The Silverfox Chronicles

Toxic pulled himself out of bed, ready for a new day. He sloppily brushed his mane, then ran out the door after pulling on his cloak.

In a weird way, his cloak was his closest companion. His father had given it to him when he was just starting school, to hide his wings. As he furthered in magic, Toxic enchanted the cloak, making it invincible towards levitation spells and to make the fabric grow with him.

Toxic was weary of his alicorn attributes, mostly because his father had told him that the public wasn't ready for another alicorn. Embane explained that, other than the nobles and his friends, ponies believed that alicorns were god-like creatures. This was partly true, due to their high magic power and seemingly eternal life. Alicorns weren't originally meant to be leaders when Taijitsu made his first daughter, Deus, to civilize the country of Equestria. But the ponies saw her as a mighty creature, making her their Princess, after hearing she was the daughter of royalty. Ever since then, it was custom for an alicorn to take the thrown.

Inside, Toxic was afraid the subjects of Equestria, or at least Eclipse, would be furious, or even frightened of this reveal. Before he had come of age, Embane claimed Toxic was their adoptive son, a unicorn. When he became an adult, Embane and Goldenbell promoted him to noble status. It was a rather odd set-up, but he has gotten used to it.

Toxic trotted into the kitchen, where Ellar greeted him. The pegasus was preparing breakfast for all the nobles; this usually included a yummy assortment of various fruits, vegetables, jellies, jams, juices, different kinds of bread, waffles, pancakes,and sweet pastries. Toxic's mouth watered thinking about it.

"Good morning, Prince." Ellar murmured, absentmindedly checking the brownness on a batch of toast. "You're up early."

"Yes," Toxic giggled. "It feels refreshing to get an early start to the day. I plan on going to the bazaar today, so I want to be able to get to the good stuff first."

"You can sit down at the table," Ellar murmured. "breakfast is nearly ready. I was about to call the rest of the ponies to eat."

Toxic nodded, taking a seat at the broad, wooden breakfast table. It could seat over thirty ponies, but it was barely used to its full capacity. Only when Embane had foreign ambassadors over was the table completely occupied.

Later, the nobles slowly came in after Ellar's call, a bleary eyed Silverfox arriving last. Silverfox stumbled into the seat beside Toxic, muttering a good morning.

Breakfast began soon after, everyone digging in on the smorgasbord of food. Toxic politely ate some buttered toast, while Silverfox shamelessly helped herself to large amounts of jelly. Radar ate his weight in waffles, which he quickly declared he would work off during flight practices. Embane and Goldenbell shared a plate of powdered sugar covered pastries, while Cross quietly ate some fruit. Infinity and Hatchet ate bread covered in jam, while Ellar himself ate a little bit of everything. It was a good breakfast.

After finishing his food, Toxic said goodbye to his friends and left the castle. He went straight out to the center of town, where the bazaar was located.

Toxic shuffled the money in his cloak pocket. He planned on getting his closest friends something nice, he wanted to find a interesting book for Silverfox, a nice bracelet or necklace for Diamondshine, and a toy for one of her cats for Catfight. He wanted to to be a surprise, though, so he didn't tell anyone where he was going. He hoped he didn't run into them in town.

Toxic arrived at the booksellers, and started to browse their merchandise.

"Do you have anything by H.P. Heartcraft?" He inquired, only to receive a strange look.

He had never really thought much about Silverfox's favorite author, but because of how much she fangirled about him, Toxic quickly inferred he wrote some messed up books. Toxic awkwardly left the store, hoping to find a pony who sold more archaic books.

Whist looking for a jewelry store, Toxic was daydreaming. He wasn't even paying attention when he suddenly stumbled on a rock in the road, tripping him. Jerked back into reality, Toxic pulled himself up, heart sinking into his stomach when he heard fabric ripping.

"Kitsu, look!" A pony cried, "H-he's an alicorn! Look at his wings!"

Toxic heard the ripples of gasps spreading through the bazaar, the alicorn freezing up. In his peripheral vision, he saw the ripped remains of his cloak lying in the dirt.

The townsfolk cried and pointed, some pulling their foals closer.

A brave stallion trotted to him, showing no fear. "What kind of alicorn are you?! Are you here to overthrow Embane and take Equestria for yourself?!"

"No!" Toxic cried, hot tears running down his cheeks. "No, never!"

"Look at his cutie mark!" A earth pony screamed. "It's a skull and crossbones! That has to mean something horrible!"

"What are you the Prince of, huh, Toxic? Is that even your real name? You've lied about everything else. What's the cutie mark mean? Destruction, death, pain?" The stallions snarled, shoving his snout in Toxic's face.

He couldn't bring himself to even say his true talent. The ponies wouldn't take poison very well, he assumed.

"I always knew he was no good!" A mare exclaimed. "He has an aura of creepiness around him. And no one could wear a cloak all the time without have something to hide!"

A pegasus wrapped his wings around his foal. "Only two alicorns should be allowed! He has no reason to be one, it doesn't make sense!"

Toxic was shaking uncontrollably, eyes quivering. He couldn't believe it-this was his nightmare scenario. One of his biggest fears. He gritted his teeth, feeling magic come to his horn, cracking ominously. Young unicorns had trouble controlling their magic, but Toxic had never grown out of this. His above average magic got out of control in times of extreme stress.

"Don't be harsh!" Shrieked another mare. "He could kill us all with a wink!"

All of the ponies that surrounded him took a step back, fear flickering in their eyes. Toxic shook his head rapidly, sobbing.

"He's already preparing a spell!"

As a full storm of magic surrounded the alicorn's horn, the townsfolk braced themselves, sparing a second to glare at their would-be attacker.

"SHUT UP!" Toxic screamed, unleashing a magic beam into the sky. A sickly aura blasted around him, making all the ponies in the vicinity gag. "Leave me alone, LEAVE ME ALONE!" He sobbed, roughly yanking feathers from his wings. He paused, feeling his teeth hit raw skin. Eyes blurred with tears, Toxic spread his wings, not caring if he had ripped out any flight feathers.

His mockers took some weary steps back, possibly realizing just what they had done.

With an anguished scream, Toxic took to the air, going the opposite direction of the castle. He just flew, with no care where he was going. All he cared about was getting away.

He landed in a secluded part of Eclipse, shaking and panting. Toxic fell on his haunches, letting long, rough breaths travel down his body. He searched around him, seeing a bridge with a moderately deep river under it. It was a good three or four feet over his head. He trotted to the bank, staring at his wavering reflection in the water. The rushing water looked...somewhat appealing. What did it matter if he, theoretically, just "fell" in? The news of him being an alicorn was spreading all over town by now. It was only a matter of time before it would go to other cities and villages. He would be hated for being a liar. His parents would be hated. Even the nobles were in on the secret.

Only so many ponies would miss me, Toxic thought bitterly. In his nineteen years, Toxic had only managed to make three close friends. Speaking of them, he had probably screwed them over by having them be his secret keepers too. He wasn't sure how they would take that. His friends were pretty social. Silverfox's pride wouldn't allow her to work under a pseudonym. Diamondshine loved his social life. Catfight had to have customers to sell her cats to.

Toxic sighed heavily. He couldn't believe how fast this day had gone completely wrong.

Walking to the edge of the bridge, Toxic peeked over the side. He was a good five feet over the sloshing water. Toxic imagined what it would be like to fall in; the feeling of water rushing into his ears and nose, his lungs crying out for air, finally letting go his final breath. He shuddered. It was a morbid thought.

But at the edge of his mind, it sounded kinda nice. He wouldn't have to be constantly afraid of his looks all the time. And now, he figured it didn't even matter now.

Gathering up bravery, Toxic stuck his head further over the bridge. It was rather easy too, which scared Toxic. Could he really throw himself off this bridge?

"Toxic! Hey, Toxic!" The alicorn jerked his head.

Silverfox was running toward him, quickly approaching the bridge.

The mare plopped down beside him, looking confused. "What are you doing here?" She leaned. "Why aren't you wearing your cloak."

Toxic shrugged.

She put her hooves on his shoulders. "You're a mess. What happened?"

"I need you to go. I want to be alone." He whispered.

She narrowed her eyes. "Toxic, you can tell me anything."

Toxic's face burned. He knew he could tell her anything. And for most of his life, he had. But today, right now, he wasn't sure he could. This was too personal.

He stuck a smile on his face. "I'm preparing a surprise for you all. I don't want you to see it beforehand. It wouldn't be right." Toxic hoped he wasn't shaking too visibly.

Silverfox got up, looking slightly hurt. "Oh, ok. I was just... You just looked pretty rough." She shrugged. "I'll see you at the castle..?" With a final look, she trotted off.

After she had left, Toxic sat at the edge of the bridge, letting his hind legs hang loosely. He just thought, about life, about his friends. Just really about everything. He didn't realize he had been gone so long when he saw the sun setting over the horizon. Toxic gritted his teeth, trying not to cry.

He allowed himself to sway a little, another one of the "teases" he kept doing on the bridge. He couldn't bring himself to jump, but maybe he would just slip and fall while he was doing that.

As darkness settled across Toxic's sitting place, he heard a little thump.

He looked over, sniffling.

A pony sat beside him, seemingly all black. He had gentle brown eyes, and if he looked closely, Toxic saw glowing words scrawled across his fur.

"Toxic.... That's your name, right?" The stallion whispered. Toxic noticed he was a unicorn.

Toxic nodded. "Who are you?"

"My name doesn't really matter." The strangers presence reminded him of something he couldn't put his hoof on. "But I am here to help sad magic users like you. Tell me, Toxic, what is ailing you?"

For some reason, the stranger's presence calmed him. Toxic's shoulders relaxed and he told his entire story. During this, he felt like he was in some sort of daze, like he was half asleep.

"Oh..." The stranger murmured. "That's very tragic. What to do, what to do." His voice itself seemed to be magic, deep and dark, with bits of humor laced in. "Ah, I know." Shadowy magic sparks formed at his horn, and a necklace popped out of nowhere beside Toxic.

Toxic glared at the jewelry. It had some kind of alicorn modeled on it, the pony's eyes red jewels.

"I don't need a necklace." Toxic muttered.

The shadow pony laughed. "Toxic, my friend, this is no mortal necklace! This is an amulet. The Alicorn Amulet, to be exact."

Toxic felt like the pony was mocking him. "How is this supposed to help me?"

"This amulet will make you feel happy, like there is no care in the world."

"And?"

"And?" The pony said.

"This always has some kind of draw back. What bad is going to happen to me?" Toxic hissed. He was feeling unusually anger.

"It will greatly enhance your magic power. That's all." The pony said, pushing the item forward.

Toxic looked down, contemplating whether he should accept it. The entire situation was rather odd, but that amulet was very alluring. Swallowing, Toxic levitated the necklace around his throat, gasping when he felt an strange feeling travel through his body.

Unknowing to him, Toxic's eyes flashed red. The shadow pony smiled.

"I must be going." He said, only to vanish the next second.

Toxic didn't care.

~

Silverfox paced the floor, waiting for Toxic to return. She was worried, he didn't usually stay out all day. He wasn't the kind of stallion to stay out this late without alerting someone first.

Her ears twitched at the doors opening. Toxic pranced through the door, a gleeful smile on his face.

"Oh hey, Toxic! I was getting worried." Silverfox said, walking up to her friend.

"No need to worry." Toxic said dreamily.

"Son, you finally came home!" Embane's deep voice said behind them. The Prince went to his son, looking slightly disappointed. "I haven't assigned you a curfew, but you must tell me if you are going to be out so late."

Toxic's cheerful demeanor didn't waver. "My deepest apologies, father dearest. I promise I will never make you worry like that again." He giggled, like a giddy schoolmare. "But now I need to retire to my bedroom, please excuse me." Toxic trotted away toward the stairs, adding a skip to every other step.

Silverfox blinked, very confused. "What...what was that? 'Father Dearest'?" She looked at Embane in horror. "Do you think he discovered drugs? And is, like, tripping out or something?"

"Toxic's a pretty happy pony, but that was defiantly odd." Embane murmured. He glared at her. "And if what you said was true, well, I will track down whatever drug dealer did...this."

Embane squinted. "What was around his neck? Toxic isn't really one for jewelry."

"It seems so familiar.." Silverfox said. "I have defiantly seen it before, in a book." She shook her her rapidly. "I gotta go, Prince. I'm gonna pull an all-nighter until I find what that necklace is." The mare sped off, leaving Embane without any answers.

~

The next morning, Toxic awoke in a similar mood as the morning before, but this particular mood was entirely artificial.

The amulet was obviously doing something to his mind, but Toxic didn't care or possibly even know. After slipping the necklace on, he was filled with an incorruptible gleefulness that he couldn't explain. Despite not doing so well on the inside, on the outside, Toxic was all smiles.

In addition to this, he had been experiencing blistering headaches all morning. His ears rung quite loudly, all while his head pounded. It was like a war was going on inside his head. In some of his worse spells, he bit his lip until it bled just to keep himself from crying out. It was the only time where his happiness broke.

It wasn't pleasant at all.

Toxic pranced into the breakfast room, feeling the pangs of a oncoming headache. He plopped beside Silverfox, smiling brightly. The mare didn't return his cheerful greeting. Her nose was stuck in a rather large book, the pile of sweet foods in front of her untouched.

Humming all the while, Toxic ate his breakfast, offering the food he didn't eat to Radar, who seemed to have made a contest about how many calories he could burn in one day.

After helping a very confused Ellar wash dishes, Toxic left the castle. He wasn't sure where he was going, his legs seemed to be moving themselves. Toxic added this to the ever growing list of unintended unpleasant side effects.

He fully noticed he wasn't wearing his cloak, but this barely irked him. The memory of the events of yesterday stuck bitterly in his mind. It didn't matter anymore, he reminded himself.

He soon found himself in an unfamiliar part of Eclipse. From here, Toxic had a nice view of the old Canterlot castle, its majestic ruins shining in the early morning sun.

"Toxic, are you upset?" A voice whispered in his ear. When the alicorn searched around, no one was there.

Oh dear, I must be going crazy, Toxic thought, humming all the while.

His eye twitched when he felt a sort of pinch at the edge of his mind. The alicorn amulet's eyes glowed slightly. "I'm talking to you," the same voice hissed, sounding peeved.

"I am upset," Toxic said out loud, feeling a bit strange. "But you won't let me show it." He had pinned down the location of the voice, it was the amulet.

"You should be upset," it whispered viciously. "You are a danger to others. You have no control of your magic."

Toxic swallowed, his throat felt dry and painful.

"Your little friends-the two unicorns and the pegasus-are just friends with you because you needed a leash, someone to keep your powers in check."

"W-What?" Toxic spluttered out.

"Face it, Toxic. You're pathetic. You are no true alicorn, just a unicorn with wings. An alicorn without a purpose. And everyone knows it, too." The voice paused, allowing him to take in the information. "Ponies have to be nice to you. If not, there would be trouble with your father."

Toxic's shoulders slumped. "I-I.." His voice trailed off.

"But Toxic," the voice continued. "If you allow me to invade yourself a bit further, all of these struggles will go away. I promise."

Toxic absentmindedly touched the Alicorn Amulet. "Really?" He paused, a silly smile still stuck on his face. "Will it hurt?"

The voice chuckled a little. "Of course not."

~

Silverfox ran with great urgency, desperate to find her friend. She had been reading late into the night, looking for answers to Toxic's odd behavior. She had finally discovered a book with a description of it, right after the alicorn left the castle.

The trinket was called the Alicorn Amulet, a type of amplifier artifact found in Equestria. It boosted the user's magic power, but it corrupted them greatly. The method of corruption was unusual. It took an aspect of the user-for example, Toxic's cheerfulness- and amplifies it along with magic power. Like, if a pony was prideful, the Alicorn Amulet would make them into a megalomaniac. And the worst part: an outside source can't remove the amulet. The user has to willingly take it off.

Silverfox spotted her friend sitting in the empty part of Eclipse, head down and not facing her. Filled with new hope, the mare ran to her friend.

"Toxic! Are you okay?" She said urgently. "I know what's going on-I can help you."

Toxic's wings twitched, the muscles churning and a couple feathers falling into the dirt. He turned his head, revealing his usual bright green eyes were a blood-colored red. He was no longer smiling, instead his face lined with agony.

"Get away." He hissed. "I am a danger. A hazard."

Toxic rose to his hooves and he started to paw the ground furiously. Silverfox backed away cautiously, understanding the primal signs of aggression.

Toxic froze suddenly, gasping as if someone had punched him in the stomach.

"Silverfox..." He sobbed. "Get away from me.." He sounded more like himself than he had been for the last day or so.

With a hurting, animalistic scream, Toxic fired a beam of magic above his head. It split into several smaller rays, surrounding him in a sickly green ball of crackling magic.

Silverfox drew back in horror as Toxic's silhouette writhed and grew before her eyes. The sounds of bones cracking and regrowing came to her ears, along with his frenzied screams. From the ball of magic, she saw the blazing eyes of the Alicorn Amulet illuminate brightly, and seemed to grow too.

The magic fizzled away, leaving a good amount of smoke flowing in the wind. Toxic stood in its midst, head held high

Silverfox backed away, green eyes wide. Toxic had grown into a full alicorn size, as tall as his mother and father now. His mane had also gotten longer, now tumbling over his shoulders and on his face. Toxic's horn had nearly doubled in length, and his wingspan practically doubled too. The Alicorn Amulet had transformed into something much more impressive, now more of a breastplate with an alicorn symbol than a necklace.

"Toxic, are you okay?" Silverfox said feebly, knowing fully that her friend was most certainly not okay. She raised her horn in defense, not sure what was going to happen next.

Toxic grinned, showcasing snake-like canines. "Toxic? I'm not Toxic anymore." His voice was startling, like a multitude of ponies speaking maliciously all at one time. "I am Hazard." If she strained her hearing, Silverfox could barely hear Toxic's frightened voice speaking under all the others.

"Toxic, I want you to listen to me. I know you are in there, somewhere on the inside." Silverfox gritted her teeth. "You are my best friend, I am not going to leave you like this."

Hazard's eyes glowed bright red, a green slit acting as the pupil. He snorted, pawing the ground.

"Get away. Get away." He said, his legioned voice rising in hysteria. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" He threw his head up in the air, massive amounts of magic coming to his horn.

Silverfox involuntarily gagged, she had never been exposed to this much of Toxic's poisonous magic.

Her retching was quickly interrupted by a huge beam of magic speeding towards her. She had no time to react, other than her eyes dilating in shock. When the beam came into contact with her, it exploded, leaking deadly magic energy all over.

Silverfox was thrown back from the impact, invisible blades inside the attack slicing up her skin. She coughed and heaved, managing to give a fearful look at Hazard, who stood before her.

"T-Toxic..." She whispered, blood dribbling from her jaws.

The last thing she saw was the pony that used to be her friend flying away.

~

"How could have this happened?" Embane murmured to himself, pacing the floor out of anxiety.

He had sent Radar and Scout to investigate a magical disturbance in the empty part of town. The two pegasi had turned carrying a half-dead Silverfox. The unicorn was unresponsive and barely breathing. He had sent her straight to Cross's room for emergency treatment.

They wouldn't say it to each other's faces, but Embane and Silverfox shared a mutual feeling of vitriolic friendliness. It sincerely worried the Prince about the mare's condition, but the bigger thing bothering him was what did it.

The magic felt so familiar, but he didn't want to voice his gut feeling.

It scared him.

Catfight burst into his view, the energetic pegasus flying down pthe stairs.

"EmbaneEmbaneEmbane!" She shouted.

Embane placed a hoof on her head, keeping her from crashing into him. He levitated her until they were eye level.

"Catfight, speak. But slowly." He said sternly.

"Silverfox wants to tell you something!" She spluttered.

Embane blinked, confused. "Ah. Alright then." Following her, Embane trotted (a bit faster than usual) to Cross's room/infirmary.

He really must give Cross a separate room.

Silverfox lay on her side, Diamondshine sitting worriedly beside her. Her abdomen area was bandaged heavily. The mare's flanks moved up and down very slowly, it looked like she was barely breathing.

"Cross," Embane said, looking quizzically at the unicorn stallion. "Are you sure that Silverfox is in the condition to talk?"

Cross sighed, organizing a group of herbs. "She wakes up every once and a while, muttering something rather weird. Her fever is making her delirious." He shook his head. "I wouldn't take every word she says to heart."

Catfight crouched beside her friend, tapping her gently on the shoulder.

Silverfox's eyes fluttered open, widening when she recognized Embane.

"E-Embane..." She whispered. "It's Toxic..." A shiver passed through her, her eyes beginning to droop.

Embane looked deeply startled, leaning in closer to Silverfox. "What happened, what's wrong with him?"

"The Alicorn Amulet...it took over him. It transformed him into something...something crazy. He calls himself 'Hazard'. His magic; the amulet boosted it significantly." She said gravely, her voice trailing off into a fit of coughing.

Cross interrupted, placing a bowl of thick liquid in front of her.

"Drink." He instructed. "It will make you feel better." He looked at the three ponies in the room. "I would suggest you leave. It will be easier for Silverfox to rest."

Embane nodded, leading Catfight and Diamondshine out the room with his wing.

Back in the throne room, Embane started his pacing anew.

"All of this could have been solved if we had the Element of Harmony." He muttered. "We could just gather six corresponding ponies and friendship nuke Toxic into goodliness."

"But we all know that the Elements were destroyed many, many years ago." Goldenbell murmured, coming to her mate's side.

"Should we track him down?" Catfight asked. "It's sorta like the Demonfox thingy. Me and Diamondshine just need to coax him down, then we can get that amulet off his neck."

Embane bit his lip. "Two problems about that: One, Toxic's gone way past your power level now. Two, Toxic has to take the Alicorn Amulet off himself." He had read over one of the books in the study, the room that doubled as Silverfox's room.

Just then, Radar came striding in through the front doors, followed by a less confident Scout.

"There's something at the old Canterlot castle. Not sure what, we didn't attempt to investigate." Radar announced loudly. "I know a hopeless fight when I see one."

"Thank you, Radar." Goldenbell said kindly. The tan pegasus nodded his head triumphantly.

"I thinking about calling my father." Embane murmured.

Goldenbell gasped, suddenly turning to the Prince and blinking in confusion. "What?!" She cried. "You're insane, dear. You can't be thinking correctly. Are you feeling well?"

Radar cocked his head. "What's wrong with Taijitsu? From what I have seen of him he's pretty cool. Why not call him in to fix the problem?"

"Why not?!" Goldenbell continued. "Because he is a maniac when he fights!"

Radar punched Scout in the shoulder, making the shy pegasus cringe. "Ah, c'mon, Princess. Now he sounds even more awesome!"

Embane laughed nervously. "You see, Radar, my father does not fight. He nukes everything in the area until the problem is eliminated."

"Oh."

"Yeah," he muttered. "And after a particularly tough fight, he's left too exhausted to have another fight for a couple years."

Radar frowned. "That's not exactly that cool...."

"But," Embane said, narrowing his eyes at Goldenbell. "Taijitsu's talent is balancing good and evil in a pony. I believe he could save Toxic from the Alicorn Amulet's evil magic."

Goldenbell sighed. "If you really think he could bring Toxic back, then I guess summoning Taijitsu is a given. Go on."

Embane closed his eyes, grey magic coming to his horn. His eyes suddenly ripped open, revealing they were glowing white. With a fluid motion, the alicorn Prince fired magic in the air, the beam passing through the glass sunroof like pure light. It exploded like a flare, bursting into magical fireworks.

"Now we wait." Embane murmured.

~

About an hour later, a shadow passed over the ceiling window. A figure burst through the glass, dropping to the floor below.

Taijitsu unfurled his wings, shaking his mane in an overly dramatic manner. He trotted over the broken glass like it was large chunks of crystallized sugar.

"I went out of my way not to destroy the window..." Embane muttered.

"Son!" Taijitsu cried, running at his son.

A second before the inevitable crash, the Prince of Mystic Falls changed into a foal. He clung to his son's neck, climbing up to his head and gleefully relaxing there.

"Gah, Embane, it's been months!" Taijitsu snuggled the frowning Prince's head. "What did you call me for? A party? Ooh, a party would be cool!" He raised his horn, popping a hat on his and Embane's head. On them, in golden letters, stated "Best Dad Ever" and "Best Son Ever."

Catfight and Diamondshine snickered.

Radar smiled a grin of audacity and yelled at the father and son, "Hey, Embane! Do you love your daddy as much as he loves you?"

If it wasn't for the fur on his face, Embane would have been red from embarrassment.

"Oh, where's my little grandson? I wanna see him!" Taijitsu chittered.

Embane's eyes lowered, shaking the hat off his head, it disappearing in mid-air. "That's the problem. The Alicorn Amulet has taken over Toxic."

The black and white alicorn slipped off Embane's neck, the hat vaporizing off his head. He returned to his full size, fear and worry flashing in his white eyes.

"I had no idea." He whispered, bowing slightly.

"I thought you might be able to fix him.." Embane murmured, shying away.

"I can. But I need someone to go with me. I have to have someone to protect me while I charge the spell." Taijitsu said, looking at Goldenbell and Embane.

Goldenbell's eyes wavered. "I'm sorry, Prince, but I cannot fight my own son, if that is what you are entailing." She said sternly.

Embane nuzzled his mate. "It's alright, Goldenbell. Cast a protection spell around the castle. I have no idea were this fight will go." The mare nodded.

"Radar said that he found something odd at the old Canterlot castle." Embane said, turning his attention to his father.

"I guess that's where we begin."

"But we are not fighting there. We need to lead him someone more secluded, where there is no chance of a bystander getting injured." Embane murmured, moving toward the door.

The father and son set out to challenge the grandson.

~

"This place is pretty nice!" Taijitsu remarked, gazing at the scenery of the Canterlot castle. "I guess Celestia and Luna learned some points of architecture from me."

The ruins were quite creepy at the dusk hour, the hour Embane had chosen so he would be at full power. The light of the moon reflected off the stones and shattered glass, making long shadows that made the two stallions slightly weary. Embane noticed that despite being in the place his daughters were killed, Taijitsu was looking on the bright side of things. He must have felt something, Embane thought, because when they passed the site of Celestia's shed blood, Taijitsu turned his head quickly and remarked on the stained glass windows. He rationalized that he was putting on a nice show to keep himself from being paralyzed with grief.

Embane had never thought of his father as that complex.

They came to a large, open room with most of the walls destroyed. It was dark, but a familiar smell came to Embane's snout.

Toxic.

"Whoever is there, come out now!" Embane commanded in a deep baritone.

Taijitsu stood beside him, sensing the danger. He crouched slightly, eyes narrow and lips drawn back in a snarl.

A flash of red eyes caught Embane's attention. Embane nodded at Taijitsu, who summoned light to his horn, illuminating the entire area.

Hazard immediately became visible, hissing and rearing at the sudden brightness. In a frenzied manner, he slung his head, preparing a magical attack.

"There is a plain out to the west. Lets lead him there!" Embane said quickly, taking flight. Taijitsu followed, dodging the beam that Hazard fired.

With a glance behind him, Embane realized that Hazard had taken the bait and was following them. Good, he thought, taking a sharp left turn, maybe this battle will be over quick and easy.

Naturally, this wasn't going to happen.

They led Hazard to the empty plain and prepared for battle.

"We must weaken him before I can cast the spell." Taijitsu explained, watching Hazard in the distance, who was kicking and snarling. "It will be easier for me to balance out a pony with little resistance."

"Be careful, Father." Embane looked serious. "This is still my son. Don't do anything that could mortally wound him."

"I will try my best."

With that short conversation, Embane and Taijitsu lunged into combat. Taijitsu went left while Embane banked right; they were shooting to trap him.

Hazard reared and shot a huge beam of magic at Embane, who counterattacked with a beam of his own. The magic clashed, green against grey, resulting in a massive explosion. All of the combatants where thrown back, but Taijitsu flew straight back through the smoke, charging a spell.

What the Prince launched from his horn could not even be considered a "beam" or a "laser". This was the equivalent of small nuclear explosion that was fired from Taijitsu's horn. The sheer energy generated was amazing, causing a furrowed place in the ground tracing the path and shock waves that threw everything(and everyone) back that was in a thirty feet radius.

The magic submersed Hazard, completely erasing him from sight.

"Father, I said go easy!" Embane hissed.

"That was easy!"

Turns out there was no reason to worry. When the smoke cleared, Hazard stood, completely unscathed, surrounded by a red force field generated by the Alicorn Amulet. Perhaps in a show of power, the amulet's red eyes glowed brighter.

"How?!" Taijitsu shrieked.

Embane surged forward, at light speed, crashing into Hazard's shield. Lighting his horn with magic, he repeatedly stabbed it, each blow corresponding with massive shockwaves. Hazard tried to struggle under Embane's sheer strength, but putting down the shield was suicide, but then again, letting it survive against the Prince's rage was dangerous too.

A crack shot up the construct of magic, causing Hazard's willpower to fade and Embane's to skyrocket. He crashed open the shield, slamming Hazard point blank with a beam of magic. The corrupted alicorn flew several feet back, making a crater in the dirt.

"Protect me! I'm preparing a major spell!" Embane cried, surging upward.

Taijitsu nodded, patrolling under his son in case Hazard recovered quicker than planned.

Embane flew in front of the moon, the light silhouetting him. He, along with his horn, was cloaked in grey magic, eyes white with sheer power. With a cry of rage, tendrils of magic blasted out of him, grabbing Hazard and consuming him in a storm of power.

Embane allowed himself a sigh of relief, hanging his head low.

To his surprise, Hazard burst out of the attack with his own magic, snorting and snarling. He ignored Embane, lunging at Taijitsu.

The Prince had no reaction, raising his horn and summoning a mountain from the ground to act as a shield. Hazard blasted through it with ease, preparing a beam of magic.

Taijitsu reared back, eyes glowing. He fired the spell from before, except it was more aimed to the ground. The explosion of magical energy blew Hazard into the ground, the "beam" being about twenty times thicker than his body. Taijitsu summoned wind to clear the smoke, and Embane flew down to join him.

"Do you think that was too much?" The Prince of Mystic Falls murmured, shaking his black and white mane.

"I'm not sure... But you might want to start preparing that balancing spell." Embane said, trying to see through the thinning smoke.

Hazard lay in his own, very deep, crater, his body smoking slightly. His fur looked a little burnt and his eyes were forced closed.

"He's not dead." Taijitsu said, trying to be helpful.

"Get ready." Embane commanded, walking toward Hazard.

Behind him, Taijitsu closed his eyes, black and white magic swirling around him and encircling him.

Embane held his horn at Hazard, just in case he regained consciousness.

Taijitsu nodded at his son, now fully encased in magic. Embane jumped out of the way, not wanting to be caught in Taijitsu's spell. A beam, half black and half white, slammed into Hazard, lifting him into the air.

Embane squinted against the bright light, shielding his eyes with his wings.

Taijitsu stood beside him, smiling slightly.

The light subsided, and a small form dropped to the ground.

"Toxic!" Embane explained, running to his son.

Toxic was curled up on his side, watching his father approach him with terror filled eyes.

"Father..!" He whispered, his voice cracking.

Embane placed his hoof on Toxic's chest, touching the Alicorn Amulet. "I want you to take that off, okay?" He asked gently.

Not taking his eyes off his father, Toxic slung the amulet off. Once the necklace hit the ground, Embane fired magic at it, destroying it completely.

Toxic struggled into a sitting position, gazing at the wreckage around them in horror. "What happened...? What did I do..?"

"Toxic, do have any idea what was done today?" Embane said calmly.

Toxic shook his head. "Today feels..really blurry." He swallowed. "But the town found out I am an alicorn. They freaked out."

Embane patted his son on the head, looking at him with a slightly sad expression. "If you wish, I will erase that from the townsfolk's minds. It want harm them, they will just forget that they ever saw you today and yesterday. Is that alright?"

Toxic nodded.

"One more thing," Embane murmured, helping his son up. "Never, ever mess with strange magic."

"Yes sir."

End of Story 10