Lock Light walked back into his room and closed the door. He then trotted to his bed and collapsed on it closing his eyes. Was it just him? Or were those emotions real? They weren’t his, did he really fly off and see Celestia and Luna in the middle of the night? What was going on?

A little cough brought him back to his room. The little filly was there, the one he had saved. She was a blank flank, so young that she hadn’t even received her cutie mark yet. He slid off the bed and gestured to her asking “What’s your name filly?”

“My name is,” she began her lip trembling but then she started to cry. Lock Light understood, usually fillies were abused in more ways than one by the nobility of the Crystal Empire, and she was terrified. Hurriedly he brought her close “Oh no, no, no, no, no” he said quickly wiping her tears “I’m not going to hurt you.”

An overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety washed over him as he rephrased what he said “What I mean is, oh how can I put it? No harm of any kind will come to you. I made you my servant to protect you.”

The emotion he previously felt began to waver, and she looked at him, her big sky blue eyes silently pleading to him “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Lock Light stammered “is that I want you to be with me wherever I go, I want you to help me.”

“With what?”

“I, uh,” Lock Light was struggling to think of something “I have a lot of princely things to do now, and uh, well, I need things like my room cleaned, a prince can’t have a messy room.”

She giggled a little as he continued “And, well, my books need to be dusted. And my clothes mended and washed, and I…um…I’ve never had anyone apart from myself really do…those things…”

He faltered towards the end, but the filly’s eyes lit up and she smiled “Is that all sire?”

“Oh and one other thing,” he said ruffling her hair “you don’t have to call me sire or your majesty or your highness or anything of that sort. It’s Lock Light to you.”

“Yes, Prince Lock Light,” she said.

“No, no,” he interrupted “just…Lock Light.”

“Alright, Lock Light,” she said, and then giggled again “that rhymes doesn’t it?”

“Yes it does,” and he also snorted a little with laughter, then in embarrassment, he put his hooves to his mouth and looked away, but she laughed saying “was that YOU?”

“I…I guess it was,” Lock Light said “I’ve never laughed like that before.”

“What do you like to do for fun Lock Light?”

“What?”

“What,” she asked again “do you like to do for fun?”

“I don’t’ see what that’s got to do with anything,” he said “I’ve never…”

“No one’s ever asked you?”

“Well,” he said “it’s not that…it’s just usually such things come as part of a conversation you know, one pony says that they like doing things usually after saying hello…”

“You talk a lot don’t you?”

“Oh,” Lock Light said “do I?”

She giggled again. It sounded like morning sunlight dancing on golden autumn leaves. Lock Light’s heart melted, he wouldn’t let anything harm her and he would protect her with all the power that he possessed. He looked at her and asked her again “What’s your name filly?”

“My name’s Apple Rose,” she said.

“Apple Rose,” Lock Light said smiling back “That’s a pretty name. Where does it come from?”

“Nearly everyone in my family has a name with something to do with apples,” she said

“I’d like to get to meet your family one day,” Lock Light said “are they good to you?”

“Well,” she said “when they’re not working in the fields all day.”

“How did you come to be here?”

“Some of his majesty’s guards came to our home and took me away,” she said starting to sniffle “I never saw them again after that.”

“Would you like to see them someday?”

“Oh please,” she said excitedly “I would like that very much.”

“How about tonight?”

“Really?” Apple Rose asked.

“Certainly,” Lock Light said confidentially “but we’d have to sneak around a bit. Are you up for a bit of hide and seek from the guards?”

She giggled quietly “Always.”

“Alright then,” Lock Light said “I promise that if you do your chores, that tonight you’ll get to see your family.”

He could now feel a tidal wave of excitement flow through her. When she smiled, he didn’t realize it, but it was the brightest it had been for a long time. That day, she eagerly did everything he asked her to do. She cleaned the carpet and mopped the floors, she cleaned the bathroom and his bedroom until it was completely spotless. That night, when the torches were still burning bright, Lock Light whispered to her “Are you ready to see your family again?”

“Oh yes please,” Apple Rose said “that’d be delightful.”

“Alright then,” Lock Light said hop on my back. She climbed on and gripped tight. With that, he silently glided over the battlements and walls of the Crystal Castle like a dark cloud. He looked back at her asking “Which way to your home?”

“That way,” she said pointing to the left “and a little bit down.”

“I know when to land dear one,” he said and in a few moments they had glided to a landing in front of their door. The house was a little homely shack, one door, which had a broken hinge, a roof with several holes in it, and two broken windows. A little light glowed in one and Lock Light looked inside. He saw three families crammed around a little table, and even though they had nothing…they were…happy. He puzzled, surely, only wealth could give you the things you’ve always wanted, influence, and power. That was more valuable than…

Apple Rose slid off his back and took his hoof in hers “Come on,” she said “come meet my family.”

And before Lock Light could protest, she had opened the door.

There was dead silence in the Apple Family home. All eyes were fixed on Lock Light as he awkwardly stood there, raising a hoof to scratch the back of his neck “Uh,” he said “hello.”

The parents instantly dropped what they were doing and bowed before him. Several dishes clattered to the ground and a few broke. The fillies and colts averted their eyes or buried them in their parent’s chests. Lock Light felt surprise and shock at his arrival. He knew why. He was royalty, and they’d only heard of King Sombra. But Apple Rose walked forward and saw a mare she recognized “Smith?”

“Apple Rose?”

They rushed towards each other and gave each other a big hug. Smith looked at Apple Rose and said “I thought I’d never see you again after they took you away.”

“I only came back because of my new master,” Apple Rose said “Apple Family, meet Lock Light, the nicest pony in the Crystal Empire.”

Lock Light’s embarrassment was growing every minute, but suddenly there was excitement that erupted in the Apple Family. They rushed forward and lifted Apple Rose off her feet and she was carried around the house. Lock Light stood in the background and smiled to himself. He’d done this, he’d brought happiness to a single family, and the feelings he had were worth more than all the power of King Sombra’s court. Could every pony feel this way? They do in Equestria, certainly they could in the Crystal Empire. He watched them dancing, their thin scraggly bodies worn out from the day’s work shambling in a dance of pure joy. Lock Light closed his eyes, and turned to leave. Apple Rose called out “Wait, Lock Light. You gotta come join us.”

“Well,” Lock Light said sheepishly “I don’t know if I should intrude.”

“None sense,” said one of the ponies whose name was Apple Pie “you might as well join in the festivities!”

“Well I,” Lock Light began, but his hoof was taken in Apple Rose’s and he was whisked around. He laughed and when they settled down, Lock Light joined in their meager feast. When Lock Light saw how little they had, his eyes swelled with tears, he instinctively wanted to give his portion to Apple Rose, but he knew the etiquette for such things. To refuse would be an insult to the Apple Family’s hospitality. When they were done Apple Rose’s favorite cousin took her by the hoof and asked “Do you really have to go?”

“Unfortunately yes,” Lock Light said “the guards might be looking for us even as we speak.”

Apple Rose looked at her cousin “Don’t worry cousin, everything’ll be alright.”

“More than that,” Lock Light said “I’ll do everything I can for all of you.”

“But we’re slaves,” Honeycrisp said “what can we do?

“Not much,” Lock Light said “but what I can do is much more. You forget to whom you are speaking to Honeycrisp. I am heir to the throne of the Crystal Empire, much can be changed when I ascend.”

“Then,” Elstar, another member of the Apple Family said “we believe you Lock Light.”

They all then embraced. Lock Light looked at Apple Rose “Come on you,” he said “it’s late, and you need your sleep.”

With that, they flew off back to the Crystal Castle. When the Apples shut their doors, a shadow stepped out from the gloom, it was White Lightning and he watched as Lock Light flew back with Apple Rose and quietly said “Oh brother, what have you done?”

Over the next several days, the Apple Family received personal, but subtle, attention from Prince Lock Light. Not only for them, but all of the slaves in the district. When he was in charge of the feasting later that week, he ordered that the cooks give the second best vegetables and wines to the slaves to reward them for their work and to celebrate in the festivities. When there was a drought that summer, he ordered that the slaves be given twice the water ration of the soldiers. When questioned by Sombra, he simply said “Father, we built our Empire on the backs of slaves, without them, our Empire wouldn’t survive.”

Acknowledging this, Sombra agreed, and the water ration wasn’t halted for that entire summer. When fires swept through the border lands of the Empire, Lock Light ordered that all the slaves be also allowed to find sanctuary from within the city walls. He created a slave district, from which the slaves could feel what it was like to live inside the city by arguing that it would be easier to control them from within the walls than beyond them. Slowly but surely, the slaves were gaining happiness. They were shocked when he ordered that the drivers pay a slave for a good days work one coin from his personal treasury. He had the drivers also destroy all of the whips in the city and work production doubled. The ponies all wanted to earn a little money for their families and Lock Light was giving them an opportunity. One day, King Sombra summoned him to his personal chambers.

“Lock Light,” King Sombra said “you seem to be doing the slaves a lot of favors of late. In fact, you seem to favor them more so than the soldiers.”

“Not necessarily father,” Lock Light said “I have looked after them as well. I doubled their pay and improved their living conditions as well.”

“You forget my son,” King Sombra said rising from his seat “that an Empire is built on the backs of slaves and with the spears of soldiers.”

“But surely father,” Lock Light said “the happiness of both parties concerned is more important than how far we can extend our borders?”

“Happiness?” King Sombra scoffed “why should happiness matter? Only a will of iron and a intelligence as sharp as steel can forge the might and power which I have created.”

“Father,” Lock Light said “surely, you know that I do not seek to undermine that power?”

“Is that so?”

“Most certainly,” Lock Light defended “through my reforms our soldier’s morale has doubled, the slaves have also increased their production rate by nearly seventy-five percent, which means that we can build faster than we did five years ago. And not only that, but because the slaves now have a motivation, they no longer need the whips and work twice as hard.”

King Sombra sighed “My son,” he said “I see that you are an idealist and have a good heart. But you must remember that sometimes a king must make decisions which are hard. You can’t please every pony who is your subject.”

“I know that father,” Lock Light said “but I can certainly try to please as many of them as I possibly can.”

“I know you desire to do so son,” he said closing his eyes “but you will never be able to help every pony you see.”

“Father…”

“Enough son,” King Sombra said “I’m afraid I’ll have to make some more changes.”

Lock Light was dismissed, and over the next few days, everything he had tried to build over the past several months was reverted back to the way it originally was. Lock Light sobbed as he once more felt the grief and sadness which swept once more throughout the kingdom. In his private chambers he sobbed as the cries and groans of the slaves as they were whipped and beaten once more. His heart felt as if it would fall out of his chest and his eyes never ceased weeping.

“Why,” he asked “why must all that is good come to evil. Why cannot one be happy and remain so?”

Because, Celestia’s voice said to his mind as long as evil remains in power. It will always be so, only when good is in power, can things be created so that all are happy.

“Why must I feel this way?”

So that you have a greater understanding and compassion for your subjects, Celestia told him when one is a ruler, one must make tough decisions, that is certain, but one can also always show compassion where it is needed. You have done so. You tried to bring about happiness while your father was still in power and you never questioned his authority out of respect for him. But now you must make a choice.

“What is that?”

The choice before you is to either free those whom you love and serve, Celestia said or remain in misery and darkness forever. For those are only what King Sombra brings.

Lock Light got up and wiped his eyes. Apple Rose was there watching him curiously and said “Is everything alright Lock Light?”

“Alright? Alright?” Lock Light asked and brought her to his window where he had wept saying “Look out there Apple Rose, what do you see?”

“I see,” she began “I see thousands of those forced to do that which they don’t want. I see sadness and misery. I see a loss of hope, and I see many sunken hearts.”

She looked up at Lock Light and smiled “But I also see a shimmer in the darkness. I see the first star which appears on the horizon. I see the glimmer of hope which you brought my family and those around us…I…I see you.”

“Why do you believe in me Apple Rose?” Lock Light said, his eyes brimming with tears once more “I have failed your family and their friends.”
She placed a tiny hoof on his and said innocently “No you haven’t.”

“What do you mean?”

“You tried your best,” she said “you did everything you could while his majesty still is on the throne. For a while, life was great for us, and we were proud to be living in the Crystal Empire. Even if it was only for a moment.”

“But why do we need to go on living in a world like this Apple Rose?” Lock Light asked her “why?”

“Because unless somepony changes it,” she said “it’ll always be that way.”

A feeling entered Lock Light’s heart which swelled with a new brilliance and fire. He looked at Apple Rose who looked back at him with eyes bright and shining “Lock Light,” she said “you gave me hope. You gave me a second chance to be with my family again. You gave me a new life and a second chance. I’ll never forget that or you.”

With that she hugged him and her love spread to him. He clutched her tight to his chest. She was like the little sister he never had. There was an emptiness which she filled and which brought him joy and laughter. And more importantly, she was right.

Lock Light looked down at Apple Rose “Apple Rose,” he said “I need you to come with me. We have to do something together.”

“What is it?”

“It’ll be dangerous,” Lock Light said “but it’ll be worth it. Will you come with me?”

“I’ll follow you to the ends of the world Lock Light,” she said.

“Then climb on my back,” he said. And with that, they flew up into the sky and over to the Crystal Mountains. For many months he had would now live in the mountains with Apple Rose. He had her help him build a forge, and with that, he began to make many weapons. Bows and arrows, swords and axes. They may not be enough, but he would lead the slaves to freedom or they would all die trying. Normally for an Earth Pony, it would have taken longer, but since Lock Light was an Alicorn and he had magic, it took him less than a year. When he was ready, he sent Apple Rose secretly back into the Crystal Empire and to her family. They spread the word to meet Lock Light who would meet them in the center of the slave district of the city.

When the day came, it was sunny and warm. Celestia’s rays bathed them all in an almost ethereal light, showing the grubbiness of their faces and their hooves. Lock Light stood there, several bags surrounding him as he stood on a wooden box and said “Slaves of the Crystal Empire. Those of you who know me as a prince of this kingdom, hear my words. I was never born a slave, nor was I ever made into one. I was always free, but looking upon all of you and having been blessed by the grace of Princess Celestia of Equestria, I have seen the sorrow, misery, and despair which lingers in your hearts.”

He paused as he saw he was drawing a crowd “My friends,” he continued “for I have never seen you as my subjects, but as my equals. You and I deserve to feel and enjoy happiness…”

High in Sombra’s castle, he looked over and saw the crowd gathering around Lock Light. His son had gone missing for several months and he didn’t know if this was him. He could hear catches of what was going on, but he didn’t like the tones, so he sent guards to look into what was going on down there. He looked at White Lightning who was standing beside him and said “Do you want to prove your value to me son?”

“How father?”

“Here’s what you must do,” Sombra said and whispered his plan in his ear. With that, White Lightning flew off down to the slave district. As he got closer, White Lightning heard a pony who was a midnight blue with a golden comet for a cutie mark say something. Lock Light, for it was Lock Light, asked him what his name was and he responded that it was Blue Comet.

Blue Comet looked at Lock Light and said resigning “Don’t you see Lock Light? King Sombra still has power over us. We will never be free.”
Placing a hoof on his shoulder he said “Of course he does. He is your king. He can take away everything you know and love. But there is one thing that he can never take away, no matter how powerful, no matter how much magic he has.”

“What’s that then?”

Turning to the group of slaves with him Lock Light said defiantly “Your hope. Your hope for a better life, your hope for freedom, your hope for a better world and a better Empire. One in which every pony is free and equal. Where no one pony is king unless YOU decide to put them there. The power of King Sombra is derived from fear, your fear gives HIM strength.”

“Then how can we fight that?” said another pony.

Facing him Lock Light said “You combat that fear by acknowledging it exists and then move forward. You all were born with the right for the freedom of choice. You all have free will, whether slave or free, and no pony can take that away from you.”

“But you’ve seen his might Lock Light,” another pony said “you’ve seen it first hand, you are a prince of the Crystal Empire.”

“Once I was a prince,” Lock Light countered “once, I took the life which was given me for granted. I looked upon you with the same eyes and contempt which your king has always shown you. But my eyes have been opened, my soul has been uplifted, and I have been enlightened. You are my subjects, but you are also my friends and those whom I call family. I won’t see another slave be harmed. You are all free!”

There was a gasp. Every pony within earshot couldn’t believe what they just heard. One pony spoke up “But can you do that Prince Lock Light?”

“I can,” Lock Light said “with the power vested in me through our King Sombra, I release you from your service, and make you all free. Every slave, both mare and stallion, filly and colt, shall live under the bright sun of freedom!”

The ponies cheered and whistled, their deliverance had finally come. Lock Light was their Freedom Giver, their Deliverer. He would free them when no other pony could before. The civil war had begun.

The slaves had armed themselves with Lock Light’s weapons. White Lightning landed beside him and asked to know what was going on. Lock Light embraced him and said “Oh brother, how long has it been since I saw you last? Do you not see what is happening? We are rebelling against father! We are finally giving the slaves back their freedom!”

“Alright brother,” White Lightning said “let the war begin!”

The slaves had liberated the slave district in the city and were sweeping through neighborhood by neighborhood. Sombra had sent most of his armies to the border regions and had never expected a slave uprising. He immediately called for his armies to return to the capitol, but they were several days away. Within three, the slaves were on the steps of the Crystal Castle itself. The guards fought desperately to keep the rebellion at bay, but eventually the slaves burst through the castle doors. Lock Light led his troops to the very throne room of King Sombra himself with White Lightning by his side.

With his ponies beside them, Lock Light and White Lightning strode into the throne room. Sombra was sitting there perfectly nonchalant. He even laughed “So my son,” glaring at Lock Light “you thought you would rise up against me?”

“It is for the good of the Empire father,” Lock Light retorted bracing himself “the freedom of all ponies is more important than any power you have.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes,” Lock Light declared “you have taught me much, but nothing which I didn’t already know. You are a tyrant father, a loathing spiteful tyrant.”

“Then I don’t suppose you would mind,” King Sombra said “if I stripped you of your title and your office?”

“Take everything which belongs to me,” Lock Light shouted “but you die this day Sombra!”

A very chilly silence followed after Lock Light said those words. Then suddenly, and without warning, White Lightning stepped out from beside Lock Light, did an abrupt turn, and faced him. Lock Light was shocked “Lightning,” he said “what are you doing?”

“Proving to me,” King Sombra said “that he was always more of a loyal son than you. He is now MY HEIR as my FIRST BORN!”