and you get to find the Elements yourselves.”

Twilight felt curious, “Why do you want to challenge me specifically? Why am I of more interest?”

Light’s grin grew even bigger, “Don’t you remember, Twilight? We’ve already met.”

Everyone, including Twilight, was confused. None of them had seen him before and Twilight had never mentioned such a being.

“What do you mean? I don’t remember meeting you. I think I would’ve remembered meeting a big winged, glowing, bipedal creature with pure white eyes.” said Twilight.

Pinkie stepped up, “I know I’ve never seen you before. I remember all the ponies or creatures that I’ve thrown a party for and I’ve never thrown a party for you!”

Rainbow Dash added in her two bits, “Same here. No way I would see a bipedal flier that can go…eeeh moderately fast and not challenge it to a race.”

Light felt really excited as he was about to reveal a huge twist to Twilight and her friends, “Ah, but you see, I met Twilight when she was just a filly of around 8 years old. You were so adorable back then. You walked up to my pedestal and complimented me by saying that if I was in a different position; I would look like a powerful ruler. I was quite flattered.”

Twilight gasped as realization dawned on her, “You were that statue and you could see and hear me!?” Light gave a slight nod as he continued to grin.

Rarity walked over to her friend, “Twilight, darling, whatever is he talking about?”

Twilight then turned to Rarity and explained, “During the first week of being Princess Celestia’s personal student, we took a tour of the statue garden. I walked up to what I thought was a lifeless statue and gave an amateur critique. I then walked over to what I now realize was his brother and was scared out of my wits.”

Light’s grin faded for a second, “I remember that too. I hoped you wouldn’t come back to that place when I saw how scared you were of Dark. However, that’s beside the point. The real reason I want to duel you is because I heard Celestia call you her ‘faithful student’ on that day. I want to see the results of your training under her. I want to see if she turned that filly I met into a well-educated mare who knows how to really use that horn of hers. Not only that, but I’m going to see if she taught you how to use your head in ways besides spells. Also, no assistance from your friends. It will be an automatic loss if they help; so no cheating. So, come on. Class is in session Twilight, and I’m your exam proctor.” Light’s grin returned as he got into a fighting stance.

Pinkie, being the ball of enthusiasm that she is, cheered Twilight on, “You can do it, Twilight! Show this glow stick what you’re made of!”

Rainbow Dash joined in on the cheering, “Kick his flank, Twilight!”

With the confidence boost gained from her friends’ cheering, Twilight looked back to him with a determined grin, “Alright, Light. I’m ready”

“Excellent, then let’s begin!” With a clap of his hands, what appeared to be ten Lights suddenly appeared around Twilight alongside the original. All of them started running all over the place, causing Twilight’s head to turn this way and that. The Light clones then gathered back around her.

“Think you can hit the real me before I hit you?” eco began charging between their hands.

All of their mouths had moved when they said that, but Twilight was only hearing one voice. She could tell that this wasn’t a true clone spell, or else the clones would’ve had their own voices. That also means that only one of these Lights was about to fire eco at her. She was trying to figure out which one of them was real until she heard faint breathing to her right. She quickly turned to the supposed Light clone and shot him. His charging was interrupted as he was pushed back a bit, the clones fading away.

“Nice work. You figured it out. Before we continue, tell me how I was doing that.” he said as he got back into his fighting stance.

“Those were after-images caused by your super-speed. You already demonstrated it by clapping your hands together during that fight.” Twilight said smugly.

“Wrooooong, but here’s a consolation prize.” He once again clapped his hands and disappeared from sight. A split second later, Twilight was hit from behind with an eco bolt. Her body was splayed on the ground for one second before she got back on her hooves and turned around to face him.

“By the way, you’ll get eco shot at you for any question you get wrong. Now try to break my shield before I hit you with another eco bolt.” The blue shield from before appeared once again and Twilight frantically dodged the eco bolts sent her way from Light’s hands. She fired a magic shot at the shield, but it just dissipated on impact. After a few more moments of dodging Light’s eco and countering with her magic, Twilight got an idea.

Casting a spell on her eyes, Twilight was able to see the layout of Light’s eco shield. She could see exactly how the energy was woven together and could also see that there was a small area in the back of the shield that seemed to be put together more thinly than the rest. After deactivating the spell, she got in close to Light while still dodging and shot a full powered blast at the ground in front of him, creating a big dust cloud.

Light just stood there in the cloud, waiting for Twilight to strike. Finally, Twilight decided to attack.

“Now I have you!”

She shot at the exact spot where the shield was thinnest and hit Light in the back. The magic shot pushed him forward and caused him to be hunched over for a second. After the dust cloud finally settled, Light straightened to his full height and turned around, his arms folded, with a smirk and a raised eyebrow on his face.

Light then asked his next question, “Was that weakness in my defenses a usual part of my shield, or was that intentional; if it was, why?”

“It was intentional. No pony, or in your case, human that has obvious battle experience would leave his back exposed. As for why, you decided to be nice and gave me a chance at hitting you. Thanks for that by the way.” a smile formed on Twilights face as she thanked him.

Light slowly clapped his hands in applause, “Very good.” The clapping stopped, but his grin was still in place, “You exploited a weakness and used logic to determine what my intentions were. I’m very impressed with you Twilight Sparkle. So far, it looks like Celestia has taught you well.”

“Of course she did! Twilight is the biggest book-worm that I know and the Princess is just that awesome! Teaching somepony magic is foal’s play to her!” said Rainbow Dash, boasting on Celestia’s behalf.

Dark’s chuckle came from her left and Rainbow turned in the air to glare at him, “What’s so funny, jerk?” Dark just pointed her back to the two duelists as he continued to chuckle. When she turned back to them, concern came to the forefront of her mind. The soft white glow that radiated from Light’s blue body started to intensify around his hands.

“However, book smarts is not everything. Let’s see if you have the magical brawn to back up that brain.” Light jumped high into the air and used his wings to stay there. He then began firing eco bolts with each thrust of his open hands. Twilight, meanwhile, erected a shield that blocked most of them, but was slowly cracking under the onslaught. Teleporting a few feet forward to get out of the eco hale, she unleashed her own magic volley at him and got a few good hits in. However, that soon changed as he used, what Twilight still thought was super-speed, to seemingly teleport out of the way and appear one foot to her right with a charged eco bolt at the ready.

“Gotcha!”

He fired and sent Twilight flying a few yards. When she landed and got back up, Light was walking over to her, “Good start, but you have to do better than that.” Suddenly a wave of energy emitted from her horn without warning and knocked Light to the ground, “Thaaaat’s better.” he said from the ground. Hopping back to his feet, Light then charged up one final blast of eco, “Let’s see which form of energy is better, shall we?” instead of it being like a laser when he fired, it was a moderately sized orb of light eco.

Twilight complied and fired the biggest magic shot that she had ever charged. The two energies met in the middle, with the eco orb slowly gaining ground on Twilights steady stream of magic. Twilight put her all into her attack, but it wasn’t enough as the eco continued on its course. At the last second, she was pushed away by a blue hand and Light stepped in. The impact of the energy barely made him flinch.

Twilight picked her head up and was met by another glowing blue hand. As she looked up, Twilight saw that Light was smiling while holding his hand out for her to take. She accepted his hand and was hoisted up to her hooves. He then put his hands on his hips and bent over to put his face closer to Twilight’s

“Sorry Miss Sparkle, but you lost. You did pretty well, however, you need to work on your magical power. Duel me again when you’ve increased your strength. Now it’s time for another consolation prize.”

Twilight tightly closed her eyes, preparing for an eco bolt to the face, but it never came. Opening her eyes, Twilight saw him walking to a nearby bush. When he got there, he pulled out the Elements of Harmony. Twilight and the others were surprised that he had hidden them so close by. Twilight’s jaw dropped and eyes widened by what Light did next.

“Here you go.” Light said as he laid the Elements before her. “Now you can take me to Celestia.” Light then held both hands out to her, expecting handcuffs to be put on them.

This was the exact opposite of what Twilight expected. She expected him to run away with his brother, leaving them to find the Elements, just like he said he would, but instead, he gave them back the Elements and was now letting her arrest him. This went against everything he said. Clearing her mind of the surprise of these turn of events, Twilight demanded to know what was happening.

“This makes no sense! Why are you giving me back the Elements!? I’m grateful and all…but why!? I lost! You won!” Twilight didn’t like when things didn’t make sense. If she was told one thing, she expected it to happen. If it didn’t, she needed something to clear things up so that the situation would make sense. At this moment, Light was the one to give that clarity.

Putting his hands back on his hips, he explained his actions, “I told you, didn’t I? I wanted to see if Celestia had taught you well. However, what I didn’t tell you is that I also wanted to see if I could be impressed. You see, I’ve heard how well she’s been running this country, so when I heard that you were her student, I hoped I could once again, be impressed. I wanted to see if she could balance her responsibility as a princess with the responsibility of being a teacher and still turn a naïve filly into a mare who knows her stuff.”

“I’m happy to say that I am not disappointed. You may not have beaten me in a duel, but you did impress me and that’s all I really wanted from you. True, I did say that you would only get your Elements back if you beat me, but I lied about that so that you would try your hardest to beat me, and you did. Your prize for impressing me is the return of your Elements and me and my brother as your prisoners.”

He then offered his hands again to be cuffed, but Rainbow Dash decided to speak up, “Wait a minute! Twilight could’ve withstood that attack easily! She could’ve won, right Twilight!?”

Twilight shook her head at her, “No, Rainbow, I couldn’t have. I was putting my all into that last blast. There was enough magical power behind it to level a house and it still wasn’t enough. I would’ve died because I wasn’t strong enough magically.” by the end of her explanation, her ears had drooped and her mouth was set in a frown.

She then felt a hand on her head and turned to her left to meet Light, who had gotten down on one knee, giving her a reassuring smile, “Hey now, don’t feel too bad, you did your best.”

“But I couldn’t stop your eco-based attack. It took all my strength just to slow it down. You probably didn’t even break a sweat.” said Twilight, ears still drooped and frown still in place.

“Come on, you just said that you were able to slow it down. That means you were strong enough to do that at least.”

“But what good is slowing your attack down if it would still hit me? It still means that I’m magically weak compared to you and probably many other dangerous beings out there.” she was really beating herself up over this, and Light wasn’t going to have any more of it. He then sighed in frustration.

“It’s true that right now you aren’t as strong as me, but then again, were you born with magical strength? Were you able to use levitation and other spells from day one of your life, or did you need to start learning and practicing your magic?”

Twilight’s frown started to fade as she started to figure out what Light was getting at, “I had to practice until my magic was strong enough to cast spells.”

Light, seeing that she was getting it, nodded in approval, “See? That’s all you need to do. Just keep practicing. Maybe come up with new ways of training yourself? Who knows? Maybe one day you could duel me again and actually beat me. If you never give up, I’m sure you will be strong enough to get through anything; especially with friends by your side!” he then gave her a friendly pat on the back as his smile grew.

Twilight returned his smile with a teary eyed one, “Thanks Light, you seem like a really nice pon…I mean, human.” She said while wiping her watery eyes. “Definitely not as bad as Princess Celestia described you.”

Light stood up and folded his arms again, “Oh, did she now? Now I have to see her. Come on, don’t want to keep royalty waiting now do we?”

Both of them rejoined the group, which now included Dark, who had shifted back to normal, with Fluttershy keeping a close eye on him. Dark had an unusually stoic look on his face as he stared back at her and it creeped Light out since being calm was his schtick.

Twilight smiled at her friends, “Alright girls, we have Light and Dark, so let’s get back to the carriage and get out of here before we run into some kind of pony eating creature.”

Rarity agreed, “That sounds like a fantastic plan Twilight. I simply can’t stand another minute of this icky and dirty place.” Rainbow rolled her eyes at this.

About 10 minutes later

The group arrived at the chariot and took off. After a few minutes of flying, Light decided to ask a basic question to the remaining mares, “So, since we will be flying for a bit, how about some introductions? Celestia must have briefed you on us before your capture mission, but I know nothing of you five.”

Fluttershy, who was next to Dark, answered first, “My name is Fluttershy. I take care of a lot of animals and am the Element of Kindness.” she said with a small smile.

Applejack answered next, “Ahm Applejack. I run Sweet Apple Acres, mah family farm, and am also the bearer of the Element o’ Honesty. Don’ ever lie to me and there won’t be any trouble.” She offered her hoof in what Light guessed was their version of a handshake. He guessed right since after grasping her hoof, she shook it just like a human would his hand.

“Ahem. My name is Rarity. I am the owner of the fabulous Carousel Boutique. My slogan is “Every item is chic, unique, and magnifique!” she said with a smile full of pride.

“I assume you’re another Element bearer?” said Light, raising a light blue eye brow.

“Your assumption is correct darling! I bear the Element of Generosity!”

Hearing this, Light decided to see if she actually lived up to her Element, “Any recent acts of generosity that you can think of?”

“Well…I did offer to make dresses for my friends, free of charge, for a formal event called the Grand Galloping Gala. Also, the first day I met Twilight, I insisted on fixing up her hair and giving her a dress that complimented her perfectly.”

Light wasn’t sure if that last one could be considered generous per say. Rarity was an obvious fashionista. So her instincts that came from being such might have just kicked in at that moment and caused her to want to make Twilight look good for the sake of wanting to fix anything she deemed unfabulous.

“Oh, that reminds me. On that same day, I also cut off most of my tail to replace the half of a giant serpent’s mustache that was sliced off. He looked so sad over his loss. I simply couldn’t leave him with nothing. His giving of a dry passage over the river he was in was, as Pinkie would say, icing on the cake. The fact that I was able to raise the serpent’s spirit was reward enough for me.”

That was good enough for Light. It probably took a lot for the seamstress to give up her own tail, especially since she most likely holds her own looks in high regard. Light gave an approving nod.

“Sounds generous to m…” Suddenly, Pinkie’s smiling face popped up from the bottom of his vision. Leaning back a bit so her face wasn’t so close to his, Light greeted her, “Hello?” Light wasn’t sure, but he felt something from this particular mare the moment her face popped up.

“Hi! I’m Pinkamena Diane Pie, but everyone calls me Pinkie! I live and work at the Sugarcube Corner bakery! I love sweets of all kinds, pranks, and parties! Especially parties! I also love to brighten up everypony’s day and see them smile.”

Light smiled back, “Well aren’t you just a pink ball of energy? With how much you want to make others happy, I’m guessing your Element is joy?”

Pinkie shook her head while retaining that megawatt smile of hers, “Nope it’s actually laughter, but you were close!”

At this, Light shrugged, “Oh well. Laughter is part of joy, so I guess I’m half right, but besides that; I like your positive attitude. You seem like my kind of pony.” Somehow, Pinkie’s smile grew even bigger at this.

“YAHOO!!!”

Pinkie showed her appreciation of the compliment by jumping out of her seat and into Light’s lap. She then gave him an almost bone crushing hug which he returned. After the hug was over, Pinkie sat down next to him still smiling.

Light gave her one last smile before looking over the other passengers in the carriage. He then spotted the only pony who had not introduced herself; a cyan blue Pegasus with a rainbow colored mane who was staring angrily off into the distance with a hoof supporting her head.

“So, what’s your name blue?”

Rainbow Dash didn’t answer, she just continued to stare with furrowed eyebrows. Rarity tried her hoof at getting Rainbow’s attention.

“Now Rainbow Dash, you really shouldn’t be rude” admonished Rarity.

Rainbow still didn’t answer, continuing her angry stare into nothingness. Light suddenly got an idea and whispered it to the other mares, “I have a plan to get her attention, but I need two seats on either side of her open. The mares complied and Light went to work. Sitting down in the seat to Rainbow’s right, Light clapped his hands before shouting, “HEY, ECO ADDICT!!!”

Both startled and angry, Rainbow Dash turned to him with a death glare, “What do you want, poser!?”

Light put up his hands in mock surrender, “Whoa, Whoooooa! Chill, ok? I just want to get to know you.” He then pointed over her shoulder, “Although, I think someone else wants your attention even more than me.” Rainbow Dash felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see who it was; though who she saw, she did not expect.

Greeting her was Light’s smiling, deep blue face complete with glowing white eyes.

“Halloooo!!!”

“GAAAH!!!” Rainbow leaped from her seat in fright and almost fell out of the carriage.

Light quickly reached out and grabbed her before she could fall and pulled her in, “Whoa now, we don’t need you falling and having to change your name to Rainbow Crash, now do we?” he said with a chuckle.

“Why, you!” she tried to deliver a right hook to his face, but it passed right through him, “What the?”

“Over here.”

She turned and found Light waving to her from where he was sitting before. Rainbow crossed her forelegs in front of her chest and growled.

‘GRRRRRR!!!’

At this, Light’s grin grew positively feral and he responded in a way that captured perfectly how much enjoyment he was getting out of teasing her.

“Oh, you are just a treat!”

Meanwhile, everyone else was trying to hold in the laughs that threatened to burst forth. Except Pinkie and Dark who were rolling on the floor of the chariot, laughing, and chuckling with a wicked grin respectively.

Light leaned over to Twilight to whisper, “You have some pretty good friends here, Twilight. Reminds me of the friendship my former host had with his friend.”

Twilight, not doing that good of a job of hiding her mirth, replied somewhat sarcastically, “I’m glad the almighty Light approves.”

Another 10 minutes later

They had finally arrived at Canterlot Castle and the mane 6 were drawing quite a lot of attention with the two new additions to the group. The servants and guards looked at Light’s glowing form with awe and Dark’s opposite form with fright. The group could also hear the comments some of the servants were making about Light and Dark.

“By Celestia’s mane; are you seeing what I’m seeing!? That thing’s wings are huge and its glows brighter than the princess’ coat!” one butler whispered to another in astonishment.

The maid he was talking to turned to him after staring for a while at Dark, “I’m more concerned about the purple creature’s claws. Those things look sharper than some of our best cooking knives!

When they turned back to look at the group, they met Dark’s wickedly grinning face. Their eyes widened not only at the close proximity, but also at his razor sharp teeth. They were so full of fear that they didn’t scream, but that changed after one simple action from Dark.

‘SHING’

“AAAAAAA!!!”

Dark had raised his hand to their eye level to show them his claws. He then extended them for further intimidation. The mane 6 and Light turned to see what was happening. Light was just about to tackle Dark, when Fluttershy intervened.

“No, Dark! Bad! Say you’re sorry this instant!” she angrily said.

Dark turned to her and growled. However, Fluttershy was having none of this and turned on the full power of her stare.

“Don’t take that tone with me, mister! It’s wrong to cause other’s fright for your own amusement! Especially if they think it’s a threat on their lives! Now say you’re sorry!” Dark reluctantly grunted out an apology for the second time that day.

“Sssshurrrraaahyyyy!”

The servants, too full of fear to understand that he was trying to say sorry, promptly fainted. Fluttershy just looked down with closed eyes and sighed. She then looked back up to Dark with a sad smile, “Well, at least you apologized. Let’s get back to the others, ok?” Dark didn’t say anything. Instead, he just turned and walked back to the group alongside Fluttershy; grumbling incoherently the whole way.

When they finally got to the throne room doors, Twilight set her focus on Light and Dark, “Now behave you two. Hopefully Princess Celestia won’t be too harsh, but you must have proper manners.”

Light gave a fake salute, “Yes miss Twilight!” he said. Twilight, not getting that he was planning something, smiled and turned to open the door. Light’s eyes twinkled right before he rushed past her.

“Light, what are you doing!?” said Twilight incredulously. Light, with a grin on his face, put both hands on the door and pushed with monstrous strength.

‘BOOM’

The giant doors slammed so hard into the walls that they almost shattered the windows. The guards that were at attention pointed their spears at the angelic being and both princesses were stunned by Light’s loud entrance.

“Hello Celestia; and Luna too, when did you get back from the moon? Anyway, I’ve got some things to say, but I can’t do it from all the way over here.” he said with a calm voice and a stoic look. He then began walking towards the two thrones as though he were taking a stroll through the gardens.

“Twilight Sparkle! I thought that you would’ve had this escaped convict in chains when you brought him and his brother here!” Celestia said, looking at Twilight angrily. Luna decided to bring her sister’s attention back to the matter at hoof.

“Forget about that dear sister! Guards, seize him! Stop him before he gets any closer!”

To this, Light clapped his hands and prepared for when the first guard would be upon him. A pegasus guard went for a flying tackle, but Light leaned back, letting the guard pass over him. Grabbing the guard by the waist, he slammed the pegasus to the ground and continued walking. A unicorn guard ran up and tried to pierce him through the heart, but Light pivoted the target area out of the way and grabbed the spear’s shaft. Going with the momentum of his pivot, Light disarmed the unicorn guard with both his strength and eco. The guard was slightly surprised at how fast he was, but even more so when Light brought the spear over his knee and broke it in half. He then threw both pieces towards the ground getting them stuck in it.

At this point, Light was already half way to the princesses and they were getting angrier and angrier at Light for humiliating their guards. At the opposite end of the room, the mane 6 were shocked at what Light was doing, but nopony more so than Twilight, “What is he doing!? I specifically told him to behave himself and he’s doing this!? What the heck!?” thought Twilight angrily.

Dark, on the other hand, had his arms folded and was very entertained by the whole thing. Not because Light was humiliating the guards, but because it was getting those two upstarts on the thrones angry. If he wasn’t able to tear them to shreds, at least he could watch them get agitated; serves them right for being so cheap with the Elements all those years ago.

Spike, who was waiting for the better part of a day for Twilight to come back, had his jaw dropped at how easy it was for Light to get through the guards, “Whoa! This guy is good. He’s getting past them like it’s nothing and he does it all with a calm look on his face.”

Meanwhile, Light had started walking again when two spears were thrust towards his head.

‘CLANG’

Light had tilted his head back at the last second, “Whoa now. I think that would’ve been a little too much off the top for my liking.” He then grabbed both spears and threw them into the ceiling so hard, it was as though he was using it as a giant dart board. Light continued walking and finally reached the steps that led up to the thrones, “Ah, this is a lot better than shouting across the room, don’t you think?” he said with a grin.

Celestia stood up and walked half way down the steps, “Ok, you have our attention. Now what do you want?” said Celestia with a cold glare.

“First, a bit of a redo on our first initial meeting.” he then proceeded to bow in a very stylish way by using his wings as extensions to his arms and pulsing his eco, making himself glow like the most precious of sapphires. “It is an honor to make your acquaintance, your majesty.” he said with reverence.

Celestia was shocked by this. The first thing that Discord wanted to do was seek vengeance. The same was true about Luna before she was turned back to normal. This human was acting more like a respectful visitor instead of the seeker of revenge that she expected him to be. To say that his was completely out of left field for her would be an understatement.

“Well this is certainly a surprise. I didn’t think I would be seeing you humble yourself before me and my sister.” she said with raised eye brows.

Light got up from his kneeling position and put a hand to his heart, “You wound me Celestia. Why wouldn’t I give such a fantastic ruler her proper respect?”

“Excuse me, but how would you know how I’ve been running this country?”

A smile appeared on his face as he explained, “Ah yes, you probably didn’t know this, but I could still see and hear everything around me while I was in stone.”

“What!? The whole time!?”

“Indeed; and I heard some interesting things about you, my dear princess. I heard a lot of praise for your leadership during my imprisonment. I also heard about how you went above and beyond in your work; personally overthrowing the tyrant who was terrorizing your ally, the Crystal Empire. Princess, I’ve only respected one other ruler in my life time, and I can say that you and your sister both deserve just as much, if not more respect.”

“W…Well…I” Celestia was stunned speechless. She turned to Luna, but she was just as stunned. Celestia expected many things from Light. Showing a huge amount of respect towards her as a ruler was not one of them.

“If you would allow me, I would like to make up for endangering and possibly indirectly killing those citizens so long ago. I would like to prove that I’m different from what I was before and not be a burden like I was to my former host.” he said, giving a short bow. He then noticed that the others had gathered at the steps as well.

Applejack stepped forward, “Princesses, ah, can honestly say that he’s telling the truth. So far, Light has done nothing but help and trying to get along with us.”

Pinkie was next to speak, “It was amazing! He was all like, “AAANGELIC ENTRYYY!!!”, and Dark got sent flying into the trees by Light’s foot impacting his face; and that was his entrance!”

Rarity decided to cut in, “I have to agree with Pinkie, Light’s entrance certainly was extraordinary, but even more so was his declaration of doing everything he could to stop Dark from killing us. Such valor is to be commended.” She then looked to Rainbow Dash, wondering if she had anything about earlier events.

When Rainbow realized it was her turn, she scratched the back of her head awkwardly for a moment then spoke, “Well…gotta give credit where credit is due. He kept fighting even when his face got shredded. There’s also the fact that he got really angry when Dark tried to involve us in their fight. To me, he was acting as though Dark tried to kill one of his friends. Although, I don’t get why he would act so strongly when Dark almost killed us.”

Light decided to use this to further his case, “Well my prismatic friend, one thing that I forgot to mention is that during that time in stone, you ponies have really grown on me. I watched millions of tourists go by and watched how they acted. You ponies, and some of the other species I’ve seen, have a great capacity for good. Most of you treat each other kindly, watching each other’s backs, etc. The families were my favorite visitors. I liked seeing the parents interact with their children and the children being so happy to be there. It makes me all the more hateful of Dark for what he did so long ago; cutting down so many and leaving children without their parents and some parents grieving over their lost children.” At the last part Light glared at Dark and he glared back. He then looked to Fluttershy with a neutral look.

“It’s only because of Fluttershy that I and Dark aren’t fighting to the death at this moment. She says that I should give Dark a chance to redeem himself. I mean no offence, but I doubt the wisdom of this decision. However, I can promise you that if he even tries to harm a single citizen of Equestria, he won’t live to regret it.”

Celestia looked to Dark and found that he was quite different from the rampaging monster that she had met before. He may have still been giving her an angry glare, but he wasn’t doing anything beyond that. She suspected that it was the work of Fluttershy considering her involvement in stopping the eco brothers from fighting. There was also the fact that she was able to stop a full grown dragon in its tracks. If she could do that, then it wasn’t impossible for her to stop Dark. She then turned to Twilight to see what she had to say.

“And you, Twilight? Do you have anything to say on their behalf?” she said with a neutral look.

Even though she was nervous, Twilight still felt that she needed to vouch for Light, “I believe that Light can be trusted, especially since he not only saved us, but showed that he really does care about the citizens of Equestria considering what Rainbow Dash already said about his anger at Dark for involving us. Dark, on the other hoof, needs to have a close eye on him at all times.”

At this, Fluttershy spoke up, “I can handle that. He seems to listen to me pretty well, if a bit reluctantly, right Dark?” She looked up at Dark, and he looked down at her and gave her a grunt with a shrug. Fluttershy smiled up to him then turned back to the others, “He said, ‘I guess’.”

Celestia closed her eyes to think of what to do about Light. He seemed to have changed from the heartless being that he was before. However, this apparent hatred he has for his brother could result in another fight. However, he did say that he didn’t want to be a burden. With this in mind, Celestia devised a plan and began handing down her final verdict.

“Alright, Light. I’ll give you a chance to prove yourself; and since Fluttershy believes that Dark could change, he’ll get the same. However, I’m going to have the Element bearers keep a close eye on you two. This means that both of you will be staying in Ponyville until further notice. They will report to me any developments that involve you two. Be forewarned, if they send me anything about either of you that warrants my direct intervention, you will answer to me. Understand?”

Light nodded, “Yes ma’am. By the way, one of these days you are going to tell me why you banished your sister to the moon and how she came back. You have a looooot of explaining to do!”

Celestia sighed, “Twilight and her friends can fill you in later. Now go, a royal court session is about to start and I can’t have you or your brother causing a ruckus.”

“Alright, I’m going. Ponyville is probably more fun than here anyway.” Looking over to Rainbow Dash, Light grinned, “Hey, Miss Prism. I haven’t gotten a chance to use my wings for long distances, so how about a race?”

Rainbow Dash grinned back, “Oh, you are so on! Keep an eye on my tail, it’s the only thing you’ll see!” With that, she flew off out of the throne room, leaving a rainbow trail in her wake. Light liked her enthusiasm.

“That’s the spirit!” he too took off and left a trail, except his was a whitish blue.

Twilight looked to the rest of her friends, “Come on, girls. We might be able to catch up to them in a carriage.” With that, they exited the throne room running, leaving Celestia and Luna to their royal duties.

Author's Note

Remember to comment and tell me what you liked and disliked. Do not just say that the whole chapter was good or bad. Tell me the highlights of the chapter.