Rise of the Alicorn Prince

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1: 15 Years Later
Chapter 2: Discovered
Chapter 3: A New Friend?
Chapter 4: The First Trial
Chapter 5: Family Reunion
Chapter 6: The Journey Begins
Chapter 8: Desert Distrust
Chapter 9: The Second Trial
Chapter 10: Escape
Chapter 11: Unknown Relatives
Chapter 12: Catching Up on Lost Time
Chapter 13: Can you Feel the Love?
Chapter 14: The Third Test
Chapter 15: Savior or Harbinger of Death?
Chapter 16: Runaway
Chapter 17: Forgiveness
Chapter 18: Back on Track
Chapter 19: The Fourth Trial
Chapter 20: Friends of a Feather
Chapter 21: Pain and Loss
Chapter 22: The Hive
Chapter 23: The Final Trial
Chapter 24: Family's Never Truly Gone
Chapter 25: Recovery
Chapter 26: The Invasion
Chapter 28: Restoration
Epilogue
Chapter 27: Light vs. Dark
Chapter 7: Dessert of Lies

Prologue

It has been a couple of years after Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends gave up the Elements of Harmony to save the Tree of Harmony. After Discord's failed attempt to destroy the tree a thousand years finally taking action, then failing again, peace seemed to return to Equestria...or so they thought.

One night, as Twilight slept after going through another of her late night study sessions, she had experienced a nightmare unlike anything she had ever had. She looked at the nightmare around her, finding the landscape dark and decaying, the scent of blood filling the air. Littering the ground, she gasped in horror as she saw the bodies of all her friends, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and even herself, all dead and killed in different, gruesome ways. She looked up as she heard maniacal laughter above Celestia's body, a unicorn stallion wielding an ethereal sword of darkness in his dark red aura.

His coat was black, as well as his mane and tail. His hair reached down to his shoulders, as wild as his insanity. His eyes were blood red as well as his horn, which was curved upward to a sharp point. This stallion almost seemed to resemble King Sombra, the evil unicorn king who attempted to take the Crystal Empire, using the same dark magic as he did, his eyes leaking a green aura from the corners. He looked younger than Sombra though, and he seemed a lot more sane despite using arcane magic at his disposal. His cutie mark was a red skull, the eyes stabbed through by two daggers.

With the dark broadsword held above the deceased princess's body, he willed it to slash down, cleaving through Celestia's neck. He began to laugh harder as the dark unicorn held the alicorn's head above him, triumphant at the carnage he had unleashed.

Twilight felt sick to her stomach, wanting to wake up from this terrible nightmare, or have Princess Luna save her from this torment. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, a light began to shine out in the distance. Both ponies looked in the direction of the unexpected light, rising up like the sun. Within that light was the silhouette of a pony, hovering forward as its wings flapped strongly. As the pony moved closer, he revealed himself as an alicorn.

His coat was pure white, his torso protected by a golden cuirass, gold gauntlets that covered his forelegs, and a helmet of the same color that covered most of his face. Through the holes in the helm, Twilight saw a pair of eyes as blue as a clear, cloudless sky, determined though troubled. From underneath his helmet, she saw his mane, a bright gold that shimmered like the rays of the sun, which the light seemed to form and brighten the landscape. His cutie mark depicting a rising sun, with five small white stars in the rays of the sun and part of a large purple star in the center of the semi-circle, almost like her own.

She heard the unicorn growl, dropping his "trophy" unceremoniously on the ground. The white alicorn sped off at breakneck speeds, faster than Rainbow Dash could if she pulled off a Sonic Rainboom, flying toward the madpony. Thousands of ethereal swords and daggers appeared from the unicorn's arcane magic, each blade shattering to pieces as the alicorn punched through them, his hooves a blur at the rapid pace he threw them. With one final punch, his hoof glowed brightly, smashing through the wall of weapons protecting the unicorn and hitting him hard in the chest. As the stallion flew, he screamed in agony as his body began to crack from the light, shattering to pieces.

The light expanded, dissolving the dark landscape and rejuvenating the land, bringing it back to its peaceful state. All around them, Twilight could hear the sound of cheering from an invisible crowd of ponies. It was like a celebration was being held for the savior, but when she turned to look at him, he wasn't as excited as the crowd. He sat in front of her dead body, slowly taking off his helmet, revealing his tear stained cheeks as he looked down at her in sorrow.

"I hope you're proud of me...mom," he said, confusing Twilight. "If only I was able to see you alive...just once..."

Before she was able to ask him who he had meant, Twilight woke up, the nightmare still fresh in her mind like a memory never forgotten. When she had requested Luna's aid, being the Princess of the Night and able to travel through dreams, she was told that she did try to see what her dream was, only for some kind of barrier to keep her out. It was a clear sign that this was some kind of vision of the possible future. Doing what she did best, she began looking up everything she could about who the two stallions were and what she and her friends can do to prevent this disaster from happening.

From the research she had done, all she was able to find any information on was the black unicorn, who was named Lucifer. Ironically, he used to be an ex-student of Celestia's, showing incredible magical prowess at such a young age. When he reached his teens, he craved more power and sought out the illegal arcane spells hidden away in the Castle of the Two Sisters, where the Everfree Forest now took over. He learned these spells behind the princess's back, and grew dangerous. Lucifer confronted Celestia, attempting to dethrone her, under the control of the dark magic he wielded. She was able to stop him, but didn't have it in her heart to kill him. So his punishment was not death, but a millennium long sleep, hoping the darkness would dissipate in time.

When Twilight spoke to Celestia about Lucifer, she had admitted that his history was kept locked away, along with his body. He was her first student, her first companion a few months after she fell into a depression from banishing her sister to the moon when she turned into Nightmare Moon. Nearly a thousand years have passed since he was forced into unconsciousness, and it was a matter of time before the Elements' spell broke, where he would wreak havoc anew. Using the knowledge she had gained, all she needed to do was find who this heroic alicorn stallion was supposed to be. But the big question that baffled her was who he was, and why did she feel like it was her he was talking to?

It had been over a year since Twilight had that vision, and the time of Lucifer's vengeance was close at hand. A lot of planning had been dealt with, but everything is set in motion, especially for Equestria's future savior. Leaving her friends back in Ponyville, for their safety, she stayed in Canterlot Castle with Luna and Celestia, the three of them waiting in trepidation at Lucifer's arrival.

"If only we still had the Elements of Harmony," Twilight said, disappointed to not have the relics that saved their home from many deities who wished to destroy the kingdom or the world. "We would be able to stop him easily."

"There is nothing that can be done, Twilight," Celestia assured her former student. Even though she was stoic and stood her ground, on the inside, she was just as worried as her sister and ex-pupil. "The Tree of Harmony still needs to recover after Discord's attempt to destroy it. It's better if we don't have to rely on them too much."

After a moment, the silence became unbearable. Then, they heard noises coming from outside the castle, magic being fired left and right and spears the royal guard carried clattering to the ground outside. More silence. The guards with the princesses stood their ground, spears aimed at the large double doors of the throne room. The doors were blasted open with a powerful spell, sending them off their hinges and flying at them. Celestia caught them in her magic before they could hit them, tossing them aside as she leered at the entryway. Standing in the hallway was the dark stallion himself, as old as he was when he was left in a comatose state, unaged by time.

"Well, well, well," he said, slowly making his way inside, blood soaking his body and the black cloak he wore over his body. "It has been a long while, princess." Lucifer's gaze fell on Luna and Twilight, chuckling to himself at Celestia's backup. "Your sister and...new princess should have fled, or at least hid away."

"We do no such thing, foul brat. Give yourself up, or you shall face our wrath," Luna said, her body unmoving, but gravely terrified on the inside.

The stallion laughed, hearing Luna's poor use of the word "our". "Even after being asleep for a thousand years, that way of speech is completely out of date. And after being banished in the moon, still conscious, I though you would have learned a thing or two."

Luna wanted nothing more than to kill Lucifer after insulting her grammar, but Celestia held her back before she lost her temper.

"Lucifer, I do not wish to fight you again. You are not yourself," Celestia pleaded, hoping to avoid a second confrontation with the colt she saw inside of the dangerous stallion. "The dark magic you wield has clouded your judgement. You will be just like Sombra, mad with power and destruction."

"Sombra?" Lucifer laughed louder, brushing a couple of his bangs out of his face. "You think I will lose my mind like that pathetic unicorn king!? Neigh, Celestia. Unlike him, I am in full control of this power." He summoned forth an ethereal sword, one of the same kinds of dark weapons Twilight saw in her vision. It was shaped like a katana, a weapon used in the countries far to the east of Equestria. "At first, I felt mad with power, but I was able to keep it from making me lose myself. I wield it like my own magic, and my reasons back then were sane.

"I wanted to take control of the throne, Celestia. You were in no shape to run it, seeing as you kept causing mistakes that nearly destroyed Equestria. Thinking that you can rule a utopia will eventually lead to its downfall, where somepony bold enough, or beings like Discord and Nightmare Moon, will rebel and do everything they can to cause chaos and havoc." Lucifer looked at the two guards, both of them ready to charge as he moved closer. "You two blindly follow a mare who claims to be a goddess, when she's really a worthless pony, given a title that means nothing but disaster with her kind heart."

"Silence!" the guard on the right of Lucifer shouted. "Don't speak ill of the princesses!"

Lucifer stared blankly at them, stepping forward once more. The guards rushed at him, not intending on letting him get any closer. As they reached him, in the blink of an eye, two slashing sounds were made, the guards running past the unicorn, only to stop a few feet away from him. Slowly, Lucifer summoned a sheath for his blade, slowly inserting the sword inside. As the hilt rested and the katana was fully sheathed, as soon as the sound echoed, blood began spurting out of the guards' necks, their heads cut clean through, rolling off their bodies as they collapsed, limbs twitching and blood pooling around their corpses.

The three princesses stared in horror at the sight, unable to believe the speed he moved at. Twilight nearly threw up, experiencing death outside of her vision, the scent of blood growing stronger as Lucifer slowly made his way toward them.

"Amazing skill, isn't it?" Lucifer mocked them, his power far greater than all three of them combined. "You three have no idea how much I've grown while I was asleep. Seems as though your fail safe failed you, Celestia. It only delayed the inevitable."

"Y-You monster," Luna stammered, growing more angry despite the fear in her heart. Not wanting to let this villain kill anymore of her subjects, she decided to act, using her magic to call forth her ethereal weapon: a black and blue scythe, the curved blade a bright silver that reflected the moon's light. "Your reign will not begin over our dead body!"

She flew at Lucifer, scythe at the ready, but the stallion didn't even budge, not even pulling out his weapon. Luna swung her weapon, only instead of making contact with his body, it hit some kind of invisible barrier, mere inches from the blade slicing through his neck. He began to laugh, practically enjoying the shocked expression on the night princess's face.

"How cute." Lucifer held out his hoof, grabbed the scythe, and shattered the weapon into nothingness, knocking Luna back in a daze. Before she could get back up, she let out a grunt of intense pain, the malicious stallion instantly teleporting on top of the alicorn, a large knife stabbed through her abdomen. "You die first. I'll enjoy watching your sister mourn over your loss while I cut you open like a science project gone wrong."

Not even giving her a chance to breath, Lucifer sliced up Luna's torso, the long blade cutting through her organs. She spluttered blood out of her mouth, already feeling the embrace of death as the crazed stallion cut through her like a dead frog. Celestia screamed in horror, sadness, and rage, her mane and tail flaring up and turning into fire. Twilight had to back away, the heat coming from her being so intense that it felt like the sun was inches away from her. The infuriated alicorn rushed at Lucifer, summoning forth a longsword made entirely out of flames, slashing at him blindly.

Lucifer laughed as he blocked the rush attack with a large ax, easily deflecting each fury induced swing Celestia made. Sparks of flame and ethereal magic danced around them, neither weapon threatening to break. The stallion eventually grew bored, parrying the next swipe, tripping Celestia up, and hacking his weapon through her forelegs. She yelled in pain, the flames around her barely effecting Lucifer, collapsing on her stomach as she writhed in pain. Before she was given a break, she felt her hind legs being chopped off as well, screaming in agony as blood spurted out from her stubbed limbs. The flames in her hair died down, tears streaming down her face in fear, sorrow, and pain, desperately trying to crawl away from the pony she once taught.

"Heheheheh. Look at you, cowering in fear at one of your best students," Lucifer taunted, relishing in her terror. He kicked Celestia hard in the side, knocking her on her back and the wind out of her lungs. To keep her from squirming, he pressed his front hooves down on her chest, holding the ax above her neck. "Now, hold still. I don't want to mess this up."

Celestia watched in horror as the ax hovered over her head, unable to utter a word in the amount of pain she was in. In one clean swing, Lucifer chopped the blade of the ax down hard on her neck, beheading her and killing her instantly. Twilight screamed in fear, watching her mentor being killed before her, too terrified to fight back or run away. She didn't want to see anymore of this. She wanted this nightmare to end.

Underneath her, dark magic swirled beneath her hooves, tendrils wrapping themselves tightly around her limbs, keeping her from moving where she stood. She struggled to break free, even trying to use her magic to teleport away, but the arcane magic sealed any use of her magic as long as she was underneath the pool of mana she stood on. Lucifer began to walk toward her after tossing Celestia's head aside, making Twilight's inevitable end torturous. She whimpered, feeling her body being lifted up slightly, turning her gaze away from the monster who would kill her.

As he stood before the quivering alicorn, he began to caress her cheek, making her wince at his touch. She dared to open her eyes, tears of fear beginning to roll down her face, gazing into his blood red eyes staring at her with lust. She could smell the blood of his victims permeating over him, sickening to her stomach as her face was soiled by what might be the princess' blood on his hoof.

"Then there was one," Lucifer said, a hungry look in his eyes. He inched closer until their muzzles touched, making Twilight gag at the stench of blood invading her nostrils. "As much as I wish to end the lives of every alicorn to show they aren't gods of any sort..." He moved his head back a little, licking his lips. "I might offer you a deal if you are willing to behave.

"If you don't want to suffer the same fate as our mentor and her sister, then you must agree with my terms. You will be my little slave. I shall do what I will with you, whenever I please, and you will not disobey. Do so, and you'll be spared. Ignore my commands, and you may be severely punished. What do you say? Live and obey my every whim, or die like the rest of the world who dares to defy me?"

"N-Never in a million years w-will I be your t-toy," Twilight stammered.

"...And I thought you wanted to live," Lucifer sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "Oh well. It's a shame to ruin one who's beauty is also expressed with her mind and prowess. Today marks my day as Equestria's king, surpassing the futile attempts made by Nightmare Moon, Discord, even Tirek."

Lucifer summoned forth his katana once again, pressing the blade against Twilight's neck. As he was about to slit her throat and watch her choke to death, she began laughing, confusing him and halting his kill. She looked down at him, still holding fear in her eyes, but she was smirking, like she was the one who had triumphed over him despite her bindings and inevitable death.

"Your reign...will end sooner than you think," Twilight said, mocking Lucifer. "The alicorns are not extinct yet. There are two left in Equestria."

"What!?" Lucifer began to lose his nerve, not knowing that there would be other alicorns aside from Celestia and Luna. "Tell me where they are!"

"...One of them is my sister-in-law, Cadence, the Princess of Love. As long as you wield dark magic, the Crystal Heart will protect her and everypony inside with its power." Twilight continued laughing, mostly out of fear, but if it meant getting the last laugh, she was going to lose her mind before Lucifer was satisfied ending her life. "And the other, you'll never find him. When the time comes, he will find you, stopping your tyranny and save us all from your power on the throne..." Twilight leered at him, relishing in his frustrated expression, wanting to kill her, but holding back to try to get anymore information out of her. "It's not over, Lucifer. He will eradicate your place in history as Equestria's greatest villain! You may have won now, but the war between good and evil still rages on, and evil will eventually fall to good with time! You will never win!"

Twilight finally lost it, laughing as maniacally as the dark stallion in her vision, mocking Lucifer in her uproarious guffawing. His eye twitched, the princess's laughter echoing in the large throne room. She would never answer him and reveal where this other alicorn was hidden. Lucifer let out a roar of frustration, his magic summoning forth thousands of blades aimed at Twilight, flicking his head down fast and sending his ethereal weapons raining down on her. Her body was skewered by the swords, knives, and daggers, silencing her laughing and killing her where she stood.

The dark magic underneath the slain alicorn's body disappeared, making her drop unceremoniously to the floor, blood pooling under her from the several stab wounds. Lucifer stared at Twilight's body, chastising himself for losing his temper too soon. Sighing, he left the bodies of the former princesses where they were, walking toward his new throne. He sat in the comfortable seat, staring at his handiwork, feeling as though Twilight's claims of another alicorn taking him down was somehow true. His magic was able to protect him from one of the princess's magical weapons, but he began to grow wary of being beaten, and by a male alicorn she mentioned the hero as a he.

"She must be lying. There is no possible way a male alicorn can exist..." Lucifer couldn't get the warning out of his head. He fidgeted in his throne, hearing Twilight's words ring in his head, his ears twitching as he heard her laughter. Growling, her words finally made him snap in a blind panic, not wanting to lose to this hero who would stop him. "Damn it! She got to me! We'll see who has the last laugh once I find the alicorn stallion! My reign shall rule for all eternity!"

Far out in the mountain range miles away from the small town of Ponyville, the sun had already set and the night sky glimmered with bright stars. Traveling on the mountain trail were Twilight Sparkle's friends and her number one dragon assistant: Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Spike. In the young dragons arms was a small bundle wrapped in a lavender blanket. Everyone had an uneasy look, knowing that their best friend and newest princess would have to face off against the unicorn from her dream. It was hard enough for the remaining Elements of Harmony to have Twilight fight with the princesses, leaving them behind with another task. Out of all of them, the one who took it the hardest was Rainbow Dash, being the Element of Loyalty, she can't leave anyone to do something this dangerous on their own.

"I can't take this anymore!" Rainbow shouted, quickly being shushed by the others. "Twilight can't do this by herself! I gotta do something!"

Before she was able to fly off, Applejack lassoed the pegasus before she could speed off in the direction of Canterlot.

"Rainbow, stop!" Applejack quickly pulled down on the rope in her teeth, slamming Rainbow hard to the ground. "Ah know ya can't help seein' others in trouble, but there's nothin' we can do!"

"But she -" Applejack quickly shoved her hoof in Rainbow's mouth before she could protest.

"Ah know...We all know." Applejack looked back at the others, all of them knowing the outcome of the fight back at the castle. "Twilight left us with another task, sugarcube. To make sure that the pony who'll save us is safe until he's old enough to fight that Lucifer stallion."

Rainbow wanted to argue further, but she knew it was a lost cause. After getting untangled by Applejack's rope, she huffed, hating how she felt useless while one of her best friends would end up sacrificing themselves just for Equestria's future.

Suddenly, the Element bearers' heads all perked up, feeling their bond had lightened, shattering to tiny pieces. They looked out on the horizon, where Canterlot Castle stood on the mountain many miles away, their hearts sinking as they felt their friend's life faded away. Their bond, connected with the Elements of Harmony, was broken with the Element of Magic's willing sacrifice to save the others.

"...No...She's gone..." Fluttershy uttered, tears already welling up in her eyes, the others feeling just as upset as the timid yellow pegasus.

Spike saw the broken looks on their faces, tears falling and sobs the only sounds they made. True, the dragon may not be bonded by the Elements like his pony friends, but it was just as painful for him, being a surrogate sibling to the alicorn he always worked hard for. In his arms, the bundle shifted and crying was heard underneath the blanket. The little form inside squirmed as it cried, unveiling its little head. In Spike's arms was a foal, but it wasn't just any foal; it was Twilight's foal.

From its constant cries for its mother and trying to wriggle out of Spike's hold, it shifted its blanket until it revealed more of himself. An alicorn colt, tiny wings at his sides and a small horn on its forehead, his coat a pure white and a small tuft of hair on his mane a bright gold color. He was crying out for Twilight, able to sense what the other mares were able to feel. Spike tried to calm the colt down, knowing he would grow tired after a while.

After a moment to mourn for their loss, they continued up the mountain, the alicorn foal's cries growing quieter as Spike continued to rock him back and forth. They finally reached their destination: a cave hidden out of view from any wandering hikers, or mad tyrants who wish to find Twilight's child. This was the last thing Spike will do for Twilight as her number one assistant: be the best uncle for his nephew's sake, make sure he never leaves until he's old enough, and guide him to his destiny.

Pinkie and Rarity had carried some saddlebags with them on the long trek up the mountain, carrying food for the foal, diapers, some toys, just a few things to keep the colt happy or entertained. Spike could handle himself fine, knowing there might be some gems hidden along the range he could scrounge up.

"Are you sure you can look after him, Spikey?" asked Rarity.

"Yeah. Just bring the rest of the stuff tomorrow." Spike looked back at the cave, far bigger than any dragon den he had seen. "Our new home away from home. I'll get used to it, but I'm not sure he will."

Spike looked down at the colt, sleeping soundly in his arms. His eyes widened when he felt a kiss on his cheek, coming from Rarity.

"You are so brave for doing this, Spikey-wikey." The fashionista pulled the little dragon into a hug, still shocked at the kiss he was given by his crush. "Please be careful."

"...I-I will..." Spike stammered, finding a new resolve not to mess this important job up. After saying their farewells, the mares headed back to Ponyville, leaving the baby dragon behind with his nephew. Looking back in the dark cave, Spike pulled out a small crystal from one of the bags, lighting it with his fire breath and casting a dim glow around them. Picking up the saddlebags and placing them on his back, he walked through the cave, the crystal lighting their way. "Let's see if we can make some renovations tomorrow. For now, let's get some sleep, Solaris."

The colt opened his eyes slightly, hearing his name. His eyes were a bright blue, just like Twilight's savior in her vision. He closed his eyes again, drifting back to sleep as Spike wandered around to find their "rooms".

Author's Note

Okie-dokie-loki! First story coming to life!

I had actually made this story a couple years ago, but I wrote it out of boredom when I had nothing to do. Finally, after reading many fics on this site, I decided to bring this up, recreate the old story to make it better than what I had originally made it, and see if anyone likes the prologue. If many of you like it, great! If not...then I recommend not reading anymore of the future gore. Don't worry, because there is a good ending. You'll just have to wait and see what comes next.

So if you want more, I'll post the rest of the story when I have the time, and maybe a few others I already made if some of you are interested. If anyone is a harsh critic, don't chastise me harshly. Writing isn't my forte. Just something to do if I don't have anything to do.

Chapter 1: 15 Years Later

Equestria was not as peaceful as it was ever since Lucifer had awoken. With the princesses of the day and night gone, along with Princess Twilight Sparkle, everything changed. Thankfully, before Celestia and Luna were slain, they had used most of their magic to lower and raise their celestial beings on their own, so no one would worry if it was supposed to be day or night. But the sequence for day and night to begin wasn't a godsend.

Now that Lucifer had named himself king, everything about the royal guard had changed drastically. They were now known as the Shadow Knights, the armor changing from gold to red and black. Those who had followed Celestia and Luna's guard had no choice but to don their new suits of armor, obeying the command of their tyrant in fear of losing their lives or their loved ones. Recruits who joined up, however, seemed to take their job in a darker light: abusing the authority they have to do whatever they pleased, mercilessly beating up others over the smallest of mistakes toward them, even taking anything without paying because they were above their standards. What was worse was that many of these new guards were spread all throughout Equestria, causing trouble when they were off duty and on the lookout for the alicorn stallion who would kill their king.

Fifteen long, grueling years have passed since the fall of the princesses. Throughout that time, everything seemed fine, but all throughout the world, every sentient being knew that they should fear the unicorn stallion who took down three alicorn princesses without even trying. Down in Ponyville, those who had known Twilight mourned for the loss of the once genius unicorn, ascending to princess-hood. Everypony went about their daily lives while being wary of the young, brutish recruits patrolling the town. Many rebels in the past had tried to assassinate Lucifer, but his arcane magic was impenetrable. No weapon or spell could kill him, not even poison in his food or drink.

Today was a special occasion, and only those who knew of princess Twilight's son knew that it was his birthday today, turning fifteen years old. Unfortunately, only the remaining Elements of Harmony could only go, not wanting to risk suspicion on them if they traveled in big groups. During the decade and a half, they had started families of their own, marrying the pony they loved and having a foal or two. It was difficult to tell their children to keep Solaris's location a secret, but luckily, the guards ignore what "lies" the foals say.

Each of the mares left their homes, bidding their loved ones goodbye, and began to head up the mountain range, saddlebags with a gift, party supplies, punch and soda, and a variety of delectable treats to munch on. They met up at the start of the trail, unable to see their teenage nephew.

"This is gonna be the bestest party EVER!" Pinkie yelled, bouncing along with the unlimited energy she always carried. Her saddlebags were stuffed to the brim with so many different pastries that they could burst if she continued bouncing like that. "I just hope Solly can show me a smile again. He hasn't been happy with the last few parties I threw for him."

"He's probably going through some teenage angst thing," Rainbow assured. "I mean, I've gone through a phase when I was his age."

"When you began dating other mares and dyeing your hair black?" Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow blushed, nearly falling to the ground when her wings stopped flapping. "H-Hey! I did not do any of that!"

"But I have pictures of you with all that-" Rainbow tried to silence her fillyhood friend, but it was too late. The others laughed as the rainbow-haired pegasus groaned in embarrassment.

"Fluttershy, darling, you have got to show me those pictures," Rarity tittered, embarrassing Rainbow all the more.

"No! No pictures! It was a phase, nothing more!" As much as Rainbow Dash tried to make it sound like it was just something she went through, it only made the others more curious. "Can we change the subject!? Like when we're going to tell Sol about what he needs to do?"

"We'll tell him after the party winds down, Rainbow," Applejack said, leading the way. "We're gonna have to break it down gently to him. It's gonna be hard on him when he realizes Twilight's been gone since he was little."

"I just hope he doesn't try to hit us. Remember that heavy punching bag Rainbow got for him last year?" Pinkie shuddered, remembering just how much power the young alicorn had when he tested it out, nearly knocking the sand out of the thing. "He's a lot tougher than earth ponies, that's for sure. But don't worry! I'll make sure he smiles this time! Nothing can go wrong!"

Up in the cave where Spike and Solaris reside, the interior of the caverns seemed more like a large, earthy hut, filled with furnishings and torches lighting the place up. Spike had indeed renovated the place: digging out different rooms to Solaris's liking, adding a bathroom for them to shower or do other business, even a large room for the alicorn to train when reading or sitting around gets him bored. Along with the furniture the others provided to make them more comfortable, it was like a home, only with lots of gravel and dirt, and the occasional bat making their home inside the furbished den.

Down in the training room, where several weights of differing sizes laid strewn about and a bench lifting set rest in a corner, Solaris was hard at work punching and kicking his heavily worn out heavy punching bag he got last year. His hits were quick and accurate, though he had to limit his strength, or else risk slamming it off the chain it hung from and create another dent in the cave walls. The stallion had grown quite a bit since then: lean but muscular, a large wingspan that seemed to be a little longer than a griffon's, and his mane always preferred cut short so it doesn't get in the way when he trains.

After an hour of his nonstop routine, he finally relaxed, working up a sweat from the exertion he unleashed. Though his workout went through without any interruptions, Solaris still felt unsatisfied.

"Time for another dull day of sitting in a cave, bored out of my mind and unable to go outside...again," Solaris sighed, frustrated that his dragon uncle keeps him cooped up in this cave. "Might as well be a dragon hoarding all this furniture and old books, living in seclusion until I grow even more bored."

Mumbling to himself, he made his way to the bathroom, always wondering how Spike managed to get indoor plumbing inside of a cave supposedly far from civilization. Ignoring how it was possibly done, Solaris leapt into the shower, turned on the cold water, and rinsed himself down. It was just him and his uncle living here, so he didn't bother shutting the entrance with the large boulders used as makeshift doors. After he was cleaned off, he shut off the water, shaking himself dry and wandered about the cave for a while.

Passing through the cavernous hallway, his ears perked up when he heard Spike snoring, sleeping in his room. It was close to noon, and the dragon always slept a few hours past Solaris's wake up time. He poked his head in his uncle's room, finding him sprawled out on his large mattress. The dragon had grown in size, now an adolescent teenage dragon, though far more mature than the dragons he had met during the Great Dragon Migration years ago. His spines were a little sharper and stood a couple feet taller than the alicorn.

Spike snorted, flicking his wrist up and down like he was writing with an invisible pen. "Check, check, check, check..." He dropped his arm and rolled onto his side, the springs creaking underneath his weight. "Hey, Rarity. How's about you handle a real dragon?"

Solaris rolled his eyes, hearing his uncle have yet another dream about Rarity. Using his magic, his aura a golden hue, he shoved Spike out of the bed, the fall slowly waking him from his slumber.

"Uncle Spike," Solaris said, annoyed at his incoherent sleeping schedule. "You realize it's the middle of the afternoon, right?"

"Is it?" Spike stretched, yawning loudly. He looked at the clock near the bed, the time a quarter til one. "...Wow, time sure flies."

"Yeah. It does when you can't tell where the sun is inside of a cave," Solaris complained.

Spike groaned, rubbed his eyes, hearing his nephew complaining yet again. For the past few years, Solaris had been giving him an attitude, always wanting to go outside no matter how many times he said no. And just like the last few thousand times, he was going to hear his plea yet again.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Solaris? You can't go outside," said the irritated dragon.

"There's nothing for me to do!" Solaris leered at his uncle as he shouted. "I'm starting to get sick and tired of doing my daily workouts, I've read all the books given to me, at least ten times, and you're always sleeping day in and day out! Speaking of day, I don't even know what the sun and moon look like! Just what it sort of looks like in my science books!"

Spike sighed, secretly hiding a claw behind his back, mimicking it along with his words, knowing exactly what Solaris was going to complain about. He was also mere inches away from yelling at his nephew, but he managed to hold himself back, otherwise they would be caught in a never ending shouting contest.

"You're not ready for what it's like out there. You'll be able to go outside soon," said Spike.

Solaris pouted, crossing his forehooves, acting like a toddler ready to throw a temper tantrum. "Which'll be in a thousand years."

"A thousand years is a long time to wait for the best day of the year EVER!" Pinkie shouted, popping up out of nowhere between the two.

"Ahh!" Solaris screamed, backing away from Pinkie's sudden appearance. Even after all these years knowing her wildest of aunts, Pinkie was by far the most confusing pony in the world. Spike wasn't all that phased, knowing her the longest and never questioning anything, as one should. "Aunt Pinkie!? How did you even-"

"I read ahead of the script and popped in!" Pinkie explained, never making much sense. Solaris just stared at his crazy aunt, once finding her antics hilarious as a colt, now finding them annoying and hurting his brain. "You know, that mountain hike takes almost an hour on hoof? I couldn't wait that long because today is somepony's birthday today!" She rummaged through her bags, pulling out her patented party cannon, pressing the button and shooting out confetti, also instantly setting up her Pinkie Pie style parties. "Now this place is all set up for the greatest birthday bash ever!"

"Pinkie," Spike interrupted before the party mare decided to get started too soon. "Are the others here yet?"

"Oh!" Pinkie slapped herself on the forehead. "I completely forgot about the others! I'll let them in!" Pinkie ran off to the entrance of the cave, blocked off by a heavy boulder. It was too heavy for her to move, but try as she might, she pushed with all her strength, unable to budge it an inch. Spike followed her, watching her trying to move the boulder with her hind legs. He got up behind her, easily shifting the heavy rock aside, making her fall on her belly. "I got it!"

"Sure did," said Spike, rolling his eyes.

Out in the distance, the others got closer to the cave, spotting Pinkie leaping in the air, waving them over. As soon as the dragon set his sights on the mare of his dreams, he wasn't as love-struck as he used to be years ago. He did find out that she had married a stallion and had a child, a filly who was like her mother. He did meet her once when the mares brought their kids to meet Solaris a couple years ago. It broke his heart, but he didn't show it, still in love with the unicorn even though she was with someone else.

As everyone entered the cave, Rarity was the last to enter, staying behind with Spike as he closed the entrance. It was a pretty awkward moment between the two. Ever since Rarity brought her daughter with her to meet Solaris, the dragon put the pieces together, and she felt awful when he didn't gaze at her like he used to. He always did whatever she asked out of the kindness in his heart, never asking for anything in return. It made her role as the Element of Generosity dull in comparison to Spike's. She even used her charm to practically "steal" the fire ruby Spike had grown years ago for his birthday treat, abusing his smitten love for her just to have a gem he willingly gave up just for her.

"...Hello, Spike," Rarity finally said after a moment of silence.

"It's been a while, huh?" Spike said. The awkward tension rose between them again. "...So, how's Sweetie Belle?"

"She's good. Finally got a platinum album. Most popular songs in Equestria nowadays," said Rarity.

"Good. I gotta hear her latest hits..." Spike trailed off, the conversation really growing awkward. "...Rarity-"

"I'm sorry, Spike," Rarity interrupted, stopping Spike before he could even say what he was going to say. "You don't have to keep hiding it from me. I know you've been hurt ever since I brought Gemstone with me..." She couldn't look at him as she explained. "I knew you've had a crush on me, but I never told you I was in a relationship before I had her. I wasn't able to tell you because I knew it would break your heart. Only, I seemed to make things worse when you found out."

"...Yeah. It did hurt," Spike said. Even though he was upset, he knew it would never be as they were completely different species. "As long as your husband makes you happy, then I'm happy for you."

"But-" As Rarity looked at him, her protests were silenced as a claw pressed against her lips.

"No buts." Spike lowered his claw, both pony and dragon looking at each other again after so long. "It was just a crush. Once Lucifer's finally taken down, I might find me a pretty female dragon, assuming they aren't as cruel as Garble and his pack of dunces. But no matter who I meet in the future, you'll always be my...diamond in the rough."

Rarity blushed, both of them knowing that little compliment had to be the cheesiest line Spike had ever said, but he was being honest. He saw her as one of a kind, where everypony saw her as beautiful by her looks, he viewed her as beautiful on the inside, her personality and generous heart. Rarity made a bold move that she hoped her husband would never find out: She stood on her hind legs to reach Spike, grabbed his cheeks with her hooves, and pulled him closer, giving him a deep kiss.

Spike's eyes widened in surprise, staring at Rarity up close, her eyes closed and her lips pressed against his. His eyes fluttered shut as he melted into the kiss, kissing her back as she gently caressed her cheek, pulling her closer. Spike felt like he was in a dream and wished he would never wake up from this moment. After a minute, feeling almost like an eternity, they pulled away, needing oxygen. Spike stared at Rarity, still confused but with a dopey grin on his face.

"If I'm dreaming, please pinch me," Spike said, hearts popping behind his head.

"It's not." Rarity kissed Spike's snout, assuring him that what he experienced was no dream. "That was for my horrible selfishness toward you, making you do everything I asked and brushing you off when you did a wonderful job helping me."

"But I wanted to do all those things," Spike said.

"I know, but I never gave you any decent rewards for your generosity." Rarity nuzzled Spike's snout, then proceeded down the caverns to meet back up with the others to celebrate Solaris's birthday. "Now, come along, Spikey-wikey. We have a party to start."

Spike watched Rarity as she sashayed her hips from side to side. Leaning against the wall, he sighed, feeling his heart racing. Even though he could never be with her, that first kiss from her was all he really wanted. With renewed vigor, he hurried after her to get the party started.

The party went off in full swing, party games set up by Pinkie Pie herself, still as childish as ever even as she neared the age of forty. There was the classic pin the tail on the pony, using the old Celestia model that had been discontinued after the princess was killed, the classic bobbing for apples, everything that made a classic Pinkie party fun. However, as the others were having fun, Solaris was the opposite. He didn't find any of this party fun at all, not because everything seemed fit for a foal's party, but it was the lack of a certain somepony he was expecting to see. Like every previous year, that pony never showed up.

"Hey, Sol!" Rainbow Dash flew up behind the teen, patting his back with a hoof. "You wanna have a little round against me in this new game Pinkie made? She called it 'Twister', some weird game where somepony spins a spinner, landing on a color for a certain limb to step on and contorting as we try to stay up. Wanna try?"

"No," Solaris said, not wanting to partake in any fun.

"What's up, squirt?" Rainbow ruffled Solaris's mane, annoying him even more than the party. "Oh. I get it. You wanna open your gifts now." Rainbow sped off and returned within a couple seconds, grabbing her gift she got for him. It was a thin, square shape, possibly a book or magazine from its slight thickness. "This is from me. Though I gotta warn ya, kiddo, I suggest opening this up when you have some privacy."

Rainbow winked and nudged Solaris's shoulder, giving him a smirk like it was some sort of prank. He placed the possible prank gift down on the table, not amused by her childish antics.

"When's my mom going to show up?" Solaris asked, his question being overheard by the others, causing the record Pinkie brought that played upbeat music to a screeching halt. The entire cave was silent, the others looking away, trying to ignore the question. The teen grew more frustrated, having the exact same reactions like the year before, and so on. "I'm gonna guess no. Yet again, she's not going to show up! Just like every other year!"

As Solaris was fuming in anger, detesting his mother for never being around, everyone else looked at each other, all nodding in agreement. Today was the day that they thought Solaris was old enough to understand, revealing the secrets he was kept unaware of and why he wasn't allowed to leave the cave.

Applejack was the first to approach Solaris, placing a hoof on his shoulder. "Sugarcube...Ah think we need to talk."

"Oh, sure! Talk for mom when she's too busy with her duties as a princess!" Solaris yelled, growing more angry as his feeling of neglect hurt him emotionally. "She doesn't even care about me anymore! She doesn't even write me any letters, telling me if she actually loves me or acknowledges I'm her son! She left me and abandoned me!"

Solaris slammed his hoof into the wall behind him, shaking the entire mountain with the amount of force he unleashed. Thankfully, he didn't break it down, otherwise risking a cave in and trapping them all inside.

"Solaris, calm down," Applejack said, trying to keep the alicorn from losing his temper any further. "There were...a few things we kept a secret from you. Most of it is about your ma...and what's been goin' on outside this cave..."

So they began telling Solaris everything that he had missed out on, and for good reason. They told him about what happened to the princesses, the death of his mother, Lucifer's reign causing more chaos than Discord could with a snap of his fingers, and the reason why he was kept hidden in this cave. The news that hit him the worst was the fate of his mother, Twilight Sparkle. Even though he was old enough to understand, now he felt like a donkey for acting out like he had. He had an excuse to be upset, being told all of this fifteen years after all this happened and thinking that things would be fine after he was told the truth. How Applejack managed to keep the truth hidden without her easy to tell lieing facial expressions giving it all away.

And to make matters worse, they told him that in Twilight's vision of the future's outcome, it was his destiny to take on Lucifer and take back the throne. They expected a teenager, who's been locked away in a cave with a dragon for an uncle, to go out there and stand triumphant over a tyrant that wanted him dead, and rule a kingdom where he has no experience in politics or any social interaction outside of his family.

After they finished explaining everything, Solaris was completely silent, no reaction. It was so much for him to take in, and now all of this pressure is put on him to save Equestria when he has never even seen with his own eyes. Minutes had passed until he finally did something, slowly walking down to the homemade gym.

"Solaris?" Spike asked as he and the others grew worried. "Where are you going?"

Solaris ignored his uncle, wanting to be alone, growing more angry and upset as the seconds ticked by. For so long, he wanted to see his mother, talk to her, have her be there for him, but she was killed when he was still an infant. He hated her, hoping beyond hope that she would finally see him, apologize for leaving him in a cave with his uncle, far from civilization out of his own protection. Now that he knew the truth, he couldn't contain his anger anymore.

Screaming at the top of his lungs, he flew into his worn out punching bag and began venting out his rage on it, punching and kicking as hard as he could. He managed to knock it off its chain, yet again, but he didn't care, watching it fly off and hit another part of the wall, mere inches from the entryway where his family watched. Solaris broke down, tears streaming down his face, letting out all the pain of rejection from his mother he thought he had, turning into sorrow for his loss after fifteen years.

Hours had passed after Solaris discovered the truth. The party was over after he lashed out in sadness, thankful no one got hurt. They tried to offer him comfort, but he wanted to be alone, understanding that he was still trying to absorb all of this information he was left out on for so long. Now, Solaris was in his room, staring up at the ceiling as the green flames lit on the torches in his bedroom flickered. He felt empty inside, miserable, hating himself for despising a mother who did care about him. She sacrificed herself to try and save Equestria, but failed, and she went to all these lengths to keep him safe, away from Lucifer and his psychotic fury.

"Everypony...relies on me..." Solaris turned over on his side, still confused, and even scared. He looked up at his bookshelf, filled with some of his favorite novels and educational books for his home schooling, or cave schooling. He was smart, not a prodigal genius like his mother, but he passed the basic forms of education with flying colors. Solaris even recalled stories Spike told him of Twilight and his aunts of their triumphant victories against villains using the Elements of Harmony. "How am I supposed to do all of this on my own?"

Solaris kept tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. His worries kept growing, anxiety setting in, wanting to punch something again just to let it all out of his system. After rolling around for the next few minutes, he grunted in frustration, his sheets a mess and his pillow resting on top of his head.

He spotted his gifts that his aunts had given him, still unopened. He wasn't mad at his family, knowing they were just trying to protect him, and he acted so harshly out of his angst and chance of rebellion. And Solaris was curious as to what he got this year. Since he couldn't fall asleep, he got off his bed and unwrapped his gifts.

The one he got from Pinkie was a vinyl record, with smash hit songs from somepony known as DJ PON-3. Applejack got him a thermos of Sweet Apple Acres hoof-made apple cider, the greatest quality of apple cider everypony in all of Equestria would die to have a taste. He was lucky Rainbow Dash didn't sniff it out before he opened it. Fluttershy got him a book on exotic animals, one that talks about the dangerous of creatures that ponies should avoid. It has some really detailed pictures of them, like the hydra, manticores, timber wolves, cragodiles, and more. Rarity usually made him some clothes for his birthday, but this year she went with simplicity. A simply made bandanna, colored similarly to his golden mane, along with a note saying it was sweat proof, meaning he could work out with it on, look like a bad flank tough stallion, and never have to worry about it reeking.

Then there was the small book like gift Rainbow Dash got him. He slowly unwrapped the gift, immediately regretting it as he blushed heavily. What he was looking at was the front cover of a Playcolt magazine, the picture showing a sultry looking pegasus mare, wings splayed out with her hindquarters in the air, wearing a pair of pink panties that's thankfully covering her naughty bits. She had that look on her face that was begging for the camera pony to just take her.

"A-Aunt Rainbow! Seriously!?" Solaris immediately looked away from the porno magazine, tossing it away. His wings were flared out after staring at the picture longer than he should have. "I should have known she was going to do something like that. First it was the joy buzzer, then snakes in a can, pepper sauce covered lemon drops, and now this! It was awkward when Uncle Spike taught me sexual education, but I know better!"

He stayed where he stood, his eyes darting to his bed and the naughty magazine. He wasn't going to give in to his growing hormones, no matter how much a part of him begged him to look through it. Even though the only mares he knew were his aunts, they were his family, and he knew it was wrong to look at their behinds. His ear twitched, as well as his wing boner, when he kept staring at the magazine. His resolve eventually wavered and gave in, grabbing the magazine in his magic and sitting back down on his bed. He opened the first page after staring at the cover, his blush growing more intense at what laid inside.

"Oh my..."

Chapter 2: Discovered

Canterlot. A city that was once a thriving metropolis, ruled by a kindhearted demigoddess who views everypony as equal, is now taken over by the tyrant who had killed not only the two rulers of the day and night, but also the sun princess's pupil. With Lucifer as the reigning king, Canterlot was under the siege of his soldiers, mostly being the youngest and willing to do anything for the corruptive king.

Lucifer sat in his throne, the castle remodeled to fit his desires: the stain glass murals that once depicted the Elements of Harmony replaced by his own image, the atmosphere darker and gloomy like the arcane arts he controls, and a few corpses of some of his assassins who tried to kill him in the past, left rotting where they laid or already decayed, leaving behind a skeleton showing the injuries they sustained on their bones. As dark and elegant as he made he new palace, he stared at the doors far from him, scowling in disdain.

For the past fifteen years, he had been paranoid, awaiting the day that the alicorn who will stop him finally comes. He had sent soldiers throughout all of Equestria, searching every single corner, alley, hidden house in a forest or field no one knew about, several times over, and there was no sign of the stallion.

"Sparkle," Lucifer growled. "Whatever you had planned, you're succeeding in making me paranoid to the point where I can barely sleep, but I will not falter..." Growing bored, he got up from his throne and roamed around the castle. "What if this really was just a ruse, and you made this ploy to make me slip up? Clever, but not clever enough! Not even Starswirl the Bearded himself would be that asinine to think up a ridiculous scheme."

Lucifer soon found himself in front of his room, which used to be Celestia's, walking inside to his small study. The room was covered in bleak and dark colors, even the furniture fit the same color scheme. Thousands of books were piled up on his desk, many of them being historical tomes, catching up on the events he had missed out on for a thousand years. Some of them were actual diary entries from Celestia herself, reading the alicorn's thoughts throughout certain events. While lost in his reading, he heard the sound of a pony teleporting into his room.

"Your Highness," said the teleporting stallion behind Lucifer.

"Ah. Zero." Lucifer turned to the armored unicorn stallion, happy to see him. Unlike the rest of his soldiers, Zero's armor was completely black, covering every part of his body, including concealing his horn and tail. The helmet the stallion wore on his head had a visor, hiding his face, almost seeming mysterious. Even his voice was distorted through a magical enchantment, to further keep his identity a secret. The only other color on his full body armor was a red insignia of Lucifer's cutie mark on his flanks. Not a part of his army, but a hired mercenary who willingly follows the king, obeying his every command out of loyalty. "My most trusted mercenary. Please tell me you have any news on the whereabouts of my mortal enemy."

"Unfortunately, your grace, no good news," Zero said. "Word from Manehatten, Fillydelphia, and Las Pegasus captains stationed in those cities reported no sign of the male alicorn. My searches have also gone terribly so, my lord." Zero bowed to him in apology. "Forgive me."

Lucifer growled under his breath, but can't hold it against his hired soldier. "As usual. Rise, Zero. You are not at fault. It's those lousy fools who still rebel against me, despite my warnings."

"And what of the new recruits you accept?" Zero asked. "They lack the training and discipline needed to uphold your order."

"They are nothing but pawns." Lucifer looked out the window watching a few areas in Canterlot that had a few of the young soldiers terrorizing some of the citizens, doing whatever they please without any consequence. "The only reason I need them is to use as meat shields. I have unlimited power thanks to the dark arts, and since the Elements of Harmony are not in the hooves of those other mares, nothing can get in my way."

"Except for-" Zero added, only for the unicorn king to quickly spin around, rage etched on his face.

"I KNOW!" shouted Lucifer. "That alicorn Sparkle had mentioned! I still have no clue if she's playing me for a fool, and every part of Equestria has been searched until not a single speck of space has been overlooked! But these incompetent soldiers who still have their loyalty to Celestia keep irritating me with their lazy searches!"

Using his magic to grab anything he could, he picked up his desk and hurled it at one of the bookshelves in the room, books flying everywhere. Before he could release his rage again, he heard the sound of glass breaking, but not from a window. Moving around the mess he made, he spotted a picture frame that was hidden away in one of the shelves, the glass of the frame broken to pieces. Inside of the frame was a picture of Twilight Sparkle and her five friends, all of them smiling for the camera.

He sneered at the disgusting picture, only to look in confusion as there was someone else in the frame. Standing in front of Twilight was a young purple dragon with a green underbelly and spines. During his own attempts to find his nemesis, he had gone to Ponyville first and interrogated the Elements of Harmony himself. But out of all of them, he didn't see a dragon with them. His eyes widened, having a theory in his head.

Rummaging through all of the books, he quickly found Celestia's diary. He had bookmarked the incredibly long tome at a certain point, but he never got as far as the day before he killed her. Zero watched from a distant through his visor, watching Lucifer flip through the pages. He stopped until he reached the final entry, his grin growing as he read the princess's final words.

Lucifer will arrive at any moment. I fear this may be the last time I will ever write my thoughts through paper...I'm really terrified. The one pony I gave pity for, who gave me the chance to stay strong for my subjects, is coming back. The darkness he wields was too strong, and I stupidly wanted to give him a second chance when I used the Elements on him. I just hope my faithful student's plan will work and Spike keeps our hero safe and secure until the time is right.

Lucifer looked back at the picture, staring at the dragon with the six Elements.

"Oh, Sparkle," he said. "You just made my search a lot more easier now."

Closing the diary, he tossed it aside, exiting the castle with a triumphant smirk.

"My king?" Zero asked, wondering what he had discovered.

"I know where he rests. I'll be taking a few guards with me to Ponyville." Lucifer laughed.

Zero watched as the unicorn left and began to make his way to Ponyville. The mercenary looked down at the picture of the Mane Six and Spike.

"...I see..."

Spike cleaned up the remnants of the party from last night, knowing this was one birthday party he would never forget. He just needed to give Solaris some space, letting everything he learned slowly sink in.

"Things are just gonna get worse from here on out," Spike said, sighing to himself. He finished cleaning up the confetti from Pinkie's party cannon, leaving a few crumbs from the eaten pastries to be picked up by a stray bat or mole who might be burrowing through. He soon stopped as he felt a familiar tingling in his gut he hadn't felt in so long, belching loudly as flames spewed out. A scroll appeared as the fire died out. Confused, he opened it up and read what was written, his pupils shrinking after reading it. "Oh no. He's coming."

Quickly running as fast as his body was able to, he reached his small work desk in his room, panicking as he quickly wrote out a message to the others. After he was done, he didn't bother rolling it up, breathing his magical flames around it and sent it to its destination. Spike rummaged underneath his bed, pulling out a pair of saddlebags for Solaris. He checked the contents inside, finding a map of Equestria, rations, a canteen for water, and a collapsible tent. Making sure that everything was accounted for, he ran out and headed for Solaris's room.

"Solaris!" Spike barged in, finding the teen on his bed, reading one of his novels. Hearing his uncle barge in unexpectedly startled the alicorn. "We're getting out of here, now!"

"Huh?" Confused, he didn't have a chance to react, Spike placing the saddlebags on his back. "U-Uncle, what's going on!?"

"Hurry!" Spike ran ahead, heading deeper into the cave. Solaris chased after him, still clueless as to what was happening. They stopped at a dead end, but Spike grabbed the wall and pushed it forward. Another passageway was found, unknown to Solaris. "You need to leave, now."

"What's happening?" Solaris wanted answers, afraid he'll never get anything just like before when he asked about his mother.

"I don't have time to explain," Spike said, kneeling down to his eye level, gently placing his claws on his shoulders. "Go out this way, and you'll see an expansive forest. Head straight toward it and stay going forward until you reach the ruins of a castle. Your aunts will be there as soon as they can."

"Why? What about you!?" Solaris asked.

Spike quickly pulled his nephew into a tight embrace. "Just do what I'm telling you and stay safe. You're in danger right now, and we're wasting time as it is." He gently shoved his nephew out into the hidden cavern, grabbing the boulder disguising the secret passage. "You're going to see Equestria for the first time. Please, don't do anything reckless, nephew."

He quickly closed the passage, hearing Solaris's muffled cries. Using his fire breath, Spike welded the rock tightly, keeping it from being moved by his nephew's magic. He was glad he was never taught teleportation. It would have made keeping him a secret harder than usual. Hoping Solaris would heed his commands, Spike made his way to the entrance of the cave, ready to face off against Lucifer if necessary.

"Uncle Spike!" Solaris tried to pull the boulder aside, but it was stuck tight. "How will I know if I'm going the right way!?" Groaning in frustration, he had no choice but to follow the way out. "If only he taught me teleportation spells."

After trekking through the cavern, he saw a light at the end of the tunnel. Squinting his eyes, he stood at the mouth of the hidden cave, his sight adjusting to the bright rays of the sunlight for the first time. As soon as he was able to see, he gasped as he saw the landscape. He saw the forest Spike mentioned, the sky and clouds, vast fields, and silhouettes of other towns miles away. It was nothing like how he imagined from the pictures he had seen in books.

"Whoa..." After taking in the scenery, he quickly shook his head, remembering his uncle just kicked him out and didn't really give much information as to what was happening. "Heh. Well, joke's on you, Uncle Spike. I have wings. I'll just fly around and see if I can find the entrance." Solaris flew up in the air a little, but when he saw how long the range was, he didn't feel as cocky as he seemed anymore. "Or it'll be like finding a needle in a haystack."

Solaris flew around, inspecting every crevice that could possibly hold an entrance to his cave-like home. He grew irritated, unable to find a single hole big enough for a dragon to fit through. Groaning in annoyance, he continued searching until he caught sight of some ponies coming up the trail. They definitely weren't his aunts, wearing black and red armor, being led by a unicorn stallion with a curved red horn. He quickly hid behind some large boulders, peeking over them as he watched them.

They soon stopped at part of the mountain, the leading stallion's horn glowing red. He shot a powerful beam of dark magic at a wall, the magical force behind it chilling Solaris's spine as he felt the overwhelming power, the beam shattering a rock that covered the entrance to his home.

"Dragon! I know you're in there! Come on out!" the stallion shouted, the guards behind him readying their weapons.

Spike walked out of the entrance, leering at the unicorn.

"Hey, you know how hard it is to find a perfectly sized door for my cave!?" Spike complained. He hoped he wouldn't have to deal with the stallion, knowing how powerful he can be.

"I didn't come here for small talk, dragon. I know you're hiding somepony here, a specific male alicorn, and I demand he show himself immediately!" said the unicorn.

As Solaris watched, figuring this stallion was the one named Lucifer he was supposed to beat, Spike feigned ignorance, tapping on his chin as if deep in thought. "Hmm...A male alicorn? Why that's just impossible. The only alicorns I knew of were actually female. One of them happened to be my big sister. Thanks for murdering her, by the way."

"Sister?" Lucifer questioned. "You are nothing more than her pet! You had a command your mistress forced you to obey, keeping the alicorn destined to destroy me in your care. Now, reveal him to me!"

"What proof do you even have?" Spike asked.

"Your disappearance from Ponyville. It was where you resided with Sparkle, am I right?" asked Lucifer.

"I moved out here so I could be alone," said Spike. "After you killed Celestia, Luna, and especially Twilight, I fell into a depression. I didn't want to hurt my friends if I lashed out at them in my sorrow. Thanks for bringing back those awful memories, you ass."

Growling in frustration, Lucifer had enough of this banter. His horn glowed, summoning a pool of dark magic underneath the dragon. Black chains shot up from the ground, wrapping tightly around his wrists and legs, forcing Spike down on his knees. Try as he might, he pulled with all his strength, but the chains wouldn't give.

"I have waited fifteen years to find this so called savior your 'sister' warned me about!" Lucifer summoned several magical weapons, aiming them at the dragon who eludes his questions. "And I am not going to wait anymore! Tell me where you're hiding him!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Spike exclaimed, struggling to break free of the magical bindings.

Lucifer thrust an ethereal sword through Spike's left shoulder, making the dragon shout in pain.

"I grow tired of this game!" Lucifer thrust another sword into his other shoulder, still not getting anything from the dragon. Solaris winced, unable to watch this monster hurting his uncle. "Talk, damn it!"

"Y-You better kill me then," Spike said, wincing as he fought through the pain. "I'd rather die then live in a world where you exist. Ruling Equestria, killing others just to prove you're powerful, you're nothing but a coward hiding behind your dark magic! You'll bring this kingdom to ruin, and everyone around the world will see you as a tyrant that needs to be taken down!"

Lucifer glared at the defiant dragon, summoning his favored dark katana out of its ethereal sheath. "I'll gladly reunite you with Sparkle and the princesses. But I know he's here." He prepared to thrust his blade through Spike, aiming directly at his heart. Solaris gasped, getting mad, not wanting this torture to last any longer. "Have fun in the afterlife, wingless reptile!"

"LEAVE MY UNCLE ALONE!" Solaris shouted, flapping his wings hard, flying directly toward Lucifer. His hoof was reared back, ready to punch the unicorn away, his hoof glowing brightly of its own accord.

"Wha-" Lucifer was too slow to react, feeling Solaris's hoof break through his magical barrier, the sound of shattering glass echoing all across the mountain range. The alicorn's hoof made contact with his face, sending the unicorn flying off down the mountain, making him tumble down the jagged cliffs.

With the unicorn knocked for a loop, his magic was dispelled, freeing Spike from his bonds as well as dispersing the floating variety of dangerous weapons. The other guards that followed their king were shocked, seeing a male alicorn for the first time in ages. Spike, on the other hoof, wanted to strangle his nephew for doing the dumbest thing he could have possibly done.

"Uncle Spike!" Solaris helped his uncle up, thankful he managed to save him, but had no idea what that strange light was. "I'm so glad you're ok!"

Instead of receiving gratitude, the alicorn was instead gifted by a hard slap to the face by Spike. "You idiot! I told you to head straight for the forest! You just revealed yourself to the most dangerous stallion in Equestria, and he wants to kill you!"

"B-But you were-" Solaris stammered, wincing as his uncle berated him for putting himself in this predicament.

"I would have been fine! Your life is on the line, not mine! Now get out of here before he gets back up here!" Spike continued to scold Solaris, unaware of Lucifer floating back up in a fog of black smoke.

He reformed himself, sporting a very nasty bruise, and he was outright enraged. He felt his cheek, a bit of blood spilling out of his mouth. When he looked at the dragon yelling at the alicorn, his sneer melted, one eye and ears twitching in confusion as he saw how young the stallion was.

"W-Wha-What?" His eyes were glued on the teen, too young to be the warrior he was expecting. And the alicorn didn't have his cutie mark yet, his flank still bare. "T-That's Equestria's savior? A-A...A child!? And he broke through my shield!?"

Green mist began flowing from his eyes, growing more enraged as the pony who he expected to battle to the death against, the pony who actually managed to injure him where the princesses couldn't, and was an alicorn, was actually a teenager who looked like he had never seen the world all his life. He yelled in fury, horn shining brightly as a row of dark spikes shot up from the ground, heading straight for the dragon and alicorn.

Spike saw Lucifer just as he let loose his magical prowess, grabbing Solaris and leaping out of the spikes' path before it could impale them. "Ok, you gotta go! Now!"

"But I don't know where to go!" Solaris was terrified, feeling Lucifer's power growing stronger in his rage.

"If you just listened to me, this wouldn't have happened!" Spike looked back toward Lucifer, the unicorn stallion running straight for them with his magical katana glowing a powerful dark aura. They were lined up for him, able to kill them both with one thrust. There was no time to escape with the guards finally snapped out of their stupor, able to follow them if they ran. He had only one choice, and it was a little risky. "I'm sorry, Solaris. I love you, nephew."

"Huh?" Solaris wondered what Spike meant.

The dragon quickly turned his back to Lucifer, taking in a deep breath and breathed his magic dragon fire all over the alicorn. It was surprising to him when it didn't burn him, feeling his body being incinerated, but feeling no pain. Before the flames fully consumed him, Solaris watched in horror as he saw Lucifer's magic blade went through Spike's chest, blood spurting out from the fatal wound to his heart.

As the fire disappeared, Solaris was thankfully gone, no trace of him to follow. Spike smirked, feeling his strength fading as he felt his body going numb. He turned around, revealing no sign of the alicorn, relishing in the expression on Lucifer's face.

"Heh...Like I said...What...alicorn...?" Spike's breathing was labored, laughing weakly as he fell. He gave out one last laugh, his last breath faded as he succumbed to his injury.

Lucifer looked around, finding no sign of Solaris anywhere. Growling, he looked down at the slain dragon, seething with rage as his one chance to end his paranoia was taken from him. He let out a demonic roar of frustration, his eyes glowing menacingly as he called forth a large ax, slamming the blade down on Spike's neck, beheading his corpse. He looked at his guards, who were shaking in fear at their enraged ruler.

"What are you idiots doing standing there!?" Lucifer shouted, snapping them out of their terrified state. "Find him! FIND THAT ALICORN BRAT! NOW!"

The guards scrambled around, fumbling into each other until they finally split up and began searching for the teen. Lucifer glared at the scorch mark where Solaris once stood, unable to trace what kind of magic was inside Spike's flame breath.

Deep in the foliage of the Everfree Forest lies the ruins of the castle Celestia and Luna once resided in over a thousand years ago. More plants and vines grew all around the debris and remains of the still standing walls, though surprisingly, no creatures dared to enter this area. From the sky, a plume of smoke floated down to the center of the ruins. As it hovered above the ground, green flames appeared out of the smoke, shooting a startled Solaris out of the teleporting flames, remnants of the ashes being absorbed into his body before it disappeared.

Gasping for air, inexperienced with that strange mode of teleportation, he felt all around himself for any burns. Thankfully, he was unharmed, but what he saw before he saw flames across his vision left him distraught.

"Uncle Spike!?" As Solaris called out for his dragon uncle, he finally realized he was taken somewhere far from the mountain range. He saw the ruins hidden deep in a forest, possibly the same ones he was supposed to go to. Guilt welled up in him, getting his uncle killed because of his stubborn need for answers to anything he didn't know was going on. "...No...H-He was stabbed...Through the chest." Tears began to well up in his eyes, losing another member of his family, and he not only witnessed it, but caused Spike's death. "Uncle...I-I'm sorry...I should have listened...It's all my fault..."

Solaris collapsed on the cold, worn out tiles of the castle ruins, his forelegs covering his face as he sobbed. He had learned just yesterday that his mother had been dead for all his life, and now he just lost his uncle, watching him die before he disappeared, far away from the unicorn that wanted to kill him. And to make things worse, he was all alone, with no knowledge of where he wound up, completely lost in a forest filled with dangerous creatures roaming about.

Chapter 3: A New Friend?

Ponyville used to be a great tourist spot for travelers all throughout the land, known as the friendliest town in all of Equestria. Now that Lucifer is in charge, his Shadow Knights always patrol the town day in and day out. Because of a lack in business from the tourist seasons due to the youngest soldier's actions, many shops had gone out of business, unable to pay their rent to keep their stores open. With the guards stealing supplies, even robbing some stores blind of their bits, many ponies were living in poverty. Thankfully, with Sweet Apple Acres still running without any problems since this farm was founded by the Apple family a century ago, they were able to ration out their apples to those who were starving.

It was a shame for the Apples to lose Granny Smith, passing away peacefully in her old age, leaving the farm up to the Apple siblings to keep it running. With their family extending to the next generation, Applejack and Big Mac got some help from their children, helping pick up some of the apples that didn't fall into the buckets once they've been bucked. Out in the fields, Applejack wiped her brow after bucking hundreds of trees, taking a small break as she watched her son, Apple Seed, struggling to push a full bucket of apples to the barn. He had the same coat as hers, but his mane was brown and as short and messy as his Uncle Big Mac.

"Careful, sugarcube," Applejack said. "Don't wanna exhaust yourself too much."

"Urgh! I can...do it, mama!" Apple Seed said, still trying to push the heavy load. He eventually exhausted himself, collapsing on his belly as he tried to catch his breath. "Ok, maybe not."

Applejack laughed, always amused by her son's attempts to prove he can do things by himself. "Maybe when ya get a little bigger, you'll be able to carry three full barrels of apples."

"Really?" Apple Seed asked.

"Of course." Applejack picked up the bucket on her back, heading back to the barn with her little colt walking next to her. "Ya just might rival your uncle in strength with enough hard work."

"Yeah! Ah wanna beat Uncle Mac in a hoof wraslin'!" the little colt exclaimed.

"Applejack!" From the direction of the farmhouse came Applejack's little sister Apple Bloom, though she wasn't quite so little anymore. She was now a fully grown mare, replacing her red bow with a red stetson, her cutie mark a shield with an apple in the center and a heart inside the apple. She had a piece of parchment in her mouth as she ran, skidding to a halt next to her sister and nephew. "Applejack, we got a problem! Spike just sent us this!"

Applejack took the note, reading the quickly written warning message from Spike. "Oh horseapples. Ah gotta get the others. Apple Bloom, Ah'm gonna need ya and Big Mac to do some more work while Ah'm gone."

"Ya mean Solaris needs to fight Lucifer now?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Afraid so." Applejack made sure to keep the note away from her son's eyes.

Before she was able to head into her home to get her things ready, she noticed her athletic friend and rival, Rainbow Dash, flying toward the farm, skidding across the ground hard after flying at the speed she was going. She nearly rammed into Applejack, getting them both injured nothing they can afford at the moment.

"AJ, we got a huge problem!" Rainbow said, both really worried and irritated. "Guess who decided to make a little appearance for his public!?"

"Is he really in Ponyville again?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah. He has an important announcement for everypony in Ponyville." Rainbow fidgeted, greatly worried about what Lucifer has in store. "I have a really bad feeling about this. You think he finally found Sol?"

"Ah hope not." Applejack turned to her sister. "Apple Bloom, you stay and watch Apple Seed while Ah see what his Highness has to say to us."

Apple Bloom nodded, taking her nephew down to the orchard to help her with some more chores. Rainbow and Applejack quickly made their way to the square, where everypony had shown up to hear the unfortunate news their tyrant had to give. As they met up with the rest of their friends, they noticed the unicorn was covered in blood, a large bag placed near him as he looked at the town from the stage set up for him. As soon as he saw a good number of the citizens around to hear him, he began his announcement.

"Attention, Ponyville!" Lucifer said, his voice echoed as he used a spell to amplify his vocal chords for everyone to hear. "After fifteen long years, one of your ex-princesses, Twilight Sparkle, had spoken of some hero who would try and stop me! Finally, as I had searched for these fifteen years, I have seen him...and he is nothing but a foal, who had somehow managed to strike me! It is a feat I should commemorate if it didn't anger me to no end!"

The mares were slightly worried, knowing that Lucifer had found Solaris. At least the teen had given him a good hit, everyone able to see his cheek was swollen.

"At least we know that he's able to hit him through that cheap barrier he always has around him," Rainbow noted, the others holding in their snickers as they enjoyed seeing the unicorn king in a bit of pain.

"He has disappeared from my sight, and if my soldiers didn't stand around like hoof sucking foals-" Lucifer leered at his troops he decided to bring, a mistake he won't make ever again. "-I would have killed him when I had the chance...However, I didn't go away empty-hooved. Somepony, or should I say some-dragon, had him hidden away from me all this time. And this is the result of his crime for harboring that child."

Lucifer opened the bag, pulling out the chopped off head of the dragon everyone in Ponyville had known ever since Twilight first came here. Everypony gasped in utter shock, muttering to each other in fear and disgust. One pony, however, screamed in absolute horror, sobbing heavily as she shouted Spike's name over and over in distress. Rarity was held back by Applejack and Rainbow, not wanting her to do anything reckless while Lucifer was up there, holding the dragon's head like his trophy.

"Sick bastard," Rainbow said under her breath, having lost yet another friend and being unable to do anything to help again.

"Let this be a warning to all of you and everypony across this kingdom!" Lucifer exclaimed, throwing Spike's head out into the crowd, hearing them scream as the body part was flung at them. He kicked the rest of the dragon's body off the stage, falling out of the body bag. "Anypony who dares to help the alicorn stand up against me will die by my hoof! If you so much as see him, you had better alert any of my soldiers to the last place you found him! I want him dead!"

Lucifer stepped down and prepared to head back to Canterlot, feeling some slight satisfaction as he instilled fear in the ponies. As soon as he was out of sight, everyone who knew the dragon mourned for their loss, Rarity especially. The Elements were glad Solaris was safe, probably in the Everfree Forest at the ruins of the old castle. But with Rarity in the state she was in, they had no idea if they should leave her behind until she was calm, which would seem impossible since she and Spike were close friends. They certainly didn't want to leave Solaris by himself in a forest as dangerous as the Everfree.

Deep in the Everfree Forest, some of the heavy shrubs low to the forest floor shuddered as something slunk through the wild foliage. Through the leaves and branches, a pair of green eyes looked around, scoping for predators and prey. The figure poked its head up to get a better look, its body black and solid, almost like the carapace of an insect. A pair of thin, see-through wings fluttered from its back, swooping into a new bush to hide in.

As the strange bug creature crept through the forest, its ears perked up when it heard the sound of crying nearby. It made its way to the noise, peeking through the leaves, finding the remains of the castle across a rickety wooden bridge. It quickly flew over the crevice, its figure revealed for only a moment in the rays of light shining through the branches of the tall trees. It had a long, flowing green mane, a black crooked horn on its forehead, and there were holes in its legs. After making it across, the strange bug pony hybrid hid behind one of the decayed walls, peeking around to find the source of the sobs.

Solaris had been crying for the past hour, beginning to calm down, knowing that nothing will be solved if he was always upset. The guilt of getting his uncle killed still weighed heavily in his heart, but he had to try and stay focused on what his destiny had in store. If only destiny didn't have a sick sense of humor, where he would have someone sacrificing themselves just to protect a chosen one, the only hero who can stop the villain.

"What am I gonna do?" Solaris questioned. He looked around, having no clue where in the forest he was, and was told to stay put until his aunts arrived. He just now realized that Spike had placed a pair of saddlebags on his back when he was being rushed to escape earlier. Taking off his bags, he noticed a map, unrolling it to see the entire map of Equestria. There were circled marks in different areas on the map, but Solaris had no clue what they meant. "Well, now I know how big the kingdom is. It doesn't help that I have no idea exactly where I am and what forest I'm in!"

Solaris sighed in frustration, hoping his knowledge on the survival novels he read would help him survive in the forest. The problem was he had no idea what plants around here are good to eat or poisonous. Finding food was going to be difficult if he had to go with trail and error.

The creature hiding behind the walls grinned, showing its sharp fangs gleaming in the little sunlight. It began crawling up to the distracted alicorn, completely unaware of its presence. Licking its lips, it crouched low to the ground, ready to pounce on its prey.

"Time to take my first vic-" - The creature stepped forward, but tripped on a rock - "-TIM!"

It fell flat on its face, the smack echoing the area, alerting Solaris to the predator. He quickly got up on his hind legs, ready to defend himself, staring at the bug pony groaning in pain. It sat up, rubbing its face, surprising the alicorn when he saw its facial features seemed feminine. He examined the strange mare, the holes in her legs, her crooked horn, thin insect-like wings, and the small fangs showing from her mouth.

"What in Equestria...?" Solaris's voice alerted the mare, getting a good look at her emerald green eyes. They both stared at each other, neither making any sudden movements. "...Uhh, hello?"

The strange bug pony quickly got to a crouching position, hissing at him as she tried to pounce him again. As she leapt, she didn't realize she had been standing on her own tail, causing her to yelp and tumble forward, rolling to a halt on her back, looking up at the stallion. Solaris raised a brow, wondering what was wrong with her. He was about to help her up, but was smacked by a strange glob of webbing the mare hacked up from her mouth, covering his face and slightly blinding him.

"Ahh! What the hay is this stuff!?" Solaris tried to scrape off the green webbing with his hooves, unable to do so. The mare got back up on her hooves to try attacking him again, only to leap back in shock as the alicorn breathed heavily in frustration, breathing out a small plume of green fire that incinerated the webbing off his face. "W-What the...!? Did I just breathe fire!?"

Taking the momentary distraction of Solaris's weird discovery, the bug pony mare leapt on the alicorn's back, hissing angrily as she tried to choke him, which was hard to do with those holes in her hooves. Having enough of this madness, Solaris managed to shake her off, grabbing her by the neck and slammed her into the wall. Completely dazed, he took the momentary break to get a better look at her, though keeping his face away from hers in case she spat up that webbing again.

The mare shook her head, snapping back to reality, being held by the stallion she tried to hunt. She was about to hack up more webbing to distract him, but Solaris quickly pressed a hoof against her mouth, keeping her from pulling off that same trick twice.

"Spit that gunk at me again, and I'll knock you unconscious," Solaris warned. Thankfully, she swallowed the webbing, already defeated by her prey. "Now, I'm going to remove my hoof, and you will tell me what the hay you were gonna do to me, and...what you are supposed to be."

He lowered his hoof, but he got a strange look from the mare. He thought she would try to escape again and attempt to attack him, and fail yet again, but she didn't.

"What, have you been living under a rock?" she said, sounding annoyed. "You seriously have no idea what I'm supposed to be?"

"...A pony?" Solaris asked.

"Close, but not that close." As she huffed, she looked down, still being held by the neck by Solaris. At least he wasn't choking her to death, sparing her life for the time being. "...Uhh, do you mind letting me go? I don't want you to try and crush my windpipe when I'm obviously giving up."

"Oh. Right." Solaris backed off, though made sure she didn't try to elude him. "Don't even think about running?"

"Who would run from a handsome stallion like you?" Her sudden compliment made Solaris blush, making her giggle at his reaction. "Wow. That was way too easy."

"C-Can you please just explain who you are?" Solaris stammered, already falling for the mare's charms, even after he tried to attack him.

"Fine, fine," she said. "If you must know, since your masculine brain can't fathom beauty like my own, I am what is called a changeling."

"A changeling?" Solaris asked. "What's a changeling?"

The changeling nearly stumbled over at Solaris's cluelessness. "Are you kidding me!? Come on! Changelings!? Creatures that feast on the love of others!?" Solaris raised a brow, still having no clue. "...We transform into other ponies, disguising ourselves to steal said love?" More silence. "A kind of succubus that doesn't bed their victims and kill them after they're done with them?" Solaris shook his head, still not aware of her kind. She facehooved, feeling a headache coming on. "Wow. It's like you lived in a cave all your life, and not one like my hive."

"...Actually, I had been raised in a cave all my life," Solaris said.

The changeling's jaw dropped, not really expecting that answer. "...Ok then..." She scratched her head, staring at Solaris in wonder. She finally noticed he had both a horn and wings, pupils shrinking as she realized she was about to attack a male alicorn. "Oh my gosh! You're an alicorn!"

"Uhh, yeah. I am," he said. "Are...changelings some kind of mutated alicorn?"

"No! I just told you we're not exactly ponies like you are." She grabbed Solaris's head, shaking it to try and jumpstart his brain. "Shake those cavepony cobwebs out of your head!"

"Hey! Cut it out!" Solaris swiped her hooves away from him, feeling his skin crawl just looking at those holes in her forelegs. "Do you have a name, or should I call you 'Bug Mare', cause this is the most awkward meeting I've ever had in my life."

"Don't you know its rude to ask for a lady's name before a gentlecolt introduces himself?" She said, almost flirtatiously.

"You attacked me first," he said, getting very annoyed with her evasions.

"...Right." She flicked her hair back, giving Solaris a better look at her. "I am known as Trill, Princess of the Changelings."

"A princess?" Solaris asked. "I thought princesses were supposed to be...regal?"

"Pth! Not changelings," Trill said. "Being 'giant pony bugs', we do have a colony, ruled by a queen, which happens to be my mother." Solaris rolled his eyes, obviously knowing how insects work in large groups from his science books. "Now, I gave you my name. Yours is...?"

"Solaris," he said.

"Solaris. Well, a pleasure to make you my prey, although I'm not exactly going to succeed, seeing as you're able to throw me down just by looking at me." Trill slowly circled Solaris, getting a better look at him from every angle, taking notice of his markless flanks. "How old are you exactly?"

"I just turned fifteen yesterday," Solaris admitted.

"Really? What a coincidence! My birthday's in a few months!" Trill exclaimed, acting more like a five year old than a teen in the alicorn's eyes.

"Great." Solaris looked back at the map, getting back on track with where he was and figure out where to go. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to figure out exactly where I am. I don't want to stay in this forest for too long if I have to wait for my aunts to find me."

"Oh, that's easy." Looking at the map, Trill pointed at the forest with one of the marks on it. "We're right in the middle of the Everfree Forest."

Solaris's eye twitched, the name of the forest echoing in his head. From his books, he knew that the Everfree Forest was dangerous, but he didn't know that there were castle ruins in these overgrown woods.

"I'm where!?" He pounced Trill, knocking her on her back, his muzzle squishing against hers. "Please tell me you're joking! Tell me we're not in the most dangerous landmark in all of Equestria!"

"...You gonna buy me dinner, big boy? I didn't think you wanted to jump me," the changeling teased.

Solaris shook the mare, getting tired of her flirting. "BE SERIOUS! My aunts told me stories about this place! Do you know what live here in these woods!?"

"Well, there's timber wolves for one. I even saw a sleeping hydra down near the bog a mile to the east of this area. Although, somepony in my hive spread a rumor saying there was a creature called a 'hoo-man' that lives here, but it's just a dumb rumor." After Trill explained a few possible creatures, she looked back at Solaris, not amused at her smart alecky comments. "...What?"

Groaning in frustration, he walked back to the map, staring at the Everfree Forest's location. From his first experience outside, the forest he saw must have been the Everfree, finding the mountain range that was his home not too far on the map. If he was able to get his bearings without the trees above him covering the sky, he could use the stars during the night to map out his directions...if only he had a map of the stars to do that.

"This is gonna be impossible," Solaris sighed, finding his survival instincts harder to hone in only a short amount of time. "How am I supposed to do all of this on my own? I can't do all this by myself."

"You have me," said Trill.

Solaris looked back at the changeling princess, giving him a cheeky grin, baring her fangs. "I only just met you, and I think I'm regretting not throwing you a mile away."

"Aww. You're just saying that cause you can't admit you enjoy my company," Trill said, hearing Solaris sigh.

While his back was turned, she decided to pull a little prank on him, her body shrouded in green flames as her form changed.

"Trill, if you're trying to say we're friends, I think we're a long step away from-" Solaris turned around, but instead of staring at a changeling, his jaw dropped at what he saw in her place. "-that?"

Trill transformed herself into a unicorn, her coat green while her mane was red. Her eyes remained the same emerald grin, fluttering her lashes as he stared dumbly at her new body. She slowly approached him, swaying her hips, his eyes trailing her curves, exactly how she wanted him to react. As she circled him, she brushed her body against his, teasing his muzzle by dragging her tail against it, tickling his nose with her scent.

"Like what you see?" she whispered in his ear, feeling his body shudder as she brushed her tail against his. Trill nuzzled Solaris, making him blush heavily and causing his wings to flare out. "Do you want me so badly that you'll do anything to make me yours?"

"I-I-I uuhh..." he stammered, swallowing the lump in his throat from his growing nerves.

Solaris tried to speak, only for Trill to shush him, gently pressing her hoof to his lips.

"Don't speak. I know what you want. Close your eyes, and you'll get a big surprise." The alicorn's heart beat heavily in his chest, closing his eyes and awaiting what surprise she had in store. Trill waved a hoof in front of his face, muffling her giggling when he really kept his eyes closed. She changed back to her original form, silently gathering up more of her webbing through her mouth. She spat at his face, making him yell in surprise as he scrambled to wipe off the green webbing off. "You are so gullible!"

Trill laughed, unable to stand as she fell on her back, rolling on her back and clutching her sides. Solaris remembered his new fire breath ability, breathing out more flames as he burned off the webbing for a second time, glaring at the guffawing mare.

"Why did you do that!?" he yelled.

"B-Because...it was hilarious!" Trill began laughing again, not realizing that her little joke was getting Solaris upset.

"Well it wasn't funny to me!" Solaris grabbed the map, shoving it back in his saddlebags as he struggled to keep his emotions in check, failing as he felt tears begin to well up in his eyes. "I'm already having a bad day as it is, discovering my mother was killed since I was a few months old, watching my uncle die by the hoof of a madpony who wants to kill me, and now I'm being manipulated by some giant cockroach who thinks it's funny to mess with somepony's emotions!"

Trill stopped laughing, looking at the upset stallion packing his belongings. "But it was just a joke. I thought it would make you laugh."

"Spitting that disgusting web in my face after seducing me isn't funny! It's disgusting and makes you a heartless monster!" He headed deeper into the castle, wanting to get as far away from Trill as possible. "If you changelings eat love, then I'm sure you don't even have a heart at all!"

Trill wanted to stop him, but after knowing he was able to breath fire, having no idea how that was even possible, she didn't want to risk getting burned. She sighed, not knowing he had a rough time in the last few days.

"Great. Now I feel like an ass..." Trill transformed, turning into a female mule. "Now I am one..." She turned back to normal, her own humor not helping her in the slightest. "Ok, even that didn't make me feel better."

Solaris roamed around the castle ruins, struggling to contain his emotions. He has spent the last hour trying to calm down, but it didn't help him with everything that had happened to him in the last couple days.

"Stupid changeling," he muttered. "Stupid life. Stupid everything!" Solaris slammed his forehooves down, cracking the tiles of the once regal castle. He panted heavily, steam huffing out of his nostrils as he felt his gut burning as he grew more frustrated. "Is this supposed to be a joke on my life!? I find out my mother is dead, I get my uncle killed, and now the world falls on my shoulders to stop some dark magic using tyrant, who also wants to kill me!? WHAT GREAT POWER OUT THERE IS TOYING WITH MY LIFE!?"

As Solaris shouted, flames spewed out of his mouth, his overwhelming emotions making him writhe in pain as they gave him the worst migraine he ever had. The guilt for getting Spike killed overwhelmed him, the stress of Equestria's future resting on him making him panic, the idea of failing making his anxiety worsen, and the one pony, or creature, he had met for the first time outside of the cave infuriated him. Trill had attacked him, then acted all casual like it never happened, kept flirting with him, confusing his mind as his hormones tried to take over, and tried to seduce him in a different form, teasing him, then humiliating him by spitting on his face with that disgusting webbing, laughing at him like it was supposed to be funny for the both of them.

He didn't want any of this. Solaris wanted a normal life, where he would be raised by his mother, living in a castle where he wouldn't have to worry about anything, having a good time and have fun. Instead, he was kept in hiding with his dragon uncle, never told about his mother being dead for fifteen years, no information on who his father was, and to make things worse, he was destined to save everyone from Lucifer, while suffering from the guilt of getting Spike killed because he didn't listen to him.

Trill wandered about the ruins, following the screaming and shouting coming from the alicorn. When she finally found him, he was flailing about, slamming his forehooves into the ground and walls, spitting fire with each yell he let out. She could practically feel the overwhelming amount of emotions struggling to take control. He was even suffering from a nosebleed with how much emotional pain he was going through.

As she approached him, Trill had to be careful of his flailing hooves and fire breath. She rolled Solaris on his back, gently pressing her horn to his forehead, the appendage glowing a lime green. As her spell was cast, he began to calm down, his eyes opening and glowing green, almost fixed in a trance. His muscles relaxed and his mind felt empty, his worries, fears, anger, and sadness being absorbed out of his consciousness, though the memories still remained. After his emotions were finally calmed to a standstill, Trill moved her horn away, her body shuddering as she stuck out her tongue in disgust.

"No wonder mom told me eating other emotions besides love was bad news." She spat at the ground, saliva this time, seeming unable to get the taste out of her mouth. "It's like a cocktail of garbage and dirty laundry."

Solaris groaned, rubbing his head, feeling his headache going away. He felt drained, like something had tried to suck out his soul, leaving his limbs slightly numb. He looked up, finding Trill brushing out her tongue with her hoof, still unable to get the horrible emotion meal taste out of her mouth.

"W-What did you do to me?" Solaris asked.

"Bleck." Trill spat, regretting ever absorbing other emotions. "I saved you from your tormenting migraine you were experiencing. Probably karma for me after that dumb prank I pulled."

Solaris got up on his hooves, shaking slightly as feeling slowly returned to him. As he rubbed his head, he felt something wet on his nose. Rubbing his snout, he wiped off the small bit of blood, which thankfully wasn't as worse as it seemed.

"...Thanks, I guess," he said. Though he was calm now, he still didn't want to be anywhere near Trill. Unfortunately, since he had to stay here until his aunts arrived to help him out, he had no choice. "Why did you help me?"

"Because I wanted to apologize," Trill said. "We changelings can feel emotions from other ponies, only when they show it or when they try to hide it. Your mind was spiraling out of control, and you were having a panic attack." She pawed at the ground, still guilty over the dumb prank she pulled. "I didn't realize you went through a roller coaster through Tarterus a while ago. It's not a good idea to keep everything bottled up, you know?"

"I only just met you an hour ago and you expect me to open up to someone don't even know?" Solaris asked.

"I'm not saying you should tell me everything now," she said. "Maybe you could have said 'I'm having a bad day,' sooner, so I could shut my mouth before I said something stupid."

Solaris stared at her, the changeling princess seeming apologetic. As much as she annoyed him, Trill didn't seem all that bad, as long as she didn't act like a jokester all the time. And she did help him with his anxiety attack, even if it left him slightly drained.

He sighed, accepting her apology, though only wanting her around so he wouldn't be alone. "Fine, then. I accept your apology."

"Good." Trill held her hoof out to him. "Want to start over?"

"...I guess." Solaris took her hoof, but as they shook, his grip on the changeling's hoof tightened, making her wince, unable to pull away. "Don't ever trick me like that again, and we're good. Got it?"

"Yes! I get it! Please let go of my hoof!" Trill pleaded. He let go, the mare clutching her hoof, amazed at how strong his grip was. "I'm lucky my skin wasn't flesh. You could have rearranged my whole leg with that much strength!" After the pain died down, Solaris sat next to the stairs that once lead up to the thrones, pulling out the map, scoping out the locations that were marked. Trill sat down next to him, staring at one area with a mark, which was out in the wastelands. She ignored it, wanting to strike up a conversation to break the silence. "So, what do you like to do?"

Author's Note

Ever have that problem with a laptop where you're in the middle of typing, your hand accidentally touches the touch pad, and it somehow thinks you double clicked in the written area, highlighting everything, and as soon as you hit anything on the keyboard, it erased everything and you didn't save your work? :twilightangry2:

That happened to me. Hopefully this turned out ok, since I had a somewhat better version that was deleted. Curse the technological gods and curse the use of hands! :flutterrage:

Oh well. I'll remember to shut the thing off while I type from now on. More chapters to come! :pinkiehappy:

Chapter 4: The First Trial

As the day was coming to a close, the moon taking the sun's place up in the sky, the Everfree Forest was as creepy as it could get, barely any light creeping through the tall trees of the wild forest. Solaris built a fire, using his new flame breath to light the wood, casting a green glow around the ruins. While he looked through his bags, he found the tent stashed away and began setting it up. When he was a colt, he always wondered what it would be like to camp out, so he had improvised by camping indoors with his uncle. He used some of his fake camping experience to set up the tent, which was built for two to sleep in.

"Boy, we're really lucky there's a tent in that bag of yours," Trill said. "You seem pretty prepared for being a cavepony."

"My uncle had this set up for me already." Solaris finished setting up the tent, making sure it wouldn't cave in on him while he was asleep. "I think he planned for us and my aunts to be traveling around a lot, steering clear of the towns and cities in case Lucifer's guards would come after me."

"Ugh. Don't get me started on that blowhard unicorn," Trill growled. While they were waiting for the past few hours, the two talked about themselves, getting to know each other without anymore conflicts. She was pretty surprised to hear that it was Solaris's "destiny" to defeat the dark unicorn tyrant. "With how he's got everypony in the kingdom scared to death, it's hard for us changelings to even find love to consume. We need ponies in romantic situations, or maybe some lusty one night stands, but because of the rowdy guards causing a ruckus, love is becoming scarce."

"Wait, 'one night stands'?" Solaris stared at Trill. "...You actually had sex with your 'victims'?"

"What!? No! I'm fourteen!" Trill exclaimed. "Just because I'm a changeling doesn't mean I'm some strange nympho who sleeps with others just to eat! I'm too young for that stuff just yet!"

"O-Others?" Solaris blushed, quickly getting his mind out of the gutter before his thoughts were clouded by his hormones. "S-So you actually stole love from others before you attacked me?"

"Actually, you were my first victim," said Trill, feeling embarrassed at her failed attempt earlier today. "I was finally allowed to leave the hive a week ago. A usual tradition for changelings deemed worthy of venturing outside our home and learning about survival by ourselves."

"Oh..." Solaris said. "...That means you're new out here, too?"

"Well, sort of. I have a bit more knowledge of locations outside of the hive, just not this far out," she said.

Solaris sat back near the fire, wondering where Trill's home was on the map. He was learning a lot about changelings, not really finding them evil in any way.

"How come I never read anything about your kind in the books I had?" he asked.

"Probably because we're considered dangerous." Trill moved a strand of her mane out of her face, leering into the fire. "We manipulate ponies, turning into their lovers or friends to feed off their love, all for the sake of survival. We're hated even more after my mother's attempt to take over a wedding in Canterlot nearly twenty years ago. It was a really important wedding too, a princess marrying the captain of the royal guard.

"Mom succeeded, changing into the bride and trapping her down in the crystal mines underneath Canterlot. Everything was planned out perfectly, even getting on the bearers of the Elements of Harmony on her side." Trill huffed, remembering the next bit of the story she had heard. "Unfortunately, one of them got too suspicious, the Element of Magic." Solaris's eyes widened, staring at Trill in shock, who was unaware of his expression as she continued the tale. "She actually knew the bride when she was little, and caught on. She even escaped from the mines with the princess, reuniting her with the groom, and in an ironic twist, my mother and her army were beaten by the power of their love."

"My mom was the Element of Magic, Twilight Sparkle," Solaris said.

"Huh!?" Trill looked at Solaris, sweating beading down her face as she learned of this new bit of history on the alicorn. "T-That was your mom!?...Oh jeez..."

"Your mom threw my mom down in an abandoned mine shaft!?" Solaris shouted.

"W-Wait, I didn't even know that pony was actually your mom!" Trill's eye twitched, making a very serious realization from Twilight being Solaris's mother. "...Oh no. Your aunts you're waiting for are the other Elements, aren't they?" The alicorn nodded his head. Trill's body was immediately surrounded in flames, turning into the same mare from her little prank, making Solaris tense up at the change. "Ok. I'm gonna stay like this when they do show up. If they see me, they just might kill me!"

"...I'm surprised I haven't jumped you at this point." Solaris suddenly didn't feel like trusting the daughter of the changeling queen after hearing the Canterlot wedding fiasco. "I wouldn't blame them if they did attack because of your species."

"It was for our hive's survival! I wasn't even born when that happened!" Trill leapt at Solaris's hooves, wrapping her hooves tightly around one of his forelegs, looking up at him with a pleading look in her eyes. "Please don't hate me! I didn't know! Honest!"

He looked down at her, staring at her emerald eyes. She was giving him that look a sad puppy would make if they were begging for a treat, a look he easily fell for when he met his aunts' foals. He was a victim to this look by Rarity's daughter, Gemstone, wanting him to play with her while he wasn't up for it. He gave in too soon, playing dress-up with the filly and forced to wear a girly dress that fit him. At least no one took a picture of him when that happened, otherwise he would have been in more trouble before earlier this morning.

He groaned, quickly giving in to the look Trill gave him, failing to hide the glowing blush on his cheeks. "Fine. I don't hate you."

"Yay!" Trill quickly stood up, pulling Solaris into a tight hug, nearly crushing his rubs. "Thank you! We're still buddies, right!?"

"When did we become friends again?" he asked, pulling her forelegs off him.

"While we were talking for the past few hours." Trill wrapped her foreleg around Solaris's shoulder, pressing her cheek against his. "You could use one after all the drama you've gone through today."

"...Personal space. Please." Solaris snorted, flames spewing out of his nostrils as he warned Trill.

Trill laughed nervously, scooching away from the peeved alicorn a good distance from him, fearing he would burn her. "Uhh, you figured out how you got that fire power yet?"

"I'm going to bed. I'm tired." Solaris put out the fireplace, bringing the ruins back to complete darkness as he entered the tent. Trill carefully and slowly approached the tent, poking her head in. "Do anything to me while I sleep, and you're getting bucked far into the forest."

"Couldn't we do that in here?" Solaris glared at Trill, not amused at the play on words with his statement. "I'm kidding! I knew what you meant!" The alicorn grunted, turning away from her as he closed his eyes. "I swear I was...You need to grow a funny bone."

"Trill..." Solaris warned, silencing the mare as she quickly entered the tent and laid in the empty space next to him. As much as she wanted to wish him good night, she didn't want to aggravate him further.

As Solaris opened his eyes, he found himself in a dark void, no sign of light or color anywhere except for himself. He wandered around, hoping he could find a way out.

"Hello!?" he shouted, his voice echoing all around him. "Where am I?"

"Your grave." Solaris's ears twitched, recognizing who the voice belongs to.

The alicorn turned around, only to have something in the darkness strike him through the shoulder. He yelled out in pain, feeling more sharp pains strike every part of his body. He couldn't tell where they were coming from, or what they were, but he could feel blood dripping from the wounds being inflicted upon him. The barrage of invisible stabs finally stopped, leaving Solaris wincing, moving any part of him causing some kind of pain.

From the darkness, he saw a pair of red eyes leering at him, green mist flowing out from the sides. A sharp toothed grin formed underneath the eyes, the face walking closer, revealing Lucifer out from the dark void.

"N-No. Not you!" Solaris tried to back away, but he couldn't move his legs. He looked down, finding his legs bound by dark chains, the same ones Spike was held down by. "No! Please! I don't want to die!"

"Don't worry." Lucifer summoned a mace with his ethereal magic, swinging it around to test its weight, even though it was created by his aura. "I'll make this quick and painless. Say hello to your mother in Tarterus, alicorn!"

Solaris screamed, unable to look away as he watched the dangerous blunt weapon swing hard and wide toward his face.

Solaris woke up, panting heavily as sweat dripped down his forehead. He quickly inspected himself, finding him free of any wounds and chains, realizing that it was just a nightmare. A really horrible nightmare. He tried to calm down, unable to fall back asleep after having that unicorn disturb his dreams. His ears perked up when he heard snoring next to him. He forgot that Trill was in the tent with him, still disguised as the green unicorn from her prank, her legs sprawled out, one of her hind legs twitching randomly. She made some weird chirping noises as she breathed out, almost like the crickets outside.

"Is she really making those noises?" Ignoring Trill's weird snoring, he laid back down, rubbing his eyes, wondering what time it was.

"Solaris..." The stallion's ears perked up, hearing a feminine voice calling out his name. He sat up, knowing it wasn't Trill since the female's voice sounded a lot older. "Solaris..."

"Hello?" Solaris poked his head out of the tent's flap, looking around for the sound of the mysterious voice. "Is anypony there?"

There was no sign of any other pony around. Solaris shrugged, probably hearing things. Before he crawled back in the tent, he caught a glimpse of a purple light near the entrance to the castle. He could see what looked like a pony inside the light, but he couldn't tell who the pony was. It turned away, gesturing with its head to follow it, exiting the ruins. Solaris had a feeling he should follow the light, running after it before he lost sight of it.

"Hey! Wait!" he shouted out to it. He saw it head out of the entrance, losing sight of it as he reached the bridge. He looked around, catching a glimpse of the light down in the chasm below. Looking down, he watched the light walk through a cavern that seemed to run underneath the ruined castle. "Hold on a second! How do you know my name!?"

Solaris flew down, lighting the dark crevice with his horn, running into the cave as he touched the ground. He didn't see the light or the pony in it, wondering who it was that called out to him. For some strange reason, he thought the voice sounded familiar, almost like the first voice he ever heard when he was little. He finally reached a light at the end of the tunnel, but what he saw inside made his eyes widen, staring at it in awe.

"No way..." Solaris stared at what looked like a crystal tree, the trunk etched with three different symbols: a sun, a crescent moon, and a star. Its branches held six different gems connected to it, each a different color and in individual shapes: a purple diamond, an orange apple, a red lightning bolt, a blue balloon, a pink butterfly, and a lavender star, similar to the mark on the trunk. "This is...the Tree of Harmony. And the Elements of Harmony are here too!"

He slowly approached the magical tree, hearing the story of how his mother and aunts giving the Elements up to save the tree. It needed them back after its magical reserves were drained, keeping Discord's vines from reaching it and destroying it. With the Elements of Harmony, it might be possible to stop Lucifer, but how he was going to wield them would be a problem, needing six ponies that represent each Element to use them.

Deciding how to use them at a later date, Solaris reached out and tried to grab the Element of Magic. As soon as his hoof touched the star-shaped gem, a powerful electric shock zapped him, sending him flying backward, tumbling across the ground. His body twitched as he stood up, slowly recovering from the tingles of electricity coursing through his body. The Elements in the branches began glowing, each gem shooting out a small beam of light similar to their color near the base of the tree. The lights slowly began to form into equines, matching the same body structures of the bearers of the Elements.

Solaris looked up, his jaw dropping as he saw the ethereal forms of his aunts and mother standing in front of the tree, the symbol of their cutie marks etched on their chests. The lavender apparition hovered above the other five, resembling Twilight through the glowing light around her. This was the same light he saw that guided him to the Tree of Harmony.

"The Elements of Harmony must remain within us, foal," the apparition warned. "We have lost our power after a millennium of staving off the chaotic vines of Discord. Without the Elements, we, along with Equestria, would fall."

"W-Who are you?" Solaris asked. "...A-Are you-?"

"I am not who you think I am, child." The spirit slowly lowered itself to the ground, standing in front of the other five. "We are the embodiments of the Elements in spiritual form: Laughter, Kindness, Generosity, Loyalty, Honesty, and Magic. Our bodies have transformed to resemble the bearers who used us many years ago, defending Equestria from evildoers."

"Oh," Solaris said, disappointed. He hoped that the ethereal alicorn before him was his mother, or maybe some part of her, but it wasn't. "Then, why did you lead me here?"

"A request from Twilight Sparkle, the bearer of Magic, several years ago." The five spirits slowly began to surround him, their eyes glued to him as he was unaware of their movements, too transfixed on the Spirit of Magic. "We know of the dangers across the land, a unicorn wizard with incredibly dark magic, threatens to destroy all who dare to stand in his way. Even if we were to give you our power, his magic is far too great to be contained. Celestia had made a mistake offering him mercy, putting him to sleep for a thousand years and hoping he would change. Dark magic is a barrier unicorns should never come in contact with, holding deadly spells and incredible power, even going as far as to give one immortality in exchange for their soul.

"However, there is one power that can stop him." Magic pointed at Solaris. "You have that power, young one."

"I do?" he asked, confused.

"Inside of you is a light so strong, it is able to eliminate any traces of evil." The spirit touched the star symbol on her chest. "Born from the bearer of Magic, the Spark of Harmony, the light that unites the Elements as one, rests within you. In other words, you, Solaris, are a living Element of Harmony. The Element of Light."

"What!?" Solaris shouted. "How is that possible!? I thought-"

"It is how it is. This is your known destiny: as a pony, a savior of all of Equestria, and the true heir to the throne of your kingdom." Solaris began to panic, thinking he wasn't who he thought he was. "Do not worry. You are born of flesh and blood. You only have a magical power no other pony could ever obtain through birth.

"Oh." Solaris breathed a sigh of relief. "I did not want to go through anymore surprise secrets I've been left out of the loop from. It's bad enough the past few days have been a disaster."

"Enough talk," Magic said, snapping the alicorn out of his thoughts. "I have guided you here so you may begin your journey. The bearer of Magic has given you five tests, to prove your worth in combat through skill, strategy, and strength. You must not falter if you wish to save Equestria from the wrath of the unicorn king. Be warned: with each trial you manage to succeed in, you will suffer greatly. Do you understand these terms, Solaris?"

Solaris thought really hard about what Magic explained. He didn't realize that he had to take some trials to prove he was ready to take down Lucifer. She was really vague about what he would suffer from. An ailment? Losing a part of his soul? He wasn't going to die if he managed to succeed, since she did explain that he was supposed to rule Equestria once he beat the unicorn tyrant. He had no idea what to do.

Equestria was in trouble, and his family told him that it was his destiny to save them all. He didn't want anyone else to suffer, but he had no idea if he was able to do this all on his own. All of this pressure was being thrust upon him so soon, even the Elements of Harmony want him to win. Solaris didn't want to let everyone down, or fail. Steeling himself, he gave Magic a determined look, making his decision.

"I understand. I won't let you, or anypony down," he said.

"Excellent. Now, to begin your first test." Solaris quickly lost his resolve, already beginning his first trial this early. "To test your skills, you must defeat us spirits. If you can defeat the six of us, then you will pass and receive one of five pieces of equipment to help aid your power. If you fall, then you are not truly ready to take down the tyrant." Magic's eyes glowed brightly, as well as the other spirits around the alicorn, the spirits crouching low as they prepared to fight. "Your test begins now."

Solaris was too slow to react, being struck from behind by Loyalty, moving just as fast as Rainbow Dash. Recovering from the sneak attack, he turned to face the red spirit, only to get shot at by a beam of magic coming from Generosity. Being his first actual experience in combat, it was difficult for him to win if he was getting smacked around by several opponents at once. Trying to get his bearings, he felt a pair of forelegs wrapping around his waist, hoisted up into the air by Laughter. He was thrust to the ground headfirst, suplexed hard and seeing stars.

Feeling his tail being grabbed, Honesty dragged him across the ground, spinning him around with incredible strength, screaming as his vision was a blur. The spirit let go, flying straight into Kindness, who reared back and bucked Solaris in the chin, sending him soaring high into the air. Before he was able to right himself back up, Loyalty can swooping in, speeding past him rapidly and landing several hits on him. He soon hit the ceiling of the cave, groaning in pain. He soon lost his breath as Laughter bounced up toward him at light speed, punching him hard in the stomach. The blue spirit stood on the ceiling, as random as his aunt Pinkie, pulling him out of the hole that left an imprint of his body.

It dropped him, unable to move due to the pain of trying to breathe, falling straight down to the other three Elements fighting him, Magic standing near the tree and watching the battle unfold. Solaris hit the ground hard, bouncing off the cavern floor, receiving a three way buck from Generosity, Kindness, and Honesty, the latter of the three's knocking the wind out of him even further. Loyalty came diving in, slamming down on the alicorn and began repeatedly punched the stallion in the face. He tried to block the barrage of blows with his forelegs, trying to find some way to break out of the onslaught of attacks being thrown at him.

He found an opening as Loyalty wound up its hoof for another hit, blocking it before he was hit again. Before he could get the opportunity to fight back, he was dragged across the ground by his tail again, kicked in the gut once again, feeling himself being lifted up by Kindness and Generosity. As soon as he was able to squint his eyes, he saw the barrel of an ethereal cannon, glowing the same colored light as Laughter's. He winced, hearing the cannon fire, being flung far from the powerful blast, slamming his back hard into the wall.

Groaning, he slid down, flopping on the floor, his body covered in bruises. He struggled to breathe, feeling like he ribs had been broken or cracked, especially after the magical party cannon blasting point blank at his chest. Solaris shakily got up, clutching his chest, looking up as the spirits were prepared to give him another beating.

"It seems as though you aren't really ready after all." Magic shook her head, sounding disappointed. "I'm surprised you're still conscious. It's a start, but it's not enough if you have to face several opponents. It seems like you failed."

Magic pointed her hoof, commanding the rest of the Element Spirits to charge at the injured alicorn. Solaris couldn't give up. He didn't want to fail. His family was counting on him. All of Equestria. The whole world. The fire in his gut began to form, but instead of expelling it from his mouth, he willed it to his forehooves. As they closed in on him, the stallion reared up, green flames appearing in his hooves, slamming down hard and creating a wall of fire. He punched the wall, sending the flames flying toward them, catching them on fire as they tried to put themselves out.

The lavender spirit's eyes grew in shock, not expecting Solaris to wield fire. As the flames blocking her view of him died down, he was on his hind legs, forehooves covered in green fire. He got his second wind back, finally, flaring out his wings and slamming his hooves together, sending green sparks flying around him.

"I'm not done yet." Bringing his hooves up in a boxing stance, he was ready to finally fight back, determination shining in his eyes. "I'm not giving up! Come on!"

After the five combating spirits doused out the fire on their ethereal bodies, they rushed at the alicorn yet again. Solaris was ready this time. Loyalty reached him first, flying at a fast pace and prepared to punch him. He gave the red spirit an uppercut, a deafening crunch echoing in the cave as he hit it in the chin, sending it soaring faster than he had earlier, slamming far into the ceiling. The other spirits hesitated, surprised to see how much power he was holding back.

While distracted, Solaris punched at them, sending waves of fire at them. Generosity and Kindness were unlucky enough to get hit, but Laughter and Honesty nearly avoided getting struck by the green fireballs. Laughter teleported behind the stallion, using Pinkie's usual logic breaking skills, wrapping its hooves around him again. This time, he didn't give the spirit a chance to throw him again. Solaris grabbed the spirit by the neck, his flaming hooves causing it to remove its grip around him, leaping into the air while flipping rapidly. After gaining enough momentum, he threw the blue spirit down to the ground, shooting out another barrage of fireballs raining down on them.

Loyalty dug itself out of the crater it made as it was flung into the air, rubbing its jaw as it looked down at the hovering stallion. Thinking he was distracted, it flew down, ramming into him and sending them into a nosedive to the ground. Solaris shot a burst of fire out of his hooves, flipping them around as they hit the ground, his body landing down hard on the pegasus spirit's body, shattering it to magical pieces.

He flipped up on his hooves, inches away from having Kindness try to stomp on him while he was down. Solaris leapt in the air, shooting out a burst of flames out of his hind hooves, flying at the pink spirit and repeatedly punching it as he sent it soaring across the ground. It hit the wall, shattering to pieces after another fire-filled punch straight through its head.

Generosity began shooting more beams of magic at him, the alicorn quickly dodging each shot as he charged at it next. He even punched through the beams, the flames on his hooves destroying the magic before it got through to him. He skidded to a halt, his front hooves shooting sparks across the ground, standing on his hind legs as he guided the growing flames around him. It built up in his forehooves, and with a thrust of his hoof, he shot a blaze of green fire in the shape of a dragon serpent's head. The flame roared like a real dragon, snapping its jaws down on the unfortunate spirit, the sound of it shattering echoing all around him.

Solaris turned to the remaining two spirits, Laughter and Honesty seeming a bit worried, though it was hard to tell when they didn't have a face to make expressions. They nodded to each other, rushing at the alicorn at once, flanking him on different sides. They began using hoof-to-hoof combat, but he was able to block and dodge each punch and kick they threw at him. With any openings they left, Solaris knocked them back and dealt with the other, switching back and forth until both spirits punched him at the same time.

He ducked, their hooves hitting each other's, quickly grabbing their forelegs and snapping them down to the ground. He picked up Laughter, punching the blue spirit multiple times in the abdomen, creating cracks in its ethereal body. With one swift kick, he shattered the spirit into nothingness. Solaris then turned his sights on Honesty, avoiding an attempted sneak attack, grabbing the orange spirit's hoof. He dragged it toward him, repeatedly punching it hard in the face, followed by a knee to the gut. As it doubled over, the alicorn breathed out a powerful blast of fire, incinerating the ethereal earth pony until its body shattered under the heat.

After dealing with the five spirits that had been attacking him, he turned to face Magic, having not lifted a hoof or done anything to help her fellow Elements. Magic was still in shock, staring at where the others had been before being destroyed.

"...Dragon fire..." Magic said, slowly snapping out of her stupor. "How intriguing."

"Thanks to my uncle, I believe." Solaris rubbed his flaming hooves together, slowly building up a large fireball. "I really don't know how I received his fire, but if this is a last minute gift from him before he died, then I'll make sure it doesn't go to waste!"

Keeping the massive fireball hovering in the air, Solaris thrust both his hooves forward, sending it flying toward Magic. The spirit's horn glowed, summoning a large ice wall, blocking the fireball and shattering the wall to pieces. Thrusting her own hoof forward, she sent the large shards of ice hurtling toward the alicorn. He punched through each one, shattering them into tinier pieces or melting under his flaming hooves.

He flew straight for Magic, dodging lightning strikes raining from above him and more icicles flying toward him. The ethereal alicorn began to panic as Solaris got closer, erratically shooting every single elemental offensive spell at him, only to be avoided or punched through. Before she could attempt to teleport away, he grabbed her horn, swiftly punching her in the muzzle, dispelling any spell she was about to shoot. She was unable to escape, her body struck with a barrage of hooves, punching and kicking her, making her stagger backward with each blow.

A heavy kick to the stomach caused the spirit to gasp, doubling over in pain, her body slowly cracking apart. Solaris rushed again, rearing his hoof back and prepared to finish Magic off. His body began glowing, a bright light forming in his hoof, changing the green fire into a bright white. There was even a light flashing on his flanks, brightening the dimly lit cavern even further. His hoof made contact with the spirit's face as she looked up, but as the sound of her body shattered, she didn't disappear like the others. Her body flew into the Tree of Harmony, grunting as she hit it, slowly sliding down the trunk of the crystalline tree.

Solaris stood where he was, utterly confused when he saw Magic was still whole, but the light around her disappeared. Looking down at his hoof, he noticed the change of the flame's hue was brighter and filled with light. It changed back to green, disappearing as he relaxed his fire. He looked back at Magic, hearing her groan, leaning against the tree for support.

"C-Congratulations, Solaris," she said. She got up on her hooves, slowly lifting her head up. Solaris gasped, his eyes glued to Magic's new look. She was a lavender alicorn, her mane dark purple with a pink streak running down the middle, her tail similar to her hair. He saw her cutie mark, a large purple star with five smaller white stars around it. Her eyes opened, revealing her lavender eyes, a smile on her face when she looked at him. There was also a gold halo hovering over her head, always floating level with the top of her head. Magic wasn't a spiritual entity of the Element of Magic, it was actually Solaris's mother, Twilight Sparkle. "You passed your first test."

Chapter 5: Family Reunion

Solaris just stood there, frozen in shock, jaw dropped, staring at his mother. He knew what she looked like, always keeping a picture of him with her as a newborn in his room back in the cave he grew up in. After only just receiving news a couple days ago that she was already dead was bad enough, but now there she was, standing before her, smiling at him like she was proud of an accomplishment he made on his own. He was speechless, dumbfounded, confused, happy, angry, baffled, and so on, his brain hurting from the unbelievable circumstance of seeing his dead mother was alive.

The alicorn slapped himself in the face, wincing as he made the bruises on his face worsen. She was still there, so he wasn't dreaming, or maybe he was having a dream, but it was so lucid that pain did exist and his subconscious is messing with him. Twilight knew her son was really confused, understanding his reasons. While he was still trying to "wake up", she walked up to him, hoping he could give him the answers he needs.

"Solaris, are you ok?" she asked.

"Ok? OK!? AM I OK!?" Solaris shouted, his emotions cluttering with his head, forcing him to go into another panic attack. "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?"

"Solaris, calm down." Twilight gently pulled her son into a hug, gently easing him to keep him from hyperventilating. Solaris's head rested against her chest, hearing her heartbeat, really alive despite having the halo over her head. "It's ok. It's really me."

He began to calm down, his ears twitching in time with her beating heart. He read that foals were always calm when they hear the sound of their mother's heartbeat, but he remembered how it felt and sounded after fifteen years. It was like he was a foal again, being held in her hooves, sleeping soundly as his little head was resting against her soft chest, her heartbeat a calming metronome. Tears welled up in his eyes, finally believing that this was real, his mother was actually holding him, comforting him. He wrapped his hooves around her, burying his face in her chest as his tears fell, never wanting to let her go.

They stayed like this for a while, neither wanting to let this moment end. Twilight, unfortunately, had to, gently pulling him away.

"You've grown so much, sweetheart," she said, gently drying Solaris's tears away. "And you're really strong."

"I-I can't believe it's really you, mom," Solaris said. "I never thought I would ever see you." He looked up at his mother, his eyes resting on the halo floating above her. His heart sank when he realized that it was a once in a lifetime chance with the golden ring reminding him she was dead. "...And after this, I'll never see you again."

"I'm really sorry, Solaris." Twilight gently draped a wing around the teen, gently leading him back to the Tree of Harmony. "I know you have a lot of questions, but I can't answer every single one. I don't have much time left before I have to go back to Paradise."

"Oh..." Solaris said, already knowing this meeting wouldn't last for long.

"Spike had told me a few hours ago what had happened to him." Solaris tensed up, feeling guilty for the horrible event that had taken place. Knowing his uncle was up there and spoke to his mother made him feel like a terrible nephew. "Don't worry. He's not mad at you. After watching you from above for so many years, I blame myself for not being there for you. If you had found out what happened to me when you were little, you might have suffered a very dangerous magical surge from your overwhelmed emotions, possibly killing yourself with the power you have inside you.

"I really wanted to help you, but I only had one chance to come back, and it was to prove your strength in your first test. It's a rare privilege to have this opportunity for those who have died or passed on: a physical body, to become as young as they wish to be, even holding the same magical or physical strength they had when they were alive, all on a very strict time limit." They both sat in front of the tree, Twilight looking up at the halo above her. "Kind of makes it obvious for anyone who sees me and catch this to know that I'm some kind of angel sent from the heavens."

"Do you always have that?" Solaris asked.

"Yeah." Twilight moved her head around, the halo still hovering a couple inches over her and moving along with her. "You get used to it after a while. I still can't believe how strongly you fought. And using fire inherited by Spike? It's exactly how dragons raised by ponies can inherit magical properties in time, but in reverse."

"But, he didn't inherit anything to me," Solaris said. "After he transported me to the Everfree Forest, I just...somehow breathed fire."

"Being an alicorn, you could learn magic a lot more quickly than a regular unicorn," Twilight explained. "Like when you manipulated your new fire into your hooves, you learn how to use it quickly, even without much knowledge of your new skills. After being transported, the magic within Spike's fire must have been absorbed into your body, which I had to scold him on because he had never transported anything alive."

"...That explains why." Solaris rubbed his stomach, still finding it weird he could always feel it in his gut when he needed to use it. "Not sure I want to eat anything spicy for a long while."

Twilight laughed, rustling Solaris's mane. Solaris would eventually get used to his new fire abilities in time, along with this strange light power he randomly used twice in one day.

"Now, I think it's time I give you something for succeeding against my trial." Twilight pressed her hoof against the Tree of Harmony, her horn glowing as she fired a beam of magic into the Element of Harmony, causing it and the rest of the Elements to glow. They each shot out a beam of magic at Solaris, the teen shutting his eyes as the light grew too intense to see. As soon as the lights dimmed down, he felt something odd around his hooves. When he opened them, his eyes widened as he was now wearing a pair of gold gauntlets on his forehooves. "These special gauntlets will help increase your fighting strength, completely indestructible and able to block any weapon or spell that comes your way."

Solaris examined his new armor, feeling really comfortable to wear and not as heavy as he expected. Circling around the gauntlets, they each had three gems colored exactly like the Elements of Harmony: red, blue, and purple on the left, pink, orange, and lavender on the right. He could even feel his strength increasing as he wore them. Deciding to test it out, he aimed away from the tree and Twilight, thrusting his fist out to shoot a burst of fire. This one was a lot more powerful and spread out wider, nearly knocking him back a bit at the force it unleashed.

"Whoa..." Solaris stretched out his leg, almost feeling it pop off his shoulder after testing it out. "I better train with these for a while."

Twilight's ears perked up, looking up at her halo, which began to blink. She knew what it meant, knowing Solaris wouldn't like it.

"Solaris, my time is almost up," she said.

"What?" Solaris turned to face his mother, unaware of the blinking halo. "Now? But I don't want you to leave yet! There's so many things I want to ask!"

"I know, hon. I did tell you that I wouldn't have enough time." Solaris immediately rammed into Twilight, wrapping his hooves around her tightly. She wrapped hers around him, nuzzling his head, feeling his tears staining her coat again. "I know you don't want me to leave you again, but I don't have a choice."

"I don't know what to do, mom." His grip tightened, afraid to lose her. "I can't do this by myself."

"You're not alone." Twilight gently kissed Solaris's forehead, pulling him closer. Tears began to fall from her eyes, but they were of sadness, not happiness. "My friends will help you on your journey. But remember what I said earlier, Solaris; after each trial you complete, you will suffer." She held him tighter, knowing his life would be more tragic than it has today. "You will have to live through the pain you will experience, but always remember that you mustn't give up hope. You must keep fighting, no matter what the cost. Do you understand?"

Solaris nodded into his mother's chest, feeling her body slowly begin to disappear. "I understand, mom. I'll do everything I can to stop Lucifer and avenge you, the princesses, and Uncle Spike."

"Thank you." Twilight could see her hooves begin to disappear, begging for a few more seconds to say goodbye to her child. "I love you so much, Solaris."

"I love you too, mom." Solaris felt his hooves slip as Twilight grew intangible to feel her body, looking at her in sadness as she began to float up into the air.

"Remember, I'll always be watching over you, my little foal." Twilight was barely able to be seen, her body being engulfed by light. "Goodbye."

The light had finally consumed her, the orb flying up until it phased through the cavern's ceiling, the lavender alicorn returning back to the heavens above, where she belongs. Solaris stared at where the orb disappeared to, leaving him along with the Tree of Harmony. He felt he had finally gotten some closure with his mother, even if it was for a short amount of time.

"Goodbye..." He wiped away his tears, feeling confident enough to fulfill his destiny, brave enough to complete his remaining tests and save Equestria. "I'll make you proud, mom. I won't let you, my family, and all of Equestria down."

Solaris headed back to the campsite, feeling very exhausted and still very tired. The sun hadn't come up yet, still very early in the morning, and he couldn't wait to get back to sleep. As he approached the tent, he could hear Trill still snoring away inside, quietly entering and laying down in his spot. He took off his gauntlets, laying them beside his saddlebags. As soon as he laid his head down, he immediately fell to sleep, really fatigued after fighting five apparitions of his aunts and his mother.

Canterlot Castle was a lot more dreary and terrifying when one walks through the halls inside. One might think it's a sort of theme, always Nightmare Night every single day, but the castle is littered with the corpses of those who attempted to assassinate Lucifer, the disturbing stench of blood permeating the air, and a chilling air that would make anypony without a weak heart want to flee from possible poltergeists of the king's victims. Only the Shadow Knights were brave enough to walk through the corridors, already used to the horrid smell and not caring about a soul, especially the youngest of the bunch.

One such mercenary walked through these halls, looking at the bodies littered everywhere, wishing that the place could be tidied a little bit. At least his helmet was able to filter clean air if he was ever in a room filled with smoke or poisonous fumes. Zero made his way to the throne room, finding his ruler sitting upon his royal seat, swirling a goblet of red wine in his aura, staring out at nothing. The mercenary approached the king, bowing before him.

"Your Highness, more unfortunate news from Cloudsdale." The soldier stood up, getting a better look at Lucifer, more specifically, his face. It was swollen, the bruise hidden underneath his dark fur. "...Uhh, pardon my asking, but what happened to you, sire?"

"I fell down a flight of stairs," Lucifer said in a sarcastic tone. He growled, taking a swig of his beverage. "I can't believe I was right."

"Sir?" Zero asked.

"The alicorn...I found him." The tyrant touched his cheek, seething in rage as he was actually struck for the first time since his reawakening. "That dragon of Sparkle's actually was hiding him, but in an ironic twist, this so called hero of Equestria is actually a foal!" He took another large gulp of his wine, some of it spilling out from his chin, not caring of the mess he made. "A child! I was expecting a mighty warrior, but no! It was a teenage colt! And somehow, where others have failed to lay a hoof on me, he managed to punch through my barrier and INJURE ME!"

He threw the goblet at Zero, quickly moving his head aside as the golden and regal cup flew past, clattering to the floor behind him. He stared at the enraged king through his visor, waiting until he calmed down in order to speak.

"So, your enemy is...a child..." Zero said, bewildered. "...I'm sorry, but are you sure you aren't intoxicated this morning, Your Highness?"

"My dark magic keeps me from suffering any ailments, excluding sleep. But I can't knowing that I was actually hit by a child!" Lucifer rubbed his head, growing more aggravated knowing his enemy was still out there. "Whatever that dragon did to him, he transported the alicorn somewhere, with MAGIC FIRE! Since when could dragons use teleportation magic through their fire breath!? They only incinerate their prey, becoming their roasted morsels for an afternoon snack!"

"Maybe dragons can adapt to the environment around them," Zero said. "I'm no expert, but some dragons who could breath ice instead of fire survived out in the coldest regions of the land. It makes it easier for them to live in the habitat they survive in, learning from their instincts and honing it as a special and unique ability unlike other dragons."

With this bit of information given to him, Lucifer just stared dumbly at his right hoof soldier for a moment, slapping himself in the face upon realization. "And because the dragon was raised by ponies...That explains everything." He sneered, wishing he knew this information beforehand. "If ponies weren't such sniveling cowards and got some research accomplished on dragons aside from 'big, scary, and dangerous', then I would have killed them both before he saved that little whelp! And what's worse, I can't track magical dragon fire, because it's a magic I have not even known about!"

"Dragons are indeed a hard subject to study," Zero said. "Those brave enough to try don't make it out alive."

Lucifer sighed, greatly annoyed at how cowardly their kind was. "Can today get any worse?"

The doors to the throne room opened, both stallions hearing somepony panting heavily, poking his head out as he was in an all out panic.

"Y-Your Highness! W-We have a problem!" he said, freaked out about something.

"I do not wish to be disturbed!" Lucifer shouted. "If it's a rebellion in the city, deal with it yourself!"

"N-No! There's a mare invading the castle! She's gone on a rampage! We can't-" The soldier gasped, struggling to keep his hold on the door. "No! NO! No please!"

Zero and Lucifer looked at each other in confusion, hearing the guard's cries for help as the doors closed. The screaming suddenly stopped, nothing but silence outside the halls. The doors slowly opened, a pony's silhouette standing in the dark corridor. The pony's horn glowed a blue aura, throwing something into the throne room, which happened to be the head of the soldier who tried to warn them of the intruder, rolling along until it stopped at Zero's hooves.

"You..." The pony walked into the throne room, the dim lighting revealing herself. It was Rarity, and she was far from sane. Her mane and tail were a frazzled mess, blood staining her hair and body, not even fazed at how much blood was on her. Her eyes were red with rage and puffy from crying, tears still rolling down her face, her black mascara ruining her face, but she didn't care. She was really mad, carrying a butcher knife in her mouth, coated with blood from the soldiers she slayed to reach the throne room. Grabbing the sharp cutting tool with her magic, she growled, pointing the knife at Lucifer. "You killed my Spikey-wikey..."

"...I guess not." Lucifer stood up from his throne, stepping down until he stood next to Zero. The mercenary was ready to attack, only to be stopped by the dark unicorn. "Stand down, Zero. I need to vent off some steam."

The hired soldier stood down, though stayed wary in case Rarity would try anything.

"You have gone too far. You killed the princesses, you killed one of my friends, and you killed the dragon who had feelings for me, one of the most gentlest of creatures you could never be! I'LL DESTROY YOU!" Rarity threw the knife at Lucifer, only to catch the flung utensil in his magic.

"'Feelings'?" Lucifer questioned, eyeing the knife as Rarity seethed in rage. "A dragon in love with a pony? And vice versa? How pathetic." The crazed mare's ear twitched, growling louder at the insult. "Your little dragon friend was hiding a pony who was supposed to be my mortal foe. He even helped him escape, giving me no choice but to kill him."

Rarity screamed, blinded by her anger as she charged at him. As she was about to run through him and stab him with her horn, he stopped the mare with his hoof, smacking her face down to the marble floor. Completely dazed and immobile, Lucifer lifted the mare up with his magic, keeping her still in his aura.

"Y-You-" Rarity said, quickly silencing herself as she felt the edge of her knife press against her neck.

"Just how low has our society gotten after a thousand years?" Lucifer circled the immobilized mare, ignoring the spiteful glare she gave him despite her predicament. "From all the news I've brushed up on for the last decade, I'm really surprised that things have changed this much. I mean, interspecies relationships, all these wars that Celestia had been involved in because of her benevolent leadership, and learning how simpleminded the nobles in this day and age act like they have power. Everything seems to go topsy-turvy, even without Discord trying to create this kind of chaos.

"Even when some of you finally decide to grow a pair, it's only to stop me. Where was that drive when it came to Sombra? Nightmare Moon? Nowhere." He dragged the knife down her shoulder, leaving a light cut, Rarity not even flinching at the pain. "And the princesses you all so dearly worship? What exactly have they truly done to save this kingdom from disaster, WITHOUT using the Elements of Harmony? Absolutely nothing!

"Alicorns are known to be the most powerful pony of us all, but they aren't gods. They show they have incredible magic power, strength the likes of no earth pony would ever have, and the biggest of wingspans that make any pegasus jealous out of awe. Celestia and Luna only delayed the inevitable: Trapping Sombra in shadows, only to return a millenium later, turning Discord to stone with the Elements of Harmony, yet again unleashing his power after a thousand years, and Nightmare Moon, Celestia's own sister, banished to the moon for the same amount of time.

"And who was it that finally managed to stop them once and for all?" Lucifer asked, still receiving the death stare from Rarity. "Of course you know the answer. You, Sparkle, and the rest of your little group of friends did the deed for Celestia, while all she did was sit on her plot, using the six of you as her pawns to protect this kingdom, claiming she was the savior of all ponykind."

"Y-You're lieing." Lucifer looked up at Rarity, smirking as his words irritated her further. "She did not use us. We were destined to be the Elements of Harmony. And she did fight back before, against the changeling invasion during the royal wedding!"

"And she failed that too!" Lucifer stabbed the knife through one of Rarity's legs, making her yell out in pain as he dug the knife deep inside her. "She 'tried' to stop them, but was immediately beaten by the queen in charge of the invasion! I've read the articles released back then on the invasion, and Celestia's own personal entries on the matter, and she was easily thwarted by a giant insect!" He quickly pulled the knife out, watching her writhe as blood spilled out from her wound. "All powerful ruler, my tail. Beaten by a bug. How pathetic is that!?

"Like I said before, alicorns are not as powerful as you might think. They couldn't even stand up to me when they were known to be powerful enough to move the sun and moon, a giant star and a large mass of a meteor, heavier than the mountains standing on this planet! My dark magic was enough to kill them, far more powerful than their own 'enhanced' magic, not even laying a scratch on me! Sparkle just stood there and watched as I killed our mentor and her little sister, too scared of me to fight back." Lucifer pulled Rarity's face closer to his, forcing her to look into his eyes. "Alicorns. Are not. Powerful. They are just figureheads."

"...Then what about what happened to you?" The king's eyes widened as Rarity grinned. "You were struck by an alicorn, were you not? So much for just being a figurehead, especially if he is only a teenager."

"...What?" He backed away, seeing Rarity was slightly calm, mocking him with the smirk on her face. "...You knew about that brat?"

"Indeed. My friends and I had known, since he was the foal who is destined to save us all from you." The mare began to laugh, watching Lucifer grow more furious with each word she spoke. "Twilight told us about her vision. You're going to die horribly, and by the 'brat' you claim he is. Once he's truly ready, you won't stand a chance. If he was able to injure you, then he can kill you."

"Silence!" Lucifer shouted, waving the knife at the smug unicorn.

"We won't let anything happen to him. You'll have to get through us before you can get to Solaris!" Rarity said.

"...That can be arranged." Lucifer quickly slashed the butcher knife across Rarity's neck, blood spurting out as she began struggling to breathe. She let out gargled noises, her sliced open esophagus pouring blood into her lungs. She began to grow limp, suffocating from the fatal wound, slowly dying in one of the quickest ways possible. Lucifer dropped the unicorn, along with the knife, staring at her corpse. "...Solaris is his name, hmm? Well, he won't succeed. Zero."

"Yes, Your Highness?" Zero bowed, having watched the entire ordeal from a distance.

"Send this 'garbage' back to Ponyville. Tell them this is a message from me. If they so much as assist the alicorn, know that death will come to them faster than they can blink." Lucifer headed out of the throne room, back to his quarters after letting out a little of his anger out on something. "I'll be retiring to my quarters."

"Yes, Your Highness." Zero approached Rarity's body, staring at the mare's lifeless eyes. Her gently moved his hoof over her eyes, closing them in respect for her unfortunate death. He levitated her body on his back and headed off to Ponyville on hoof. "The other Elements won't be happy when they see this."

Chapter 6: The Journey Begins

"What do you mean Rarity isn't here!?" Rainbow shouted as she and the others arrived at Carousel Boutique to check on the fashionista.

It was early in the morning, the sun slowly beginning its ascent into the sky. Applejack, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Pinkie agreed to let Rarity take some time to recover after her breakdown seeing Spike's body. They gave the dragon a proper burial last night, leaving the grieving unicorn with her sister, Sweetie Belle, back at her home. The young singer was back after a tour she was on for the past couple months, hoping to have at least made it back for Solaris's birthday, but was a bit too late. Sweetie's cutie mark was a shield just like Apple Bloom's, only hers has a star in the center and a music note in the star.

"That's just it," Sweetie explained, just as confused as the others. "She was in her room crying last night, and she seemed to have calmed down. But when I got up to put Gemstone back to bed after waking up from a nightmare, she wasn't there. No note or anything."

As the others began to worry where their friend ran off to, Sweetie Belle's coltfriend, a brown earth pony stallion with an auburn mane and tail, his cutie mark a game pad, walked into the living room from the kitchen, carrying some tea for them. He was really tired, not much of a morning pony.

"Maybe your sister went off to the mountains to search for gems?" the stallion said, suppressing a yawn as he sat next to Sweetie Belle. "You know how she is with those designs of hers. Gotta have gems on everything, even on dish towels."

"She wouldn't just go out gem hunting early in the morning without leaving a note, Button," Sweetie said. "Besides, she always wakes up at nine in the morning. She never goes a day without her proper beauty sleep."

A moment later, they heard a knock on the door to the boutique. Sweetie Belle got up to check on who it was at this hour, leaving the others to their warm tea and fears for Rarity. They all soon heard her shriek, quickly getting up to see her hyperventilating, tears streaming down her cheeks as she freaked out about something. Button ran up to her to comfort her, wondering what had shocked her. At the front door, the four Elements of Harmony gasped when they saw the mercenary, Zero, standing there. They saw the mysterious hired soldier a few times when Lucifer stopped by Ponyville to instill fear into everypony in town. Just from his armor and hidden features, they figured he was just as dangerous as the unicorn tyrant he worked for.

"His Highness, King Lucifer, has a message for you all." Using his magic, his aura masked by his enchanted helmet, he levitated Rarity's body off his back. They all gasped in horror, seeing her body stained with blood, along with her slit throat. "She tried to attack the king early this morning. He says this will be your fate if any of you help the alicorn who escaped from him."

Sweetie Belle began sobbing, clutching her coltfriend tightly, who tried to calm her down. While Fluttershy and Pinkie were in tears, unable to look at Rarity's corpse, Applejack and Rainbow were absolutely furious, mostly the latter of the two.

"You son of a-" Rainbow charged at Lucifer's right hoof soldier, but as she was about to punch him, she was punched hard in the abdomen, knocking the wind out of her.

"I didn't come here to cause trouble," Zero said. Rainbow tried to attack him again, only to be flipped over on her back, his hoof slamming down on her chest, keeping her from getting up. "I'm just following orders. She came to Canterlot and tried to kill Lucifer. I had nothing to do with her death. So I suggest you calm down before you regret your decision to strike me again."

He slowly removed his hoof, making sure Rainbow Dash wouldn't try to attack him for the third time. She thankfully held back, but still kept her hateful glare on the mysterious stallion. After delivering his message, Zero teleported back to Canterlot, leaving the others behind with the body of another lost friend.

It didn't take them long to give Rarity a proper burial, laying her to rest next to Spike's in Ponyville's cemetery. This news was going to be really hard to explain to Gemstone, or even Rarity's husband, who was off on a business trip for the next few months. Now they lost three of their closest friends to Lucifer, their bond as the Elements threatening to break at a moment's notice. After leaving Sweetie Belle to her grieving, they headed off to their homes, grabbed their saddlebags and filled it with supplies for their long trip, meeting up at the entrance to the Everfree Forest.

"We need to end this now," Rainbow said, still miffed after getting beaten by Zero.

"How are we going to tell this to Solaris?" asked Fluttershy.

"Ah don't know..." Applejack looked toward the wild forest the Elements have gone through countless times, hoping that Solaris was still waiting for them after a whole day. "He's old enough to understand, but losin' three of his family...He ain't gonna be happy to know Rarity's gone."

"Let's go," Rainbow said as she began to walk into the Everfree. "I'm not going to lose anymore of my friends. Lucifer is going down."

Applejack, Pinkie, and Fluttershy nodded, following the cyan pegasus as they walked down the path to the ruins for the umpteenth time, no longer afraid of the dangers lurking inside. The only danger they fear is Lucifer's tyranny and black magic.

Deep in the Everfree Forest, sunlight began to shine through the canopy of endlessly overgrown trees, though only a few rays of sunshine managed to peek through the small gaps. Inside of the tent in the ruins of the castle, Solaris and Trill were still sound asleep. The disguised changeling began to open her eyes, still feeling groggy after the excitement meeting Solaris and chatting up a storm last night. As she tried to stretch her limbs, she felt she could barely move them.

Looking down at herself, Trill saw a pair of white forelegs wrapped around her chest. The only other pony with her was Solaris, and she could feel the stallion's chest against her back. He was still asleep by the sound of his calm breathing, pulling her closer to him, snuggling her like he was holding a stuffed animal. She had to suppress her snickering, not wanting to let a hilarious opportunity like this to be wasted for a little joke.

Carefully, she wriggled herself around until she was facing him, making sure he didn't wake up for her prank to work. After getting herself in position, she wrapped her forelegs around Solaris, hearing him mutter something in his sleep. As she got a look at his face, Trill noticed he had some bruises on his face. Figuring she could ask him how he got those later, she went back to her fun little plan to shock him, gently pressing her muzzle against his. His eyes fluttered open at the sudden touch, squinting his eyes as he stared into the princess's emerald irises.

"Good morning," Trill said, fluttering her eyelashes in a sultry manner.

"GAH!" Solaris screamed, scrambling away from Trill as she began laughing uproariously. His face brightened in embarrassment, wanting desperately to toss the changeling out into the forest. "What were you gonna do to me!?"

"Nothing!" Trill said, trying to calm herself as she clutched her ribs. "That was so perfect!"

"I said no more pranks!" Solaris said, grabbing his stuff from inside the tent and exiting.

"Oh come on!" Trill poked her head out of the flap. "It wasn't my fault you wanted to cuddle with me."

"I did not do that!" Solaris denied.

"You had your hooves wrapped around me," said Trill, smirking at the flustered alicorn. "Did anypony ever tell you that you look cute when you sleep? I wanted to just squish your cheeks."

Solaris blushed even harder, his entire head as red as a tomato. Using his magic, he shoved Trill back inside the tent, making her yelp, nearly flipping the tent over.

"I've only known you for a day and you're already getting on my nerves." Solaris put on his new gauntlets, still feeling sore after last night's intense trial. "I'm not going to fall for anymore of your traps."

"Well, you were the one who wanted to snuggle with me." Trill managed to free herself from the tent, but as she looked at the alicorn, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped when she stared at his flanks.

"It was you who was snuggling with me! I was sleeping on my side of the tent, and you were about to kiss me!" Solaris said, his blush coming back as the thought of kissing a mare was nerve inducing. He even hated to admit it, but for a changeling, he found her to be quite a sight compared to any of his aunts: cute, a little funny when she wasn't messing around with him, and her eyes were entrancing to stare into. He turned around to face Trill, seeing her standing there slack-jawed. "...What?"

"...I was gonna ask how you got the bruises, and those gold gauntlets," she said, pointing her hoof at his flanks. "But when in Equestria did you get your cutie mark? You didn't have anything on there last night."

"Huh?" Confused, Solaris looked down at his flanks. His eyes widened when he saw his cutie mark, having no clue when he had gotten it. It was a rising sun with half of his mother's lavender star cutie mark in the center of the yellow circle, the six orange rays each holding a white star inside. The teen was speechless, spinning around to try and get a better look. "W-What...? How did I-?"

"Wow." Trill got closer to Solaris, getting a closer look at his cutie mark. "Wonder what it means."

Solaris quickly covered his cutie mark with his tail, leering at the disguised changeling.

"What did I tell you about personal space!?" he shouted, his hooves sparking green as he prepared to summon his flaming hooves.

"It's not like I was gonna look at anything else!" Trill said. "Then again-"

"Trill, I swear to the makers above, stop being so perverted!" Solaris yelled, his eye twitching as his nostrils expelled flames.

Trill backed away, chuckling nervously, remembering not to keep striking a nerve with Solaris. "Y-you need to learn to take a joke. You'll really act like a cavepony if you decide to just go all smash happy at the drop of a hat."

"Gee. I wonder why I act like one," Solaris said, glaring at the mare. After making sure Trill wouldn't try anything funny again, he took the tent down and stuffed it in his saddlebags. He pulled the map out, looking at the marks in the other four other regions, mentally crossing the one in the Everfree Forest off. "Ok, I think I get what these marks mean."

"On the map or your flanks?" Trill asked.

"Ignoring that last part." Solaris turned the map around for Trill to see. "The one in the Everfree Forest, where we're in right now, is where one of the five locations where I have to take these trials my mother had set up for me. Which answers your question as to how I got so banged up."

"Ah. I thought it was because you fell down a flight of stairs." Solaris raised an eyebrow as Trill's assumption didn't match the hoof shaped bruises on his body. "Well, this castle does have stairs."

Solaris sighed, questioning what level of education the changeling actually has with her childish logic. "Well, no. After I won, I was given these gauntlets by my mother, which gives me a little boost of strength to help me in the future." He lowered the map, but was still confused by what Twilight had said when he was supposed to suffer after completing his tests. "I still have no clue what she meant by her warning...'After passing each test, you will have to suffer and fight through the pain.' It was so vague, though..."

"...So, you saw your dead mom?" Trill asked, Solaris's confusing predicament flying past her head.

Before he could scold her for missing out the important problem with his trials, they heard a voice outside, coming from the entrance to the castle.

"Solaris! You here, buddy!?" Solaris recognized the voice coming from Rainbow Dash, catching sight of his aunts entering the castle.

"Aunt Rainbow?" Trill immediately flinched, hiding behind Solaris as the older mares spotted him.

"There he is!" Pinkie was the first to run toward him, grabbing the alicorn into a bone-crushing hug. "I'm so happy you're ok! Are you hurt!? Are you hungry!? I got plenty of food stored away for the long, long, long, loooooooooong trip!"

"Gagh! A-Aunt Pinkie! Can't...breathe...!" Pinkie realized she was crushing her nephew, dropping Solaris as he tried to catch his breath, earning more bruises from her powerful hooves. Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Applejack pulled him into a group hug, glad to see he was unharmed by any of the creatures in the Everfree. Solaris noticed there was somepony missing, no sign of Rarity with them. "Hey, where's Aunt Rarity? Is she back in town?"

The mares hesitated, not knowing if they should tell him the unfortunate news. Before one of them brought up the courage to tell Solaris, they all noticed the green unicorn mare trying to sneak away.

"Wait, who's that?" Rainbow asked, making Trill flinch as she was spotted.

"Uhh..." Solaris thought about what to say to keep Trill's identity a secret, but Applejack and her inner lie detector can easily tell if he was making up stories. He learned that the hard way when he ate all the apple fritters she had baked and brought to the cave on his sixth birthday, regretting it greatly as he got a bad tummy ache the next day. "...W-Well, umm...T-This is-"

"My name is Evergreen Forrest!" Trill said, putting on her act as she bounded up to Solaris. "I met this hunky alicorn stallion here in the Everfree Forest the other day! He saved me from a vicious group of timber wolves, smashing them to pieces with his own hooves, a feat that made me swoon and pass out from how brave and valiant he was!" She leaned her body over Solaris's back, his cheeks burning as she kept complimenting him, even though he knew that wasn't really how they met. "We hit it off so quickly, I gave him a kiss as a reward for being such a heroic stud."

"She's just a friend!" Solaris quickly bumped the dramatic changeling off his back, his heart racing as his aunts stared at them, not sure if they believed her or not. He was really hoping for the latter. "Nothing serious happened! She always makes up weird stories after she blabbed my ear off last night."

"Hey! I did not!" Solaris quickly shoved a hoof in Trill's mouth, keeping her from spewing anymore lies that could get her into more trouble.

He gave his aunts a nervous grin, hoping that his little lie wouldn't get him into trouble. It seemed to be working, though Applejack was still pretty skeptical.

"So, you two stayed out here the whole night?" Rainbow asked.

"Y-Yeah. I-I let her sleep in the tent with me last night." Solaris couldn't get rid of the blush growing on his face, making his explanation sound more awkward. "I didn't want her to sleep out on the cracked flooring...so I uhh..."

Trill moved Solaris's hoof out of her mouth, wrapping her hoof around his neck. "He liked me too much to not be a gentlecolt to a stranger like myself. You should have seen the awkward moment we had when we-"

"CAN WE PLEASE GET OUT OF THIS FOREST!?" Solaris yelled, giving Trill a deathly glare, already embarrassed enough as it is and not wanting his aunts to know of them being that close in the tent this morning.

The trek back out of the forest went by smoothly, thankfully no encounters with any of the dangerous creatures that lived inside. Solaris grew aggravated when Trill talked with his aunts, her idea of staying low and not getting caught because of her fear of being found out with four of the Elements of Harmony thrown out the window. It was worse when she kept talking about how handsome he was, and his bravery "rescuing" her from peril. She even talked about what they had discussed last night, leaving out anything involving her as a changeling, thankfully.

They finally found themselves at the entrance of the forest, making their way to Fluttershy's cottage, being the closest home nearby and far enough away from Ponyville so none of the Shadow Knights would discover Solaris's whereabouts. As they entered the cottage, Fluttershy's animals immediately flocked to her, greeting her with their chittering, chirps, squawks, etc. But as Trill entered, many of them fled to their little homes inside the abode, leering at the disguised princess, able to tell who she really was.

"Oh dear," Fluttershy said, worried about her little critter friends' reactions to "Evergreen". "I don't know why my friends are acting this way. They're usually quite friendly with new ponies."

Fluttershy's pet, a white bunny that looked like Angel, the spoiled rabbit having passed away a few years ago, and behaves almost exactly like him, approached Trill. He gave a pout, giving her the death glare, then proceeded to thump his paw against her leg.

"Heheh..." Trill laughed nervously, trying to think up something to explain their disliking her. "Animals really don't like me. I tried to help a puppy with a hurt paw, and it bit me."

"Oh." Fluttershy grabbed New Angel, keeping him away from the teenage filly. "I'm going to let him roam about outside. Angel needs some exercise anyways."

Fluttershy took the leering rabbit outside, leaving the others inside. Solaris didn't see Rarity in the cottage, and he didn't get an answer from his aunts about where she was.

"So, before...'Evergreen' was introduced, irritating me to no end..." Solaris looked at Trill, who only gave him a grin, then back to Applejack, Pinkie, and Rainbow. "Where's Aunt Rarity?"

Again, they hesitated. It was hard enough to have the unicorn run off to Canterlot and try to kill Lucifer, which would have ended in failure the instant she set hoof in the city, then having her corpse delivered to them by one of his soldiers. Just knowing if Solaris would have to hear more bad news about somepony he cares about is gone, he would either break down or lash out. He had to know the truth now, no more secrets, no more hidden information, no more lies.

"...Sugarcube..." Applejack said, being the first of them to speak up. "...Ah hate to say this, but...Early this mornin'...Rarity was killed."

Solaris felt his heart sink, staring at the depressed mares as they relived seeing Rarity's body, the sickening slit across her throat that was the cause of her death.

"W-What?" he asked, hoping that they were just pulling his leg. "What are you talking about?"

"She went up to Canterlot last night and tried to kill Lucifer," Rainbow said, glowering in anger as she mentioned the tyrant's name. "We think she lost her mind when he dropped Spike's body at all of us in town, wanting to get revenge, I guess...It was practically suicide."

Solaris was speechless, tears building up in his eyes as he was told the unfortunate news. Another member of his family was gone, and he blamed himself for both Rarity's and Spike's death. He ended up getting his uncle killed, and Rarity lost her sanity, attempting to kill a unicorn who was invulnerable to everything except for him, and getting herself killed out of losing the dragon she had secret feelings for.

Pinkie gently pulled the grieving teen into a hug, though he tried to stay strong, not wanting to fall into a major depression. After calming down slightly, Solaris looked down at his gauntlets, his reward for the completion of one of his five trials. If he wanted to keep his family safe, he needed to stop Lucifer, and he needed to get stronger.

"I won't let him hurt anypony else ever again." He gently pushed himself away from Pinkie, holding up his gauntlets. "I passed one of the five tests mom gave me back in the forest. I'll beat each one, and take Lucifer down." He set his hooves on fire, shocking Applejack, Pinkie, and Rainbow, slamming his hooves together. "It's time for me to fulfill my destiny and save Equestria."

"...Well, that's a new trick," Rainbow said, glad to know that Solaris was more mature than the other day.

"Ooh!" Pinkie pulled out a stick with several marshmallows stuck through it from out of nowhere, roasting them over the alicorn's hooves. Solaris wanted to question how she does the things she does, but knew never to question it out loud, watching her party loving aunt munch on the roasted marshmallows. "Instant fires for instant s'mores!"

After putting out his fire before he scared the critters inside Fluttershy's home, Solaris looked at Trill, her jaw agape at seeing Pinkie pulling out that stick from thin air.

"...How did she do that?" she asked, overwhelmed by the impossibility that was Pinkie Pie's randomness.

"You want to know, Evergreen?" Solaris asked, getting a nod from the mare. He closed her mouth for her, smirking at her shocked expression. "It's just my Aunt Pinkie."

Trill stared at him, not receiving the answer she wanted. "That doesn't help at all!"

As soon as everypony was ready to head out across Equestria for Solaris to gain more power to defeat Lucifer, the group headed off to the train station. They had to take a long trek around Ponyville, but it was worth it if it meant keeping Solaris's location a secret. It was sad to know what had happened to Rarity, but he had an important job to do.

They arrived at the station platform, Solaris staring in awe at the locomotive, awaiting passengers to board and continue on its way across the tracks laid out for it. He had to be pushed inside before the train set off, entering a private car for the six of them so no one else may bother them. As long as Solaris kept his saddlebags over his wings, others would just see him as a regular teenage unicorn, but wearing them for a long period of time would end up making his wings sore. He pulled out the map, explaining to Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy how he got the gauntlets and his mother's return from the dead for only a short while.

"Ok, so these marks on the map are where we have to go for your tests, and they're all split up in different locations," Rainbow said, pointing out to each region. "There's one out in the deserts of Saddle Arabia far to the east, which this train is luckily headed. Then the Crystal Empire to the north, Cloudsdale, which could wind up anywhere throughout Equestria, and...one out here in the wastelands?"

"Is there any town or city around there?" Solaris asked, finding no sign of a major city anywhere in the wastelands.

"I don't think so." Rainbow sighed as she looked over the map. "Your mom didn't really tell us exactly where your tests were or who would be giving them to you. She was either too cryptic or not explaining enough for us to know."

"I think the shorter term is 'vague', Aunt Rainbow," Solaris lectured.

"Hey, I'm pushing up to forty, kiddo!" the pegasus said, grabbing the stallion in a headlock and giving him a rough noogie. "I don't need you telling me what means what!"

Solaris managed to escape from the headlock, rubbing his sore head. As the train chugged along its route, the teen felt a little uncomfortable with the car lightly jumping as the wheels rolled along the tracks. He did read about trains, easily fascinated with them as a colt, but to ride on one was a different experience. At least he didn't have motion sickness, otherwise he would have been losing his lunch every ten minutes.

He sat in one of the bunks of their car, looking out the window and watching the scenery pass by, amazed at what else Equestria had in store after his fifteen years in seclusion. Part of him was excited to actually ride on a train, even though it felt like he was always in a minor earthquake, any harsh bump making him stumble and threaten to make him fall on his face or plot. Solaris watched the trees, buildings, mountains, and forests pass by, slowly beginning to relax after the past three days.

While distracted by the swiftly moving landscape, Trill sat next to him, noticing how excited he was just watching everything pass by the window. "Having fun?" she asked.

"Hmm?" Solaris turned to Trill, not even hearing her sit next to him. "Oh. I guess I am." He looked back out the window, very eager to see what each region of Equestria looked like up close compared to pictures in his books. "Have you ever been on one of these, Trill?"

"No. But I'm not the one who's acting like a foal excited about riding on a train." Trill lightly punched Solaris in his foreleg. "I still find it pretty amusing how much of a colt you actually are. You're starting to break out of your cavepony shell."

"Don't you live in a cave?" Solaris asked, still hating the status the disguised changeling gave him.

"It's a hive," Trill huffed. "There's a big difference. Just because we make our home in caverns doesn't technically make us act like caveponies."

As the two talked, they didn't notice a certain somepony eyeing them from the other side of the car. Applejack watched the two closely, mostly Trill, feeling slightly uneasy with her sudden presence in Solaris's life. Her name, Evergreen Forrest, sounded like something she made up on the fly, and the fact that Fluttershy's animal friends back in Ponyville were giving her a wary look. Even with how close they seemed, it didn't look like they were instantly best friends, and Trill's occasional flirting was bothering her.

"Applejack, what are you doing?" Applejack turned to Fluttershy, wondering what she was doing.

"Do ya think Evergreen seems a bit...odd, Fluttershy?" the farm mare asked, turning her head back to the two teens.

"Well, she does seem to be affectionate with Solaris," Fluttershy said. "She was lucky Solaris came to her rescue. Those timber wolves can really be a terrible creature to run into in the Everfree Forest."

"Then how do ya explain how she wasn't terrified of bein' in the forest?" Applejack questioned, leering at the filly, feeling her body tense when she began to flirt with Solaris again. "Ah have a bad feelin' about her. One is that she could easily manipulate Solaris, havin' no clue how to interact with anypony outside of us, and the other is that she's liein' to us."

Fluttershy gasped, unable to believe her friend would be this judgmental to somepony who didn't seem all that bad. "Applejack, she's Solaris's friend."

"Maybe so, but Ah just have a really bad feelin'..." Applejack continued watching them, feeling conflicted about her thoughts on "Evergreen". "We're gonna need to keep a close eye on her. She might be a spy from Lucifer's guards."

The older mares left the teens to themselves, Applejack being very cautious as she glanced back, watching Solaris growing annoyed with Trill's teasing. She could only hope that this journey would go smoothly and have no repercussions along the way.

Chapter 8: Desert Distrust

The next few days aboard the train were pretty uneventful for the traveling group. Trill at least managed to keep herself from being revealed, even though she kept getting looks from Applejack. To stave off their boredom, Pinkie had brought along board games, none of them having any clue how she managed to stuff them all in her bags. At least they were entertaining, even if Pinkie had kept winning them all out of sheer luck.

The locomotive had finally arrived in the desert region of Saddle Arabia, a large expanse of sand as far as the eye could see, along with the intense heat of the sun beating down on the inhabitants and animals that thrived in the hot sands. The train began to slow down to the station, right in front of the massive city bustling with many creatures from across the kingdom. Even though the Saddle Arabians were as tall as Celestia, there were some who were born Equestrian, though kept to the customs of the city's culture.

They got off the train, staring in awe at the highly populated and wondrous desert city. Though Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Applejack had seen a couple ambassadors from Saddle Arabia come to Ponyville to welcome them to Equestria, it was the first time they had ever been to the city.

"Wowee! Saddle Arabia is huge!" Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing in place as her first sight were the different restaurants and bakeries there were on the current street.

"And so is the desert." They stopped by a nearby restaurant, ordering their specialty dish as Solaris pulled out the map. He looked over the region of Saddle Arabia, finding the grand city they were in now, but the mark where his test was seemed to be out in the middle of the desert. "And according to the map, my test is somewhere out there, northwest of the city."

"Then let's find it and get a move on!" Rainbow said, feeling anxious just sitting around. "We just keep going northwest, right?"

"Aunt Rainbow, the desert is a dangerous habitat to travel in," Solaris lectured, Rainbow groaning in annoyance as he droned on. "There's no clouds that can give any rainwater, the constant heat of the sun always beating down on the hot sands. There may be some oases scattered around if we travel in certain directions, but not during the day. And traveling at night might be torturous, since it gets really cold during evening. Easier way to travel, changing up our sleeping habits so we would end up being nocturnal for a while."

"Solaris, I stopped listening as soon as you said my name," Rainbow said, already bored and stuffing her face full of the spicy cuisine of Saddle Arabia's culinary delights. "I'd rather get this over with soon before Lucifer decides to do anything worse."

"Rainbow Dash, we are not gonna wander around in a desert and die of thirst!" Applejack scolded the brash pegasus. "If we're gonna have to travel at night, then Ah can handle that."

"Urgh...Fine then." While the others ate their lunches, one of them was missing from the table. "Uhh, where did Evergreen go?"

"Here I am!" Trill pranced up to them, a pair of saddlebags filled to the brim with some souvenirs from the hidden shopping spree she went on. She pulled out a tour guide map of the region, placing it down next to Solaris's map. "I figured maybe you could get some more info on where that next test of yours is."

"Thanks. This is just what I needed." Solaris looked closely at the two maps, making detailed notes with his magic as he compared both of the maps' difference in size for the actual distance to where his test lies. It took him a while, but he finally managed to figure out exactly where his second trial was located and how far it was from Saddle Arabia. "I got it! My next test is only fifteen miles to the northeast, and judging by this tour guide map, it's in the ruins of an ancient civilization from thousands of years ago! If we leave this evening, then we just might make it there by morning."

"Wow. Guess you're not much of a cavepony if you have a huge brain," Trill complimented, or tried to compliment, Solaris's eye twitching as she called him a cavepony.

"Hang on a second," Applejack said. "How exactly did ya pay for them saddlebags?"

"Oh, I had a way," Trill said.

Applejack thought Trill might have stolen the bags and whatever else she "bought", only when the waiter brought out their check. She reached into her bags to find her bit pouch, but she only pulled out five bits, not enough for the twenty bit bill for the food.

"What in tarnation!? Ah know Ah had more than this many bits when we got off the train!" Rainbow, Pinkie, and Fluttershy checked their bags, finding their saved bits were also withered down to less than substantial for supplies. Applejack's eye twitched, leering at the disguised changeling princess. "Hey! Ya'll took our bits!"

"Well, how else was I supposed to buy this neat stuff?" Solaris facehooved as Trill just shrugged off her thievery like it was a normal thing.

"Are you serious!?" Rainbow shouted, nearly flapping out of her seat to beat the living tar out of the teen. "All of that money we had saved was meant only for supplies on our long journey, and you decided to just spend it all on stupid stuff!? What's wrong with you!?"

"What!? I left enough for the bill, right!?" Trill said, somewhat offended, but Solaris had to remind her, shoving his hoof in her mouth.

"Evergreen? Remember what I told you the other day about opening your mouth and saying something stupid?" he said rhetorically, knowing exactly what the answer was supposed to be. "Well, now I have to tell you not to do ANYTHING stupid, like spending all my aunts' bits that are only used for supplies, WHICH WE NEED TO TRAVEL IN THE DESERT!"

The ponies glared at Trill, even Fluttershy was angry with her. There was nothing she could have done to make it up to them, no time for them to find any odd jobs to earn back what bits they had lost because of the changeling's negligence and theft. The older mares pitched in with their bits, which was just enough to pay the bill and leave.

They soon exited the city from the northern entrance, setting up their tents near an oasis a quarter mile away from Saddle Arabia. At least there wasn't a law for travelers to set up camps near any of the oases, as long as they don't claim the watering hole as theirs. Trill sat far away from the group, none of them wanting her anywhere near them for fear of them wanting to steal their tents and pawn them for something more ridiculous than whatever she bought with their money.

After everything was set up, they all crawled into their tents to escape the heat of the sun, leaving Trill outside. She didn't really mind the heat, it was the cold she hated, but her trust in the others had begun to dwindle greatly after swiping their money. Even Solaris was more upset with him than her prank. Trill approached his tent, intending to apologize for her mistake.

"Hey, Solly?" she asked.

"Go away, 'Evergreen'!" Solaris said, definitely in no mood to speak with Trill.

"Look, I'm really sorry! I couldn't help myself..." Trill began rummaging through her new bags, hoping there would be something to make up for getting everypony mad at her. "I thought maybe you all would-"

Trill was suddenly pulled into the tent by Solaris's magic, but as she recovered from the grab, she looked up at the hateful gaze of the alicorn. "Don't you ever have any self control, Trill!? Seriously!? Stealing from my aunts!?"

"I'm not a thief, though..." Trill said, her ears drooping as she was scolded.

"Then what do you call stealing their money out from under their noses and using it without permission!?" Solaris said, almost screaming, but not loud enough to catch the others' attention. "You're making things more complicated for me than ever! I'd rather have Lucifer find me, kill the rest of my family, then torture me until I can't take it anymore and commit suicide than to have you around!"

"B-But I-" Trill tried to apologize, only for Solaris to keep her mouth shut, using both of his hooves to roughly clamp her muzzle shut.

"I don't want to hear any of your excuses!" He was close to strangling the changeling right here in his tent, finishing the deed that Applejack should have, but he held himself back. "This is a very serious task I have to do, and you keep thinking everything's a joke. You didn't take my feelings into consideration when I was upset, but I forgave you because you helped me before I could suffer from a heart attack far before I turn sixty. I saved your life from Aunt Applejack because I wanted to give you a chance. Now, after this...Maybe she was right.

"Maybe, what you've been telling me that made me feel pity for you and your hive, I think you were just spouting lies." Trill began to feel a slight pain in her chest, feeling more hurt with every word Solaris spoke. "I think it was a mistake for me to run into you back in the Everfree Forest. And calling you my friend was the biggest one I've ever made aside from getting my uncle killed." She felt tears well up in her eyes, the pain growing worse and worse as she whimpered. "...I don't want to see you again. Go back to your hive, and stay away from me and my family..."

Solaris turned away, letting Trill exit on her own. She wanted to help, she wanted to fix what mistakes she made, but it was too late to change his mind. Her tears finally began to spill down her cheeks, her voice silenced as she tried to apologize and beg for forgiveness. She left the tent, not even turning back and hoping he would apologize to her for yelling.

Trill headed back into Saddle Arabia with a heavy heart, leaving her bags back at the oasis, no longer interested with what she had bought. She couldn't explain why she was feeling so miserable. All she blamed was herself and her ignorance to the pony who had actually trusted her and his feelings. She felt bad for him when he got upset back in the forest and wanted to help him. He was starting to like her, and they were becoming good friends back on the train. Now she just made their situation worse, her deceit and lies causing more spiteful tension against her, already unable to be trusted just for being a changeling.

While wandering around the city, she bumped into somepony, not paying attention to where she was going. She looked up and saw a noble, native to Saddle Arabia, and by the air he had around him, he was the kind of rich equine who flaunts his money, treat those lesser than him like dirt, and doesn't care about anyone but himself.

"Watch where you are walking, you foal!" he said, brushing off the "dust" he got on his fancy clothing. "Do you know how much this costs! More than your own life!"

"Sorry..." Trill got up and continued her sad walk.

As she walked away from the Saddle Arabian, he got a closer look at the disguised changeling, more specifically, her behind. His smug grin grew wider, a sick idea growing in his head.

"Miss, stop!" Trill did as he said, turning her head to look at him. "You'll have to pay dearly for getting my outfit all filthy."

"I don't have any bits," she said.

"A shame...although, if you're looking for a way to get some money, I might have an idea." The equine chuckled, teasing the teen as he held up a large bag of bits, probably enough inside to pay back the money she took from Solaris's aunts.

"R-Really? What do I have to do?" Trill asked, growing hopeful as she found an easy job to do, which would pay a lot, and maybe win back the others' trust.

"Hmhmhmhm. Follow me to my manor, and if you do as you're told, you'll earn your keep." He lead the way and Trill followed. Little did she realize what he actually had in store for her as soon as they got to his home.

The temperature in the air began to grow colder as the sun had began to set and the moon took its place. Many of the denizens of Saddle Arabia were in their homes and the stores were closing up for the day. Outside of the city, Solaris and his aunts were just waking up from their long afternoon nap, prepared to make their way across the desert under the full moon. They didn't see any sign of Trill as they put their tents down, but they didn't seem to care much since she pretty much wasted their bits and don't have anything to pay for supplies they might need in the future.

"Where did Evergreen go to?" Fluttershy asked, noticing her saddlebags laying near the water's edge.

"Who cares?" Applejack said. "Ah knew she was trouble from the beginnin'. Ah should have just tossed her out of the train."

"Applejack, I know she took our bits without asking, but that doesn't mean she had to be thrown out!" Fluttershy said, appalled at her friend's words.

"Fluttershy, trust me. If Ah didn't keep mah promise, then Ah would have told ya'll why I don't trust her." Applejack stuffed her collapsed tent in her bags roughly, still fuming at what the changeling princess had done.

"What promise?" Rainbow asked, wondering what her best friend and rival meant.

After they finished packing up, Solaris spotted Trill, still in her Evergreen persona, walking along the sands toward them.

"Oh great," he muttered.

Solaris turned away, his warning unheeded, but his ears perked up when the sound of bits in a large pouch rang in the silence. He turned to find said bag land in front of her, Trill looking at them apologetically.

"Uhh, hey." There was an awkward pause, none of them greeting the changeling. She expected them to ignore her, and it was going to be harder to win their trust back if she told them how she got the bag of bits they were looking at. "So...I want to apologize for...stealing from you. I hope that this will be enough."

Using her magic, she levitated the bag toward them, gently setting it down in front of the adults.

"Did ya steal this too?" Applejack questioned.

"No. It's a funny story, actually," Trill said, wondering how she could explain what happened without leaving any hints of a lie in front of Applejack.

Trill followed the Saddle Arabian stallion through the streets filled with equines going about, observing the many items on sale while shoving others out of the way for the better deals. After finally getting out of the huge bazaar, they entered the district where the nobles of the city lived, far from the lower quarters and the shopping district.

She soon found herself in the lobby of an expansive mansion, sparkling and expensive vases held on podiums, paintings of the stallion in different poses were scattered throughout the walls. It was obvious this Saddle Arabian was definitely full of himself, Trill noticing some of the ponies working as his servants hiding their disdain toward him. She began to have an idea why he decided to bring her here, and paying her handsomely when he didn't explain what she was supposed to do for him.

"You sure do have a big manor," Trill said, trying to spark up some conversation out of the awkward silence they had as they walked. "What exactly do you do to afford a place like this?"

"I am the sultan's royal vizier. I am actually on a little vacation, as the sultan is away for a meeting with the minotaurs." The stallion felt annoyed as he was questioned, not wanting to speak with Trill, who he deemed as far below his social standing to even say a word to her. "Something about your ruler threatening Saddle Arabia. His soldiers keep growing in number, and they are more insufferable than that unicorn."

"Well, none of us like him either." They made their way upstairs and into one of the many rooms, this one obviously the vizier's master bedroom. "So, what exactly do I do? Cleaning? Foal-sitting?"

"Nothing like that. Just climb up on the bed and lie down," he said, licking his lips.

Trill knew it was what she thought it was. The sultan's royal vizier, a right-hoof stallion who helps the ruler he serves with decisions for their kingdom, had actually tried to lure an underage filly to his home, and pay her to sleep with him. She felt disgusted, even for a changeling, hearing somepony would actually stoop that low to be a pedophile.

"...Are you serious?" Trill asked, not falling for his sly and sickening ideas. "I knew I found it a bit odd that I would be given a large sum of bits without being told what I was supposed to do."

"You are desperate for money, no?" the vizier asked, slowly approaching the defiant young mare, not going to take no for an answer. "If you want this and to make up for scuffing my robe, then you will do what I say."

"Either you wanted to pay me to have sex with you, or you intend to keep me as a slave," Trill said. "If you can't make up your mind, then you don't deserve to be a vizier for your sick and twisted mind! I shouldn't have agreed to come with you after feeling guilty for stealing my friends' money!"

Trill attempted to leave, only to be slammed hard onto the bed by the angered vizier, pouncing on top of her to keep her from escaping.

"You are not going anywhere, you little harlot!" he said. "I will take what is mine, and there is nothing you can do about it!"

"...Oh, you just ticked off the wrong pony, buddy." Trill hacked up some of her webbing, spitting it in the vizier's face. He panicked, trying to wipe it off his covered eyes, giving the changeling enough room to get out from under him. She dropped her disguise, shooting out beams of magic at his hooves, creating a green ooze that began to stick his hooves together. In his blind panic, he fell on the bed, unable to move from his tight bindings. As he struggled, Trill ripped off the loogie of green webbing with ease, his eyes widening as he stared at the changeling. "Surprise, mother bucker."

"A-A changeling!?" he shouted.

Before he could call out for help, Trill shot more of her magic at his mouth, sealing his muzzle with the same goop that bound his legs together. "Don't even try it, sicko. And don't worry about me trying to drain you of your love. You don't have any that I can actually eat." She shoved him off the bed, hearing him grunt, unable to defend himself or flee. She wanted to laugh at how terrified he was, but she wanted to get out of this manor as soon as possible. "Now, I have a little proposition for you, mister.

"I can get you into a lot of trouble if you're ever caught with a minor in your bed. But what if, instead of a teenager, I was actually a little filly." Trill's body was enveloped in flames, her body shrinking to the size of a small filly, the same color scheme for Evergreen Forest. "'The bad pony touched my no no area and was gonna do stuff to me.' Doesn't sound good, does it?" She watched as he began sweating bullets, shaking his head rapidly, definitely not wanting to get in that much trouble. "What's worse is that anypony would believe a little filly who was so pure and innocent, only to be soiled by those who are like you.

"Lucky for you, I'm not going to do much to you." Trill's body grew in size, returning to her original height as a teen, looking at the bag of bits the vizier teased her with. She opened it up, counting out the amount of bits inside, definitely a lot more than she imagined him to pay a random teenage filly for a sickening romp with him. "I think I'll be taking this as compensation for trying to rape me." He gave Trill a leer, his muffled voice blocked by the ooze. "And don't give me that look. Yes, we changelings may have to sleep with others to get some kind of love, but we have standards! Rape is not considered fuel for love energy. It's disturbing lust, which brings pain to the victim and a disgusting satisfaction for the rapist." Before she decided to leave the Saddle Arabian to wallow in his predicament for the next few hours, she blasted his forehead with a beam of magic, causing his eyes to turn green and pass out a moment later. "Just to make sure you don't remember me when you wake up."

Taking her compensation with her, she skipped out of the room, feeling a little relaxed after releasing a bit of steam. Despite being a changeling, she always hated how her mother's soldiers would always mention some of their love-stealing victims were dealt with the same predicament she almost got in. Even her mother is disgusted with the notion of rape, the most distasteful of acts anypony could do, whether they were male or female.

"Miss?" Trill walked down the stairs, noticing one of the vizier's servants approaching her. "Where is the vizier?"

"Oh, he's taking a little nap," Trill said. "Oh, also, if you have any daughters, don't bring them here. He kinda tried to rape me, but I knocked him out before he could do anything to me."

"What!?" The mare was appalled, looking back up at the second floor where her master was "resting".

"Have a nice day!" Trill said, ignoring the shocked expression on the mare's face and exited the manor."

Trill laughed nervously as she finished her description of how she got the bits, everypony staring at the disguised changeling with pure shock, their jaws dropped, with Pinkie's literally hitting the sand. She left out the part about her as a changeling and tying the vizier with her magical ooze and replaced that little bit with her evading him and bucking him hard in the family jewels. Solaris had flinched when he heard that part, his tail instinctively pressed against his privates, not really knowing how painful getting hit there would be and NEVER wanting to know how it felt.

"...Evergreen, didn't your ma ever warn you about talkin' to ponies ya don't know about?" Applejack asked after breaking out of her stupor. "Especially shady stallions who only see ya as eye candy?"

"Heh...I guess not," Trill said. "I wasn't really taught well by my mom, which was why I was by myself in the Everfree Forest before I met Solaris. She didn't really...care much about what I do outside my home, as long as I can defend myself."

As Trill told them what had happened, Applejack knew she twisted some parts around, but she didn't care about what she did. Even though she was a changeling, she was still considered a child, no telling what might happen if Chrysalis ever found out what happened to her daughter...if she truly does care. She was glad the young princess of the love-sucking bug ponies was ok, wondering what had caused her to get in a dangerous situation just to pay back the bits she stole.

Rainbow took a look at the contents of the bag, her eyes widening at the amount. "Whoa! There's gotta be at least 500 bits in this bag! More than what all of us had combined!"

"Lemme see that bag!" Pinkie snatched the large pouch, going through each bit as her ears twitched, sounding like a counter clicking with every bit her eyes saw. After a while, she had gone through all of them, her ears perking straight up. "There is exactly 572 bits inside of this large pouch meant to carry 999 bits at a time...Wowie! That IS a lot more than we started out with, if you want to include that expensive private car to Saddle Arabia."

"I guess there was a lot more interest inside than I thought..." Trill looked at Solaris, feeling nervous over what he was thinking. She could only hope he could forgive him and swear she can change. "I know I keep getting on your nerves, Solaris, but I didn't really mean to go that far. I don't know any better...You know me a lot more than your aunts." She felt that same pain in her chest, prepared to take another verbal scolding. She couldn't even look at the alicorn anymore. "I hope you can forgive me, and give me another chance..."

Solaris was silent as he heard Trill's apology and begging him to forgive her. Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Fluttershy were confused, not knowing the two had talked when they all ignored her. After a full minute of silence, Trill felt her hope dwindling as he refrained from answering. She nearly jumped when she felt something land on her back, which happened to be her saddlebags she bought filled with her stuff. The changeling looked up at him, confused yet hopeful.

"...Maybe I was a bit harsh when I said those things earlier today," Solaris said, now the alicorn feeling guilty for lashing out his frustration on her. "All of Equestria depends on me to rescue them from Lucifer's tyranny, and all of this pressure, along with everything that's happened to me, has gotten me more stressed than ever. I want this journey to go along perfectly, without any problems, and avoid being caught and getting killed. What you did this morning was by far the dumbest thing you ever did." Trill winced as her hopes were immediately dashed. She was suddenly pulled into a tight embrace by the alicorn, feeling her face burn as he held her close. "But you tried to redeem yourself, and you at least got our money back, even though you were almost raped...I accept your apology, and I hope you can forgive me and all the mean things I said to you."

Trill felt tears welling up in her eyes, returning the hug as her guilty conscious was finally cleared. "Y-You don't have to apologize to me. I deserve every hurtful word you said."

"I don't want to lose the first friend I ever made." Solaris pulled away as Trill dried away her tears, glad to know everything between the two had been rekindled. "Alright, let's get going. We're burning moonlight."

Solaris lead the way and the mares followed, trusting his navigation toward his next test at the ruins of an ancient Saddle Arabian civilization. The air was pretty nippy, but they were able to tough the slightly chilled air, all except for Trill. She could handle the hot and dry climate of the desert when the sun was out, but when it gets cold, it was torture for her. She tried her best to hide her weakness from the others, even though her shivering would eventually show. Applejack walked next to her, both of them falling back as they continued following the alicorn's lead over the dunes.

"Ya know ya could have gotten yourself hurt wanderin' around a city by yourself, right?" Applejack asked.

"I-I needed to think...S-Solaris really hated me, a-and I felt hurt," Trill said, her teeth chattering, going through her saddlebags until she pulled out a green scarf, quickly wrapping it around her neck for some warmth.

"Are ya feelin' ok?" Applejack asked in concern.

"Y-Yeah. Changelings don't really like to be in cold environments. We're kinda like scorpions in the desert: dangerous, always hiding, and only able to thrive in warmer climates," Trill said.

"Alright..." Applejack had noticed Trill's odd behavior when she was with Solaris, especially with how relieved she was after whatever argument they had. "Mind tellin' me what ya'll fought about? Went over our heads when ya both began apologizin'."

"Oh..." Trill watched Solaris as he began pointing out the different constellations, describing them to Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow, mostly boring the latter of the three mares. "After my...theft, he really didn't like me. I always kept bugging him, getting on his nerves and called him a cavepony, only because he was raised in a cave, not insulting his intelligence."

"Well, he hasn't had any contact with other ponies aside from us." Applejack said. "He's always pretty serious, but he does have some humor when Pinkie's involved. Since a few years ago, he's been growin' distant from the little colt who was always eager to show his aunts and uncle what he learned. He asked about his ma when we came to visit him, gettin' more and more upset with each day. Solaris bottled up his emotions, letting his anger out through his hooves and beatin' somethin' up. He's still just a colt, and he shouldn't have to go through all of this."

"Yeah...I could tell just how bad he was feeling when we met." Trill still remembered the horrible taste in her mouth, hoping she wouldn't have to do that again if he had another panic attack. "I really want to help him, but my sense of humor kinda made things worse for him. After he yelled at me, I felt like I died on the inside, my chest hurting badly and it didn't go away until after he forgave me."

Applejack's eyes widened, now able to see why Trill is acting so strangely when she's around Solaris. "...No way..."

"What?" Trill asked. "Did I do something wrong?"

"N-no...But, how does that make sense?" Applejack muttered. "...Do ya...love Solaris?"

"Huh? Love him?" Trill asked, greatly confused.

"That pain in your chest didn't go away until he forgave ya, right?" Trill nodded her head. "Does your heart race when ya think about him, or if he touches ya?"

"...Actually, yeah..." After a moment, the changeling's pupils shrunk, glancing back and forth between Solaris and Applejack. "Wait, am I really...!?"

"It sure seems that way, sugarcube," Applejack said, finding it strange that a changeling could ever fall in love aside from eat it. "This is just as strange to me as it is to ya'll."

"T-There's no way I'm in love with Solaris!" Trill said, blushing as she tried to get the stallion out of her head. But no matter how hard she tried, every time she looked forward, she would see him too busy looking at the night sky while keeping themselves on track to the ruins. She kept gazing at his golden hair, his blue eyes, his coat, his muscles. Her blush kept intensifying as her thoughts kept running rampant, her heart pounding in her chest. Even that strange magical burst back on the train when she kissed his cheek didn't make sense, until what it could have possibly meant. "...Oh gosh...What if I am? My mom would kill me if she found out about this. At least she doesn't know everything since I'm not connected to the hive mind at the moment."

"The what?" Applejack questioned, raising her brow at the strange term.

"It's how changelings work together as a unit. We all know what every changeling thinks, and only the royals can freely turn it on or off like a switch," Trill explained. "Why do you think my mother was able to stop you guys from getting to the Elements of Harmony by sending her army to where they were hidden back then?"

Applejack couldn't find a reason to argue with that fact. Though how hundreds of them were able to communicate together through mind reading cluttered by the same hundreds of voices would have given her a headache.

"Ah see..." Applejack gave Trill a stern glare, making the changeling princess fear a possible beating from her realization of being romantically in love with Solaris. "Now, Ah want ya to listen closely, Evergreen."

"Uhh, my name's actually Trill," the changeling corrected.

"Not while you're in disguise." Applejack moved closer to the teenager, making sure the others didn't notice them a bit far behind. "If ya really care about Solaris, then Ah suggest ya be there for him if anythin' happens. He'll need all of our support to help him through the rough patches."

"And...if he likes me back?" Trill asked.

"That's up to him." Applejack sighed, watching Solaris trying to lecture Rainbow on the constellations and their stories. "Ah don't really approve of you two bein' together like that. And Ah'm sure the others would agree with me. But, if he really does have feelin's for you, then Ah won't argue about it and learn to accept it. He needs somepony he can really trust to make him happy and pick him up when he's down, and he trusts you more than us after hidin' everythin' he was kept away from for his own protection.

"Just don't ever hurt him if ya'll do get together," Applejack warned. "If ya ever so much as break his heart, ya'll are gonna be dealin' with Bucky McGillicuddy and Kicks McGee."

Trill looked back at Applejack's hind legs, which she found odd that she named them, taking the threat to heart. She was already scared enough being around four of the Elements of Harmony, her fear heightened by the overprotective farm pony ready to hurt her if she hurt Solaris.

They continued trekking through the endless expanse of sand, the moon setting and the sun beginning to rise along the horizon, warming the land up. Solaris checked the map, knowing they must be getting close by now.

"We're almost there," he said as they climbed up a tall sand dune. "If my calculations were correct, then we should be seeing the ruins at the top of the-" They reached the top, but the instant they saw the ruins, they all looked in shock. "-dune..."

Down below, the ruins were being guarded by at dozens of Shadow Knights, a couple airships and dozens of tents settled around the massive temple that once housed the ancient civilization of Saddle Arabia. They were only a half mile away from the ruins, and they could see Lucifer's army was protecting every single square inch of the area. Wherever Solaris's second trial was, it would be impossible to sneak in without getting caught, and they couldn't afford to get the alicorn spotted by the enemy.

"Whoa nelly..." Applejack said. "This is not gonna be easy..."

Chapter 9: The Second Trial

Solaris, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Trill watched from above the dunes, hidden from sight as Shadow Knights patrolled every corner of the ancient ruins. There was no other way into the temple without getting caught, and knocking out each soldier in their path would cause suspicion and more security would branch out, making their entrance more hazardous.

"Oh great..." Solaris sunk into the sand, growing worried as he tried to figure out a plan to get inside undetected. "My next trial is inside those ruins, and I can't think of any way to bust in without risking myself!"

"Then let's just charge in and beat some skulls in!" Rainbow said, fired up and rearing for a fight.

As the pegasus was about to fly down, Applejack grabbed her tail and pulled down hard to the sand. "Rainbow, there's gotta be a hundred of them down there! What if Lucifer's with them!? Or are ya mad at that one stallion who came to Ponyville after droppin' Rarity's body at her doorstep and flipped ya on your back?"

"...W-Well, that's part of the reason..." Rainbow admitted. "But we need to get in there for Solaris! He needs to pass these tests to finally stop that bastard and save Equestria!"

"We all know that, Rainbow Dash!" Applejack argued. "But we don't want Solaris to be found again and risk him gettin' killed before he faces Lucifer too soon!"

"He managed to punch him in the face and leave a nasty bruise! I think Solaris can handle him fine so far!" Rainbow said.

"He ain't experienced enough yet!" Applejack said, trying to bring some sense to Rainbow's idea of logic.

While the two friends bickered, Trill was busy rummaging through her saddlebags, her grin growing wider with the items she had found.

"I have an idea!" Applejack and Rainbow stopped their arguing, everyone paying attention to Trill. "It's a foolproof plan, and I think you might like what I got when I took your money without permission!"

"Too soon, sugarcube." Applejack glared at the disguised changeling, Trill's grin shrinking in nervousness.

"Heh. Uhh, w-well, what I got looked really neat, and perfect for a distraction." Trill pulled out her ideal plan, levitating a few outfits native to Saddle Arabia. "Ta-da!"

The mares stared in shock at the silky garments Trill held out before them. They each matched a color similar to their coats, along with see through veils for their faces. They were considered costumes for dancers of the city's customs, although they were for a completely different style of entertainment than traditional dances. Rainbow was the first to snap out of her shock, holding back her laughter and snickering at the alluring outfits.

"...Uhh, Evergreen?" Solaris said, having a feeling what the clothes are actually supposed to be. "Do you even know what those are meant for in Saddle Arabian culture?"

"...No. I thought they looked really cute, and the pants are pretty loose too! Perfect for hot weather in the desert!" Trill said, completely oblivious.

"...Those are dancer's outfits..." Solaris's face began to glow red, looking away from the enticing clothing, unable to get the image of Trill wearing it in his mind. "...for courtesans..."

"What's a 'courtesan'?" Trill asked, completely clueless of what the term meant.

Solaris rubbed the back of his neck as his blush deepened, almost as if his face was burnt by the hot sun starting to rise into the sky. "...A-A...prostitute..."

Rainbow Dash began to laugh uproariously and fell on her back, clutching her sides, with Pinkie joining her in the hilarity for no reason. Fluttershy hid behind her mane, her cheeks heavily flushed, while Applejack groaned, hiding her face under her hat. Trill now realized why it was embarrassing, or hilarious for the former two mares' guffawing, though wasn't entirely shocked.

"Ohhhhh. That explains everything..." Trill said. "Oh well. This will still work out. Because us girls are gonna dress up in these, and distract those stallions down there."

Pinkie and Rainbow ceased their laughter, everyone staring at Trill with wide eyes.

"What!?" Rainbow shouted. "You can't be serious, right!?"

"Yes. I am being serious," Trill said.

"Uhh, are we in the right age group to even dress like this?" Pinkie asked, grabbing her garments, staring at them quizically. "And we're also married and have kids. Wouldn't that make it difficult to get their attention? I mean, having that baby bump and slimming down is a hassle, and don't get me started on my weird food cravings when I was pregnant with Cherry Pie! I'll never look at whipped cream the same again..."

Ignoring Pinkie's tangent, Solaris looked away from the clothes as he approached Trill, grabbing her head and shaking her to try and get her brain to work straight. "This has to be the worst idea you have ever thought of! There is no way this is going to work!"

"I can't believe it's working..." Solaris stared dumbly as Trill's plan went into action.

As he stood at the top of the dunes, he watched his aunts and friend dress in the courtesan clothing, approach the guards blocking the entrance, and walked right in without any conflict. He could hear Saddle Arabian music playing down below, courtesy of Pinkie pulling out a phonograph with the vinyl record out of nowhere, and many of the younger soldiers instantly flocked to the alluring entertainment given by the mares. There were still some guards patrolling the entrance to the temple, being the older veterans who once served Celestia and Luna's guard, obeying their ruler's orders against their will and staying true with their commands.

The alicorn facehooved, still unable to believe Trill's plan was actually working. Eventually, he had gotten the signal to head on in, seeing Trill's horn flashing brightly to tell him it was safe to sneak in. He had to give her a little bit of credit at least; being a changeling, a species who are masters of espionage and stealth, must be a really tough life. Solaris crept through the campsite, watching out for the veterans who were keeping a close watch on the ruins for any intruders.

After sneaking around the guards blocking the entrance, Solaris made sure he was far enough away before he began to examine the corridors. Along the walls were carvings of Saddle Arabians of the ancient city, telling stories of the civilization and its many triumphs, repeating as he walked further inside. While entranced by the designs and wondering what the stories told, he accidentally stepped on a pressure plate, his pupils shrinking, knowing what happens when one sets off a trap.

"Ahh!" Solaris quickly ducked, hearing puffs of air shoot out from the walls, but there were no darts or arrows that came sailing over him. He stood up, stepping on the plate again, greeted by a puff of air. "Phew...I guess they must have disarmed or set off most of the traps. I wonder if the ancient civilization was really worried about thieves or grave robbers taking their priceless treasures."

Continuing down the long and winding halls of the still stable temple and admiring the architecture, statues, and carvings, one of them seemed to stand out randomly amongst the equines. Solaris saw a strange creature that was a combination of every single animal, in a pose of triumph, laughing hysterically. What was odd about the image was that the mismatched chimera was placed in a calm environment, making no sense to its existence in the story it told. He ignored it and continued moving forward, not noticing its moving, its eyes watching him as he rounded the corner.

Solaris felt lost after wandering around for the past ten minutes. Every moment he wasted meant his aunts and Trill would have a difficult time keeping the soldiers distracted enough for him to complete his trial and get out. As he groaned in frustration, he jumped as he heard a wall slowly opening up right next to him, revealing a secret passage. He didn't feel any pressure plates or see any hidden switched along the walls, wondering if this way was really the way to go.

Looking inside, he saw a large, spacious room that must have been in the center of the entire temple. The only problem was that there was nothing but space inside, a room that should have been used for storing treasures or artifacts, keeping them hidden from thieves. The only thing that was there was a podium with a stone tablet resting on top of it. Solaris walked inside, hearing the wall close in on him, the markings all around the wall repeating in a wild pattern, unable to be discerned as something related to Saddle Arabian art.

His hoofsteps echoed in the room as he approached the podium, looking at the tablet as he read the words inscribed on it to himself. "'Your journey begins and the end is unknown, times will be hard upon you. A hint to win, think outside the box, we begin trial number two.' Wait, what?"

A laugh echoed throughout the room, startling Solaris as he stood up on his hind legs, setting his hooves aflame as he tried to find where the mysterious laughter was coming from. "Well, well, well, you finally arrived, o savior of Equestria. I have been waiting for fifteen years to finally get this started."

"Who's there!?" Solaris found no sign of where the mysterious voice was coming from, hearing it cackle again. "Wherever you are, show yourself!"

His ears perked up when he heard the tablet begin to crack, floating up in the air as the podium flew up with it. Solaris backed away, not knowing what he would encounter, the tablet exploding in a flash of light, blinding the alicorn for a moment. As soon as his vision cleared, he heard the same laughter again, but instead of it coming from a pony, it came from a living being of the strange creature he saw on the walls earlier.

"You finally decided to find this place, Solaris." The strange being said, twisting his neck and cracking it, echoing loudly in the large room. "Do you know how hard it is to stand still as a picture for a while? I've been in stone for a thousand years, and I needed a really good chiropractor to get those kinks out of my back!"

Solaris stared, dumbfounded, watching this odd thing contorting his body like a sponge, cringing as he heard cracking sounds coming from his bones. He expected the creature to have died from snapping its body like that, but he was still alive, freaking him out more.

"W-What in Equestria are you!?" Solaris asked, fearing what this thing was.

"Oh, I see nopony decided to tell you about me." The creature snapped its talons, a business card appearing in front of Solaris. On it was a picture of the mismatched being giving a thumbs up, the words reading "Discord: God of Chaos. Defying logic is may game, making no sense like my name!" "You may call me Discord. And what I am is a draconequus."

"A-A what?" Solaris asked in confusion, finding the defiance of his magical capabilities more overwhelming than Pinkie's randomness.

"Yes, I know. It's a bit too much to take in, but that's what I was born as!" The card turned into a picture, showing Solaris as a foal with his aunts, Spike, his mother holding him, and behind them was Discord, giving the peace symbol with his taloned arm while random things happened in the background. "And speaking of born, you were a cute little thing. Who knew you would grow up to look like this?"

"I-I don't know anything about this picture, or you being in it..." Solaris said, his head already starting to hurt in confusion.

"Well, you could say I was your secret uncle," Discord said. Snapping his fingers again, he wore a strange space helmet and a dark cloak, breathing heavily as his voice sounded distorted underneath the mask. "Or...I could be something more...Solaris...I am your father."

"W-What...?" Solaris said, completely speechless.

The moment was ruined when Discord began snickering, unable to hold back his laughter. "No! Bwah ha ha ha ha! Y-You should have seen the look on your face!" Discord continued laughing, his strange outfit disappearing. His laughter finally died down, wiping away a tear, getting an irritated look from the young alicorn. "Oh, come on. Lighten up! It was a little prank. I mean, honestly, you would look a lot different if you were my kid."

"I've already had enough pranks pulled on me by a certain pony! I don't need anymore from you!" Solaris said, his hooves set on fire as he was ready to beat the draconequus up.

"Just as serious as your mother. The only difference would be your color palette, and your hairstyle." Discord didn't get any other reaction from the alicorn, sighing as he decided to get down to the chase. "Alright, then. We'll talk later. Your second test will begin now, and remember that little hint. You'll need it since this is going to test how smart you are against me." He snapped his fingers, a metal cage appearing above Solaris and flew down on top of him, trapping him inside. "But first, you're going to have to think a way outside of this box! Have fun!"

"Hey!" Discord summoned a recliner, sitting comfortably as he munched on a bowl of uncooked popcorn and sipped from a glass of chocolate milk. Solaris tried to punch his way through the bars, only to be electrocuted, falling on his back as the electricity stopped flowing into his body. He heard Discord laugh, apparently enjoying the show as his limbs twitched from the aftershock. "Why am I getting shocked when these things start?"

Outside of the ruins, the many young Shadow Knights cheered and ogled the dancing mares they watched, keeping them entertained while Solaris completed his test. They've been doing this for nearly half an hour, unsure if they could keep up the charade. Thankfully, the music was loud enough to keep any conversations they had to themselves, along with the veils concealing their lip movements a little bit.

"What's taking him?" Rainbow asked, feeling impatient and getting sick of dancing for these perverted young adults.

"We have to keep stalling," Trill said. "Just keep up the act. I kinda like the music Pinkie brought too...Wait, I was wondering how she-"

"Don't ask." Rainbow groaned. "We've known Pinkie for years, and we still can't figure her out. What's worse is that her foals have her randomness inherited as well. Cherry was bouncing off the walls while she was in diapers."

As they kept their distraction going, walking along the desert toward the ruins were Lucifer and Zero.

"Your Highness, can you please remind me why you had some of your soldiers guarding the ruins out here in Saddle Arabia?" Zero asked. "I assume all of the treasures have been excavated, so it isn't valuable artifacts you're after."

"I wanted to make sure the alicorn wasn't anywhere I could have missed, even in something as ancient as a pyramid or temple from beyond the age I was born in," Lucifer explained. "Now it's impossible to know where he ended up, and I am not taking any chances. He will be found, and I will destroy him."

"I see. After his disappearing act from the aid of Twilight Sparkle's dragon, he really could have wound up anywhere." As they got closer, they could hear music being played, as well as a lack of guards at some of their posts. "Do you hear music, sire?"

"Yes...And these idiots are having a party when they should be on guard, no matter what is happening!?" Lucifer shouted.

They both headed toward the sound of the music and whooping soldiers were, spotting the majority of the unicorn king's soldiers surrounding a group of mares, watching them dance. Lucifer's eye twitched as his horn glowed, teleporting inside the circle and making the soldiers gasp in surprise and fear, instantly shutting up and standing at attention. Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow saw him standing there, growing more worried at his sudden appearance. Trill didn't pay much attention, still dancing, but she bumped into Lucifer, causing the record to scratch, ending the music.

"Hey! What happened to the music!? We're just getting started!" She heard growling come from behind her, turning around to lash out at the impatient guard, only to freeze at the sight of the furious king. "Uh oh..."

Lucifer was about to scold and possibly kill his inept guards, his attention was turned to the other four mares. It was clearly obvious that they were the Elements of Harmony in courtesan clothing, anyone without a brain could easily tell who they were just from their hair. It was humiliating for him to know that his soldiers were incompetent enough to not notice Rainbow Dash, clearly unique with her mane color and being one of those Elements.

"...He is here, isn't he?" Lucifer questioned.

"W-What are you talking about?" Trill asked, trying to keep up her act, but failing miserably.

With a flick of his magic, he shredded the clothing off of the mares, making them flinch as they were unharmed for the moment. "He has to be here. You work with that annoying child, and he is close. Where is he?"

Solaris was stuck, unable to find any way out of the cage he was trapped in. No matter how many times he tried to attack the bars, resorting to using his fire, it wouldn't give. Discord began to get bored, sitting on his seat upside down, a clock ticking above him, timing how long the alicorn had been in there.

"You know, your mother actually tried to solve a riddle I gave her when I was free faster than this!" Discord said. "You're lucky I've been reformed, or else I would have tried to drown you in chocolate milk while you were stuck in there!"

"How am I supposed to get out of here when this thing keeps shocking me!?" Solaris exclaimed. He sat down, fuming as he tried to figure out what Discord's hint meant. "'Think outside the box.' 'Think your way outside of this box.' He doesn't make any sense! What am I supposed to do? Just lift the stupid cage up!?" Solaris actually tried doing just that, thinking he was actually wrong and his prison was heavier than he could lift through physical or magical strength. Ironically, the instant he pushed the ceiling of the cage up, it flew up and hit the ceiling, making a squeaking sound instead of a metallic clang. He looked at the falling cage, slowly floating down like a feather, confused, bewildered, angry, and humiliated. "...You have got to be kidding me...That actually worked!?"

"Finally!" Discord got up from his seat, stretching out his limbs. "I thought you would never get out of there. I was starting to get bored."

"Ok, that's it!" Solaris slammed his hooves together, sending out sparks of green embers showering around him, his forehooves set aflame. "I'm starting to get sick of your sarcasm!" He flew at the draconequus, rearing his hoof back, but as attempted to punch Discord, his hoof somehow steered away from his face by some unknown force, missing him by a few inches. "W-What the-"

Discord grabbed Solaris's tail as the alicorn sailed past him, swinging him around like a flail, throwing him far across the room. Solaris slammed head first into the ground, seeing stars, while Discord yawned. "Was that it? I thought you were supposed to hit me."

Shaking his head and snapping out of his senses, the stars circling him still remained, which Solaris quickly punched away. He tried again, soaring into Discord and repeatedly began punching, but each swing ended up missing. Discord wasn't even trying to evade him; his hooves just kept moving on their own, always missing him or barely brushing any part of his zoo-like body. Just to add insult to injury, Discord used only one talon, pushing Solaris away from him while he struggled to push against it, unable to even land a single hit on his arm.

"GRRRAAAAGH!" Solaris shouted, flailing his hooves. "Why can't I hit you!?"

"I don't know why you're asking me. Maybe you aren't aiming where you're hitting," Discord taunted, replacing his finger with his tail as he made a book appear, reading at a page he bookmarked. "It's like you're not even trying!"

Discord flicked Solaris with his tail, sending him flying across the room, slamming his back hard into the wall. The alicorn pulled himself out, growing more frustrated as the chaotic deity kept mocking him. Deciding to take a ranged approach, Solaris shot out fireballs out his hooves, sending them sailing toward the distracted draconequus. Instead of getting struck by the fire, they ended up swerving out of Discord's way, hitting the walls and floor behind him in an explosion of flames. Solaris's jaw dropped, an eye twitching in disbelief.

"H-How...? I was...at him...and they..." Solaris stammered, his brain completely shattered.

"Hmm?" Discord looked up from his book. "Did somepony open a window? It's a bit drafty and humid in here. Weird weather here in Saddle Arabia." Growling, Solaris put his hooves together, creating a massive fireball large enough to consume Discord. He threw the giant ball of fire at him, but it ended up turning up at a ninety degree angle, slamming into the ceiling and raining green embers down on them. Discord fanned himself, ignorant of the fireball that nearly hit him. "Whew! What a heat wave! I prefer colder climates like the frozen north."

Solaris had completely run out of ideas, sitting on his plot as he looked at where his last fireball exploded. "That. Is. Impossible...I can't even hit him..." He tried to think of some way to strike Discord and try to knock him out, but nothing seemed to work. Even if he tried using magic, which wasn't his strong suit, it probably would have been redirected out of Discord's way. "This doesn't make any sense. I hit him dead on, but my hooves just kept swerving around him, against my will. He's worse than Aunt Pinkie Pie by at least tenfold! How can I hit someone when my aim is always being controlled to hit away from my target!"

Solaris's ears perked up, his mind working over what he said. He thought of how odd it was for his attacks to miss, his hooves at close range, and perfectly aimed fireballs from afar. Discord didn't even do anything, as if he knew something that the alicorn didn't and didn't even try to avoid him. He remembered that Discord was supposed to be a god of chaos, a magical power that was able to manipulate anything the user commands, far more powerful than unicorn magic. And if Discord could summon anything with a snap of his fingers, he was able to bend the rules of reality as well.

Wanting to test his theory, he created another fireball in his hoof, but instead of firing it at Discord, Solaris threw it away from the draconequus. He watched it sail down the room, only for it to swerve around and fly past the teen, hitting Discord's book he was reading, incinerating it to ashes.

"Hey! I was at the good part!" Discord whined. Solaris finally understood what Discord's hint was supposed to mean. He had to think differently than how he actually was supposed to expect to solve this strange puzzle. Now it began to make sense, especially in the role of combat; expect the unexpected and figure out how your opponent fights instead of blindly charging in like he had in his previous test. Discord saw the smirk growing on the alicorn's face, realizing he had just figured it out. "...Oh. This isn't going to end well for me."

Solaris began shooting a volley of fireballs in random directions, all of them swerving away from their trajectory and homing in on the draconequus. Discord tried to flee, but was unable to escape, being surrounded by several flaming balls of death hurtling toward him. After they blew up on him, he was sent flying back into the wall, greeted by Solaris as he flew toward him, slamming his hoof hard into the draconequus's abdomen, actually hitting him instead of the wall.

Discord tried to teleport away via snapping his talons, but Solaris quickly slammed his hoof down hard on his arm, hearing the disturbing crunch of his bones. "Not this time!" He unleashed a swift barrage of punches, making Discord wheeze as he felt the air being forced out of his lungs. With a flaming hoof, Solaris gave Discord a hard uppercut to the jaw, sending the draconequus up into the air. "See if you can actually avoid me now!"

Solaris leapt up, flying quickly at the stunned draconequus. His forehoof was reared back, green flames blazing his leg. He rammed into Discord, slamming his hoof into his chest, sending him crashing into the ceiling, leaving a draconequus sized crater. He slowly slipped out, falling to the ground, crashing hard and rendered unconscious. Solaris gently hovered back down to the ground, being cautious around the logic breaking deity.

"Well, that was quite entertaining!" Solaris jumped in surprise, hearing Discord's voice echo around him, but he was unconscious. "Congratulations, Solaris! You've passed your second test!"

Appearing before the alicorn was Discord, an uninjured, completely conscious one. "W-What!? B-But how did you-"

"Oh please. Do you really expect me to fight all my battles all the time?" Discord picked up his unconscious self, but it had turned into a live stuffed doll of him, an eye popping out of its socket as stuffing fell out from the beating it took. "I knew you would have some strength to take me on, but those flame-fu techniques of yours aren't what I expected." Solaris was still confused, feeling a migraine coming on. Discord tossed the life-like plush of himself away. "You finally figured out my little trick, even after you tried to go the berserk route and hit me when you kept missing."

"...Who are you!?" Solaris asked, trying to figure out what had just happened in the past hour.

"I thought I introduced myself earlier. I'm Discord," the draconequus said. "And you might consider me an uncle, but there were a lot of birthday parties I'll need to make up for.

"But we'll have time to talk later. For now, I'll give you your little reward for besting me. Well, sort of." Discord snapped his talons, summoning a gold pendant shaped like his cutie mark, only there was a picture of Discord inside of the sun. "You were able to figure out your opponent's strategy, even if mine is completely impossible for anypony else to try and replicate. What's important is to examine your enemy and always be two steps ahead of them, let them make the first move, and think first before you end up losing your temper. As long as you keep that in mind, you can triumph over anypony who gets in your way."

"Ok..." Solaris felt the pendant tie around his neck, feeling some strange magic surge through his body, nothing like his own. "Uhh, what exactly does this do for me?"

"Ooh! That's the best part!" Discord said excitedly. "That little gift from me not only gives you some more power for you, and it gives you access to some of my own chaotic magic!...Well, not all of it. Just some easy stuff only: cotton candy clouds that rain chocolate milk, make them shoot out lightning bolts that fire in erratic spots, see the fourth wall-"

"Wait, what was that last one?" Solaris questioned.

"Oh, right." Discord wrapped an arm around Solaris, pointing out to the fourth wall before them. "You see, out there are these weird creatures called 'humans', and we're in the middle of a story, where you are the main character, and the writer controls your life and the flow of the story! See, he's even typing what I'm saying right as we speak!"

Solaris was freaked out as he watched the writer typing out his actions, quickly backing away while trying to look away from the fourth wall.

"This is freaking me out!" Solaris yelled. "Get rid of it!"

"I figured that would have made you go insane." Discord snapped his talons, getting rid of the illogical fourth wall feature for Solaris's newest piece of armor. The teen was thankful he didn't see what was going on in that strange window anymore, already suffering from enough confusion just from Pinkie and Discord. "Guess it was a bad idea for you to see that. You'll forget in a moment anyway."

"Forget what?" asked Solaris.

"Exactly!" Discord made a couple cotton candy clouds appear before them, munching on the sugary clouds. Curious, Solaris took a bite, actually tasting strawberry cotton candy, along with the chocolate milk filling inside. "You're getting closer to finally fulfilling your destiny. But, as I mentioned in that little riddle, you will still have to face the tragedy you will experience."

"But I don't understand," Solaris said, licking his lips of the cottony sweet staining his muzzle. "You can do all this random stuff, and you're incredibly powerful with that chaos magic you can use. Why can't you stop Lucifer yourself?"

Discord paused, his energetic demeanor quickly melting as he pondered how to answer Solaris's question. "...It is impossible."

"WHAT!? But, what about all of-" Solaris's lips were suddenly sealed by a zipper, the spell cast by the draconequus himself.

"Yes, yes, I know. I'm an all powerful deity, able to defy the laws of physics, logic, and reality with a snap..." Discord's head drooped, shoving his cotton candy cloud aside. "...Lucifer's dark magic is far more powerful than my own chaos. If he can kill Celestia, Luna, and your mother, three alicorns with more magical power than a hundred unicorns, then he can clearly kill me if I tried."

"...What...?" Solaris said in disbelief.

Discord sighed as he paced about the expansive room. "My magic was able to deter the princesses over a thousand years ago. I was so powerful, Celestia and Luna couldn't take me down with their own magic alone. They sought out the Elements of Harmony, the only artifacts that could contain and overwhelm me. They are the only magical forces that could stop evil and disharmonious beings from destroying Equestria, the princesses cannot compare to their power, only being stronger than the ponies they ruled over.

"Dark and chaotic magic had been able to win against them, even when that darkness turned Luna into Nightmare Moon." Discord finally sat in front of Solaris, looking the alicorn in the eye as he continued. "You've heard of the stories about Sombra, Nightmare Moon, and myself, yes?" Solaris nodded. "Then you'll know just how powerless they both were at the time. With me trying to take over Equestria, I got careless when they used the Elements of Harmony on me, turned to stone and set in the kingdom's garden.

"Luna's transformation into Nightmare Moon was tragic enough for Celestia to bear, always hearing her muttering to herself while I was a living lawn ornament during that time. Luna was jealous as their subjects favored her older sister and the sun, praising her like the mindless cult they were. The worst part of it was that Celestia had actually gotten an over-inflated ego from their worship, ignorant of Luna's pain and neglect. She finally realized her mistake far too late as soon as Luna turned into Nightmare Moon. Having no choice, Celestia had to use the Elements to banish her own sister, unable to save her or even think of using them to free her from her torment.

"But Sombra..." Discord laughed lightly. "The first unicorn in Equestria to utilize the power of dark magic. He used this power to enslave the Crystal Empire and the crystal ponies that lived within its boundaries, and ended up losing his mind. Celestia and Luna were at war with him, many months before I came around, and they managed to stop him without the Elements' aid. The only reason they won was because that old unicorn lost himself to the arcane magic he used, his power making him cocky and easy to defeat with the teamwork they had."

Solaris took all of this in, remembering the stories he was told about the princesses and their previous battles with evil. The only time they had ever beaten anypony was against Sombra, but only while he was lost in the power he wielded. Lucifer, on the other hoof, was in full control, though his rage would blind him if he grew angry enough. Without the Elements of Harmony, Equestria would forever be doomed, and being born from his mother, Twilight Sparkle, he was considered an Element of Harmony. No one else was able to strike the tyrant except for him, being Equestria's only hope.

"...And when Lucifer killed them...his dark magic rivals yours if he could easily kill an alicorn..." Solaris said, putting the pieces together.

"Yes..." Discord sadly said. "As much as I would love to help, his magic is outright terrifying. It's even worse than chaos, and his version of it is more life threatening than my lighthearted pranking! I may have been evil, but I wasn't a masochistic lunatic like that twisted being!"

"Oh am I?" Solaris and Discord jumped in surprise, looking in the direction of the secret door's entrance to find Lucifer, his soldiers, Solaris's aunts, and Trill standing there. Their disguises were torn up and their plan had backfired, never expecting Lucifer to even arrive at the ruins. "You should have stayed where that dragon sent you, foal."

Chapter 10: Escape

Solaris and Discord stared down Lucifer, the former's stance faltering as he shook in fear. He was holding the alicorn's aunts and friend hostage, making their situation worse as they couldn't fight back, even if they tried.

"I knew you couldn't hide away forever, child. You made a mistake leaving where the dragon took you." Lucifer looked at Discord, surprised to see the draconequus was here of all places. "Discord...Are you working for the alicorn?"

"Well, I have been reformed. I think it's obvious," Discord growled. He looked over to the mares being held hostage, leering at the tyrant as he heard Fluttershy whimper in fear. "Let them go."

"What can you possibly do if I don't comply?" Lucifer asked, smirking as he could easily see the fear in both their eyes. "We all know who would win, Discord. Your chaotic magic won't be a match against my own."

"Why don't you learn to fight for yourself instead of hiding behind your soldiers?" Discord argued. "You're too much of a coward to do your own dirty work."

"And what of you? An all powerful 'god' of chaos, hiding himself away like that brat while you watch me rule Equestria? Don't make me laugh," Lucifer said. "Besides, I don't have the patience to stay here for long."

He waved his hoof forward, commanding his troops to shove the mares into the large room. Solaris quickly ran up to them, trying his hardest to be brave and protect his aunts and Trill from Lucifer and his Shadow Knights. The tyrant didn't even pay attention to his gauntlets and newly acquired pendent.

"W-What are you going to do to us?" Solaris asked, worried about what Lucifer had planned.

"I'm not going to do anything," he said. "It's quite amazing how ancient civilizations can be so paranoid when it comes to their priceless relics and buildings made to worship a higher power unknown to others. They set up so many traps to stop looters from stealing their treasures, they were even so desperate to create a trap that would bury everything with a useless trinket of no value, sitting in plain sight."

"B-But I thought all the traps were set off..." Solaris began to worry, not knowing where this one trap was in the ruins.

"These ruins will be your grave. I suggest you all spend as much time together as possible before your demise." Before Lucifer shut the wall that lead into this secret area, he shot a beam of magic directly at Discord, sending the draconequus flying across the room. Fluttershy flew toward him, greatly concerned, while Lucifer laughed in triumph. "Farewell, you fools!" The wall closed down shut, Lucifer pulling out the pressure plate allowing the mechanism to function. "Zero."

"Yes, Your Highness?" the mercenary said as he stood at attention.

"You know the location of the one 'priceless' treasure hidden within these ruins. Since you are the only unicorn soldier who actually knows teleportation out of the useless, bumbling idiots who call themselves soldiers, you can leave safely," Lucifer said, the other Shadow Knights trembling in fear. He looked at them, relishing in their fear. "You are all lucky that the mares who distracted your hormone driven minds were the rest of the living bearers of the Elements of Harmony. You'll be spared, but if you so much as leave your post for a possible lay, you will suffer far worse than any of my previous victims."

Without a word, they clearly understood their ruler's threat, quickly filing out of the ruins while scared out of their minds. Lucifer followed after them while Zero headed down further into the temple's maze of endless corridors. He found the one room where the collapsing trap was set, a reverse pressure plate sitting on a podium, and resting on it was a strangely crafted ceramic figurine of a Saddle Arabian deity, badly painted to look like it was made of gold. If any thieves were to pick this fake artifact up, then they have no sense of quality for riches if they fall for this obvious trap.

"Here it is..." Zero approached the pedestal, eyeing the "treasure" through his visor. He didn't move it yet, looking back down the only entrance to the trap room. "Hope they find the way out." Looking back at the figurine, the mercenary smashed the worthless piece of art, setting off the trap as the ruins began to rumble. "I really hope they do."

Solaris tried to lift the wall leading into the expansive room they were trapped in, unfortunately, it was far too heavy. Even if Applejack were to help him, it wouldn't budge.

"Urgh! Come on!" After pushing for at least five minutes, the alicorn gave up, banging his head against the wall. "I can't believe I froze. I should have done something!"

"He was holding us hostage," Trill said. "It's not your fault. Either way, he would have killed us."

"I know..." Solaris looked over to where Fluttershy was helping Discord back up. Thankfully, he was spared, but they all had no idea what Lucifer struck him with. "I hope we can find some way out of here. Ancient civilizations always had shortcuts within their temples, even with one way rooms. The only problem is to try and find it."

While Solaris figured out where a possible escape route could be, Discord shook his head, seemingly unharmed by the magical beam. "Ooogh. That's gonna hurt in the morning."

"Are you ok, Discord?" Fluttershy asked in concern.

"I'm fine. But whatever spell he used, it didn't seem to work. I'll get us all out of here before they bring these ruins down into the desert." Discord snapped his talons, but nothing happened. He tried again, growing frustrated with each attempted use of his chaotic powers. His eyes widened in shock, now knowing what the spell Lucifer used on him was. "Oh no..."

"'Oh no?' Please tell me 'Oh no' means something good!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"Does 'Oh no' sound like a good thing!? This is bad! Really, really bad!" Discord shouted, panicking. "I can't use my magic!"

"Say what!?" Pinkie shouted. "What are you talking about!? Poof us out of here!"

"I can't!" Discord argued, unable to overreact with his chaotic powers. "Lucifer's magic that struck me must have disabled my chaotic magic! He intended to kill all of us in here, and he knew my magic could take us anywhere! If only he didn't act like a sissy and fight like a real stallion instead of holding hostages, this wouldn't have happened!"

Suddenly, the entire temple began to shake, the trap having been set and began to destroy itself. Everyone began to panic as they were about to be buried along with the Saddle Arabian civilization from thousands of years ago.

"We're gonna die!" Pinkie screamed, only to freeze in place, her tail twitching erratically. "TWITCHY TAIL! TAKE COVER!"

"Twitchy what!?" Trill questioned.

The ceiling above them began to crack, large pieces of the ruins beginning to fall down underneath it. Solaris quickly tackled Trill out of the way, saving her from being crushed by a massive block of the ceiling.

"Keep moving! Twitchy tail means watch out for something falling!" Solaris said, punching through more of the debris threatening to crush them. While defending everyone, he quickly searched around the room, desperate to find some indication of a secret passage out of this room. Along the walls, he noticed that on one area, the pattern circling around the walls had stopped, the waved lines all beginning in this one specific spot. "Wait a minute..."

Grabbing Trill, the changeling yelping in surprise, he sped past the falling rubble and made it safely. He let the mare go, who was still shocked at the sudden lift to 'possible' safety, watching him examine the wall.

"Solly, this is no time to be admiring patterns when we're going to be crushed!" Trill shouted.

Solaris felt around the wall, his hoof pressing a small plate that was able to be pushed in. He pressed it, opening a secret passage leading the opposite way of the previous entrance.

"Everypony, out this way! Hurry!" Hearing the alicorn discovering an exit, they all quickly made their way over while dodging heavy bits of the temple raining down on them.

Rainbow Dash flew down the long corridor, being the fastest of the group and scouting what lies ahead. She saw a bright light come from the end of the passage, which lead out to a hidden entrance half a mile away from the center of the ruins.

"Guys! I can see the exit! Just keep running!" Rainbow shouted.

The ruins were moments away from completely collapsing, more and more pieces of the temple falling rapidly. The crumbling ruins began flowing down the passage after them like a tsunami, threatening to bury them and crush them underneath the rubble. Solaris was behind the others, running as fast as he could, catching up with Applejack as she ran through before him. They could see the light up ahead, Fluttershy, Discord, and Trill making it out safely.

Applejack took a glance behind her, watching the wave of the collapsing ruins catching up to them. "Consarn it," she said, slowing down until she was directly behind Solaris.

She quickly slid across the ground, turned around, and bucked the alicorn hard in the flanks, sending Solaris flying out of the secret entrance as he yelled in surprise. Turning back around, Applejack sprinted to the exit as her life depended on it, the ruins finally collapsing as the secret entrance spewed out dust and sand.

While the others tried to squint their eyes, temporarily blinded by the sand that shot at them, Solaris dug his head out of the sand, landing headfirst after Applejack bucked him out of there. He shook out the sand that got in his ears, his rump surely going to have marks from the farm mare's strong hind legs.

"Augh...Aunt Applejack, you could have warned me you were gonna do that!" Solaris said, rubbing his bruised behind. He was hoping to get a scolding from his aunt after saving him from getting crushed, but there was no sound aside from the others hacking up dust and sand. "...Aunt Applejack?"

Solaris looked around, finding his aunts, Trill, and Discord, finally brushing away the sand that got in their eyes, but there was no sign of Applejack. They ended up behind a large dune that was far from the ruins, the secret entrance hidden underneath the sand from a higher view. The dust began to settle around the passage, completely blocked by the large amounts of rubble that fell from the ruin's collapse.

The alicorn's heart sank when he saw the familiar stetson hat laying in front of the entrance, and from the debris was an orange hoof belonging to the farm pony. "Aunt Applejack!" Solaris flew toward the entrance, frantically digging through the heavy stone pieces, hoping that Applejack was still alive. The others noticed his panic and tried to help, but they couldn't close as he tossed aside pieces of the ruin aside, nearly hitting them. After minutes of pulling out and tossing slabs of stone away, he finally uncovered the mare's upper body. "...Aunt Applejack...?"

She didn't respond. She didn't even move. Blood dripped out of her nose and mouth, her body covered with gashes from some sharp edges of the debris that fell on top of her. Solaris tried to move her, only to feel most of her bones were crushed, unable to feel a pulse from one of her hooves. Applejack was already gone, crushed to death and died almost instantly, her lungs possibly crushed by the weight, causing her to suffocate in mere seconds.

"N-No..." Solaris muttered, tears welling up in his eyes as he tried to pry his aunt out of the rubble. "No...Aunt Applejack. No! Please!" His tears fell, burying his face against her mane as he wept. Hearing the teen sobbing brought the unfortunate news for the others, Pinkie and Fluttershy holding each other as they cried for another friend's death, Discord looking away, blaming himself for being useless to save them without his magic, and Rainbow silently wept for her best friend, feeling helpless for letting another one of her friends die. Trill could only watch, feeling sorry for Solaris as she felt their sadness in the air. "P-Please...Please don't l-leave me....Y-You promised..."

As they mourned for the loss of the apple farmer, standing at the top of the dunes was Zero, watching them. He bowed his head in respect for the deceased mare, his wish only slightly answered as one of them had died in the collapse. From below, one of them had seen him watching them grieve, receiving an icy glare from Rainbow Dash. He teleported away before the pegasus could chase him down, not wanting a confrontation after just losing a member of their group. Rainbow seethed with rage, wanting nothing more than to kill the mercenary after encountering him again after he nonchalantly dropped Rarity's body off to them days ago.

Hours had passed, day turning to night as Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Discord, and Solaris mourned for Applejack. The draconequus had regained the use of his magic, the spell he was struck with only temporarily disabling his power for only a few hours. Unfortunately, his chaos magic couldn't revive the dead to Solaris's dismay. Necromancy was technically arcane and forbidden magic that not even Lucifer would dare to tamper with if scrolls of the dark art were ever found.

They sat around the campfire they had set up for the evening, using Solaris's dragon fire to light it when he was able to comply. The green flames lit up the darkness, everypony sitting around in silence. The alicorn was by himself, greatly upset and needing some alone time to cope with losing another member of his family. Rainbow Dash pulled Applejack's body out from the rubble of the now destroyed ruins, the mare trying her hardest not to look at the corpse hidden under a white tarp thanks to Discord's magic. Three of the Elements of Harmony were gone, and only three remained.

Trill looked at everyone, still feeling the depression among the ponies and draconequus, the worst of it coming from Solaris. Applejack was more of a mother figure to him than the other mares, with Pinkie being the fun aunt, Fluttershy the coddling aunt, Rarity the sophisticated aunt, and Rainbow the brash aunt. Growing tired of the silence, the sound of the fire cracking the wood in the campfire, she got up and walked over to where Solaris wandered off.

Trill ignored the chilled air as she climbed up the nearby dune, finding the alicorn looking down at what used to be the ruins of Saddle Arabia's ancient civilization. She sat next to him, figuring out what to say to avoid upsetting him further. When she turned to face him, she saw him clutching Applejack's stetson in his hooves, slightly damaged from the collapsing temple. His cheeks were matted with tears, his eyes expressing sorrow and anger.

"...Solaris?" Trill asked, hoping to get his attention. He still looked down at the crumbled ruins, but his ears twitched, hearing the changeling loud and clear. "...Are you gonna be ok?"

His body trembled, clutching the hat tightly to his chest. "...I'm such a bucking coward..." Solaris grit his teeth as his tears spilled down his cheeks. "I should have hit that bastard...I should have done something!"

"Solaris..." Trill said, trying to help comfort him, but the stallion stood up and paced, the stetson dropped to the sand where he sat.

"If only I didn't freeze when he was standing there! If wasn't so afraid, I could have killed him!" Solaris shouted, panting heavily as steam flared out from his nostrils. "If I found a way out of that stupid temple fast enough, Aunt Applejack would still be alive! I can't save anypony from Lucifer! I'M BUCKING PATHETIC!"

Solaris slammed his hooves down hard, his strength tossing at least twenty pounds of sand away from him in a thirty meter radius. Trill quickly covered her eyes and mouth, avoiding being blinded and tasting the millions of the tiny, shifting minerals of the desert on her tongue. He created a small dent in the dune they were on, though it still stood. Trill slowly approached the seething alicorn, gently wrapping her hooves around him, calming him down slightly.

"You're not pathetic," she said. "You weren't ready to face him yet. He even had us held hostage to keep you and Discord from doing anything." Trill felt Solaris relax a little, feeling him tremble as he silently wept. "Applejack saved you before the ruins fell on both of you. There's nothing more you could have done..."

Solaris buried his face against Trill's neck, the mare comforting him as he let out his sorrow. She felt depressed from not only his negative emotions permeating off the alicorn, but also in pity, knowing how much pain he was going through. After he had calmed down a bit more, they headed back to the campsite, Solaris carrying Applejack's hat in his mouth. As it got late, everyone headed into their tents for the evening, but it was a sleepless night for all of them.

As morning greeted the desert kingdom, Discord transported all of them back to Saddle Arabia after packing up their belongings. Thankfully, there were no signs of the Shadow Knights or Lucifer, the king and his soldiers already headed back to Canterlot after "killing" Solaris and his company. Using some of the money Trill had "acquired" from the vizier, they paid for another private car for the long trip to the frozen north, to the Crystal Empire. As they got on the next train heading for the northern tundra, Discord stayed behind, offering to bring Applejack's body back to Ponyville, and unfortunately, give her family the sad news of her fate.

The draconequus saw them off as the train set off to their next destination, sighing as he looked down at the covered body he held. On the train, Solaris immediately headed to one of the bunks, plopping down on the mattress. Out of all of them, he didn't get any sleep last night, his guilt growing more heavy as two lives were lost because of him.

Out in Sweet Apple Acres, back in Ponyville, the Apple family was busy at work with the thousands upon thousands of apple trees in their orchard. Big Macintosh could handle half of the vast amount of trees on his own, assuming he wasn't too stubborn to work himself to the ground, while Apple Bloom had to do Applejack's portion along with her own, along with repairing anything on the farm that needs fixing.

As the ex-member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders took a small break after bucking dozens of trees into the wooden buckets, Apple Bloom noticed her nephew Apple Seed trying to pull a full load of apples to the barn, slowly inching the bucket backward as he struggled.

"Apple Seed," Apple Bloom said. "How many times do we have to tell ya that you're too young to be haulin' apples back to the barn?"

"Ah can do it, Aunty Apple Bloom!" Apple Seed groaned as he continued pulling, making very little progress. "I-I think I'm almost there!"

He was far from close to the barn. Apple Seed still had a few dozen yards left before he got close to the house, let alone the barn. Sighing, Apple Bloom easily lifted the bucket up onto her back as the young colt pouted.

"How about ya wait until ya get a little bit stronger?" Apple Bloom suggested, remembering how eager she used to be as a filly when it came to helping. "Until then, why don't ya go to the clubhouse and have some fun with your friends?"

"Ah can't," Apple Seed said. "Gemstone hasn't been the same since a few days ago. Ah wonder why she got upset?"

Apple Bloom knew what had happened. When she was in town selling apples the other day, she caught sight of Sweetie Belle's coltfriend, Button Mash, getting groceries for the pop singer. He informed her of the unfortunate news that happened to Rarity, and Scootaloo found out from Apple Bloom when she visited after she was on break from her training at the Wonderbolts Academy. Gemstone must have been told, understandably upset, never able to see her mother again.

After dropping the bucket of fresh apples into the barn's storage cellar, Apple Bloom noticed a familiar sight that she hadn't seen in a long time. Discord was walking up to the farm, which was odd since he loved to appear out of nowhere in random locations back then, and he was really depressed.

"Apple Seed, go inside the house," she said.

"Why?" Not given an answer, Apple Bloom gave him a nudge. "What's goin' on?"

"Just do what Ah say." Apple Seed headed to the house, but as Apple Bloom turned around, he quickly hid behind a nearby apple tree, snooping in on what his aunt wanted to do with the strange creature approaching their farm. As Discord got closer, Apple Bloom could tell there wasn't any sign of good news. "Discord. Haven't seen ya in over fifteen years. Ya better not have been causin' any trouble."

"Believe me, you would want me to be wrecking chaos right now." Discord hesitated, looking around for anyone else around. "Are there...any other adults around? I have some good and bad news."

"Mah brother's in the east orchard right now, and mah brother-in-law is helpin' some of our relatives down in Appaloosa," Apple Bloom said, still cautious over what the draconequus might have up his sleeves. "Should Ah get him?"

"I'll do it to save time," Discord said, snapping his fingers, making Big Macintosh appear, greatly confusing him. "I really don't want to be the bearer of bad news."

"Then why don't ya give us the good news first?" Apple Bloom questioned, Big Mac nodding his head in agreement, though he had no clue what was going on.

Discord sighed, at least getting the good news out of the way. "Solaris has passed his second test, given by me, and they're now on their way to the Crystal Empire for the third."

"Seriously? This is great!" Apple Bloom said in excitement. "Solaris is sure to beat up Lucifer sooner than we expected!"

"Eeyup," agreed Big Mac.

"Yes, well...this is where the bad news comes in," Discord said. "By random chance, Lucifer discovered where Solaris was, trapping us all inside the temple as one of his minions set off the trap to turn the ruins into a pile of stone. We managed to get out...but there was a casualty..."

Discord snapped his fingers, Applejack's body hidden underneath the tarp appearing in front of them. He gently laid the mare's body to the ground in front of the two siblings. He then reached behind his back, pulling out her hat, sadly lowering it on top of Applejack's body.

Apple Bloom gasped as she realized what Discord was trying to say. "...No...Oh please no..."

"...I'm sorry..." Discord turned away, steeling himself for a possible bucking if Apple Bloom or Big Mac thought he was messing with them.

Both Apple Bloom and Big Mac were greatly distraught, unable to believe that their sister was lying underneath that tarp. The older brother decided to check, the three of them unaware of Apple Seed creeping forward to find out what the adults were talking about. As soon as Applejack's face was uncovered, the two siblings gasped in horror, rendered speechless.

"Ma?" Apple Bloom and Big Mac were snapped out of their shock, they and Discord quickly turning to face Apple Seed. "Why is ma back?"

"Apple Seed, Ah told ya to go inside!" Apple Bloom scolded, trying not to break down in tears while trying to keep her nephew away from Applejack's body.

"But why is ma here? She's supposed to be with Solaris!" Apple Seed slipped past Apple Bloom, the young mare unable to stop him due to her overwhelming emotions. He ran past Big Mac and up to his deceased mother, trying to shake her awake. "Ma, get up! Ya gotta help Solaris beat Lucifer!"

Discord quickly levitated the colt away, moving the tarp back down as he distracted him. "Hey, lookie here! Applejack has a kid!? How time flies when you're a wall carving for one and a half decades!? Why don't I play with the little toddler while his mother 'sleeps'!? She is so tired!"

"Ah'm not a baby, Ah'm eight!" Apple Seed corrected, greatly annoyed as he hovered upside down by his tail.

"Same thing! Let's cause some mischief with your friends...if you have any!" Discord didn't give the colt a chance to respond as they disappeared to another part of Ponyville, far away from Sweet Apple Acres.

With the crisis averted, it didn't help Apple Bloom and Big Mac ignore their sister had been killed. Apple Bloom sobbed, her emotional walls crumbling as she wept for her big sister. Big Mac held her close as he shed tears as well, the siblings mourning for Applejack more saddening than Granny Smith's passing. They both feared how they would tell their nephew the truth when Apple Seed had a really close bond with his mother, scared how he would react to her death.

Chapter 11: Unknown Relatives

The train had entered the frozen tundra after a day of chugging through the arid climate of Saddle Arabia, sand and heat replaced by snow and frost. In the private car at the end of the locomotive was where Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Trill, and Solaris had spent their day. They were still suffering from Applejack's unfortunate death, unmotivated to do anything or find any way to cheer each other up. Solaris was taking it hard, blaming himself for the mare's sacrifice.

He looked out the window from his bunk, watching the scenery pass by, no longer interested in the landscape he desired to see from the world outside of the caves. He heard his stomach growling, begging for something to eat, but he didn't feel hungry. He was slowly losing his family one by one, and he was scared to know what will happen to the others. What was worse, he feared what the mares' families would think of him if they all died because of him.

While Solaris internally struggled with his thoughts, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Fluttershy were in a separate car as they tried to figure out what to do. Having lost three friends in the span of a week, they really needed to figure out what they should do next.

"Ok, I think we might be safe as long as we lay low," Rainbow said, still upset after losing Applejack, but sane enough to think about their future planning. "Let's just hope Lucifer thinks we're still dead. I doubt that will happen, since his little minion was watching us like a sick bastard."

"You mean the full body armored stallion?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah. The same one who dropped Rarity off to us." Rainbow growled as she thought of many different ways to get back at this mysterious mercenary. "If I see him again, I am going to kill him myself."

"Can we not talk about negative feelings?" Pinkie asked. "I know this hasn't been a fun adventure, but we're going to be at the Crystal Empire soon. We don't want Solly to be sad when he sees his relatives."

"...Right," Rainbow admitted. "No matter what happens, we have to keep going. Solaris needs to do complete all of these tests, and we all need a break after what happened in the desert. It'll do him some good to meet Shining Armor and Cadence for the first time."

"I'm sure Cadence and Shining Armor would want to see how much he's grown," Fluttershy said.

"Yeah!" Pinkie said. "He's gonna meet his uncle and aunt he never knew about!...Like when he was kept hidden from the truth...about Twilight..." She trailed off, the three mares growing worried about how Solaris would react to meeting relatives he never knew of that were actually related to him by blood. "...I have a bad feeling it's gonna end up with yelling and possible furniture smashing."

"Do you really think Solaris is gonna break something and freak out?" Rainbow asked.

"Well, do you not remember what he did to his punching bag!?" Pinkie exclaimed. "He can do some serious damage to anything!"

"I doubt he's gonna overreact that way, Pinkie," Rainbow said, though she seemed a bit worried. "At least, I hope he doesn't..."

As evening came sooner than expected, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Fluttershy were asleep in their bunks, while Solaris and Trill were still awake. The alicorn hadn't slept in the past two days and his stomach demanded food, slowly harming himself as he still laid in the same position, while the changeling princess could feel his sadness from above him. She tried to get him to say something, but she got nothing. Even with some of her lewd jokes, nothing seemed to make him snap out of his funk.

Her ears perked up when she heard Solaris finally leave his bed, quietly heading to the caboose. Trill followed him as he was by himself in the car, wondering what he was up to. She saw something glow against his chest, his chaos pendant emitting a small light. Her jaw dropped when she saw a cloud appear out of nowhere, coated pink, and Solaris's horn didn't even glow. He bit off a piece of the cloud, the scent hitting her nose a mix of cotton candy and chocolate milk.

"What in Equestria...?" Trill pondered, her voice reaching Solaris's ears.

"I thought you were asleep..." Solaris continued munching on the chaotic cloud he created, keeping his back turned to Trill.

"Kinda hard to when I can feel your depression when your directly beneath me." Trill moved closer to Solaris until she sat in front of him, eyeing the pink cloud floating before them. "Uhh...mind telling me what that is you're eating? I mean, I'm glad you finally got up to eat something, but...why a cloud?"

"...I gave in to my stomach's protests." Solaris bit into his cloud, some chocolate milk spurting out from the bite mark, only to be absorbed back into the cotton candy. "It's a cotton candy cloud stuffed with chocolate milk."

"Chocolate milk!?" Trill immediately bit down on the fluffy cloud of candy, tasting the strawberry cotton candy and delighting in the chocolate milk filling stuffing her cheeks. She moaned in ecstasy at the chocolatey goodness invading her taste buds, not even minding the cotton candy part of the cloud. "Ooooh goodness of all things delicious. Chocolate..."

Solaris backed away a little, Trill's obvious addiction to chocolate going to be a serious issue. Swallowing her mouthful and licking her lips, she noticed the alicorn teen's awkwardness, chuckling in embarrassment.

"What is it with you and chocolate?" Solaris asked.

"...It tastes like love..." Trill waited for a response, knowing it was a stupid answer, even if it was true for her. "I know it sounds stupid, but we changelings love the stuff to death. Call it a weakness since it's a substitute for the real love energy we absorb."

"...Oh," Solaris said in understanding. "I guess that makes sense."

"Eh?" Trill stared at the stallion quizzically. "Really? I thought you would say something like, 'That doesn't make any sense,' or, 'What!? Seriously!? Is that what love really tastes like? Chocolate?'"

"Hearts and Hooves Day." Trill grew even more confused at his answer. "Couples usually give each other gifts on this holiday to show their affection, whether platonic or not. It's either chocolates, flowers, or cards as the gifts, and nopony can resist chocolate from their special somepony." Solaris nibbled some more of the cloud, taking a momentary break to fill up his stomach. He didn't even notice Trill's dumbfounded expression, still completely loss. "You know, it's a weird story how Hearts and Hooves Day came to be.

"It all started when a unicorn prince pined for a princess he had a crush on, but she had no idea he existed. He created a potion where two ponies have to consume the same brew at the same time, falling in love with each other against their will. Unfortunately, instead of a potion, it was more like a poison." Solaris continued his rambling as he continued munching on his snack. "The couple were in love, but it was the awkward kind like in those strange, cheesy romance novels. They constantly stared in each other's eyes, shirking off from their royal duties until, eventually, their kingdoms collapsed. After the tragic death between the forced lovers, Hearts and Hooves Day was created, celebrating love between friends, family, or the pony of their dreams."

After finishing his lecture, Trill blankly stared at the alicorn, having had no interest the entire time. "...Can you explain how that relates to changelings and our love for chocolate? Because I didn't want to hear about a love story turned tragic by a poison."

"Oh..." Solaris looked down, having forgotten why he was relating the holiday to Trill's love of chocolate, only to ramble on a tangent and talk about something else. "Sorry...My mind isn't exactly in the right place at the moment." He looked out one of the windows, approaching it and looked out at the darkness, the moon shining down and lighting up the snow-covered land. "I still can't stop blaming myself for what happened to Aunt Applejack..."

"Solaris..." Trill walked up to the depressed alicorn, gently laying her hoof on his shoulder, reverting to her normal form since they were alone. "It wasn't your fault."

"Then why do I feel like I caused her death?" Solaris questioned rhetorically, burying his face in his forelegs. "She worked on a farm all her life, years of bucking apples giving her more strength and stamina than any other regular earth pony. She should have outrun the collapse and all of us would have survived...It makes no sense..."

"Solaris, we saw how fast the ruins were crumbling," Trill said. "After you went flying out when Applejack saved you, it took only a few seconds for the debris to completely wreck the secret passage. She sacrificed herself so you could live, because she knew you were important to her and didn't want you to die with her."

"But I-" The sound of a slap echoed in the empty caboose, Solaris's protest silenced as he was stunned in silent shock, being slapped by the changeling princess hard in the face.

"No buts!" Trill shouted, her hoof outstretched for another slap if the alicorn tried to find another excuse. "Applejack wouldn't want you to keep blaming yourself over something you didn't do! We all know you're the only one who can stop Lucifer, and if you died, then Equestria will fall! Am I right!?"

Solaris slowly turned his head to look at Trill, rendered speechless. He slowly rubbed his cheek, feeling it sting, still stunned as he processed what she said. He didn't want his family to sacrifice themselves for his own safety, as if his Uncle Spike's loss wasn't scarring to him already. He was snapped out of his stupor when Trill wrapped his hooves around his neck, holding him closely.

"I don't want you to hurt yourself like this," she said. "I can feel your emotions, and it makes me sad knowing you're so miserable..." Trill nuzzled his neck, making Solaris blush. "No matter what happens, I'll be with you to help you back up...I promised Applejack that much back in Saddle Arabia..."

After he finally managed to wrack his brain over what had just happened, Trill's words finally reached Solaris. She was right; Applejack wouldn't want him to lose his focus. He needed to keep going, just like his mother requested back in the Everfree Forest. And hearing how Trill was feeling when he was upset made him feel bad.

Trill had helped Solaris forget about some of the bad moments that had occurred within the past week, despite her crude jokes and pranks distasteful. She began changing after he scolded her and broken their friendship, her behavior around him always odd and questionable. Now, seeing her acting so differently, being there for him, comforting him, it was like he was with a different pony.

He hugged Trill tightly, thankful to have met somepony like her, even if she was supposed to be one of Equestria's enemies. "I'm sorry...I under a lot of pressure, and losing everypony is just making me more stressed."

"I know," Trill said. "Which is why if you keep stressing out, your gold mane's gonna turn grey before you turn twenty."

"I'm just gonna ignore that and imagine you complimented my mane," Solaris said, grinning as he began to slightly grow accustomed to Trill's sarcasm. He suddenly felt the mare tremble in his hooves. "You ok?"

"Y-Yeah...I didn't realize how cold it got in here." Trill shivered, huddling close to Solaris for any warmth she could get. "I'm not doing this to flirt with you or anything. Changelings aren't really fond of the cold. Which was also why I didn't want to be anywhere away from the fire back in the desert."

"You engulf yourself in flames when you transform," Solaris replied.

"It's just a small effect. It doesn't have any heat to it, just an illusion," Trill explained.

She went rigid as she felt Solaris wrapping his wings around her body, surprisingly warm like his own body heat. Trill blushed heavily, feeling the powerful appendages pulling her closer to him as he sheltered her from the slightly cold air. She looked up at him, his face as red as hers while trying not to look into her eyes.

"Uhh...better?" Solaris asked, obviously nervous with how intimately close they were.

"Y-Yeah..." Trill felt his soft feathers brush along her body with each subtle movement he made, almost like he was gently caressing her. She sighed, leaning against Solaris, feeling her body temperature warm up as she enjoyed the soft touch of his wings. "Your feathers are really soft..."

"I know. I learned how to keep them preened from Aunt Rainbow and Aunt Fluttershy." He brushed his wings against Trill's, feeling how smooth they were for being paper-thin and fragile. He was completely unaware of what he was doing, too lost in his fascination with how different she was compared to him. Once he realized she was making those same chirping noises she made while she slept, he stopped his rubbing, hearing her whine in protest. "Sorry..."

"I liked that though," Trill whined.

"Uhh..." Solaris pulled his wings back, calming himself down as his intense blush didn't seem to be going away anytime soon. "I-I'm kinda tired. I think I'm gonna get some sleep."

Before he could leave, Trill gently pressed herself against him, making the stallion freeze up. "Solaris...Is it ok if I...sleep with you?" The alicorn felt his breath catch his throat, completely caught off guard. "N-Not like that. I mean, to keep warm...I'm not sure my sheets can help..."

"...Oh!" Solaris breathed a sigh of relief. "I-I thought that you...Oh gosh...I was gonna say that we were...Because you're a changeling and-" Trill pressed a hoof to his lips, silencing his babbling.

"A yes or no will work instead of your mouth running on auto-pilot," Trill giggled, making Solaris's heart beat against his chest at her laugh. He nodded his head, his lips still closed by her hoof. "I promise I won't do anything stupid. And before you complain, you were the one who was all over me back in the Everfree Forest, sleep cuddler."

Solaris pouted, his blush threatening to make his head explode, being reminded of her little wake-up prank. "I am not a sleep cuddler..."

The two teens headed back into their car, keeping quiet to avoid waking the others. They got into Solaris's bed, Trill crawling in first as she got comfortable under the covers. They huddled close together, their hooves wrapped around each other to share each other's body heat. As soon as the alicorn rested his head on the pillow, he instantly fell asleep, heavily exhausted from two days lacking sleep.

Trill watched Solaris sleeping calmly, feeling his chest slowly rise and fall with each breath he took. She was glad she managed to snap him back to his normal self, though she felt she went a bit far slapping him like that. If only she was brave enough to tell him how she really felt about him. Solaris did hold her closely earlier, even subconsciously rubbing her affectionately. Maybe there was a possibility that he liked her the same way, he was just too blind to realize it yet. Before she fell asleep, she transformed back in her disguise, the green flames thankfully not alerting anypony from their slumber.

The sun rose above the frozen tundra of the north as the train continued along its route to the Crystal Empire. Inside of the private car the group slept in, Rainbow was the first to wake up, routine she was forced to do when she had her daughter, who she had named Prism. While taking a moment to get motivated, she dug through her bags and pulled out a picture of her little filly hugging her pet tortoise, Tank. Prism looked exactly like her mother: rainbow hair, magenta eyes, but the only difference between the two was her coat, a lighter shade of blue than Rainbow's.

As much as the pegasus didn't want to admit feeling sappy, she was really proud that she gave birth to a filly like her. Prism acted a lot like her, always tough and energetic, but loyal to her family and friends. She might not be as fast as her mother, but given enough time and training, she could be pulling off sonic rainbooms like Rainbow could. She pulled out another picture, showing Prism as a newborn foal being held by a smiling teenage Scootloo, Prism's surrogate older sister. She had gotten her cutie mark along with her other two friends, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, which was a shield, only it had a feather in the center and a lightning bolt inside the feather.

Rainbow was glad to know that Scootaloo would be there for her daughter if anything happened to her. She even promised to watch out for her while she was gone, intending to come back home after Lucifer was dealt with. She put the pictures back safely in her bags, making sure nopony saw her hiding those pictures. She had a reputation, even after becoming a mother, not wanting to let her loving side show too much.

She got out of bed, stretching out her limbs, preferring a cloud bed more than the spring mattresses used for non-pegasi. When she looked over at Solaris's bunk, her eyes widened as she saw Trill sleeping with him, being held in his hooves. Whatever happened while she slept, she grinned as she thought of only one thing that could have possibly happened, and it was a really perverted theory. She flew up onto the top bunk, peeking her head over as she watched the alicorn teen slowly wake up.

Solaris opened his eyes, still pretty tired, but rested enough not to pass out later on today. He looked down as he heard quiet chirping, remembering Trill slept with him for warmth. He realized that, while he was asleep, he must have draped a wing over her unconsciously, either to help bring her more warmth or an involuntary reflex of his limbs.

"Guess I am a sleep cuddler after all..." Solaris sighed, proven wrong, but he didn't care. He held Trill closer, feeling her heart beating softly while his only increased in speed. His thoughts raced as he began to think that he might be falling for the changeling. She did care about him and promised she would be there for him, but with their difference in species, as well as being branded as enemies of Equestria, he had no idea what to do. He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the mattress above him creak, spotting Rainbow's eyes staring at them, upside down, from the top bunk. "GAH!"

Solaris immediately sat up, smacking his head against the top bunk and regretted it, waking Trill up as she scrambled around under the covers. "What's happening!? Are we under attack!?" She flailed around, knocking Solaris off the bed as he groaned, having the worst wake-up call in his life.

Rubbing his head, he looked up to find the pegasus smirking at him with a sly grin. "So, you two have a little 'fun' last night? Thought you would have made some noise or something."

"A-Aunt Rainbow!" Solaris shouted as he blushed. "W-We didn't do anything like that!"

"Sure," Rainbow teased. "You two didn't do anything while you were cuddling like that. You even had that little look in your eyes that said, 'Oh yeah. I just got laid.'"

"N-No!" Solaris groaned, getting annoyed by his aunt's perverted joking. "Urgh...Why do you do this? It's bad enough for my birthday you gave me a...really dirty magazine...that I actually looked at."

"Any interesting images you fancied?" Rainbow asked, only to receive a smack in the face by her saddlebags.

It wasn't Solaris who threw them, it was Fluttershy, and she didn't seem to like the idea. "You gave Solaris what for his birthday!? Rainbow, what were you thinking!?"

"Hey, it was just a little joke, Flutters!" Rainbow defended, not wanting to receive 'The Stare' from her foalhood friend. "I wanted to know how he reacted. Besides, he's a growing colt. He's bound to have urges with his hormones acting up."

"He isn't old enough to even think about that, especially when it comes to what we have to do now," Fluttershy scolded. "Or did you completely forget what you said yesterday?"

"I know what I said. I was just making fun of him a little bit," Rainbow said. "Not my fault he and Evergreen slept in the same bed. They were like that when I woke up."

"What!?" Fluttershy shouted, looking at Solaris, now him fearing her aunt's gaze.

"She was cold and asked to sleep with me to keep warm! We did absolutely nothing!" Solaris said, feeling more embarrassed at his aunts' pestering.

He began yelping in pain as he felt his ear being grabbed by Fluttershy's teeth, being dragged into a separate car for a proper scolding by the pegasus. As kind as the mare can be, she does have a strict side to her if her buttons are pushed enough, and Rainbow's little birthday prank seemed to bring her to a boiling point.

"...So, what did you two really do?" Rainbow asked Trill.

"We just slept with each other for warmth. That was all," Trill said. "...What kind of magazine did you give him?"

"Latest issue of Playcolt," Rainbow admitted. "Had some really juicy pics that I'm sure would have...'stimulated' his mind on a different perspective on mares."

"Oooh. I think might have gone through every page, judging by how red his cheeks were," Trill said, bumping her hoof with Rainbow's, both of them having the same prediction as to what Solaris did with the magazine.

A while later, the train slowed down to the station outside of the Crystal Empire, the five of them getting off after gathering their belongings. As soon as Solaris and Trill noticed the castle, they gasped in awe at the crystallized kingdom. The tall castle and the many buildings, all made of crystal, was protected by a magical barrier created by the Crystal Heart, an artifact that is powered by the crystal ponies happiness, able to expel darkness from its shield. Luckily, none of Lucifer's Shadow Knights were anywhere near the kingdom since the unicorn king's dark magic would prevent him from trying to enter unless he wanted to be slain by the light of the heart.

"Whoa..." Solaris said, breaking out of his speechlessness.

"Welcome to the Crystal Empire," Rainbow said, leading the way as the two teens marveled at the shimmering crystals. As they walked through the barrier, it felt a lot warmer compared to the cold air outside, which Trill was thankful for. "Out of all the places around Equestria, this kingdom is the only safe zone outside of Lucifer's reign. Some ponies, griffons, and other species began to flee from their homes to come here, away from being pushed around by his soldiers or risk getting killed by that bastard."

As they walked through the streets, also made out of a smooth type of crystal, Solaris and Trill noticed the ponies that were actually native to the kingdom shimmered like they were really made of crystal. "This place is beautiful." Up ahead, the alicorn spotted a strange crystal statue of a dragon in the center of town. "Do the crystal ponies worship dragons?"

"That's actually a statue of Spike," Fluttershy corrected. "When Sombra came back, he and your mother found the Crystal Heart, but Spike was the one who brought it down to Princess Cadence, saving the empire along with her."

"Wow." Solaris looked up at the statue, noticing some similar features despite the entire statue was blue. "So, he was a hero...But, who's this Princess Cadence? You told me about the Crystal Empire before, but not about who rules this place."

"We were keeping it a surprise, you silly billy!" Pinkie bounced in, giving Solaris a light pat on the head. "You're gonna love meeting the princess, and her husband! I think you might recognize them...assuming you can remember them when you were a itty bitty foal."

"Huh? They know about me?" Solaris asked, but didn't receive an answer.

He followed his aunts, Trill walking alongside him, approaching the massive crystal castle. The guards stationed in front of the entrance, also shining like crystal and wearing similarly made armor, let them in, knowing who the mares were. They followed the many corridors, Solaris feeling the eyes of the crystal guards staring at him. As they entered the throne room, his eyes widened as he saw the princess of the kingdom.

Sitting on her crystal throne was a pink alicorn mare, her long mane and tail a mix of yellow, pink, and purple. Her cutie mark was a crystal heart, almost identical to the actual relic used to ward off evil. She was busy looking through a few scrolls, possibly laws or scheduled hearings she would have to partake in at a later date, not noticing her guests' arrival.

"An alicorn?" Solaris questioned, bewildered and confused. "I thought I was the only one left..."

The princess heard Solaris's voice, looking up from her work to see the ponies who came to see her. Keeping a neutral expression, she rolled up the scroll she was currently reading, getting off of her throne. Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Pinkie bowed as they backed away, the ruler slowly approaching the teen. Trill followed suit, backing away as her sights were only set on the alicorn standing in her presence.

"Guards, leave me alone with our guests, if you please," she said, the stallions bowing to the princess as they left the room. Solaris gulped, really nervous, either in serious trouble or what the princess had in mind for him away from her soldiers' eyes. As soon as the guards closed the doors, all that was left was the teen, Trill, his aunts, and the princess of the Crystal Empire. Solaris shivered, having no clue what she would do to him as she stood in front of him. She suddenly smiled widely, excitement lighting up in her eyes. "Look how much you've grown!"

Before he nearly fainted from the tense moment, Solaris was immediately snatched up by the princess, being hugged tightly. "W-Wha...? What's-"

"I haven't seen you ever since you were a baby! You've grown into a big, strong stallion now!" She pulled away, only to move her hooves up to his cheeks, squishing his face. "You had such chubby cheeks when you were born!"

"I-I'm confushed!" Solaris said as the princess coddled him like he was a toddler. He pulled away from her grabby hooves, scared of her excitement more than an expected punishment. "How do you know me!?"

"I know it's a little difficult to remember, but you were just an infant when you met us. And you were so cute!" she said.

"...I don't understand..." Solaris said.

"Now if my husband was awake right now, this would be a perfect family reunion. He's always been so busy, and I told him not to overwork himself, but he can be so stubborn sometimes," the princess said.

Before he could retort, the throne room doors opened as a white unicorn stallion walked in. He wasn't a crystal pony, even though many of them seemed to be earth ponies. "Cadence, you need to remind the rest of the guard not to wake me unless it's a real emergency. I'm really exhausted and-" He froze as he looked at Solaris.

Turning to the older stallion, he noticed his blue mane and tail, and his cutie mark a blue shield with a purple star in the center. The star looked exactly like his mother's, which seemed odd. The princess, Cadence, skipped up to the shocked stallion, gently nudging him toward Solaris.

"Glad you finally decided to wake up, honey," she said. "Look how big he's gotten! Oh, if only the girls and Spike were able to send us pictures!"

"Ok, I'm really confused, and nopony's answering me!" Solaris exclaimed. "Who are you two, and how do you know who I am!?"

Cadence laughed at his confusion, even though it didn't seem insulting. "I know this is a lot to take in, but I think it's finally time for you to meet us. Spending fifteen years in a cave, kept hidden from the world, there's a lot of stuff you've been away from, including family."

"F-Family?" Solaris asked. He began piecing the last parts of the puzzle together, the same star on the stallion's cutie mark just like his mother's and half of his, why Cadence gushed over him. He couldn't really believe it. "...Y-You mean...A-Are you really...?"

"Yes. I'm Cadence, and this is my husband, Shining Armor," Cadence said as she nudged her husband out of his stupor. "Shining is your mother's older brother, making us your aunt and uncle. Isn't it exciting?"

"A-Aunt...a-and u-uncle...?" Solaris muttered.

He kept staring at his relatives, mostly his uncle, being related to him by blood. He wasn't at all mad having another part of his family kept secret, knowing Lucifer could have done worse. He didn't know what to feel at all: happy, ecstatic, sad. So many thoughts raced through his head, so many questions about his actual uncle and aunt he wanted to ask, wanting to know everything about them and what they knew about Twilight. His brain eventually broke, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as he fainted, plopping to the floor. The whole room was silent, not exactly the reaction they expected.

"...Well, at least he didn't blow up like when we told him about Twilight," Pinkie finally said. "We'll take that instead!"

Rainbow facehooved, annoyed by Pinkie's decision to find Solaris fainting better than yelling at them and breaking everything around him.

Chapter 12: Catching Up on Lost Time

After Solaris's little fainting spell, waking up hours later, everypony was in the dining hall for dinner, eating some of the meals crafted with the empire's famed crystal berries, which actually aren't made of real crystal. Solaris was too excited to eat, wanting to ask Cadence and Shining Armor hundreds of questions, but he was too nervous to utter a single word. Trill was the only one aside from Solaris who didn't eat any of the different dishes, not really fond of the fruity scents wafting around the long table.

While eating their meals, Cadence noticed Solaris had kept eyeing them and wanting to say something, but always turning back to his plate. "Solaris, you don't have to be shy around us. And eat! I'm sure you must be starving!"

"...I-I don't even know what to say," he said. "I don't even know where to begin."

"Well, I'm sure you all can spare a few days to rest. You must be pretty tired from traveling half of Equestria already." Cadence took a sip of tea from her crystal china, realizing that there were a some ponies and a certain dragon missing. "So, where are the others? Did you guys get lost and they had to get on a different train?"

The whole room was silent, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Solaris immediately felt depressed. "...Lucifer got them..." Rainbow said. "He found Solaris, killed Spike, then Rarity when she tried to get revenge for Spike's death, and Applejack got crushed in the temple back in Saddle Arabia..."

Cadence gasped, completely shocked at the terrible news. "Oh gosh...I am so sorry."

Shining Armor grit his teeth, seething with anger as the name of the tyrant was mentioned. "Lucifer..." The stallion took a large swig of his glass, filled with hard cider, lowering the alcoholic beverage back down before he decided to smash it against the table in rage. "Ever since he came around and killed my sister and the princesses, he's caused nothing but trouble. His soldiers have no discipline, looting and pillaging whatever they can with no consequence. Because of that and fear of ever crossing paths with him, many families had fled here to the Crystal Empire for protection. There's barely enough room to accept anymore, and if this keeps up, we'll have to turn others around to seek shelter elsewhere!"

"The Crystal Heart's power can only protect the kingdom, and the barrier's radius doesn't reach any further than what I can ask it to," Cadence said, gently rubbing her husband's shoulder to try and calm him down. "The crystal ponies are doing whatever they can to help. As long as the barrier stays up, Lucifer can never get in."

"And he's waiting for one of us to slip up and leave the empire," Shining growled. "He'll take advantage and us one of us as a shield, a bargaining chip that he'll easily discard once he lures us out. His tyranny is stressing me out, and nopony can even so much as scratch him without getting killed..."

"Which is why I'm the only one who can do it," said Solaris. "If I can pass my tests mom had set up for me, then I can face him. I'll kill him and make sure Equestria is back to the way it used to be."

"...I know, Solaris..." Shining slowly got up from his seat, making his way out of the dining hall. "I'm going to get some sleep. I've been so exhausted with everything that's been going on." As he passed Trill, he noticed that she didn't eat anything yet. As soon as their eyes met, the prince somehow found her emerald irises to be somewhat familiar. "...I didn't realize you were actually with my nephew...Who are you?"

"My name's Evergreen Forrest," Trill responded.

"...I see..." After staring at the teen for a while, he finally left the dining hall and began heading for his bedroom. He began to grow suspicious from her lack of appetite and emerald eyes. "Those eyes...I've seen those same green eyes before..."

After spending the rest of the evening resting in their rooms in the castle, everypony went about their business around the empire. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy decided to spend some time at the spa to truly relax, while Solaris wanted to spend his time getting to know more about his new aunt and uncle. Trill tagged along, having no clue what to do and followed the alicorns.

"Where's Uncle Shining?" Solaris asked as they walked through the streets, the crystal ponies bowing before their princess as they passed.

"He's still pretty tired. Shining works really hard to keep things organized with me, though he is pushing himself more and more." They soon entered the nearby park, where there weren't many ponies who would interrupt them. "I know you want the both of us close-by so you could know us better, but I'll answer any of his questions to the best of my ability."

"Ok. I understand," Solaris said, mulling over the many questions he felt bold enough to finally ask. "So, you're an alicorn too. I actually thought it was just me now."

"Yes, but I'm not a naturally born alicorn. I used to be a pegasus before Aunt Celestia ascended me to an alicorn," Cadence said with pride, surprising both Trill and Solaris. "And before you ask if I could have stopped Lucifer, I can't. I'm more of a lover, not a fighter."

"You mean you can't fight?" he asked.

"I can, but I'm not really good at it, magically or physically," Cadence said. "My specialty is actually love. I always adored romance, no matter what kind it may be. Tragic love stories, love at first sight, schoolpony crushes. Nopony should ever break up those truly in love with one another."

"Bleh," Solaris groaned in digust. "You mean you like those dumb romance novels with horribly written dialogue that sounded like a five-year-old thought of?"

"There are some good love stories out there, Solaris. You just gotta look past the words and imagine the experience." Cadence lead Trill and Solaris to a gazebo, where they could see the park in its clean and lustrous landscape. "Shining and I were the kind of couple who ended up dating back when we were teens. He was smitten by my looks the instant he laid eyes on me." She began giggling, remembering a funny point in their life. "You should have seen how he reacted when he found out I would be foalsitting your mother when she was a filly."

"You foalsat my mom?" Solaris asked. "...How old are you?"

"Forty-five, yet I still look like I'm in my early twenties, don't I?" Cadence answered, not insulted by her nephew's question on her age.

"Yeah. I though it was weird how you and Uncle Shining seemed different age-wise..." Solaris felt a little awkward asking his aunt's age, something he had learned never to do from Rarity if he ever met another filly. "Why is that?"

"Alicorns age differently compared to normal ponies. Celestia and Luna were over a thousand years old, and they were still around after all that time..." Cadence frowned, remembering the unfortunate news when Lucifer had attacked her aunts and sister-in-law. "We may seem immortal, but only by age. We can still be killed..."

"Right..." Solaris looked at his wings, knowing true immortality is nothing but fantasy. But growing older, year after year, watching the ones you knew and loved die, it would be worse than being tortured to near death. "In stories, immortality is known as a blessing, where the villain would live forever, unable to be killed and free to do whatever they want. For the heroes, or us...It's almost like a curse."

"Exactly..." As they grew silent, Trill could feel their sadness. Losing Twilight and the princesses were really hard on the both of them. Cadence pulled her nephew close into a tight embrace and he hugged her back. "I know this is all rough on you, Solaris. Know that your mother always loved you, and she would do anything for you."

"I know..." Solaris said.

As the two alicorns hugged, Cadence suddenly felt something really odd in their presence. Her first instinct was looking at Trill, feeling something strangely familiar about her that she didn't realize until now. When the disguised changeling wasn't looking, Cadence gave Solaris a small kiss on the forehead, noticing a slight reaction to the mare's horn. It was faint, but it glowed green. She eyed the young mare, gently pulling away from her nephew.

"I know our meeting was a bit swift, but who are you again?" Cadence questioned. "Evergreen, was it?"

"Uhh, y-yes ma'am..." Trill said nervously.

"I also noticed you didn't eat anything last night..." Her suspicions began to grow as she noticed the changeling's hints of nervousness. "Were you not hungry? Or sick perhaps?"

"I-I wasn't hungry. I uhh...had a big lunch yesterday! Yeah!" Trill chuckled, growing more suspicious as her lies didn't faze Cadence.

"But we didn't have lunch. At least none on the train before we disembarked," Solaris said, making Trill sweat as the alicorn was the one who was going to ruin her lies.

"Hmmm..." Cadence approached the mare, looking around to make sure no other ponies were around. Her horn began glowing, casting a blue aura, making a heart appear in front of her. At the sight of the magical heart, Trill's eyes were automatically entranced to the spell, her mouth salivating at the energy it produced. Cadence had found her out. "I knew it."

Cadence tackled the dazed changeling to the ground, surprising Solaris. She then dispelled Trill's disguise, revealing her true self. As the young princess looked up, she knew she was in trouble.

"Uh oh," Trill gulped, scared out of her mind.

"I knew you weren't an ordinary pony," Cadence said, her horn glowing as she prepared to fight back. "What's a changeling doing here in my empire!?"

"Wait, Aunt Cadence!" Solaris quickly pulled her aunt away, shocking her as he defended Trill. "I can explain!"

"You mean you knew she was a changeling!?" Cadence asked. "Do you have any idea what they almost did to mine and Shining's wedding!?"

"Well, I wasn't told what a changeling was until-" Solaris paused, thinking over what Cadence had just said. "Wait...Your wedding?"

"Yes! And by the look of her, she must obviously be Chrysalis's heir, not like her drones," Cadence said. "I knew Shining Armor thought it was strange how her eyes looked, because they're exactly like hers, the same thing that tried to take my husband away from me and use him!"

"What?" Solaris looked back at Trill, who was just as shocked as he was, then turned back to Cadence. "Trill told me her mom tried to take over a royal wedding between a princess and a royal guard captain in Canterlot...You mean...she was talking about you and Uncle Shining?"

"Yes!" Cadence stomped her hoof, ready to end the young changeling's life. "Now move aside! I don't want any one of these things anywhere near you!"

"Wait! I had no idea mom was talking about you!" Trill said in a panic. "I wasn't even born when the invasion happened!"

"She's right," Solaris said. "Aunt Cadence, Trill actually helped me when I first left my home near Ponyville...I was by myself and lost, and I bumped into her. She's my friend."

Cadence didn't want to believe what Solaris was saying was the truth, but she froze when she felt something else about them. It was the same feeling of emotion that she can feel and aid for couples that are lacking in it: love. She stared at the cowering changeling, unable to believe that something like her could actually be in love with her nephew, and it was legitimate too. There was no deceit, no lies, nothing entirely wrong. It felt right for them, and it baffled her.

The princess lowered her guard, trying to figure out if this was supposed to be some kind of trick, but it wasn't. "...Are you sure? She isn't...manipulating you or anything, is she?"

"No," Solaris said as Trill shook her head, staying silent to avoid angering the princess. "Even if you think she is, I'm not going to let you hurt her. I don't want to lose her."

That had shocked Cadence. She could feel the same emotion from Solaris as he said he didn't want to lose Trill. He cared about her, and in return, she cared about him. As much as she wanted to deny this, she couldn't help herself with always liking any form of romance, especially one where two species who were enemies toward one another could end up being together. Sighing in defeat, she sat down, rubbing her forehead as she wracked her brain around her likes favoring over her dislikes.

"...Alright then," she said. "If you can trust her...then I won't do anything." Solaris and Trill both breathed a sigh of relief. "But, she's going to have to reveal herself to the others today."

"What!?" Solaris exclaimed as Trill's jaw dropped in fear. "B-But Aunt Cadence-"

"No buts, Solaris!" Cadence scolded, Solaris protest immediately silenced. "If she's going to be traveling with you, then she's going to need everypony's one hundred percent trust. That means no disguises around other family members." The teen's ears drooped, growing worried about Trill's safety. "I'm sorry, Solaris, but after the invasion, changelings can't really be trusted. They almost took over Canterlot and crashed our wedding. Maybe they might not be all bad as you think, but not a lot of ponies can look past events that have occurred years ago."

"But isn't Equestria supposed to be a kingdom where everypony is equal?" Solaris asked. "Changelings are technically ponies, just slightly different. Wouldn't things have worked out differently if both our kinds met and arranged some kind of compromise?"

Cadence was about to argue, but she realized that he was kind of right. Sure, they knew nothing about the changelings until they showed themselves at her wedding, but they tried to invade Equestria. Chrysalis nearly won, but maybe she did all this out of desperation for her subjects' survival. There were a lot of options that could have been done, and prejudice against the changelings would only be known because of the invasion without knowing their real reason behind it all.

"...I guess..." Cadence was rendered speechless. Just from looking at Trill, who had no knowledge of who her mother had actually impersonated as and tried to crash their wedding, all she did judge her by was her body. She was innocent in all of this, not part of the invasion and only treated badly by her holed legs, insect wings, crooked horn, and fangs. "...Maybe I was a bit...brash. I just didn't want another invasion to happen."

"We can't do much of anything since Lucifer came into power," Trill said, though still hiding behind Solaris. "We can't feed off love if it can't be given when ponies are always afraid."

"Then I guess we do have something in common after all: wanting Lucifer to step down from Equestria's throne." Cadence held out her hoof to the changeling. "Forgive me for attacking you?"

"...Yeah." Trill bumped her hoof against Cadence's, though she was still confused by her change of mind, along with Solaris. "Why don't you want to get rid of me anymore?"

"Solaris seems to make a good politician for being a teenager," Cadence lied, even if it was partially true. She didn't want to admit that the real reason why was because she wanted to see what these two would be like as a couple. "Now, let's see if we can gather the others back at the castle to show who you really are. I'm sure my nephew would fight just about anypony if they tried to hurt you, even if they're family."

Cadence saw Trill blush, purely obvious that she does indeed have a crush on Solaris.

A while later, Cadence had gathered the others into the throne room, dismissing her guards as they decided to reveal Trill's identity to Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Shining Armor. As soon as the changeling dropped her disguise, it was obvious they didn't approve of her deceiving them. But after explaining that Trill wasn't as bad as the changelings from the invasion, her helping him from his panic attack in the Everfree Forest, and being called Solaris's friend, it was difficult for them to accept her into the group.

Rainbow Dash didn't seem to trust her all that much, Fluttershy was indecisive, Pinkie was mixed between wanting to throw a party for her or throw her out with her party cannon, and Shining Armor really didn't like the idea. It was bad enough to know that Trill was the spitting image of the succubus who brainwashed him, disguised as his wife, but to know that she helped his nephew when he was hurting only confused him.

At least Trill was considered part of the group, she just needed to prove she wasn't going to deceive them and trick them in any way. After her reveal, Shining immediately excused himself, still pretty upset knowing a changeling was among them, despite being told she wasn't that bad. Cadence followed after him, where he headed for their chambers. She could tell he still didn't want to approve Trill being friends with their nephew.

"Shining, can we talk?" she asked.

"Cadence, she can't stay with him," Shining said, laying down on the bed as he rubbed the sides of his head. "After what those giant roaches tried to do on our wedding day, what that heartless thing did to us-"

"I know. I don't like it as much as you, but there's something different about Trill I didn't really expect." Shining looked up, Cadence sitting next to the bed. "...I think...they really like each other."

"What?" Shining questioned.

"I think you know what I mean," Cadence said. "I could practically feel it coming from the both of them."

The stallion's eyes widened, sitting up on the bed as he looked at his wife. "Oh no...There is no way that's possible."

"But it is." Cadence climbed up on the comfortable mattress, crawling up to Shining. "Trill is infatuated with Solaris, and I think our nephew likes her back, but he seems too afraid to show it."

Shining groaned as he laid back down. "Cadence, don't use your magic on them. I am not letting my sister's son fall for anything that isn't a normal pony! Who knows if she might be making some kind of ploy or using him to get to us for Chrysalis?"

"Yes, Shiny, I know, but I wasn't planning on using magic to give them that nudge. It would be too wrong." Cadence crawled up over Shining until she straddled his waist. "I'm gonna give them a little push with a little plan." She gave him a smirk, a devious little plan building in the romantic side of her brain. "A day where the two of them spend time together, romantic settings all laid out for them, and the love will blossom until they finally admit their feelings for each other!"

Shining stared blankly at his wife, not liking her little scheme at all. "...Cadence, whenever anything involving romance comes along, it always blows up when you try to control it."

"Oh please. When has it ever backfired?" Cadence asked.

"Well there was that one time you 'helped' an arguing couple in Canterlot on one of our dates, but realized too late that the two were actually siblings, making their next day awkward after they ended up making out with each other that night."

Cadence blushed in embarrasment. "I didn't know they were brother and sister! I didn't even mean to put too much power in that spell as well..."

Shining sighed, pulling Cadence closer to him, letting her head rest on his chest. "I love you Cadence, but you can be a little too wild with love sometimes."

"Oh, like our Sunday Fundays?" Cadence asked, giving the stallion a lustful gaze. "We never do those anymore. And tonight is Sunday. Let's do some role-playing!"

"Sorry, hon." He rolled over, making the alicorn yelp as she slid off his chest. "I can't truly relax until all of this madness is over." Cadence pouted and crossed her forelegs like a spoiled child not getting what she wanted. She felt Shining wrap his forelegs around her, pulling her into a soft and passionate kiss, making her melt under his touch. He knew just how to make her tick, her grumpiness immediately disappearing no matter what he did. "I'll make up all our missed private moments when Lucifer's finally beaten."

"You promise?" Cadence asked, fluttering her eyes.

"I promise." He gave his wife another kiss, cuddling closer to her as he closed his eyes. "If you really think they're really made for each other, which I doubt, don't go overboard with your schemes."

"Ok, I won't go too far this time." Cadence sighed, burying her face in the ex-captain's muscular chest. "Have some faith in me, Shiny. I know it'll work."

Chapter 13: Can you Feel the Love?

As the sun began to rise over the snowy mountains, its rays shone down upon the Crystal Empire, making the crystals all around the castle and town shimmer. Inside one of the guest rooms, Trill snored loudly as she laid sprawled out on the bed, letting out chirps as she exhaled. The sunlight shone through the window, hitting her face as she was forced awake. She sat up, her hair spread out unevenly from her random tossing and turning, squinting her eyes as she glared at the sun.

"You couldn't let me sleep a while longer, could you?" she questioned the bright star. A moment later, she heard knocking come from her door, groaning in annoyance as she greeted the pony who wanted to ruin more of her beauty sleep, transforming into Evergreen in case it was a servant or guard. "Hang on a second..."

She opened the door, surprised to see Cadence, with a very awkward grin on her face. "Good morning, Trill! It's a beautiful day today!"

"...I'm gonna get back to sleep," Trill said.

"Oh come on! Don't be like that!" Cadence said enthusiastically, which was starting to freak the changeling out. "Before we get out to enjoy the sunshine, we're gonna need to fix up that bed head. Time for a little makeover!"

"Huh?" Trill was suddenly whisked away by the alicorn's magic, heading directly into the guest room's bathroom. "Hey, wait a second! When did I agree to have a makeover!?"

"Well, you can't go out looking like that." Cadence shut the bathroom door, the sound of rushing water and Trill's protests muffled as the princess washed her off, using the empire's specially scented soaps and shampoos to clean the changeling. Once she was smelling like a fragrant flower, the alicorn began primping Trill's mane, straightening it out and getting rid of built up knots from lack of grooming. "Ahh. There we go. Now you look a lot better."

Trill looked at herself in the mirror, surprised at who she was looking at. Even though she was still in her disguise, her mane looked a lot better, every single strand straightened out and sparkling in the light. Cadence had even applied some makeup to make her look prettier than anything she could turn into without the product accenting her features.

"Wow..." Trill said, utterly speechless.

"I knew you'd love it. Now, how about you and Solaris got around the empire together and get a good look around. There's plenty of interesting spots around here that you two should enjoy," Cadence said.

"Wait, I thought he was going to spend some time with you and Shining Armor," Trill pondered, finding Cadence's behavior suspicious. "I swear, the other day, he was going to explode if he didn't ask anything about you."

"Well, I have some important meetings to go through. Boring life of a princess," Cadence said. "And Shining Armor is still sleeping. I don't want to bother him too much. Solaris understands, and you guys could really use the time to relax."

"...If you say so," Trill said, unsure of what to think.

The changeling left the room, thanking Cadence for the makeover, leaving the princess to herself. As soon as Trill was gone, the alicorn pulled out a notepad with a list titled "Romance Signs to Success".

"Ok. Trill's all prettied up, and Solaris will find her irresistible. He's have to be brainless to not have any reaction." Checking off "Beautifying mare" on her little list, she giggled with glee as she grew excited. "This is gonna go along great! I just need to make sure they don't see me while they spend the day together!" Cadence clapped her hooves together, her excitement disappearing as she realized just how crazy she was being. "Wow, I almost feel like Twilight when it comes to anything involving learning...I kinda hope it isn't hereditary and Solaris doesn't freak out with knowledge."

As Cadence tried to calm herself before stalking her nephew and future marefriend, Trill wandered about the halls, already feeling lost in the crystal castle. Rounding a corner, she accidentally bumped into Solaris, both of them surprising each other.

"Ahh!" Solaris shouted. "Trill, for goodness sake. Every time something has to surprise me, you always have to be the one causing it."

"Sorry. This castle's huge, and I was trying to find you anyway." Trill fixed up her mane, making sure it didn't get ruined, though why she was being self-conscious about her looks now was beyond her.

"Same here." As Solaris calmed himself from the surprise collision, he got a better look at the changeling, his heart stopping for a brief moment. He saw her mane sparkling like the walls of the palace, as well as her coat. "Wow...What uhh...You look really...nice..."

"Oh..." Trill blushed at the compliment, averting her eyes away from him. "You have to thank your aunt for this. Though, to be fair, I looked like a train wreck this morning."

"Aunt Cadence?" Solaris asked. "Huh...She woke you up early too?"

"No, the sun did, but she was about to," she said. "...Why exactly?"

"She said she had some royal duties to attend to, and suggested walking around the empire with you." Solaris unfurled one of his wings, carrying a bag of bits with him. "She even gave me some money if we wanted anything. Quite a lot of bits if it's just for snacks or lunch."

"Hmm..." Trill was finding it really odd that Cadence wanted them to hang out together, without any supervision from her or any of Solaris's other relatives. But maybe this was a good opportunity to find out if he really likes her. "Well, can't let free bits go to waste!"

"We're not going to buy a ton of useless junk," Solaris said.

"Hey! My outfits weren't a waste!" Trill said as she pouted. "Those Saddle Arabian outfits were cute."

"They were for courtesans!" Solaris scolded.

"You're just mad because you don't wanna admit I looked sexy in it," Trill teased, wiggling her hips, catching the alicorn's eyes.

Solaris blushed, looking away as he walked away to find the castle's entrance. "L-Let's just go."

"Alrighty!" Trill giggled, following after him to explore what else the empire has inside its protective barrier.

As Solaris and Trill wandered around the empire's many streets, using a guide the alicorn teen thought to grab before going anywhere, Cadence followed after them, her body hidden inside of a cloud. She watched them from above, kept far enough away to arouse any suspicion as she went through her checklist. Down below, Solaris went through the map, showing some of the popular shops, restaurants, and locations known in the empire.

"I wonder where we should go first," Solaris pondered as Trill was too busy looking around. One little place caught his eye, and it wasn't too far from where they were walking. "What about this place? 'The Crystal Theatre'?"

"Where?" Looking over the map, she found the theater he pointed at. "Huh. A movie theater. Let's see what's playing!"

"What's a movie?" Solaris asked.

"Oh, right. You probably weren't told what they are." Trill thought of a way to explain to Solaris what movies were. "Well, think of them like a story in a book, except they show the whole story on a screen. They have actors who play out the roles of the characters, shooting the movie in different locations for the setting, stuff like that."

"...That's weird, but a little interesting," Solaris said.

Cadence overheard them as the two teens walked to the movie theater. She grinned as she checked off "Date at the movies" off on her list.

"Perfect. A good start for any couple, enjoying a good movie," Cadence said. "I hope they're playing a good horror film today. Best way for a mare to cuddle close to her stallion for protection."

The princess quickly flew off, keeping her cloud disguise intact, beating her nephew and date to the theater. From the feature that was mostly popular, titled "Terror of the Deep", it seemed fitting for their first movie to watch together. She bought herself a ticket and immediately headed inside, entering the theater showing the film. Hiding in the back, she waited patiently, and a moment later, by pure luck, she caught the two walking into the same theater room, her prediction on their choice spot on.

"'Terror of the Deep' has to be creepy," Trill said, carrying a small bag of popcorn in her telekinesis. "Maybe it's about some giant underwater sea demon that gobbles everypony up!"

"Are movie endings supposed to end that tragically?" Solaris asked, holding onto their sodas in his aura.

"I don't know. This is the first one I'm ever gonna see." Trill sat down a few rows in front of Cadence, both of them unaware of her presence. "This is gonna be so much fun."

Solaris sat down next to her, placing their drinks in the cup holders conveniently placed on their armrests. Trill gave the bag of popcorn to Solaris, not exactly fond of the snack and held it for him. The trailers for other future movies went through a moment later as other moviegoers filled in some more seats. The movie finally begins, starting off deep in the murky depths of the ocean, showing the introduction credits as the camera moved up closer to the surface.

Swimming casually above the surface was a mare that was relaxing, wearing a skimpy swimsuit, obviously showing she isn't going to last the beginning of the movie. Solaris blanched when he noticed the mare's mane, coat, and cutie mark.

"Oh no...Is that Sweetie Belle?" Solaris asked, staring at the unicorn on the big screen. As odd as it was, it was indeed Sweetie Belle in the scene, recognizing her white coat, pink and purple swirled, wet mane, and her shield cutie mark. He remembered the times she, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo would sometimes visit to folasit him when Spike went off to hunt for some gems to snack on. "She's acting in this movie?"

"You know her?" Trill asked.

"Yeah. She used to foalsit for me when I was little. I know she became a singer, but I didn't know she acted too." Solaris kept watching, still finding it hard to believe.

They continued watching, Sweetie Belle's character suddenly jumping when she felt something touch her under the water. Freaking out, she tried to swim back to shore, only to be immediately dragged under the water. A few seconds later, her head popped up out of the water, screaming in terror as she flailed away from the creature that had nabbed her. To no avail, she was dragged back under the water, air bubbles slowing down with each second passing by. The spot where the unicorn once was began to turn red, mimicking blood, along with a terrifying noise no normal creature would ever make, the screen fading black as it showed the title of the movie.

"Wow..." Trill said in astonishment. "...What a start. Wonder what the monster looks like?"

"...S-She's not really REALLY dead, right?" Solaris asked in fright.

"No. It's all fake." Trill took a sip of her drink, patting the freaked out stallion's hoof. "That isn't real blood. It's probably just some food coloring used to make it look like the real thing. Nopony actually dies when making these things."

"Oh...Ok..." Solaris munched on some popcorn, relieved to know everything that happens in films are all done with makeup and cheap tricks.

As the movie wore on, more characters getting killed by the mysterious water monster lurking in the ocean, Cadence watched Solaris and Trill's reactions more than the movie itself. So far, Solaris was the one jumping out of his seat when a jump scare happens while Trill was jeering at the terrible effects. Underneath the alicorn's list for the movie portion of the date, she crossed off "Mare huddling close to stallion for safety", seeing how the disguised changeling wasn't at all fazed by the scary portions of the movie, and crossing off "Stallion nonchalantly stretching foreleg over mare's shoulder", her nephew too engrossed in the movie to focus on his date.

After over an hour, the movie was finally at its end, the main character having survived the attack from the creature, which was a pony-eating tentacle beast, and blew it up using an explosive barrel conveniently placed on a boating pier for no logical reason. The stallion who had survived walked away after losing who knows how many of his friends, but as he was out of the shot, a lone tentacle rose up from the pier, squealing angrily and still alive, the screen going black as they showed the end credits.

"Aww man," Trill whined. "There better be a sequel in the making if that thing's still alive."

"It was...really interesting," Solaris commented. "Did there have to be a scene where we had to see one of them getting torn to shreds under the water, then get eaten by a shark?"

"But that was so cool!" Trill said. She soon noticed the sickening look on Solaris's face, her excitement immediately disappearing. "Oh...right. I forgot about you and...Yeah..."

"No more of these horror movies for me. I've seen enough death in real life..." Solaris got up, picking up his empty cup and popcorn bag to throw away, Trill following after him.

They didn't notice Cadence, who quickly hid from them, but she didn't seem all that happy with the results. "Maybe it was a bad idea for them to see a horror movie...Solaris is still upset after what's happened." She crossed off the entirety of the movie date portion of her list. "There's other dates though. I will not let this up until I see them on the perfect date."

Through the rest of the day, Cadence began to give up hope getting the two to say how they feel about each other. From the many other dates she had planned to follow them, they ended up with no signs of success. After the movie, they headed off to an ice cream parlor, where there was a special for cute couples to get a free sundae they can share. Too bad it only made them more nervous as other ponies were watching them, since they were known as the cutest couple in the entire building. Then there was the clothing store selling outfits made from the ewes woolly coats, which was supposed to be a fun little shopping trip for Trill and Solaris's test of patience for her mindless shopping. There was one problem; since word of Solaris's arrival, and the stallion being known as the crystal prince and princess's nephew, the mares who spotted him began swarming him. He did not appreciate the attention, and Trill didn't like the fact that other teens were trying to get a piece of him. At least they got out before anything got worse.

The sun was close to setting, Cadence sitting in the middle of the park, having set up a little picnic for the two. There was nopony around to disturb them, and it was the perfect environment for a romantic dinner.

"This has to go perfectly. A romantic picnic is simple: nopony to bother them, sun about to set, clean park, it's foolproof!" Cadence tossed aside her list, most of her ideas crossed off after they were all ruined, either by other ponies staring at them and embarrassing them, teens crowding around the princess's nephew like he was the biggest star in Equestria, or seeing fake deaths in a film that only reminded the stallion of the real deaths of his loved ones. "Maybe the first plan with the movie was a bit of a bust, but he did enjoy his first ever movie...I think."

Her ears perked up when she heard Solaris and Trill conversating as they entered the park. Quickly laying down a note for the two on the checkered blanket, Cadence quickly ran into a nearby bush, kept hidden as she watched them approaching the picnic spot.

"I swear, those mares will just eat anything like candy if they see somepony royal and handsome anywhere in their sights," Trill complained.

"Wait, did you just call me handsome?" Solaris asked, making the changeling freeze. "...Were you jealous?"

"J-Jealous!? Who said I was jealous!?" Trill shouted, trying not to sound jealous, even though she clearly was. "You never know who you'll end up meeting that'll want to just use you, you know!?"

"Kinda like what you did when we met?" Solaris asked, almost teasingly by his tone.

"THAT WAS DIFFERENT!" Trill shouted, blushing heavily as she tried to calm herself down. "I-I was hunting...and wanted to feed on your love."

"Mhmm," he said. As they approached the checkered blanket with the picnic basket set directly in the middle, Solaris picked up the note written out to him. "'Solaris, I hope you and Trill are having fun. I set up a little picnic for you two so you don't get too overwhelmed with my castle's winding corridors and enjoy a casual dinner together. Aunt Cadence.' Well, that's a bit odd."

"Yeah," Trill pondered, finding it really suspicious. "You don't think she wanted us to go out and set up a date for us, did she?"

"A date?" Solaris blushed, hoping that today wasn't the reason why his aunt wouldn't want to spend time with him. "I-I'm not sure...I mean, today had been kind of fun...if you don't count the bad stuff."

"...Well, might as well indulge her. Let's see what she got for us to eat." Trill sat down and opened up the basket, pulling out the portions of their dinner: some leafy salads, crystal berries, sparkling cider to drink, non-alcoholic, and for dessert, some chocolate cake. The dessert made the changeling salivate, practically smelling the chocolaty aroma from the plastic wrapping protecting it from insects. "Wow! I'll start with dessert first! You can have the rest."

"H-Hey!" Solaris stopped Trill before she could sink her teeth into the soft and moist pastry, sitting down next to her while keeping the dessert far away from her. "There has to be something else you can stomach besides chocolate. It's like an addiction to you."

"Hmph," Trill pouted, her senses still being invaded by the intoxicating scent of chocolate. "Fine then. I guess I can wait until you had your fill...And I'm not gonna try any of this other stuff."

"Have you really not tried anything else?" Solaris asked, getting his answer when Trill didn't respond. "I thought so. You gotta learn not to be so picky."

Cadence watched from the foliage as the two ate and talked for a little. Overhearing them, it was odd for her to think that Trill, and possibly every other changeling, really liked chocolate. Just learning about her made her learn a little more about the changelings, where Solaris was actually right in his idea to make a compromise. Though that would be difficult on both sides: Cadence and Shining Armor would both disapprove of the idea because Chrysalis almost ruined their wedding, and Chrysalis wouldn't even think about the idea, loathing the thought of working together with Equestria.

Time slowly ticked by as the couple finally began eating their dessert, Trill being thankful that they were going to eat the delicacy taunting her. They got a perfect view of the sunset, the sun's rays still shining through, lighting up some of the crystals around the park. Solaris occasionally glanced at Trill as they watched the sunset, unable to look away as her entire body seemed to shimmer like the surrounding crystals. But he was looking at Evergreen, not Trill. His mind wondered what she actually looked like without her disguise.

"Uhh, Trill?" She looked up at him, her lips covered in chocolate crumbs. "...W-We're...kind of alone out here in the park...I think you can change back."

"Hmm..." Licking her lips, Trill looked around, finding no other pony aside from them. "I guess I can drop it. Hopefully nopony else shows up." Her body was surrounded in flames, changing back to her original form. "There. Better?"

Solaris's breath got caught in his throat as he got to see her as a changeling. She still had her hair straightened perfectly, her black chitin body and mane still shimmering even outside of her disguise. Her eyes sparkled in the light, unable to look away from the emerald green irises staring at him. He couldn't even utter a word, finding her irresistible.

"...Uhhhhhh..." That was all Solaris could even say, his brain too slow to think of any response, any compliment, any other reaction besides "dopey dimwit staring at a pretty mare like a moron".

Cadence watched the scene play out, rubbing her forehead as she groaned to herself. She knew Solaris would have acted like this at some point, but to not say anything was ruining his chances.

"Solly? You ok?" Trill asked, finding his staring to be really awkward.

"...You're beautiful..." he finally managed to say, his cheeks bright red.

Solaris expected her to blush and look away, but all she did was look away, feeling a little self-conscious. "...Really?"

"Y-Yeah...I-I mean, I'm kinda surprised that makeover Aunt Cadence gave you stays with you no matter what form you take...but...you do look beautiful," Solaris said.

"...I'm...beautiful...?" Solaris tilted his head in confusion, hearing Trill question her own looks. "...Wouldn't you rather prefer me to look like a normal mare?"

"Why?" he asked. "Being somepony you aren't? I know you have to be disguised around others, but what do you mean?"

Trill sighed in annoyance, looking down at the holes in her legs. "How exactly am I beautiful like this? Just look at me, Solaris. I'm a pony cross-bred into an arthropod!" She held up her forelegs, showing the holes she was born with. "I have holes through my legs! Just this alone makes other ponies think I was born a mutated freak!

"Not to mention I eat love, I spit up green web to blind or tie my victims, I have fangs, something that ponies shouldn't have, and I have wings like a dragonfly's!" Trill shouted as her wings fluttered in her anger. "We're not even considered ponies, Solaris! Everypony hates us because we're known as 'soul-sucking manipulators' or 'love-stealing monsters', and my mother's attempt at invading Canterlot, during your aunt and uncle's wedding, only made their hatred for us worse because we almost succeeded!"

Tears began to well up in Trill's eyes as she grew more upset, confusing Solaris with her outburst. "But I don't hate you."

"That's because you never even knew about us until you met me! You don't even know how much everypony despises us...Your family wanted me dead just because of what I am..." Tears began to roll down the mare's cheeks, turning away from Solaris. "Why did I even think I could have a chance? I should have listened to mom...I shouldn't have grown any feelings for you at all..."

"...What did you say?" Trill's eyes widened as her mouth, yet again, worked faster than her thoughts. Solaris began to piece together what she meant, surprised at what he was thinking. "...Trill?...Do you...?"

He didn't need to finish his question, the answer quite clear from Trill's silence. Solaris had no idea what to think; knowing that Trill actually had feelings for him and was upset being called beautiful when she and other ponies see her and her hive as nothing but monsters. After getting to know her, and a few awkward bumps in their friendship, Solaris needed her more than ever.

Ever since he ran into her in the Everfree Forest, he didn't feel like he was alone. Even with how stubborn he was, while also being new to the outside world, she still kept coming back to him like a magnet attracting a piece of metal. Whenever he was upset, or needed to vent his feelings, she would listen to him and try to bring him back to a calm state of mind through logical solutions to the horrible events in the past couple weeks. And what was strange about all this was that he wanted to like Trill more then a friend.

Solaris could never get the changeling out of his mind. Trill had always interested him, aside from her species, always wondering how she would be so bothersome and a nuisance to him, yet also funny and always worrying about him. She actually cared about him, when she was supposed to be his enemy, and he cared a lot about her. Now, seeing Trill miserable, hating herself for who she was, he needed to prove to her that he sees her as a pony like him. He needed to tell her how he felt, how she can brighten his mood when he himself grew upset over the worst life had thrown at him.

"...Now I understand why you were always being a pest to me," Solaris said. "I didn't know you felt that way about me."

"Well, now you do," Trill said, still facing away from him. "And I was stupid to ever think things would actually be perfect for us if you liked me as myself..."

"But why would you hate that?" he asked. "Do you really think you're not pretty, or cute?"

"Solaris, I just said-" Trill suddenly yelped as she was spun around, facing the alicorn teen.

"I know what you said...but what you look like doesn't matter to me," Solaris said. "I think it's better for you to be you, not anypony else. I actually find your features far more interesting than a normal mare's."

"B-But-" Solaris pressed his hoof against Trill's lips, silencing her protests.

"I don't care what anypony else thinks. If they want to hurt you, they'll have to get past me," he said. From the bushes, Cadence was highly surprised her nephew would actually consider going against his family in favor over Trill. "You mean a lot more to me than anypony else. I don't even know where I would be if I didn't meet you back in the Everfree Forest." Solaris lowered his hoof, wrapping both of his forelegs around the speechless changeling. "I'm completely hopeless without you."

Trill couldn't find the words she wanted to say. She wanted to disagree with him, tell him that she would only make his life difficult, but her voice was lost to her. She couldn't even push away from him, part of her wanting him to hold her like this, and maybe a little closer.

"S-Solaris..." Trill uttered.

"I didn't want to believe it, but I can no longer deny it," he said, both alicorn and changeling looking in each other's eyes. "I'm in love with you, Trill. No other mare would see me as a normal pony except for you. And I need you." Solaris gently pressed his forehead against Trill's, staring deeper in each other's eyes, both teens blushing. "Please...stay with me. I don't want you to leave because of who we are on the outside...What truly matters is what's on the inside, right?" Trill could only nod slightly, unable to speak and moving closer to him, their snouts gently rubbing against each other's. "I love you, Trill."

Solaris closed his eyes and gently pressed his lips against Trill's, her eyes widening in surprise. Her mind raced as well as her heart as he kissed her. Her eyes slowly began to shut as she melted under his protective hooves, kissing him back and pressing herself closer to him. While the two were lost in bliss, Trill's horn began to spark, glowing brightly. A moment later, the two separated for air, relishing in their first kiss, but Trill was the first to snap out of her daze.

"Oh my gosh..." she said.

"Yeah...That was amazing," Solaris said, oblivious to Trill's shock.

"No...Well, that was, but..." Trill somehow felt full after that kiss. She did feel her magic spark against her own will like it did back on the train headed to Saddle Arabia, but this time, it was different. "I-I think...I think I just consumed love?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Solaris asked.

"Ok, you remember when you had that little freak out in the Everfree Forest?" Solaris nodded, knowing how horrible he had felt during his anxiety attack. "When absorbing emotions, especially love, we steal it from our victims. But...that kiss..." Trill pulled Solaris into a quick kiss, which had surprised him as he didn't expect it, the changeling's horn sparking as their lips touched. She pulled away and looked up, that same love energy flowing into her, and she didn't even cast the spell. "It did it again."

"...I don't get it, and warn me before you do that," Solaris said.

"My magic worked on its own, absorbing love from you, and I had no control over it," Trill said. "...Do you feel woozy or nauseous? Like the energy from you is drained?"

"No," he replied. "But...when you used your magic on me in the forest...I felt like I was going to pass out..."

The two stared at each other, eyes widening as they came to a similar conclusion. "...Us being in love, no deceiving of any kind-"

"Gives you food from the energy your magic takes, with no repercussions on the victim's end. Which means that...legitimate love between a changeling and a pony, or other species, is a good thing?" Solaris finished, both of them somewhat surprised at this new discovery. He grinned, his theory of compromising with the changelings possible now. "I think we just figured out a way to help your hive, even if it was by pure coincidence."

"Really?" Trill questioned. "Even if it is a good idea, when we found out about this by accident, I don't think my mom will like it."

"Why not? You're full, right?" Solaris asked.

"But the reason why she told me I can't fall for anypony else is because it's supposed to be forbidden," she explained. "She doesn't even tell me the exact reason why it's forbidden. It'll take you forever to convince her that it will work, even if we show her proof."

"...But you aren't complaining about it." Solaris wrapped a wing around Trill, holding her closer while nuzzling her cheek. "I'm sure as 'princess', you have every right to voice your opinion on the idea."

Trill blushed as Solaris's cheek rubbed against hers, accepting the affectionate nuzzling and moved closer. "I guess I won't complain. But I'm warning you, Solly; my mom is really stubborn. Good luck telling her if I take you to my home."

"Is that why you were too stubborn to leave me alone when you bugged me?" Solaris laughed, receiving a jab in the ribs by the changeling.

The new couple cuddled as they watch the sun set on the horizon, the alicorn teen feeling more happier than he had ever been in his life. Cadence continued to watch them from her hiding place, happy to see them finally admit their feelings to one another. It was a surprise for her to be a witness with Trill's absorption of love energy from Solaris, and it didn't drain him to exhaustion. As long as her nephew was happy, his mind brought away from the death and danger he had to face the past couple weeks, she was content.

As it got late in the evening, everypony was back in the castle, ready to head to bed. Solaris guided Trill back to her guestroom, only to disappoint the changeling that they couldn't stay together every moment. In time, maybe his family will finally get used to her, but if they knew they were officially coltfriend and marefriend, they would all flip their lids. The alicorn gave her one quick kiss good night and headed back to his room, leaving Trill to herself as she walked to her bed, plopping down on the sheets as she was stuck in her lovestruck daze.

"Best evening ever..." Trill giggled, unable to keep still as she had finally gotten together with Solaris. She couldn't believe that he relied on her, even after their fallout back in Saddle Arabia. "Not only are we together now, but his kisses sure are delicious too." She licked her lips, still tasting the bit of love he gave her before departing. She sighed, rubbing her belly, having never felt so full in her life. "I hope my mom can accept this...but why was this so taboo in the first place?"

Before she was able to settle in, Trill heard a noise in her room. She sat up, completely alert, but finding no sign of anything. The window was closed, so the wind didn't knock anything small objects over. Being cautious, she crawled off the bed and searched around, wondering if there was somepony who found out about her identity and is attempting to assassinate her. Her ears perked up to the sound of movement in her bathroom, creeping quietly up to the door to catch the assassin off guard.

She slammed the door open, baring her fangs, but there was nopony inside. She scratched her head, sure that she had heard something, but from behind her, from the shadows, an armored pony crept out and moved behind the unexpected mare. Before she noticed the shadow slowly growing closer, she was held in a headlock, unable to escape as she began breathing into a cloth pressed firmly against her muzzle, breathing in ether as she tried screaming for help. She felt her muscles grow limp as she began to lose consciousness, her struggles ceased as she passed out.

Her perpetrator dragged the unconscious changeling to the bed, tying her legs together tightly and placing an inhibitor ring around her crooked horn, preventing her from escaping with her magic if she woke up. He pressed a piece of tape against her muzzle, keeping her mouth shut so she wouldn't use her fangs to bite through her bindings. After Trill was bound and gagged, the kidnapper picked her up on his back, opening the window in her room, the moonlight shining down on his black armor.

"I've got my bait," Zero said to himself, looking down at the Crystal Empire's empty streets. In a flash of magic, a note appeared on the bed, written by the mercenary himself. "Now to set up my trap."

He teleported out of the room, taking Trill with her, appearing not too far from the empire's barrier. He made his way to a cavern, far from sight of the crystal kingdom, but close enough for Solaris to seek him out to rescue his marefriend.

Chapter 14: The Third Test

Solaris was up bright and early, feeling really giddy after yesterday's crazy day in the empire's city with Trill. Today was the first day they will officially start being a couple, even if he had to hide his romantic feelings for the changeling princess in front of his family. He trotted along the halls, heading to his marefriend's room to maybe sneak her a little "breakfast" before going to the dining hall. He stood before one of many the guest rooms Trill was given, knocking on her door to wake her.

"Trill, it's morning! Time to get up!" He waited for a response, but none came. Solaris knocked again, but she didn't answer. "Trill?" He opened the door, but as he looked inside, there was no sign of the changeling inside, especially not the bed. "Is she already up?"

Solaris searched around the room, even the bathroom if she decided to surprise him, but she was nowhere to be seen. Before he decided to ask anypony if they saw her, he noticed there was a note left behind on the bed. His eyes widened in shock and anger as he read it to himself.

If you want to see your changeling friend alive, I suggest you meet me in the cave located a mile south-east of the castle. If you decide to not arrive by 10 AM, then she will die.

-Zero

Quickly looking at the clock inside of the room, it was 9:30 in the morning, only a half hour remaining until it was too late. With no time to warn his aunts and uncle, Solaris flew out of the room through the open window and began heading south-east. Flying as fast as he could, he passed the protective barrier, searching below the snowy fields to find any caves nearby. Just as Zero had described, about a mile away from the castle, there was a cavern hidden behind a hill, unable to be seen from the empire's location.

He hovered down to the entrance, rushing inside, the cavern lit up by hundreds of crystals jutted from the walls and ceiling. Solaris ran as quick as he could, galloping through the long passage as more crystals began appearing the deeper he went. He finally managed to reach the end of the cave, a massive room with crystals littering the expansive area, ranging from small shards to massive pillars, especially the precariously looking stalactites above.

Solaris looked around, spotting Trill, unconscious and bound, on the other side of the room. "Trill!" He ran for her, no sign of Zero anywhere. "Don't worry, I'll get you-"

In an instant, a spear made entirely out of crystal shot out between Solaris and Trill, nearly skewering the alicorn by mere inches. Completely caught off guard, Solaris was quickly hit by a black armored hoof, appearing out of thin air, punching the teen hard, sending him flying back to the entrance of the room. He recovered from the unexpected attack, staring down the armored mercenary.

"You didn't think you would rescue her that easily, did you?" Zero said, picking up the crystal spear with his concealed magical aura. "At least you showed up on time. That's one good thing at least."

"Who are you!?" Solaris questioned, standing on his hind legs as he set his forehooves on fire. "What do you want with me, and why did you have to take Trill as a hostage!?"

"You know exactly what it is, Solaris." Zero looked up at the many crystals inside of the cavern, though it was hard to tell what he was thinking with his visor concealing his face. "I was a little surprised you actually did make it out of the temple back in Saddle Arabia. You managed to find the secret exit before it finally collapsed."

"Y-You knew about that?" Solaris asked, baffled that the mercenary knew about the entrance to the treasure room outside of the temple. "You knew we made it out alive?"

"You're lucky I didn't tell my 'boss', otherwise he would have flipped," Zero said, only confusing the alicorn more.

"What are you talking about!?" Solaris's flaming hooves flared in his anger. "Aren't you supposed to try and kill me!? Isn't that what you're supposed to do for Lucifer!? Do his dirty work for him while he sits on a throne!?"

"I may follow orders from him, but that doesn't mean I worship him like a loyal dog to its master." Zero subconsciously traced the ground with the pointed end of his spear. "You might say I have a vendetta against that bastard, but because he pays me handsomely, I'd rather not bite the hand that feeds me. Get what I mean?"

"...I don't understand..." Solaris began to wonder who Zero was, unsure if the stallion was supposed to be an enemy or an unknown ally. "...How did you get past the barrier? Nopony evil could get in the Crystal Empire...right?"

"Only those with dark magic can't enter the empire," Zero explained. "The only reason why no soldiers are placed inside the empire is because Lucifer wants to liberate it by himself, and he's much too stubborn to send incompetent troops. The crystals in the empire have a lot of value, and with rampaging teens and young adults doing whatever they wish-"

"They'll destroy the kingdom..." Solaris answered.

"Bingo." Zero walked to one of the nearby crystal stalagmites, rubbing his hoof on the glowing blue mineral. "Besides, I'm considered a native of the empire, for nearly twenty years. I'd rather not have my home destroyed when he already ruined my actual hometown."

"Then why bring me here?" Solaris asked. "Why work for Lucifer when you're against him?"

"...I'll answer your questions, Solaris...but not right now." Putting pressure on the stalagmite, and using his magic, Zero managed to create another crystal spear similar to the first one, showing off the incredible feat of magic. "It's wonderful to know how adaptable a unicorn can be when living around crystals. Sombra must have had a field day when he completely lost his mind.

"But enough talk about tyrants," Zero said, aiming both spears at Solaris. "Are you ready for your third test?"

"Huh!?" Solaris exclaimed. "T-Test!?"

"That's right. Your third trial." Zero moved one of the spears, hovering it over Trill's head. "Your mother had informed me that you would show up in the empire one day, so she bestowed upon me a very serious task that I couldn't disobey. You will have to face me in order to earn your next piece of armor you will need."

"B-But...I-I don't get it!" Solaris couldn't find the words to even ask the mercenary, all of this thrust upon him far too quickly. "Just who are you, and how do you know my mom!?"

"All your answers will be given to you, if you can beat me in combat." Zero slammed the one spear he created down to the ground, making Solaris flinch as it was thrust mere inches away from Trill's face. "Just from the expression on your face, you seem to care about this insect."

"Leave Trill out of this!" Solaris slammed his hooves together, causing sparks of green embers to burst out around him.

"...So, you do like her that much." Zero readied his weapon, standing on his own hind legs as he held his crystal spear in his forehooves. "Let's just see how much you care about her, even if it means fighting for both your lives."

"Why don't I just show you right now!?" Solaris shouted, moving his forelegs behind him, shooting off a compressed burst of fire and sending him flying at Zero at blinding speed.

As the alicorn threw his hoof in the mercenary's face, he quickly avoided the punch. "Careless," he said, smacking the teen in the back of the head with the blunt side of his weapon. Solaris hit the ground, only to be flung up high into the air, Zero thrusting his spear into the ground and shooting out a pillar of solid crystal underneath the alicorn. He righted himself from the air, dive bombing toward his opponent. Before Solaris could hit the ground, Zero avoided his flaming hooves and jabbed the blunt end up into the teen's stomach, knocking the wind out of him and flinging him across the ground. "Letting your anger fuel your fury will keep leading you to your downfall."

Solaris coughed as he struggled to breath, growling as he was being lectured by somepony who was supposed to be his enemy. His flames were erratic as he grew frustrated, getting back on his hooves and began shooting fireballs at Zero. While avoiding each recklessly aimed shot, the mercenary covered Trill with a crystal shield, the teen too focused on attacking him while being mindful of his unconscious and bound marefriend in the battlefield with them.

"Stop running from me!" Solaris continued his barrage of green fireballs as Zero dodged them, spun his spear around rapidly to absorb the oxygen creating the flames, or teleporting to another part of the room.

Before he could fire his hundredth fireball, Zero teleported in front of him, blocking his hoof with his own. He twisted Solaris's foreleg, making the teen wince as he could feel his leg try to contort in a way it shouldn't by the mercenary's strength. He tried to punch Zero with his other foreleg, only to have it parried down to the ground as crystals trapped his hoof to the ground. The stallion twisted the teen's leg harder, dropping the alicorn to the ground as he failed to pull away from the mysterious unicorn's grip.

"I never run," Zero said. "You lack the ability to control your emotions, which is why you're fighting blindly. In the midst of combat, you have to have a clear mind, and stay calm no matter what happens. I had trained in Equestria's royal guard when the princesses were still alive, and the first lesson we were taught was to never let our emotions control us." He slammed his free hoof down hard on Solaris's head, smacking his face into the hard ground. "Those include anger and distraught. Grow too furious, you'll behave like a wild animal. Grow upset, then you'll end up dead before you could even figure out what it is that's going to kill you."

"B-Buck you," Solaris uttered.

He was soon struck by a pillar of crystal slamming into his jaw from underneath him, the crystal around his encased hoof broken off. Zero grabbed the alicorn by the throat, slamming him back down to the ground on his back. As he was about to stomp down on him, Solaris blocked it, breathing out a blast of fire at his opponent, but Zero leapt away before he was burnt.

"If you really wished to protect the changeling, then why did you not take into account that she was in your line of fire?" Solaris got back up on his hooves, looking over at where Trill used to be. He could see her through the crystal shielding, scorch marks on the minerals, keeping her safe. This only confused the teenager, not knowing why Zero was protecting her while they fought. "Your blind fury had shrouded your mind to saving her, putting her in danger from yourself."

Solaris's heart sank at the realization. If it weren't for Zero's crystal magic, he could have actually hurt Trill, or killed her. He was so focused on trying to save her, he got too angry and his blind rage could have done a lot more harm than good. He didn't want to lose her, not after everything that had happened to him.

The alicorn took a few breaths, calming himself and clearing his mind, the flames around his hooves flickering calmly as well. Now that he was focused, he waited for the right moment to strike, paying attention to Zero's body as he slowly approached him, crystal spears forming out of the ground around him. The stallion flung the spears at him, only to be smashed to pieces as Solaris punched through them, his gauntlets stronger than the crafted crystal weapons.

Deciding to try his newly acquired pendant in combat, Solaris summoned a cotton candy cloud, only instead of using it for snacking, he willed it to fly in on Zero, catching the stallion in its sticky sweetness. Catching him completely off guard, the alicorn flew straight toward him, making the cloud disappear as he got closer. Stunned from the surprise attack, Zero wasn't quick enough to block a swift jab to the chest, then a hard hook across his face, sending the mercenary to the ground.

He wasn't able to teleport away as Solaris grabbed the stallion, flipping him around and repeatedly punched him. After the sixth blow, Zero blocked him and kicked the teen off of him, getting back up on his hooves while Solaris recovered from the hard buck to the chest.

"This just got interesting," Zero said, almost sounding excited through the distorted voice. "Let me see what you got. Don't hold back on me."

"Like I'm going to back down when my marefriend's held hostage?" Solaris quelled the flames around his forehooves, deciding to continue the fight without his firepower.

Both stallions rushed toward each other, each throwing punches and kicks while avoiding or blocking their opponent's strikes. Solaris began to defend more, seeing Zero seems to have more experience with hoof to hoof combat. He managed to counter a swift punch, but his foreleg was grabbed by the older stallion's grip, twisting him around to a behind the back arm lock. The teen quickly elbowed Zero in the chest with his free foreleg, breaking out of the hold and flipping the stallion over his shoulder, only to flip back up on his legs and charge at the alicorn once again.

Their forehooves slammed into each other's, both stallions pushing against their opponent in a struggle, staring each other down. They were equal in strength, but Solaris didn't have as much endurance as Zero does. The mercenary chuckled, amused at the little fist fight they had.

"You're pretty good at CQC, kid," Zero praised. "The worst thing about fighting with your hooves only is that it leaves you vulnerable to a ranged opponent, even with that fire of yours."

"Then it's a good thing I can adapt to my surroundings," Solaris said. He managed to make Zero stagger, pulling him toward him, quickly spinning around and sweeping his leg underneath the mercenary and tripping him. With his back turned to the downed stallion, he flipped backwards, slamming a back leg down hard into Zero's stomach, making him grunt and gasp in pain as he bounced off the ground. "Good thing I'm also a quick learner!"

Quickly getting back up, Solaris combined the use of his telekinesis and hoof-to-hoof combat, sending hard blows into Zero's body, pulling him back toward him if he got too far like he was a yo-yo tied to an invisible string. Zero could barely react, struggling to breath while getting smacked around by the young stallion, even unable to teleport away as he was occasionally punched hard in the head to focus on the teleportation spell. After a never-ending beatdown, Solaris gave Zero one last hard punch in the mercenary's chest, sending the stallion flying across the room, slamming hard into the cavern wall.

Solaris watched as Zero slid to the ground and slumped over, having beaten the experienced soldier. Keeping an eye on the stallion, he hovered over to Trill, tearing away the crystal shield around her.

"Trill?" Solaris gently shook the mare, watching her stir and her eyes fluttering open. When she looked up to him, she grew confused at her surroundings, noticing her limbs were tied up and her magic rendered useless. "Hang on. I'll get you out of these."

He untied the mare's legs and pulled off the inhibitor ring from her horn as she ripped off the tape covering her mouth. "AH! Why do they have to make this stuff sticky!?"

"At least it's better than that disgusting web loogie you love shooting at me," Solaris said.

"It's a self defense mechanism of us changelings," Trill said, insulted. "Enough making fun of me. Where's the punk who-" Trill finally noticed the semi-unconscious mercenary far across the other side of the massive room of the cavern. "That's the guy who kidnapped me! I'm gonna tear him a new one!"

Trill tried to stomp her way over to the stallion, but Solaris grabbed ahold of her tail with his magic, dragging the mare back to him. "He managed to kidnap you, and knock you unconscious, and you want to fight with him?"

"Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't handle myself," Trill said, receiving a look from her coltfriend. "...What?"

"Just stay behind me." They both approached Zero, Solaris growing cautious, not knowing what he would do. "Ok, I beat you, so that means I passed my test, right?"

"Test!?" Trill exclaimed. "He works for Lucifer!...Right?"

"He's some kind of double agent, and he knew my mom," Solaris explained. "So, tell me. Who are you?"

Zero chuckled, groaning in pain as he sat up. "I...didn't expect you to be that agile...You must have trained hard."

"Don't stall!" Solaris shouted, lighting his hooves on fire. "Tell me who you are and why you were the one who had to give me my test!"

"...Alright. Relax. Give me a moment to catch my breath." Solaris calmed down a little, though his hooves still glowed brightly from his green flames. "I guess I'm getting too old to keep up with you." Zero moved his forehooves to his helmet, slowly taking it off and shocking both Solaris and Trill, the alicorn's flames dying out. The stallion shook his revealed white face, his blue mane flowing freely from the confines of the concealing headpiece. The mercenary was Shining Armor, grinning at his nephew with a look of exhaustion. "Congratulations, nephew. You passed your third test."

Chapter 15: Savior or Harbinger of Death?

In the dining hall of the castle, Cadence, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie were nibbling on their breakfast as they waited for Solaris, Trill, and Rainbow Dash to wake up and meet them. Rainbow finally arrived at the table, her mane a ragged mess, still greatly exhausted.

"Hi, Dashie!" Pinkie welcomed the pegasus. "You look like you rolled into a lightning cloud!"

"Huh?" Rainbow looked at her reflection in the crystal table, noticing how frizzled her mane was. "Meh. I must have been rolling around too much. I'd rather sleep on a comfortable cloud than a springy mattress." She fixed up her hair until it was its usual messy state, looking around to see a couple heads missing from the table. "Where's Sol and...bug mare?"

"I think they're both still sleeping," Fluttershy answered. "I thought I saw them in town yesterday, leaving the movie theater."

"Oh great. The two are bonding as friends." Rainbow slumped in her seat. "I still don't like the idea that those two hanging out, and he knew she was a changeling before we did!"

"Maybe if we didn't hide everything from him, then maybe he would hate changelings more," Pinkie replied. "Although, Trilly's not that bad! At least she doesn't seem that bad of a pony!...Changeling...Uhh...creature! Besides, what's the worst she did in the past?" Struck with wonder, Pinkie pulled out a few dozen pages from underneath her seat, which there was nothing underneath in the first place. She began laughing uproarously at certain points, only confusing the other mares with what she was reading from. "Oh wow! That was pretty funny! They actually did snuggle in the Everfree Forest!"

"Pinkie, what the hay are you talking about?" Rainbow asked.

"Oh nothing! Just something that happened a while ago." She read through more of the pages, but at the last one of the pile, she slammed the piece of paper down on the desk with a straight face. "...Oh boy..."

"'Oh boy,' what?" Rainbow dared to ask.

"Nothing!" Pinkie buried the pile of papers underneath the table, disappearing from existence, looking nervous. "Absolutely nothing happened between them yesterday!"

Rainbow wanted to ask further, but decided not to bother with her friend's randomness. "Ok, then. I'm gonna go and wake them up. We need Solaris battle ready for his next test, whatever it's supposed to be." She got up from her seat and headed down to the guest rooms to wake up his lazy nephew and the changeling he trusted. Since Trill's room was closer, she checked hers, but when she looked inside, there was no sign of the bug pony. "Where'd she go to? Probably trying to steal some love from him like the parasite she is."

Rainbow noticed a piece of paper on the floor next to the window, examining it and reading its contents. She read the threatening letter, looking back out the window where Solaris must have read the note, running off on his own to save Trill. She flew back to the dining room with the note in hoof.

"Guys! We got a problem!" Rainbow slammed the note down on the table. "Solaris ran off to save Trill!"

"What!?" Pinkie exclaimed, picking up the note and reading it to herself. "Who the hay is this 'Zero'!? Is he an evil number that came to life because he lost 'One'!?"

"Pinkie, this is serious!" Rainbow shouted. "And I think I know who Zero is. It's got to be that same mysterious follower of Lucifer's who was with him back in Saddle Arabia, and who dropped Rarity's body to us!"

"Oh no. This is bad," Fluttershy said in fear, worried for Solaris's safety.

"And the idiot told him where he took the changeling too," Rainbow said, the three mare's not seeing Cadence's worried expression. "I'll go on ahead and kill that bastard before he does anything to Sol!"

"Wait, hold on, Rainbow Dash!" Cadence tried to warn Rainbow Dash, but the pegasus flew out of the nearby window, heading toward the cave specified in the note. The princess ran toward the window, but Rainbow was already long gone. "Zero's not who you think he is!"

"What are you talking about, princess?" Fluttershy asked.

"Zero is Lucifer's right-hoof soldier, but he's not on his side. He's a double agent," Cadence explained. "...He's also my husband."

"...Hang on a second..." Pinkie rushed to the table to grab her drink while Fluttershy's jaw dropped in shock. The party mare took a long swig, only to quickly spit it out on the crystal floor in a delayed spit-take. "WHAT!?"

Solaris and Trill were dumbfounded, staring at Shining Armor, who just so happened to be Lucifer's best soldier. Shining still sat where he was beaten, waiting for some kind of response, until finally, Solaris moved. He punched himself hard in the face, wondering if he was dreaming or all of this was really happening. It turned out to be the latter.

"I-I...WHAT IS GOING ON!?" Solaris questioned, as if expecting an answer to come from the heavens.

"I know this is confusing, but I can explain, Solaris," Shining said, trying to calm the teen down before he decided to lash out at his uncle.

Instead of him, Trill was the one to attack the unicorn, kicking him hard in the stomach. "You kidnapped me and were going to kill me!? Now I'm starting to question between the two of our species who's actually worse!"

Shining coughed, deserving the changeling's kick as he tried to regain his breath. "I had to kidnap you so Solaris had some incentive to rescue you. His test was to prove to me if he was able to fight against somepony to protect the ones he love."

"But...I didn't until near the end..." Solaris said, looking down in shame.

He looked back up at his uncle as he felt his hoof rest on his shoulder. "It doesn't matter. You've proved to me that you weren't going to back down against somepony when somepony you care about is held hostage. Just know that you have to take account of allies or hostages around when on the battlefield." Solaris still didn't feel like he had passed, even with that lesson he just learned moments ago. "Hey, you're still learning. Cadence and I both know that you'll get better with experience."

"Right..." He still felt bad, but Solaris understood that he can't be expected to be perfect at everything. Fighting against opponents of greater or equal strength in actual combat was still new to him, barely able to survive against his first test. "But...why are you working with Lucifer?"

"Like I said earlier, I'm acting as a double agent," Shining explained. "I've been undercover for nearly a decade." He paused, a look of anger and pain in his eyes as he looked down at the ground. "After what happened to my sister, I began to grow angry with each day that passed. I wanted to kill that bastard for what he did, and I took out my anger on Cadence and the recruits in the empire. I heard he was unbeatable, nopony could lay a scratch on him, and I wanted to do something, just to seek vengeance.

"That's when I decided to go in as a hired mercenary named Zero, concealing my identity and serving my 'loyalty' to Lucifer." As Shining continued his tale for the teens, he crafted a small crystal figurine of Lucifer, leering at his crafted crystal creation. "I wanted to gather some information on him, get close enough to attempt to assassinate him to end all of this...but then I saw others who had attempted to do the deed before me. They couldn't get close without his magic either tearing them to shreds or torturing them until they begged to be killed...It only made my plans hindered to failure every time, no possible way to injure him, or even catch him off guard..."

Shining slammed his hoof down hard on the figurine, sending shards of the crystal flying out from where it stood. Solaris could see that his uncle and mother had been really close when they were younger. Like his uncle, he wanted to get back at the dark magic wielding unicorn for killing his family, and so far, he was the only one who was able to injure him, if only by pure luck.

"So...you kept this persona as his best soldier to keep tabs on him...Gathering information to help Equestria," Solaris said, piecing together his uncle's reasoning staying as Zero.

"Right," Shining agreed. "And as far as Lucifer knows, you and the others are considered dead in that temple. He thinks he's won, but he's definitely dropped his guard a little. He's always been so paranoid the last fifteen years trying to find you, he didn't even try to figure out who I was. He trusts me, and it's one of the biggest mistakes he could ever make putting faith in a lone mercenary who chooses the side who pays him the most."

"I actually wouldn't trust you, even if you were a mercenary," Trill said, leering at the older unicorn stallion.

"Yeah...Sorry for the kidnapping," Shining apologized. "At least I kept you from getting burnt by your coltfriend here, even though I really don't want to approve you two being together."

"Wait, how do you know we were a couple?" Trill asked, not noticing Solaris turning away, remembering he called her his marefriend during their fight when she was still out cold.

"Cadence told me about your day out together, and yesterday evening's little picnic date she set up for you," Shining said.

"What!?" Trill exclaimed, Solaris blushing heavily. The changeling scrunched her face, glaring at Shining Armor. "She was watching us yesterday, wasn't she?"

Shining sighed, understanding their annoyance. "Yeah. Once she sees a couple who definitely deserve to be together, she has it in her head to try and give them a little nudge to finally share their feelings for each other. Just be grateful she didn't cast any spells on you two, otherwise you would end up waking up the next day, wondering what happened when you 'blacked out'." Solaris buried his face under his wings in embarrassment, now knowing his aunt and uncle know he was dating Trill, while the changeling princess's eye twitched. "As long as you make Solaris happy, Trill, then...I'm happy."

"Really?" Trill asked, greatly confused. "...I thought you wanted me out of Solaris's life."

"I still don't trust you that well," Shining explained. "But if he can trust you enough, then I'll allow it. He's going to need somepony to be there for him once this is all over." Trill looked at Solaris, his cheeks still red and very nervous to know how the rest of his family would react to the news, but she knew Shining Armor was right. The alicorn was helpless without her. She nuzzled him, breaking him out of his nervousness, though embarrassing him more in front of his uncle. "It's still so weird to see that a changeling can actually feel love rather than eat it.

"But, I think we've wasted enough time with exposition on myself. Time for me to give you your next armor piece, Solaris." Shining dug through his armor, pulling out a golden ring from his pockets. It was the right size to fit around the base of a unicorn's horn, along with enchantment symbols written on the inside and outside. "This is a specialized ring for your horn. Your mother wanted Cadence and I to create a special defensive charm using the magic from the Crystal Empire. This may explain how I've been able to manipulate crystals to form anything just by using my magic or physically touching them in our fight earlier."

"Oh. That does explain the transforming crystals," Solaris said as he pondered the properties gems and crystals have through magical latency.

Shining placed the ring on his nephew's horn, resting comfortably at the base. Solaris didn't feel any different, thinking it was only some kind of pointless accessory. He didn't notice his uncle rear his hoof back, punching the teen hard in the face, but as it made contact, his supposed injury was protected by a crystal shield. Both Solaris and Trill were surprised and astonished from Shining's surprise attack and the shimmering crystal gleaming against his cheek.

"Inside that ring's enchantment, it will give you crystal armor, covering your entire body from any sign of physical trauma," Shining explained, grinning at their reactions. He pulled his hoof away, the crystal disappearing as Solaris wasn't in any harm at the moment. "It's a defensive mechanism the soldiers in the Crystal Empire are born with; the shining crystal bodies aren't just for show. But be careful with how much damage you take. Just because your skin's a lot tougher doesn't mean it doesn't have its limits. Take too many tough blows anywhere, the armor will shatter and leave you vulnerable, taking time to recharge the enchantment."

"You could have warned me before you tried to punch me, uncle..." Solaris muttered, rubbing his cheek, not feeling any pain.

Finding the new literal body armor interesting, Trill smirked as she raised a hoof behind Solaris's sight. She smacked him on the flank, but highly regretted it as the crystal coating was far stronger than her hoof. She yelped in pain, and Solaris didn't even feel the slap on his rump. Shining saw what she tried to do, holding back his laughter and groaning at her perverted nature.

"If you'd known I was going to let you test it out, I didn't want you to block my attack." Shining grabbed his helmet and placed it back over his head. "I took this time on leave from Lucifer to meet you face to face, and give you your test. Why I couldn't do much with you the past few days was because I needed enough rest to last against you. And teleporting around is really exhaustive as well."

"Can you teach me teleportation?" Solaris asked.

"Once Lucifer's beaten," Shining replied. "I need to get to Canterlot and see that bastard, but don't worry. Once I figure out what he has planned after his victory, I'll-"

Shining was suddenly kicked hard in the head and sent flying across the room. Solaris and Trill jumped in surprise as Rainbow Dash had come flying in, hovering in front of the alicorn to defend him.

"You just keep ticking me off more and more, huh, Zero!?" Rainbow shouted. "I'm not gonna let you kill my nephew!"

"Wait, Aunt Rainbow Dash, he isn't-" Solaris tried to stop the pegasus, but Rainbow sped off after Shining, the stallion quickly defending himself from her rampage.

"Hold on a minute! This isn't what it looks like!" he said, trying to get the pegasus to listen.

"Why don't you just leave us alone, you prick!?" Rainbow continued throwing a flurry of swift kicks and punches while speeding around the slower unicorn. "I'm not gonna let you take another life, or watch one of them die like a sick masochist!"

"I'm not working with Lucifer!" Shining said. "It's me, Shining Armor! Just let me-"

Shining tried to pull off his helmet to show Rainbow it was him, but she kept hitting him, preventing the stallion from trying anything she thought was a trap.

"Shining Armor's back in the empire! He doesn't kill anypony who were actually friends of his sister's!" Rainbow continued staggering the defenseless stallion, not letting up on her fury.

Solaris flew at her, holding her back as she struggled to break out of his grip. "Aunt Rainbow, stop! He's with us! That is Uncle Shining!"

"Now you got him hypnotized under a spell like a puppet!? You're sick!" Rainbow shouted, elbowing Solaris hard in the gut, despite his new crystal skin protecting him. She slammed the alicorn into a nearby crystal pillar at a blinding pace, dazing the stallion as the force of the contact made his armor shatter, temporarily rendering it useless. "Don't worry, Solaris. When I'm done with him, you'll be ok."

Trill ran up to Solaris as he struggled to stand up, unable to do much against a pegasus that's fast enough to pull off a sonic rainboom in a snap. Above the ponies, completely unaware, one of the large crystal stalactites began to show cracks at the base of its resting place, threatening to give and fall at any moment. Rainbow Dash was directly underneath that crystal, after flinging the armored stallion across the room.

"W-Wait, you don't understand," Shining said, hoping to stop Rainbow before she does try to kill him.

"Oh, I understand what you are," she said, stomping her hooves with her wings flared out. "You're dead meat is what you are!"

The cracks in the crystal began growing more erratic, unable to keep itself held in place from the constant stress the walls took from the ponies being slammed into them. Shining heard the cracks, looking up to see the crystal was just about to break from the ceiling and impale the pegasus underneath it.

"Rainbow, get out of the way!" Shining warned, trying to use his teleportation, but the pain in his body kept losing his focus to cast it.

"You don't scare me!" Rainbow said. "I'll show you not to mess with-"

The stalactite broke off from the ceiling, the pegasus too distracted by her own shouting to hear the cracks finally give way. Before she knew it, the crystal slammed through her torso, pinning her down to the ground as the sharp point dug deep into the earth. Rainbow could barely breathe, coughing up blood as the crystal was wide enough to pierce through her body, possibly breaking her bones and tearing through her organs. Solaris finally snapped out of his daze, finding his aunt run through by the stalactite.

"AUNT RAINBOW!" he shouted.

Shining was horrified, quickly taking off his helmet, showing the shocked and dying mare his face. He saw Solaris rush at her, flying through the air with his hoof rearing back, his pupils shrinking as he saw his nephew was going to punch the crystal to pieces to try and free her. It was a horrible idea, and with how much strength Solaris had at his disposal, he's going to do far worse.

"No! Solaris, don't-!" It was too late to stop him.

Solaris punched through the crystal, shattering the entire stalactite to pieces, sending shards flying out everywhere. The bit of crystal inside of Rainbow broke into tiny, jagged shards, only to decimate her body and killed the mare in an instant. Trill and Shining covered themselves as the shards flew out at them, covering their faces from the raining bits of crystal. When it stopped, they looked at Rainbow's body, completely horrified at her shredded body, blood splattered around her body, along with shards of the crystal coated in it.

"Oh gods above..." Trill uttered as she and Shining Armor stared at the pegasus's body.

They looked up at Solaris, the alicorn's wide, pupils shrunk, his body shuddering as he slowly hovered down to the ground, unable to believe what he had done. He looked down at his hoof, tears welling and trickling down his cheeks, his leg shaking as he realized what he had done to Rainbow Dash. He killed her, though unintentionally. It hit him hard as he struggled to breath, his stomach churning at the sick act he had just committed.

Shining could see his nephew was about to break down at any moment, slowly approaching him. "Sol..." He didn't get his attention, the teen still looking at his hoof and Rainbow's body. He knew that Solaris only did what he thought would save her, killing the pegasus by accident. But being in the military, and seeing his fair share of death under Lucifer's rule, ending some lives against his own will, he could already tell his nephew's mind has been shattered. "Solaris, you didn't mean to do it...It was an accident."

Solaris suddenly hunched over and threw up, spilling his stomach's contents as he retched. He was having trouble breathing, unable to think or see, his mind racing at the worst thing he never wanted to ever commit in his life. Now he felt responsible for another life lost; killing Rainbow Dash by his own hooves. He couldn't hear Shining or Trill try to calm him down, his vision growing dark as he collapsed on his side, falling unconscious.

Shining and Trill ran up to Solaris, the stallion lifting his nephew's head, his pupils dilated and unresponsive to his movement. He cringed as he looked back at Rainbow's body, yet another victim that was her sister's friends, and he couldn't have helped save them again.

"Damn it..." he muttered, blaming himself for putting his helmet back on. Unable to do anymore, Shining lifted his nephew on his back, deciding to head back to the castle and tell the others what had happened. "Come on. Let's get back to the empire..."

"W-What about...?" Trill trailed off, looking at what remained of Rainbow's body.

"...I don't know..." Shining said, feeling disheartened. "After everything that's happened to him...Solaris isn't stable enough to keep going...He needs therapeutic help, and some time to cope and recuperate." They began to head out, leaving the cave behind, as well as Rainbow's corpse. "This is all my fault..."

After making it back to the castle, Shining Armor laid Solaris down in his guest bed, the young alicorn still unresponsive from the shock of what had happened in the cavern. He and Trill explained what had occurred, Pinkie and Fluttershy mourning another friend that had died, but by complete accident. It was hard enough for them to lose Rainbow Dash, being a really close friend to Fluttershy since they were fillies, but for Solaris, losing more and more of his family was becoming too much to bear.

As it grew late into the night, the two mourning mares had spent the rest of their day in their rooms, while Shining Armor continued to chastise himself. If he had told them that he was Zero, this could have been avoided at the cost of possibly getting himself caught by one of Lucifer's troops. He sat on his bed, looking at a picture of his sister and her friends in Ponyville, where times were far different back then from when they were now. He heard Cadence enter their bedroom, who was checking on Solaris, making sure he was ok and wasn't going to hurt himself.

"He's still unconscious," Cadence said, closing the door behind her and approached the bed. "I can't imagine how much he's gone through...He's still just a colt." She sat next to her husband, noticing the picture he was looking at. After telling them what happened, she knew Shining felt guilty, having not told Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rainbow who he was disguised as for Solaris's test against him. They were supposed to use her as the hostage, but with Trill around and the two became a couple yesterday, it made the fight more serious for him. Now, instead of feeling successful, their nephew is falling into a major depression. "Shining? You ok?"

"...It's my fault..." he said, making Cadence tilt her head in confusion. "Why did I have to put that dumb helmet back on?"

"Honey?" Cadence asked, hearing the guilt coming from Shining's voice.

"We should have told them I was Zero..." He leapt off the bed, heading for a wardrobe in their room. He opened the doors, where his disguise sat, as well as the helmet. "First my sister, then Spike, and now Twilight's friends are dying left and right...I could have stopped Rarity before she tried to attack Lucifer. I should have held out from destroying the temple a while longer for all of them to escape!" He slammed the doors closed, feeling his blood boil as he continued to blame himself. "Now Rainbow Dash is dead because she wasn't told about who I was, and Solaris blames himself for killing her when she was already fatally impaled, making his depression worsen to the point of him close to getting a heart attack at the age of fifteen!

"I could have saved her, but she injured me too badly that I couldn't focus on a teleportation spell! All of their deaths are all my fault, and I didn't do a damn thing to stop them from happening!" Shining slammed his hooves into the floor, making the crystal flooring crack under his strength as he struggled to keep himself from letting his rage worsen any further. Cadence could see tears falling down her distraught husband's face, the ex- captain of the royal guard beginning to break down, though not as hard when they heard of Twilight's fate a decade and a half ago. "It's all my fault...I'm causing Solaris...so much pain...T-Twilight...I'm sorry..."

Shining slumped to the floor, burying his face under his forehooves as he wept. Cadence got off the bed and comforted the stallion, holding him closely as he let out his pain.

"It's not your fault," she said. "What more could you have done? You would have been killed by Lucifer if you didn't listen to him." Cadence held him close, nuzzling his neck as she rubbed his back. "I don't know what I would do without you, or Solaris. We're his only relatives, including your parents. It would only devastate him more if you died."

She gently led her husband back to bed as he calmed down, the married couple laying together, holding each other close. They could only hope that Solaris will recover from his shock soon, otherwise he would have to spend a month or two in therapy for killing Rainbow Dash by accident. At least her death ended mercifully, otherwise she would have died in agony underneath the crystal. But it still messed with the teenager's head; he murdered somepony he cared about, even if it saved her.

Solaris opened his eyes, finding himself back in the same black void of his subconscious. He felt horrible as his mind went through the dumbest mistake he had ever made hours ago. His ears perked up as he heard something out in the darkness, but there was no sign of whatever it came from. He feared it was Lucifer again, haunting him in his dream like before.

"Hello?" he asked. "Who's there?"

Suddenly, something had shot up from the ground, a decomposed white hoof popping up in front of the alicorn. He backed away, but another hoof popped up behind him, this one orange. More limbs shot up around him as they began to climb out of the ground. Solaris gasped in horror as he began to see members of his family pulling themselves out, their bodies decayed as if they had turned into zombies.

"Soooolaaaariiiiiissssssss..." they moaned, slowly walking toward him.

The alicorn could barely move, only able to look at each of them in terror. Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Spike kept moving closer, limbs outstretched to reach out to him and kill him. The ones who had died showed the injuries they had sustained that killed them: Rarity with her throat slit, the hole in Spike's chest, Applejack's broken body that was able to function, Rainbow's whole torso exploded with crystal shards still embedded in her hanging organs. Fluttershy and Pinkie were the only ones that didn't show any fatal injury, but they were as dead as the others.

"N-No. No! Stay away!" Solaris finally came to his senses, flying over them and running for his life. He ran as hard and as fast as he could, but they seemed to catch up to him, despite their sluggish limping. "Somepony help me!"

"Why run from your fate, Solaris?" Up ahead, Lucifer slowly came into view, making Solaris stop as he was soon surrounded by his undead family and his mortal foe. "Can't you see that we're both one and the same?"

"I-I'm not like you!" Solaris said, though he felt unsure.

Lucifer only laughed as he watched the alicorn tremble. "You are so naive. Of course a foal like you would never truly understand how important you truly are." He disappeared, soon appearing behind Solaris with the zombified ponies and dragon. He backed away from them, only to hit some kind of invisible wall, keeping him from fleeing. "You're considered a sort of god, an immortal deity everypony should worship. You should have known since the day you were born that everypony would die for your precious life. Or...you would end up killing them on your own."

"W-What?" Solaris pressed himself against the wall, too scared to fly away. He got a glimpse at one of his hooves, suddenly turned red and reeking of blood. He lifted them up, and saw that they were coated in the liquid, thin streams of it magnetizing to him from his family. "No! G-Get it off!"

"Their blood is on your hooves, Solaris." Lucifer said, relishing the teenager's horror as he tried to brush the stained blood off his forelegs. "Their deaths lie on your head. Because of you, everypony around you will die."

"NO!" Solaris shouted, tears welling up in his eyes as his entire body was covered in blood.

"You can't protect everypony, Solaris! The entire world will fall, and you will fail them all!" Lucifer laughed maniacally, thrusting his hoof forward to command the undead ponies and dragon to attack. "I win! Equestria is mine, and it's all thanks to you, oh great and powerful alicorn!"

Solaris pressed into the wall as his aunts and uncle approached him, too upset to fly or fight back. He curled into a ball and waited for the inevitable, but the sound of the moaning zombies disappeared, as well as Lucifer's cackling. He opened his eyes, his body blood free, and standing before him was Twilight.

"M-Mom?" He slowly approached her, desperate for her attention and seeking her protection. "Please, help me..."

"Help you?" she questioned. Twilight shoved her son away from her with her magic, shocking the alicorn teen. "Why should I help you? After what you did to my friends? To Spike!?"

"B-But I didn't-" Twilight immediately teleported in front of the distraught teen, slapping him hard in the face.

"I don't want to hear a word out of you! You were supposed to protect Equestria, but you let it fall to ruin!" She pointed behind him, Solaris slowly turning around as his tears fell, feeling hurt as his own mother slapped him. His eyes widened as the darkness behind him turned to a burning landscape of all of Equestria from a bird's eye view. Ponyville, Canterlot, the Crystal Empire, every single city and town across the continent was burning to ashes, and the flames kept growing and growing. "Some hero you turned out to be. I was wrong about you."

"N-No...I-I'm not-" Solaris screamed as he felt his wings being torn out from his back, his appendages held tightly in Twilight's aura.

"I can't believe I gave birth to a monster. A harbinger of death and destruction, far worse than Lucifer ever was!" As Solaris tried to breath, his back bleeding heavily from his quickly torn wings, he screamed louder as his horn snapped in half by Twilight's magic. Blood ran down his forehead, staining his face along with his tears, the pain becoming unbearable as he was rendered defenseless. He could only watch as his horn and wings burned up, turning into a pile of ash that fell mere feet in front of him. "A monster like you deserves to die in the deepest, darkest pits of Tarterus."

"M-Mom, please..." Solaris begged, reaching out desperately for his mother.

"You heard your mother, Solaris," Lucifer said, appearing before the teen. He grabbed Solaris by the throat with his magic, hovering him over a deep pit, where his zombified family reached out to him, wanting to bite into his flesh. "Time for you to die. Farewell, foal."

The tyrant dropped Solaris, the teen screaming in terror as he couldn't fly anymore. He was going to die, and the world had perished because of his failure.

Solaris woke up screaming, sweat dripping down his face as he hyperventilated from experiencing the vivid nightmare. The memory of what he did to Rainbow Dash was still clear in his mind, only making the nightmare he had only made his guilt worsen. He curled up in his bed, sobbing heavily as the weight of his murder began to eat away at him.

As his thoughts raced from his sorrow, how he lost so much of his family in such a short amount of time, something about his mother's words began to repeat itself into his mind.

After each trial you complete, you will suffer.

Those words kept repeating themselves in his head as visions of his family ran through his mind. His heart only sunk further in despair, realizing what his mother meant by suffering with each trial; she meant he would lose one of his aunts after each test he passes.

"...N-No..." More tears fell from his eyes as the realization kicked in. It had all made sense, Rarity's, Applejack's, and Rainbow Dash's deaths all in the same time frame after he had succeeded with each trial. Rarity's assassination attempt in the middle of the night when he beat his test around that same time, Applejack bucking him out of the passage and getting crushed mere moments after he beat his second test, and now Rainbow Dash, getting killed by a crystal stalactite that seemed stable, but fell directly on top of her and impaled her. It wasn't just Lucifer who had killed them, Solaris was responsible as well. His tests were cursed. "...I-I...I'm...killing them..."

Trill tossed and turned in her bed, unable to sleep. She knew Solaris was suffering really badly that she could practically taste his sorrow from a mile away. She couldn't imagine how much more pain he must go through in order to have thoughts of suicide run through his head. Even if she were to eat his depressing emotions, there would still be that lingering guilt that would make it keep coming back, making his anxiety and psychological trauma grow worse with each moment.

Trill got out of bed, deciding to head for Solaris's room to help comfort him. She didn't care if the others knew if they were in a relationship. The point was he needed her more than ever, and she did not want to lose him. After navigating through the long corridors, she finally found the alicorn's room, gently knocking on the door.

"Solaris? Are you awake?" She didn't hear an answer, either he was awake and couldn't speak, or he was still unconscious.

She opened his door, but as she looked inside, she gasped, seeing no sign of Solaris anywhere in the room. She ran in, searching for any sign of him, but there was none. The window to his room was wide open, and as she looked at his bed, there was a note left behind, the page strewn with tears.

I'm sorry, everypony. I don't want to do this anymore. Please don't find me. I don't want to kill anymore.

Trill's eyes widened, looking back out the window, Solaris having run away when he was dreadfully upset. "Oh no..."

Chapter 16: Runaway

"What do you mean he ran away!?" Shining asked, greatly worried.

Trill had quickly ran through the castle, gathering Pinkie, Fluttershy, Cadence, and Shining Armor, telling them that Solaris was gone. They were annoyed at first when the changeling woke them up in the middle of the night, but as soon as she showed them his note, they all began to worry about his safety.

"I don't know!" Trill said. "I was worried and wanted to check on him, but he wasn't in his room! The window was opened, and he left that note..."

"This is bad," Cadence said. "He shouldn't be on his own right now. What if he fled outside of the barrier!?"

"But...he's safe from the cold with his fire breath, right?" Trill asked.

"There's a lot of dangerous creatures far to the north of the kingdom," Shining said. "Not only that, but around this time, harsh blizzards come and go outside the barrier. This place is protected by the Crystal Heart, keeping it safe from the elements, but it can drop below freezing in a heartbeat if anypony's dumb enough to travel out there. Even with his fire protecting him from the cold, he's not mentally sane enough to defend himself from what lies outside of the empire."

"Oh great..." Trill uttered, knowing that something else aside from Lucifer could end up killing Solaris.

The group soon split up to try and find the alicorn before he could breach the protective barrier around the empire, Shining Armor alerting his troops and spreading them out to search for his nephew. Trill searched around Solaris's room again, having a gut feeling that her coltfriend was already long gone. The only way she would have a chance to find him was by tracking him, and her searching would possibly lead her outside of the warm, protective shield and into the freezing cold tundra outside.

Trill was lucky enough to learn how to track down any victims she encountered that could give more love energy than her previous prey could. Casting her spell, she closed her eyes, giving her a sixth sense through her mind's eye. The room around her through her shut eyes grew darker, but she can now see aura trails, each one different and floating in different pathways, signifying where that pony stood and where they had gone depending on how strong the aura was.

Solaris's golden aura flew out of the window, just like she predicted, but seeing how far out it went, he definitely went past the barrier. "Solaris, why did you have to run out there? I hate the cold..." Having no choice, she needed to go out there and follow his trail before it disappeared. Trill quickly ran to her room and grabbed her saddlebags, pulling out a scarf she bought back in Saddle Arabia. "Good thing I got one of these. I hope this can keep me warm."

With her gear in check, and the only bit of warm clothing she had on her, Trill flew out of her bedroom window and followed after the gold trail, ignoring the other colored auras down below. As soon as she reached the barrier and passed through, her wings immediately locked up as the temperature dropped drastically. She tried to will her wings to at least let her glide to the ground, but her body refused to listen, needing warmth. Screaming, all she could do was flail in a panic, slamming into a deep bank of snow, cushioning her fall and freezing her further all at once.

Popping out of the snow, Trill began shivering heavily, not one of her better plans. "S-S-So s-stupid...S-Should have t-told t-the others I-I-I could f-f-f-find him..." She shakily dug herself out and began to follow the golden aura on hoof, the scarf barely able to keep her neck warm. "G-G-Gotta f-find him b-before t-t-t-the trail d-dies..."

Far to the north of the Crystal Empire, a harsh blizzard has already rolled in the area, heading south toward the magical barrier. Through the harsh flurry of snow and chilling winds, Solaris ran through the blizzard unhindered, his body heat high in temperature thanks to Spike's dragon fire protecting him from the cold. He could barely see anything in front of him, but he didn't care, too upset to bother where he was going, as long as it was far away from everypony.

He reached the base of a mountain, finding a nearby cave. He stumbled inside, going in as far as the cave could go. He soon collapsed in the middle of the small room, his body shuddering in sorrow as his mind was plagued by the guilt his fate had wrought. Solaris didn't care if he ran from his destiny; he didn't want to be held responsible for the deaths of his family any longer. He looked down at his gauntlets with tear-filled eyes, glaring at his "rewards" for completing his tests.

"Was this what you meant by suffer, mom? Killing my family? The ponies who were supposed to be your friends!?" Solaris shoved the gauntlets off his hooves, throwing them far across the room. He then ripped off the pendant around his neck and pushed the ring off his horn, throwing them at the gauntlets. "How am I supposed to go through with all of this if all you want me to do is cause me pain!? WHAT KIND OF MOTHER ARE YOU!?"

Solaris sucked in a deep breath, blowing out a powerful blast of green flames at his armor he had obtained so far, wanting to burn them as they would only remind him of what he did to Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. He watched as the flames died down, but the golden gauntlets, pendant, and ring were still intact. Seeing as his armor was indestructible, he slammed his hooves into the ground, unable to get rid of the objects that would forever haunt him.

"You really think you can get rid of them that easily?" Solaris's ears twitched, hearing Rainbow Dash's voice. He looked around, but there was no sign of her anywhere, even though she was dead. They'll never go away, just like your guilt when you killed me."

"A-Aunt Rainbow?" Solaris looked all around him, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks.

"Ya couldn't even run fast enough to outrun a collapsin' temple," Applejack's voice spoke, berating him in a distasteful tone. "After all that trainin' ya did, ya should have been able to outrun Rainbow Dash. What're my brother, sister, and son gonna think when ya tell them ya got me killed!?"

"I told you to run off into the forest, and you completely ignored me," Spike's voice echoed in Solaris's head. His heart kept sinking more and more as he kept hearing the voices of his family, his sanity lost beyond this point. "If you had just listened to me, I would have still been alive. But instead, you just had to try and play 'hero' when you weren't ready to face Lucifer. Now look what you've done to me!"

The voices kept yelling at him from his mind, the cavern spiraling around him as his vision began to fade to darkness. In place of the cave, he saw Spike, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight surrounding him, all of their voices clashing as they said demeaning things toward him. He couldn't escape, he couldn't deny their words, because he knew what they were telling him were true in his mind. All he could do was collapse to the ground, curl into the fetal position, press his forehooves to his ears to try and keep the voices out as he rocked back and forth, their words still reaching to him as he fell deeper and deeper into despair.

Crystal guards searched every single alley, building, and field inside the empire's barrier, but they couldn't find Solaris anywhere. The blizzard had appeared a moment later, the harsh winds dying down as they hit the magic shield, the snow turning to freezing rain. Shining received reports from each group of soldiers patrolling the different parts of the empire, which were all bad news, no sign of his nephew anywhere in their sectors. He dismissed them, ordering them to keep searching.

"I can't believe this is happening..." Shining looked out of the nearby window from the throne room, watching the rain pouring down on the city, many of the crystal ponies and refugees inside their homes to avoid the freezing downpour as the blizzard raged outside the barrier. The doors opened, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy slightly drenched from the rain. "Please tell me you managed to find him."

"No." Pinkie shook off the rainwater, her coat and mane poofing up the second she stopped. "There's no sign of him."

"...Then...he must have ran out of the empire..." The stallion slumped against the windowsill, looking beyond the barrier toward the dangers the frozen north was capable of hiding. "I'm a terrible uncle...This is all my fault..."

"Wait, where's Trill?" Fluttershy asked. "Was she searching around the castle with you and Cadence, Shining Armor?"

"...I thought she went off with you two." After a minute, the three looked out the window, figuring the changeling princess must have gone out into the freezing blizzard. "She can't really be out there! What is wrong with her!?"

"I kinda don't see what's wrong," Pinkie said. "Maybe she found a way to find Solly and didn't think there was enough time to send a search party."

"Pinkie, changelings are part insect!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "She won't be able to last out in the cold for that long, especially when there's a blizzard!"

"...Oh." With how heavy the downpour was, there was no possibility a search party could last a minute outside the empire's barrier, all of them worried for both the teens' safety. "How long will this storm last?"

"With how severe it is, a couple days at the very least," Shining said. "I hope it only lasts a couple days..."

Trill shivered violently as she slowly hiked through the blizzard, definitely regretting going out alone without telling the others. She should have stolen a warm jacket and some fuzzy boots to go with her scarf, but there was no time and she feared Solaris could have gotten eaten by what creatures thrive in storms like this. She didn't really think things through, no matter what her plans are, and this is by far one of the dumbest ideas she ever had: tromping through the snow, fighting against the harsh winds, freezing to near death or possible hibernation, which can result in death if she collapsed in the snow.

She had been hiking for over an hour, her body heat slowly dying as she continued following Solaris's aura trail. As much as she wanted to succumb to her insect-like instincts and fall asleep from the cold, she kept moving forward, far too worried about Solaris's deteriorating health to leave him alone.

"I-Is this h-h-how l-lovers f-f-f-feel?" Trill questioned herself. "T-They d-do s-s-s-stupid t-things for t-the one they c-c-care about? N-No w-wonder I-I-I'm b-bad at m-making p-p-p-p-p-plans..."

She continued following the golden aura, the trail leading to a cave at the base of a nearby mountain, the aura at its strongest. Solaris was inside, and Trill hoped there wasn't any dangerous beasts living inside. She was too cold to defend herself, leaving her completely helpless. She stepped inside the cave, leaning against the wall as soon as she was out of the frigid wind and snow, shuddering as she tried to warm herself up as best as she could. Aside from her teeth chattering, her ears perked up as she heard sobs echoing inside the cave.

She shakily made her way through the cave, finding Solaris curled up in the middle of the room, mumbling to himself. She saw his gauntlets, ring, and pendant on the other side of the entrance, along with a scorch mark around his armor. Trill slowly approached him, feeling the emotional anguish he was suffering from, able to feel his mental state spiraling in his depression. He flinched as he felt her shivering hoof lightly touch him, quickly turning to back away from her.

"Stop!" Solaris shouted. "Leave me alone!"

Trill felt pity for her coltfriend, seeing just how terribly he was suffering. His eyes were red and puffy from crying, his pupils were shrunk as he saw illusions of something she couldn't, and his psychological state was destroyed, the changeling unsure if he'll ever recover at this point.

"S-Solaris, i-it's me," Trill tried to comfort, beginning to feel her body close to shutting down from the blizzard. "W-Why d-d-did you r-run away?"

"P-Please, I didn't want this!" Solaris cried out, backing away from her until he hit the wall. "I-I didn't mean it!"

Seeing he was too far gone to be reasoned with, Trill kept moving closer, trying to control her limbs to keep moving. She hated seeing him so broken, watching him wince with each step she took and scared out of his mind. He flinched as their faces were inches apart, Trill activating her magic as she pressed her horn against his head. She began devouring his negative emotions, Solaris's eyes widening and turning green as he fell into a trance.

Trill couldn't keep her spell up for long, not just because of how disgusting his other emotions tasted, but her energy was nearly exhausted just from pushing through a dangerous blizzard that almost killed her. She backed away, feeling sick to her stomach, managing to absorb enough of his depression to snap Solaris back to his sanity, though it wasn't enough to calm him down.

"T-Trill?" Solaris said, his mind still reeling from the torment he was suffering through. "Why did you find me!?"

"Y-you k-know how w-w-w-worried w-we were a-about you!?" Trill stuttered, desperately needing warmth.

"You shouldn't have come after me!" he argued. "Get away from me!"

"I-I t-t-trekked through a b-b-blizzard, a-and I-I nearly f-froze to d-death t-t-trying to f-f-f-find you," Trill said, trying to stay calm. "W-Why d-did you r-run away?"

"Just leave me." Solaris turned his back on her. "I'm a threat to my family..."

"...W-W-What?" Trill stared at the alicorn, having no clue what he meant.

"My tests...They're a curse." He looked over at his discarded equipment, glaring at them in spite. "My rewards required sacrifices, and the tribute was the lives of the ones I hold dear. That was what my mother meant when I had to suffer."

"W-What are y-you t-t-talking about?" Trill asked, still not understanding.

"Don't you get it, Trill!?" Solaris turned to face her, growing more upset as his mind kept playing through his mother's "warnings" and vague explanations. "My trials are killing my aunts!

"I beat the first one late in the evening, and ironically, Aunt Rarity was killed probably not too long after! My second test, we all could have gotten out, but Aunt Applejack had to kick me out before it collapsed on us! She could have made it out along with the rest of us!" A fresh wave of tears welled up in Solaris's eyes as he recalled the losses he had suffered from. "A-And Aunt Rainbow...There was no way that crystal could have broken off that easily! Not even an earthquake could shake it down from its roots on the ceiling, and she didn't even see it until it hit her! And I stupidly punched it to pieces, killing her with my own hooves!"

"I-It's j-just an u-unfortunate c-c-circumstance," Trill said.

"No it's not!" Solaris shouted. "It's not even close to being a coincidence either! They died in a specific time frame after I passed my test, practically an hour after I won!" He turned his head, breathing a large wave of green fire at his armor, trying his hardest to burn them again. They remained untouched as the flames died down, only angering the alicorn further. "What's going to happen after my final two tests!? Who's blood am I going to have to shed just to get them!? Why is my mother making my life more miserable when she left me, getting herself killed and leaving me with Uncle Spike and never being told of her fate!? I'M SICK OF BEING LIED TO AND LOSING THE ONES I LOVE!"

He slammed his hooves into the ground, making the whole mountain shake as he yelled in frustration and sorrow. While the flames Solaris spewed out warmed the cave a little, Trill still shivered, though more in fear of her coltfriend's enraged power than the cold.

"S-Solaris, is that w-why you ran a-away?" Trill asked, getting his attention as he panted. "B-Because you think y-you're responsible for their d-deaths? Lucifer k-killed Rarity and Applejack, and R-Rainbow Dash's death w-was an accident." She slowly approached him, being careful not to rile him up. "N-Not everypony can be s-saved."

"I don't want anypony else to die from my actions." Solaris turned away from his marefriend again, unwilling to listen to her. "I'm not a hero if I can't help my family...Four lives are on my head, their blood stained on my hooves." He looked down at his forehooves, his hallucinations slowly returning as he began to see them turn red and reeking of blood. "I'm just like Lucifer."

"No you're not!" Trill exclaimed in annoyance, the alicorn's ears pressed tightly against his skull to avoid listening. "Y-You're not like him!" She moved closer, trying to talk some sense into him before he lost himself to his broken psychosis while growing annoyed at his stubbornness. "I-I know you're hurting, b-but you c-can't expect to save the whole w-world! E-Everypony is suffering, and the world is m-more cruel than h-how we think it was i-inside the caves w-we grew up in!"

"Shut up..." Solaris muttered.

"S-Sometimes, sacrifices h-have to be made for the g-greater good!" Trill kept moving closer, unable to see his anger growing to a boiling point. "W-When my mom t-told me about what had happened after the invasion, w-we lost h-hundreds of changeling s-soldiers when t-they got separated when they f-failed! We t-tried, but we didn't g-give up!"

"Shut up," he said, louder.

"Y-You just have to face the f-facts, Solaris!" Trill shouted, standing directly behind the stubborn stallion.

"Shut up!" Solaris shouted.

"Y-You have to l-learn that t-the world is going to be cruel, and w-we need you to s-snap out of it!" She pressed her hoof against his shoulder. "Y-You have to grow up a-and be a stallion i-instead of crying like a baby!"

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Solaris quickly turned around, lost in his anger, pulling Trill's hoof down and punching her hard in the face.

The changeling princess flew across the room, knocking unconscious from the powerful blow, slamming her head hard into the wall. Solaris immediately snapped to his senses as he not only realized who he just hit, but the chilling, smacking sound Trill made when she hit the wall, her limp body collapsing in a heap.

"...O-Oh buck..." Solaris's hoof shook, eyes widened, and his breath shortened. More tears streamed down his face, not seeing his changeling lover moving. He panicked, running to her, his heart sinking even deeper as he believed he just killed somepony else he cared about. He skidded to a halt near her, Trill was still breathing, but her cheek was beginning to swell, along with her head bleeding slightly, her blood green instead of red. "T-Trill...I-I didn't..."

He was relieved she was still breathing, but the impact could have either cracked her skull or injured her brain. Solaris hyperventilated, carefully checking her injured head, which was only a small gash that wasn't life threatening. He gently took off her scarf, ripping some of the accessory to use as gauze for her wound, keeping it pressed down gently with his magic as he cradled Trill's head against his chest.

"I-I'm sorry..." Solaris sobbed, the guilt in his heart growing heavier. He almost killed the mare he loved, and he hit her. He feared his relationship with Trill was already over, immediately breaking up when she wakes, and leaving him forever. Losing his family one by one was painful enough, but just the thought of hurting or losing the one pony he truly loves and is willing to protect was ten times worse to him. "I'm so sorry...P-Please...Please don't leave me alone..."

Chapter 17: Forgiveness

Trill moaned, feeling her head throbbing in pain as she felt her consciousness coming back to her. She heard flames flickering nearby, feeling the warmth of a fire not too far away, keeping her body free from the cold air around her. Squinting her eyes, her head began to hurt as soon as she saw the light of the fire, which was green instead of how normal campfires are supposed to be. Her eyes began to adjust, looking into the flames while waiting for her migraine to stop.

She remembered what had happened earlier before she was knocked unconscious. She was trying to bring some sense to Solaris, yelling at him to get her words through to him, but then suddenly being punched by the teen after swiftly pulling her hoof down. She felt her cheek where she was hit, wincing as she felt the bruise under her dark chitin face. As she felt her head, she flinched when she felt where her headache came from, along with something soft over her injury.

Trill sat up, trying to dull out her throbbing head, looking around the cave in the green glow of the fire. She had no idea how long she was out for, but judging by how empty her stomach was, it must have been a few hours. On the other side of the campfire, she spotted Solaris, his back turned to the fire. She could feel he was far more troubled than before, probably from hitting her and knocking her unconscious. She did deserve it: yelling at him while he was struggling emotionally with the past few weeks, what he truly believed was the reason why his family getting killed one by one and the guilt he felt, and disregarding his feelings from nearly freezing to death and insulting him when he needed consoling.

Not knowing if he was awake or not, Trill decided to stay silent for the time being, give Solaris some time to himself for a little. She prodded at the soft cloth that was on her head, gently removing it from the gash that subsided its bleeding. She looked at the bit of fabric, which was stained with her blood, whining in frustration when she recognized it as part of her scarf she was wearing. She found the rest of it with her saddlebags, seeing where it was ripped.

"So much for fashionable warmth for the neck..." She tossed the temporary bandage in the fire to discard it, no longer useful. She rubbed her head, being careful not to apply too much pressure to her injury. "Good thing we have thick skulls."

Solaris stirred awake and sat up. He turned around to face the fire, but the moment his eyes laid on Trill, her looking at him, he averted his gaze away from her. She could tell he was afraid of what she was going to do to him after he hit her and knocked her unconscious. They stayed in silence for a long while, the only sound coming from the crackling fire between them.

Solaris waited anxiously for the worst case scenario to happen, but the silence was maddening. He was expecting her to just yell at him, insult him, even hit him back, but nothing happened. After what almost felt like an eternity, Trill finally decided to speak up.

"I'm sorry." Solaris's ears perked up, staring at the changeling princess in confusion. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that...I can get a bit ornery when I'm freezing cold, since I am a changeling, and being an insect, cold weather isn't something we like to live in."

"...Why are you apologizing?" Solaris asked in annoyance. "I'm the one who should be apologizing."

"Solaris..." Trill could see he was about to have another breakdown, seeing his eye twitch and fidgeting hooves. "I was supposed to try and calm you down, but I ended up being too harsh on you."

"No!" he shouted, startling the changeling. "You don't get it! I hit you! I could have killed you!" Tears welled up in his eyes as he began to pace around his spot. "You're supposed to hate me after I did that to you! I could have given you a concussion, or put you in a coma!"

"Solly-" Trill tried to stop him, but he continued his rambling.

"I was so scared I had killed somepony else I loved! I almost thought you actually died!" Solaris sobbed, his tears flowing down his cheeks, unable to look Trill in the eyes. "I'm not the hero everypony wants me to be if I can't save my own family! I don't want to lose anypony anymore, and I thought I was going to lose you in either scenario: you dying by my own hoof or leaving me and never wanting anything to do with me! I want you to be mad at me! I don't deserve-!"

Solaris's mouth was suddenly clamped shut as Trill spat out her green webbing from her mouth, shutting his muzzle tightly. Now that he had been silenced, he looked at the mare, showing no signs of anger or disdain toward him. She walked around the fire and sat right in front of the confused stallion, his distress making him forget he could have gotten rid of his gag via dragon fire or magic. He wanted to turn away, but her hoof grabbed his horn, forcing him to look directly at her.

"Remember when you told me I should think before saying anything stupid?" Trill asked rhetorically. "Well, you need to stop overthinking everything you just said, and listen to me." Solaris tried to say something, but his mouth was sealed shut by the green web. At least he was able to breath through his nose, but he was more worried about what his soon-to-be ex-marefriend was going to say. "I don't hate you, and I never will. I deserved to be punched after I said all those things earlier.

"I wanted to help you, but instead, I was only making your anxiety worse." Trill wrapped her forelegs around Solaris's neck, keeping their eyes focused on each other as she held him close. "Many of those things I said were true, but none of them about you were...I was freezing, and very exhausted braving a blizzard that should have killed me. I just wanted to bring you back to the others so all of us could help you, but instead, I called you a baby and told you the world was a cruel place to live in..."

She gently pulled off her webbing off of his muzzle, freeing his mouth, but he couldn't find any words to say. Trill rested her head against his shoulder, nuzzling his neck, pressing herself closer, relishing in his body heat helping to keep her warm. Solaris was completely still, having no clue what he was supposed to do as his mind muddled through what he supposed was going to happen.

"We're both clueless with what awaited us outside of the caverns we called home," Trill continued. "I was taught that the world outside my hive was full of danger, and I should always prepare for anything that could harm me. You were kept hidden from the world, unaware of the dangers outside what you called home. With Equestria being ruled the way it is, not one place is truly safe. Corruption is everywhere, even in havens we feel are safe to stay in..." She gently brushed her cheek against Solaris's, who was still confused. "We're both ignorant until we see the truth of the world with our own eyes."

She gently kissed her lover's cheek, her horn sparking from the small amount of love energy she took. Solaris wanted to look away, to push her away, fearing she was trying to lull him into a false sense of security. He couldn't even protest, his voice failing him while his ears sought her comforting voice and young ideals on what she sees in the world. Trill pressed her muzzle against his, rubbing her nose against his lovingly, making him blush.

"I know you believe that you might be the cause of what's happening to your family, but you don't have any proof that it's a possibility, right?" Solaris wanted to argue, but she was right. Even though the gaps between his successes in passing his trials and the moment where one of his aunts is killed were close to under possibly an hour, maybe it was all some horrible coincidence that they died. It still wouldn't leave his mind as he still felt some form of guilt, but it was starting to be more like a series of unfortunate events. "Don't blame yourself for what happened to them." Trill's voice brought him back from his conflicting thoughts. "You're important to them, and all of Equestria. We all want you to save the kingdom, but we also care about your safety and well-being."

"B-But-" Solaris was silenced by Trill's hoof gently pressing against his lips.

"No buts," she said. "I know it's tough to go through all this and be expected to win, but we know you can pull through...I know you can pull through." Trill gently removed her hoof, gently kissing his snout. "I promised you I would be there for you, no matter what happens. And once you finally stop Lucifer, you can do whatever you want to let out your sorrow. I'll never leave you, Solaris. Never."

She pressed herself closer, closed her eyes, and kissed him softly, surprising Solaris a little. More tears streamed down his cheeks as he was kissed, his conflicting thoughts slowly ebbing away as he began to close his eyes in bliss. He kissed her back with the same gentle passion she was giving him, wrapping his forelegs and wings around her, never wanting to let go of the changeling princess.

They pulled away from each other slightly, their eyes locked on each others' as they panted lightly. Trill licked her lips as she absorbed Solaris's willingly given love, almost enticing the alicorn to give her more. He gave her more, pressing their lips together, only more passionate and a little heated. Trill moaned into his mouth as she felt his hooves caress her back, her hair, even a surprise squeak from her as he dared to give her plot a little squeeze. She pulled away from him, giving him a seductive grin as she caught a glint of lust in his eyes.

"So, you wanna play it that way, huh?" Trill asked, quickly pinning Solaris down on his back as she took control. "What would the world think if they saw their future prince getting frisky with a changeling?"

"...B-Blame my hormones..." Solaris said, his face glowing brighter in embarrassment. "That and your constant flirting got to me."

"So they did work on you after all," she giggled as she watched him turn his head away from her. While looking away, she began to repeatedly kiss his neck, making the stallion gasp as he stifled a moan, feeling her teeth graze his skin as she also nibbled him. "I think we'll both enjoy this."

She trailed back up to his lips and they continued to make out, pressing their bodies closely to one another while moaning in bliss.

Shining Armor walked through the halls of Canterlot Castle, disguised as the mercenary, Zero, hoping that his troops in the Crystal Empire will report any sign of Solaris and Trill while he was gone. He already wasted enough of his "vacation" days, growing worried of Lucifer's suspicions on his lack of attendance. He expected them to be littered with the corpses of his previous assassins, but surprisingly, the castle was actually clean. There was a fresh clean scent in the corridors, no corpses, blood splatters, or organs littering the floors and walls. It was somewhat better looking, despite the atmosphere still feeling grim and dark.

He managed to figure out where Lucifer was, entering his chambers to find the tyrant reading through a novel with a content grin on his face, something that bothered Shining greatly. He had a wine glass filled with a very expensive red wine, the bottle on his reading desk over a century old. He was too focused on his book, though his ears moved to the sound of Shining's hoofsteps.

"Sorry for my tardiness, Your Highness," he said, bowing his head. "I had a job that came up at the last moment."

"Quite alright, Zero," Lucifer said, his eyes still glued to the pages. "You are a mercenary. You do what you must to earn a paycheck. Though your loyalty still stands by me, yes?"

"Of course, Your Highness." The stallion leered at Lucifer through his visor, wanting to vomit as he followed his orders like an abused lapdog. It still made him feel wary, seeing his "king" being this chipper and calm. "Might I ask what's gotten you in a good mood, sir?"

"I have nothing getting in my way to finally rule this kingdom." He marked the page in his book and set it aside, taking a small sip of his drink. "With no worries about that brat becoming a thorn in my side, I can finally relax and plan on liberating the other kingdoms on this continent, maybe even the rest of the world."

"W-World conquest?" Shining asked, not liking where this was headed.

"Exactly." Lucifer downed the rest of his glass, gently placing it down on the table. "You see, Zero, when Celestia came into power, she was deemed as a goddess. She and her sister Luna were immortal beings with immeasurable power, overlooking the mortals that worshiped them like a cult blindly following a lunatic priest who would lead them to salvation. In fact, everypony had claimed that they were so powerful, nothing could stop them." He refilled his glass, Shining staring at the liquid as it almost seemed to resemble blood. "Little did they realize that they're just as frail as they are."

"...What do you mean?" Shining asked.

"Think about Celestia and Luna's greatest feats when they were still alive." Using his magic, Lucifer pulled out a history book on Equestria's major events that had taken place since the founding of the kingdom. He flicked through each page for Shining Armor, having them bookmarked for when he decided to give a lecture on the princesses and their greatest moments. "Discord: His chaotic magic rivaled their own power, and by his own will, he could actually take away horns and wings. Being an unknown creature and deity of his own magic, he was able to make a mockery of Celestia and Luna." On the page was a picture of the stain-glass mural that was once on the walls of the castle: both princesses of the sun and moon turning the draconequus to stone with the Elements of Harmony. "How exactly was he beaten?"

"The Elements of Harmony," Shining answered, knowing the answer and with it highlighted in the book.

"Right." He flipped over to another page, this one featuring Sombra being cast into the shadows with the Crystal Empire in the background, Celestia and Luna wearing armor matching their coats. "Sombra: A unicorn tyrant who sought arcane magic to show his true power ruled the Crystal Empire. Like a fool, he wasn't smart enough to prepare himself for the corruption it had on his mind, wanting those crystals all to himself like a disturbing fetish his magic truly desired. Who were the ponies who banished him to the shadows, along with the empire?"

"...Celestia and Luna," Shining responded, unsure of what Lucifer was trying to get at.

"Yes." He flipped over to the last marked page, showing Celestia's greatest and worst moment in all of Equestria's history: Luna's transformation into Nightmare Moon, Celestia using the Elements to banish her to the moon. "Nightmare Moon: Celestia's sister turned to the corruption of her anger and jealousy into the Mare in the Moon. A climactic battle between the two waged, and Nightmare was far more powerful than her older sibling, where the night would last for all eternity. How was she beaten?"

"...The Elements of Harmony..." Shining replied.

"The Elements of Harmony," Lucifer repeated, flipping through the pages, this time only showing some of the recent events that had taken place in the past two decades. "Nightmare Moon's return; Celestia was nowhere to be found when she came back after a thousand years of banishment. Discord breaking free from his stone prison; Celestia sends six mares, the new bearers of the Elements of Harmony, to find the stolen Elements and stop him, doesn't do a thing to even TRY and fight against him. The Changeling Invasion; Celestia DOES fight back, only to be beaten so easily by the queen, her power weaker than a love-fueled succubus, a lowly parasite of a bug! Sombra's return; Celestia send her own student to try to save the crystal empire, putting the lives of the Elements of Harmony in peril, WITHOUT the artifacts to use against him to actually destroy him!"

Lucifer slammed the book hard, sending it back to where it was on the many shelves. He lost his calm demeanor, going back to infuriated and enraged the more he lectured Shining with Celestia's mistakes.

"...I-I don't understand," Shining finally said.

"It's obvious, Zero; Celestia was a pathetic ruler, and her godhood is nothing but a falsified rumor that she claimed she had." Lucifer took a sip of his wine, letting the alcohol calm his anger a little. "Alicorns are not as great as they seem to be. Darkness and chaos can easily beat one on their own. My old teacher had to rely on the Elements of Harmony, or the aid of her sister, to stop the threats set upon this kingdom. She even used them on me to render me unconscious in a comatose state, keeping me alive and hoping I would one day change the error of my ways." Lucifer pulled out another book, though this one had no title, no author, and looked like it was kept in pristine condition from a thousand years worth of time. "Even I blindly looked up to her like everypony else."

He let Shining take the book, letting him see what lied inside its pages. He skimmed through the words, which seemed to match the writing style of a young colt or filly's hoof writing, but what caught his attention was the drawing above the writing. It was crude, but it showed a young colt with the same color scheme as Lucifer's: black coat, black mane and tail, red dots for eyes. Next to the colt was what looked like Celestia, her badly proportioned wings spread out as the colt looked up at her.

"What is this?" Shining asked.

"My old journal I left behind." He looked up at the tyrant, watching him scowl at the book of his own memories.

Shining looked back at the book as he read the entire page to himself.

I can't believe it! This is so awesome! Princess Celestia saw my magical potential, and now I'm her first ever student she would take under her wing, literally and figuratively! If only I were born earlier, then maybe I could have also been taught by Starswirl the Bearded too! And I finally have a home...I don't have to live in that orphanage anymore...being shunned by the other colts and fillies because of how I look. I still don't know why they call me a monster...Is it my eyes? Is it my magic?...Oh well, it doesn't matter. I live with Princess Celestia now, and her castle is huge! I wonder what hidden passageways are in here!

He flipped through the next few pages, where Lucifer wrote down everything he had learned in his excited youth, his drawings turning to visual images created by his magic. For a few years of this journal's time, it told of his achievements, some moments he had with Celestia, some pages where he ended up calling her "mom" or "mommy", something that any orphaned foal would want to say, feeling as if they belonged in the family that adopted them.

On one specific page, where young Lucifer was around fifteen, Shining's eyes widened behind his visor as a picture of his cutie mark was at the top of the page, a red skull with two daggers stabbing the eye sockets.

It was so strange today. While going through the archives, brushing up on some spells Starswirl had created that nopony else was allowed to see, I ran into a strange looking tome. It was black, and held some form of magic I was really afraid of, but I was dying to know what was inside. I didn't cast any spells from it though, finding out it was dark magic, the same kind of power that corrupted Sombra many years ago.

I sought out Mo-I mean, Princess Celestia, showing her the book and asking her why it was in the castle. The moment she saw it, she panicked and slapped the book away from me. She...yelled at me...scolded me for just having it in my possession. I know she had bad experiences with it, especially when she told me about her sister, Luna...or, Nightmare Moon.

When she told me that story, what had happened between the two of them a few years before I was even born, she cried...I-I never wrote this in my earlier entries because it wasn't supposed to be a happy memory, but she actually cried as she retold the tale, far different from the fairy tale I read when I was ten. I thought she was some powerful goddess, fearing nothing and never showing her emotions around everypony. But all this time, she was hiding under a mask in the public eye, staying strong for her kingdom, only to hide her sorrow behind closed doors.

She told me she blamed herself, forced to use the Elements of Harmony to banish her out of desperation to save her sister. She never knew Luna was upset as ponies only looked up to her during the day and wanting nothing to do with the princess of the night. Her envy transformed her into Nightmare Moon, they fought, and Nightmare almost won. The moment she was about to say what happened, she broke down and wept, struck with grief by the horrible mistake she made.

Now, I saw her when she got angry. I was just curious about the book. She didn't have to yell at me. All Princess Celestia could have said was that I shouldn't have read the book, not give me a lecture on how stupid I was for finding it. I was sent to my room, grounded for a month, just from looking at the dark tome. But...I found this on my flank a little while ago, my cutie mark...Did she yell at me for getting this cutie mark as well?

The next page, it only got worse for Lucifer.

She won't even look at me anymore. After what happened a couple months ago, she never spoke to me, or continued giving me anymore magical lessons. I made one little mistake, did something I wasn't supposed to without any knowledge that tome was dangerous, and she completely ignores me. It's just like back in the orphanage I was dumped at by my parents, where nopony would even look at me unless they wanted to make fun of me. My parents didn't even care about me to try and raise me, my mother practically pushing me out of her birth canal on the doorstep, and leaving me with no family for eight years!

I was happy, finally finding a home, somepony I looked up to as a mother, loved and cared for, but then it just gets stomped out like a roaring fire! Did she only take me in because of my magical potential? Because she took pity on me!? Because she was lonely and wanted me around just as a companion!? Did she not want me as a son!?

I heard her sob story, her regrets with what she did to her own sister, but I think she still hides behind a mask! She's not a powerful goddess, she's a fraud! A mortal with extra appendages! And with her heroic efforts to save Equestria from evil, she didn't do it on her own! She had the Elements of Harmony, and her sister! Her sister could beat her, only making her status as a powerful ruler laughable to my eyes! I could beat her in a duel, one on one, WITHOUT MY-!

...Oh no...I-I just shot dark magic from my horn as I got more upset...I-I didn't even use any of those spells while I was grounded...W-What's worse about this...I felt powerful using it...W-What if I really am turning into a monster?...M-Maybe she won't notice.

Shining flipped over to the final entry. There was an image above what Lucifer had written: a pair of tombstones with the stallion as a teenager mourning at the graves.

...It's official...Princess Celestia doesn't want anything to do with me. She found out I used dark magic, but only by accident. I was old enough to be on my own anyway. After I packed up my things, she came to my room, but didn't come to see me off or say goodbye. She ignored me enough in the last couple years to not bother with watching me become an adult.

Instead, she told me about my parents...and knew who they were. Apparently, there was some war that was left out of the history books and everypony else's thoughts; a civil war between those who worshiped Celestia, and those who worshiped Nightmare Moon. There was a reason why many foals back where I used to call home were orphans, and I was one of the many who lost their parents.

There was a fire, and I was only a few weeks old. My parents were neutral on the matter, while their families feuded against each other along with other ponies. One of the cultist bastards thought to purge those who can't pick a side, and started with my home. I had luckily escaped with my mother, while my father was killed by his own brother, his body burned in what was supposed to be my home. My mother was shot by an arrow, straight through her neck as she choked on her own blood, suffocating to death. I was found by the royal guard, NOT followers of Celestia's worshiping cult, who tried to stop this madness, telling me that while the civil war between day and night occurred, she was out of commission because she was still grieving from banishing her sister.

She told me where their graves were, and why she chose me to be her student; she was sorry she failed to protect her youngest subjects from a battle she could have prevented, and pitied me because I was mistreated by my peers. Now that I earned my cutie mark against my will, which means I'm apparently evil to the eyes of the kingdom, and I found out my parents were killed because of her failure to stop two warring cults, I feel completely empty inside.

I found their grave, back in my hometown, but I didn't shed a tear. I felt dead to the world, this darkness rising in my being making me numb to sorrow. I had happiness, I had a home, I had a mother, but all of that is gone. Celestia, you are flawed in every way, no matter what others may see you as.

You're no hero. You're not a benevolent ruler. You can't even take care of yourself. You relied on the Elements of Harmony to win your battles, trinkets you and Luna found in order to stop Discord. If you were a goddess, you could have killed that draconequus in the blink of an eye. But you're not. Alicorns aren't deities; they're mortals with higher power than the average pony. No wonder Sombra almost won against you and your sister.

I'm going to send this journal back to you, Celestia. I hope you read the happier moments I had with you first, because I want you to know you just made another villain from your carelessness and ignorance. It was not my intention to use dark magic at all. I happened to find the book, and I couldn't control my magic when I got upset. I have some knowledge on how dangerous dark magic can be, and now I know how I can control it instead of the other way around. I hope you're ready to actually fight a real opponent in the future. No magical artifacts. No assistance from others. When we meet again, I'll be sure to mount your head on a pike, in front of your castle for all the world to see just how weak and pathetic you really are.

Shining Armor was speechless after reading the final entry in Lucifer's journal. He felt bad for him, but there was no possible chance for him to be redeemed, not after what he had done to the princesses and his sister. He looked up from the journal, watching Lucifer swirling the wine in his glass, keeping a disdainful gaze as he waited for him to finish reading.

"...You really believed the princesses are nothing but a joke?" Shining asked.

"...They are." Lucifer downed the entire glass of wine, placing it back on the desk. "I'm surprised Celestia didn't burn my journal when I sent it to her. She still felt pity for me, it seems." He grabbed his book, laying it down on the desk next to his novel he was reading. "After that, I began scouring the world, seeking any tomes or inscriptions on arcane arts, mastering them one by one as I felt my power growing. I wasn't greedy like Sombra was, and took my time learning to control this dark magic. It didn't help much when she used the Elements of Harmony against me, using powerful artifacts like a coward to protect her subjects.

"Little did she realize that she only delayed the inevitable." Lucifer stood up from his seat, stretching his legs and neck. "While comatose, my magical power only grew as my subconscious thoughts channeled my strength. She was desperate, just like with her sister, but instead of purifying either of us, she instead chose a last ditch effort to delay her mistakes, hoping that we would come to our senses when we came back...Too bad her ignorance blinded her along with her kindness. She's paid for her mistakes, and the world now knows that alicorns are pathetic mortals with no power. She even brought the lives of her sister and newly ascended princess, Twilight Sparkle, to their deaths."

Shining suppressed his growl, despising Lucifer for bringing up his little sister's death by his hooves. As much as he wanted to run the unicorn king through with a spear, he had to keep his disguise from being immediately torn apart. Solaris is hopefully still alive, and he is the only one who can harm him.

"Going after Mi Amore Cadenza is a problem with that Crystal Heart's light protecting her. I won't bother with her, since she's just as weak, if not more so with her love magic." Lucifer chuckled while Shining continued to hold himself back, having just insulted his wife. "For now, I guess I'll retire for the evening. I'll plan out my domination of the world tomorrow...Actually, I probably won't with the power I wield."

As Lucifer headed off to his bed, Shining wanted to know one thing. "Your Highness?" He turned to face the mercenary. "...If you didn't figure out anything about dark magic back then, and you found out what had happened to your parents...would you have forgiven Celestia for hiding the truth from you?"

"...Maybe," Lucifer replied. "...But it's far too late for forgiveness. I killed her, and I regret nothing."

"...I see..." Not exactly satisfied with the answer he was given, Shining bowed his head. "I'll leave you to your rest, Your Highness."

He saw himself out of Lucifer's room, teleporting back to his and Cadence's bedroom in the Crystal Empire. His wife was sitting on the bed, still really worried about their nephew's safety. She wasn't all that surprised by his appearance, knowing he could be gone for long periods of time and suddenly pop up at random.

"Still no sign of him or Trill," Cadence said. Shining took off his armor, placing it in its wardrobe for later use. As he sat next to her, she noticed he seemed troubled. "Shiny? What's wrong?"

"...Lucifer..." Shining tried to find the words to say, but it still conflicted him greatly. "...He wasn't actually evil when he was born."

"What are you talking about?" Cadence asked.

"Where do I even begin?" he sighed, wondering how his wife would take hearing what he had learned about the demonic tyrant.

The blizzard had finally ended as the sun began its ascent above the mountains, bringing back some warmth to the frigid wastelands of the frozen north. Inside the safety of the cave, Trill and Solaris slept soundly, cuddled closely together as the campfire still burned brightly. Trill opened her eyes, looking at the flames flickering in front of her, feeling Solaris's hooves wrapped tightly around her waist, his chest pressed close against her back.

Wriggling herself around his grip, she managed to twist around to face him, feeling him tighten his hold on her while mumbling in his sleep. She nuzzled her face against his chest, stirring him awake with her horn brushing his shoulder.

"Mrf...Trill," he muttered, groaning as he was forcefully awoken. "You know your horn is sharp, right?"

"I had to wake you up in some way," she said. "You really do like to cuddle when you sleep."

"S-Shut up." Solaris blushed, but he didn't pull away. The events last night came back to him, his blush glowing brighter as they ran through his mind. "Uhh, we aren't going to get in trouble for...last night, are we?"

"I didn't hear you complaining." Trill kissed Solaris's neck, feeling him tense a little as she nipped him with her fangs. "In fact, you were practically shouting my name."

"I-I was not!" Solaris denied, though his blush only intensified.

"Liar." Trill gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. "I won't tell if you won't."

"Knowing you, you're going to blurt it out to the world." Trill stuck her tongue out at Solaris, only to be rewarded for her playfulness with a light peck on the lips. After they had fully woken up, they sat by the fire, enjoying each other's company. Last night was nothing how Solaris was expecting things to go, and it only made their bond stronger. He still felt conflicted about what he's going to do for his last two trials he must face, but he had to keep going. "...Trill?"

"Mhmm?" she muttered.

"...I don't know if I can keep going." Solaris felt ashamed, remembering Trill's words from last night, not wanting to be told twice why he shouldn't stop. "I'm afraid to lose anypony else...I know you said my tests and my aunts' deaths weren't a coincidence, but I still can't help but feel that it's true...I want to save Equestria, truly, but I don't want to lose my family in the process."

"Would you want thousands of lives to be lost by that maniac?" Solaris shook his head. "Then what's important for you right now? Family, or the world?"

"...Both..." Solaris didn't look at Trill, but he knew she was rolling her eyes at his response. "I know I'm being selfish, but I don't know what to do...I...I just wished none of this ever happened. I want to see my mom, be raised by her, and live anywhere not covered in dirt and littered with pebbles." Solaris patted the ground beneath them as an example. "I want a normal life."

"...But, that would mean we wouldn't have met," Trill said.

"And that's what makes all this so conflicting to me..." Solaris sighed, leering at the green flames.

"Besides, if we were normal, we would all be the same." Solaris saw green flames next to him as Trill transformed. When he turned to her, his eyes widened as he was staring at an exact clone of himself where his marefriend was supposed to be, imitating his movements. "I would just be a dumb, boring stallion with a horn and wings, flailing my hooves like a sissy and spewing fire out of my mouth after a seven-bean burrito drenched in hot sauce."

His eye twitched as Trill mocked him, slapping her horn and dispelling her transformation. It was so strange how her voice perfectly matched his while transformed. She rubbed her horn, leering at him.

"That was so funny I forgot to laugh," Solaris mumbled.

"Well, that's how the world will work if everypony was the same." Trill rested her head against Solaris's shoulder, feeling him loosen up a little bit and get his mind off the thoughts he was having, if only for a little. "You gotta learn to relax from the stress instead of keep worrying constantly."

"I know...I can't help it," he said, gently wrapping a wing around her.

"Hey, how about I help you 'relax' like last night?" Trill asked, a seductive grin growing on her face.

"Trill," Solaris warned, lighting one of his hooves on fire.

She sighed, rubbing his chest with her hoof. "You need to also learn you can't keep threatening me with violence, Mr. Cavepony."

Solaris groaned in annoyance, dismissing his fire. He sometimes wondered why he fell for the changeling, but he didn't care. He looked over to where he threw his gear at, the guilt of his victories still weighing his heart, but it was quelled thanks to Trill and her comforting words. He got up and walked over to them, making the changeling fall, not expecting him to move. The alicorn put his armor back on, fitting securely on him while surprised to see the pendant's thin chain didn't melt from his fire.

"...I really don't want to keep going and stay being selfish." He walked back to the fire, tightening his gauntlets tightly to his forelegs. "But I need to do this. I don't want to let Equestria down...I'm ready to go back and continue."

Trill smiled and leapt at Solaris, wrapping her hooves around his neck. "Good. And I'll be with you every step of the way." She nuzzled his neck and he returned her affection. "...So, is there any way you can make some kind of shield out of fire? I don't want to be out in the snow again and freeze to death."

Chapter 18: Back on Track

Trill sighed in content, resting on Solaris's back as he carried her through the frigid, snowy fields of the north. Along with his natural body heat to help keep her warm, his inner fire could radiate from his body to heat up anything around him, which was why he wasn't affected by the cold that much. As he walked, some of the snow around his hooves melted and revealed the damp earth beneath him.

"I didn't realize how far I ran from the empire," Solaris said, finally able to see the Crystal Empire in the distance.

"You weren't in the right state of mind, Solly," Trill said, snuggling into his back. "Who knew that all it took to get you to calm down was to hit me? You really love to stick to your cavepony roots, huh?" She yelped as Solaris bumped her off his back, making her hit the cold snow. "Gah! Ok! Ok! I'm sorry! Warmth, please!" He helped his marefriend back up on her hooves, brushing the snow off of her and letting her climb back on his back. Her shivering ceased after a moment as he continued his way down the slope. "At least you have a funny side, if it's only about my pain."

"That's where the nature of comedy starts: inflicting pain or events of frustration that others deem as hilarious," the alicorn lectured. "And I would appreciate it if you quit calling me 'cavepony'. You were raised in a cave, too."

"I was raised in a HIVE. There is a big difference," Trill corrected Solaris.

He just rolled his eyes, knowing she clearly told him yesterday they were both raised in a cave before finally setting out into the world. Before they reached the barrier, Trill quickly disguised herself as Evergreen, so she wouldn't alert everypony in the city. They were soon spotted by some of the patrolling guards on the lookout for them, leading them back to the castle, where Solaris's family waited for them in worry.

Inside the throne room, Shining Armor, Cadence, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy waited, highly anxious for any sign of Solaris's whereabouts. They turned to the doors as they heard them opening, all of the relieved to find the alicorn unharmed, along with Trill in her disguise.

"Solaris!" Shining and Cadence ran up to him, pulling into a group hug. "We were so worried about you."

"I'm sorry," Solaris said. "I had a lot on my mind..."

"We know." Cadence held her nephew tighter, though not too tight as to suffocate him. "Don't you worry. We'll find you a good therapist and help you cope with all this madness."

"T-Therapist?" Solaris asked.

"Somepony at your age shouldn't have to go through all of this," Shining said. "You may be a teenager, but you're still really young. Nopony should ever go through this much pain at your age, or at all. I've been a royal guard, and I've been through harsh physical and mental training to be a hardened soldier when on the battlefield, but there are times where the stress could end up making somepony go mad and lash out or break down as memories in combat return to them. You weren't mentally or emotionally prepared for any of this...and I could have prevented Rarity's, Applejack's, and Rainbow Dash's deaths if I acted sooner."

"...Uncle..." Solaris could see his uncle felt some form of guilt, being the mercenary Zero and witnessing their deaths. He didn't blame Shining Armor, since he still believed it was all his fault they were dead. "...You didn't kill them..."

"But I could have saved them..." Shining felt tears begin to well up in his eyes, but he couldn't cry in front of his nephew. "I could have stopped your mother from joining the princesses to stop Lucifer, but she was stubborn. Her vision on what would happen involved her dying, along with Celestia and Luna. She was afraid if she didn't make it come true, then there would be no hope for Equestria. I found it absolutely ridiculous and tried to stop her, but she paralyzed me with her magic and it wore off the instant she was killed..." He shut his eyes, a few tears managing to leak out as the memory still haunted him. "That was my breaking point; my little sister, your mother, killed by that madpony, and I couldn't do anything to help her. I fell into a depression, and when I got angry, I almost hurt Cadence.

"I couldn't be anywhere near her, going through several appointments in therapy to cope. The pain was still there...and I wanted to get revenge for Twilight..." Solaris noticed Shining's hooves began to tremble as he sat down. "I wasn't myself. I was going to get myself killed for a life I couldn't have saved. I came to my senses when I saw one of Lucifer's assassins fail. I saw an impenetrable barrier around him, created by his dark magic as a fail-safe, their dagger barely able to pierce his skin. My attempt would have failed too, and I would have died for nothing..."

"I'm glad you finally did come to your senses, Shining," Cadence comforted her husband, nuzzling him and kissing his cheek. He rested his head against her shoulder as she looked at Solaris. "We both want you to be healthy in mind, Solaris. Going through a lot of tragedy and terrifying situations can destroy one's psyche, making them have a relapse and hurt themselves or others. As long as you receive help from professionals and support from your loved ones, you can recover from the pain in time."

"But, seeing a therapist now?" Solaris questioned. "What about the fate of Equestria?"

"...I think we can wait a moment longer for you to stop Lucifer." Cadence seemed unsure of herself, but she and the others knew that Solaris's health came first.

"Then I'll take a rain check on my appointment." The alicorn's responses shocked the adults, even Trill. "The sooner I complete my tests, the sooner I can stop Lucifer and save Equestria."

"Solaris-" The teen held out his hoof, stopping whatever protests his aunt, or anypony else, had to say.

"I'm not going to delay my destiny any further and let everypony suffer under his reign. After I defeat him, I'll get some help," Solaris said with confidence. "I don't want to let my mom down. I want her to see that I can do this."

"Are you sure?" Shining asked.

"Yes..." Solaris turned to Trill, smiling at her. "I have somepony who can help snap me back to my senses if I lose myself."

His horn glowed as his golden aura grabbed Trill's hoof, pulling her closer to him. Not even caring what Fluttershy or Pinkie thought, he kissed the disguised changeling, her horn sparking from the love he willingly gave her. The timid pegasus was surprised, while the party planner shook her head.

"Things are gonna be crazy with those two," Pinkie said, silently pulling up a sheet of paper. "...Good thing there wasn't a specific 'scene' written in the last chapter. That would just be awkward."

"What are you talking about, Pinkie?" Fluttershy asked.

"Nothing," she answered, shoving the page in her mane.

After gathering their belongings and supplies for their next destination, Shining and Cadence wished his nephew and entourage luck and said their goodbyes. They got on the train and set off for the location of Solaris's next trial, Cloudsdale. While riding along to the station beneath the floating cloud city, Solaris looked over the map, crossing off his third trial's location. He had heard a lot about Cloudsdale from Rainbow Dash, where she and Fluttershy were born, though he always heard more about the Wonderbolts and their shows. It was too bad they were disbanded when Lucifer came into power, everypony too afraid to leave their homes and watch their stunts with him and his corruptive young troops terrorizing Equestria.

"What'cha doin'!?" Solaris yelped as Trill popped up behind him, startling him as he knocked the map off the table he sat at.

"Trill!" He picked up the map, making sure he didn't accidentally rip it. "Don't do that. I could have punched you."

She let out a mock gasp, unable to hid the smirk off her face. "You were gonna punch me? Some loving coltfriend you turned out to be."

"I thought you were somepony who wanted to assassinate me," Solaris said.

"Who even knows you're still alive? The Shadow Knights and Lucifer think you're still dead." Trill wrapped her hooves around her lover's neck, nuzzling his cheek. "We're in the clear as long as we stay hidden."

"It probably won't last all that long if we get careless," he said, gently touching his hoof with hers. "Though, with your streak, it's gonna happen sooner than we think."

Trill groaned, loosening her grip and plopping her head on Solaris's shoulder. "Please stop bringing that up."

"As long as it annoys you, then never." Solaris smirked, patting the changeling princess on the head.

"...I guess it's fair, with my constant flirting and annoying you to the point of you wanting to inflict bodily pain to me." She got him to groan in annoyance this time, then yelp as she nipped his shoulder. "Speaking of, the other night, I thought my legs turned into jelly when we passed out. How about you do that to me to replace wanting to hit me in the face?"

"T-Trill..." Solaris blushed, stifling a moan as he felt her tongue sensually licking a sensitive spot.

"Yes?" Trill moved higher, nibbling one of his ears, getting his wings to flare out from the sensitive appendage. "Do you want something from me?"

Solaris's spine tingled hearing the changeling's voice sensually whisper in his nibbled ear. Her moans as she teased his ear arousing him, wanting to hear those noises come from her even more, and louder. Before he was able to sweep his mare off her hooves, drag her into an empty sleeping car, lock the entrances, and take her as his, Pinkie and Fluttershy walked into the private car with snacks. The two mares dropped the food, jaws dropped as they saw the two teens.

"What are you two doing!?" Fluttershy shouted, surprising the two as the timid mare was louder than she ever could be.

"U-Uhh...W-We were-" Solaris couldn't find an excuse as Fluttershy marched toward them, Trill quickly backing away in fear.

"Put those wings of yours down this instant!" The alicorn struggled to put his wings back to his sides, too stiff from Trill's sensual teasing. "Just what exactly were you two going to do?"

"N-Nothing! Honest!" Solaris exclaimed.

"As much as I can try to tolerate who you decide to love, but you were actually thinking about having sex when you clearly aren't old enough yet!?" Fluttershy asked.

"But I wasn't!" He still couldn't get his wings down as he tried to hide his lustful intentions. "Blame Trill! She started it! Her libido is erratic!"

Fluttershy's pupil's shrunk, Solaris covering his mouth as he realized he said the wrong words. "...What...did you just say?"

"...Uh oh..." Solaris knew he was in for it now.

Fluttershy dragged the stunned teen into another car, where Trill and Pinkie could hear the pegasus berating him. She may be the Element of Kindness, but she has her limits when it comes to holding back her anger. She loved Solaris like a nephew, but she and the rest of his aunts wanted to make sure he didn't do anything he shouldn't.

"...So, you two banged when you found him yesterday, didn't you?" Pinkie asked.

"Yeah..." Trill said, only to stare at Pinkie in shock. "Wait, how did you-!?"

"I know things that you don't know I know to know what is knowingly known." She leaned her face closer to the changeling, her eyes squinting as she leered at her. "Don't ya know?"

".........NO! I don't know!...I think...?" Trill's brain felt like it was going to explode. It was baffling to her when it came to Pinkie Pie and her sudden knowledge on everything she wasn't a part of and her logical breaking talents. "I'm so confused."

"Fluttershy and I don't want you two doing anything that you might regret, like getting pregnant." Pinkie poked Trill's chest, her eyes warning the young changeling.

"...We're not compatible," Trill said. "My mom lays EGGS, giving birth to hundreds of us if necessary for the hive. Other changelings can reproduce too, but if I were to get pregnant, Solaris would have to be a changeling. And before you even say anything, just because he's an alicorn, it's not the same thing. Besides, I wanted to get his mind off of everything that's happened this month, and ease his mind after he punched me while he was upset, knocking me out, and feeling twice as guilty as he was before."

Pinkie wanted to retort, but couldn't. She pulled out the same page she stored away in her hair earlier, going through the words written on it.

"...Oh...He did..." She stashed it away again, looking back at Trill, still confused with how Pinkie functioned. "Well, just don't distract him then!...Uhh, don't distract him too much...Yeah, that'll do." The two stood in silence, still hearing Fluttershy scolding Solaris in the other car. Pinkie grabbed one of the snacks and offered it to Trill. "Chocolate bar?"

Evening rolled in as the train had left the frozen tundra and made its stop at the station close to the floating city of Cloudsdale. Solaris got off, along with his two remaining aunts and his marefriend, being the only passengers disembarking the train. The locomotive sped off to its next scheduled stop in another town or city, leaving the four ponies alone. The moon above gave enough light on the landscape, Solaris gasping in awe as he looked up and marveled the majestic cloud city with his very eyes.

"Wow...Cloudsdale. The mobile city of clouds, where the weather factory resides, and the birthplace of many pegasi since its creation over a thousand years ago." Solaris's eyes sparkled like the stars above, though they dimmed when he wondered something. "Does Cloudsdale really move?"

"It does," Fluttershy responded, having more knowledge on the city since she was born there. "Or, it used to. Cloudsdale always traveled to different cities to bring the different seasons. The weather factory there was the main source of clouds, creating rain, storm, and winter clouds. But, for the past few years, Cloudsdale hasn't been active, and nopony knows why."

"Huh?" Solaris looked back at the cloud city, then the Fluttershy. "What do you mean it hasn't moved in the last few years?"

"I don't know...And it doesn't look like there seem to be any pegasi up there." They looked up at Cloudsdale, no sign of lights on anywhere. "Usually, there are supposed to be some places open in the evening. None of us have heard anything that happened here."

"You don't think the city's been liberated by Lucifer, has it?" Solaris worriedly asked.

"No. Everypony in Equestria would have known." Pinkie pulled out a telescope and looked at the city. "And there seem to be no sign of any baddies. Maybe now we can finally see Solly fight and win!"

"Pinkie, you can't walk on clouds, remember?" Fluttershy reminded the party pony.

"...Oh yeah," Pinkie sighed. "And Solly doesn't know how to cast a cloud walking spell."

"There's a cloud walking spell?" Solaris asked. "...Well, if Aunt Pinkie can't enter Cloudsdale, are we going to leave her behind?"

"...I'll stay with her," Fluttershy said. "You and Trill can go. The fewer of us that travel together, the less chance we'll get into trouble."

"B-But I don't know Cloudsdale like you, Aunt Fluttershy! What if we do get attacked!?" The three mares stared at Solaris, the teen taking a moment to think about their possibilities. "...Oh...You're not much of a fighter...I forgot."

"Right." Fluttershy hugged Solaris tightly. "Just be careful up there, ok?"

"I promise," he said.

"We'll make a little campsite in the nearby forest over here." Pinkie bounded over to the woods and began to set up their camp. "If it gets too dangerous, get out of the city as fast as you can."

"Alright. I'll be back soon...I hope." Solaris hovered off the ground and flew up to Cloudsdale, Trill following after him out of her disguise.

They both touched down on the fluffy cloud streets of the city, Solaris's first time ever touching a cloud, let alone stand on one. It was as soft and comfortable as the softest pillow ever created, and really fluffy. The two wandered around, finding no sign of any life anywhere. It was like the city had fallen to a standstill, all the pegasi having left their homes in one of the greatest cities ever known to ponykind. Little did they realize that, stalking them through the shadows, was a cloaked figure, tailing them as they turned a random corner.

"For a city where tons of pegasi need to control this place, it's pretty barren," Trill commented.

"I don't like this. And there's no sign of any of the Shadow Knights either." The figure following them sped on ahead of them, unseen through the cover of night and the dark cloak shrouding its body. Solaris felt something was wrong, catching a glimpse of something fly past them. "What was that?"

"Maybe it was a bird," Trill said.

As they approached a nearby empty pub, they heard someone whistle, getting both of their attention. Solaris and Trill could see something in the shadows, though they couldn't see much under the hood it wore.

"Hey, you're an alicorn, right?" the mysterious figure asked, its voice sounding feminine, though rough.

Solaris stood on his hind legs, prepared to fight and defend Trill from whoever they were talking to. "What if I am?"

"I'm not here to fight with you. I didn't expect you to be a kid." The figure approached Solaris, lifting its clawed arm up to his horn. He winced as he felt the talons clasp on it, pulling on it to test if it would come off like a fake accessory. Before he could ask what she was doing, he yelped as she pulled one of his feathers out of his wings. As she examined the forcefully pulled pinion feather, Solaris could see her yellow eyes eerily glowing under the shadows of her hood. "...Guess you're the real deal. I was expecting somepony far older than you, but we can't get what we want all the time."

"You could have just asked for a feather for verification," Solaris muttered, rubbing his sore wing.

"Quit your whining and follow me." She lead the two into an empty building nearby, both still unsure if this figure was friend or foe.

There was nothing inside of the cloud home, not even furniture. Guiding them through the house, she led Solaris and Trill to what appeared to have been a living room, looking at the wall. Wondering what she was doing, she brushed away something that didn't seem to be made of cloud, revealing a keypad with runes etched onto each button. Pressing a certain sequence, the wall began to flicker with light until it illuminated a bright white.

"I-Is that a portal!?" Solaris asked, both in awe and fascination.

"Stop gawking and get in there," she commanded.

Quickly obeying, they walked through the portal, feeling themselves falling through the air as they were blinded by the transportational light. They finally passed through to the other side, Trill landing on Solaris's back, knocking the wind out of him. The figure walked through without any trouble, shaking her head as she looked at the two teens.

"You know, if I was on the bottom and you were on top of me, it would have been more hilariously awkward," Trill said.

Solaris bumped the changeling off his back, making her yelp as she fell. As he got his bearings, he noticed they seemed to be in a large tavern that seemed to be underground, the sound of rough and tough soldiers of all species sitting around tables or the extensive bar, the scent of alcohol strong in the air. There were minotaurs, zebras, and griffons along with several Equestrians of the three pony races, some of them wearing scars on parts of their body from injuries they had sustained in the past. This was the first time he had ever seen any of the other species in the flesh rather than what he had read about them in the books he read.

"Whoa..." Solaris was utterly speechless. Their conversations and numerous noises ceased to a halt as they all looked at him, many of them seeming skeptical or sneering at him. Seeing how awkward the whole scene was, Solaris chuckled nervously, darting his eyes around while trying not to look any of them in the eye. "W-Where exactly are we? T-This can't be Cloudsdale, right?"

"We're farther than that, kid. You and your little changeling friend here are in the Resistance Underground Base, a few miles west of Equestria's borders," the figure explained. "Thanks to Princess Twilight Sparkle's plans for setting up portals throughout the kingdom, we manage to keep tabs on Lucifer's Shadow Knights and their movements. We have dozens of them scattered in hidden locations those bozos are too stupid to look for, ready to fight back and keep some of the cities from being liberated."

"My mom made these?" Solaris looked back at the portal, the teleporting device shutting down to keep possible spies from discovering the portal's location. He wanted to know how they worked out of curiosity, but the figure who knew of his arrival was more important. "She sought you out to find me AND make a Resistance against Lucifer?"

"Yup," she said.

"...Who are you?" Solaris asked.

The figure pulled down her hood, revealing herself to be a griffon. Her body was brown while the feathers on her head, neck, and chest were white, a small tinge of purples on the edges of her fringe on her head.

"Name's Gilda," she answered.

Solaris and Trill stared at Gilda for a moment, until the changeling spoke up. "...Well, I was half right."

The alicorn groaned and facehooved. "I don't think that matters, Trill..."

Chapter 19: The Fourth Trial

The tavern remained utterly silent, Solaris feeling very intimidated by the many soldiers in the Resistance looking at him. He, along with Trill and Gilda, sat at an empty booth, still receiving stares from the scary patrons, especially the muscular minotaurs who could easily snap him in half.

"...Ok, this is getting more awkward by the minute," Solaris said. "Everypony keeps staring at me."

"Gilda!" One of the minotaurs, his body and hair blue, stomped up to them, making Solaris shrink at his size. "What is going on!? Iron Will and the rest of us expected a valiant warrior to meet up with us, but instead, we see a little kid who has self-esteem issues!"

"Can it, Iron Will. The kid's the real deal, and Princess Sparkle's kid." Gilda leered at the minotaur who spoke in the third person. "I'm in charge of giving this kid his test, not who was supposed to come to Cloudsdale."

"Wait, is that why Cloudsdale is empty?" Solaris asked.

"Many of us ponies here are natives of Cloudsdale," one of the ponies said. Trill and Solaris turned to face the voice, the alicorn's jaw dropping as he met the three iconic pegasi from the Wonderbolts: Spitfire, Soarin, and Fleetfoot. They weren't wearing their Wonderbolts uniforms, since they were disbanded, but they wore light leather armor with the Wonderbolt insignia on their chests. He knew them from pictures Rainbow Dash had shown him, their hairstyles easy to tell apart from the other members. "We evacuated Cloudsdale the moment Lucifer took over and use the city as a lookout. Many of us decided to take arms and fight back against Lucifer, and we helped Gilda recruit actual fighters for the Resistance, not stupid kids who want to destroy stuff."

"...Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh..." Solaris uttered. "The Wonderbolts...Spitfire. Soarin. Fleetfoot. Actually here..." The teen was about to freak out, actually meeting the aerial stunt members after only hearing about them from his aunt. "...Can I get an autograph?"

"Sorry, kid. The Wonderbolts are done," Spitfire said, making Solaris wilt in sadness. "Ever since that tyrant came into power, nopony felt safe to come to our shows. Many of our team quit, and either settled down or decided to join up with Lucifer. But now that you've finally arrived, we just might revive the team if you take back the throne."

"Really!?" Solaris squeaked, his eyes lighting up, highly anticipating a future show.

"Yeah." The alicorn bounced in his seat, acting like a little colt. "But, you're gonna have to lay off the fancolting. You don't want to embarrass yourself in front of hundreds of highly trained soldiers."

Looking around the room, Solaris caught sight of the many Resistance members stifling their snickers. Highly embarrassing himself already, he shrunk down in his seat until he was under the table. Trill pulled him back up, keeping him from hiding.

"You need to control yourself, Solaris," Trill chided, making the alicorn groan.

"Let's hope he doesn't embarrass himself more when we get to the trial." Gilda got up from her seat, hovering up to the ceiling. "Alright, you mindless bastards! This is the moment we've all been waiting for! Everyone head for the arena!"

Many of the soldiers chuckled, prepared to see the main event unfold. Solaris and Trill followed Gilda and the Wonderbolts, being lead down down the intricately carved caverns, hearing the sounds of cheering coming further down the end. It grew louder until they finally arrived in a massive room fit to look like an arena, hundreds of other soldiers cheering on a pair of dueling minotaurs. The group sat at the highly reserved section, meant only for those of higher power, Gilda letting out a loud roar, catching everyone's attention, including the dueling minotaurs.

"You two, out of the ring! We got a bigger match I'm sure everyone wants to see." The bipedal bulls looked up, spotting Solaris looking around in awe at the well crafted arena, nodding their heads as they made their way out of the large ring. "Members of the Resistance, after fifteen long years of waiting, training, and entertaining ourselves, we finally have our guest of honor here among us! Our future ruler of Equestria, destined to defeat Lucifer and bring this land back to the peace it once had!"

An uproar of cheers rang out from the audience of soldiers, though it immediately died down when a unicorn near the special seats brought up a visual feed of the alicorn with a spell. They soon began mumbling questions, highly confused as they saw a young colt in place of who they expected to be a stallion who had experienced many battles.

"Yeesh...Tough crowd," Solaris uttered to himself.

"Alright, before you all start jeering the kid, he's the real deal, and we're gonna have this test go down now!" Gilda managed to shut the audience up, though many seemed a bit skeptical. "Now, this should be pretty simple for...uhh...What's your name?"

"Solaris," he replied.

"...Wow. That's a bit of a lame name." Gilda cleared her throat, shaking her head at the strangest names Equestrians are usually given. "This should be a cinch for Solaris, our future prince! If he's able to beat his little test, he will receive this next piece of armor, crafted by expert blacksmiths and enchanted with Princess Twilight Sparkle's magic!"

Gilda slammed her fist down on her arm rest, bringing podium up in front of them that held his next piece: a golden breastplate able to fit Solaris's body.

"Wow. At least I get to see what I'll win unlike the last few tests," Solaris said.

"This special body armor will grant the kid the pure might and strength of a minotaur, along with the agility of a griffon," Gilda continued. "With his alicorn prowess, he's sure to be a lot stronger with it on than with nothing on. How about we all get started and see just how good this kid is!?"

Gilda grabbed Solaris, catching him off guard as she flung the alicorn into the ring. He stopped his fall using his wings, getting a laugh out of the soldiers watching him.

"Hey! You could have just told me to jump in here!" Solaris yelled. "You didn't have to throw me!"

"Don't complain, and stay focused!" Gilda retorted. "This is your little test, kid; so far, you've faced against opponents who were ponies, but now let's see how you deal with our two strongest fighters: one a griffon, and one a minotaur. If you can beat them, then you'll get your prize. Lose, and you'll have just humiliated yourself in front of soldiers who are itching to see a good fight. So, how about we bring out our contenders!?"

A round of cheers echoed the arena as they were psyched up for the fight of the century. Solaris was worried, never having encountered any griffons or minotaurs in his life up until now. Trill could see he was anxious, but she knew he could do it, and she was going to see just how good of a fighter he really was.

"Don't panic, Solaris," she said to herself. "Just relax, and kick some plot. You got this."

"He's gonna crack, little miss bug," Gilda said, earning a glare from the changeling. "Let's first bring out our first soldier from the minotaurs side!" The minotaurs in the audience cheered as they rooted for their champion among their kind. From one of the barred gates used to introduce the fighters into the arena, or in this case, beasts to keep inside, Solaris flinched as he heard something try to barge its way through the iron bars. "For those of you who don't know this crazy psycho, he's all muscle and no brain, and seeing anything that moves will drive him to attack without any questions! The burliest of the bunch, the mindless bull we all don't wanna mess with, The Berserker!"

Solaris gulped as he watched the bars go down, hearing someone by the name "Berserker" could only scream dangerous and deadly. As the cell was opened, he could feel the earth quake as the hulking behemoth of a minotaur showed itself. His eyes widened as he saw the amount of scars on his body, the bulk of his muscles threatening to burst out of his biceps, and his horns were cracked and sharp. The Berserker snorted, letting out a loud bellow, making Solaris shiver in fright as he prepared to be charged at the feral minotaur.

"Uhh, c-can I choose my opponents instead!?" Solaris asked, hoping for someone that won't use him like a horn sharpener.

"This is your test, kid! You don't choose who you fight!" Gilda said. "Now, moving on to the griffons!" Now it was the griffons in the audience to cheer for their strongest member. "This griffon is still a cub, yet he's the youngest griffon in history to rise above the ranks and overtake any opponent! A fighter at birth, and my own pride and joy," the griffon boasted, only baffling Solaris as he would be fighting her son. "Even if he can't see, he can find you a mile away and needs no form of aid to help him see where he's going! He's a fighter as a hatchling, and still fights with no handicaps needed, my son, Gale!"

"W-Wait, what?" Solaris asked. He heard an eagle shriek come from the opposite end of the arena where The Berserker came out of, the audience cheering even louder at the griffon's battle cry. There were no bars in this entrance, the only one with bars was the one for the fidgeting minotaur behind the alicorn. He saw the silhouette of a griffon around his height, a little shorter, stepping into the arena. Gale was exactly like Gilda, but his fringed feathers on his head drooped over his left eye, leaving only his right visible. "I-I have to fight him?"

Solaris stared in shock as he looked at Gale's eyes. Even though he had no scars on him that might be visible, his eyes were a lot different than anyone else's: his pupils and cornea were a milky white. Gale was blind at birth, no scars on his face to indicate he lost his sight in any form of combat. Fighting someone who couldn't see was outright wrong, and disturbing for him to even try and do without being a jerk.

"Don't let me down, kiddo!" Gilda shouted to Gale, the young griffon nodding his head.

"Wait! I can't fight him!" Solaris protested. "He's blind!"

"So?" Gilda questioned.

"So I can't fight somepony who can't see!" Solaris didn't see Gale's eye twitched, clenching his fists in a tight ball. "It doesn't feel right to beat somepony up who's handicapped! Why would you want your own son, who is blind, fight as one of my-"

Solaris was suddenly slammed hard into the ground by Gale, who moved so fast that no one even noticed he moved. The griffon teen held the alicorn by the neck, his claws digging into his skin, growling menacingly.

"You think I'm weak?" Gale questioned, his blind eye staring deeply into Solaris's. "Don't you dare think I'm helpless, pony."

"Gale, I didn't say you two could start beating him up!" Gilda scolded. "How is it the brainless biped understands the rules better than you!?" Gale scowled as his wings twitched. Solaris couldn't believe that Gilda would actually insult her own son, and in front of hundreds of soldiers. He finally let go, walking back to his spot. Solaris got back up, rubbing his neck as he felt his skin was almost punctured by his talons. "A little note to you, Solaris; never call my son weak, or else you'll really get it!"

"I didn't even say that...He's visually impaired." Solaris looked over at Gale, who was ready to strike again as he crouched low to the ground. "He was so fast. I didn't even hear him..."

"Now that we're all ready, for real this time, let our future prince's test...BEGIN!" Gilda shouted, and the fight began.

Solaris immediately got to his stance, paying more attention to Gale, since he was even faster than Rainbow Dash, and with how stealthy he could be at that speed, it was going to be difficult. He heard The Berserker roar as he charged at him, the ground quaking with each step the behemoth of a minotaur. Gale didn't move, and The Berserker was getting closer. Solaris quickly turned around to stop the hulking beast, but the instant her turned away from the young griffon, he was hit hard in the back by Gale, flinging him toward The Berserker and slammed down hard into the ground by his bulky fists.

Trill winced while the audience groaned, practically feeling how painful it must have felt for the alicorn. The Berserker lifted his arms, snorting in confusion as he saw Solaris was gleaming brightly like a gem. The shimmering light faded, his crystal skin thankfully protecting him from getting crushed, though it still hurt and nearly broke his temporary protection.

"Urgh...T-Thank you, crystal armor," Solaris groaned.

He didn't have time to relax as he infuriated the minotaur, ready to slam his arms down on top of him again. He quickly rolled out of the way, getting far away from the blood-thirsty beast before he was squashed like a pancake. Solaris didn't see Gale flying toward him, able to accurately find and smack him down to the ground, despite his disability to see. The young griffon was able to hit his back, feeling the protective enchantment around his knuckles.

"Crystal skin?" he asked, feeling the charmed shielding disappearing, replaced with the alicorn's fur and flesh. "Heh. You seriously need armor enchantments to fight?"

"I-I just...got them..." Solaris tried to get up, only to feel a swift kick to his side, knocking the wind out of him as he rolled on his back.

"Unlike you, I don't need armor of any sort." Grabbing Solaris by the neck, he lifted the alicorn up as he struggled to break out of Gale's surprisingly strong grip. "How about we even the odds?"

Using his other arm, Gale brandished his talons, swiftly thrusting his arm into Solaris's chest, shattering the crystal enchantment, having already taken too much abuse. He let go, only to spin kick the alicorn hard in the face, sending him tumbling across the arena. The soldiers cheered on the griffon and minotaur, Gale holding a fist up as he basked in the glory.

Solaris groaned as he shakily got to his hooves, unable to believe someone who was blind was able to find him. "H-How...? How does he always know where I am?"

"I have a little gift." Solaris gasped, Gale somehow having gotten behind him. He quickly turned and threw a punch at the griffon' face, but he grabbed it mere inches before it connected to his beak. "I might not be able to see, but I can rely on my other senses to help me see." Growling, Solaris leapt up and tried to kick Gale in the side of the head, only for that to be blocked by his other claw. "Using my sense of touch, my feathers can help me feel small puffs of air that anyone can make just by movement. Like swatting a fly out of your face, or trying to kick me."

Tightening his grip on Solaris's limbs, Gale slammed him hard to the ground. Grabbing both of his hind legs, the griffon spun the alicorn around in a rapid spin, sending him flying directly toward The Berserker. The minotaur reared his arm back, punching Solaris hard and sending him flying past Gale, sidestepping out of the way as the alicorn slammed hard into the wall.

In the stand, Gilda clapped, proud of her son's feats, while Trill worried greatly. Even from a higher vantage of the battle, the moment she blinked, Gale had ended up appearing behind Solaris, almost like he teleported, and she knew griffons don't have magic.

"This is cheating!" Trill exclaimed. "How is he moving so fast!?"

"We griffons are a lot faster than ponies, even you freaky bug things," Gilda explained. "In case you don't realize, we're a mix of eagle and lion blood, both predators of their domain. We're naturally faster, and my kid's the fastest griffon of all time."

"He's even faster than Fleetfoot," Spitfire commented, Fleetfoot nodding in agreement. "In fact, he might even rival Rainbow Dash."

"How do you know her?" Trill asked.

"She tried out to become a Wonderbolt," the ex-leader said. "She proved she had the ability to be one, especially when we saw her pull off that sonic rainboom at the Young Fliers Competition many years ago."

"Speaking of Rainbow Dash, where is she?" Soarin asked.

As Gilda cringed at the pegasus's name, Trill didn't want to answer, having witnessed Rainbow's death, and a horrible memory for Solaris to ever recall. She snapped out of her silence when she heard The Berserker bellow, charging at where Solaris was slammed into the wall, his horns aimed right at him.

The alicorn squinted through the pain, spotting the minotaur coming right for him. He pulled himself out of the small crater that left an imprint of his body, flapping up into the air mere seconds before he was impaled by sharp horns. As he was about to retaliate, Gale flew up from under him, catching him off guard with an uppercut straight to his jaw. He quickly went on the defensive, trying to block the speedy griffon's strikes, but many of them were too quick to avoid or block. His skin began to get scratched up from the sharp talons, large bruises from the minotaur's heavier and powerful fists, being tossed around like a ragdoll, completely defenseless.

Gale slammed Solaris back down to the ground, the alicorn struggling to get back up as the griffon gently hovered down in front of him. Getting sick of being knocked around, the teen charged forward, swiping his hooves at the griffon, but he dodged each blow Solaris swung. He threw another punch, only for Gale to grab his hoof, pull him forward, and knee him hard in the chest. The alicorn flew across the arena, stumbling along the ground until his back hit the wall. He could barely move, struggling to breath as he tried to stay conscious.

The griffon teen approached Solaris as the crowd cheered Gale on, The Berserker standing by, though ready to charge at any moment. Solaris can barely get back on his hooves, his limbs unable to respond to his brain's commands from the beating he received, a lot worse pain than his first test's beat-down he received. Gale stood over him, looking down at him with his blind eyes in disappointment.

"You know, mom told me I was expecting to fight some great warrior," he said with disdain. "Instead, I'm fighting a kid, who can't hold up to the praise we were all hoping to give."

"Y-You...You're a kid, too," Solaris uttered weakly.

"Maybe so, but at least I'm a worthy fighter than you'll ever be." Gale kicked Solaris hard in the stomach, making him gasp in pain. "If I were in your pathetic horseshoes, I could have taken Lucifer down with my claws tied behind my back! Right now, your pathetic display of combat is humiliating to your own kind, to the Resistance, to me!" He kicked the alicorn hard in the face, slamming him on his side. "You want to earn my respect, you better learn how to fight back!"

"B-But-" Solaris winced as he was kicked in the stomach again.

"Is it because you're afraid to fight someone who's blind?" Gale asked, growling ferociously like a lion. "You really think I'm supposed to be weak for the rest of my life!? I don't need your pity, because I never did or will!" He grabbed Solaris's mane, lifting his head up and forced him to stare into his glazed eyes. "I struggled to get to where I am for all my life! I was ridiculed by others because I was helpless, and always needed my mom to guide me wherever we went! I showed the Griffon Kingdom, and the Resistance, proving to them I'm capable of fighting! You, on the other hoof, are some pompous little prince, who thinks he's greater than everyone else without even lifting a hoof!

"You want to save Equestria? Then stand up and fight me for real!" Gale slammed Solaris's head to the ground, the alicorn still conscious, but unable to move. The griffon sneered, not hearing him try to get up. "...You're pathetic. The princesses died to an unstoppable, blood-thirsty unicorn, the kingdom, and possibly the world, will end up crumbling under his power, and the savior we expected to see is nothing but an absolute failure." He leaned forward until his beak was right next to Solaris's ear. "Hope your mom's happy to know she gave birth to a quitter."

Gale turned and walked away from the downed alicorn. The whole crowd was silent as they heard Gale's rant, truly believing the young warrior's words over Solaris's supposed might. Trill could only watch, knowing she wouldn't stand a chance trying to help her coltfriend fight an incredibly fast and silent griffon and a hulking beast of a minotaur. Even if she did try to help, this was meant to be his test, and she didn't want to compromise the trial for him.

"Told you he wouldn't make it," Gilda commented, snapping the changeling's attention away from the downed alicorn. "The kid's still a greenhorn. He's been sheltered too long in his life. We're gonna have to wait for another few years for him to get better."

Gilda was about to end the fight, but stopped as she saw Solaris beginning to stand up. Some of the Resistance soldiers jeered at the stallion, telling him to just stay down and give up after the beating he had been given, but Solaris didn't listen. The Berserker snorted, catching Gale's attention as he turned his head to the alicorn, sensing him getting back up. He growled as Solaris got back up, standing on his hind legs, flaring his wings out to keep him balanced.

"I suggest you stay down, 'your highness'! You haven't even been able to land a hit on any of us! What makes you think you can still fight!?" Solaris didn't answer, his legs shaking slightly as he tried to stay up. Gale snarled, cracking his knuckles. "Alright then. I'll just knock your lights out, if that's what you want."

Gale sped off in a blur toward Solaris, rearing his fist back to knock the alicorn out. Time around Solaris began to slow to a crawl, his chaos pendant glowing by his will, looking up to see the griffon was a few feet away from him. He was able to move normally, able to manipulate time with the pendant, if only for a brief moment, a power inherited by Discord he never knew was actually one of the abilities he could use for chaotic magic. Though, knowing how random the draconequus was, anything could happen with the power of chaos.

Feeling time begin to flow normally again, Solaris blocked Gale's slowly moving fist, and at the speed he was going, he punched the griffon hard in the stomach. Gale gasped in pain, his body seizing as the wind was knocked heavily out of him. The whole arena was silent, even The Berserker was frozen in place, the only sound echoing the place was the young griffon's struggling gasps.

"I am not a failure. I'm not going to give up...never again," Solaris uttered, only able to be heard by Gale. "Besides-" Solaris lifted his head up, and even though Gale couldn't see his eyes, there was a fire that burned brightly inside. "-I'm just getting my second wind."

Solaris reared his hoof back, the same one he used to knock the air out of Gale's lungs, throwing it right in his face, along with a compressed burst of air, sending the griffon soaring across the arena at breakneck speed. He slammed into The Berserker's chest, managing to push the minotaur back a little, watching the slightly dazed griffon slip down his body and plop to the ground.

Everyone's jaws in the audience dropped, utterly speechless. Gilda leaned over the railing, unable to believe that he saw Solaris actually avoid Gale, along with that powerful burst of air that came out of his hoof. While the others were shocked, Trill grinned, turning it into a smirk when she looked at Gilda.

"Uh oh...Now Solaris is mad," Trill mocked.

"W-What the hay just happened?" Gilda asked.

"Oh. Nothing much," the changeling said. "Let's just say he's all...'fired up'."

Down below, Solaris pulled his foreleg back, slamming both his hooves together, shooting out a flurry of green embers as he set them on fire. The soldiers stared in astonishment, some backing away from the slowly burning embers as they had sat near where the alicorn stood. The Berserker snapped out of his shock, bellowing loudly as he charged toward the teen again, stepping over Gale as he slowly got back up. The minotaur leapt up into the air, coming down and dropping both of his fists down on top of the alicorn.

Solaris shot his hooves up, shooting out compressed air to slow the behemoth's hammer arm's descent, grabbing his fists as he avoided getting crushed. He thrust the minotaur's arms up, smacking both of his fists in his own face, staggering the mad bull. Leaping up into the air, Solaris shot a burst of air out from his hind legs, flying at The Berserker, managing to knock the wind out of him as he slammed his hooves into his chest. He continued knocking the raging minotaur back, shooting fireballs from his hooves, each one exploding on impact.

As Gale finally regained his senses, he was able to pick up a warm, thermal energy everywhere, the main source coming from the stallion he thought was supposed to be defeated. He could feel the intense heat exploding from The Berserker, one powerful blast sending the minotaur flying toward the griffon, quickly getting out of the way before the behemoth could crush him under his weight.

"That's impossible," Gale said. "Unicorns can't manipulate fire, not from their hooves."

"Courtesy of my dragon uncle." Gale gasped, Solaris directly in front of him, and he didn't even feel his presence. He lunged his talons at him, but Solaris grabbed his arm, throwing the blind griffon down on the ground. He shoved his knee in the griffon's side, pinning him down, shooting more fireballs at The Berserker, seeing him back up and charging again. "I might not know much about fighting outside of a training ground, but I can strategize. Consider my fire, and my chaos pendant, trump cards!"

"W-What!?" Gale shoved Solaris's leg off him, sweeping his leg to trip him up, but the alicorn flipped backward before it connected. He rammed into Solaris, his talons and the alicorn's hooves connecting, clutched tightly as they fought for dominance. "What chaos pendant!? What else do you have on you!?"

"You can't even tell?" Solaris asked, the pendant glowing again as this time, the air around the both of them froze temporarily. Gale gasped, unable to feel the air around them, completely blind to everything aside from the alicorn in front of him. "How convenient. Too bad stopping time is only temporary, but that's enough for me to see where you are with your speed. Chaos is pretty powerful, even with just a tiny fraction given to me by the deity himself."

Time sped back up, easily distracting the griffon as he heard and felt everything come back in an instant. Solaris headbutted Gale, stunning the blind griffon, making him loosen his grip on Solaris's gauntlets. He blasted Gale hard with his compressed air bursts, pulling him back with his magic, repeating the process over and over.

Trill was the only one cheering, the Wonderbolts and Gilda dumbstruck at the sudden change in the fight. "Yeah! Smack them around! FIreballs! Air blasts! Beat them until they bleed their own blood! WHOO HOO!" She tried to mimic his fighting style, slipping out of her seat as she didn't pay attention to her surroundings.

After being knocked around several times, Gale managed to right himself in the air, using Solaris's telekinetic force to send him flying back at him with incredible speed. Before he could attempt to thrust his talons at the alicorn's face, he flipped back, shooting his hind legs into the griffon's stomach, shooting off another burst of kinetic force into his body, flinging him up to the ceiling of the arena.

Solaris got back to his hooves, hearing The Berserker charge in again. He reacted too slowly, getting punched hard by the bulky fist, sending him stumbling across the arena, but he quickly recovered, recoiling back to the minotaur with his air bursts. He avoided two heavy swings from the enraged bipedal bovine, retaliating by punching him hard with powerful compression blasts in his face. His pace picked up until his hooves were a blur, dazing The Berserker. Solaris flew back to the ground, then leapt back up, rearing his fiery hoof back as it began to change from green to white. He thrust his hoof hard, sending white sparks flying around them from the impact, flinging the minotaur into the wall, rendering him unconscious.

Up above, Gale managed to free himself from the imprint he left after getting shot up into the ceiling. He felt the air beneath him, the thermal heat from Solaris's hooves having changed in his perspective, both in temperature and in power. He could sense slight movement from The Berserker, but the minotaur was down and out. Letting out an eagle-like shriek, he swooped down at the alicorn at blinding speeds, talons flexed as he thrust his arms forward.

Solaris's ears twitched, hearing Gale soaring down at him, but he didn't need to rely on his chaos power's time stop ability this time. Extending one of his forelegs, he shot a blast of compressed air, shoving his elbow back hard right as the blind griffon was directly behind him, hitting him hard in the chest. Completely stunned from the blow, the alicorn grabbed Gale's arm, spinning him around and let go, leaping up and spinning in the opposite direction. As Gale tried to get his bearings, he was too slow to react as he was kicked hard in the face, sent spiraling across the arena, tumbling hard across the ground until he smacked his head into the wall, next to the unconscious minotaur.

Solaris slowly eased into his battle stance, not even realizing his flames were burning white instead of green. The crowd was silent except for Trill's cheering, but she went quiet as she saw Gale slowly, yet shakily, getting back on his feet. He lifted his head up, looking directly at the alicorn with his glazed eyes, his fringe out of place and revealing his left eye. They both stared each other down for an agonizing minute until Gale let out a weak caw, collapsing on his side, passing out as the last of his adrenaline ran dry.

More silence. The soldiers couldn't believe their eyes. After getting pummeled to near death, they watched Solaris quickly turn the tables, not only by defeating their strongest fighters, he beat them with an ability none of them had ever seen in their lives. Trill's wings buzzed as she leapt up in the air, whooping and cheering for Solaris's victory.

"HE DID IT! SOLARIS IS THE GREATEST FIGHTER EVER!" Trill shouted at the top of her lungs. "WAY TO GO, BABY!"

Eventually, the soldiers began stomping their hooves or clapping their hands/talons, cheering for the stallion as well as accepting him as a champion. Solaris relaxed a little, his flames disappearing as he landed on his hooves. He was in a lot of pain from the beating he took, but he toughed it out as he looked around at the hundreds of Resistance soldiers cheering for him.

Gilda snapped out of her daze, still in awe at the incredible display she and several others had just witnessed. She held up her arms, silencing the cheering crowd as she looked down at the bruised, yet victorious, stallion.

"Well, I thought for sure you would have thrown in the towel, but after all that hidden away, you definitely brought your A game," she said. "You've beat our toughest fighters from outside of your equine species, and managed to make it out with a dozen scratches. Now, there's only one thing left to do." Solaris sighed in relief, ready to claim his new body armor. Instead, he nearly leapt out of his skin when a dagger flew straight at him, landing in the dirt arena a couple feet from his hooves. From the direction it came from, it was Gilda who threw it at him. "You'll have to kill the losers."

Solaris's jaw dropped and Trill's cheering quickly died as she thought she misheard the griffon. Suddenly, the soldiers began to chant "Kill them.", their voices growing louder as they expected blood to be spilled on the arena. The alicorn looked at his opponents, both of them having woken from unconsciousness and bowed down to him, almost as if waiting for him to end their lives.

"Y-You can't be serious!" Solaris argued. "I already beat them!"

"Correction: you managed to knock them down, but they're still alive," Gilda corrected the teen. "In a real life situation, especially in a war, it's either kill or be killed. You leave your opponents alive, they'll find a way to get you back and end up killing you in the end! Your test is meant to defeat your opponents, and that means killing them!"

"B-But Gale...He's your son!" Solaris exclaimed, unable to go through with this ridiculous trial's rules.

"He's lost an important match. He knew what he was getting into." Solaris felt disgusted, hearing the blind griffon's own mother disowning him. This wasn't what he would expect from someone else's parent, being so cruel to their own child, not even caring what happens to them. "If you're expected to beat Lucifer, then you can't show any mercy! Now kill them!"

The chanting grew louder, Solaris's stomach threatening to twist itself in knots until it couldn't be untied. He shakily picked up the dagger in his magic, beginning to hyperventilate as his mind raced through the ones he loved dying before him over and over, some of them replacing their deaths to ones by his own hoof. The reflection in the blade showed him acting like a madpony, slaughtering anything without any remorse. Trill could see he was about to have another panic attack, growing frustrated with the change in his test's rules.

"Gilda, you can't be serious!" she shouted at the griffon. "Solaris won! Just give him the stupid armor!"

"He hasn't won yet! He needs to learn to grow up, and take responsibility for his enemies!" Gilda snapped back at the changeling. "If he leaves them alive, then they'll stab him in the back the moment he turns around!" She turned back to the alicorn, still frozen still and freaking out. "Stop standing there and kill them! DO IT!"

Solaris shook his head, trying to calm his breathing as he looked around the audience, then back to Gale and The Berserker. He wanted to grow stronger, he wanted to pass this test, but killing them in order to pass just wasn't right. He looked back down at the dagger, glaring at the weapon with spite. Holding it in his hoof, his flames ignited the dagger, burning and melting it into burning liquid steel. This had made the crowd jeer at him for wussing out, but he didn't care what they all thought.

"I'm not doing it!" Solaris shouted, glaring at Gilda.

"...What?" Gilda swooped down from the stands, landing between the alicorn and the losing pair.

"You heard me! I'm not going to kill them for my next piece of armor!" Solaris exclaimed.

"Do you're going to let them live!?" Gilda shouted, marching toward the stallion, who kept his ground. "Tell me, kid: In this situation, if you were fighting Lucifer, you pummeled him to a pulp, and he was on his knees, are you telling me you would still want him alive!? After everything he's done to Equestria!? To all of us!? To you!?"

"...I know he deserves a death sentence," Solaris muttered. He looked up, staring defiantly at Gilda. "But that doesn't mean I'll be able to do it! I know he's destroying Equestria! I know he killed my mother and the princesses...But what will me killing him do!? Absolutely nothing!"

"Oh really!?" Gilda yelled, getting up in the stallions face.

"YES, REALLY!" he shouted, shoving his face in the griffon's. "I want him dead, but killing him won't bring my mother back! I'll end up being a monster just like him, even if it means saving Equestria from his tyranny!" Solaris shoved Gilda back, standing on his hind legs and reigniting his fire, which had turned back to green. "I'd rather keep him alive in a cell, disabling his magic and let him rot in prison until the day he dies than shed another pony's blood! If I want to be Equestria's future ruler, then I'm going to be a benevolent ruler, where the guilty will receive their punishment through fair judgement, not immediate death! I don't care what you or any of you drunken bastards think of me for my choices, so if you think I'm unworthy, then you might as well kill me! I am NOT a killer, and I'll never become one like Lucifer!"

The whole arena was silent, many of the soldiers surprised to see Solaris actually fighting back against their leader. Gilda still held her glare on the teen, slowly approaching him as he prepared to fight back if she tried anything.

"So, that's really the answer you want to give me?" Gilda asked, Solaris's glare confirming his answer. As his focus was primarily on Gilda, the soldiers all began to grin. Gilda stopped a few feet in front of the battle ready alicorn, her sneer turning into a smirk. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear."

Solaris's glared turned into confusion, his flames puffing out, his eye twitching as his brain processed what the griffon just told him. "...W-Wha...?"

"You passed, kid." Gilda took one of the confused alicorn's hooves, thrusting it up into the air. "Let's hear it for our champion, the REAL ruler of Equestria, Prince Solaris!"

The soldiers all cheered loudly. Spitfire tossed Solaris's breastplate down to Gilda, helping the stallion into his new gear. Trill was greatly confused, frustrated, angry, and wanted to beat the living tar out of anyone nearby out of the harshest tricks Gilda had given Solaris. The alicorn, however, felt like his brain had melted, reformed itself, exploded, reformed again, then melted and blew up at the same time.

"...Why is it that I pass these things, something has to break my mind until I question what makes sense anymore?" Solaris asked himself, knowing he would never get an answer.

Chapter 20: Friends of a Feather

"Here's to our rightful leader of Equestria! To Prince Solaris!" Gilda lifted up a mug as everyone had returned to the tavern area of the hideout, where they began to celebrate Solaris's outstanding victory in the arena earlier.

"TO PRINCE SOLARIS!" the crowd of mercenaries cheered as they raised their own mugs, everyone taking a swig of their beverage for the alicorn's toast.

Solaris, unfortunately, was still highly confused. While pondering what had just occurred, he was hoisted up by some of the soldiers, carrying him out to the bar, sitting him down with Gilda, the Wonderbolts, and Trill. There was a mug in front of him, but he didn't even notice it. As the Resistance members began to chat, many exclaiming how amazing Solaris was, he finally snapped out of his daze, looking at the griffon leader.

"...What exactly was I supposed to learn from my trial?" he asked.

"You're a smart kid," Gilda said, downing the rest of her mug. "You can figure it out."

"No, not really!" Solaris exclaimed. "You wanted me to kill your son! I said no, and you just said, 'Congratulations! Here's your prize! Now let me laugh at you for making you think I wanted you to kill my baby!'"

"...One, I didn't even say that, dweeb." Gilda patted the alicorn's head, sitting him back down before he caused a bar fight after he was too exhausted from getting his plot kicked around. "Second, there was a good reason why I added in that last part; to prove to me and the hundreds of witnesses around you that you won't kill your enemies when told to."

"...What?" Solaris asked, even Trill wanted to know what the griffon was talking about.

"You see, in warfare, it's always kill or be killed," she explained. "It's tough for someone to end another's life if they can actually think for themselves. You, however, are not fit to be a stallion of the military, and rightfully so. You were given the role of a leader, one who has to make tough decisions, and honestly, any answer you could have made would be considered wrong."

"That doesn't make any sense," Solaris said, still not understanding what Gilda was trying to say.

"Killing someone is wrong, and leaving your enemies alive is also wrong. What made your answer correct was what you really believed was the right thing, even if it's against somepony like Lucifer." Gilda snatched Solaris's untouched mug, taking a small sip of the alcoholic beverage. "Somepony like him deserves a death sentence, but no one can touch him. His dark magic is completely unstoppable, making him a huge threat to every single kingdom in the world. The only one who can stop him is you, kid, and that impressive fire of yours just might help give you an advantage."

"...So...I was tested to see if I would actually kill somepony...just to get what I want?" Solaris asked. "...Like...revenge?"

"Yeah." Gilda took another sip. "Knowing your own mom was killed by him must have really ticked you off, right?" Solaris nodded his head, remembering how badly he wished he could kill Lucifer after learning about Twilight after fifteen years never knowing the truth. Even Shining Armor had the same mindset. "You even said it yourself back there. Killing won't really solve anything. All it causes is more problems."

"...And you knew I wouldn't do it," Solaris said.

"You got that right." Gilda punched Solaris hard in the shoulder, making him wince. "You got some balls to stand up to me like that. Don't ever do that again."

"Y-Yes ma'am," Solaris uttered, rubbing his sore limb.

"So, mind telling me where Rainbow Dash is?" Gilda asked. "She was supposed to be with you. That's what Princess Twilight said, though."

"How do you know her?" the alicorn wondered, never really hearing much about Gilda from Rainbow. "She...didn't tell me about you."

"...Figured." Gilda sighed, rubbing her forehead. "We...used to be friends, since we were younger in Junior Speedster's Flight Camp. We tried to keep in touch from time to time when camp ended. But, when I visited her in Ponyville one day to hang out with her for a while, things went south really fast. One of her friends kept pestering us, and I kept telling her to buzz off, but she just kept appearing out of nowhere, constantly bugging me. She even tried throwing a party to welcome me and help me change my attitude...Boy did it really show just how much of a prick I was.

"It was a weird prank party, and I hit every single one of them out of random chance. I finally blew my cool, snapping at her, thinking she was trying to get me mad on purpose. But Rainbow came out and told me she set up all those pranks, standing up for her over me." Gilda clenched her fists, her voice wavering slightly. "I felt like I was betrayed by my best friend, I got jealous, and all I could think of was wanting to punch her lights out for leaving me for her new friends. Instead, I walked out, calling her lame and never hearing from her again."

"Why do you want to see her if you dropped your friendship with her?" Trill asked, eyeing her untouched mug, sniffing the alcohol's aroma.

"So I could apologize to her," Gilda solemnly answered. "I wanted to make amends with her. My thoughts on her changed when I had Gale. I had to be more responsible, and I didn't want to give him up. Being a mom can change your outlook on the past, make you realize you made a lot of mistakes, and you don't want your kid to make the same mistakes you had when you were younger...But when he hatched from his egg...I felt devastated when he couldn't see me.

"I had to constantly keep a close eye on him, make sure he didn't get hurt...It was a big chore, and it was like karma wanted to get back at me for snapping at Rainbow Dash." Gilda pulled out a small book, opening the pages to reveal some pictures inside. One of them showed her and Rainbow Dash when they were younger at Junior Speedster's Flight Camp, both of them beaming for the camera, the pegasus's foreleg and griffon's arm wrapped around each other's shoulders. The next one showed them as teenagers, both of them wearing black outfits, Rainbow's multi-colored hair dyed black, which Solaris couldn't believe his aunt would have done that to her unique hair coloring. The last few pages in the small photo album were filled with Gilda with her son Gale, as a baby up until his current age, the last picture being a recent photo. "It was rough for me, but I managed to keep Gale on the right track. Heh. I was a little surprised he was able to tell where I was when he was eight, his sensitive wings helping him see for him.

"He always thought he was a burden to me before he was able to feel the air around him, but he never was." Gilda laid the small album down on the table, letting Trill see the pictures, snorting when she looked at Gilda and Rainbow as teens. "Gale struggled to prove to himself, and me, that he wasn't handicapped...He sure proved all of us wrong, especially the dumb cubs that picked on him because he was blind."

She looked up and across the bar, catching sight of Gale sitting by himself as he sipped on the same drink the whole Resistance military had. Without even looking in their direction, the young griffon smirked, waving to his mom, knowing exactly where she was.

"But, all those things you said to him in the arena," Solaris interjected. "You practically insulted him."

"That was all an act. Gotta show some tough love when we're both signed up in a military faction to help try and keep Equestria from going under." He couldn't really tell if it was just playful insults between the two, but Solaris went along with it, already having a migraine from his questionable lessons from his latest test. "But, enough about my sappy life story. Where's Dash? She hanging out somewhere beneath Cloudsdale?"

Knowing Gilda wanted to meet Rainbow Dash and make up for their torn apart friendship, Solaris didn't know if he should tell her. It was bad enough for him to be the cause of the pegasus's death, but he feared she would have killed him for taking the life of her childhood friend. He could feel the griffon's gaze pressuring him into telling her, and he gave in.

"...S-She's...dead..." Solaris could feel the dread that came from Gilda, staring at him like she was hoping he was just messing with her. "...A-Aunt Rainbow...was killed by a crystal stalactite...back in the Crystal Empire...It was an accident..."

Gilda didn't say anything. She couldn't say anything. Solaris couldn't look her in the eye, knowing she must have felt devastated and wanted to wring his neck. Gilda was upset, but couldn't feel any rage. Grabbing her mug, she drank the rest of the strong liquid until she drank every drop, slamming it down on the table as she stared into space. Eventually, she stood up, excusing herself as she wandered off elsewhere in the Resistance base.

"Rainbow Dash is really dead?" Solaris slowly turned to Spitfire, the unfortunate news hitting the ex-Wonderbolts hard. "Damn..."

"We even met her kid a couple years ago," Soarin said. "Never thought Dash would have gone down like that."

"Let's make sure Gilda isn't gonna wreck anything. She looked like she was about to break something." Spitfire lead Soarin and Fleetfoot down to where Gilda disappeared to.

Solaris buried his head in his hooves, trying to forget about Rainbow Dash's death. He really didn't want to know what Gilda's reaction would be if he told her he ended up killing her while she was still alive. Controlling his breathing, he looked up at Trill, watching her take a sip of her drink.

"...Trill?" She gently laid her mug down, smacking her lips. "...You do know what that stuff is, right?"

"Yeah. Doesn't really taste that bad, though," she said.

"That's alcohol!" he exclaimed. "We're underage!"

"Gale's drinking the same thing." She took another sip, making Solaris's eye twitch. At least her strange antics were able to bring the alicorn's mind away from the tragedies he had experienced and always came back to haunt him. "It's not really that bad. Try some."

"Urgh...Just the smell of this stuff makes me NOT want to try it." Solaris gave up, though had a little curiosity if changelings could actually get intoxicated by alcohol. No matter what he thought of Trill, there was always something he wanted to figure out about changelings that nopony else wanted to know, or didn't bother to find out. "I think I'm gonna have a little chat with Gale."

"Ok." Trill chugged down her beverage while Solaris got up and approached the blind griffon.

Along the way, he was given congratulations from some of the soldiers, though Solaris didn't pay much attention. He was suddenly grabbed by a bulky red hand, pulled away from his desired destination, being held face to face by The Berserker.

"Oh boy..." Solaris muttered. "Uhh, h-hi?"

He only received an intense glare from the minotaur, the alicorn fearing he was going to be crushed by the behemoth standing over a few feet taller than the others of his kind. He did get crushed, by a bone crushing hug, The Berserker's icy, crazed stare turning tame and affectionate. Confused, and unable to breathe, he was thankfully saved by Gale.

"Alright, Berserker, ease up on him," he said, getting the minotaur to let go. Solaris fell to the ground, picked back up by the griffon, hearing some of the minotaurs laughing nearby. "Nearly broke him in the fight, and you're gonna dislocate his body." The Berserker gave an apologetic moo, the minotaur's drastic change in behavior compared to Solaris's test making his head hurt even more. "Big guy doesn't know his own strength sometimes."

"W-Why does everything I expect to happen have to do a complete one-eighty!?" Solaris asked, feeling even more sore than ever. "I thought he was supposed to be an enraged minotaur that can kill anything at the drop of a pin!"

"He's a big softie," Gale said, which only confused Solaris further. "He really is the toughest minotaur in the Resistance. He's actually Iron Will's cousin. He's mute, but he can be pretty expressive." The griffon guided Solaris to his "private" table, the alicorn finding it ironic that he was being lead by a blind griffon. They sat down on opposite ends, Gale sipping from his drink. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"...How did you-?" Solaris tried to ask.

"Good hearing. You pick that up with no sight." Gale leaned back, placing his mug down. "Lose one sense, and your others heighten."

"...And you actually drink...that?" Solaris pointed at the half-empty mug of the strong alcohol.

"Yeah. Griffons have a different age limit where it's legal for them to drink. And I'm in that age group; fifteen," Gale said.

"Well, for ponies, it's twenty-one," Solaris replied.

"Sucks to be you." Gale took another swig of his drink, sighing in satisfaction. "It's an imported beer from the Griffon Kingdom. Strong stuff. Though, your mare seems to enjoy the stuff."

The griffon pointed his thumb in Trill's direction, who had decided to take a second mug of the beer being given out. Solaris groaned, slightly worried he'll possibly deal with a drunk marefriend.

"She's gonna be the death of me," Solaris moaned.

"Just don't get chained down by her." Gale leaned forward, his eyes facing the alicorn. "So, hopefully I didn't hurt you too bad."

"You mean the beating or the insults?" Solaris asked. "I could have gone through the fight without you saying all that."

"It was just to fire you up. I needed you to fight at your fullest, but you were too worried about me being blind that you failed to realize you had a task to complete." Gale tapped the handle of his mug with his talons. "Man, did you make a huge change in attitude. I thought you were ready to burn me alive with that fire of yours. But, fighting aside, hiding that from me was a good strategy. Feint your opponent into a false sense of victory, then BAM! Sucker punch with your secret weapon."

"Yeah...but I was no match for your speed," Solaris commented. "You must have trained hard if you were able to even outmatch my Aunt Rainbow Dash."

"...Yeah..." The two were silent, Solaris for remembering his speedy aunt, and Gale for how his mother reacted, overhearing them across a room of loud chatter from the soldiers. "...So, my mom got pretty upset, huh?"

"I guess you were somehow able to hear what I said earlier?" Solaris asked, finding no need to repeat anything.

"Mhmm..." Gale finished the rest of his drink, gently setting the mug down. "...I think my mom's crying. She wandered off to the weight room to be alone...I think she knocked over a pile of weights in anger."

"...Wow, your hearing really is good if you were able to tell," Solaris said in slight amazement.

"My mom was pretty close to Rainbow Dash," the griffon said. "She wouldn't shut up about her, always telling me stories about how the two got into trouble, the races they had...I guess she really hoped to be here to make up for her mistakes. Now she's gonna regret it, never able to apologize and see her best friend again."

Solaris's ears drooped, feeling responsible for ruining Gilda's redemption to Rainbow Dash for her mistakes. He wondered how many more lives he would end up ruining by getting his family killed. Their children would already feel devastated when they find out what happens to their mothers, and their relatives would end up hating him.

"...It's all my fault." Gale looked up, feeling the table shake slightly from Solaris's trembling. "They're dying because of me...Every trial I pass, one of them gets killed...I don't know who I'm gonna lose next..."

"That's absolutely ridiculous," the blind griffon said.

"You don't know what I've been through, Gale," Solaris said, tears beginning to well up in his eyes. "I'm losing the ones I love. Each trial I complete, one of them ends up getting killed. I'm afraid to know who's going to be next...and who I'll lose last."

Gale sighed, not exactly keen on hearing Solaris's lamentations, but he could tell he was going through a lot. "Look, I know I don't have any clue what problems you've gone through, and you don't really know what I went through. The best advice I can give you is to cry about it all when everything's all over."

"You mean holding my emotions back?" Solaris asked, getting angry with the griffon. "Unlike you, I'm really sensitive, Gale. I care about my family, and I don't want to lose anymore of them!"

"...You've been sheltered and coddled for too long." Solaris stood up, prepared to leap at Gale and fight him, taking his words as an insult. "Relax. I'm just assuming what your behavior and attitude is from our fight, and how you're reacting to my words."

"What do you mean?" Solaris growled.

"You act tough, but you're scared. You're a tough fighter, but your emotions can overtake you in a depressing situation." Gale pressed a talon to Solaris's forehead, gently pushing him back down in his seat. "You're meant to be a leader with combative abilities, not a warrior who's destined to live on the battlefield. As times get tough, you gotta learn to be stoic, because the whole world will seek your guidance and protection from the forces of evil that threaten your kingdom.

"Learn to tough it out, because the first step into adulthood is a big one. I may not be an adult in yours eyes, but I think I've grown, never backing down from bullies that picked on me, learning how to fight and hone my sense of touch with the air around me. You have to know when the right time to truly let that emotional dam burst, let out your bottled feelings after the dangers have passed and there is a moment of peace. Soldiers aren't perfect fighting machines, whether they were bred to fight or sign themselves up to defend what they care about. Even I had a few moments where I wanted to give up and cry in a corner, but I kept going. You just need to find something you want to fight for." Gale's eyes shifted to Gilda coming back to the bar, her eyes red, though she didn't show her sorrow in front of her soldiers. "I fight for my mom, to show her I'm not helpless, and I can help her whenever she needs it."

Solaris was surprised, hearing so much wisdom coming from a griffon around his age, who couldn't see, and wasn't the same cold-hearted fighter who almost killed him in the arena. But Gale's philosophical words rang true to the alicorn. Even though it was difficult for him to do, all he had known in his life was the love of his family, sheltered in a cave and kept away from the outside world. He tried to act strong, but inside, he was suffering, almost to the point where he was going to lose his sanity the more death he experienced. He nearly lost himself just from the dagger he was given, the point of his test to see if he would kill his enemies to keep the peace making him see a demon ready to take over his psyche, almost forming a split personality to hide his fears.

Solaris looked over at Trill, who had finished up her fourth full mug of the griffons' alcoholic brew, looking a little loopy, the alcohol's affects effecting the changeling's thoughts. He did have someone to fight for, and it was the mare who would stick by him like glue. She promised she would stay by him, no matter what happens, and he trusts her. Even though it would still be painful to have his family die, still believing his trials were cursed to make him suffer, Trill would be there as his crutch and help distract him from his sorrow, if only for a while.

"...I guess I'm not as smart as I thought," he said. "You're right, Gale...But it's gonna be hard for me to cope with everything that's happened."

"You'll get used to it. But hey, once you kick Lucifer's plot into Tarterus, just think about all the stuff you can do as prince." Gale lifted up his mug, despite it being empty. "I should visit and see if you're willing to party hard."

"I'll pass," Solaris said. He held out his hoof to the blind griffon. "For being a cold-hearted, insane lion-eagle hybrid, I think I can consider you a good friend."

"...Hmph. Same here." Gale clenched his fist, bumping it against Solaris's hoof. "We should spar one day, but no fire, no freaky chaos magic, and no assisted armor. Deal?"

"Deal." Solaris's ears twitched, hearing Trill giggling drunkenly, stumbling across the tables trying to reach him. "Uhh, I'll be right back. I need to make sure Trill doesn't hurt herself, or drink anymore."

Gale chuckled, waiting in his seat as Solaris walked up to the drunk mare, helping her on her hooves, her cheeks red from the alcohol and the scent of it heavy on her breath.

"Finally made it to you." Trill hiccuped, nearly stumbling over as she leaned against Solaris. "Y-You know, Ssssssssolly, I feel rreeeeeeeal good. Wanna buck me somewhere private? I want you."

"Trill, you're drunk. I warned you not to drink that, and you did." The changeling laughed, somehow thinking Solaris told some kind of joke.

"Aww, Solly, don't be mad. I just want us to have a good time..." She tried to poke his nose with her hoof, but ended up missing with her blurred vision. "I wuv you."

Solaris sighed, sitting the drunk changeling princess down next to him with Gale, the griffon trying to keep a straight face as he heard Trill's drunken speech. "I love you too, but you should probably drink some water or something."

"What are you talkin' 'bout!? I'm fine! I wanna party! Is there any music we can play, cause I wanna-" Trill immediately passed out, snoring lightly and made chirping sounds, her wings buzzing occasionally.

"She's a lightweight," Gale commented.

"At least she's unconscious now. She's probably gonna wake up with a hangover in the morning." As Solaris began to relax, the entire bar went quiet as a loud siren rang throughout the entire base, all the soldiers ears perking up at the noise. "Uhh, what's going on?"

"...The base has been infiltrated," Gale said. He gasped as he felt the air shift behind Solaris, someone who wasn't a member of the Resistance. "GET DOWN!"

Solaris ducked his head as Gale leapt over him, slamming into the infiltrator, smashing the Shadow Knight through the table behind him. Keeping the unconscious enemy held down, he noticed a crystal that was in the stallion's hoof, a special type of gem that allows one to communicate with another of the same form.

"What's going on!? What the hay do you mean the alicorn is still alive!?" the voice on the other line said, probably a Shadow Knight of a higher rank than the recon spy's. "He was crushed along with his entourage back in Saddle Arabia! Hurry and get back here so we can ambush the Resistance from Cloudsdale!"

Gale picked up the crystal, leering at the gem. "So, you want to ambush us, huh?"

"Oh sh-" Gale crushed the crystal, destroying communications for their prisoner.

"Mom, we got a problem! Shadow Knights are planning to ambush us from Cloudsdale!" Gale shouted.

"We heard. Alright, men! Grab your gear and head through the portals around Cloudsdale! Let's show these bastards what a real ambush is supposed to be!" With the Resistance fired up from the siren's infiltration warning, the soldiers let out battle cries as they charged to another part of the base, where their armory was to suit up for the battle. Gilda approached her son, Solaris, and the unconscious Trill, stopping Gale from joining the others. "Gale, you and I are gonna escort Solaris out of here and back with whoever's left of Rainbow's friends. Where are they at, kid?"

"Uhh, they set up a camp near a forest a couple miles southeast from Cloudsdale," Solaris answered, having no clue what they were going to do.

"Good. There's a hidden portal in those woods, used as an emergency exit in case something goes awry with the ones around Cloudsdale." Solaris carried Trill on his back and followed the two griffons down the corridors of the base to where several other portals lie, each one leading to separate cities and towns all across Equestria. As much as he wanted to study the portals, there wasn't time to examine how the portal networks were designed. "Through here!"

Solaris ran into the portal Gilda pointed out to, with her and Gale following after him.

The fire crackled in the forest, lieing not too far from the floating city of Cloudsdale. Sitting next to the fire, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie stared intensely at each other, cards held in their hooves, trying to see if their opponent would flinch or make any subtle movement. Pinkie grinned, slamming her cards down.

"Ha! Three of a kind, queens!" Pinkie boasted, doing a little victory dance. Fluttershy put her cards down, making the party mare freeze, her eyes bulging out at what the pegasus had: Four of a kind, kings. "WHAT!? Noooooooo!"

"I win again." Fluttershy grabbed the pile of poker chips and moved them to her side, nearly winning every single game chip. "You're not really good at poker, Pinkie."

"I thought I had it! I never lose a party game, but poker is my weakness!" Pinkie pulled out the last chip she had in her possession. "I'm going all in! I'll get back my non-food chips!"

"Maybe you shouldn't make a lot of tells when you bluff." As Pinkie began reshuffling the deck of cards, both mares froze when they heard something outside the forest. "What was that?"

Ignoring their game for the moment, they crept quietly through the foliage, peeking around the trees as they reached the edge of the forest. From a distance, they saw a large group of Shadow Knight infantry, looking up at the cloud city.

"Uh oh. We got baddies," Pinkie said, somehow wearing a helmet with random bits of twigs and leaves to "blend in" with her surroundings. They all soon heard a battle cry come from behind the enemy, dozens of ponies, minotaurs, and griffons ambushing the Shadow Knights, an all-out war breaking out in the fields. "Uhh...and friendlies? What's going on?"

"Oh no. I think they must have found Solaris!" Pinkie and Fluttershy heard a twig snap in the woods behind them, both of them huddling together, fearing one of the Shadow Knights must have tried to sneak up on them. "W-Who's there?"

"You better stay back! I got a party cannon!" Pinkie pulled out her patented cannon from her tail, aiming it at the direction of the sound. "And I know karate! Come at me, brony! I can take you on!"

The bushes rustled as they got closer, but instead of one of Lucifer's soldiers, Solaris walked in their view, carrying the passed out changeling on his back. "Aunt Pinkie, it's me."

"AHH!" Freaking out, Pinkie accidentally pressed the button on her party cannon, shooting out a blast of confetti along with a loud blast that sounded like a party noise blower. The battle outside the forest had ceased, the entire area within a five mile radius of the cannon having grown silent. "...Oops."

"For the love of Celestia, do you want to ruin our-" Gilda slashed through the branches with her talons, irritated at the loud noise that could have given them away. When she saw where it came from, her eyes widened, recognizing Pinkie's mane, her colors, and that childish look in her eyes. "Oh no! Not you!"

"Gilda!? What are you doing here!? Long time no see!" Gilda swiftly rammed into Pinkie, shoving her hand against the mare's mouth.

"You idiot! They're gonna find us!" Gale stumbled next to Solaris, his ears ringing from the loud blast of the cannon due to his enhanced hearing. "Of all the ponies to ruin our chance to get the kid out of here, it had to be you!"

Solaris shook off the confetti that was blasted over his face, Trill still sleeping like a rock. It seemed like the fight continued on out near Cloudsdale, hopefully thinking that the enemy thought it was just some kind of distraction. Gale finally got back to his senses, but he froze, feeling the air shifting from the battlefield miles from them as a few of Shadow Knights from the opposite side of the woods, slowly making their way closer to them.

"Oh no. We've been found," Gale whispered.

"What?" Gilda looked back at Gale, but through the woods behind the teens, her eyes widened. Being a griffon, she was able to see well in the darkness, and she found a few of the black and red armored soldiers looking straight at them, crossbows aimed at them. "We gotta get to the station. NOW!"

The soldiers fired as the mares ducked. Gale quickly slashed through the bolts with blinding speed and diverting some that would have hit the group. They quickly ran out of the woods and headed for the train station. Arrows rained down on them as they dodged the flurry of deadly bolts that threatened to kill them, Gale slashing through the arrows that were aimed at Solaris. He could have helped, but with Trill unconscious on his back, he didn't want her getting hurt if he dropped her.

Luckily, there was a train stationed and was about to set off down to the south, hopefully far enough away from their pursuers. Another wave of arrows flew down toward them, only they aimed further ahead of the two teens. One of them managed to strike Fluttershy, the pegasus screaming in pain and falling to the ground, struck directly in the center of her back.

"Aunt Fluttershy!" Hearing Solaris crying out for the downed pegasus, Gilda quickly turned back, lifting the injured mare on her back.

They managed to reach the station, Gilda laying Fluttershy on a bench, examining the injury. Gale flew off toward the crossbow wielding Shadow Knights, avoiding their potshots at him and began to kill them before they could shot them again. Solaris ran up to Fluttershy, seeing how deep the arrow was in her back.

"Hey, you alright?" Gilda asked.

"I-I can't move my legs...I can't move my head." Fluttershy began to worry, knowing she was hit, but she couldn't feel anymore pain, or any part of her body. "Oh gosh. I can't move at all!"

"Damn it. The arrow must have hit your spine." Gilda looked over the near-fatal injury, the arrow too deep to pull out and in a dangerous spot to try and force its way through the other side. "I can't risk pulling it out without it causing more damage."

"You mean she's gonna be paralyzed with an arrow permanently stuck in her back!?" Pinkie shouted. "Is she gonna be paralyzed forever!?"

"Afraid so. As long as the arrow doesn't move in or out, she'll still live," the griffon explained.

Gale slammed the last Shadow Knight into the ground, his talons stained with some of their blood. He ran off to meet up with the others, but he didn't notice one of them was still alive. The armored stallion pointed his crossbow at the blind griffon, Gale freezing as he heard the subtle click of the weapon's trigger. The bolt flew at him, which he quickly avoided, however, it was headed straight for the others, and its trajectory's path was aimed at where his mother was standing.

"LOOK OUT!" Gale shouted, catching their attention.

They managed to duck out of the way, but Gilda accidentally pulled Fluttershy off the bench, the pegasus landing on her back, shoving the bolt in her back through her. Her breathing suddenly stopped, unable to use her lungs, whimpering weakly as she felt her life slowly slipping away.

"Aunt Fluttershy!" Solaris got up, forgetting about Trill and dropping her to the ground, still asleep. He tried to lay her on her side, seeing the arrow's tip and a couple inches jutting out from her stomach, but it was too late. "She's not breathing!"

Gale heard Solaris cry out as he struggled to find some way to help the pegasus breath, but the section damaged in her spinal cord failed to control some of her organs, the lungs being one of them. Growling, he turned to face the half-dead stallion, his grin turning upside down as the blind griffon shrieked, slashing his claws through his neck. He made sure that all of the archers were dead, coating himself in blood as he slashed every vital spot on a pony's body. Calming his breathing, Gale heard Solaris begging for Fluttershy to stay alive, feeling sorry for the stallion.

It was already too late. Fluttershy's eyes closed, her face pale as her heart stopped, no possible way to save her. Gilda cringed, blaming herself for keeping a claw on the pegasus while she looked over the injury. She looked up, catching sight of the battle being taken place near Cloudsdale, and it was headed straight for them. The train's whistle blew, signaling its departure, Solaris, Trill, and Pinkie's only chance to get out of this conflict alive.

"Get on the train," Gilda commanded.

"B-But what about-" Pinkie asked, Solaris crying over the mare's body, but the griffon stopped her.

"Just get out of here! If they know he's alive, then Lucifer will try to find him and kill him for real! We'll hold off the ambush!" Pinkie nodded, lifting Trill on her back while gently pulling Solaris away from Fluttershy's body.

They safely got onto the train, the locomotive whistling again as it began to chug off down its path to the south. Gilda watched the train until it disappeared on the horizon, looking back down at the pegasus beneath her. She carefully pulled out the bolt from her body, breaking the arrow before throwing it aside. Gale flew up to the station, sensing Fluttershy's dead body by his feet.

"...I should have snapped the arrow. I didn't realize it was going to reach the station..." Gale bowed his head. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, Gale," Gilda said. "There was nothing we could have done to save her. If we moved her any further, she probably would have died...After we deal with these bastards, we'll take a trip to Ponyville, and see if we can give her a proper burial."

"Alright..." Both griffons looked out to the battle slowly getting closer. "I need to let out some steam."

"You and me both." They both flew off and joined their comrades, wanting to end the Shadow Knights as soon as possible.

Chapter 21: Pain and Loss

Hours passed until the sun began to rise into the sky, the train continuing on its route through the kingdom to its next stop. Inside one of the cars, Trill snored lightly, her limbs twitching in her sleep. She slowly opened her eyes, the light coming through the window immediately giving her a terrible headache, a little side effect from her first hangover. Groaning, she stumbled out of the bed she was sleeping on, highly confused.

"Wait...where am I?" Trill rubbed her head, feeling a little nauseous. "Wasn't Solly and I supposed to be in the Resistance Base?"

She realized she was on a train, and it was morning. Trill had no clue where the train was going, and she had no idea where Solaris, Fluttershy, or Pinkie were. As she tried to disguise herself, in case there were other passengers, she couldn't concentrate enough with her headache. She heard the door to the car open and panicked, only to see Pinkie walk in. She breathed a sigh of relief, but noticed there was something different about her.

Her coat and mane looked a bit darker, and her mane and tail were completely straight, not poofy and wild like it used to. The mare looked up, and there wasn't a hint of happiness in her eyes. It made Trill feel miserable just from looking at Pinkie Pie like this, wishing she would somehow cheer up and make the air around her more chipper.

"Morning, Trill..." Pinkie sadly said. She walked up to the slightly hungover changeling, giving her a glass of water and some pills. "That should help with your headache."

Deciding not to question how Pinkie knew of her headache to avoid making it worse, she swallowed the medicine, gulping down every drop of water in the cup.

"What exactly happened last night?" Trill asked.

"...A lot..." Pinkie stepped up to a top bunk, where Solaris was laying on, his back facing the mare. She couldn't see his face, but he had been wide awake all night. She patted his head, hoping to get some movement from him, but he didn't even flinch. She sat down on the bottom bunk, tears welling up in her eyes. "...Fluttershy died..."

Trill gasped, wishing she didn't want to know what happened to the pegasus. "...What happened?"

"...We were ambushed...We all ran to the station, getting shot at by arrows..." Pinkie's tears ran down her cheeks, her voice wavering as she continued. "She was hit...right in the back......She was paralyzed, and we couldn't remove the arrow......S-She fell...the arrow went through her...and...s-she suffocated..."

Pinkie began to cry, unable to continue explaining what happened to Fluttershy, but Trill got enough information. If she didn't wind up getting drunk and passed out, she could have probably helped, or made things worse. Even if they tried to save Fluttershy, she would have died no matter what they tried to do. Trill began to believe that maybe Solaris's fears about his trials being a curse were true. What's worse is that the last of his family still alive was the depressed mare weeping before her. Pinkie was supposed to bring cheer and happiness, her Element being Laughter, but it didn't look like there would be any laughter further down their journey.

"...I'm sorry," Trill said, the only thing she could possibly say. She waited for Pinkie to calm down, and by calm, she figured waiting until she wasn't about to break down in tears again before speaking. "...Where are we headed?"

"Ponyville," Pinkie mumbled. "We need a big break after everything this past month...And...I-I...want to say good-bye to my little Cherry...before something bad happens to me..."

"You mean you believe what Solaris thinks of his tests?" Trill asked.

"...I don't know..." Pinkie stood up, trying to style her hair back to its state when she was being a giant goofball, but it kept going back to its straight and depressing form. "...Cherry's not going to like seeing me like this...Her friends won't like hearing what happened to their moms, either..."

It was going to be a tough moment, telling their foals what happened to their mothers. As the locomotive grew closer to the town of Ponyville, it brought Solaris and Pinkie more anxiety as the town laid in sight.

"Ok, ya'll, now that we're all finally here after a few weeks, let's get this crusader's meetin' to order," Apple Seed said, leading the next generation of the Cutie Mark Crusaders created by his aunt and her friends.

Sitting before the podium in the furbished clubhouse were the rest of Apple Seed's friends, being the daughters and son of the other Elements of Harmony: Prism, a light cyan filly with rainbow hair like her mother's, Gemstone, a white filly with a darker purple hue for her curly mane, Cherry Pie, a miniature clone of her mother, though with a red coat and mane as bright as a cherry's, and Butterscotch, a pale yellow coated pegasus, his mane a lighter pink than his mother's. Unfortunately, not all of Apple Seed's friends were as excited to begin crusading as he was.

"I don't know why you want to think about crusading for cutie marks right now, Seed," Prism said. "Just look at Gem! She doesn't look like she wants to do anything after what happened to her mom!"

"...Ah know, but we gotta make up the days we missed," Apple Seed said, ignoring the glare from the cyan pegasus filly. "The good news is that all them dumb Shadow Knights have left for somethin', and Ah hope they don't come back. We got plenty of time to do somethin' to find our cutie marks, and we better do it soon before they come back."

"But how can we have fun when Gemmy's depressed!?" Cherry exclaimed. "She lost her mom, and you think everything can be solved with a party. News flash, Apple Seed: mourning can last for more than one day!"

"Ya throw a party every day. What's the difference?" Apple Seed asked, completely ignorant to Gemstone falling back into her depression.

"Well, we heard your mom came back when that weird snake guy came and found us, with you hanging upside down by the air," Prism said. "As fun as Discord was, I had a feeling he was hiding something."

"Actually, Prism, he's called a draconequus," Butterscotch corrected the filly. "My mom always got letters from him, though they always seemed to behave like bats when she stored them."

"Yeah, he's funny! Almost like my mom!" Cherry said. "He can do stuff she can't do! He'd be great at a birthday party!"

"Speaking of birthdays, I wonder how well Solaris's party went," Prism said. "Our moms went out to get him, and start his quest to save Equestria. Yet, Applejack came back, and you haven't heard or seen her out and about in the orchard."

"She's just sleepin', that's all," Apple Seed said, leering at the pegasus. "Aunt Apple Bloom said she got really ill and needs constant bed rest. So Ah thank ya for keepin' my mah's sickness out of this, Prism."

"I think there's something more to her 'sickness' than you think, Apple Seed!" Prism shouted, both ponies butting heads. "Maybe you're just too blind to see that she's probably-"

"Don't ya dare finish that sentence! Ah ain't afraid to hit a filly who acts like a colt!" Apple Seed shouted back.

While the two argued, Cherry's body began to suddenly act out like her mother's Pinkie Sense: wobbly knees, ears flopping, and an itchy nose. As the combo ended, Cherry began to grow a big smile on her face.

"My Cherry Sense is tingling!" the hyperactive filly shouted. "My mom's coming back home! That means Solaris is gonna be with the others! TO THE STATION!"

Cherry ran out of the clubhouse, followed by the others who wanted to see their moms again. Apple Seed and Gemstone stayed behind, the latter mostly out of sorrow, missing her mother greatly. The two eventually decided to hurry after them, wanting to see their older, non-related cousin, Solaris again.

The foals made it to the station, minutes before the next train pulled in. Cherry immediately got to work setting up a welcome home banner for their mothers, while another was for Solaris arriving to Ponyville for the first time, even though he was here weeks ago after leaving the Everfree Forest. The others didn't bother asking how the filly was able to carry the banners, knowing she and Pinkie were just so random. Gemstone and Apple Seed managed to catch up, right as the train made its scheduled stop.

"Ok! Prism, welcoming music!" Cherry shouted, pulling out her miniature party cannon.

"What music?" the pegasus filly asked, finding no sign of a musical device anywhere.

"Oh crud. I knew I forgot something. Forget it!" Not swayed by her lack of music to go with her welcome, Cherry readied herself to shoot off her party cannon. Luckily for the fillies and colts, the only ones disembarking were Pinkie, Solaris, and Trill back in her Evergreen disguise. She shot her little cannon, shooting out confetti. "WELCOME BACK TO PO-" Cherry's happy welcome turned sour as she and the others gasped, having never seen Pinkie Pie in a depressed state. "-ny...ville?"

Just from seeing how miserable Pinkie and Solaris were, there was something that went wrong. And with no sign of Prism's and Butterscotch's mothers stepping off the train with them, bad news was going to rear its ugly head for the young ones. Pinkie tried to smile, but it didn't help with her depressing attitude bringing dread to the foals.

"Wow...A surprise welcome party," Pinkie tried to say cheerfully, though failing miserably. "How nice, Cherry."

The banners Cherry worked hard to set up fell, one of them landing over Apple Seed.

"...Well...this isn't gonna be good," Solaris said.

In the famous bakery known all around Ponyville, the owners of Sugarcube Corner, Carrot Cake and Cup Cake, along with their twins, Pumpkin Cake and Pound Cake, were busy baking several orders of their delicious pastries. These orders were mostly for charity, shipping out baked goods for those who had their places ransacked or robbed by the Shadow Knight youths. And with the fresh apples produced by the Apple Family not too far from the bakery, both families were able to help out when they could.

In the kitchen, Pound was busy pressing the dough for the several pastries, using his incredible strength he had when he was an infant, while Pumpkin handled filling or icing the many pastries already baked and cooled, her magical talents very helpful for the massive buildup of orders. The unicorn could have rivaled that of the librarian-turned-princess, Twilight Sparkle, but she wanted to help her parents bakery succeed, and her multi-tasking was a sight to behold.

The earth pony couple were busy packing their food to be shipped out across Equestria, glad to have their foals, fully grown into responsible adults, helping keep their family run establishment going. Even though the kingdom was being ruled by a tyrant, letting his soldiers do whatever they please, Pound was able to kick the corrupt soldiers out, quite literally too as they would be sent flying across the town for miles. They heard the front door's bell ring as it opened, signalling a customer had arrived.

"Oh great," Pound muttered. "If it's another one of those dumb brats thinking they can just take anything they wish, I'm gonna give them a good pounding."

"Do you mean that in a physical beating way or a sexual way?" Pumpkin teased, earning a piece of dough to smack her in the back of the head.

"I'm starting to wonder which of us is the immature one, sis." Pound decided to see who it was at the front of the house, having finished pressing the dough needed for the afternoon. As he exited the kitchen, he was surprised to not see any Shadow Knights, but Pinkie Pie, Solaris, Trill, and the young Cutie Mark Crusaders of this generation. At first, the pegasus was happy to see his long time foalsitter/co-worker, but seeing her in this depressing, straight haired state was a shock. "Pinkie Pie?"

"Hey, Pound. Working hard, or hardly working?" Pinkie gave a weak laugh, which wasn't at all cheerful to the pegasus. "Are your folks here?"

"Yeah..." Pound felt uneasy around this Pinkie. He wondered where the happy, crazy mare he knew growing up disappeared to and was replaced by a clone of her, very highly depressed and emitting an aura of sadness around her. "Are...are you ok?"

"I...I just wanna talk with you guys in private...about some things." Pinkie pulled out the remaining bits from Trill's "compensation" back in Saddle Arabia, paying for the special cake the Cakes made for the National Desert Competition many years ago; the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness. After placing the bits in the register, she cut the expensive, yet delicious dessert into slices, one for her and for the others. "A little something for the non-adults...for...reasons."

"Reasons?" Pound asked as he helped Pinkie lay out the slices on plates for the others. He went along with it, never knowing what the older mare had on her mind until she exhausted herself from randomly explaining. After handing out the plates, he followed Pinkie into the back, where his parents and twin sister were as shocked as he was when they saw the depressed mare. "Pinkie, what's going on?"

While Pinkie began to explain to the Cakes what had happened in the last few weeks, and the possibility of her survival in the next few days, Solaris, Trill, and the CMC snacked on the delicious snack, though the former of them didn't feel all that hungry. The alicorn looked over his non-related cousins, most of them oblivious to the fate that their mothers had taken aside from Gemstone. She must have found out about Rarity's death, noticing the bags under her eyes. To her, Solaris was considered her favorite relative and pestered him more than the others did, but now it seemed like she didn't care about life anymore.

Even Cherry seemed miserable, only from seeing the state Pinkie was in. It was so strange to anyone who had never met the two craziest ponies and see them go from happy to sad at the sound of a pin dropping. At least Cherry's mane didn't deflate like Pinkie's, at least not yet.

"...So, Solaris," Prism said, breaking the awkward silence in the empty bakery. "Where did you get the cool armor?"

"...My trials," he replied. "I have one more left..."

"Did ya fight a huge dragon?" Apple Seed asked excitedly.

"No...Though, they were...pretty difficult..." Solaris found it hard to try and stay composed, especially around the fillies and colts that looked up to him.

"Umm, Solaris?" Buttscotch asked, getting the alicorn's attention. "...W-Where are my mom and Rainbow Dash?"

"Yeah. Did she have to do something somewhere in Equestria?" Prism asked.

Now it was difficult to keep his composure. He had no idea how to break the bad news to them, knowing they could end up like he almost did before knowing about his own mother's reason why she wasn't around. What was worse was that Apple Seed seemed normal, even though Solaris knew Applejack was brought back by Discord to Ponyville to be buried.

Trill could feel Solaris's trepidation, and most of the foals' eyes were on him. He just had to tell them, even if it hurts. Better to get it out of the way instead of hiding the truth until they find out and resent him, even though he was afraid they would after he said the unfortunate news.

"...I-I have...some bad news...about your moms..." Solaris took a shaky breath, not wanting to describe every gory detail that had gotten the mares killed. "...S-Something...bad happened to them...and..."

He couldn't even finish his sentence, tears welling up in the alicorn's eyes. Prism and Butterscotch looked at each other, unsure what Solaris was trying to say. He buried his head in his hooves, Trill gently rubbing her lover's back to try to calm him.

"Solaris?" Prism asked.

Trill sighed, wanting to help Solaris bring the bad news since he couldn't even utter it. "Guys, I'm really sorry to say this, but what Solaris is trying to say...is that your mothers unfortunately...died."

"And why should we believe what you say!?" Prism shouted, none of the young ponies believing her. "Who exactly are you, anyway!?"

"Look, right now, I can't tell you exactly who I am, but I've been with Solaris and your moms since meeting up with them in Saddle Arabia," Trill said, remaining calm so she won't yell at a filly who's a few years younger than her. "I'm...a really close friend of his after bumping into him. And I've seen the same things they have after going around Equestria and nearly dying several times. But that's what he's trying to tell you. Your mothers aren't here because they were killed, and it's hard enough on Solaris just to remember what had happened."

Prism was devastated, while Butterscotch was going to be sick. The pegasus filly slowly shook her head, unable to believe her mother could be gone and taken down so easily. The teens knew that if they told them how they died, it would have gotten worse, but it was already painful enough for young ones to experience death at their age. Cherry Pie, Apple Seed, and Gemstone were just as shocked, the former filly's mane slowly deflating like Pinkie's.

"...I-Is my mommy...gonna die too?" Cherry asked, her eyes threatening to shoot out waterfalls of tears.

"I'm not sure," the disguised changeling said, hoping that wouldn't happen for the filly's sake. She looked at Solaris, who was struggling not to sob loudly. "Just know that he's feeling just as bad as you guys...He even blames himself sometimes, but they were all just accidents..."

"Mah ma's fine," Apple Seed said, receiving a glare from Prism. "That Discord...thing brought ma back. She's been sleepin' for a while."

Solaris looked up, his face going pale, Trill just as shocked after hearing the farm colt. "...What?"

"She must have gotten sick with somethin'." He nibbled on his slice of MMMM, the others leering at him for his inconsideration toward three of their mothers deaths. "Aunt Apple Bloom and Uncle Big Mac aren't tellin' me what it is she's got, and they said Ah can't disturb her."

Prism punched the colt in the face, unable to take his ignorance. "You stupid idiot! Our moms are dead, and you think your mom's ok!? She's probably dead too, but you're just too stupid to see the truth!"

Before the filly could beat the colt up, Solaris pulled Prism back, keeping the struggling pegasus from causing more harm. He held onto her tightly until she stopped, tears streaming down her cheeks as she buried her face in the alicorn's chest. He looked back up at Apple Seed, rubbing his face from the light bruise slowly appearing on his cheek.

"Apple Seed, what are you talking about?" Solaris asked. "They didn't tell you?"

"Mah ma is sick. That's what Aunt Apple Bloom kept tellin' me," Apple Seed said.

"...Seed...Your mom is gone too," the alicorn sadly said, Cherry, Gemstone, and Butterscotch huddling closer to him as he wrapped his wings around them. "Discord brought Aunt Applejack back...so she can be given a proper burial...She died trying to save me."

"...W-What?" the colt asked in disbelief.

"...You...You really didn't know...?" Solaris knew the CMC looked up to him and believed every word he said in admiration, and seeing the look on Apple Seed's face felt like being stabbed repeatedly in the chest.

Apple Seed stared at him, unsure if he should believe him or not. After a few minutes of silence, the colt ran out of Sugarcube Corner.

"What's he doing!?" Trill asked.

"Oh no...He's going to try to find Aunt Applejack." Solaris gently let go of his surrogate cousins and chased after the colt.

The Cakes and Pinkie walked out of the kitchen, but they found no sign of Solaris.

"Where did Solly go?" Pinkie asked.

Laying on a cloud above Ponyville, resting in the afternoon sun, Scootaloo was taking a nap, the pegasus having idolized Rainbow Dash so much that she mimicked her daily schedule. Like her two best friends, her cutie mark was a shield as well, though with a pegasus wing in the center and a lightning bolt inside of it. She slowly opened her eyes, her internal clock telling her to get up and do some more flight training, or grab a bite to eat if her stomach demanded food.

She yawned, stretching out her limbs. "Aww yeah...That was a good nap." Scootaloo patted the cloud she slept on, enjoying the soft cushion of condensed water vapor beneath her hooves. "Boy, ever since I was able to fly, I always like clouds better than my own bed. Good thing I learned how to be patient, and got those awesome lessons from Rainbow. Maybe I'll be fast enough to pull off a sonic rainboom of my own!"

"Apple Seed!" Scootaloo's ears perked up as she looked down below.

"Hmm?" Down in the town square, where her cloud seemed to have wandered. She gasped when she saw Solaris running around Ponyville, hopelessly lost. "Solaris? What's he doing here? And where'd he get all that cool gold armor?" Scootaloo leapt off her cloud perch, freefalling down to the ground. As she got closer, she flapped her wings, stopping her descent and landing right in front of the alicorn, not seeing her landing and bumping into her. "Hey, kiddo! What's the rush?"

"Scootaloo? Where did-?" Solaris was suddenly pulled into a headlock, his hooves flailing as Scootaloo held him tightly.

"I should be scolding you for being out here in the town by yourself, but since there are no Shadow Knights around, I'll let it slide." She was oblivious to the alicorn's struggling. Even though he could have shoved the pegasus off him, Solaris was no match against Scootaloo when it came to wrestling, the mare keeping her distance from his flailing forelegs while keeping a firm grip on his neck. "Just don't tell Sweetie Belle or Apple Bloom. They would kill me for being 'irresponsible'. I mean, I'm helping Rainbow by taking care of Prism for her."

"S-Scootaloo! Can you please let me go!?" Sighing, she let go of him, Solaris rubbing his sore neck, his crystal armor only reacting to physical trauma from intentional strikes and not playful ones. "Ugh...Why can't I ever break out of that?"

"Because you may have brawn, but I got mad skills," Scootaloo gloated. "So, what exactly are you doing here? I heard you set off on your journey around Equestria to finally kick that no good unicorn's plot into next year."

"As much as I would love to tell you how everything's been and hear you and your feats, I'm a little busy at the moment." Solaris looked around, having no clue where Apple Seed ran off to. "I'm trying to find Apple Seed. He ran off after he finally figured out Aunt Applejack was dead, and I'm afraid to know what'll happen after he sees her not in their home! Now I lost him and I can't find my way around this place because I don't know Ponyville that well!"

"...Uhh, dude? You have wings," Scootaloo said drolly.

"I know I have wings! But that doesn't he-" Solaris froze, looking at his sides and flexing his wings. "...Oh...right. I'm so stupid."

"Yet you have book smarts." They both flew up into the air to find the orange colt. "What's going on? And aren't the others supposed to be watching over you?"

"...There's...just too much to explain...Aunt Pinkie can tell you everything." Solaris knew Scootaloo worshiped Rainbow Dash, even after she grew into an adult, and it would have broken her too if she found out.

"Wait, why Pinkie? Can't Dash tell me what's been going on?" She didn't get an answer as Solaris flew off, spotting Sweet Apple Acres, knowing Apple Seed would check his home to check on his mother.

He entered the farmhouse, finding Big Macintosh in a crumbled heap at the bottom of the stairs.

"Uncle Mac?" Solaris questioned, wondering what happened to the burly earth pony.

"S-Seed's...a lot stronger than Ah thought..." Big Mac uttered.

While the stallion tried to get back up, making sure none of his limbs or back is broken, Solaris made his way upstairs to find the distraught colt. Apple Bloom stood in the hall, looking into what seemed to be Applejack's room, and she looked upset. He peeked in the room, catching the ex-Crusader's attention, finding Apple Seed looking at the empty bed, no sign of his mother resting on the mattress.

"...Apple Seed...?" Solaris carefully approached the colt, knowing he was eventually going to break down. He blamed himself, getting his aunts involved with his journey, even though they willingly volunteered to guide him around Equestria. "...I'm so sorry..."

"...Get away from me..." the colt muttered. Solaris wanted to comfort Apple Seed, but instead, as soon as he touched the colt, he was met by a powerful buck of Seed's hind legs, sending him flying back into the wall of the hallway, barely ramming into Apple Bloom. Luckily, his crystal enchantment kicked in and kept him from getting a broken nose, but the emotional pain hurt worse when he shook off his daze, staring at the infuriated earth pony colt. "STAY AWAY FROM ME! YA KILLED MAH MA! AH HATE YOU!"

He slammed the door, locking himself in the room, the colt's sobs echoing in the old farm house. Solaris could only stare at the door, his heart sinking as Apple Seed's painful words struck him like a knife. He didn't know when the others would resent him the same way the youthful Apple was, but he figured they would all hate him in time. If he did succeed in defeating Lucifer, he could never show himself in Ponyville without receiving death glares from the young CMC for getting their mothers killed over him.

As night fell on the peaceful town of Ponyville, it only seemed to bring more misery to the ones mourning the loss of several well-known heroes in the past month. The Pinkie, Trill, and the young CMC reached the Apple Family farm, along with Scootaloo, where the pegasus was given the unfortunate news about Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. She tried to be strong, but losing her idol was devastating, having an almost sister-like relationship with the rainbow-maned speedster.

As the young CMC headed to the clubhouse for a sleepover, all excluding Apple Seed, Solaris lead Trill up the mountains to where he was raised, with Pinkie's permission. As much as the others wanted him around, the alicorn didn't want to hear them say anything negative toward him, at least that's what he believed they would say. Maybe, in time, they'll be able to move on and know their mothers will watch over them, but Solaris won't, having witnessed their deaths and partially blaming himself, losing the only ponies he knew as his family.

The fresh air eased his mind a little, trudging along the dirt path up the mountain a few miles from Ponyville. But as they reached the cave entrance, the memory of Spike's death still haunted him, a small patch of dried blood not yet cleared visibly by the elements of nature. If only he had listened and kept himself hidden, there would have been a slim chance his dragon uncle could have lived. He thankfully pulled out of his thoughts, feeling Trill's hoof against his shoulder.

"So, this was where you lived?" Trill asked, wanting to avoid the depressing thoughts that could pop into her coltfriend's head. Solaris lead her inside, where it was thankfully kept intact. "A lot cleaner than my home, and a lot brighter."

"This was supposed to be like a house, so keeping things tidy in here was mandatory to keep out-" They soon heard a shriek come from a group of bats, both teens ducking as they flapped out of the abandoned, cavernous home. "-critters...Doesn't work all the time."

"No kidding." Solaris guided Trill around his mountain abode, starting with the kitchen, his private gym, even wowing the changeling with the functional bathroom. The last of the tour was his room, where his birthday gifts were miraculously untouched by the wandering creatures that sought out shelter in the mountain. Trill went for one of his gifts, which unfortunately was the Playcolt magazine Rainbow Dash got for him, at the bottom of the pile. "Oooh. When did you get such a dirty magazine, Mr. Perfect?"

"T-That's not mine!" Solaris tried to snatch the magazine away, but Trill kept it out of his reach. "I-It was a stupid prank Aunt Rainbow did!"

"Sure it was." She opened the pages, letting a multi-layered portion fall out to reveal something that even made Trill blush. "Whoa. How does she fit something that big in there!?"

"Will you shut that stupid thing!?" Solaris finally grabbed a hold of it, blushing heavily as he caught sight of the poster-like picture, hearing Trill laughing hysterically. Grumbling to himself, he wanted to burn the "mature" magazine, but didn't have the heart to do it. He made sure to bury it under his little pile well enough for her not to see it again. "Why didn't I throw that thing away?"

"Because you, as a teenager, have hormones, and with said hormones, you would want to get some good looks at what lies beneath our tails," Trill said, mimicking Solaris when he went into lecture mode on random bits of knowledge. As he turned around, his face grew even more red, seeing the changeling bent over, tail raised high, and wiggling her rump in his line of sight. "Now, you got mine to look at whenever you please."

"T-Trill!" She began laughing again, only to yelp as she was pounced on by the alicorn, though not at all what she wanted. Even though he kept his hormones in check for the moment, his wings betrayed him, splayed erect in arousal as he flipped the giggling changeling over. "Is there a huge part of your brain I have to lobotomize to get rid of the perverted things you do!?"

"Maybe...but you didn't want to look away." Trill stuck out her tongue, relishing in Solaris's embarrassment.

He groaned in annoyance, flicking her horn to get back at her. After getting off of her and calming himself, he looked up at his bedside table, where he had his pictures with him and his family on display. Sitting down on the bed, he levitated all the frames, looking over each one. There was one with him as a newborn foal held in his mother's hooves, sleeping soundly while Twilight smiled tiredly on the hospital bed. There was a group photo of him with his surrogate cousins grouped up together, Cherry and Prism clambering on his back while Butterscotch, Seed, and Gemstone sat in front of him. The last picture was of him and the ponies and dragon he knew growing up, all of them smiling for the camera on his eighth birthday, the last of his happiest days with each year he grew up.

Trill sat next to him as he lingered on the last photo, seeing how happy Solaris was before she met him. "Aww, you were cute as a baby. Probably not like me. I hatched out of an egg. Kinda gross if you can imagine being kept warm in changeling goop for protection." Her disturbing image of changeling hatchlings didn't faze the alicorn, his eyes still glued to the family photo. "...You ok, Solly?"

"...I don't know if I will be," he said, gently laying the picture down. "I just wish none of this ever happened...Nopony would have died, everything would be peaceful, and things would have turned out fine...Now I'm scared of losing Aunt Pinkie, the last pony I knew growing up, my destiny to save Equestria being more of a burden for me to bear, and I have no idea how I can even defeat Lucifer if I was lucky enough to injure him." He rubbed his eyes, feeling exhausted from the lack of sleep last night, but unable to with the stress weighing down on him. "Apple Seed hates me, and the others are going to as well. I may be known as a hero to everypony else, but to the ones who really knew me, they're going to resent me for the rest of their lives."

"Solaris," Trill sighed, gently rubbing his foreleg. "They're not going to hate you. Right now, it's a little hard for them to comprehend losing somepony they love, but they'll look past it and see how much you've suffered as well. In Sugarcube Corner, I felt the adoration they had for you, especially the unicorn filly."

"Gemstone?" Solaris asked.

"Yeah." Trill smirked. "I think she might have a little crush on you, and it shows in this little picture of you all together." She pointed at five-year-old Gemstone in the group picture of his "cousins", her eyes more focused on looking up at Solaris than the pony who was taking the picture. "I might have some competition once she gets older."

"She's five years younger than me," he said, leering at his marefriend. "And don't even think about me trying to start a harem, or make one for me...I know it's not exactly illegal to have more than one life-mate as a pony, but it's uncommon and something that'll only drive me crazy if other mares want to be with me because I'm an alicorn and want to be royalty in an instant."

"I was just kidding!" Trill giggled, giving Solaris a light peck on the cheek. "Don't take everything I say seriously. That's all up to you...Though if you want my advice, you probably should once Lucifer's gone."

"...I hate you." Solaris grumbled, receiving another kiss from the changeling.

"Love you too." Trill nuzzled his cheek, turning his frown upside down as he returned the loving gesture. Solaris nearly passed out, struggling to stay awake. "Let's head back to Ponyville. I don't think you want to sleep in a bed that might be covered by rodents and pests."

"I slept with one a few times. I don't think that would be a problem," Solaris said with a smirk.

"Oh ha ha. Just cause I'm part bug." Trill rubbed her nose against Solaris's. "Guess you do have a funny bone after all. Now, let's go before you pass out. I'm not carrying you all the way back to town. You do that to me because you're stronger than I am."

Solaris grabbed his gifts, along with his pictures, stuffing them in his saddlebags before heading off. As they left the cave, he looked back at the entrance to his home, sadly sighing as the memories he had inside the mountain would be the only happy ones of him and his family. He had one final test to complete, along with losing Pinkie Pie if something were to happen, and defeat Lucifer once and for all, taking over as the righteous ruler he was meant to be. His journey is far from over, and it will be more difficult in the future, but Solaris won't give up, not when Equestria needed him.

Chapter 22: The Hive

After getting a decent amount of sleep, Solaris was busy looking over the map, his eyes glued on location where his final test is held. While planning out how he was going to get there, Trill, Pinkie, the young CMC, excluding Apple Seed, and the alicorn met up at Sugarcube Corner for breakfast. They ate in silence, the young fillies and colt still upset from the horrible news yesterday.

He looked up at his cousins, seeing the worried looks on their faces as they ate. After Apple Seed blew up on him after realizing his mother had been dead for the last couple weeks, Solaris was afraid the others were going to put in their few bits on how horrible he was. But after yesterday, when the group huddled around him for comfort, it didn't seem like it on the outside, but his anxiety made him fear what they were thinking on the inside.

"...So..." Solaris got their attention, unsure of what he should say. "...Uhh...You guys doing alright?" He was met with awkward silence, making him even more nervous. "...I mean, after hearing...you know...I..." Sighing, he gave up, not helping matters with the young ponies. "I'm making this worse..."

"At least you're not rambling like a pointless lecture on something nopony cares about," Trill commented, earning a glare from the alicorn. "I mean, I love chocolate, and he began telling me about the history of Hearts and Hooves Day. Where does that even fit in with my guilty pleasure?"

That got a little laugh out of the foals, though Solaris wasn't amused.

"I don't give a lecture on everything," he said.

"Equestria was founded by the legendary Bigfoot, where ponies worshiped his gigantic feet, which smelled like oatmeal raisins and gave good luck if anypony licked his smelly toes!" Solaris's eye twitched, but he wasn't going to fall for the disguised mare's game, which only made the CMC laugh more, mostly at Trill's illogical historic tale. "Then, after it rained gallons upon gallons of maple syrup, the entire world was flooded in sticky tree sap, until the unicorns decided to create the biggest pancake in the world, absorbing all of the syrup and turning it into a giant castle, which then turned to stone after nopony ate the edible building for a thousand years."

Solaris's face grew more red with each illiterate detail Trill described. He grew too frustrated and snapped after she held some pancakes in front of him, making a crude tepee out of three of the warm, fluffy flapjacks.

"Equestria was founded by the three pony tribes thousands of years ago before the princesses even came into power!" Solaris shouted, slapping the pancakes away from him as he began to rant, getting closer and closer in Trill's face with each detail. "The three tribes, separated by their own races, feuded with each other, causing spiritual equines called Windigos to bring an everlasting blizzard that threatened to destroy the land they lived in! Each of the tribes' leaders, along with their associates, sought out better land away from the snowstorms, only to meet up with the rival tribes and began fighting again, trapping them in a cave where their fighting only got worse! The leaders freeze from the Windigos' feeding off their hatred, and their associates saved them and the land by befriending each other, creating a flame in the shape of a heart that drove the spirits away, thus creating the holiday Hearths Warming and the leaders combining their tribes together, and founding Equestria!

"And the castle was first built where the Everfree Forest grows today, built in the honor of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna turning Discord to stone and appointing the alicorn sisters as their rulers! There's no such thing as a creature called 'Bigfoot', it can't rain maple syrup unless Discord was actually involved, but he was a statue, and nopony can make a pancake the size of the world! Learn to read about major historic events instead of making up nonsensical babble that can poison youthful minds and make them ignorant to their history and livelihood!"

Solaris panted heavily, finishing his angry rant as his snout was pressed firmly against Trill's. She was smirking as he calmed himself down, the fillies and colt nearly ready to burst out laughing, proving the changeling's point at his little peeve. Pinkie and the Cakes were staring at Solaris after hearing him randomly yelling, and with all their eyes on him, he blushed heavily, slowly sinking back in his seat.

"See? He even gets annoyed if I butcher useless history." Solaris grumbled and the foals all fell out of their seats, laughing at the alicorn's embarrassment. While they were too busy laughing and the adults got back to their conversation, Trill gave him a soft kiss on the lips. "I'm just messing with you. Learn to laugh a little at a made up story."

"...I take my studies seriously, including history..." Solaris muttered.

Though he didn't show it, he was glad to see his cousins' young minds steered away from the loss of their mothers, excluding Cherry. It would be better to have them see him off with a smile, but without Apple Seed with the others, it wouldn't be the same. And if they do travel to Solaris's final trial, they'll have to avoid the trains for the time being, no telling if Lucifer was told that he was still alive.

After eating breakfast and gathering the supplies they needed, they arrived at the east exit to Ponyville, the direction where the wastelands laid miles away from the peaceful town. While Apple Bloom and Big Macintosh were there to see the small group off, Apple Seed was nowhere to be seen. It would be for the best if the colt still hated him, even if Solaris really wanted to try to make him feel better. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo came along as well, though the pegasus didn't seem to get much sleep from the bags under her eyes.

While Pinkie said good-bye to the adults, telling them of her possible fate once they reach the last location of Solaris's tests last night, Solaris said his good-byes to the young CMC.

"Well, wish me luck, guys," Solaris said.

"I don't think you'll need it, Solly," Prism said. "When you meet that jerk king of ours after this last test of yours, kick him in the plot for me."

"I'll try." Prism looked up at him, her eyes darting around to her friends in nervousness.

She quickly hugged his foreleg, then let go, pretending nothing happened. Solaris shook his head from Prism trying to hide her sensitive side, pulling the filly in a hug, which she eventually accepted. After she pulled away, Butterscotch walked up to him and hugged his foreleg tightly.

"Please end this war soon. None of the animals don't like the fighting," the pegasus colt said.

"It'll end soon. Count on it." He rubbed Butterscotch's head, the colt letting him go as Gemstone was up next.

"Promise us you'll come back when it's over?" the unicorn filly asked, her eyes welling up with tears.

"I promise. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," Solaris said as he did the motions of the Pinkie Promise.

She smiled, ushering him with her hoof to lean closer. The alicorn blushed as he was given a kiss on the cheek by the filly, followed by her hooves wrapped tightly around his neck as she nuzzled him. He looked at Trill, giving him a look saying she told him so, and she was right about Gemstone harboring a small crush on him. Solaris nuzzled her back, the filly letting go and joining the two pegasi. When he looked at Cherry, she was smiling, but her eyes showed sadness.

She walked up to him and wrapped her hooves tightly around him, Solaris hugging her back. "I'll throw you the biggest party I can make when you win."

"I would like that very much, Cherry." Cherry let go after nearly a minute of them hugging in silence. He looked down at his surrogate cousins, wishing Apple Seed could see him off, but didn't want to cause a fight. "Can you guys tell Apple Seed I'll make everything better once this is over...and that I'm sorry?"

"Yeah. We'll tell him," Prism said while the others nodded.

After saying good-bye, Pinkie and Cherry sharing one last moment together, Solaris, his remaining aunt, and his disguised changeling marefriend set off to the wastelands. From the town up to their destination, it would take them a few days to reach the area on hoof, but it was safer than taking any form of transportation for the time being.

After a long day of walking, traversing through fields and forests, the sun had already set and the moon high in the sky. They set up camp in a nearby forest, kept hidden from any Shadow Knights that might wind up marching along the path to search for them or other members of the Resistance. Solaris wondered if Gale and Gilda were alright, but he didn't need to worry too much, being more experienced in combat. Gale could single-handedly destroy an infantry group of a hundred soldiers on his own and not get a single scratch on him.

While Pinkie and Trill were asleep, Solaris was still wide awake, looking into the campfire he had set up, its green glow lighting the area around him. Not feeling tired, he decided to rummage through his saddlebags to find something that could preoccupy him that was not his dirty magazine he stupidly brought along. While digging around, he pulled out an envelope, something he knew he didn't pack. On the front, it said "Please Read", with drawings in crayon of him and the CMC with different colored balloons decorated around them. Curious, he opened it and pulled out a letter, reading it to himself.

Hi, Solly. I'm sure you know who gave you this letter, but I wanted to make sure you know what I wanted to say, but couldn't in front of the others.

I just want you to know that none of us will ever hate you. Apple Seed is upset, but he doesn't mean anything he said or did to you. What happened to their moms were just accidents. And...I know I'm going to lose my mommy too. But I won't blame you at all, even if you couldn't try.

You're hurting just as much as we are, maybe even more, and we understand. All our moms are heroes, having saved Equestria several times before we were born. They were in so much danger in the past, all their luck had to run out sometime...And mommy's is coming soon, unfortunately.

It'll be hard for all of us, but I'll do everything I can to do what mommy does best: make ponies smile when they really need it. Please be strong, even if it hurts. We're all here for you, even your changeling marefriend of yours. Gemmy's not gonna like it when she finds out that other mare is your lover, and you might have a little marefriend competition when she turns into an adult. Cat fights! Rawr! Hee hee.

Don't lose yourself in the sadness, and try to look forward to your happiness. We'll all cheer you on, even Apple Seed.

Lots of hugs,

Cherry Pie

P.S.: If you're wondering how I know everything I wasn't supposed to know, I read the previous pages of the story, though mommy left out some of the darker parts for my sake.

P.P.S.: You know the drill. Don't question mine or mommy's ways.

After reading Cherry's letter, Solaris couldn't help but smile. Of course, he knew never to question Pinkie Pie, or Cherry. She would always find some way to make him grin or laugh, and her heartfelt words were enough of a reassurance to him and his fears on their thoughts. He gently put the letter back in the envelope, placing it back in his bags.

"I shouldn't have worried after all. I think I'll need a long vacation once this is all over, just unwind, relax, and enjoy myself." He looked up at the sky, the stars gleaming down from above along with the full moon, his smile turning upside down as he sighed. "I just hope Apple Seed can forgive me..."

He eventually fell to sleep, his conscience slightly cleared thanks to Cherry's youthful wisdom. Unknown to him, in the cover of the foliage, there were a couple pairs of blue eyes staring at the campsite, watching them as they slept in the warmth of the fire.

For the next few days, the group of three continued on their way without any trouble, finally reaching the border of the wastelands. The land was barren of any vegetation, with small mountains spread out across the land, each one about as tall as a city's average sized apartment buildings. They continued walking along the dead earth, Solaris leading Pinkie and Trill as he looked at the map.

"Hmm...This place seems...familiar," Trill said, looking around at the different mountains in the distance.

"Have you been here before?" Pinkie asked.

"I think so..." The changeling princess froze, sensing something around them, and it was something familiar. Worried, she quickly walked next to Solaris, looking at the map. "Uhh, Solly? Are we getting closer to where your last test thing is at?"

"Well, if my calculations are correct on our location right now..." Solaris looked around, his eyes resting on a larger mountain a half mile away from where they were standing. "I think it's over at that mountain over there."

"...Oh no..." Trill said, her gaze fixated on the mountain. "It's there?"

"Yes...why?" Solaris asked, starting to get worried at his marefriend's sudden anxiousness.

"...That's my hive..." she said.

"What?" Suddenly, Pinkie was knocked unconscious by a blast of green magic, falling to the ground. "Aunt Pinkie!?"

Solaris didn't react in time as another beam shot at him, sending him into unconsciousness as well. From behind boulders or discarding their camouflage with their transformative magic, dozens of changelings rushed toward them, many covering Trill in a defensive stance while the others made sure Pinkie and Solaris were knocked out.

"You two, alert the queen and tell her the princess is safe," one of the changelings said, being the commander of the large group. The two he commanded saluted as they flew off to the mountain to bring the news to their queen. "Princess Trill, your mother is absolutely furious. You better have a good reason for cutting yourself off from the hive mind aside from the thousands of thoughts from your subjects."

"What are you going to do to them?" Trill asked the leader as the remaining changelings coated the unconscious ponies with their magic ooze, one of them making sure to nullify Solaris's horn to keep him from using his magic to escape.

"They're going to be held prisoner. Maybe we can get a decent meal out of these two," he said.

"Oh no you don't! Not my coltfriend and his aunt!" Trill ordered, making the soldiers look at the princess in shock.

"...What?" the leader asked, unsure if he heard the young royal's words right.

"You heard me. That alicorn is my lover, which you knocked out." Trill began receiving distasteful hisses from the experienced soldier changelings.

"You have a lot of explaining to do once we escort you back to her royal highness." Trill had no choice as she was forced along, Solaris and Pinkie carried off by two of the strongest in the group.

"So does mom..." she uttered under her breath.

Solaris groaned, feeling his head spin as he opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed after waking to full consciousness was that he wasn't outside. It looked like he was inside of a cavern, the room he was in dimmed in a fluorescent green glow that came from magical gems embedded in the walls. There was a cell door made of earth that was his only means of leaving, two changeling guards standing at attention on the others side.

There was no sign of Pinkie or Trill, the former in another cell in what he believed was the hive and the latter elsewhere. He felt a sticky substance on his horn, green ooze hardened around his appendage and sealing his magic with its magical properties. Along with the lack of magic, his armor was taken from him as well.

"Well, at least they're smart enough to render me helpless...if I had a blunt or sharp weapon." Solaris approached the earthly cell door, testing its strength, catching the attention of the guards. They glared at him with blue eyes, their figures far different than Trill's. Where she had hair and seemed to look like a normal pony, and where they had similar features, their horns were smaller and curved upward. "Hey, where did you put my armor?"

"Silence, prisoner," one of the guards said. "We're ordered to keep you held here until the queen allows you her presence."

"And you have the nerve to corrupt our princess," the other guard said, hissing angrily. "Our future queen, falling for a pony. We'll make sure you're punished harshly for putting those thoughts in her head."

"Where is Trill?" Solaris asked, backing away as a spear was thrust through the cell.

"Keep quiet!" They turned back into position, unaware of the growing anger on the alicorn's face.

"...Fine. If you won't tell me-" Solaris set his hooves aflame, the sudden heat catching the changelings' attention. Before they were able to stop him, the teen slammed through the cell, knocking it and the guards, rendering them unconscious. -"I'll find her myself."

Using his fire, he burnt off the magical binding ooze from his horn, freeing his ability to use magic. While looking around the dungeon of the hive, Solaris managed to find his armor laying nearby, quickly putting them back on while being alert for more guards, knowing somepony was going to check on the noise. He looked through each of the cells, but found no sign of Pinkie Pie, hoping she was alright and navigated his way around the caverns.

Solaris had no clue where he was going. While avoiding patrolling changelings, at least a hundred guards, he either kept reaching a dead end or wound up in the same hallway.

"Ok, I should have stayed in the cell like a good prisoner. I am completely lost." Solaris walked down another similar looking corridor, freezing at the entrance as he had made a wrong turn. There were hundreds of changelings, in a larger room compared to the others he walked past, all of them looking in his direction in silence. "...Uhh, wrong turn?"

"The prisoner's escaping! Get him!" The changelings lunged at him while Solaris quickly fled back down the corridor to find the right exit.

No matter which way he went, there were more changelings waiting for him, whether they were soldiers or workers, however he believed the hive's social status is determined, they were one step ahead of him. Even if it seemed like they were easy to knock out, Solaris knew he was vastly outnumbered and they would overwhelm him if he lost too much stamina. He managed to escape the never-ending maze of corridors and found stairs leading up, running out into a much open area.

He gasped as he saw how massive the hive was compared to the dungeons he was constantly running around in. There was a lot of space, where many changelings were seen flying around to different locations in the hive, young and old. Along the walls were caverns that either led to individual homes or passages outside of the massive cavern. And in the center of the space was what looked like a castle made out of the mountain, where the royals of the colony reside.

"There he is!" Solaris snapped out of his awe, remembering he was escaping and flew off to the castle. "He's trying to reach the queen! Stop him!"

Soon, many changelings began chasing after him, the echoing sound of buzzing growing louder as they were gaining on him. Solaris rammed through a blockade of guards, trying to stop him from entering the castle, quickly flying through each room to find Trill, if she was being held inside.

"Why the hay is there no map that can help me when I need it most!?" Quickly flying into a room, he hid inside as he heard the buzzing hoard chasing after him go down the hallway. Staying quiet for a moment longer, not hearing them come back, he breathed a sigh of relief, having escaped the highly dangerous mob. "That was close."

When he got a better look at the room he wound up in, his eyes widened as he saw it was filled with eggs in gallons of the same green ooze that was on his horn. Solaris figured he might have entered a sort of storage room to incubate changeling eggs until they hatched. Unfortunately, today was hatching day as he heard the sound of several eggs cracking in the goop, tiny hooves and heads breaking out of the shells and squirming out of the gelatinous secretion.

As the hatchlings escaped from the goop, he heard them making little insect noises, some of them licking off the ooze on their bodies. In a weird way, Solaris found them to be really cute, not as gross as Trill described the process to be. They all opened their eyes, looking up at the alicorn, having no clue if they would imprint him as their father. He hoped that wasn't the case.

"...Uhh, hiya, little guys..." Their little blue eyes just kept staring at him, some of them tilting their heads, trying to examine what he might be. After a few minutes of awkward silence, they all screeched and lunged at him, sending the alicorn stumbling out of the room with about a dozen changeling babies swarming him. "AHH! Hey, get off! I don't want to hurt you-OW! Hey, my ear is not a chew toy!"

Their tiny wings buzzed around him as they began to nip him wherever they latched onto him. Solaris had no clue if they were playing or they were attacking, but he didn't want to hurt any of them.

"He's got the new hatchlings!" Solaris managed to pry one off his muzzle, noticing the same mob chasing him earlier having come back. "Let go of them, prisoner!"

They began to get closer, and he couldn't fly off without getting the changeling foals hurt. Looking at the one he was currently holding onto, he winced as he was about to do something he was going to hate himself for. "Sorry, little buddy." Clutching the foal with one hoof, he held out his other hoof, lighting it on fire. The flames scared the infants as they scattered away from him, terrifying the one he was holding hostage as he brought his hoof closer. "Don't any of you move, or the hatchling gets incinerated!"

The group stopped where they were, none of them daring to move while some of them picked up the frightened hatchlings. As much as his family had despised the changelings for being heartless, love-sucking monsters, it was a big difference seeing them fearing the safety of their young. They even seemed afraid of him being able to control fire by his own will, and not by his horn. It broke the teen's heart to hear the foal he was holding captive whimper in fright, but he needed to find Pinkie and Trill, and if he had to scare a baby changeling to death to keep from getting caught, he had no choice.

"Don't hurt her." Solaris looked at the infant, surprised and horrified to know it was a filly he was holding up when the changelings all seemed to look alike. "We'll do whatever you wish. Just don't harm the little one."

"...I-I...I'm looking for somepony you're holding captive, and I'm searching for your princess," Solaris said, keeping his composure while trying not to let go of the trembling infant out of sympathy. "The pony is a pink earth pony, her mane is similar in color and really poofy, like a cloud, or cotton candy. Is she here in your hive?"

"She's being held in a containment pod, to absorb the love energy she has inside of her," one of them answered, being one of the hive's guards. "We can't let you see the princess, by the queen's orders. We will free the mare, but we will not give you the queen's daughter."

"...Then take me to your queen," Solaris demanded.

"B-But-" the guard reached out, only to stop when Solaris held the flame closer to the infant. "No! Don't kill my daughter! Please! We'll do anything!"

Solaris's breath caught in his throat as he heard the guard. He looked at the changeling filly, seeing her reaching out to him in fear. He thought that the incubation room he ran into was meant for royal eggs laid by the queen, but seeing all the newborns having fled into what appeared to be their parents' hooves, he was wrong. He wasn't really going to harm the changeling, but knowing that this was actually one of the drones' children nearly shattered his heart. They thought he would actually kill a baby, and Solaris would never do such a thing to anything that was just recently born.

He moved his hoof away, keeping it lit as he looked at the terrified father. "...Take me to your queen, release my aunt, and I will let your daughter go. Understand?"

"Yes. Of course. I'll show you to the throne room...I'll escort the queen once I take you there." The other changelings made a path, staying as far as they could from Solaris as he hovered past them so he wouldn't hurt the hatchling.

As he followed the guard down the halls, some of the guards flew off to bring Pinkie Pie to him, giving into his demands for the foal's life. He was finally lead to the throne room doors, the guard opening the wooden doors, allowing the alicorn inside. It wasn't as big as the throne room in the Crystal Empire, but Solaris could see the throne, crafted out of obsidian, on the other side of the room. Standing in the center of the room, he waited patiently as the guard stood near the doorway, greatly worried for his daughter's safety. He began making chirping noises to try and calm her down, the teen wishing he could let the baby go sooner rather than after completing his hostage negotiations.

Ten minutes later, the soldiers carried a large green cocoon created from solidified ooze, with Pinkie Pie resting inside. The father stabbed through it with his horn, slicing it open and letting the unconscious mare slide out onto the floor. She began coughing heavily, hacking up the disgusting liquid she had inhaled while inside of her prison.

"Ugh...That was not good gelatin..." Pinkie got up, breathing fresh air, spotting Solaris with the baby changeling in his hoof. "Solly? What's going on?...Did I miss something?"

"Aunt Pinkie, just get over here. We're not exactly safe." She looked behind her, now noticing the large group of changelings watching them. She shakily walked over to Solaris, her body still recovering from whatever effects the cocoon had on her while stealing her energy. "Now, bring the queen to me, and I'll give you my word."

The father nodded, quickly running off to find the queen while the others watched to make sure he didn't do anything. Pinkie put two and two together, gasping in shock at what Solaris was doing.

"Are you seriously holding a baby hostage? What is wrong with you!?" Pinkie exclaimed.

"I didn't want to do this," Solaris said, looking down at the trembling infant, feeling like a monster for terrifying her like this. "I was trying to find you and Trill, and I was being chased."

"You could have just fought them. You have power that could have rivaled Applejack's bucking strength," Pinkie retorted.

"There's a thousand of them, and they would have gotten me once I got tired." Pinkie was about to speak, but Solaris beat her before she could even ask. "And yes, there were exactly one thousand changelings chasing me. I counted."

"Who dares to interrupt me while I was in the middle of something important!?" Solaris and Pinkie froze as they heard what sounded like the hive's queen. The changelings stepped aside and bowed as she walked past them, revealing herself to the alicorn and earth pony. Solaris was now in the presence of the queen, Chrysalis, Trill's mother. She was twice as tall as he was, her horn longer and sharper, and the strange thing to him was that she could have actually passed as Trill's older sister. Chrysalis spotted the frightened hatchling in his grasp, leering at him. "...How dare you hold a youngling hostage, just to summon me from an important matter?"

"I had no choice," Solaris said.

"...Let her go..." He did so, extinguishing his hoof and gently lowering the changeling infant down. The instant he let go, the foal skittered to her father, quickly held tightly in his embrace as he comforted her. "Now that you have my attention, what is it you want?"

"I want to see Trill," Solaris said, getting a frustrated snort from the queen.

"I will not permit you to see my daughter," Chrysalis said. "For the past few hours since bringing her back, she kept talking nonsense about you and her in a romantic relationship." She gagged, the thought of falling in love sickening to her. "Whatever you did to her, I suggest you fix your spell on her before I have to deal with you myself."

"It's true, though," Solaris said. "I didn't do anything to her. We both love each other unconditionally. No manipulation, no spells, real love." That made many of the changelings hiss in disgust, even Chrysalis looked like she was going to be sick. "I was told by your daughter that falling in love with another species was considered taboo for changelings, yet there's no reason why that is. Do you know, your highness?"

"It is a rule known by every changeling for thousands of years, since our existence!" she yelled. "We changelings consume love, and to obtain it, we either disguise ourselves as our victim's lover, close friend, or relative, consuming their energy from under their noses, or through drastic measures, absorbing their love from magical containment pods. We don't FEEL love, we eat it!

"Trill keeps telling me she was able to consume as much as she wanted from you and never go hungry again. She knows better than to ever fall for somepony and become their prey, especially to you." Chrysalis pointed at him, glaring more intensely. "Whatever you did to make her think these heinous thoughts, you will pay for corrupting her."

"I didn't do anything to her!" Solaris said, marching closer to the ignorant queen. "Trill has been traveling with me and my family around Equestria, searching out the locations of my trials to defeat Lucifer!" Her eyes widened as he mentioned the unicorn tyrant. "I've gone through a lot of pain, losing my family one by one after each test I passed, and she's been there for me! If I never met her in the Everfree Forest, then I would have wound up lost and eventually killed. If she never came with me, I would have been constantly berating myself for failing to protect my family from their deaths, and I still do even after she told me they were all just mere coincidences!

"Without her in my life, I would have lost the will to keep going and complete what I was set to accomplish; saving Equestria, including your hive, from Lucifer's wrath!" Solaris hovered in the air as he was inches away from Chrysalis, setting his hooves on fire and surprising the changelings watching them. "Trill told me you're all suffering because Lucifer continuously instills fear in everypony in the kingdom, making it difficult for you to even feed your subjects and yourself. I grew to love your daughter every day, even with her constantly annoying me. I needed her in my life to help me avoid constantly suffering in psychological torment from having my family dying left and right.

"I admitted my feelings for her, and I saw her as a pony." The queen's jaw dropped slightly as he heard Solaris's words. "I didn't see her as a monster, or a freak, or a love-stealing succubus. To me, from being around her, changelings are just ponies who look different, and live a different lifestyle than other creatures. I got to learn about what you all are, what you all favor, and how you all have been living all your lives. I was interested in what Trill was, and I fell in love with her because she was there for me when I was lost. I admitted my feelings to her when she told me that she wasn't what I called her on our day together in the Crystal Empire; beautiful.

"I kissed her, and she kissed me. We both felt a spark, meaning we were meant to be together, and we both discovered something about our love. She was able to feed off of my love to her, without exhausting me of energy and causing me to become lethargic. She absorbed my love, and there were no repercussions for me." The changelings soon muttered, unsure if they should believe the alicorn or not. Chrysalis was utterly speechless, never leaving her gaze off the teen. "If you bring Trill down here and we prove it to you and everypony that it does work, we might be able to work out a deal once Lucifer has been dealt with. If you won't, then I won't hesitate to fight through you all to leave with her."

The whole room was silent, but Solaris meant what he said if Chrysalis won't listen to him. A moment later, the changeling queen began to laugh, confusing the alicorn.

"Really? You find us interesting, after being subjected to prejudice by Equestria by our appearance?" Chrysalis's wings buzzed, hovering up to Solaris's level as she smirked at him. "Tell me. What exactly is it about us that you see in me interests you? Is it my insect-like body, hard as a shell and not as squishy as your own skin? The holes in our legs and wings? Or maybe it's the fangs I show when I open my mouth? Please, give me some insight on what you find on me makes me seem normal compared to you! I am DYING to find out!"

Solaris ignored her sarcasm as she pointed out what she saw on her as flaws. "...You're a living being. Sentient, strategical, intelligent, incredible transformation magic for recon. Your whole hive works as a colony, you as its leader and able to communicate with each other through the 'hive mind', as Trill called it. It's like sharing the same brain, and you're able to act far more quickly than any other army. And even if you find yourself as an insect, you're also equines. You're a different race of pony to me, only with different magic compared to a unicorn's. I can see you all as equals, just misunderstood by the world because of your appearance and not who you are on the inside."

The room was silent again as the queen and alicorn looked at each other. Pinkie wondered if there was going to be a fight between the two, but eventually, Chrysalis slowly hovered back down to the ground, Solaris soon after, dismissing his fire.

"...One of you bring my daughter down to the throne room." Solaris grinned as he saw one of the guards leave the massive audience outside, the queen finally giving him a chance. "Wipe that dumb smile off your face. I only want to see if what you say about your theory is indeed true. It does not mean I will automatically like you, or accept you as a...friend." Chrysalis gagged at the word. "By the way, that pointless little speech you made on what you find interesting in us, I was being rhetorical."

Solaris rolled his eyes, knowing either way, he was going to voice his opinion on the changelings to her. A moment later, the guard came back as Trill nudged her way through the crowd.

"So, now I'm finally allowed out of my room, mom? What do you-?" Trill saw Solaris, immediately lighting up and flew straight into the alicorn. "Oh thank goodness! I thought my mom was gonna turn you into a meal."

"Well, I wasn't put in a disgusting cocoon made of slime when I woke up." Chrysalis cleared her throat, breaking their reunion as she gestured with her hoof to the alicorn to get on with his proof. He smirked, unable to wait and see the expressions on their faces once they see what happens. "Say, Trill, you hungry?"

"...A little. Are we gonna...?" Trill asked, knowing exactly what he had in mind.

"Oh yeah. But before we show your mom she's been wrong, I want to make sure we get a picture of her expression," he said.

"Ooh! I have a camera!" Pinkie rummaged through her hair, pulling out a camera, aiming it until it was zoomed in on Chrysalis's face. "Okie dokie! Ready!"

Solaris chuckled, turning back to face his marefriend. The lovers leaned closer until their lips met, kissing each other passionately, Trill's horn glowing brightly at the love he gave her. The instant her horn sparked to life, every changeling could feel a powerful wave of the love energy radiate from them, making them all salivate in hunger. Chrysalis felt it too, her jaw dropping at the incredible amount of love that was being absorbed by her daughter, staring in disbelief as the teens kissed. She didn't even notice the flash come from Pinkie's camera, a photo sliding out that held the captured moment.

The pink mare shook the picture, showing the shocked image of Chrysalis, her eye slightly twitched. "That's gonna be a keeper!"

The couple slowly pulled away, Trill licking her lips from her "meal" as they nuzzled each other. When they looked at the shocked changelings, they proved to the queen and thousands of witnesses that what they thought was taboo was actually a blessing.

"See, mom? I told you." Trill stuck out her tongue at her mother, pressing closer to Solaris and nuzzled his neck.

"...Impossible..." That was all Chrysalis could say, still shocked at how much love was given and how wrong she was.

After the hive had calmed down from the events that had occurred a couple hours ago, Solaris and Pinkie were treated as guests, despite Chrysalis still disliking how wrong she was with their beliefs. She looked at her daughter, still smirking, as the princess sat next to Solaris.

"Shut it, Trill," she said.

"I didn't say anything, mom." She kissed Solaris on the cheek, only further teasing her mother, along with a few of the guards.

"I get it! Just stop before I have to separate you two!" Chrysalis shouted, growing annoyed at her daughter's constant bothering.

Now that the two ponies weren't treated as prisoners, they were given their saddlebags back. Solaris was busy looking at the map, having no clue where they were inside of the changeling hive.

"Queen Chrysalis, do you think you can give me some information on where my final test is located in this region?" he asked. "As I stated earlier, I have to complete five trials in order to defeat Lucifer. Each trial I complete, I gain a new piece of armor that strengthens me. The problem was, when your troops ambushed us, I have no clue where we actually are unless I go outside and check the constellations."

"...Yeah, mom," Trill said accusingly. "Where exactly is Solaris's last test? Hmm?" The queen was silent, staring at Solaris. "Are you going to tell him, or should I help my coltfriend find the answer after realizing WHERE exactly his last test is?"

"Trill, why are you sounding hostile?" Solaris asked.

"Think, Solly. Remember how I reacted when we saw that mountain you pointed at, where your last trial was supposed to be?" Solaris tried to think back when that happened, which was mere moments before they were attacked. His eyes widened, looking at Chrysalis, who still kept her neutral expression, finally piecing together where it was. "Exactly. Your last test was here in my home, and apparently, I had no idea about it until I looked at your map closely." Trill glared at her mother. "So, mom, care to explain why you were going to give Solaris his final test, and why you didn't tell me about it all this time?"

The changeling queen stared at her daughter, remaining silent. She soon stood up and approached Trill, smacking her upside the head.

"For one, I didn't tell you because it was kept confidential until this savior I was told to look for came around. That, and your curious nature would have tried to find it and ruin the test before he would even arrive." The princess rubbed her head, leering at her mother. "And I'm not giving him his 'test'."

"Why not?" Solaris asked. "If I don't pass your test-"

"It is not something I had planned for you," Chrysalis interrupted. "Twilight Sparkle, having been turned into an alicorn almost two years after my invasion plan was ruined by her, actually came to me, and gave me a box that held 'Equestria's savior's' final piece."

"My mother came to you after knowing what you did to my aunt and uncle's wedding?" Solaris asked.

"Mother? What are you-!?" Chrysalis froze, getting a closer look at the alicorn teen. Her eyes widened, only to slap her forehead with her hoof, groaning in annoyance. "You have got to be kidding me...You are Twilight Sparkle's son, and our hero? We're doomed..."

"...What exactly happened?" Solaris questioned, wanting to know what had occurred between his and his lover's mothers.

She sat back down in her seat, rubbing her temples as the memory brought her irritation. "I wish a lot. But if you wish to know, I'll tell you..."

Chrysalis sat on her throne, busy plotting another invasion attempt in Equestria, though with security in discovering her subjects growing more with each day after the last couple years, their species will end up starving to death if nothing happens soon. Her mind was drawing a blank, growling in frustration. She was interrupted from her future ploys when one of her soldiers entered the throne room, bowing to her as he reached the throne.

"My queen," he said. "We have a little problem."

"What is it? I have no time for anything pointless you have to report." Chrysalis sighed, rubbing her head. "Don't tell me; you found a gopher wandering around the hive. Let it eat the worms in here!"

"...No, your majesty. A pony wishes to see you." That brought the queen's attention, knowing somepony was daft enough to enter her domain. "And...it is somepony you know. Princess...Twilight Sparkle."

"...What? Why is she here?" Chrysalis asked. "Is it just her?" The guard nodded. "...What is it she wants? Does she wish to give away our hive and eradicate us?"

"She requested an audience only with you. She wouldn't explain what it is about." The queen sighed, having no clue what Twilight wanted to do while risking her own life in her enemy's home.

"...Fine. I'll humor her. Bring her to the throne." The soldier bowed, heading back to the entrance of their hive to allow the princess access. A moment later, the doors opened, Twilight Sparkle slowly making her way up to the queen. Chrysalis raised a brow, finding the newly ascended mare with a large belly, and she was able to sense another presence with the alicorn; an unborn foal growing inside of her. As soon as the doors closed, the queen got up from her throne and slowly approached her enemy. "Well, well, well. Somepony must have gotten knocked up. I never expected you, a shut in who's a prodigal genius, would actually get pregnant. Who's the unlucky stallion?"

"I'll just take that as a greeting, Chrysalis," Twilight said, sitting down as she panted a little. "I never expected your hive to be this big. And if you want to know, yes, I am actually pregnant. Another couple months before my son is born. How I got pregnant..." The mare sighed, trying to remember what happened. "I got overly stressed this whole year, planning everything for the upcoming danger that's soon to come in a few months. Pinkie decided to throw a party to help ease my stress, and I really needed something to get my mind off of many sleepless nights. I didn't realize I went into my heat cycle after I had gotten drunk from whatever Pinkie added in the punch, or maybe it was Rainbow Dash. The next morning, I woke up in my home, my body sore with a powerful hangover, and a few days later, I showed symptoms of pregnancy. So, as you predicted, I got knocked up, and I have no clue who it was that impregnated me."

Chrysalis just stared at Twilight as she explained her pregnancy, mostly being sarcastic and got too much information. "...How charming..."

"I'm not going to waste much of your time, but I need you to do something for the fate of Equestria," Twilight said.

"Excuse me?" Chrysalis questioned. "'Do something for the fate of Equestria?' How about you tell me why first before talking about your personal life!?"

Twilight sighed, her vision still haunting her ever since she first experienced the gruesome nightmare. "...I have no idea when it'll happen, but I know it's going to come true soon. I think in another few months, somepony with dark magic by the name of Lucifer, a student of Celestia's from a thousand years ago, will awaken. He will end up ruling Equestria, after killing Celestia, Luna, my friends...and me." She looked down at her belly, gently rubbing it, feeling Solaris's hoof lightly kick against her womb to touch hers. "...Lucifer will stop at nothing if he goes on a murderous rampage. And if he defeats us...then nopony would survive under his rule, especially you and your hive."

"...You have got to be kidding me," Chrysalis said, not believing the soon-to-be mother. "And you know this will happen?"

"Yes...I've been having the same premonition every day for the past year, all involving the same unicorn, the same state my friends, the princesses, and I are killed, every single time I dream." Twilight tried to calm her breathing, fearing the day she would die, not wanting to agitate her foal resting inside her. "But at the end, there was an alicorn stallion, dressed in golden armor, and he was able to defeat the blood-crazed unicorn and free Equestria from his tyranny. I don't know if he would be wearing the armor when he reveals himself, but I planned ahead, having each of his pieces enchanted to give him the strength he'll need to stop Lucifer."

Using her magic, Twilight materialized a golden chest, which was sealed tightly. She rested it down in front of Chrysalis, still not believing the alicorn's story.

"What is this? A bribe?" She reached out to try to open the chest, but Twilight quickly set her hooves on the top of the chest.

"NO! Don't open it!" Twilight shouted. "Inside this chest is the stallion's final test. Each trial he faces, he has to prove to the ones I sought out to prove his skills: resolve, strategy, endurance, power, and willpower. This chest holds his last test, which is more dangerous than anything he would face before coming here. If anypony else opens this before he does, then his test will be wasted."

"What is in there?" Chrysalis asked, growing more curious.

"...Along with his final piece...Something he must confront to fully prove himself..." Twilight slowly got off the chest, controlling her breathing after Chrysalis almost ruined what was inside. "The stallion who will seek your hive is a white alicorn, his mane and tail bright gold. Only he can open this when the time comes. Please, keep this safe, and welcome him into your home."

"And why should I believe you?" the queen questioned, unsure if this was some kind of trick to lower her guard.

"Chrysalis, please. I'm begging you," Twilight said, growing more scared. "If Celestia, Luna, and myself can't stop Lucifer, then there is no possible hope for anyone in the world to stop him. You don't do this for me. Do this for the safety and longevity of your subjects. I know we should be considered enemies, but I'm willing to look past your invasion a couple years ago if it means you'll agree to keep this chest safe and closed until he arrives at your door."

The changeling queen looked back down at the chest, then back at Twilight's terrified face. She was legitimately afraid of what she had seen, and was scared of her fate that was nothing but constant nightmares, at least in Chrysalis's thoughts. Sighing, she gave in, only to humor the alicorn.

"Fine then. I'll hold onto your little box and wait for this alicorn stallion, a first to even hear a male alicorn to exist." Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. "What will agreeing to do this for you benefit me?"

"The lives of everypony in the world. And don't worry, Chrysalis, I will only leave the location of your hive only to the alicorn, along with where his other four tests' locations are. Pinkie Promise." Twilight went through the motions of the patented Pinkie Promise, intending to keep the hive a secret.

Twilight soon left and began making her way back home, not wanting to risk teleporting and hurt her unborn son, Chrysalis commanding her soldiers to leave the alicorn be as she exited. Looking back at the box, she held it up, shaking it around to try and hear what's actually inside.

"There's nothing inside..." She huffed, heading to her bedchambers, placing the chest under her bed. "Maybe she was giving me some kind of test. Hmph. And of all ponies, why me to come to and keep her precious little box safe?" Her thoughts soon began to drift off to what this heroic alicorn will look like, imagining him as a muscular, hardened warrior, who was also suave when it came to the opposite sex. "He better be handsome."

"A few months later, my scouts had come back after gaining any reconnaissance they could get in Canterlot," Chrysalis continued telling her tale. "I was surprised to hear them explain everything, scared out of their minds, your mother's premonition had com true. I finally took her warning seriously, and kept the chest hidden underneath the hive, far deeper than our dungeons. We were already suffering from lack of food, and now we're almost at a breaking point where the only way we can feed is through war. But, Lucifer's magic was stronger than anything I've ever seen, practically invincible and more deadly than an Ursa Major woken up from hibernation."

"...So, did you let me travel out in Equestria on my own to find Solly...and bring him back when I did find him?" Trill asked, still confused as to why she was sent off.

"No, Trill, you were old enough to hunt for yourself and wanted to give you a little freedom, and out of my mane," Chrysalis said. "It was merely coincidental you ran into him...and unexpected to know about...that..."

"Our love?" Solaris finished what the queen detested saying.

"Yes..." she groaned. "I still can't believe this is happening..."

"Well, can you show me where you have my last test? I want to get this over with and stop Lucifer as soon as possible," Solaris said, ready to take on whatever his final trial had in store.

"...Fine. Follow me." Chrysalis lead the way with Solaris, Trill, and Pinkie following the queen. "Sparkle, whatever you had planned, it better work," she uttered under her breath as they walked down the corridors of her castle.

Chapter 23: The Final Trial

Chrysalis lead Solaris, Pinkie, and her daughter Trill through the castle, heading down to the lowest floor of the castle in her hive. There were no changeling guards stationed around this level of the castle's basement, and after walking through the only corridor, they arrived at a dead end. Before anyone could question why they were lead to a wall, the queen lowered her horn and inserted it into a hidden indention in the wall, twisting her head and using her magic, a click echoing the corridor. The wall before them opened up, revealing a hidden staircase leading further down into the mountain.

"Wow. I never knew about this!" Trill exclaimed.

"For good reason," Chrysalis said drolly. "Ever since you were a hatchling, you kept flying around, touching everything, and annoying many of my guards with your curiosity. Even if you wound up down here, only I could open the way down to the chest."

"So it's like a magical lock that can only read the aura of whoever is allowed access, along with the shape of your horn as an extra key," Solaris said, surprising Chrysalis.

"How did you know what system I had in place for this passage?" The queen didn't receive an answer, Pinkie raising a brow while holding up sign that read "Really?" She realized the reason why, groaning angrily. "Right...You inherited Sparkle's brain as soon as you popped out of her."

"Wait until you here him randomly lecture us on something pointless." Trill took in a deep breath to playfully annoy Solaris by botching an important part of Equestria's history, but the alicorn shoved his hoof in her mouth.

"Don't even, Trill. I'm not going to embarrass myself in front of your mother." The princess grinned as he put his hoof down.

"That would be amusing," Chrysalis said under her breath, continuing leading them down the hoof-crafted stairway. The three following the queen had no idea how far down they were going, having walked down at least fifty flights worth of stairs. Finally, after nearly ten minutes of walking, they reached the bottom, Solaris and Pinkie gasping in awe at the massive room. It was half the size of the hive up above if the castle wasn't in the center of the colony, there were many sizable stalactites spread out along the ceiling, and it looked like it was a natural part of the mountain. "Here it is."

Using her magic, Chrysalis shot a small beam at a nearby gem, causing a chain reaction as several green gems lit up, lighting up the battlefield of a room. Resting in the center was the golden chest, untouched and still locked, just how it was when Twilight gave the queen the mysterious box.

"I thought this was going to be a vault of sorts," Solaris spoke up, Pinkie and Trill too entranced by the golden shimmer of the chest. "Why make a large room the resting place for it?"

"Your mother was vague when explaining what was inside," Chrysalis said. "All she warned me about it was that nopony else opens it except for you. I even shook the dumb thing to see what was actually in there, but it didn't feel like anything was inside of it. Besides, I stumbled upon this area while digging up that stairway on my own, thinking it would be a good place to keep it in case something decided to pop out of that chest."

"...I see..." Solaris sighed, feeling his heart racing, the last of his trials a few yards away from the entrance.

He slowly took off his armor, confusing the three mares. "Solly, why are you taking off your gear?"

"...I have a gut feeling there's something in there that wants to test my real strength, not enchanted enhancements to my stamina and endurance." Solaris had taken off his curiass first, then the ring and pendant, setting them down next. Looking down at his gauntlets, he stared at the six colored gems embedded in them. Each one resembled the same color as the Elements of Harmony: purple for Generosity, orange for Honesty, red for Loyalty, pink for Kindness, blue for Laughter, and light fuschia for Magic. His gaze lingered on the blue gem, knowing once he was able to complete this test, he'll lose Pinkie. He pulled them off his forelegs, laying them next to the rest of his armor. "This last trial is going to be the toughest I'll have to face. I might fail if I have anything assist me...Just as a precaution."

Trill hugged Solaris tightly in worry, the teen hugging her back. "Don't get too badly hurt. I didn't know how much I was able to bear after the last one."

"I can't promise that, but I'll try not to." They shared a small kiss, making Chrysalis's wings twitch from the small aura of love given.

After letting go, Solaris turned to Pinkie, the mare nodded, ready to accept her fate if the alicorn's predictions were true. Turning back to the chest, he took in a deep breath and exhaled, ready to take on what his final test was going to throw at him. He stood by the chest, levitating it up to eye level, looking at the lock keeping it held shut. As he coated his aura around the lock, it automatically unlocked, falling to the ground and able to open the golden box. He gently lowered the chest back to the ground, reaching out to the lid with a shaky hoof, trepidation seeping into him while the others prepared for the worst.

As quick as he would with a band-aid, Solaris rested his hoof on the chest and quickly opened it, wincing as he awaited whatever was about to attack him. After a few seconds of nothing happening, he opened his eyes, looking at the inside of the chest, but there was nothing inside. He examined the chest from all angles, but there didn't seem to be anything else that was required to begin his final test. Looking back at the worried changelings and earth pony, he shrugged his shoulders, having no clue what he was supposed to do now.

"Ugh," Chrysalis groaned. "I knew it was empty. Twilight Sparkle made me worry over no-" She froze when she saw something slowly floating out of the chest, the alicorn unaware of the black mist rising behind him. "What in Equestria?"

"Solly! Look out!" Pinkie shouted.

Solaris quickly looked behind him, gasping in fright at the large mass of darkness towering him. It quickly fell over him, the teen shouting as he was engulfed in the cloud of dark magic.

"No!" Trill tried to help him, but her mother intervened, keeping her held back. "Let me go! He's gonna die!"

"We have no idea what that cloud of darkness is and what it can do to us!" the queen shouted. "I knew I shouldn't have trusted that mare! She did want to kill us!"

Before the three tried to escape, Solaris was suddenly flung out of the dark cloud, tumbling across the ground as he gasped for breath. Trill sighed in relief, glad to see him unharmed, leaving them all confused as to what had happened to the alicorn. The dark cloud slowly rose up and began to shift into a physical form, starting with its hooves up to its head. As more of its new form was revealed, they all gasped as they saw it taking the shape of Solaris, his fur, mane, and tail darker, even his cutie mark had been altered; instead of Solaris's half sun with six rays rising out of it, with a star in each ray and half of Twilight's cutie mark in the bright semi-circle, the clone's was was a whole sun, but the pink star inside was shattered, and the smaller white ones were outside of the rays, also broken.

"Two Solaris's?" Pinkie asked in shock. The dark Solaris's eyes opened, only instead of blue, they were blood red, his neutral expression turning sinister. "No. Evil Solaris...Definitely evil Solaris."

The dark clone cracked his neck, moving his limbs around as he chuckled in fiendish delight. "Happy birthday to me. Finally glad to be out of that wimp's mind."

Solaris got up on his hooves, staring at his doppelganger, who was quickly getting used to his new body. "Y-You're...me?"

"Of course I'm you, you idiot," he said, stretching his wings. "Were you expecting mom to show up again, crybaby?"

Solaris's eyes widened, knowing exactly what his final test was supposed to be. "...You're my final test..."

"Right on the bucking bit," the evil clone said, still insulting to his lighter counterpart. "Only, instead of this being a test, it's a matter of life or death. And for you, it's going to be death."

"What is happening?" Trill asked, feeling wary of the evil Solaris eyeing her. "I don't understand."

"It's quite simple, sweetheart," the clone said, slowly approaching them as he stared at the changeling princess. "I happen to be the better half of this pathetic excuse of a stallion. The problem was that he kept me in the back of his mind, not wanting to fall down a dark path. News flash, Solaris; there's two sides of a bit, and I happened to be the one you kept placed down on the table. You can't get rid of your darkness, and you know it.

"I'm your hatred, rage, every feeling you don't want to mold you into a villain. And incarnation of your sick, twisted thoughts," the evil clone eyed Trill, licking his lips as he gazed at her. "Even your lust. That night in the cave back in the Crystal Empire, babe? That was me wanting to bury you in the ground as I rammed you, but it was really short-lived. Wait until you see what I can do once I kill the real faker."

Trill felt disgusted, not wanting to imagine this Solaris as the one who she shared an intimate evening with. The real Solaris stood in front of his marefriend, keeping her out of his dark side's sight.

"Not another step closer," he growled, which only made the clone laugh.

"Look at you! Finally, you grew a pair! Too bad they're the size of grapes." The dark Solaris disappeared in the blink of an eye, only to reappear next to the shocked teen, kicking him hard in the back of the head, sending the real Solaris tumbling across the room. The clone looked at Trill, winking at her. "To avoid confusion, you can all call me Nova Flare. Sounds a lot more powerful than 'Solaris', wouldn't you agree?" For Nova's answer, the changeling spat green web in his face, not even fazed by the disgusting response. Lifting up a hoof, it began to burn a dark flame, similar to Solaris's ability to control flames on a whim, burning away the sticky webbing. "Feisty. I think I'm starting to fall in love."

"Buck. Off." Trill growled, leering at the disgusting twin.

Nova chuckled as he turned to face his lighter self, Solaris struggling to get up as he snapped out of his daze. Glaring at the dark alicorn, he slammed his hooves together, sending green sparks as his hooves lit up with green fire.

"Ooh. Scary. Somepony's acting tough," Nova mocked.

"Shut up!" Solaris flew toward his doppelganger, wanting to end him before he kept insulting him and trying to hit on his marefriend.

He flung a flurry a punches at Nova, but the dark stallion dodged every one, his forelegs crossed as he made no attempt to even block a single hit. Solaris grew frustrated, unable to land a single blow, attempting to sweep his clone off his hind legs, only to leap up in the air at the last second, spin kicking Solaris hard in the face. Quickly righting himself back up, he lunged at the clone, still missing Nova as his kicks and punches were still avoided.

"Is that all you got?" Nova finally used his forelegs, grabbing Solaris's hoof as he tried to punch him, pulling him closer and kneeing the alicorn hard in the chest. Solaris staggered back, only to receive the same speed of punches he gave to Nova reflected back at him, unable to block or avoid each blow that struck him. After what felt like an eternity, the onslaught ceased, but he didn't have time to breath before feeling a swift kick hit him in the stomach, sending him stumbling backwards and lost his breath. "Tsk. This is just pathetic."

Catching his breath, Solaris shouted as he lunged at Nova. He aimed his hoof right in the smug alicorn's face, only for the dark clone to grab it, making him punch himself with his own hoof. As he staggered backward, Nova pulled him back, still keeping a firm grip on his hoof, sending the teen flying into the air with a flaming uppercut. Solaris began to fall back down, and right as he was about to hit the ground, Nova punched the alicorn while shooting a blast of compressed air, making the teen fly across the ground and slamming him into the wall in a crumpled heap.

"This is bad," Pinkie said, her and the changelings growing more scared by the minute. "That other Solly is too fast."

"Like I said before, we're doomed," Chrysalis reiterated.

"He can't lose," Trill said worriedly. "He can beat that bastard. He has to..."

Solaris slowly got back up, struggling to stay standing as Nova began to walk closer. "You should just stay down. We both know who the better you really is."

He growled, sick of hearing his darker self talk down at him. "I...am sick...and tired...of hearing you talk." Though Solaris was hurting, he wasn't going to back down. Thrusting his hooves forward, he began to create a large fireball, making Nova raise a brow, wondering what his other self had planned. With the ball of fire at the perfect size, Solaris knocked it up in the air, leaping up after it as he flipped backward. "Dodge THIS!"

He kicked the fireball hard, sending it hurtling at Nova at blinding speed. The dark alicorn stood still, smirking as he watched it fly straight toward him. The moment it was mere inches from striking, he slapped the green fireball off to the side, shocking Solaris and the mares as it blew up when it struck the wall.

"Cute. Now, here's how it's really done." Nova created his own fireball, only this grew twice the size of Solaris's. Instead of tossing it in the air, he began rapidly punching it, but it stayed in place. He reared his hoof back once more, the flames on his hoof growing stronger. "Your turn!"

With a swift punch, the fireball exploded and shot out dozens of smaller fireballs, all of them hurtling toward Solaris. He flew up, hoping to avoid them, but instead of hitting the wall behind him, Nova manipulated them, using his hoof to guide them at the alicorn like heat-seekers.

"You got to be kidding me!" Solaris shouted as he flew away from the homing balls of dark fire.

He could hear Nova laughing as he commanded his flames to keep on his tail, moving them erratically and getting them to hit their mark. Solaris kept dodging, not paying attention as they began to surround him, moving at blinding speeds around him like a sphere.

"Heheheheh. Gotcha." The fireballs stopped moving by his command, then, with a clap of his hooves, they dove into Solaris, exploding on impact as they formed a powerful blast in the air. The alicorn fell out of the smoke, landing hard on the ground with scorch marks all over his body. "That's a little something I call 'Nova Blast'. Nopony can escape it. And you won't escape from this either."

Nova put his forehooves together, widening his stance as he moved his hooves to his side, a ball of swirling dark flames spinning faster as he powered his magic inside of it. Solaris could barely move as he struggled to stand on four legs. Trill, Pinkie, and Chrysalis couldn't bear to watch what's going to happen next.

"He's dead," the queen said, beginning to back away as the heat from Nova's flames grew higher in temperature. "We're all going to die. Sparkle, you doomed us all."

"This can't be happening!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Why can't this story have good things happen!?"

Trill couldn't take watching Solaris get beaten up anymore. She was terrified of his evil persona, and couldn't win if she tried, but she didn't want him to die. Her wings buzzed as she flew toward Solaris, tuning out her mother's protests. This was yet another horrible plan she didn't think through, but she couldn't let her coltfriend and Equestria's savior die. As she reached him, she stood up and spread her forelegs out, ready to take whatever Nova was going to do to Solaris.

"T-Trill!?" Solaris exclaimed. "What are you doing!?"

"...Something stupid..." she said, wincing as she prepared to get burned.

Nova laughed as his sphere of flames were ready to unleash its power. "How brave of you, little bug! But you can't save him! So, I'll just end both of your lives! Together forever, as they say with two little lovebirds!"

Nova thrust his hooves forward, a powerful torrent of flames shooting out from them and were heading toward the two. Solaris was in a panic, not wanting to get Trill hurt in his fight and wanting to avoid the dark flames that could burn him to death. He remembered how magical his Uncle Spike's flames were, able to send objects, and living beings, from one location to another. It worked on him when he saved him the teen from Lucifer's wrath before it was time for him to fight him.

Praying this would work, he imagined Trill would be sent right back to Chrysalis and Pinkie's side, took a deep breath, and shrouded the changeling princess in his flame breath. She turned around as she felt the flames hit her from behind, her vision covered in green fire as she disappeared in a puff of smoke, floating away from the blast of dark flame's trajectory. She reappeared next to the two mares, the flames around her dissipating into embers. Knowing she was safe, Solaris quickly put up his forelegs to shield himself, even though it wouldn't do much to save him, yelling in pain as he was engulfed in the powerful flamethrower.

While Chrysalis and Pinkie were surprised to see Trill had come back to them after supposedly getting burnt by Solaris and suddenly appearing out of those same flames, the princess stared in horror as she watched Solaris get engulfed by Nova's flamethrower. The dark alicorn ceased his attack, watching as the flames died out around where Solaris stood. He was still standing, badly burnt, his limbs shaking as the last of his strength began to fade, collapsing on his side.

"Solly...?" Trill weakly uttered, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks.

Nova grunted, landing back on all fours as he slowly approached the weak, yet still breathing stallion. "What a sacrifice. Pretty lucky to use your fire like that. Uncle Spike would be proud." Solaris tried to get up, but his limbs failed to help him up. The evil doppelganger stood before his other self, watching him struggle to crawl away, quickly kicking him in the chest to stop him. "What a pathetic waste of time. I didn't even work up a sweat." He began to sniff the air around him. "I should have cooked you well-done. You're not even on the medium side."

Solaris coughed, trying to get the air back in his lungs, getting irritated with his clone's quips. "I-Is that all...you can say? E-Even Aunt Pinkie...would gag at your p-pathetic wordplay..."

Pinkie nodded her head in agreement.

"Hmph." Nova grabbed Solaris's neck, lifting him up and slamming his back hard into the wall behind him. "Witty retorts won't save you in this situation, 'brother'. In fact, you're not even worthy of being Equestria's little hero if you can't even do anything to me. Why mom thought you were destined to save everypony is beyond me.

"Unlike you, I'm not a sniveling little crybaby. I could take Lucifer on my own, without that dumb armor you stupidly took off, with my wings and forelegs tied behind my back. You're nothing but a joke!" Nova kneed Solaris hard in the stomach, making him gasp for air. "You're no hero. All you do is run away and hide. A coward at birth, and a coward now."

"...N-Not...a c-coward..." Solaris uttered weakly, getting kneed hard in the stomach again.

"Don't lie to yourself!" Nova shouted. "Fifteen years wasted away in a cave, hidden from Lucifer for your own protection? That's a load of manure, and you know it! He finds you out, you hit and run! You even froze when you met again in Saddle Arabia, scared out of your mind and didn't even try to hit him again! You ran away from your family, ran away from the Resistance fighting against the Shadow Knights, and you even ran from a bunch of giant cockroaches!" He heard Chrysalis hiss in anger at the insult, but he paid her no mind. "You run from everything because you are weak.

"I am better than you. I have no heart, which means I don't care what happens to those around me, and I won't even care about how they died. And right now, we proved which of us is worthy to live." He slammed Solaris down to the ground, lighting his hoof with his dark flames. "Once I kill Lucifer and take over the throne, I'll rule Equestria how I see fit, and do whatever I wish. But before I go off to do your job, I'll spend some quality time with your little marefriend.

"I'll use her as my own little slave, tie her up and make her wear a collar, with the dogtag that reads 'King's Personal Slut'. And to make sure she doesn't try and escape, I'll chop her horn off, rip off her fragile wings, and keep her mouth gagged so she won't annoy me with her screams for help." Solaris's eyes widened as his body shuddered with rage. "I would love to see your expression when I rape her right in front of you, but that would be too much work to keep you tied down. Oh well. Killing you will make it so much more satisfying. Goodbye, Solaris, failure son of Princess Twilight Sparkle!"

Nova thrust his hoof forward, the mares unable to watch Solaris get killed by his psychopathic twin. Solaris grabbed his hoof, slowly engulfing itself in green flames, keeping Nova's hoof from getting closer to him. The evil counterpart struggled to pull his hoof away, but Solaris's grip was somehow stronger than his own strength. As the burnt alicorn slowly got back up, his eyes closed, painfully twisting Nova's leg, the green fire began to glow white, dissipating the dark stallion's own flames.

"You...will not...touch a single hair...on Trill's head..." Solaris twisted Nova's leg hard, a resounding snap echoing in the large room. Nova screamed in agony as Solaris broke the alicorn's leg, the furious teen letting go as his evil copy writhed in pain. His foreleg hung limply in his other leg, completely useless. Nova glared at Solaris, which slowly turned to fear as his gaze fell on the slowly building white flames engulfing his hooves, lighting the cavern to nearly blinding everyone present. "I will not let you hurt her, or anypony else." He opened his eyes, his pupils alight with the same white fire around his hooves.

"...T-Tsk. Y-You think that little light show scares me!? You just got lucky! Just because you broke my leg doesn't mean I'm not able to fight!" Nova teleported in front of Solaris, swiftly kicking the alicorn hard in the face. His eyes widened, his hoof had connected with the teen's head, but he didn't even flinch. "W-What?" Nova leapt back, growling in frustration as he rushed at Solaris again. Each hit he inflicted on the leering alicorn struck with perfect accuracy, but it didn't seem to affect him. Nova backed away, terrified, unable to harm Solaris anymore. "H-How!? What's happening!?"

"What's the matter, Nova? Afraid?" Solaris asked, stepping toward Nova while he kept his distance. "I thought you were supposed to be better than me. I have fears. You aren't supposed to have them, or am I wrong?"

"S-Shut up! I'm not afraid of anything!" Nova shouted, not convincing Solaris in the slightest.

Chrysalis's jaw had dropped as she had witnessed what looked like a losing battle for Solaris, only for him somehow turn it around with the strange light fire he had from inside of him. Pinkie was suddenly in a cheerleader outfit after hearing Nova scream in pain, randomly cheering Solaris on as she shook her pom poms around. Trill was just as shocked as her mother, having seen his white fire back in the Resistance Base before, but to see him this angry was beyond what she had seen earlier.

"You're backing away. What's the matter? You afraid of the light?" Solaris kept walking toward Nova, failing to hide his trembling.

"SHUT UP!" Nova shot a fireball at Solaris, only to burn out as he held out his hoof, the light from his fire disintegrating the dark flames. He kept firing, each fireball disappearing from the light. "JUST DIE!"

He built up a large fireball, hurling it at Solaris, this time striking him as it exploded. Nova smirked, but it faded as he saw white flames appearing from the smoke. Behind him, the alicorn teleported with his magical flames, wrapping his foreleg tightly around Nova's neck in an unbreakable choke hold.

"Now, what was it you said you were going to do to my marefriend? Chop off her horn?" Solaris gave Nova a swift punch, his hoof smashing through the dark doppelganger's horn, shattering it to pieces as he yelled in pain, darkness seeping out of the wound in place of blood. He was then shoved down hard to the ground on his stomach, hooves firmly pressed on his back as he felt his wings forced open by Solaris's forehooves. "Tear off her wings!?"

Nova screamed as he felt his wings being pulled from his sides, feeling every sensitive nerve wracking him with pain as he writhed underneath Solaris's hold. He ripped them off, burning the appendages to ashes. Nova tried to squirm away, only to be dragged by his tail and flung up high into the air. Solaris gave chase, throwing a flurry of punches that were impossible to see, sending the dismembered faker higher and higher until he slammed into the ceiling.

"Whoo hoo! Go, Solly! Use that white fire!" Pinkie cheered, only to stop and began to think. "Wait. Can fire turn white? I've heard of blue fire, and that's hotter than red for some reason when blue is a cool color. Green fire first came from the changelings and their transforming, but can actual fire look green?"

"...You are seriously overthinking the hue of flames right now?" Chrysalis asked, Pinkie's tangent snapping the queen out of her shock. "What is wrong with you?"

"...I don't know," Pinkie shrugged, having no clue herself.

After pressing Nova deep in the ceiling, Solaris flew back down to the ground, standing directly underneath where he was imprinted.

"I'm ending your existence, Nova." On one of Solaris's hooves, the flames began to morph into the head of a dragon, making a low growling sound as he looked up at the dark clone. Nova began to slip out from the indent of his body, the alicorn's light glowing brighter as the dragon head began to move, baring its fiery fangs. "You will not take over my life, and tarnish what I'm supposed to be! You may be me, but I'll never be anything like you!"

The instant Nova began falling, Solaris shot up from the ground, thrusting his hoof forward. The flame dragon head's roar echoed throughout the room, the alicorn's hoof slashing through the dark alicorn as he was engulfed in light. Nova screamed in agony as the light burned his body, turning his body back into the dark cloud he was before, disintegrating into nothingness.

The light began to fade away, leaving Solaris's glowing hooves the only source of the white light in the cavern. Seeing his dark side was gone for good, he hovered back down to the ground, the flames turning back to green and snuffed themselves out as he adrenaline withered away. He nearly collapsed as his strength waned, feeling his injuries finally catch up to him before he was enraged at his evil side's sick plans he had for Trill if he had won.

With his test completed, the chest, having been left untouched after being opened, began to glow, hovering on its own and floated up to Solaris. It hovered in front of him and began to shift its form underneath the bright orb of light that surrounded it. His ears perked up as he heard his mother's voice in his head.

"Congratulations, hero. You have passed the toughest of trials anypony would have difficulty succeeding in; facing your inner demons," her voice echoed in his mind. "Your evil intentions were manifested in a physical form of your body, holding what you refuse to become. This test was to prove you can stop yourself, to keep your darker self from taking over and ruin what you strive to be. Though you have won, that darkness still lurks in the depths of your mind and heart. As long as you continue following the just path you seek, then everything will remain peaceful under your rule.

"You are now ready to save Equestria, and take the throne back from Lucifer." The light shone brightly as the chest finished its transformation, the light disappearing and revealing a golden helmet. On the back of the helm was his cutie mark, but the small stars in the rays of the sun had something inside them; the cutie marks of the other Elements of Harmony, while one of them was a green dragon head. Solaris reached out and grabbed the helmet, looking at the smaller stars closely. "This golden helm will help you freely unlock the hidden potential of your Element, along with the power of the Elements of Harmony. The gems embedded on your acquired gauntlets hold a small piece of each element, but their power will only awaken and aid you with your Element's power."

"M-My Element?" Solaris asked

"It is the same power the Elements of Harmony use to stop evil from destroying the land; Light. Hope. Faith." Inside the helmet, a bright white light shone. He flipped it around, finding two glowing halves of a platinum plate with three indents in each, made to fit on his gauntlets. "You are Equestria's hope. Your destiny is upon you, hero. Save us all, and rule Equestria as it once was. We all have faith in you."

The voice stopped and the glowing plates dimmed down. Solaris pulled out the curved halves and placed them together. They had formed a heart shape, and where the gems on his gauntlets were located, they would fit perfectly. The pieces flew out of his grasp and past the surprised mares, automatically fitting themselves onto his gauntlets, the gems and plate shining brightly as they fused together.

Pinkie hopped over to Solaris's armor, holding up the gauntlets and pressed them together, seeing the new plates create a heart. "Oooh. That's pretty cool."

"...I still can't believe he won..." Chrysalis said, staring at the alicorn in disbelief. "...He's stronger than he looks..."

Solaris limped over to the changelings and earth pony, levitating his new helmet with his other pieces. He soon approached Trill, still in shock, her cheeks stained with tears as her eyes were glued to the alicorn's injuries.

"Trill," he said, leering at the changeling princess in irritation. "One: think before you act. Two: never, EVER, pull a stupid stunt like that again. I appreciate you trying to do something like that for me, but so far, from what I've seen from you, you're not meant to fight, and you were going to get yourself killed! You're lucky that my dragon fire Uncle Spike gave to me before he died was able to teleport you out of harm's way, because if you died, I wouldn't-!"

Trill suddenly lunged at him, wrapping her hooves tightly around him, and cried against his shoulder. Solaris winced as she squeezed him, inducing more pain to his heavily bruised and slightly burnt chest, but he fought through it as he hugged her. Chrysalis watched as the son of her mortal foe and her daughter/heir to the hive held each other, still finding it hard to believe that they actually cared for each other this much. Love was supposed to be food for their hive, a weakness to their prey when they seek companionship. And to see what it could do if one of them truly feels love for another outside the hive, it produces more food than stealing it.

"So, you gonna allow them to be together?" Pinkie asked, suddenly appearing next to the changeling queen, without her cheerleader outfit on. "Ponies do crazy things when they're in love. And Trill did two dumb things in total: one where she could have been burnt by evil dark fire, and the other time when she walked through a blizzard to find Solly outside the Crystal Empire."

"She what!? She almost froze to death!?" Chrysalis shouted.

"Almost, but she made it back safe with Solly." Pinkie soon began to worry, unsure of when something bad might happen to her. "...You know, my other friends were supposed to be here to see him and travel with him, make sure he's safe. But, terrible things had happened to them, and he thinks that they died because of his tests." The changeling looked at the mare, her brow raised as she had wondered why Pinkie was the only one. "And...now that his final test is done...I'm next."

"...I cannot tell if you are serious or you're pulling my leg. It's all probably a bad coincidence." All of a sudden, Pinkie began shuddering, her body bouncing rapidly up and down. "What are you doing?"

"M-M-M-My P-P-Pinkie S-Sense is a-a-a-acting up!" she said, unable to stop her jittering. "I-I-It's a doo-oo-oo-oozy!"

Solaris heard Pinkie's shuddering, and hearing it was some kind of Pinkie Sense, he began to worry. Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently as the hive was struck by an earthquake of a dangerous magnitude.

"Ahh! An earthquake!" Solaris yelled, feeling his and Trill's balance faltering, mostly his since he was badly injured in his fight.

"That's impossible!" Chrysalis exclaimed. "There has been no seismic activity in this area! Our hive wouldn't be here under this mountain if we knew it wasn't safe!"

While the quake continued shaking the earth, Pinkie felt her tail begin to twitch, gasping in horror. "TWITCHY TAIL!"

"What is it with your muscle spasms!?" Chrysalis asked.

Solaris knew what twitchy tail meant. He looked up, and hanging directly above them, were dozens of stalactites perilously attached on the ceiling. With the ground shaking this powerfully, they began to break off from their resting place, threatening to crush or impale them. One of them began falling directly over Chrysalis, the queen unaware of the dangerous spire of earth ready to strike her.

"Chrysalis!" Using all of his remaining strength, Solaris flew into the older changeling, tackling her out of the way as the stalactite smacked the ground, shattering to pieces.

Chrysalis didn't even know what had happened until she heard the stalactite break where she stood, surprised to know she was saved by Solaris. Pinkie and Trill began to flee for their lives, avoiding the falling spires while trying not to get tripped up by the ground shaking under the magnitude of the earthquake. The quake finally managed to cease, but the stalactites still fell, Pinkie winding up on the other side of the room as many of them kept trying to fall on her.

Trill managed to group up with her mother and coltfriend, no more stalactites falling in their section of the cavern. The three were helpless to watch as the pink mare kept dodging, as if the God of Death wanted her more than anypony else. The last one that fell was far bigger than any of the others, and it was headed right for Pinkie. She looked up at the last moment, cringing as it smashed into the ground.

"Aunt Pinkie, no!" Solaris cried out, collapsing on his side as he felt his chest ache from Nova's bone cracking strength.

Even if he was able to move, he wouldn't have made it in time. Not even teleporting with his flame breath would have done any good, unsure if he would have been crushed along with Pinkie. Tears welled up in his eyes as he stared at the large spire, but a moment later, Pinkie slowly moved her head around, still alive and thankfully unharmed.

"Wowie zowie!" Pinkie said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Heh. That was a close one. Missed me by several noses! Must be my lucky day!" Pinkie bounced with glee at her luck, but immediately stopped as she heard loud cracking sounds underneath her. The ground began to crumble, large cracks growing around a large radius where the last stalactite stood. She looked up and gulped, any sudden movement could give the ground away. "Spoke too soon."

To make matters worse, her "Doozy" Pinkie Sense acted up, making her shudder once, the ground finally caving in as Pinkie, along with the ground, fell into a crevice the went another half mile deeper into the earth. Solaris cried out again, but couldn't move in the pain he was in. Trill flew off to try to help her, Chrysalis right next to her, as they heard Pinkie's scream echo in the cavern, her form disappearing in the darkness below. The changelings looked over the edge, finding no sign of the ground far below, Pinkie's screams slowly growing silent.

"...No..." Solaris uttered, his fears ignoring the pain as he got up and weakly flew toward the newly made pit. "No. No. No no no no no!"

"Solaris!" Trill stopped the alicorn before he was able to fly down into the pitfall. "Stop! You're in no condition to move!"

He didn't listen, shrouding himself in green flames, spooking the changeling as he appeared down below, his horn alight with fire as he descended deeper. Trill and Chrysalis flew after him, lighting up the darkness with their horns, catching Solaris just in time before his wings gave out on him.

"You know you're about as stubborn as my daughter," the queen said. "Why are you bothering trying to find her!? She's already dead from the fall!"

"Mom, shut up! You're not helping!" Trill chided, but Solaris didn't seem to hear what Chrysalis said.

His struggling kept moving them further down until they finally reached the bottom, limping over to the debris as soon as his hooves touched the ground. As the flames lit up around the pile of broken earth, Solaris froze when he saw Pinkie's body lying still, a pool of blood underneath the mare's head from the fatal fall.

"...No..." He reached out to her, pressing hoof against her chest, unable to feel her heart beat. He gently shook her, denying that the mare who was able to defy anything was really gone. "...Aunt Pinkie...Wake up......T-This...isn't funny..."

Solaris received no response. She was already gone. Trill and Chrysalis felt his despair, the negative emotion coming off him strongly, being able to feel his pain. He shed tears, but he couldn't cry. He knew this would happen, and the last member of his family, the one that had always made him laugh and smile and was fun to be around, was gone.

Trill gently pulled the grieving alicorn away and held him close, Solaris's eyes glazing over as he fell unconscious, his mind and heart shattered in sorrow. Chrysalis could only watch as her daughter comforted the stallion, grateful for him saving her life, and pitying him for the overwhelming anguish he had expressed, knowing her subjects above them could feel his sadness.

"...It wasn't a coincidence, after all..." she said to herself. "...Twilight Sparkle's premonition has come true so far...But, to have all our fates be left in a broken teenager...We're all doomed..."

Chapter 24: Family's Never Truly Gone

It had been a long and exhausting evening, especially after what had occurred beneath the hive. Chrysalis and Trill carried the unconscious Solaris back up into the castle, bringing him to Trill's bedroom to let him rest, as well as heal his wounds. As the queen had expected, her subjects had felt the alicorn's distress nearly a mile beneath the hive, many of them feeling just as upset as he was, and it slightly bothered her. For his sake, Chrysalis ordered a few of her guards to go down to the now useless cavern beneath the castle and carry Pinkie Pie's body out, making sure that they preserve her body to transport her back to Ponyville for a proper burial.

Chrysalis waited outside in the hall where their royal bedchambers reside while Trill watched Solaris, the stallion's chest and forelegs covered in bandages from the burns and bruises he received from Nova. His armor rested on the table next to her bed, not a single piece harmed from the quake and falling stalactites. He was sleeping at the moment, but Trill hated seeing him suffer this much. With the ponies he knew growing up as his family gone, he lost his will to fight.

She checked his bandages one more time, making sure his body would heal. If only she could heal his broken mind and heart, make him forget any of this happened. Trill kissed Solaris's cheek softly, exiting her room to let him rest and give him some space if he decided to wake up. Seeing her mother waiting for her, she closed the door to her room and sat next to her.

"...He's sleeping," she said. "I think his wounds will heal by tomorrow...His physical wounds, at least."

"That colt's emotions really riled up the whole hive," Chrysalis said, still sensing the hive feeling Solaris's despair through the hive mind. "With his mental state deteriorated this bad, there's no possible chance he can stop that infernal tyrant. He's going to have to suck it up and toughen up."

"Mom, he's really sensitive," Trill said. "He has no experience with life outside of the cave her grew up in. Unlike me, he's been sheltered from Lucifer's reign, kept hidden from the world so he wouldn't be killed by him before it was time to face him. You have no idea how hurt he is right now."

"He may be powerful, that much I saw back when he fought that dark version of himself, but if he's going to be Equestria's future ruler, he's not going to last a month." Trill glared at her mother, but Chrysalis avoided her gaze. "They say time heals all wounds, but time is not on our side. All of Equestria has been thrust into madness, and sooner or later, that madpony is going to try and conquer the entire world. He has an army to use only as pawns, not caring if they die for him. With his magic, he can destroy the planet if he's given enough time."

"But Solaris is ready to-" Chrysalis smacked Trill in the back of the head, silencing her.

"Don't even finish that sentence! You may think he's ready, physically, but mentally, he's going to die!" the queen shouted. "His mother told me her premonition, telling me this heroic stallion was going to save not just Equestria, but us as well, but look at him! He's a complete wreck! Even with every single one of our subjects pitching in to suck out every bit of his depressing, distasteful emotions, it'll only keep growing until eventually, his mind will be impossible to fix!"

"I can help him..." Trill rubbed her head, shrinking as she was yelled at.

"What can you even do to help mend what can't be healed? Just face the facts, Trill; the entire world is doomed, and Sparkle was stupid enough to put all her faith in the hero in her vision, which just so happens to be her only foal. There is no hope for all of us. We might as well just kill ourselves off before Lucifer has the chance to do it for us." Chrysalis stormed down the hall to calm herself, leaving Trill behind.

"So you don't believe in him, then!? Fine, mother, just run off and avoid the solution to everypony's problem! Solly just needs help, and your too stubborn to even listen to what he can do for our hive!" The queen froze and turned her head around, glaring at her daughter with disdain. "He has fought hard to get this far! He constantly blames himself for what's happened to his family, but he needs to learn he isn't alone in this conflict! This is all our battle, not just his, and he needs all the support he can get from everypony, and you're acting like a coward!"

"Excuse me?" Chrysalis marched back to Trill, about ready to kill her own flesh and blood. "I suggest you still your tongue before you say anything else you'll regret speaking out."

"No, because I'm speaking my mind, and you know it's true! You have done nothing but wander around the hive, giving out orders and checking on the new hatchlings ever since I was born! We're all hiding out of fear, but we don't have to anymore with Solaris here, willing to risk his own life to save everypony! No matter what you say, whatever pessimistic outlooks you have on what our future will be, then quit thinking those thoughts, because I can help Solaris!" Trill had backed Chrysalis into a corner, the queen unable to retort while her daughter was right. "He needs to know that he isn't truly alone. That he still has a family. And right now, he needs us. So if you want to give up right now, go ahead. Once you decide to commit suicide, I'll take over in your place and have our subjects fight alongside him."

Chrysalis growled, baring her fangs, but grew silent as she saw something bright glowing inside Trill's room, light seeping out of the cracks of the doorway. "What in Equestria?"

Confused, the princess looked behind her, noticing the same light. It soon faded away, mother and daughter looking at each other in fear, quickly barging into the room. They both gasped, finding no sign of Solaris on the bed, and his armor was gone too.

"Oh no. Not again!" Trill panicked, looking all over her room for him. "I can't let him hurt himself like this again!"

"You said he was asleep. Still unconscious?" Trill nodded her head. "...What is happening? Where exactly could he have gone off to?"

"He doesn't know teleportation magic, and the only way he could have, using his fire, was if we heard him use it, and he didn't!" Trill exclaimed. "We need to find him before he hurts himself even more! Why did he refuse to seek theraputical help when he needed it back in the Crystal Empire!?"

Chrysalis grabbed Trill and slapped her in the face, snapping her out of her distress. "Calm down. He couldn't have gotten far. We'll alert the hive and search thoroughly."

"...Right. Hive. True." Trill immediately calmed down and followed her mother down the halls.

"...Maybe you are right, Trill," Chrysalis said as they flew through the castle. "I wanted us to stay neutral, avoid getting involved with the madness Lucifer has wrought...So, in a way, I am a coward, more concerned with keeping us safe than taking care of the threat with the rest of the kingdom." She looked at her daughter. "Don't think this means I'll immediately like your...coltfriend. He's still inexperienced with all of this...but he's really the only one who can stop him."

"...Soooo...?" Trill asked, Chrysalis groaned as she knew what the princess wanted to ask.

"...I'll...approve you two...being together, even if I hate the idea." Trill grinned as the queen knew she would regret her decision. "We'll discuss this after we find him."

"Deal," Trill said as the two quickly alerted the guards and split up to find the missing alicorn.

Solaris found himself back in the deepest recesses of his subconscious, only this time, he wanted to stay here. This place was where he would be able to find peace, with no thoughts about death. Losing his family. Killing one of them. Keeping him safe from the outside world, just like how he grew up at home. But this was his home now. He wanted to stay here forever, even if he is being selfish and letting Equestria continue to crumble under Lucifer's power.

Unfortunately, his subconscious also spawned his fears, where they could hurt him and he couldn't do a thing to stop them. He could only lie there, feeling dead on the inside, watching as the ones he had met and known in his life pulled themselves out of the ground as walking corpses, slowly limping or crawling their way toward him.

Solaris didn't care anymore. He couldn't escape from them, no matter how hard he ran. He could never escape reality, even his own safe haven was useless to shield him from the events that unfolded. His ears twitched as he heard that familiar laughter from Lucifer, the unicorn appearing behind the large horde of undead, slipping past them as if he were one of them.

"Looks like you're finally going to give in, aren't you?" Lucifer asked, gaining no response from the broken alicorn. "You were so close. You passed your tests, with a few bruises, lucky breaks, and even learned a thing or two. But you lack the one thing that every skilled warrior has: willpower. Not wit, since you are so smart, but you don't have what it takes to fight after losing those close to you. If anything, you should have shut your heart out so you wouldn't feel this miserable."

As he got closer, Lucifer's body began to shift, his appearance mimicking Solaris's, only his coat and mane were darker, and his eyes were red. Nova Flare smirked, relishing in his weaker self's misery. He lifted the alicorn up, forcing his head to face the undead ponies, griffons, minotaurs, and changelings he had met, all of them reaching out to him in hunger.

"You will be the death of everypony here, Solaris. You can never escape death, not even you." Nova lowered his broken self down, grinning at Solaris's depressed expression. "I bet you don't want to feel this pain anymore, huh? I can help take care of that. All you have to do is give your mind up to me, allowing you to stay inside the safety of your subconscious, where nothing can hurt you anymore."

"...No more...pain?" Solaris asked.

"No more pain." Nova's eyes turned into spirals, hypnotizing Solaris. "And no more suffering."

"No...more...suffering..." he repeated, caught in a trance as his body slowly began to darken.

Nova chuckled as he watched Solaris succumb to the recesses of his mind, waiting to take full control. Suddenly, he heard a loud shrieking noise as the zombified creatures were burned, turning to see a massive sword of flames slice through and incinerate the undead to ashes. He dropped Solaris in shock, seeing Princess Celestia walk through the burning flames, a golden halo hovering over her head.

"What!? What's happening!? How are you here!? This is my subconscious!" Nova set his hooves on fire, but froze as a curved blade of a scythe made of stars fell in front of him, the blade held tightly against his neck.

"Wrong," a feminine voice said from behind the evil persona. "This is his subconscious. Torment this young soul's dream no more, infernal nightmare." He turned his head, meeting the gaze of Princess Luna, a similar halo to Celestia's over her head. "Die, foul creature of darkness!"

Pulling her scythe toward her, Luna cleanly sliced Nova's neck off, the stallion's body disappearing into the darkness of Solaris's thoughts. Making sure Nova was truly gone, the princesses dismissed their ethereal weapons, Celestia breathing a sigh of relief.

"We made it before it was too late," the Princess of the Sun said. "I'm still amazed you could still enter the dreams of others, even though we're deceased."

"Dreams are like an escape from reality, sister," Luna explained. "Some are able to leave their spirits from their bodies, seeming asleep though awake; astral projection. Traveling through dreams and helping our subjects in the realm of sleep took a lot of practice, but even when dead, it is still possible. Almost like a specter, a spirit that roams freely amongst the living, and can enter the minds of others, awake or unconscious."

"But, that clone of Solaris...he is not truly dead, is he?" Celestia asked, Luna nodding her head to answer her older sister's question. "I guess it's up to him to defeat his inner demons."

Solaris slowly sat up, feeling dazed as he didn't find any sign of the monsters plaguing his mind. He turned face the princesses, feeling confused as he rubbed his eyes.

"Solaris, are you alright?" Luna asked.

"...No..." He laid back down on his side, going back to brooding in the darkness of his dreams. "I'll never be alright." Solaris looked up at the two alicorns as they sat next to him. "I can't do this anymore...I want this to end...It hurts...so much..."

"We know. All of us have been watching you, us and your family," Celestia said.

"...My family?" The teen lifted up his head. "...How?"

"When living in Paradise, you can see everything from the afterlife." Solaris sat up again, staring at the princesses, noticing the halos hovering over them.

"...Halos? But, I'm asleep...How are you here?" he asked.

"There is a lot you want to know, but we won't have much time to explain before you eventually wake up," Luna said, to Solaris's disappointment.

"...My mom can't be here?" he asked, somewhat fearing what his mother would be in the darkness around him.

"It was a struggle to bring my sister and I into your dream from the afterlife," the young sister explained. "Plus, seeing your pain, I tried to help ease your nightmares, but your sorrow was so powerful that it was nigh impossible to breach into your subconscious."

"But we did not come just to mend your mental wounds," Celestia spoke up, looking at the young alicorn sadly. "We...no, I need to tell you the reasons why Lucifer has done the deeds he has done. The root cause of your misery...is me."

"...I don't understand." Solaris looked at Luna, growing more confused.

"It was my fault Lucifer turned the way he is now." Celestia's horn glowed brightly, bringing the alicorns out of the empty darkness and into the halls of a castle. "It all started over a millennium ago, when I adopted him from an orphange as a colt, feeling sorry for him after being mistreated by his peers, and the loss of his family."

The doors at the end of the corridor opened, revealing Princess Celestia and a young colt that was the spitting image of the tyrant, only he was happy and energetic. The young Lucifer bounced around the princess as she giggled at his enthusiasm. Soon, more memories passed by with the Sun Princess and the colt, Lucifer being taught magic spells, being read stories by Celestia before going to bed, even the two of them pulling pranks on the guards at their posts. Solaris was at a loss for words, unable to believe that THIS was his enemy.

"This can't be real," he said in disbelief. "That was Lucifer? As a colt?"

"Yes...He had a lot of magical potential, and he was the first of many students I had taught with what knowledge I had on magic." Celestia's nostalgic smile began to melt into a frown as the next memory appeared, the one moment she highly regretted with Lucifer. "...This...was the cause of his path set down a dark road, a mistake I regret almost as much as I had when I banished Luna to the moon..."

While Celestia in the memory was busy going through some important documents, Lucifer, around the age of ten, levitated a book that, to Solaris, looked like something nopony should ever pick up to learn magic. "A book of arcane spells?"

"Hey mom?" Lucifer said, catching the alicorn's attention, making her gasp in shock at the sight of the book. "I found this strange spellbook in the archives. What kind of spells are-?"

Celestia snatched the book away, glaring angrily at the colt. "What were you doing looking through this!?"

"I-I was just curious. I just wanted to know-" Lucifer yelped as Celestia stamped her hoof down hard on the floor, silencing the confused and terrified colt.

"This is a dangerous book you shouldn't even look at! How dare you even cast anything from here that's this dangerous!?" she shouted.

"B-But I didn't-" he yelped again as he was picked up by his tail in the furious alicorn's magic, the two of them teleporting to Lucifer's room.

"I am not going to hear any of your excuses, Lucifer!" Celestia dropped the colt on his bed, marching out of the room. "You are staying in your room for a month, no studies, no playtime!"

"I just looked inside it!" the colt protested, but his words were fallen on deaf ears as the princess slammed the bedroom door shut.

Celestia walked away from the hallway, hearing Lucifer sobbing as he was punished harshly, entering her own room as she looked at the evil tome. She opened the pages, all of them evil arcane arts that can easily corrupt one's mind if even cast once. She summoned her ethereal blade, burning furiously as she leered at the infernal book of darkness. She thrust the blade through, watching it burn to ashes as they fell to her bedroom floor.

"How did something like that get in the archives?" Tears streamed down the mare's face, feeling pain from both what dark magic like this had done to her banished sister and having to scold Lucifer like that to scare him away from picking up anything like that book again. Ignoring the ashes staining her carpet, she collapsed on her bed and curled up in a ball as her flowing mane wilted against her body. "Not again...I don't want this to happen again...I don't want to lose him like I lost Luna..."

Solaris was shocked as he watched the memory unfold. Everything he was told about Celestia from his family, being a benevolent ruler who would never lash out at her subjects was only half true. She was supposed to be a strong ruler, but to see her break down in tears and snap like that was unbecoming of the princess.

"I never apologized to him for yelling at him," Celestia said, explaining her reasoning for her past self. "I knew he was a colt, and he was only curious. I knew he wouldn't cast any dangerous spells without my supervision, but I was still suffering from the loss of my sister. I didn't want to lose anypony else to darkness conflicting their thoughts, and I thought that avoiding him was the right solution, running away from the problem and hoping it would go away...I was wrong..."

More memories passed by, Celestia ignoring Lucifer during his studies, the aging colt growing more bitter and cold with each moment. It unnerved Solaris when he saw that after the princess started the chain reaction to Lucifer's darkness to rise, he had earned his disturbing cutie mark in the process. The last moment Celestia showed Solaris was one of the most horrifying ones he witnessed; Lucifer wore a cloak over his body, his horn red and curved upward, green mist seeping out from his eyes as he stared down a gravely wounded Celestia holding the Elements of Harmony around her, all while they stood in the crumbling castle caused by their fight, the town outside set on fire.

"Lucifer, please stop this! I only wished to protect you from what you now have!" Celestia pleaded, tears streaming down her face as the glaring unicorn wizard summoned several ethereal weapons. "I'm sorry..."

"It's too late to apologize, Celestia. You brought this on yourself." The variety of weapons began spiraling around Lucifer, picking which one to use to kill his foster mother and mentor. He picked the sheathed katana, pulling the magical blade out, and pointed it at the alicorn. "You're not what I thought you were when I was young. You're not powerful. You're no benevolent ruler. You're no goddess. Now, the world will see that the Princess of the Sun, Princess Celestia, is a pathetic mare who is just as mortal as the rest of us. And you will fall by my hooves, proving you have no power to take me down on your own."

"Lucifer...I don't want to do this..." The Elements of Harmony began glow around her as she had no choice but to charge their energy to stop the colt she failed to raise.

"Using the Elements of Harmony against me!?" Lucifer yelled, rushing at the princess with his blade ready to slice through her. "You're only just proving my point greatly, you pathetic excuse of a demi-goddess!"

The unicorn thrust his blade forward, but the Elements of Harmony had finished charging with magic, breaking the dark blade before it touched Celestia. Her eyes glowed as she unleashed their power, a beam of harmonious energy shooting out from the spiraling artifacts and flying straight into Lucifer. He began screaming in agony as the power began to slowly kill him, making the princess gasp as she commanded the Elements to spare him.

Heeding their user's plea, the spiraling rainbow around the stallion entered his mind, causing Lucifer to gasp before closing his eyes, passing out as a light aura enveloped his body. Unfortunately, the Elements couldn't purify him, his heart too far gone to be rescued, leaving him comatose to keep his dark magic from awakening him. Celestia's eyes returned to normal as the Elements of Harmony gently fell to the ground, unable to save him from the dark magic festering in his heart. She could only weep as she collapsed on her side, letting somepony else she cared about fall to darkness and feeling useless trying to save them.

"The Elements of Harmony were going to eradicate him along with the darkness inside him," Celestia said as the memory faded away, bringing them back to the same empty void in Solaris's mind. The teen looked at the princess, her cheeks stained with tears at the painful memory. "I couldn't kill him...I didn't have the heart to do it...Instead, I only delayed Equestria's fate again, just like I had with Nightmare Moon and Sombra...Now, all of Equestria is about to fall into ruin, and it's all my fault."

Celestia wept, unable to look at Solaris as she awaited the hateful gaze he would soon give her, making the young alicorn suffer from her mistakes. But he wasn't. He realized that they both felt the same guilt for ruining the lives of the ones they loved, and he knew what Lucifer's intent on killing the alicorns were now; they weren't perfect. He had been betrayed when he had been given a home, only to have the unicorn's anger fuel his sorrow and turn him into the pony he is now, never letting the past go, and all to show the world alicorns aren't gods.

"My sister blames herself for her mistakes, but Nightmare Moon's creation was my own fault from my emotions not kept in control," Luna said, averting Solaris's attention from the sobbing alicorn. "I had kept to myself when our subjects worshiped Celestia over me. I got jealous and wanted attention, the two of us still young and new to the life of royalty. I knew what I had done while in my darker persona, and I wanted to punish myself for what I did to my sister, and the entire world. Your mother, Twilight Sparkle, and her friends freed me from my darkness, and even after I returned to my former self, I was afraid others would still see me as the Mare in the Moon.

"After a thousand years of banishment, times had truly changed, and now I see there are many ponies who were able to appreciate the night I bring, and I did what I could to help those suffering from nightmares to face whatever scares them into having one in their slumber. Unfortunately, many still linger on the past, like Lucifer, remaining bitter and spiteful 'til the end of their life." Solaris lowered his head, remembering how upset he was when he never was able to see his mother for most of his life. He wanted to hate her, but hearing the truth and finally seeing her back in the Everfree Forest changed his mind. Luna gently lifted his head back up, making him look at the princess. "It is difficult to do, but you must put the past behind you, and look forward to a better future. Learn from your mistakes, make sure it doesn't happen again, and never let your failures overtake you."

"...I understand, Princess Luna..." Solaris looked back at Celestia, having calmed down a little. "...Some things just happen, and can't be fixed..."

Suddenly, the air around Solaris began to ripple, Luna quickly heading back to her sister.

"You are waking up soon," Luna said. "Do not be alarmed if you find yourself in an unknown location. You will be surprised to know what lies in store."

"Uhh...what do you mean?" Solaris asked, only for the princesses to disappear before he got an answer.

Solaris groaned in pain as he opened his eyes, his body feeling sore as his injuries from his previous battle made themselves known. They opened wide as he found himself not in any part of the hive, but in some strange plane of existence, as if he was still dreaming. He saw his armor laying next to him, unsure how he and his gear wound up in this realm. The teen slowly sat up, wincing as he felt his body telling him to lay back down, but his curiosity over this place wanted him to know what it was.

Not wanting to lose his rewarded armor, Solaris put them on, being very careful as he put on his cuirass. He began to limp down a direction, no road or walkway guiding him to where he thought would be the exit.

"Hello? Princess Luna? Princess Celestia?" Solaris's echo was the only response he got. "I can't be dreaming anymore...Unless of course this dream is lucid, and I can actually feel pain while I'm dreaming..." He sat down and rested for a moment after walking for nearly a mile, wishing he knew healing spells to numb some of the pain. "Urgh. This is worse than that stomachache I had after eating all those apple fritters Aunt Applejack made for Hearth's Warming."

Suddenly, a panel appeared in front of the alicorn, spooking him and making him fall on his back, making him groan in pain as he sat back up. It soon flickered to a very familiar moment in his youth back in the cave. It was Hearth's Warming, his aunts and uncle all busy chatting as decorations hung around the underground living room. There was a table set up with a buffet line of food, many of them being desserts.

While the adults weren't looking, a young Solaris sneaked over to the table, double-checking to make sure his family wasn't looking. With the coast clear, the mischievous colt swiped the entire tray of apple fritters and ran to his room. Alone in his little haven, he began scarfing down every single delicious piece of apple goodness.

He managed to eat up every last one, groaning as his belly was distended from the delicious fritters he consumed. His ears perked up when he heard some of his aunts coming down the hallway, panicking as the evidence of his sweets theft was in plain sight. His stomach grumbled, groaning in pain as his binge eating began to bite him in the plot. As luck would have it, two of his aunts went to check on him, which happened to be Rarity and Applejack.

"...Well, seems like we found our apple fritter culprit," Rarity said, the mares seeing the alicorn colt had fritter crumbs all over his face, and the tray laying next to him was empty.

"I-I don't know what you're-" Solaris groaned, clutching his belly, starting to feel sick. "-talking about, Aunt Rarity."

"Solaris, did ya eat all mah apple fritters?" Applejack questioned, sitting next to the cringing colt.

"N-No?" He looked up at his aunt, knowing he can't lie his way out of this, especially when his tummy was aching badly. "...Yes."

"And why in tarnation did ya think it was a good idea to eat all of them fritters like a little piggie?" she asked.

"Because Aunt Pinkie always eats the desserts, and your fritters smelled yummy." Solaris groaned again, regretting ever eating so much. "I don't feel so good..."

"Well, Ah hope ya learned your lesson for takin' them fritters, and liein' to me." The colt nodded his head, wanting the pain to stop. "Alright, let's get ya somethin' for your belly and get ya in bed."

The memory ended and the screen disappeared, leaving Solaris staring in awe. What he had just witnessed was exactly what had happened to him on that day. "What just happened? Does this place...recall memories?" He thought of one moment in his life he wanted to see, something hilarious. "Can you show me the best prank I ever pulled off with Aunt Rainbow Dash?"

Another screen appeared next to him, showing another memory of his foalhood. In the living room of the cave, colt Solaris and Rainbow Dash snickered as they crept into the room. The pegasus had a pair of saddlebags on, pulling out a few whoopie cushions. They placed them underneath the protective coverings on the chair, used to keep the dirt free from the seats, hidden perfectly from anypony if they weren't paying attention. They heard the others walking down the cavern halls, the two pranksters quickly hiding behind the couch and waited for the inevitable sounds of hilarity.

"I don't know why Rainbow Dash came by," they heard Rarity say, stifling their giggles. "She said she was going to be busy with the weather schedule this week, but it's supposed to be sunny the next few days."

"Maybe she's gone off to meet Spitfire," Fluttershy said. "It's a shame the Wonderbolts split up. I don't blame them, though."

"Well, at least we can all get some peace and quiet from the chaos not caused by Discord!" Pinkie said, bounding into the living room. "Say, where is he, anyway? We haven't heard from him for a while."

"Whatever he's doing, hopefully he doesn't appear around Lucifer and get himself killed." Rarity mumbled obscenities to herself, loathing how damaging Lucifer's reign was doing to everyone in Equestria. "Let's not talk about him for now. I'd rather just relax, drink some warm tea, and enjoy the company of our little nephew."

After levitating the tea set on the table, Rarity was the first to sit down in one of the chairs, a loud flatulent noise echoing in the room. Rainbow and Solaris in the memory tried to keep silent as they were about to burst out laughing, while the alabaster unicorn blushed heavily from the obscene sound as Fluttershy and Pinkie were appalled.

"Whew! What did you have for breakfast, Rarity!?" Pinkie said, pulling out a fan to blow the air away from her.

"I did no such thing!" Rarity exclaimed.

Fluttershy sat down in another chair, setting off another whoopie cushion, startling the pegasus. Curious, Pinkie eyed the last chair, slowly pressing her rump down on it, letting out a weaker flatulent sound until she was firmly sitting down on the chair.

"Wait a minute..." Pinkie lifted up the covering, pulling out the deflated whoopie cushion. "Whoopie cushion prank?"

"Whoopie cushions!?" Rarity pulled out one of the prank balloons out from under the cover, Fluttershy pulling another one from hers. "Pinkie, honestly! This is the worst prank you ever pulled, and disgusting! Who even made this thing anyway!?"

"Hey, don't look at me! I thought it was weird these were here after hearing the same pooting sound twice. Good thing I found out beforehoof! Nopony pranks the Pink..ie Pie!" While Pinkie had beaten the pranksters, Rarity's ear perked up when she heard someone snickering behind the couch.

Using her magic, she slid the couch aside, revealing the two pranksters holding back their laughter. The unicorn growled, catching the attention of the culprits. "Oh. Uhh, hey guys!"

"Rainbow Dash..." Rarity was really made, her face red with rage as her eye twitched. "Do you have any sense of maturity in you!?"

"Hey, it was the squirt's idea. I just supplied the pranks." Rainbow held out her hoof to the colt, bumping his hoof as he giggled.

Rarity was not amused, glaring at the immature pegasus. "Uh oh. Aunt Rarity's mad."

"Yes, Solaris...yes I am. And I will take out my anger...on your Auntie Rainbow Dash." Rainbow gulped and quickly flew off, getting chased around by the enraged unicorn.

As the memory faded with the young Solaris laughing uproariously as he watched Rainbow being chased by Rarity, the real teen struggled not to laugh to hard at the nostalgic moment, not wanting to cause himself pain around his chest. "I forgot how funny that was. The look on Aunt Rarity's face..." He looked around the plane, seemingly empty, but holding so much information. "Just what is this place?"

More memories appeared around the alicorn, many of them moments he recalled, while others came from other ponies he knew, or only met once in his lifetime. He could see everything that had happened, all at once, from different parts of Equestria. It was all overwhelming, and this plane of existence only fascinated him further, even though he had no clue how he got here.

While distracted by the many memories he walked down, his favorite memories bigger than the others, mostly of him and Trill, his hoof stepped on something hard, not like the light air of the ground in this plane. Looking down, he stepped on a lavender crystal, which was odd to him since there didn't seem to be anything but nothingness and floating images of memories around him. Picking it up with his magic, he felt it pulse with magical energy.

"Who left this here?" Solaris looked around, but there was no sign of any life around aside from him. "Did one of the princesses leave this here?"

The crystal began glowing as it hovered on its own, floating away from the alicorn as the hundreds of screens began to disappear. It spun rapidly, a beam of light shooting out of the crystal, creating a lavender screen before Solaris. It flickered to life as Twilight came into view, bookshelves set in the background in her home in the Golden Oak Library. She looked upset and terrified, almost like she was afraid to say whatever she wanted to say in the recorded crystal.

"...Hello, Solaris," she said, trying to look happy, but couldn't hide her emotions that well. "If you found this, then I believe you had completed all the trials I set up for you. I know you might be wondering why you're here and what this place is. This plane of existence where you found this recording is a place only alicorns can freely enter, showing events of grave importance that were from your memory, or those around you. How you arrived here...was by a special enchantment placed in your armor, transporting you here after...after losing the last of your family..." Twilight began to tear up, struggling to keep her composure. "I'm so sorry..."

"What?" Solaris asked, having no idea what his mother was apologizing for as he watched.

"I didn't want this to happen to you..." Twilight tried to dry away her freely flowing tears, but fresh ones kept coming, rolling down her cheeks. "In my vision, I saw an alicorn stallion in gold armor...but he was young. While setting up your tests, I searched everywhere in Equestria to find him, but there was never any record of an alicorn stallion ever born. Even Celestia confirmed it..." She took a moment to calm down, grabbing a tissue to dry up her tears. "And, after all this time...the last couple years planning for the day Lucifer will awaken...you, my little foal, are that alicorn...

"Your armor you have won holds special enchantments to increase your strength, so you can easily best Lucifer when the time comes...However, the only spell I was able to find that could give you that power...required a sacrifice once you completed a trial." Solaris could only stare at the magical screen, his theory about his tests killing his aunts were true after all. "I searched all through the Canterlot archives, and this enchantment spell was the only way. And...I chose my friends...The ponies who will help raise you, along with Spike...

"It was supposed to be for the hero I saw, somepony who would continue this quest, knowing the sacrifice of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony would not be in vain...But you are that hero...and...and I'm only hurting you more and more with each loss..." Tears welled up in Solaris's eyes, hurt that his mother wound up doing this for Equestria's future, but he understood it was a mistake when the kingdom's fate fell on his hooves. "I know you must hate me for doing this, but I didn't know until you were born...

"I just want you to know this if you're still listening; you're not alone. We may be gone, but never let our memory fade in your heart. And when you're able to learn how to teleport on your own, you're welcome to come back here and look back on the fond memories you had with them. I know you can do this...We all believe in you." In the background, they heard crying coming from a foal, which was Solaris as an infant. She turned her head in the direction of her foal wanting her attention, then looked back at the crystal. "I love you so much, honey. I'm already proud of you just for coming into my life."

Twilight ended the recording, the crystal dimming back to normal as it hovered back in front of Solaris, tears trickling down his cheeks as his gaze was glued to where his message from his mother was. He slowly turned his attention to a memory that appeared beside him, hearing a foal crying. He saw himself as a foal, crying out for his mother in his crib, inside the tree library in Ponyville. Twilight walked into the room, carrying the crystal she used to record her message in her magic.

"It's ok, sweetie. Mommy's here." She levitated her baby out of his crib, sending the crystal to the plane Solaris was in right now. His infant self immediately calmed down, reaching out to touch Twilight as he giggled with glee. "You weren't supposed to wake up yet...What am I saying? I can't make a schedule knowing when you'll wake up from a nap or sleeping at night." She nuzzled his nose, making him coo as his tiny hooves touched her. The foal yawned and began to fall back to sleep, only wanting her attention for a short while, and it would have been his last time he would ever be held and see his mother physically. As Twilight cradled baby Solaris, her tears began to fall again, avoiding letting them drip on her foal's face as she held him close. "I'm so sorry...I wish this didn't have to be this way...For you...My friends...Everypony..."

Knowing he was sound asleep, Twilight gently wrapped her son in his favorite blanket, hiding his horn and wings. She gave him a soft kiss on the forehead under the foal's tiny horn, picking up a nearby bag filled with supplies for baby Solaris, and headed downstairs. Spike, around the size as Solaris was when he was a colt, was waiting in the lobby, spotting Twilight.

"Twilight, you don't have to join the princesses," Spike protested, greatly worried. "You can hide with Solaris and me in the mountain. Once the Tree of Harmony's back to normal, we can use the Elements of Harmony against this Lucifer pony."

"It could take more than a few years for the Tree of Harmony to regain its energy. We can't risk killing it and throwing Equestria into more chaos." Twilight gently levitated Solaris into his dragon uncle's arms. "Besides, my nightmares are a premonition, and having that same dream over and over, it's obvious it's going to come true...I need to do this, to protect him...and our friends." She gave Spike one final hug, knowing it'll be the last time they'll ever be together. Twilight gave the young dragon the bag filled with baby supplies and stepped away, her horn glowing as she prepared to teleport to Canterlot. "Tell the others I'm glad I had met them when we moved to Ponyville...I wouldn't have had an exciting life without them in my life...And...tell them...I love them all..."

Spike could only nod his head as tears began to well up in his eyes. The alicorn teleported away, leaving Spike alone with his nephew. He set out to find the others to accompany him to his new mountain home, where the memory faded away. Solaris wept as it ended, wishing his mother did stay with him and his uncle, wishing she stayed safe so he wouldn't be alone. If only there was some other way they could have stopped Lucifer, some other way to keep everyone alive and safe from harm, but Twilight couldn't find another way and was left with no other choice.

Other memories appeared around him, looking up at each different moment that played out. They all involved him, having fun with his family individually, one of them with all five mares and dragon together, even his cousins and recently discovered aunt and uncle, Cadence and Shining Armor. His mother's words rang in his head, that he isn't alone. All of these memories he's seeing are the precious moments in his life with them, and he will never forget them.

He looked down at his gauntlets, staring at the colorful gems resting in them, the platinum plate halves attached over them in the indents they were firmly snug in. Bringing his forelegs together, he connected the plates to form the heart shape they were meant to form, not just an addition to his gauntlets, but also a reminder of where his family would forever lie, even if they are no longer with him; in his heart. The gems began to glow, along with the extra plating, shimmering white along with the red, blue, pink, purple, orange, and fuchsia lights from the pieces of the Elements of Harmony.

Solaris's eyes shimmered, his saddened gaze turning bold, wiping his tear-stained cheeks. He slammed his forehooves together, the memories of his family disappearing as the moment he first encountered Lucifer appeared in front of him. He leered at the unicorn tyrant, his trials done, his armor fully acquired, and newfound power obtained through his own Element inside him; Light.

"Hope you aren't celebrating too soon, Lucifer," he said, watching the incredible power the unicorn had as he roared in rage after Solaris was the first to ever injure the arcane wielding stallion. "I'm coming to bring peace back to Equestria."

Taking in a deep breath, he exhaled a large plume of fire around him, transporting himself out of the dimensional plane.

"Alright you! Spill it! Where's Solly!? And don't give me any lip, or I swear I will do horrible things to you when you think your safe and sleeping soundly!" Trill yelled, bags under her eyes as they twitched.

She leered at one of the new hatchlings, holding the newborn in front of her as it stared at her. It looked her nose, the princess groaning in irritation as she flung the infant changeling in the air. Chrysalis, standing behind the delirious nuisance of a daughter, caught the hatchling and lowered it down, letting it wander over to its parents in the throne room.

"Trill, you're tired and acting more brainless than usual." Trill turned her head to face her mother, definitely losing her mind from lack of sleep worrying about Solaris. "He couldn't have gone too far out in the wastelands. Our soldiers will find him, and bring him back by force if they have to. Until then, go to bed."

"You can't tell me what to do! You're not my mother!" The two were quiet for a moment, the changeling hatchling returning back to Trill as it nibbled on one of the princess's legs. "...Ok, maybe you are, but you can't tell me what to do!"

Chrysalis groaned, slapping her forehead, wondering how unlucky she was to have Trill as her heir. Suddenly, green flames appeared between them, spooking the infant back to its parents while the others stared in shock. As the embers died down, Solaris stood where the flames had randomly appeared, wearing his armor.

"...Well...here he is," Chrysalis blandly said.

Trill immediately pounced on the alicorn, pressing her hooves down hard on his chest, causing him serious pain. "You stupid idiot! Where did you go!? Why did you just suddenly appear out of nowhere!?" Ignoring the grimace he made in the agony he was in, she knocked off his helmet and slapped his face, only to have his ring's crystal enchantment protect him from getting a hoofmark on his cheek. "Do you have any idea how worried I was!? Are you ok?" He was about to answer, confused with her sudden change in attitude at that last question, only to get slapped again. "You could have gotten yourself killed!"

"Trill, can you please-?" Solaris was slapped again, getting irritated at the random slapping. "Stop trying to hit me!"

"Not until I know why you just up and-!" Trill suddenly passed out, snoring loudly as she fell on top of the alicorn.

He looked up at Chrysalis, shaking her head. "She's been up all night trying to find you. Mind explaining why you disappeared...and why you aren't a quivering mess of angst and depression?"

"It's...a bit of a long story," Solaris sighed, having no idea where to begin.

Chapter 25: Recovery

In the grounds of the castle in Canterlot, thousands of the Shadow Knights stood in formation, waiting for their king to arrive for an important announcement. Lucifer walked out on the balcony, his soldiers saluting to him in his presence.

"My loyal soldiers!" he said, using his magic to enhance his voice to reach out to them. "For many years, you have all served me, and after fifteen long years, the alicorn who threatens me has been slain! Now that Equestria falls under my rule, and my coward of an enemy has been vanquished, I believe now is the time to show the world just how powerful we are!" Many of the Shadow Knights cheered, the majority being the young and reckless delinquents while the seniors who were forced to convert themselves from Celestia and Luna's royal guard were greatly worried. "For so many years, our kingdom had been attacked by those who wished to destroy this kingdom, making our species considered weak to the eyes of other races across the globe. This changes now.

"Your princesses had stood idly by, doing nothing to stop the most dangerous of threats with their own power. Discord, Sombra, Nightmare Moon, the changelings, just to name a few who almost succeeded, only to fall at the last moment by mystical artifacts, or last minute aid from another. Celestia was a false goddess, claiming to be more powerful than any of you, your fears only subjugated by what your eyes saw of her figure, not her strength. I, on the other hoof, can prove I have that strength, and will make this kingdom known as the most powerful nation in the world!

"Griffons, minotaurs, zebras, yaks, every single creature with a mind will know we ponies are not pushovers! A grand war will be told in history books, where we shall be victorious, Equestria as a kingdom that holds more power than any other! We do not need alicorns to scare our foes, for they are strong in appearance, not in power! We Equestrians will be known as the master race! WE ARE ALL POWERFUL!"

The soldiers cheered, pumped up for the war they will soon attend. With his little speech given, Lucifer made his way back inside, chuckling maniacally as he made his way to the throne room.

"Fools," he said to himself. "We will go to war, but they'll die before they even reach the walls of the rival kingdoms. Nothing but scapegoats for me to easily eradicate anything that will stand in my way." Behind him, "Zero" teleported in the throne room, bowing to the king as he turned to face the mercenary. "Ah, Zero. Glad you arrived. I'm sure you've heard the news."

"Yes, Your Highness. I'm sure you excited your soldiers to the world war you'll start." Shining sneered under his visor, already well aware of Lucifer's future ploys and having warned the other kingdoms beforehand. "Though, I do have some unfortunate news about the battle against the Resistance around Cloudsdale. Many had either become imprisoned or slain, no casualties on the enemy's side."

"Hmph. Let those Resistance fools believe they won the fight," Lucifer said, not worried in the slightest. "Their little coup won't do much if they plan to take me down. I'm practically invincible with my magic. And with that alicorn brat dead, nothing can stop me."

The throne doors opened as a Shadow Knight barged in, though he looked like he had been in a war and barely survived an ambush by the skin of his teeth. "King Lucifer, your grace!" He limped toward the confused unicorn, tripping over his hooves. He saluted to his king, trying to avoid wincing from the pain he was in. "We have a big problem!"

"What is it?" Lucifer asked.

"It was horrible!" the soldier exclaimed. "Those Resistance soldiers were ruthless! They killed many of my platoon, and I was lucky to make it out alive! It was awful. One of those griffons...he was blind! Yet he was able to see everything around him, even slashing through flying arrows in the blink of an eye!"

"...A blind griffon?...Interesting." Lucifer was intrigued by a handicapped griffon who was able to take out many of his weaker soldiers sent to find the Resistance. "...But, Zero, you just said to me earlier that there were no survivors."

"Zero!?" the injured soldier shouted, speaking out before Shining could. "You actually ordered this lazy servant of yours to help us!? He was nowhere on the battlefield!"

"He was ordered to monitor the fight without assisting you." Lucifer's horn glowed, causing dark chains to pop up from a dark void beneath the soldier, tying the frightened stallion down as he was moments away from being murdered. "Don't you dare question the loyalty of my hired hoof."

"W-Wait, don't kill me, please!" he begged. "There's something else you should know that Zero might not have given in his report!"

"Then speak!" Lucifer ordered, summoning an ethereal blade, holding it up to the soldier's neck.

"The alicorn is still alive!" He winced, waiting for his life to end as he winced in fear.

Lucifer's eyes widened, highly confused as his anger began to boil, while Shining Armor worried for the safety of his nephew. "...What did you just say?"

"The alicorn...I saw him escape on the train the night the battle against the Resistance began back in Cloudsdale." Lucifer slowly moved the blade away from the soldier, loosening the chains around him. "He and two other mares escaped with him, headed south. I don't know exactly where, but then I got attacked by that blind griffon, knocked unconscious."

"...And you are speaking the truth? This is not a joke?" the king asked.

"I would never lie to you, my king," the soldier said, bowing before him.

The room was silent, Lucifer slowly turning his gaze to his loyal mercenary, the injured soldier trembling in fright, and Shining Armor panicking on the inside. "...Zero? You confirmed that the alicorn had been crushed along with his entourage in Saddle Arabia..."

"...He might have teleported out at the last minute," Shining said, though his lie wasn't believable. "I searched the rubble and didn't see his body. I thought he was crushed by a heavy piece of the temple I couldn't move with my magic, and he tricked me."

"He would have done so when we trapped him, Discord, and those mares long before we knew he was in there..." Lucifer immediately began to doubt the stallion, becoming suspicious of Zero's actions this past month. "...And you were on leave far longer than planned a couple weeks ago..."

More silence. Lucifer stared down Shining Armor, his magic creating his ethereal katana, held firmly in its aura sheath. The unicorn pulled out the sword, a quick flurry of slashes hacking through the air at blinding speeds, the weapon out of its sheath as the other two stallions were silent. Slowly, Lucifer re-sheathed his blade, Shining's outfit falling apart as the katana was back in place, revealing himself under his broken armor.

"...Ponyfeathers," was all Shining Armor could say in that moment.

He finally reacted, summoning his crystal spear and thrust it at Lucifer, only for the tyrant to slash through the tough mineral weapon, shattering it to pieces. Before Shining Armor could teleport away, Lucifer was far faster, shooting a beam of darkness directly at his horn, nullifying his use of magic as dark crystals formed on his horn. Distracted by the backlash of his sealed magic casting, Lucifer trapped the stallion's limbs with dark chains, keeping the ex-royal guard captain from fleeing.

"...Shining Armor..." The unicorn king approached the bound stallion, green mist began to seep out of his eyes as his anger grew dangerously intense. "...How have I been so blind?"

"Heh...You were too paranoid," Shining answered. "I'm surprised you didn't find me out the first time you met 'Zero' a decade ago. Too frightened about your mortal foe to even bother realizing I had been a spy all this time."

Lucifer jabbed Shining hard in the chest with the pommel of his favored magical weapon, knocking the wind out of the older stallion. "You have no right to mock me! You were a fool to even stay longer than you should have!...I even gave you my life story that led me to who I am..." His aura grew out of control as he growled, summoning thousands of blades around Shining Armor. "I should kill you a thousandfold for humiliating me!"

"Go ahead then," the captive unicorn said, not afraid of the magical blades ready to run through him. "By now, Solaris has already finished his final test, and is ready to take you down."

"Tests!? What tests!?" Lucifer moved the blades closer to Shining's neck, the sharp blades threatening to chop his head off.

"You really are blind, aren't you?" Lucifer's eyes began glowing red as the mist flowed out dangerously, his growls turning demonic. "You didn't even notice what he was wearing back in Saddle Arabia? He's been busy going through specific trials, created by my sister, to test his power to prove he can beat you. I happened to be one of them who gave him one of these tests. He was able to win against me, an experienced veteran of the royal guard and youngest stallion who became captain of the royal guard. You won't stand any chance against him when he arrives in Canterlot, confronts you, and ends you."

Lucifer was about to end Shining Armor's life, but he stopped as he noticed something else strewn about the pieces of the stallion's armor beneath him. His eyes turned back to normal as he noticed what seemed to look like shredded remains of a photo. Ignoring the chained unicorn and the injured, and now surprised, Shadow Knight, Lucifer levitated each piece and began putting them together like a difficult puzzle.

Taking his time, he began to form most of the picture, so far looking at Shining Armor with his wife, Cadence, his sister, Twilight, and their parents, all of them smiling for the camera. Unfortunately, there was one part that was missing, and it was between the lavender alicorn and her older brother. The captive unicorn's eyes widened, having forgotten he kept that picture hidden in his disguise when he wanted to reminisce on the photo's moment while out doing his duty as Zero while no one else was around.

Lucifer found the remaining pieces, putting them together to show Spike with an alicorn foal sitting on the dragon's head. His eyes widened in shock, the colt in the small part of the picture having the same coat, hair, and eye color as his enemy. He connected the last piece, now seeing the picture as a whole, looking at the whole family. He began to grin, laughing to himself as he figured out the connection between Solaris and Shining's shocked expression.

"Well, well, well," Lucifer said, slowly turning the photo around to show the stallion. "...This child must be your nephew...Am I right?" Shining was speechless, wincing as he had made a horrible mistake keeping that picture. "I am...You couldn't have had a foal if you were busy trying to stop me, depressed and dead set on getting vengeance to care about continuing your bloodline and settling down with me around...You really should have done the latter, Crystal Prince."

"...Just kill me and get it over with." Shining lowered his head, cursing to himself for being careless. "It's already too late for you. You'll never win."

"Oh. I'm not going to kill you, Shining Armor." The unicorn looked up in confusion, his eyes widening as he saw the manic glee in the tyrant's eyes, wielding a large ethereal hammer. "I've got something else in mind for you. But first..."

The chains suddenly pulled Shining's front half down, holding his forelegs out straight along the floor. The moment he tried to pull away, Lucifer slammed the hammer down hard on his legs, making him scream out in pain as they were crushed by the heavy aura weapon. The chains disappeared as the dark unicorn king watched Shining writhe in agony, unable to move his forelegs from the bone crushing hammer. He turned to the soldier, who was completely silent as he watched the identity of Zero discovered up to the agonizing groans of pain coming from the ex-royal guard.

"Get to some medics to heal your wounds, and tell them to put his legs in casts," he commanded. "I don't want him dead yet. I just don't want him to try and escape through brute force." The soldier saluted and hurried off to find the medics while Lucifer stood over the broken stallion. "We'll see just who will defeat whom when your nephew decides to confront me. Then, as he falls by your inconsideration to stay safe, being the only family he has left, you will watch me kill him, very...very...slowly."

Lucifer laughed maniacally while Shining slowly began to pass out from the pain, a lone tear rolling down his face as he knew exactly what the king had planned to keep him alive for.

Solaris explained what had happened to him to Chrysalis, after they laid Trill down in her bed from her lack of sleep last night. It was surprising for the queen to hear about a plane of existence only available to alicorns that can see every moment from every living being's life, growing curious as to what it looks like and what it can see.

"...And you aren't miserable anymore after hearing a heartfelt speech from your mother, from a recorded crystal, snapping you away from your mental breakdown by her words from the past?" she asked the teen, having taken off his armor due to his aching chest. Solaris nodded, making Chrysalis groan. "...Whatever. It worked, at least. Your brain is somewhat stable, but your body isn't. Let's just hope you find some sort of plan that can get you into the castle."

"Wait. What plan?" Solaris asked.

"Well, what were you expecting!?" Chrysalis exclaimed. "Do you really think you'll just waltz right on in without getting involved with his guards? 'Oh hello! Don't mind me! Future ruler of Equestria ready to take down your boss! I'll make my way to him! No need to escort me!' Use your brain, foal!"

"...Oh...I never really thought of that." Solaris scratched his head, unable to think of anything at the moment. "I was too busy worrying and fleeing to different parts of Equestria just to pass my trials...Do you have any ideas?"

Chrysalis sighed after a moment of silence. "Maybe...but, considering this is your fight, you'll have to make up the plans. You have an inherited IQ passed down from your mother, so start thinking while you rest up." She began heading down the halls, stopping for a moment to look back at the alicorn. "Though, admittedly, Lucifer is everypony's problem, including my kingdom...I think it's time we did something instead of cowered in fear, knowing we have you."

"You really believe I can truly stop him?" he asked.

"No...but Trill does. We won't know what'll happen unless we do something soon." Chrysalis continued on her way, leaving Solaris to himself.

He didn't feel like laying down and resting until his wounds healed, feeling too anxious to sit down and wait. Solaris decided to get a better look around the changeling hive, since he was no longer a prisoner and free to wander around. Hopefully, none of the changelings would glare at him if he passed by, especially after he broke out of his cell, knocked out a couple of the guards, and threatened to kill a hatchling using his fire.

As his unfortunate luck would have it, he ended up bumping into the changeling soldier the other day, the same one who's daughter the alicorn threatened to burn. He heard a tiny squeak of fear, and the filly hatchling was hiding behind her father's hind legs. Solaris cursed to himself, not wanting to remember the heartless act he did just to keep from getting captured again.

"Uhh...Sorry. Just...a little lost," the alicorn said, trying to spark some conversation to steer them away from yesterday.

"You are lucky my queen has decided to keep you around," the spiteful changeling said. "Even if you're this hero all of us were supposed to be aware of for the last fifteen years, I will gladly look past that and kill you after what you've done to my daughter. She has been so terrified of you that she can't go anywhere without me keeping an eye on her."

"...I'm sorry...I wasn't really going to hurt her. I was outnumbered, and I-" The soldier aimed his horn and began to charge a spell, stopping Solaris's apology as he backed away.

"I don't want to hear any of your excuses. Leave us." Not wanting to get in another conflict, and risk worsening his injuries, Solaris heeded his warning and walked away.

Solaris looked back at them, feeling bad he had greatly traumatized the poor filly. He needed to make up for his actions, immediately perking up as he had an idea to help fix his mistake. He arrived back to the two a moment later, wearing the chaos pendant. The changeling hissed while his daughter hid behind him again.

"Before you yell at me or attempt to attack me, I just want to apologize and give your daughter a little something I know she'll like." The changeling kept his hateful gaze on the alicorn, but he heard Solaris out.

Given a chance, Solaris focused on the pendant, the golden figure of Discord glowing brightly. He summoned a pink cotton candy cloud, making sure it was filled to the brim with chocolate milk. The soldier stared at the randomly crafted cloud in confusion, while the filly watched in slight curiosity.

"What is that?" he asked.

"I know it's hard to believe, but it's a cloud made of cotton candy, and it has chocolate milk inside it. I kinda discovered changelings like chocolate as a substitute to love from Trill...Though, is it supposed to be addictive to you guys?" Solaris asked, receiving a shake of the head from the soldier. "Then I guess it's just Trill..." He tore off a chunk of the cloud and took a bite, revealing the chocolate milk seeping out of the chunk of cottony sugar. "It's really good."

The hatchling began to sniff the air as the scent of chocolate reached her senses. Slowly, she approached Solaris as he gently lowered the bit of pink fluff to her level. She sniffed around the cotton candy for a moment, then decided to give it a small nibble. The instant her tiny fangs poked into the cloud, she squeaked when a burst of liquid hit her mouth, her taste buds exploding from the taste of chocolate. He tiny wings fluttered as she let out chirps of glee, taking the rest of the torn piece from the alicorn's hoof as she munched down on the delicious snack.

Seeing her daughter actually enjoy it, the father decided to try some himself, becoming surprised as he bit into his chunk. "Mmm...It is good."

"See?" Solaris crouched down to the content filly's height, looking at him with small bits of cotton candy on her face. "Can you forgive me for yesterday?"

She nipped his nose, making the alicorn yelp as she went to work on eating the rest of the cloud hovering above her, the soldier chuckling as he watched Solaris rub his snout. "I think that's a yes."

"Mrf," Solaris grumbled. "Do you teethe that much as soon as you're hatched?"

"Nope." Solaris sighed in annoyance, his ears perking up as he heard the sound of dozens of tiny wings flapping as they smelt the chocolate milk. The hatchlings spotted the alicorn, their gaze more set on him than the delectable treat the filly changeling was already snacking on. "And it looks like the others see you as a favorite uncle."

"Oh no." The other hatchlings shrieked as they flew at Solaris. "Not again!" The tiny group of changelings rammed into him as they swarmed and nibbled on him, making him yelp in pain as some of them pressed their hooves on his chest. "OW! Why do you bite me!? I'm not a gigantic chew toy!"

While Solaris was "attacked" by the hatchlings and the soldier laughed uproariously at the scene, another changeling ran around the corner in a panic. "Young ones! You can't be out of my sight like-" The changeling froze, its voice sounding feminine, watching them piled on the flailing alicorn beneath them. "...Umm...What is going on?"

"Oh, nothing," the snickering guard said. "They just 'love' our guest."

The two changelings just watched, doing nothing to save Solaris as he begged for help, not wanting to use his fire to scare them off him again.

In the changeling princess's royal bedchambers, Trill squirmed in her sleep, drool leaking out of her mouth and on her pillow. She began rolling over, slipping off her bed and waking up as she hit the ground.

"Nah! Falling!" She looked around, finding herself in her room, wiping off the drool on her cheek. "What happened? Why am I in my room?...Oh wait. I passed out." Trill sighed, rubbing her eyes, still feeling tired. "Solaris came back...But he is going to have to explain a lot to me about where he went, why he left, and beat him up for leaving and worrying me half to death."

The door to her room opened, looking in the direction to see who was checking on her. Her eyes widened, snorting a little as she struggled not to laugh at what she was seeing. Standing in front of her was Solaris, his body covered in little fang bites and bits of cotton candy stuck to his body, his eye twitching as his left ear was being held on by one of the changeling hatchlings, dangling off his ear like a large earring.

"Trill," Solaris said, wincing as he felt the foal's fangs digging deeper in his ear. "I think you need to tell me everything about your kind...Especially the part about the babies. I was told they bite you when they like you...I think they bite me because I'm not a changeling. And this little...I don't know what gender this one is, is really stuck on my ear!"

The princess giggled at her coltfriend's misfortune, walking up to him and tickled the foal's belly, making it let go of his ear. "They bite you because they're playing, and the have a liking to you. And you better scoot off to your parents, you little rascal." Trill shooed the hatchling, the colt flittering out of the room and back to its family. "Saves me the trouble of beating you up for running off on us...again."

"Trill, I was trying to tell you before your sleep-addled mind kept thinking slapping me in the face was going to give you answers," he said, rubbing his sore ear. "I wound up in some dimensional plane, through a hidden enchantment on my armor a while after losing Aunt Pinkie. I didn't leave by my own will. So before you yell at me, or hit me again, that is EXACTLY what happened."

"...Oh..." The teens were quiet, Solaris leering at his irritating marefriend while she tried to find an excuse to yell at him. "...Ok. I got nothing. You really didn't leave."

Solaris sighed, feeling more sore than ever, getting bitten by his new "cousins" only adding more small injuries that needed healing. "They even managed to get cotton candy on me after I have some to the filly I scared yesterday to apologize. Nopony even bothered to help me while I was swarmed by changeling foals." He looked down at himself, pulling off the ruined bandages around his chest. "Please tell me you have a bath or shower here. I need to get cleaned up."

"Well, we wouldn't have this hive made if we can't get any water. Follow me. I'll show you mine and mom's personal bathhouse." Trill lead Solaris down the hall to their bathroom. As soon as she opened the doors, the alicorn's jaw dropped at how big the room was. In the center of the large bathroom was a big tub, filled with warm water that flowed out from a statue of a previous changeling queen's mouth. Though the room was built out of obsidian and rock, it looked as elegant as any royal bathroom. "Here we are! Looks a lot better than your bathroom in that cave of yours."

"I'll say..." He was speechless, approaching the edge of the large tub and tested the water, feeling the steam hit his hoof before he touched the warm water.

"We changelings aren't savages, or sexual deviants. We like to keep ourselves clean." Trill walked into the tub, sighing in relief as the warm water enveloped her.

Solaris climbed in after her, the warmth soothing his tired and aching body. He closed his eyes and relaxed, feeling some of the stress he had gone through for the past month melt away. A moment had passed with the two in blissful silence, Trill slowly waded behind her coltfriend and began massaging his shoulders.

"What are you doing?" Solaris asked, though he wasn't complaining.

"Just helping you relax a bit more." She continued massaging him, making him relax further and give out pleasant moans. She soon wrapped her hooves around him, peppering his neck with soft kisses, feeling his body shiver under her ministrations. "You're always so tense. It's nice to see you be calm and actual enjoy yourself."

"Mhmm," he mumbled, feeling Trill's lips brush against his shoulder. "Just don't nip me. I've had enough bites to last me a lifetime."

The changeling giggled, ignoring his request and moved her head up, taking one of his ears in her mouth and nibbled on it. Solaris groaned, questioning why he bothered to tell her not to do something when she's just going to do the exact opposite. She let go of his flicking ear, resting her head against his shoulder as she nuzzled him. Distracted by nuzzling him, Solaris smirked, grabbing Trill and flipped her over his shoulder, sending her splashing into the water with a yelp. She poked her head up from the water, leering at the stallion as he grinned.

"What was that for?" she asked.

"That was for biting my ear," he said, sticking his tongue out at the princess.

"Oh...So you wanna play that game, eh?" Trill pounced Solaris, and the two began to wrestle with each other, splashing water around them.

It was a one-sided battle; Solaris was far stronger and kept flipping Trill into the water, while the changeling kept lunging at him and failed to even bring his head down in the water every time. Their playful struggled ended with the mare flailing her forehooves to try to grab him while the alicorn held her back a foreleg's length away.

"You give up?" he asked, watching as Trill panted heavily, completely soaked and exhausted.

"...Yes..." The moment she stopped flailing, Solaris moved his hoof away, making her yelp as she hit the water again. He sat back near the edge of the tub, watching the changeling crawl toward him, glaring intensely as she sat in his lap. "You don't even give me a chance."

"I did a few times. You just didn't have enough leverage to knock me down." He grabbed one of her forelegs, looking through one of the holes at her. "Sweep your opponents legs, and they'll come tumbling down."

"Then what if somepony has beefy legs? That's impossible." Trill tried to pull her leg back, but Solaris kept a firm grip on her hoof.

"You just need to hit the right spots to turn a towering behemoth into a crumbled heap," he said, pulling Trill closer and kissed her. Slightly surprised, she kissed him back, eyes closing and pressing closer to him, her hoof set free as she wrapped her forelegs around his neck. Solaris pulled away, making her whimper. "Even turning you into a whimpering, needy mess with a kiss."

"S-Shut up." Trill looked away, blushing heavily. "Is this who you are when you're not miserable? Poking fun at me and being a tease? That's my job."

"Just giving you a test of your own medicine. Payback is oh so sweet." He kissed her cheek, receiving a splash of water to his face.

"Well, there's one thing I can do to get back at you. But you wouldn't want it, considering where we are right now." Trill grinned, rubbing her tail along Solaris's inner thighs. He blushed, feeling it brush dangerously close to his pelvis while also realizing her little ploy. "That's right. Every single changeling in the hive, including my mom, will feel the love YOU will give off when we go nuts, and instantly swarm us. If kissing me was strong enough to catch everypony's attention, imagine how powerful it is when we have sex. Romantic, erotic, LOVING sex..."

Solaris shoved Trill off him, pushing her into the water and quickly getting out, shaking himself dry. "Nope! That's not happening! Nuh uh! Do NOT want an audience!" He quickly ran out of the bathroom, hearing the princess laugh as he headed into her room.

As it grew late in the evening, Solaris pouted as he sat on Trill's bed, still fuming at his marefriend's little joke from their bath. The changeling sat behind him, dressing his bruised chest with new bandages. His burnt forelegs were healing quickly, his affinity with fire lessening the first degree burns he had received, even though they should have been worse. After finishing dressing his injury, Trill plopped down on a pillow in front of him, winking at him.

"So, what was it you said earlier about payback?" she mocked.

Solaris said nothing, grabbing her hind legs and pulling her closer to him. Trill's forelegs were curled up against her chest, pretending to be scared as the alicorn crawled over her, pressing his weight down on top of her. He leaned his face closer to hers, getting a quick kiss on the nose from the changeling.

"You drive me crazy," Solaris said.

"And that's a good thing." Trill patted his head. "You need that crazy to get rid of that serious attitude of yours."

"I would also like it if you put your brain in your skull every now and then." Solaris poked her forehead. "You need to seriously think about the consequences some of your actions take, even life-threatening ones where I would live and you get yourself killed for no reason."

Trill's grin melted into a frown, her playfulness quickly turned into sadness. She buried her face in his chest, being careful not to disturb his bruises.

"...I thought you were gonna die..." Tears began to well up in her eyes as she pulled him closer. Solaris was forced to lay down next to Trill, feeling the mare tremble. "That other you...Nova...He was winning..." She sobbed, the fight between Solaris and his evil self haunting her as she could only watch him lose, being powerless to do anything to help him. "He was going to kill you. I was so scared...I thought I was gonna lose you..."

Solaris held her tightly as she cried. Even he thought he was a goner after getting struck by Nova's dark flames, but he did survive. He would have lost if his evil persona hadn't drove his anger over the edge, threatening to hurt Trill and abuse his power if he did end up winning and taking Lucifer down. He was worried about losing her, and that fear was what drove him to claiming victory against his darkness.

"Trill?" She pulled herself away from his chest, looking up at him, tears rolling down her cheeks. Solaris wiped them away with his hoof, staring deeply into her emerald eyes. "I know you worry about me, but I'm more worried about your safety. I can defend myself, and now I have armor to fully protect me. Last I checked, you were barely able to beat me when we first met, and you had a preemptive advantage sneaking up on me."

"B-But-" Trill was immediately silenced, her lips locked in a deep kiss as Solaris pulled her close to him, gently caressing her cheek.

Her eyes closed as she kissed him back, moaning into his mouth as her limbs wrapped around his body. Any protests she had wanted to say were quickly forgotten. She parted her lips, feeling his tongue slowly enter her maw, their kiss deepening as their slick organs wrestled one another, the alicorn's easily dominating hers. Her body shivered in delight, horn glowing brightly as she felt and tasted his love. Solaris gently pulled away, leaving a thin trail of saliva from their lips as he parted.

Trill opened her eyes, gazing at him with need, the alicorn gently rolling back on top of her. "No buts," he said, giving her a light peck on the lips. "You, my family, everypony who's helped me so far...You've done a lot for me to get me this far. Now, it's my turn to repay you all in kind. You won't lose me. Not if I still draw breath."

"...S-Solly..." The changeling smiled, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks as she looked up at her lover. "That was so corny..."

"Yeah. Kinda had some inspiration from some romance novels I read when I was little," Solaris chuckled, rubbing his nose against Trill's. "But I am serious. I know now I can do this. You believe in me, right?"

"Mhmm," Trill nodded. Solaris lowered his head, gently pressing his lips against her neck, making the changeling chirp in bliss. "Solly?"

"Hmm?" he mumbled, hearing her sigh as he softly kissed her neck.

"I love you...so much," she said, flinching a little as she felt her tail being wrapped up by Solaris's.

"I love you too." He moved his lips up back to hers, kissing her again, deeply and filled with passion, both teens moaning as their bodies rubbed against each other's.

Outside the princess's room, Chrysalis walked down the halls of her castle to rest in her room for the evening, only to stop when she felt love energy come from her daughter's room. She pressed her ear against the door, hearing their moans as well as the soft creaking coming from Trill's bed. She knew exactly what was going on in there, and as much as she wanted to stop them, she couldn't.

Chrysalis sighed, trying her hardest to ignored the succulent energy leaking out in the princess's room as she entered her chambers. "I'll let him have this little...moment with Trill. It might be his last if he doesn't make it out of this alive." She climbed into her bed and stared at the ceiling, her ears twitching slightly. "...And I hate myself for saying this, but he kind of is handsome. Almost like Shining Armor..." The queen soon groaned, growing anxious as to what will come as soon as Solaris was fully healed. "I can't believe I'm putting all of my subjects' faith in his hooves...but, he can do this...He proved it by defeating himself...Though, it's going to be much more difficult against...Lucifer..."

She rolled onto her side and pulled the covers over her. The epic showdown between the unicorn king and the alicorn prince will be upon the kingdom, and it's unknown who will be victorious in the clash of darkness versus light.

Chapter 26: The Invasion

After a week had passed, Solaris had fully recovered and was ready to accomplish his destiny. As he rested, he had gone over a plan to safely enter Canterlot without exhausting himself, but he would require a bit of assistance to do so. He told Chrysalis about his plan, and she agreed to go along with it, as long as she comes along.

So, with a changeling army following his orders with the queen's consent, they flew off to Canterlot. Since flying was a lot quicker than traveling by hoof, they managed to reach a forest near the mountain the city was built on, making sure to stay hidden as they passed by other towns along the way. It was dark by the time they set up camp in the forest, hundreds of changeling soldiers preparing themselves for their second invasion of Canterlot, only for a good cause this time.

Solaris, Trill, Chrysalis, and one of the changeling captains sat around a stump as a green fire burned beside them, the queen laying out a map of the city and castle. "If this plan of yours works, I'll let you marry my daughter."

"R-Really?" Solaris asked, his cheeks tinted red while Trill was a little surprised.

"No. That's never going to happen." The alicorn felt a little disappointed, even though, in time, he just might want to propose to Trill if their relationship still stays strong. "Ok. Now, how we took Canterlot was through espionage, but seeing how there's no barrier, and there is a maniac of a unicorn in charge, then sneaking in by disguise won't help here. Your little idea to create a distraction, though...It seems a little risky for us."

"I know, but your soldiers have more experience in combat, many of them born into the military as soon as they're hatched...Right?"

"Correct," the captain said, bearing a scar over his right eye. "And your confirmation on our armor changing along with our bodies is proven to you as well. Plus, since many of the Shadow Knights are untrained brats, their forces will be simple to take out."

"But no casualties," Solaris added. "There's already enough blood spilt for the last fifteen years."

"We aren't exactly killers. Only when we need to defend ourselves from intruders to our home," Chrysalis said. "If we kill our victims when we steal their love, then we might as well not feed from them at all."

"Right! We'd die even quicker!" Trill exclaimed, receiving a look from her mother, her hive's few captains, and her coltfriend. "...What? It's true."

"...Ignoring my daughter's ignorance to what is happening now-" Trill glared at Chrysalis, who ignored her gaze. "-let's go over where we're going to attack. We're facing the southern entrance to Canterlot from our camp. With this portion of the city, there's more room to fight, and with many of the ponies living there being nobles, they'll flee from battle faster than the bits flowing in their pockets.

"If your diversion does work, you're going to have to run through the city on hoof to the castle. Not all of the soldiers will be dumb enough to fall for it and some might be in the castle or watching over the gate." Chrysalis marked possible positions where he might encounter a guard from the castle's walls or the halls inside. "You'll be on your own from there."

"That's fine. I can handle a few guards." Solaris looked over the map of the castle, memorizing the layout to find where Lucifer might be hiding. "Let's get some rest. We're going to need everything we've got to end this nightmare." The alicorn watched the queen and captain head off to bed, stopping Trill from following them. "Trill, can we talk for a minute?"

"Ooh. You got something special planned for me? What do I gotta do?" Trill asked, eager to find out what he wanted to say.

"I need you to stay out of this fight," he said.

"........I'm sorry, what?" she asked, confused. "Why?"

"I'm not risking you getting hurt, and you're not really good at fighting." He didn't really want to let her down, but he didn't want to lose the love of his life.

"Solaris, most of my hive is fighting, even my mom!" she argued. "If they're fighting, then I'm fighting too!"

Solaris gently cupped the changeling's cheeks, forcing her to look at him with a stern gaze. "I was close to losing you so many times in the past. I'm not going to lose you when I need you after this is all over." His eyes softened, gently pressing his forehead against hers. "Just please...for me. Please, stay here, away from the fight, and as far away from Lucifer. Promise me that you will listen to me and not do something stupid. Please?"

The two were silent for a moment, the crackling fire and nocturnal animal cries the only sounds around them. Trill's ears drooped, sighing in defeat, knowing she wouldn't want to upset Solaris further.

"...Ok...I'll stay here," she said. "I promise."

"I want you to make a Pinkie Promise," Solaris said.

"...Alright. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Trill went through the motions of the Pinkie Promise, having seen him make this kind of promise to the young CMC back in Ponyville.

"Thank you." He gave her a quick kiss, hugging her tightly, knowing he can trust her with her promise. "I better get some rest...I'm really gonna need it."

"Ok." Solaris headed off to his tent to get a good night's sleep, leaving Trill alone with the blueprints of Canterlot and the castle.

The sun began to rise on the horizon, many ponies in the capital of the kingdom opening their stores, heading off to work, or walking to school if you're a colt or filly. Around the castle grounds, some of the young Shadow Knights hated waking up early as they patrolled their routes. Their plans to begin their world conquest across the globe was immediately cancelled by Lucifer, and every single soldier who had showed up needed to stay in Canterlot without any knowledge as to why.

"Ugh. I hate mornings..." One of them approached a stoic guard, being one of the veterans who served Princess Celestia who actually took his job seriously. "When do we take our break? I've been walking this same stupid route for the past week, and nothing's happening!"

"Son, I had gone through rigorous training before the princesses were slain," the veteran said, growing agitated with the youth who signed up to be Shadow Knights. "I can go more than a week without eating, without sleeping, and with no complaints. If you wanted to do take this occupation, then you should have thought about doing it for the good of your kingdom, and not for the benefits of behaving like a delinquent."

"Pth. The princesses were killed by our king. They actually did nothing back then anyway." The senior soldier growled as he insulted their true and benevolent rulers. "Besides, I can easily take you down, grandpa. You better start thinking about retiring, because them old bones are gonna snap on you in that heavy armor of yours."

Having had enough of the young stallion's words, with incredible agility for his age, he slammed the disrespectful youth against the wall of their watchtower. "You are a disgrace to the code of a soldier! You and the rest of your spoiled peers abuse your power as PROTECTORS to destroy homes, businesses, families! You brats have no discipline, no self restraint! If we go out to war, you will all die first because you think you're more powerful than your enemies! If I were able to at this very moment, I would put you through worse training than what I had to go through, and I WANTED to protect my home by my own will! You'll probably quit after the first day."

"J-Jeez, calm down!" After a moment, the older stallion let the young delinquent down, the young soldier rubbing his chest. "I don't know why you even stay working as a soldier if you-"

As soon as the youth looked up, his eyes widened under his helmet as he saw something in the distance. Confused, the veteran looked in the same direction, finding a dark cloud coming closer to the city. He grabbed a telescope nearby, zooming in on the strange cloud, knowing there was supposed to be clear skies all day today.
As he focused in on the cloud, his jaw dropped when he saw the cloud was actually a large group of changelings, all of them wearing dark purple armor.

"Oh no...Not again." The young soldier stared at his superior in confusion, having no clue what he was seeing. "Get to the king. Tell him we're being attacked by another changeling invasion."

"C-Changelings? What's a changeling?" he asked, his voice shakey as he feared an upcoming battle.

"Just go." The youth quickly ran to the castle as the veteran continued watching the swarm approach from the south. He spotted the queen, wearing the same armor as her minions, but his eye caught a golden gleam from the corner of the lens of his telescope. He gasped as he spotted Solaris flying along with the bug ponies, wearing golden armor. "An alicorn...He's still alive?" The veteran lowered his telescope, grinning as the young teen was still alive, finding some hope for their kingdom to thrive in peace once again. "I better alert the others."

While the veteran went off to tell his fellow senior comrades the good news, the young soldier ran through the castle to find Lucifer. Barging into the throne room, he spotted the unicorn sitting on his throne, reading through a book, not even disturbed by the interruption.

"King Lucifer! We have a serious problem!" He looked up from his book, marking the page he left off on, allowing the youth to continue giving his report. "We're being invaded by changelings!...Whatever those things are."

"Changelings? Really?" The soldier nodded his head. Lucifer calmly walked out of the throne room and headed to the southern balcony, in the small chapel where the royal wedding was held for Cadence and Shining Armor. Using a spell to increase his sight, Lucifer enhanced his vision, seeing the dark cloud that was made of changelings. "So, Chrysalis is deciding to act after all these years. A fruitless endeavor, you mindless cockroach."

Lucifer could hear some of the surprised screams of terror come from the ponies in the city, though as he kept his gaze on the invading force, his eyes widened when he caught sight of Solaris among their ranks. What was strange about the invasion was that they hovered over the south end of Canterlot. It was as if they were waiting for something, and it baffled the unicorn tyrant.

"Why did you all stop?" he asked to himself, wondering what they had planned. The soldiers, Chrysalis, and Solaris began flying around over the city in a spherical shape, some form of tactic that was somewhat distracting or trying to be entertaining. Suddenly, all the changelings simultaneously burst into green flames, their transforming creating a massive ball of fire as bright as the sun. Lucifer was slightly blinded, dispelling his sight enchantment as he waited for the blinding glares to disappear from his vision. His eyes widened when he could see again. "Oh great."

Floating above the city were hundreds upon hundreds of clones of Solaris, the changeling army and Chrysalis mimicking his body as well as his armor. Solaris's plan to show up in Canterlot, let all of the city know they were here, and confuse the public, Shadow Knights, and possibly Lucifer with his planned out flying stunt was working so far. It was a success, as a moment later, the Shadow Knights came running or flying down to the southern districts of Canterlot while the citizens fled into the safety of their homes.

"Well, I'll be," Chrysalis said, disguised as Solaris, though her voice was her own. "Seems like it's working so far. Time to attack?"

"Yes," Solaris answered. "'Changeling Invasion Version 2' begins now. CHARGE!"

The changelings flew down to confront the enemy, every single disguised soldier hiding the real Solaris through the copies of him, and the two sides clashed. With the massive confusion, as well as the Shadow Knights being mostly untrained youths, it was quickly one-sided. Some thought they managed to knock the real alicorn down, only for their disguise to drop temporarily, distracting them greatly as they were knocked out by another changeling.

Solaris pretended to be part of the fight, standing alongside Chrysalis while she actually fought to help save the alicorn's strength against Lucifer. "This is way too easy. I think I can handle things here."

"Are you sure, Chrysalis?" he asked, avoiding a Shadow Knight's spear while Chrysalis took him out.

"I managed to confuse your mother's friends and Celestia while disguised as your real aunt. I'm smarter than I look." Chrysalis's eyes turned green for a moment, reverting back to blue as he eyed the real alicorn. "Just take that bastard down."

"Right. Also, see if you can evacuate the city as well. I have a feeling Canterlot's going to be mine and Lucifer's battlefield when we fight." Chrysalis nodded her head, knowing it would be a dangerous fight with innocents caught in the crossfire.

With their safety precaution for the citizens in mind, Solaris snuck around the battlefield, weaving through the many buildings until he was out of sight, running straight for the castle in the distance. Chrysalis managed to knock out a few more unprepared youths, feeling a rush of adrenaline as she finally did something after fifteen years of hiding from Lucifer. While making sure her victims were unconscious, her ears perked up, the hive mind picking up another of her subjects closeby. Confused, she looked around the outbreak, counting all of her soldiers being present and still conscious.

She felt the additional changeling's movement in the same direction Solaris sneaked off in, her eyes widening in shock as she spotted Trill, of all ponies, following after him. "What is that brat doing!? She was told to stay put!"

Before she could try to chase after her, she was sucker punched from behind by one of the Shadow Knights, catching sight of the youth grinning like an idiot. Wanting to give the soldier something to wipe the smirk on his face, she dropped her disguise, relishing his shock as he didn't get the right alicorn and the fright of the tall changeling queen he had just hit. Chrysalis brushed her foreleg against her punched cheek, snarling angrily.

"Oh no..." the stallion mumbled, his limbs shaking in fear.

"Oh no is right, you little runt." The queen hissed as she pounced the squealing stallion, knocking out more soldiers and forgetting Trill sneaking her way through the city to catch up to Solaris.

Solaris made his way through the empty streets of Canterlot to the castle, thankful to know most of the city hid in their homes as they caught sight of the changelings. He made it to the gates of the castle, seeing as a majority of the Shadow Knights were fighting the changeling army, giving him a better chance of encountering less guards inside and more energy to fight Lucifer.

He flew up over the walls, being wary of any patrolling guards that could still be around. "Ok. So far, so good." Solaris crept inside, remembering the layout of the castle from Chrysalis's plans she had on her. It was disturbing seeing the dark atmosphere of the halls, something that looked like it was for some sort of Gothic mansion or a haunted house. "How can he live with decor like this? I'd have nightmares with all this creepy stuff around every day."

While wandering through the corridors, remembering which doorway led to which room, Solaris didn't notice he was being followed. As he rounded a corner, he was greeted by a few Shadow Knights' spears pointed right at him. He stood on his hind legs, ready to fight, only to feel more spears behind him.

"Don't move, kid," one of them said, sounding a lot older than the soldiers fighting the invasion force outside. Completely surrounded, he raised his forelegs in the air, surrendering to the ambush. "So, this is the alicorn our 'king' is afraid of?"

"He said he was a child, but I didn't believe it until now," another guard said.

"Heh. How ironic that he's wearing what we used to wear as royal guards." Solaris figured they were the more experienced soldiers, actually having more knowledge on how to be a royal guard than many of the Shadow Knights he had encountered before. One of them prodded his chest with the spear, making the spearhead clink against his armor. "Brings back better memories before all this madness."

"You mean...all of you surrounding me were once members of Princess Celestia's guard?" the alicorn asked. He got no response, but it was obvious that what he thought was true. Unlike the rest of Lucifer's army of miscreants, these veterans have the proper training required to be a soldier of the military, acting out their duties without abusing the power they have. "Why do you follow Lucifer if you hate him?"

"We don't have much of a choice, kid." One of the soldiers walked through the group, the others stepping aside while keeping their weapons held out toward Solaris. The one who approached him was the same veteran that spotted the teen with the changelings earlier. "It was either obey his every command or die after he goes after our families. We did what we had to, becoming a disgrace to what we used to be in our heyday. If our previous captain, Captain Shining Armor, knew about this...We would all suffer severe consequences and endless weeks of running laps around all of Equestria."

"Shining Armor? That's my uncle." The soldiers nearly dropped their weapons in shock as they heard Solaris mention their greatest superior officer was his family. "I know it's hard to believe, but it's true. And, I know I'm not supposed to reveal this, but the mercenary who's always following Lucifer's orders, Zero, that's Uncle Shining in disguise."

"What?" While the captain of the group of veterans was surprised to hear this news, the others dropped their weapons out of shock, backing away from the alicorn.

"He didn't betray the princesses. He's been undercover trying to stop him." Solaris fell back to his hooves, looking around the ex-royal guards. "But now I'm here. My mother envisioned Lucifer would be stopped by an alicorn stallion, which happens to be me. Once I stop him and take back the throne, I can bring the royal guard back. I can bring Equestria back to the way it was before Lucifer destroyed everything this kingdom represented. Please, let me through. I won't hesitate to fight my way through you all in order to get to him."

The corridor was filled with silence. Solaris was ready to take down elite soldiers to get to Lucifer if they were going to stop him out of fear of the unicorn. He couldn't blame them. Even though he was ready to fight Lucifer, he was still really scared, but he had to do this for the sake of his home.

After a moment of silence passed until the captain grinned, chuckling at the teen's bravado. "Well, you sure do have your uncle's fighting spirit, I'll give you that. Besides, when did I ever say that we were going to stay in your way?" He took off his helmet, revealing his face to the alicorn. He was a beige earth pony, his fade manestyle a dull brown, his eyes a light green. He tossed the helmet to the ground, the armor piece rolling right up to Solaris's hoof. "We've been waiting fifteen long years for this day. I'll gladly quit now that you're among us, your highness."

The captain bowed before him, surprising Solaris as he immediately gave up following Lucifer and is ready to hear his orders before he defeated the unicorn. Soon, the other veterans proceeded to do the same, tossing off their helmets and bowing to him. It was all so sudden, but he had felt honored, instantly gaining the trust of the ones who had sought the same outcome he had.

"I won't let any of you down," he said.

"We know you won't." The soldiers stood up and saluted to the teen. "Is there anything you need of us before you seek out our tyrant?"

"Yes. The changelings invading Canterlot are not the enemy. I enlisted their help and they are taking out the actual followers of Lucifer. My fight with him will probably take range across the entire city, not just the castle. Help the changelings knock out any remaining Shadow Knights and escort all of Canterlot's citizens to the train station," Solaris commanded, all the soldiers nodding their heads, obeying his words. "Oh, and you might want to also take off the rest of your armor. Don't want to confuse the changeling army into attacking you."

"Understood, Prince...?" the captain paused, none of them actually knowing Solaris's name.

"Solaris," the teen said. "Just Solaris for now. I'm not a prince just yet."

"Whatever you say, kid. Let's move out! You heard our future ruler!" The soldiers shouted out with enthusiasm, all of them discarding the accursed armor and ran out to assist in the evacuation and invasion. The captain turned back to look at Solaris as his comrades ran on ahead. "Good luck, kid. We're counting on you."

"Thank you." The captain gave one last salute and headed out to the city, leaving Solaris alone in the halls with the discarded Shadow Knight armor around him.

Solaris continued his way through the castle, barging into the throne room, expecting Lucifer to be sitting in his throne. The massive room was empty, save only for the grim decorations and the stained glass windows. As he walked up to the dark throne, his eyes were glued to the horrible depictions crafted in the windows: one that held Lucifer standing over the world as it burned, the blue oceans were red as if it were stained in blood, another with him beheading Princess Celestia while Princess Luna and his mother were already slain, and many more gruesome images of the unicorn destroying or maiming something.

As he approached the throne, he quickly turned in surprise as he heard the doors shut, Lucifer having appeared on the other side as if he was waiting for him. "Well...Look who managed to come back from the dead. If I knew my enemy was coming to visit, I would have rolled out the red carpet." Lucifer chuckled, eyeing the golden armor Solaris wore. "I do hope you realize that model of armor is considered obsolete, right? And you're too old to play pretend."

"I'm not playing any games," Solaris said, readying himself to fight against the demonic stallion. "It won't be like last time. I'm not running this time."

"Oh really?" Lucifer slowly made his way up to Solaris, his magical aura summoning a variety of ethereal weapons. "I was a little surprised to see you teaming up with the changelings. Though, I must admit, your little diversion seemed a bit pointless, don't you think? Having those insects turn into you just to distract my army while the real you made a break for the castle? You shouldn't have come in alone and instead let that succubus of a roach, Chrysalis, send her soldiers to die before you."

"This is between you and me, nopony else." Solaris slammed his hooves together and set them ablaze, the green flames slightly stunning Lucifer as he recognized the hue of the fire burning in the alicorn's hooves. "I won't let you harm anypony anymore."

"...Dragon fire..." Lucifer finally decided on his menagerie of aura weapons, going for the tried and true broadsword. "The same as Twilight Sparkle's little pet...How interesting." He swung the ethereal blade around, getting a feel for it in his magic as he kept approaching the teen. "But, out of the ones who kept you hidden from me, where exactly are the other three bearers of the Elements of Harmony?" Solaris said nothing, keeping his gaze set on the king, staying calm and ignoring his words. "...I see...They met the same fate as the others...How tragic.

"But don't worry. I'll make sure to reunite you with your little family." The sword emitted a dark aura, its power dangerously flowing out of the ethereal weapon. "And the world will see that the last of the alicorns, who dared to face me, shall fall by my power. Every single creature will see that what they perceived as gods are nothing but weak, pathetic mortals who rely on trinkets to fight their foes. Even you, Solaris, wearing that ridiculous armor, will prove my point even further."

"Let's just get this over with," Solaris said, his flames increasing in power, ready to finish this grueling fight once and for all.

"...Your funeral." Both stallions stared each other down.

This was going to be a fight that would determine Equestria, and the world's, fate, where it will either continued to be ruled by the dark unicorn wizard, or return back to the peace it once held, ruled by the young alicorn who will follow the same benevolence as the princesses before him. The two finally charged at each other, Lucifer's weapon ready to slash through the teenage alicorn, while Solaris reared his hoof back, his flames intensifying in heat as he aimed his hoof at the tyrant who had killed his mother and ruined his home, his kingdom.

Chapter 28: Restoration

Solaris stirred awake, squinting his eyes as he groaned, his muscles sore and tired. What was strange to him was that he woke up in a white room, not outside the castle where he passed out. Slowly sitting up, ignoring his body's protests to remain still, he observed his surroundings. He was in a hospital room from the clean and sterile room, one of his forelegs hooked up to an IV that slowly infusing some pain medication through his veins, which had explained the slightly numb feeling he had upon waking up. He found his gauntlets resting on the side table next to the bed, thankful to know the hospital staff didn't confiscate them.

"What happened?" He looked down at himself, most of his body covered in bandages. At least he wasn't wrapped up like a mummy and rendered immobile, not wanting to lay in a bed all day when he's awake. "I wonder where I am."

The door to his room opened, one of the nurses coming in to check up on him. She was a white earth pony with a red mane, wearing a nurse's cap, her cutie mark a big red plus, a similar sign showing the building was a hospital in the area. She looked up from her clipboard, having all the medical reports on him, surprised to see him awake.

"Your highness," she said, approaching the bed. "I'm quite shocked to see you up after the injuries you had sustained in Canterlot."

"But I'm not a prince yet." The nurse began to check his vitals, along with checking underneath his bandages to see if his many wounds have healed. "Where am I, exactly?"

"You're in Ponyville General Hospital," she said, checking his heart rate. "I was afraid we would have been invaded by those changelings when they appeared a few days ago, but they didn't. I think all of Equestria heard that big explosion come from Canterlot, and just from being miles away, we saw how badly damaged the city was."

"A few days!?" Solaris nearly leapt out of the mattress, only to wince as he felt the IV tug at his foreleg.

"Relax, your highness." Seeing how mobile the young alicorn was, she eased Solaris back down before he could injure himself further. She gently pulled out the IV since he didn't seem to be in much pain. "You've actually recovered pretty well. After viewing the causes for your injuries...I expected broken limbs or internal injuries. But...is it really true you actually defeated Lucifer?"

"...Well, kind of...I mean, he is dead, but I didn't-" He was silenced as a thermometer was forced in his mouth, the nurse relieved to hear the good news but not what had happened.

"Oh thank goodness. Because of that lowlife tyrant sending a bunch of untrained and brutish soldiers, many ponies kept getting hurt all across Equestria, always getting badly beaten by those brats! I mean, honestly, asserting one's authority, stealing from those who don't have anything, and beating them up if they have nothing!? Our bills keep wracking up because nopony can pay for their medical bills, and supplies are always scarce when we can't afford them!" The nurse quickly calmed down, chuckling sheepishly as she acted unprofessionally around Solaris. "Sorry. Had to let that out."

She finished going through the routine checkup, noting down his improvements and began to head back to the reception desk. As soon as she opened the door, a small red blur zoomed past the surprised nurse and leapt up on the bed.

"Solly!" Cherry shouted, bouncing on the alicorn's stomach, somehow knowing he would have woken up.

"AH! C-Cherry!" Solaris quickly grabbed the filly before she could land on him again. "Easy! You aren't supposed to jump on patients when they're injured!"

Soon, the rest of the foals of the young CMC stormed in, nearly tripping the nurse as they barged in. Unfortunately, the only one not among them was Apple Seed. Prism flapped up on the bed excitedly, ready to join Cherry to bounce on him to hear what happened.

"We heard you dealt with Lucifer! How did you do it!? Did you pull off some super alicorn move that made his brain explode!?" Solaris had to keep the two ecstatic fillies from hurting him or else risk getting them in trouble with the nurse.

"Will you two please calm down? I just got up after a few days being unconscious." The two obeyed, sitting on the bed with him as they awaited eagerly to hear everything. "I'm sore enough after being smashed into several buildings in Canterlot." Solaris counted only four of his non-related cousins, unable to find Apple Seed. "...Where's Apple Seed?"

"Uhh," Cherry stammered. "...He's a bit...sick?"

"...He still hates me, doesn't he?" He was answered with silence, none of the fillies or colt speaking up. Solaris sighed, leaning back into the somewhat comfortable pillow. "I don't blame him..."

"...I'm sure he'll get over it after a while," Prism said. "...Maybe?"

"Have you all gotten over what happened to your moms?" Again, he was met with silence and depressed faces. When Solaris looked at Cherry, she had tears welling up in her eyes, threatening to overflow down her cheeks. "Cherry..."

The filly's mane instantly deflated and buried her face in his chest, her sobs muffled as she held him tightly. Solaris gently rubbed Cherry's back, letting her cry against him as she let out her sorrow. Butterscotch and Gemstone climbed up on the bed with the other two fillies as they and Prism joined Cherry, all of them wrapped around his hooves and wings.

Cherry had calmed down after a while, snuggling against the alicorn's chest as they all laid together in silence. Without Apple Seed, the gang didn't feel complete to Solaris. He was going to have to make it up to the young apple farmer to drag him out of his depression. A moment later, the door opened again as Trill stepped in, glad to see Solaris awake.

"Get enough sleep, Solly?" She asked, though surprising the alicorn as she wasn't disguised around his cousins.

"Trill!? Why aren't you in disguise!?" he shouted.

"There's no need," Trill nonchalantly said, approaching the bed. "Most of Equestria had heard the news about us helping them by now, and we needed to get you and Shining to the closest hospital, which just so happened to be Ponyville. Besides, most of the fugitives from Canterlot had already alerted the town about us, and we aren't hurting anypony. And your little 'cousins' weren't quick to judge after they heard my voice."

"Yeah," Prism agreed. "And 'Evergreen Forrest'? That's something a two-year-old foal would make up."

The others giggled, making Trill pout in annoyance. "Hey, I was put on the spot! I'm not good at making up names, anyways."

"And it's weird you and Solly are going out with each other," Cherry said, surprising the rest of her friends as they stared at her, then Solaris, then Trill, then back to Cherry in shock. "...What? You guys seriously didn't notice? I thought it was obvious."

"Wait, you and her are actually...dating!?" Gemstone asked. "Why!?"

"Well...It's a pretty complicated story, but some good came out of it," Solaris said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. He could see the 'crushing' impact of Gem's crush on him breaking her hopes, feeling sorry for the unicorn filly. "I don't know how much you guys know about changelings, but they can feed off love. Ironically enough, them falling for another from another species gives them more love to consume than stealing it by impersonating somepony else. It was considered wrong for them to do so, and by whatever reasons Trill's ancestors thought of the act, it only led them further to starvation."

"So...does that mean if you kiss her, she actually eats?" Prism asked, sticking her tongue out in disgust when Solaris nodded his head. "Eww! That just sounds gross!"

Gemstone pouted, leering at Trill. "Well, I won't allow that at all." She got closer to Solaris, her nose touching the teen's. "Solly, I love you! Kiss me and love me more than her!"

"W-What!?" He backed his head away as Gemstone puckered her lips to try and kiss him. He figured she was somewhat desperate to vie for his affection, but where she wanted their relationship to go up several levels, it only made the thought more awkward to him. Solaris held the filly away from him as she tried to grab his neck with her forelegs, the others laughing at his flushed cheeks. "Gem, cut it out! I see you as a little sister!"

"But I love you a lot!" she whined, giving him the pouty face that easily crumbled his resolve years ago.

"I love you too, but as family, not as a lover. It's bad enough to have a special somepony when that pony is Trill," he said, earning a playful glare from the changeling princess. Though he was letting Gemstone down gently, he couldn't help but break under that face she kept making. "...Maybe in a few years, I'll let you...kiss me...on the lips."

"Really!?" the filly squealed in excitement, her tail wagging in joy.

"I said maybe. Don't get your hopes up." Solaris looked at Trill, practically begging for her to save him, but it was a lost cause as she relished in his misery.

"Pinkie Promise it?" Gem begged, resorting to the cute pout that was his heart's weakness.

"...Pinkie Promise..." Solaris went through the motions, intending to keep his promise, hoping she would forget before the first of the few years promised.

He let Gemstone go, letting her hug him tightly. Soon, the foals had to leave, getting back on track with their crusading, and maybe convincing Apple Seed to visit Solaris in the hospital. With the two teens alone together, Trill nuzzled her lover.

"You are a sucker for that filly," she said. "Maybe I should do that pout thing to make you give in to my demands."

Trill leaned into Solaris to give him a kiss, only to feel his hoof gently pull her head back. He glowered at her, confusing the changeling at his change in attitude.

"We need to talk about the promise you broke the other day," he said.

"Solly, it was just one little promise. We're all fine, thanks to you. What's the big deal?" she asked, oblivious to how serious Solaris was.

"A Pinkie Promise is something you should never break," he explained. "Aunt Pinkie made it up, but it's not a foalish gesture because of its silliness. It is a special promise one intends to fully keep, or else they'll lose the trust of the friend, or lover, you make it to."

FOREVER! Both Solaris and Trill jumped in surprise, somehow hearing Pinkie Pie's voice echo in the room.

"...D-Did I just hear that, or am I going crazy?" the alicorn asked.

"No. I heard it." Trill looked under the bed out of suspicion, even though Pinkie was dead. "She terrifies me sometimes, even in the afterlife."

"...Ok. Let's get back on topic." Solaris took in a deep breath while Trill feared the worst, possibly breaking up with him, thrown in a dungeon, or broken up while being thrown in a dungeon. "You broke your promise to stay in the forest, away from Canterlot and the dangerous stuff that could have happened. I thought you would have known better after tricking me, stealing our traveling money, nearly freezing to death in the Crystal Empire, and getting in the way when I fought Nova. You keep getting yourself in trouble, whether it involved the sake of your life or my feelings."

Trill's ears drooped, lowering her gaze to the ground to avoid the disappointment in Solaris's eyes. "...I'm sorry..."

"...But if you did listen, I would have lost my uncle." She looked up in confusion, only to be pulled into a tight embrace. Solaris nuzzled her, only confusing her more. "If you didn't intervene, I would have lost another member of my family."

"...I-I don't get it," Trill said. "I thought you were going to yell at me. You were mad back in Canterlot...Why not now?"

Solaris pulled away, looking in her teary, fear-stricken eyes. "I was afraid of losing you. That was why I blew up on you...I forgive you for breaking your promise. You saved Uncle Shining when I was just standing there, too scared to move with him held hostage. What you did was dumb, but it was dumb enough to work."

"...So, you're not gonna break up with me?" Trill asked, their relationship not ending after all.

"Yeah...but that doesn't mean you aren't being punished." Trill's eyes widened, not liking what sort of punishment Solaris had planned for her. "For disregarding my pleas to stay safe and putting yourself in danger...You are not to receive any love from me for a month."

"What!? No!" Trill leapt onto the bed, practically begging for some other form of punishment. "I spent five whole days without your love when you were unconscious! I'll do anything else! I'll listen to you from now on! I'll dress up as a maid and do whatever you ask! Just please anything but no love! It's torture!"

"There's always that love substitute you're addicted to. Sugarcube Corner seems to make a lot of chocolaty pastries." She began to pout, only to have an idea to maybe help change his mind. Trill transformed into a filly version of herself, giving Solaris the same puppy dog eyes Gemstone gave to him. Unfortunately, the results she got were not what she expected; he poked her muzzle, unfazed by the face. "Nice try. Gem works that face a lot better than you do."

"Oh come on!" She plopped her head on Solaris's chest, turning back to her normal size. "No fair..."

After resting for another day, Solaris was able to finally leave the hospital. He found out Shining Armor was also admitted into the hospital as well after being imprisoned by Lucifer for over a week and visited him when he could. Unfortunately, Cadence must have found out about what happened to him while he was out, so she must have flown from the empire to Ponyville, sealed off his room, and every member of the medical staff could hear her yelling at her husband for being so stupid, then bawling as she voiced her concerns, and then yelled some more. He would have to try and visit tomorrow while his aunt verbally berated his uncle.

As he wandered around Ponyville, with Trill trudging behind him, having suffered through one whole day without given any love from her alicorn coltfriend, Solaris looked in the distance toward Canterlot. Just from viewing the mountain city many miles away, he could see how much damage was dealt during his fight with Lucifer. Many of the buildings were destroyed or barely standing, and the castle was not faring well either, the windows still shattered and several broken sections of the wall were barely visible from where Solaris stood.

It would take months to rebuild the city back to its former glory. But the good news was that Lucifer is gone and his tyranny has ended after fifteen long years of suffering. The bad news right now was that many of the nobles he had saved had to take up temporary residence in Ponyville, or other cities throughout Equestria until Canterlot rebuilt. And one of those unfortunate nobles he had to meet was Blueblood, both teens overhearing the stallion's complaints.

"Are you mad!?" Blueblood shouted, yelling at Apple Bloom as she worked the stand to sell her family's apples. "I would rather consume grass than eat any of this garbage you peasants call food!"

"Well, it's a lot better than them pointless meals ya kept yappin' on about! Either ya eat, or starve!" Apple Bloom argued back at the pompous unicorn. "Ah swear, all ya snooty nobles are picky, yet ya have fifteen course meals, where every plate is barely filled with food, and they taste like cardboard!"

"How dare you!" Blueblood shoved the fresh apples off the stand, quickly being caught by Solaris's magic as he placed them back on the wooden stand. "You have no sense of cultured taste, you filthy, mud pushing pig!"

"Hey!" Solaris caught the rude stallion's attention, setting his hoof on fire. "Don't you dare talk to her like that! Either you buy something from her farm's orchard, or leave!"

"...You..." Ignoring the dangerous green fire blazing on the alicorn's hoof like the ignorant prince he was, Blueblood leered at Solaris. "So, you happened to be this 'hero' Equestria had waited for after over fifteen years. You sure took your sweet time. And it is all your fault Canterlot is in shambles! My manor is burned down no thanks to you, meaning I have to stay here in this dirt-poor town for who knows how long until Canterlot is repaired!"

"Hey! You have no right to talk to Solly like that when he risked his life to save all of you!" Trill yelled. "You're lucky he saved you when you're acting like the biggest jerk in the world!"

"Don't you speak to me like that, you mutated arthropod!" Trill hissed, all three greatly despising him the longer he spoke. "I have more bits than any of you could ever imagine having! I could buy this filthy town and turn it into a new city. In fact, now that Lucifer has finally been slain, I can take over Equestria in place of my dear Aunt Celestia, and fix the problems lowlifes such as yourselves create for us rich ponies."

Apple Bloom, Solaris, and Trill looked at each other, then back at the unicorn stallion, who immediately believed he was automatically given the role of Equestria's new ruler. "...You're not next for the throne. I am," Solaris said, snapping Blueblood out of his daydream. "I was destined to save everypony and continue following Princess Celestia and Princess Luna's benevolent rule, and I intend on doing that."

"You? Take over!?" Blueblood shouted in disbelief. "You're just a child! You don't have any idea how politics even work!"

"I can learn." Despite wanting to beat this ungrateful stallion with a worse attitude than Lucifer, Solaris composed himself. "Just watching you insult somepony I knew growing up, her family working harder than anypony else to help others in their time of need, and somepony I consider my family, along with your selfish actions to destroy a historical landmark in Equestria's land to create a city on top of it, you're far too incompetent to even be considered a king, let along a prince."

"...What? Historic landmark?" Blueblood asked.

"Ponyville was founded by the Apple Family over a century ago. Traveling far and wide, they needed a place to settle down and call home. Princess Celestia, which I highly doubt is actually your aunt, actually gave them the land we stand upon now. No amount of money will buy the Apples out of their home, or rid all of Equestria their biggest supplier of delicious apples from their hundreds of acres of apple trees." Solaris grabbed a slightly bruised apple, one that Blueblood had smacked hard enough to injure the fruit. "That'll probably face some serious consequences if you destroy something more valuable than bits.

"And one other thing, sir..." The alicorn swiftly smashed the apple over Blueblood's head, spearing it right through the unicorn's horn. He shrieked at the sudden attack, the apple's juices seeping down onto his face and mane. "You should get a doctor to check your taste buds. You have no idea how good Sweet Apple Acres are in ANYTHING baked or cooked."

"Y-You little ingrate!" The stallion's eye twitched as he glared at Solaris, charging into the teen in rage.

Solaris flipped Blueblood on his back, the stallion immediately looking up at him in terror. "By the way, I got a little question for you; when you eat your specially made, first class meals, where exactly does all the food and spices used to flavor your meal come from?" He grabbed a fresh apple, Apple Bloom not minding him taking any, relishing in the stunned silence Blueblood as in as the alicorn took a bite out of the delectable fruit. "Them filthy peasants ya'll hate in them there dirt-poor towns ya wanna destroy like the no good hoity-toity cheapskate ya are." Trill and Apple Bloom snickered as Solaris mimicked the farm ponies' accent, finishing his small snack as tossed the core on the unicorn's face. "Don't ever mess with my family, or you might find yourself stuck in a dirt-poor town. Permanently."

Blueblood whimpered, crawling away and ran from Solaris as soon as he was far enough away, the trio watching him disappear down a corner. "Glad ya dealt with him before Ah did, Solaris. Ah would have done more than crush an apple on his face," Apple Bloom said. "Don't worry about the apples. It's on me. Been pretty slow today, anyway."

"Who was that dunce?" Trill asked, still peeved at how rude he was.

"Ah think his name's Blueblood," the farm mare explained. "Applejack told me about him when she and her friends went off to the Grand Gallopin' Gala a long while ago. She said Rarity tried to go out with him, thinkin' he was the perfect prince charmin', but lo and behold, he's a selfish foal in an adult's body."

"Oh. So he's a gigantic baby who complains about everything, and thinks he can solve everything by buying the solution." Trill huffed, watching as many of the other nobles "stranded" in Ponyville didn't even bother trying any of the other establishments. "The nobles are a bunch of morons, not knowing a good thing if it bit them in the plot."

"Every one of them's been like that since they all got off the train a few days ago," Apple Bloom said begrudgingly. "It's gonna be a long while until Canterlot's back, which means Ah'm gonna be dealin' with picky snobs who hate stomach fillin' and delicious food we sell in Ponyville."

"I Canterlot being reconstructed right now?" Solaris asked.

"Sort of. The city and the castle just began repairs today. Along with the carpenters bein' hired to build everythin' back up, some of the old Royal Guard thought a good punishment for the ex-Shadow Knights for makin' Equestria a mess with Lucifer would be hard labor. Ah heard they're gonna be worked to the bone, with barely any time for breaks, if only to see if any of them actually want to be real soldiers and protect Equestria." Apple Bloom chuckled, imagining the youthful delinquents heavily exhausted while being yelled at by the willing veterans who become their drill instructors. "Ah'd pay plenty of bits to see them crumble under the pressure. Serves them right for thinkin' they can do whatever they want without karma comin' around to get them."

Solaris looked back up at the ruined city. Eventually, once Canterlot has been reconstructed, the castle and the city will be his new home, and he would rule over it after his coronation is planned out and known throughout Equestria. He's already feeling homesick before he even sat on the throne, knowing he would have to live far away from his extended family in Ponyville, and maybe never have the time to visit the ponies he knew growing up. He was terrified, unsure if the kingdom will accept him as a prince and if he can follow in the princesses hoofsteps.

One month had passed by, news being spread far and wide across the world about Solaris's victory against Lucifer as the other kingdoms praised the brave alicorn teenager for his triumph. Canterlot was just starting to show some of its buildings have been rebuilt or almost fully repaired, with the castle close to being back to its pristine condition from when it stood nearly a millennium ago. In no time at all, the mountain city and capital of Equestria would be completely reconstructed.

However, during the time spent in Ponyville, Solaris had wandered off on his own, out of sight from anypony else, but only during the day. He would come back late in the night, him and Trill staying in his Aunt Rarity's Carousel Boutique, Gemstone practically begging Sweetie Belle to let him stay so she could try to continue gaining Solaris's affection. He always came back tired and dirty, bringing his gauntlets and wearing them every day, none of them having any clue where he's been and what he's doing.

By the next morning, Trill decided to figure out where Solaris was going, along with the young CMC. Even Apple Seed came along, only because his aunt, uncle, and father forced him to get out of the house and have fun with his friends and alicorn cousin. As they met before the sun rose, Trill, Cherry, Prism, Butterscotch, and Gemstone poked their heads out from a large shrub, Cherry wearing camouflage face paint and a pith helmet with branches attached to it to make only her head blend in with the foliage.

"So, he hasn't told you where he went or why he's been acting funny?" Prism asked Trill.

"No. I tried to ask him last night after he took a shower from all the dirt on him, but he just said he was doing some sort of project. And last night was the last day of my punishment, and I wanna taste his love again." Prism gagged while Gemstone scrunched her face in jealousy. "I love eating chocolate, but after a month, I'm kind of getting sick of it...He is ruining my love for chocolate!"

"Hide! I see him coming!" Cherry alerted, somehow holding binoculars out of nowhere.

The foals and changeling princess hid back in their hiding place as Solaris headed out of the boutique and off to where he disappears to. As soon as he walked past their bush, they picked it up and snuck after him, but Apple Seed didn't join them. He trudged along after them, not wanting to get in any trouble with his aunt and uncle, his angered gaze toward the alicorn hidden underneath his mother's stetson hat that he now wore along with his bandanna. They continued tailing Solaris until he wound up walking out to an empty field outside of Ponyville, quickly pulling the miserable colt inside the shrub before the alicorn spotted him.

"This is stupid," Apple Seed mumbled.

"Seed, quit being mad at Solaris," Prism said. "What happened to our moms wasn't his fault. They were just accidents."

"He got them killed. Ah ain't gonna forgive him, never." The pegasus filly growled, wanting to smack Apple Seed upside the head.

"SHHH! He'll hear us!" Cherry whispered, keeping the two friends' bickering from getting them all caught.

Solaris looked around, finding no sign of anypony else. He took in a deep breath and shrouded himself in green flames, teleporting himself elsewhere. Trill groaned, having forgotten about him being able to do that, while the others gasped in shock, even Apple Seed.

"What just happened!?" Prism shouted.

"HE BURNED HIMSELF!" Cherry cried, her tears washing off her face paint. "HE KILLED HIMSELF!"

"No, he's not dead. I completely forgot he was able to teleport using that fire of his," Trill explained, easing their worries.

"But...that fire," Gemstone said, finding those flames peculiar. "That looked like Uncle Spikey's dragon fire..."

"That is awesome!" Prism exclaimed, shooting up from the bush in excitement. "When was he able to do that!?"

"For a while." The filly's eyes widened, turning around to see her cousin standing behind the bush they were all hiding in. The others poked their heads out, their position compromised as the tired teen caught them. "Hi, guys."

"...Did you know we were following you?" Trill asked.

"Well, no, until I realized a bush I saw earlier in town was somehow moved in the middle of an empty field, with no other form of foliage for a quarter mile." Solaris pointed his hoof out to the field, which as he stated, the only vegetation around was the grass. "I don't think you guys will get cutie marks for espionage, not even you, Trill."

"Hey! I fooled your family...until Cadence found me out," Trill argued. "I can't get a cutie mark anyway. Not a pony."

"I know." As the wannabe spies crawled out of the bush, Solaris noticed Apple Seed along with them. His head was obscured by the ruined hat he recognized that belonged to Applejack. "...Hey, Apple Seed. How are you doing?" He didn't answer, the teen able to tell the colt was scowling underneath the hat. "...Your mom's hat suits you..."

Again he was met with silence. Solaris reached his hoof out to move Apple Seed's hat away from his face for the two to look at each other, but the farm colt smacked his hoof away. His heart stung, moving his hoof back down.

"Seriously, Apple Seed!?" Prism yelled. "Quit giving him the cold shoulder!"

"I-It's fine, Prism," Solaris said, not wanting to have the filly beat up Apple Seed. "I think he...still needs some time."

"Or he needs a hoof in the jaw." Solaris dragged Prism away from Apple Seed before she could try to lunge at the colt.

"Ok, getting away from all of the miserable stuff, mind explaining what you were doing, Solly?" Trill asked, steering the topic away from the six ponies losses.

"...Well, I'm actually almost done with what I've been making this past month...I was going to find you after I put on the final touches, but I think I can show you." The CMC, aside from Apple Seed, were immediately pulled in to what Solaris had been doing that he kept a secret. "Huddle close. I'm gonna transport all of us to where I've been headed."

Everypony, even the scowling farm colt, gathered around Solaris as he took in a deep breath. He spewed out green flames around them, transporting them from Ponyville up to the mountain which the alicorn had lived in most of his life. As soon as they arrived, the flames fading to embers, the foals felt a bit delirious, never having experienced teleportation through dragon fire.

"Whoa. That was so weird." Prism shook her head, clearing the dizziness away. "Huh? Why are we at the mountain you lived in?"

"It's actually in the base level of the mountain. Follow me." Solaris lead the way as Trill and the fillies and colts followed. Instead of climbing up the mountain, they went around it until they found a recently carved out cave not too far from the path. As they walked through the entrance, the foals were able to see further in as torches lit up the cavern, but the fire was white instead of green or orange-red. "It's not too far into the mountain, and it's not too big for a dragon to make a nest or stash their hoard of treasures."

"Solaris, what exactly have you been up to?" Trill got her answer as they reached the end of the cavern, her and the young CMC gasping at what lied inside.

All around the large room were statues carved out of stone with one large slab in the center, the statues exact images of Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie, a different colored flame lit above them that matched their coats using different gems to reflect the light inside the fire. Each statue stood in different poses that matched their personality, standing on podiums that had carved inscriptions etched into them, detailing who these ponies were and what they should be remembered for. The statues of the deceased mares were all carefully crafted, almost seeming alive with how lifelike they appeared.

"I...made a memorial...for the princesses and my family." Solaris approached one of the darker corners of the room, where a secret passage was hidden out of sight. Using his magic, he pulled one more statue out and placed it next to Rarity's, a nearly finished sculpture of Spike standing tall on his podium. The only thing that needed for the dragon's stone statue to be complete was the detail of his spines and scales. "I don't think I could handle a funeral after everything that happened...so, I thought making this to honor their memory was better, no depressing speeches that'll make me choke and break down."

"Inside of a mountain?" Trill asked, completely skeptical.

"Well, maybe in time, I'll think about turning this part of the mountain into a shrine," Solaris said. "I also needed something to occupy me, clear my mind for my future home in Canterlot Castle...and to make sure your punishment goes through without you bugging me."

"...Ok, but you could have at least told me instead of making me worry every single day! I would have understood!" Solaris stared blankly at Trill, pausing his work on smoothing out Spike's stone spines with sculpting tools he borrowed. "...Or I could have ignored you completely and pestered you further..."

"Exactly." Solaris continued his work, wanting his final statue to be perfect and last forever.

The foals were utterly speechless as they stared at the lifelike statues of their mothers. Trill hovered over them and approached the memorial slab in the center of the room.

"'This place is dedicated to those whose lives were lost during the reign of the dark magic wielding unicorn tyrant, Lucifer. Along with the brave soldiers who fought for their kingdoms and those unfortunate to cross him and his followers, eight brave mares who struggled to maintain peace in Equestria will forever be known as the greatest heroines in history: the princesses of the sun and moon, and the bearers of the Elements of Harmony.'" After reading the inscription, Trill looked around at the other statues, seeing the young CMC slowly approaching the ones depicting their mothers. She looked at Solaris, still hard at work with Spike's statue, completely focused on the details of his uncle's scales. "Solly..."

He finally finished, looking over his work. Satisfied, he moved around to the front of the finished monument for his uncle, he placed a miniature fire pit down at the dragon statue's feet, similar to the ones already lit with the others. Lighting his hoof, the alicorn lit the small, mobile pit with green fire, the same flames Spike breathed. He had already made the inscription about him the other day after fully completing Spike's statue sans the physical details of his scaly skin.

"Done..."Solaris looked around at his creations, watching the young CMC looking at the other statues.

Cherry and Prism looked up at the statue of Princess Celestia, the size of it exactly to scale with how tall the sun princess was when she was alive. "Wow. Princess Celestia was huge," Prism said.

"How does she get through doorways?" Cherry asked. "No wonder the castle looks big. It's the only place she could live in without crouching all the time."

"Maybe she knew a shrinking spell," the pegasus filly pondered. "Imagine how hilarious that would be to sneak up on somepony when they talk about you, and then grow to normal size to surprise them."

Cherry gasped as she turned her head to her friend. "That gives me a perfect idea for a prank!" Prism immediately grew excited, both of them turning to Solaris, who shook his head after hearing them. "Aww. Darn it. Solly, you lost your fun years ago."

"That's what I said," Trill said, popping up between the fillies as a filly herself. "I may not be able to shrink to the size of an ant, but I have some other good ideas we can pull off on somepony. Now, are there any bullies in need of some payback?"

The changeling squeaked as she was dragged away from the young prankster duo, held upside down in Solaris's magic. "Don't encourage them. They're just like their moms," he said, receiving a toothy grin from Trill.

While the others continued viewing the statues and reading the inscriptions Solaris wrote, Apple Seed sat in front of Applejack's statue, having remained stationary for the longest while, his eyes glued to the memorial to his mother. His face was obscured by his hat, but Solaris could tell that he misses his mother a lot. He walked up to the mourning colt, sitting down next to him.

Apple Seed didn't pay attention, too lost staring at the statue of his mother. Solaris wanted to speak, but he had no idea what to say. He really wanted the colt to forgive him and reconcile with him, wanting him and his cousins to be the family they used to be again.

"Apple Seed?" The colt didn't turn to face him, but Solaris knew he heard him, seeing his ear twitch under the hat. "...I know you don't want to be around me, and you hate me for what happened to your mom...I know exactly how you feel. But you at least had her around to take care of you...My mom died when I was still a foal." The teen looked over at Twilight's memorial, the lavender flames calmly burning by the statue. "I didn't know anything about her, only by what Uncle Spike and your moms had told me about her. I wanted to see her personally as I was kept away from the dangers the outside world had with Lucifer around...and with each year, I began to hate her.

"I had family, but they weren't my real relatives. I don't even know who my father is. None of them knew..." Solaris began to tear up, looking back at Applejack's statue. "Aunt Applejack was the closest out of the others to being a mother figure, and Uncle Spike was like a father, but they weren't really my parents. As soon as I was found out, when I was in the Everfree Forest, I finally met my mother after my first test. It was only for a while, but it was enough for me to find closure with her. I wished she was able to stay longer..."

"...Ya don't know how Ah feel..." Solaris looked down at Apple Seed, the colt's head lowered slightly as he glowered at the ground. "Ah saw mah ma, and mah family lied to me...Ya got her killed, cause you're supposed to save all of us..." He looked up at the alicorn, tears streaming down his cheeks as he glared at Solaris in hatred. "If ya'll are supposed to be some kind of hero, why didn't ya save ma!? Why did ya let her die!?"

"I-I'm sorry." The others heard Apple Seed yell at Solaris, the alicorn's tears running down his cheeks. "There wasn't anything I could do."

"You're an alicorn! Ya could have saved her and the others, but ya didn't!" The colt threw his mother's hat at Solaris, gently floating to the ground in front of him as it hit him. "If ya think doin' this will make me forgive you, you're wrong! Ah'll never forgive you! AH HATE YOU!"

Apple Seed ran into Solaris and began to beat his chest with his forehooves, repeatedly shouting "I hate you" as he let his anger out. Solaris just sat there, letting the colt vent his frustration on him, his hooves not causing him physical pain, but it still hurt him emotionally just from the depressed colt wanting to hurt him out of spite toward him. Eventually, Apple Seed's hits slowed down and grew lighter, his words muttered until he began sobbing. He then buried his face in his alicorn cousin's chest, his muffled cries echoing in the memorial cavern as Solaris pulled him closer as he let out his pent up sorrow.

"I'm so sorry," Solaris said, his voice breaking as he held his cousin tighter. Prism, Butterscotch, Cherry, and Gemstone approached them and joined in the hug, Solaris wrapping all of them in his wings as they all mourned and comforted each other. "I'm so, so sorry, everypony..."

It was late in the evening, Solaris and Trill carrying back the emotionally exhausted CMC on their backs, taking them back home to their families. Their relatives understood why they had gone off and didn't come back to check in with them as long as Solaris was with them once they dropped the sleeping foals off. It was hard for the alicorn to know if Apple Seed forgave him or not as he stayed silent when they all calmed down, but it brought some hope back to him since he didn't push himself away from his older cousin.

After dropping off the others, Solaris carried Gemstone as he and Trill walked back to the Carousel Boutique. As soon as they entered the home/boutique, Solaris laid Gemstone down in her bed, tucking the unicorn filly under her comforter. He quietly exited her bedroom and headed for the guest room he and Trill shared. His marefriend sat on the bed, waiting for him patiently. He sat down next to her, feeling just as drained as his cousins.

"I don't think Apple Seed's mad at you anymore," she said, nuzzling his cheek. "You kinda acted the same way he did back in Saddle Arabia, though you nearly destroyed a large hill of sand and didn't beat anypony up...Well, unless you include smacking me back up north when you-"

Solaris pressed his hoof against her lips, silencing her from reminding him of that moment. "Don't remind me..." He laid his head down on the soft pillow, looking up at the ceiling. "I've had enough emotional drama in my life. I do not want to remember anymore horrible memories for an eternity."

Trill crawled over to him, resting her body on top of his. "So, you don't want to remember every dumb thing I've done too? Can't say I blame you." She gently rubbed her nose against his, slowly easing her stressed coltfriend's nerves. "Remember every stupid plan I had, and you might be as dumb as me."

"Hmm...Maybe. You do love to destroy brain cells, primarily your own." Trill giggled, sticking her tongue out at him. She was caught off guard when Solaris pressed his lips against hers, the changeling's horn instantly sparking to life as she fed off the kiss. She closed her eyes and kissed him back, moaning in bliss, her body shuddering as she felt his hooves sensually running down her sides. Her wings shivered as his strong, gentle hooves brushed against them, making her pull away and gasp as her back arched in pleasure. "That might be why I'm dumb enough to love somepony like you..."

"...You're a big tease," Trill said, letting out a chirp as she felt his hooves slowly move further down. "A whole month of no love from you, and now you wanna play this game."

"Yup." He changed the direction his hooves were moving, running them along the changeling's spine, teasing her even more.

"Mrf. You suck." She managed to roll herself off Solaris, the stallion letting go of her as she laid on her side. "Why don't you just take me already?"

"Well, for one, foreplay does pay off after working each other up. Second, we're living in somepony else's house, and you seem to make a lot of noise," Solaris said, poking her snout with his hoof.

"Hmm...Well, I know how we can fix the noise complaints." Trill crawled over to the side of the bed, reaching underneath it to find something. To tease him back, she slowly sway her hips with her tall raised all the way up, giving him a good look at her rump. She grabbed what she had hidden, sitting back up and holding a spellbook. Trill opened it up to a certain page, laying it out in front of her aroused stallion. "Page 126. Learn it, use it, then rut me."

Solaris lifted the book up, seeing a spell that soundproofs the walls inside of a room, preventing any noise or sound from being heard on the outside. "Trill, where did you get this-" The instant he looked up to face her, Trill had grabbed one of the pillows, resting her head on it as she lifted her rump up in his direction, wriggling her hips to entice him. "-...book?"

"At the library around here," she said. "I was hoping you would have at least gotten in the mood one day, but because I was being punished and you were too busy making those statues and got too tired, I had to wait impatiently for us to finally have some fun." She turned her head to look at him, licking her lips, but she received a blank stare from Solaris. "...I'll return the book tomorrow. Now hurry and buck me already! I'm hungry and I wanna reward my hero."

Solaris just sighed, shaking his head as he looked back down at the book. Quickly learning how the spell works, his horn lit up and he cast it, the walls of the room shimmering a faint golden glow before it disappeared, the soundproofing spell set in place. He gently closed the book and set it on the nearby side table, making sure not to make too much movement or noise as he wanted Trill to wait anxiously. She didn't even notice the spell had been cast, her tail twitching impatiently.

"You are so incorrigible." Solaris crawled closer, and when Trill was about to whine, he gave her chitin flank a hard smack, making her yelp loudly, quickly covering her mouth with her hooves. Fearing she was too loud, or the slap echoed all over the house, nopony came to check on what was wrong. She soon felt his weight on top of her, her ear twitching as his lips brushed past the sensitive appendage. "Hope you're ready for a long night, Trill. Nopony's gonna hear us for a few hours, and I'm going to teach you a lesson about stealing from a library."

"...Oh boy," she uttered, suddenly losing her confidence as the alicorn huskily whispered in her flicking ear was going to give her another punishment, unsure if she would love it or not.

Epilogue

After waiting for many months, Canterlot was finally rebuilt and the castle was good as new. Many of the delinquents who had caused trouble didn't dare to stay in the royal guard, all of them having served their punishment and not risking getting yelled at by their superiors as they actually go through basic training. Some, however, did stay, only this time acting as mature soldiers, vowing to keep their kingdom safe and stop criminal activity instead of cause it. The soldiers now wore the uniforms Princess Celestia assigned: gold for the day guard, and dark purple for the night guard.

As news of the city's reconstruction was complete spread throughout Equestria, those who had lived their flocked back to their rebuilt homes, getting themselves settled back in their newly built houses, manors, and businesses. With some help from a few nobles who were generous enough to spend their millions of bits to fix their home, there was several left over from the materials the soldiers and contractors needed to give to those who had suffered greatly under Lucifer's destructive reign.

Peace was finally back in Equestria, and today is the day of the biggest coronation ceremony in the history of the world: the firstborn alicorn male, Solaris, will be crowned as Equestria's newest ruler, and the world's savior against the dark wizard Lucifer. Kingdoms from across the planet came flocking to Equestria for this event, ranging from those across the seas to those native to the continent, from those who knew the teen to those absolutely clueless of his feats.

At Canterlot Castle, many creatures from across the globe waited impatiently as the ceremony was about to start soon. Inside, however, were those who were worthy enough to see the coronation take place, many of them being close friends to Solaris, family, and some other lucky nobles who would see their prince. Where everyone was excited, one of them was far from excited, practically terrified and nervous.

Solaris stood in front of a mirror, wearing his regal coronation uniform Gemstone personally made for him, which was expertly designed despite her being a ten-year-old filly. He wore a white and gold tunic, studded with a few topaz in the clothing to make it shimmer in the light, and a red cloak with a white trim clasped around his shoulders, held in place by a brooch in the shape of his cutie mark. Stitched along his cloak were the cutie marks of the princesses and the bearers of the Elements, commemorating them for the sacrifices they had made. His mane and tail were neatly groomed to make his appearance presentable to his public, but it was threatened to be ruined by his sweat, his nerves getting to him.

"Ok...Big day. It's your coronation, you're going to rule Equestria, and everypony's going to be here...Every...single...sentient being...from around the world..." Solaris tried to calm his breathing, regretting thinking about the thousands of members in the audience outside the castle, along with the ones inside. "I don't think I can do this..."

"Getting cold hooves?" The alicorn nearly leapt out of his skin as he turned to face the unexpected guest. Standing in the doorway was Gale, wearing a soldier's uniform native to the Griffon Kingdom. "You sound like you're gonna choke for a momentous occasion. Where was that bravado when you fought against me and Berserker with a large crowd?"

"Gale? It's...been a while. I don't think you're supposed to see me until the coronation starts," Solaris said, only growing more nervous as he kept imagining the worst-case scenario.

"Oh, really? I'm not supposed to see you right now?...Oh wait, I can't see anyway." Gale waved his hand in front of his face, reminding Solaris he was blind. "I have no clue what you're wearing or what you look like, so it doesn't really matter, does it?"

"...It's the principle of the matter..." Solaris couldn't really find an excuse. If Trill was able to, she would barge in to make sure he didn't chicken out, but he felt like he was going to at any moment. "I'm so nervous..."

"You gotta relax. If I were you, I would have been more nervous fighting Lucifer than getting up on a stage performing for hecklers." Gale approached the trepidatious teen as he fidgeted in his outfit. "What are you freaking out about?"

"...I...I'm afraid everypony's going to think I'm not fit to be a prince," Solaris said. "I'm a fast learner, but many decisions for Equestria's future will fall on me. I don't know which one will lead to the kingdom's downfall, or destroying ties between other nations. Not to mention I'm going to be living far away from my family in Ponyville. I might not see them again for months because of all my new royal duties to uphold. What if a greater evil worse than Lucifer shows up, and I'm not strong enough to defeat them!? I don't want to let everyone down, and I don't want to fail! I hate having everything I strived to protect be torn away from me, and I don't-!"

Gale shoved his hand against Solaris's mouth, silencing his terrified rambling. "No one is perfect. If you make one little mistake, make it up later in the future. Fall against a foe, get back on your hooves and beat the living hay out of them." Sensing the alicorn had calmed down a little, the griffon lowered his talons. "You got what it takes to lead your kingdom and regain what peace and prosperity it had. Don't let your fears rule your life and dread on the past. Look toward the future and learn from any mistakes you made."

"...Are you sure you didn't want to be a soldier and actually become a philosopher?" Solaris asked, making Gale chuckle as he slapped his back, being careful of his talons ruining his cloak.

"Fighting's like an art, and when you fight, there's always some life lessons that can be inspired by struggles. Even for a blind avian like myself." Solaris shook his head, never able to understand how a griffon around his age could make up anything out of wisdom when he's a ruthless fighter when he needs to be. "I'm gonna head back before the others notice I've been gone for too long. Try not to steal my advice when you make your speech to your kingdom, and the others who will witness your coronation." Gale began to walk out of Solaris's room, stopping at the doorway as he held his fist up. "And I still want that rematch, your highness! No special tricks or cheap armor! Just pure skill."

He walked out and headed back to the rest of the waiting audience, leaving Solaris even more nervous at the mention of a speech. "...I-I have to make a speech?"

The time to announce Equestria's newest ruler was right around the corner as everyone awaited their new prince. Cadence was quite eager to announce her nephew to the world, wearing the same dress she had worn for Twilight's coronation. Shining Armor stood next to her, wearing his old uniform as he looked out at the guests who would see Solaris before the rest of the crowd outside. He noticed not many of the noble ponies were fond of seeing changelings, especially Chrysalis and his daughter Trill, both mares wearing dresses that matched their figures, though they don't seem fond wearing them.

Many of the members in the Resistance were here too, some in uniforms from their native homelands, some males wore a suit or a bow for the minotaur's case, mostly for the hulking red behemoth Berserker. Even Discord was here, actually wearing a normal tuxedo and a top hat. As chaotic as he behaves, he's actually been on his best behavior, though after hearing Fluttershy had died, he hasn't been as random as he used to be.

Shining fidgeted slightly, mostly out of discomfort from his forelegs. Even though he didn't have to lose them, they would occasionally shoot out sharp bursts of pain. He wouldn't be fighting again for the rest of his life, but he would gladly retire now that Lucifer was finally gone, his terror nothing but a nightmare now.

"You ok, Shiny?" Cadence asked, snapping the stallion out of his thoughts.

"Yeah. My legs are bugging me, but I can manage." He sighed, looking out to the audience. "I won't be doing much outside of the Crystal Empire after this. And those stupid painkillers I have to take..."

"I'm just happy to see you're still alive." The pink alicorn gave her husband a peck on the cheek. "Now that you're somewhat immobile, we can spend a lot of time making up for some lost time. And maybe finally have foals of our own?"

"Heh...Right," Shining grinned sheepishly, knowing he was going to have a long and tiresome retirement with his princess of love.

Chrysalis mumbled to herself, feeling stuffy in the outfit she was forced to wear. "And I thought that ridiculous wedding dress was annoying to wear."

"Yeah. That courtesan outfit I wore in Saddle Arabia feels more comfy than these dumb...dresses." The queen looked down at her daughter, a brow raised in curiosity.

"You wore what?" she asked, Trill looking at her mother. "Did you even know what a courtesan even means before you wore it?"

"...I was reminded by Solly...when I showed them to him...when we made it to those ruins." Chrysalis shook her head, trying to hold back her amused grin. "How was I supposed to know what they were used for!?"

"It was in the basics to entice your male prey. You studied that lesson a few years ago." Trill tried to remember, but couldn't, making Chrysalis groan in irritation. "You would remember if you didn't keep getting in trouble with your instructors."

It was almost time for the coronation to start, and Solaris waited outside the doors to wait for his cue. He peeked through the crack, swallowing the big lump in his throat at the amount of ponies, minotaurs, griffons, everyone in the room will see him walk down the red carpet leading down to his aunt and uncle on the other end. He could only imagine how many more are waiting outside in and above the courtyard as soon as he stepped out on the balcony. He managed to catch sight of his grandparents, Twilight Velvet and Night Light, sitting in the front row. This would be the first time he would meet them personally, and it only made him more nervous.

Cadence and Shining Armor finally stepped up in front of the crowd, ready to begin the ceremony. Solaris took a few deep breaths, calming his hyperventilating somewhat, but he wasn't prepared for the speech he would give. Hopefully, he'll be able to wing it and not slip up on his words.

"Everypony, thank you all for coming," Cadence started announcing, silencing everyone from their excited chatter. "Today marks the most memorable day for not just Equestria, but for every single kingdom all throughout the world. For fifteen long years, all of us have struggled to survive under the tyranny of the dark unicorn king, Lucifer, a pony with dark magic far more powerful than that of Sombra. But thankfully, he has been defeated, and all of us can rest easy knowing his evil will no longer spread to the other kingdoms."

"We also wish to honor those whose lives have been lost under Lucifer's reign," Shining continued. "And to those in the Resistance who fought to keep the cities of Equestria from being completely destroyed by the Shadow Knights, we would all like to thank them for putting their lives on the line, even though many of Lucifer's army were untrained." Many of the Resistance soldiers present chuckled at that, all of them wishing they had a tougher challenge. "And...some additional help from Chrysalis and her changeling army, helping evacuate Canterlot the day our hero put an end to Lucifer."

Many ponies present still seemed skeptical as the changelings gained their attention, Trill being the only one oblivious to the questionable stares as she waved.

"Now, we have ourselves a new ruler to help guide Equestria," Cadenced continued. "Even though he may by young, he has what it takes to become as benevolent as Aunt Celestia, quick to learn what he needs to in order to keep the peace between us and neighboring kingdoms. Mares, gentlecolts, creatures all across the world, may I present to you all for the very first time, the son of Princess Twilight Sparkle, our nephew, and the world's brave and courageous hero, Prince Solaris!"

Some ponies played some fanfare on horns as they and some of the royal guard stood on the sides of the red carpet, the doors opening to reveal the alicorn in his regal attire. He was able to mask his nervousness, keeping his eyes forward while trying not to think about the audience eyeing him. The royal guards saluted as he passed them, all of them being the soldiers he met in the castle before confronting Lucifer. To him, it felt like the walk down to his aunt and uncle would last for an eternity, his steps wavering, but he finally made it.

"Nervous?" Shining asked.

"Kinda," he replied, daring not to look back at the hundreds of pairs of eyes watching him.

"You're doing great so far," Cadence assured Solaris.

Shining used his magic, levitating Solaris's crown from a pillow nearby. It was made of gold and had his cutie mark for all the world to see, a rising sun with a star in the center, along with six smaller ones at the ends of the rays. The alicorn bowed his head as he felt the crown rest perfectly on his head, the audience applauding as he rose back up. Cadence motioned for him to step up onto the balcony to show the rest of the crowd outside, taking a shakey breath as he stepped up to the railing.

As soon as they saw him, everyone in the courtyard or on the clouds for creatures of flight began cheering, having heard Cadence and Shining Armor with their voices amplified for them all to hear. Solaris nervously waved as the young CMC, all dressed fancy thanks to Gemstone, Discord, Trill, Chrysalis, Gale, Gilda, Shining Armor, and Cadence joined him. The crowd grew silent as they waited for the teen to speak, but he couldn't sum up the courage to even utter a peep.

"He's choking," Gale whispered, feeling the alicorn's body tremble in fear from the air around the newly crowned prince.

Discord snapped his talons, disappearing and reappearing onto Solaris's shoulder, too small for anypony else to see him. "Solaris, imagine everypony in their underwear. That should help your nerves."

"None of us wear clothes," Solaris whispered as he spoke through his teeth. "That only makes things more awkward."

"Then why don't you pretend your family is there in the crowd? And I mean ALL your family." Discord reappeared back to his normal size with the rest of the group, whistling nonchalantly as if he didn't do anything.

Solaris tried to take the draconequus's advice, but his imagination kept fading as his eyes darted across the courtyard erratically. While he panicked, he thought he saw something standing on a lone cloud in the air a few yards away from the balcony's height. His eyes widened as he saw his family sitting on the cloud, including Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, golden halos hovering over their heads. He quickly rubbed his eyes, thinking he was either losing it or it actually worked, but when he looked back, he wasn't imagining things.

Oddly enough, nopony behind him even noticed them, only he being the only pony to see them. They all smiled at him, all of them proud of his accomplishments. He still didn't know if it was a hallucination, but seeing them again calmed him, taking in a deep breath and clearing his throat as he enhanced his voice using the same spell Shining and Cadence used.

"Uhh, sorry about the awkward silence, everypony. I'm brave enough to face a being of pure darkness, yet I get stage fright as if I was performing in a play." Solaris chuckled at the irony, though no one else seemed to laugh except for Cherry, who would laugh at anything funny. "...Ok, shouldn't have opened with a comedic intro line with so much silence...Anyway, I really don't have the words to express this honor. I still feel so inexperienced with the world after more than half a year being outside of the mountain caverns I was raised in for all my life.

"I was kept isolated from the world, not only to protect me from the terrible reality happening, but to keep my existence safe from the pony who wanted to hunt me down. The only knowledge on the outside world I knew about were from the words of the five mares and dragon I was raised by, as well as the books I was given to further my studies everypony commonly knows...My whole world turned upside down when I discovered my mother, Princess Twilight Sparkle, had been...gone ever since I was a foal.

"Along with learning of my mother's fate, I was suddenly thrust into the world as Lucifer had discovered where I was hiding...and my Uncle Spike sacrificed himself to save me." Solaris looked up at the cloud his family was sitting on, all of them assuring him it wasn't his fault. "As I ventured out through the kingdom, traveling to different cities and climates, I suffered more losses as I struggled to pass the trials my mother left for me to prove my strength to finally face Lucifer and save us all from his tyranny...I was told I would have to suffer with each test I pass...and I have. My aunts, the remaining bearers of the Elements of Harmony, have met unfortunate fates, killing Equestria's well known heroines and putting the kingdom in more danger...

"It couldn't be helped, even if I tried to save them." He looked back at his friends and family, all of them understanding his pain. "But the best thing I could have done was try, even if I was beaten to near death or greatly exhausted. I passed my tests, I was lost, but I'm glad to know that I have friends and family that never gave up on me and reminded me of my kingdom's future." He looked out to the crowd, growing confident as all his trepidation disappeared. "So I fought with all my strength, and vow to keep Equestria as the peaceful kingdom it used to be many years ago.

"I may be an alicorn to everypony present, but I'm still just a pony. I'm not perfect. I'm not an all powerful deity. But I promise to keep this land from falling under the darkest of foes that threaten the safety of my subjects. Though I am young, I am willing to learn everything I can, even from the mistakes I may make in the future. I swear to you all that I will follow in the princesses hoofsteps as best as I can, and help any who need it under the darkest of days. For I, Solaris, am Equestria's shining light, the hope everypony needed to save you all from the wrath of Lucifer, prophesized by my mother! I thank you all for putting all your faith in me, and I will not let any of you down!"

Everyone burst out in applause as Solaris stood on his hind legs, raising his forehooves in the air as lit them with white flames. He shot a small ball of fire up into the sky, and as it reached it's peak, it exploded like a firework as the embers burned out in the shape of his cutie mark. Solaris breathed out a sigh of relief, his improvised speech going a lot better than he feared. When he looked back at the cloud, he was disappointed to see that his family and the princesses were no longer there.

He was snapped out of his sadness when he felt Cherry and Prism bouncing around him. "This calls for the biggest party ever!" Cherry shouted.

"And I can assist with the planning," Discord said, appearing behind the excited filly and lifting her up. "A little dash of chaos will definitely liven this castle up. Who's with me!?"

As the foals were excited about the wild party Discord had planned later this evening, running off with him as they passed the crowd, Solaris was immediately pounced on by Trill, nearly knocking his crown off his head.

"All hail Prince Solly! Allow me to be the first of many mares in your future herd," she said, nuzzling his cheek.

"Trill, you really are incorrigible." Solaris gently pushed his marefriend away, fixing his crown. "I didn't really think everypony would accept me as a prince so quickly."

"We'll help you as much as we can until you get used to the royal lifestyle," Cadence said as she and Shining approached them, along with Solaris's grandparents. "Now that your coronation ended with great success, I think we can now introduce you to your grandmother and grandfather."

Night Light and Twilight Velvet approached him, though Solaris's gaze fell on his grandmother. Velvet and his mother were practically alike, knowing exactly where she inherited her looks. He was speechless, but he didn't need any words to express his feelings, tears welling up in his eyes as he smiled at them in joy. He hugged his grandparents and they hugged him back, both of them happy to see their grandfoal again after nearly fifteen years.

Chrysalis watched as the alicorn was united with his mother's parents, noticing Shining Armor and Cadence approaching her. "Chrysalis, you don't seem to be as excited as the rest of your subjects that wanted to watch this moment."

"I am holding back my enthusiasm. Even if your nephew is in control of Equestria now, I'm wondering if things will actually change for the better," the queen said. "Not many ponies around us seemed safe with our presence."

"I have a feeling the future for all of us will be a lot brighter," Cadence said. "After all, they say the youth of our generation will pave the way forward for the next to follow."

"Depending on if any of them turn out evil." The three watched Solaris with his grandparents, Trill cutting in on their time as the alicorn assured Night Light and Twilight Velvet she wasn't dangerous. "I do not want to jinx this, but I dare ask how 'perfect' everything will be in the next few years with him in charge?"

1000 years later...

Equestria has remained at peace from serious threats of pure darkness for the past millennium. The world had changed in the many years that have gone by. Cities across the kingdom have grown, new inventions in magic and technology to help improve the growth of the citizens, and now, changelings are living among Equestrians in peace, with some special shops made for the bug ponies to feed off of the love of other ponies without impersonating and stealing love from their victims. Solaris had kept his promise to Chrysalis and Trill, both their kingdoms united as one, and with a few rough bumps around the new change, it all worked out well as the years passed.

In Canterlot, the castle has made a few renovations that changed along with the expanding city around it. Inside Solaris's royal bedchambers, the stallion snored as the morning sun slowly began to rise on the horizon. Laid out on the long side table next to his bed were pictures of the memorable moments of the past: the first starting from the left was the old pictures of him and his family, next was his coronation day with his cousins, grandparents, his aunt and uncle, and Trill, the next showing him and Trill together, the young stallion wearing his royal outfit sans the cape, the changeling princess wearing a white wedding gown, the two sharing a kiss at the alter where they were wed, followed by a picture of an exhausted Trill lying in a hospital bed with a tired Solaris standing next to her as they both held a white filly foal that was also half changeling, sharing the same crooked horn, holes in her tiny forelegs, and green eyes her mother had, and several more in an open scrapbook of the hybrid filly.

Solaris squinted his eyes as the sun shone in on his face, stirring him out of his sleep. He sat up, starting to wake and as he yawned, his body having grown since the last several centuries. He was as tall as Princess Celestia used to be, though a few inches taller since he was male and his mane and tail were now ethereal after many years honing his magical prowess, waving in an invisible wind. He stretched as he moved the covers off of him, rubbing his stubbled chin, cringing at the rough texture of his facial hair.

He climbed out of bed and headed out to the hall, heading straight for the royal bathroom. He greeted the guards stationed at their posts, their armor changed from the heavy and bulky model of the past to a slimmer style, imbued with magic to act like the old armor without the added weight of the metal gear. Solaris entered the expansive bathroom and headed straight for the shower, passing by the circular tub that continuously spouted hot spring water like the one back in Trill's hive.

Since nopony other than him is allowed inside this room, there was no need to have a door or curtain to shroud the pony showering. He turned the water on as more steam rose in the bathroom, the stallion sighing in content as the water streamed down his weary body. He didn't notice a figure sneaking through the steamy fog, crawling down from the ceiling and headed straight for him. The black equine-like figure snuck up on the unsuspecting stallion, opening its maw to reveal its sharp teeth. Its mouth began to target the alicorn's neck, but Solaris heard the faint hissing noise it made, quickly spinning around, grappling the yelping figure, and slamming its back into the wall.

"...Why am I not surprised?" Solaris held a changeling queen under his powerful strength, her body soaked from the water as she grinned. The queen was Trill, looking almost identical to her mother, Chrysalis, the only difference being her shorter mane. He was about a foot taller than her, almost towering over her. "I was wondering why you weren't sleeping in this morning, Trill."

"Aww. Did you miss your cuddly wife, Solly?" the mare teased. "I was gonna give you a wake-up call, but I felt like jumping you when you hopped in the shower. I can never seem to get you though. You always know where I am."

"Well, I almost didn't notice...until I heard you hiss." Solaris pressed himself closer to his beloved changeling wife, gently pressing his lips against hers as they kissed. Trill horn glowed as their kiss deepened, their tongues playfully wrestling against each other as they both moaned. The changeling rubbed her hoof sensually along her husband's muscular chest, slowly dragging itself lower to meet her prize. Before she got any closer, Solaris pulled away. "Ah. No. Not this morning, hon."

"You big tease," Trill whined. "Is it cause I'm getting old? Or maybe my butt looks big?" Trill turned around, shoving her rump in Solaris's face. "Or is it not big enough?"

Solaris smacked her plot, making the grown changeling yelp, not entirely flustered at Trill's teasing. "Trill, nothing's wrong with you. I still love you, and you're still beautiful." She blushed, sitting down in front of him while averting her gaze from him. "I'm just saying not now because I have an important meeting to attend to in Ponyville."

"Oh. I forgot about that." Solaris shook his head, his love's forgetfulness something he had to learn to tolerate for a few more years in their relationship. "Ok then, later this evening. This time, you're being tied up while I take charge. Also, can you please grow a beard? I love the rugged look."

Solaris scratched his scraggy chin, groaning at the annoying facial hair. "No beard. It always itches if it grows too long."

"Awwww...No fair." Trill pouted. "Then I'm gonna put that 'special' ring on you while you're tied down."

"Fine. Now, can you help wash my back, please?" Solaris turned to face the shower head as he used his magic to levitate some soap and a washcloth to Trill. She reluctantly agreed to help him, washing his back and feathers. Sighing at his wife's gentle massage, he suddenly gasped in surprise. "Not that low, Trill!"

"Well, you said to wash your back. You didn't tell me which back: your back where your wings are, the back of your head, or your backside," Trill smirked as she corrected Solaris with his lack of specifications.

Solaris sighed, sitting down while making sure to keep the front of his lower half given any access to his perverted lover. "Just help me wash up."

Down in Ponyville, not much of the town had changed too much aside from the many apartment complexes that housed many more inhabitants, either tourists or locals. Far from the town, at the foot of the mountain Solaris was raised in, a group of foals were led by their teacher as they took a field trip toward the location. The group of schoolponies were a mix of ponies, griffons, and changelings, many of them eager to make it to their destination. They soon stopped at the beginning of the path leading up the mountain.

"Ok, class, we're here," the teacher said, quickly silencing the excited students as they relished one of their days where they don't have to study. "Now that we're here, we must wait for our tour guide...though I don't see him anywhere."

As the teacher looked around, everyone gasped in surprise as green flames suddenly combusted nearby, revealing Solaris as the embers died out. His face was cleanly shaved as his coat gleamed in the sunlight, the students getting even more excited at the sight of the alicorn.

"Sorry I'm late, everyone. Had a little situation with the missus. She can't keep her hooves off me." Some of the foals giggled as most of the kingdom knew of Trill and her flirty nature and annoying Solaris. "Now, how about we begin the little tour and get some first-hoof knowledge on some of Equestria's greatest heroes?"

They all cheered with excitement, not through the knowledge they'll receive, but because their ruler was going to guide them around his old home. Solaris led them all around the side and to the cavern he made a thousand years ago, finally known as a shrine to commemorate his family and the previous sovereigns of the kingdom. After walking through the long pathway, the students all gasped in awe as they witnessed the lifelike statues of his family for the first time.

"Whoa!" one of the students said, a colt looking up at the statue of Celestia. "Who is this?"

"This is Princess Celestia, the previous ruler of Equestria over a thousand years ago," Solaris replied. "And before you ask, these statues are sized to scale from head to hoof. She actually was this tall, though, as you can see, I'm a bit taller than Celestia since many males of all species are genetically bigger in height compared to females."

"So, you were taller than your mom?" another student asked, this one being a young griffoness.

Solaris chuckled at the assumption. "No, no. Celestia wasn't my mother. I never really met her when I was your age." He walked up to Twilight Sparkle's statue. "This was my mother. The youngest royal alicorn before me, Princess Twilight Sparkle."

"...But you really are taller than your mom, then," she said.

"Yes, I know...but, the sad thing is, this was her exact height...before she died," he said sadly, still remembering the pain after all these years.

The students all gasped in shock, none of them ever knowing the painful events of the past, a past they will be grateful never to experience in their life. "What happened?" another student asked, the others wanting to know too.

"...Well, have they learned any history on the evil unicorn king, Lucifer?" Solaris asked the teacher, who nodded her head. "Ok...I guess I can tell you all. All of you are raised by your parents, and you knew them when you were little, right?" They all nodded. "Well, I never really knew my mom at all when I grew up. She was...killed by Lucifer when I was only a few months old, slain along with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna when they tried to stop him. I was raised by my aunts, the other mares you see here, and my Uncle Spike, which happens to be the dragon statue next to Aunt Rarity."

"A dragon for an uncle?" one of the colts asked as all the male students looked up at the adolescent dragon statue. "That is awesome!"

"Yeah. It was," Solaris admitted. "And I was mostly raised by him. I never really saw my mother when I was growing up, always told by my family that she was too busy with ruling a kingdom. I had no idea what really happened to her until I was fifteen, what age they all considered me old enough to understand what's really happened outside this mountain. The reason why was because they didn't want me to be discovered by Lucifer, and they didn't want me to see how much turmoil Equestria was in with him in charge.

"But I actually met my mother, the day after my fifteenth birthday, as I had finally set hoof outside the home I grew up in." Though the foals were entranced by Solaris's sorrowful tale, they were confused when he said he met his deceased mother. "I know. It's impossible to believe that, but it is true. You could say she came down to see me, as an angel. She gave me the first test I needed to take that started my journey to save not just Equestria, but the world from Lucifer's tyranny. She believed in me, having seen a vision about my heroic efforts in a premonition several times, and I had succeeded in making her clairvoyant vision come true. I've learned that, no matter what happens to my family, their memory will never leave my heart.

"And as the years passed, I had gained new members of my surrogate families from my aunts, watching as more of my cousins from Ponyville grew bigger, keeping true to their ancestor's way of life to keep their memory alive for everypony's sake. This is an important lesson all of you can take to heart too. You may lose somepony you hold dearly, but you can't let your past haunt you for the rest of your life. Look forward to a brighter future, move on from the worst of your memories, and even if the pain is still there, it only strengthens the fondest of moments you've had with your loved ones."

Solaris looked down at his young subjects, seeing they will follow his wisdom, and eventually pass it on to their children in the future. As soon as he looked up, his eyes widened as he saw his mother standing near the entrance of the shrine. He rubbed his eyes and looked back, finding no sign of her. He looked around, but seeing nopony else aside from his young class he was temporarily teaching and their teacher.

"Prince Solaris? Are you ok?" Solaris looked down as one of the students noticed his fruitless search.

"...Uhh, yes. I'm fine," he assured the filly. "Being a thousand years old, I tend to go senile from time to time." He hunched his back as he pretended to act like he was old, his mane and tail drooping slightly. "Ooooh! My aching back! You foals stop playing that accursed loud music!" That got the students to laugh at his silliness, Solaris sometimes thinking he inherited the randomness either from Pinkie Pie, Discord, or Trill. He sat back up, his mane back to its normal, flowing state. "Ok, young me is back. Now, who here wants to hear some epic tales of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony and their heroic efforts to stop the villains who threatened the peace of Equestria?"

He soon began to get bombarded with requests from the young ones, all of them wanting to hear one story over the others. As he began to tell his favorite story he was told by his aunts about them and his mother saving the kingdom, Twilight watched him as the schoolponies listened. She nodded her head as she began to disappear, her halo blinking above her. Equestria was at peace, the world was saved, and the lavender alicorn was proud of her son for making their kingdom a better place than it had been before. Though Solaris had gone through so much, he had the help of her friends, their children, and even the unexpected relationship between him and Trill to always be there for him, to be his strength to fulfill his destiny and save the world from an evil stallion known as such by the unfortunate life he was led so long ago.

Chapter 27: Light vs. Dark

It didn't take long for the changeling army to take down the inexperienced Shadow Knights in the southern district of Canterlot. The bug pony soldiers tied the unconscious youthful soldiers with their magical ooze, keeping them from attempting to escape or fight back if they woke up. The changeling captain approached Chrysalis, saluting to her as he stood before her.

"My queen, the Shadow Knights are now in captivity," he reported.

"Good. But now we have a bigger problem," Chrysalis said, confusing the captain. "The previous evening, I overheard Solaris telling my daughter to stay in the forest where we made our camp. However, she has decided to ignore him, as she usually does when she's told not to do anything, and she's chasing after him toward the castle!"

"What!?" The captain, as well as a few other soldiers who overheard them, began to panic.

"Bring a few other soldiers and bring her back here right now!" Without needing anymore command, the captain along with a few other changelings willing to find their princess before something bad happened to her. Fearing for her daughter's safety, she can trust her subjects to bring Trill back safely, but now she needed to try and convince the citizens of Canterlot to evacuate before Lucifer and Solaris turned the city to rubble. "How am I even expected to get all of these money-grubbing ponies out of here if they think they're being invaded by us?"

"My queen! Up ahead!" The queen looked in the direction of one of her soldier's warning, spotting a few stallions coming toward them.

She was just about to order her subjects to attack, only to pause as she saw a few of them with white flags as they approached. The veterans stood before their old foes from nearly two decades ago, each side leering their enemies. The captain stepped forward, being one of the stallions holding up a white flag.

"Chrysalis," he said, trying not to sound hostile, even if Solaris had told them they weren't the enemy at this moment. "It's been a long while since we've seen you and your...army."

"You must have been the guards back then who we easily trounced during the royal wedding," Chrysalis said, earning a few smirks from her soldiers. "I assume those flags mean you are going to turn yourselves in?"

"Half true. Our future prince had informed us you weren't invading to destroy our city. We're actually here to assist in evacuating Canterlot. It wouldn't be easy if your presence scares everypony here." Chrysalis nodded her head. "I believe a truce is necessary between us and your kind until Lucifer is finally dealt with."

"...Indeed." Suddenly, a loud crash was heard in the direction of the castle, everypony watching as the windows in the castle were smashed through, along with bursts of green flames and dark magic shooting out of the broken windows. "And we better do this fast, or else we're all dead."

The two sides quickly spread out as Chrysalis and the earth pony captain relayed their orders to their subordinates, gathering the unconscious Shadow Knights to haul to the station and the citizens in Canterlot. The queen hoped Solaris would keep biding their time, keeping his fight inside the castle before taking it outside.

Solaris flew back as Lucifer's aura sword nearly sliced him through, shooting fireballs out his hooves as he retaliated. His flames were slashed through, the unicorn quickly changing his tactics as he dismissed the sword and created a massive ethereal hammer. Though it seemed to look heavy, Lucifer was able to wield it like it was a smaller, lighter version, rushing at the alicorn and swinging it around. He blocked it with his gauntlets, but the amount of power put into the swing caused him to stagger back, defenseless as he was struck hard in the side by it, flung far across the throne room and through the doors, slamming hard into the wall.

Thankfully, with the help of his crystalized skin enchantment, it lessened the painful blow, but it left him slightly dazed as he shook the cobwebs out of his head. Through the broken doorway, Lucifer rushed toward him again, his hammer ready to slam him down into the ground like a nail. Thinking quickly, he shot compressed air out of his hooves, flinging himself away from the hammer's point of impact. He aimed his hooves behind him and shot himself forward again, slamming his hoof into Lucifer's face, sending him soaring down the hall.

The unicorn quickly recovered, summoning hundreds of daggers around him, flinging them in rapid succession at Solaris. The alicorn blocked or dodged the ethereal knives, avoiding getting struck by them to try and keep his crystal defenses from diminishing too soon. As the flurry of daggers died down, he shot several fireballs toward Lucifer, only for the flames to be blocked by an ethereal shield that shot up from his shadow. He threw the shield, Solaris ready to knock it aside, only for it to turn into a giant, razor sharp spinning blade.

The teen quickly ducked, distracted by the deadly blade long enough for Lucifer to appear in front of him, slamming the alicorn's chest with his hammer from earlier. Solaris slammed through a window, his armor and helmet thankfully protecting him from the shards of glass. As he righted himself in the air, he looked down at the city, still finding several ponies still in Canterlot as they were being led by the changelings and the ex-royal guard veterans.

"They better hurry up. I don't know how long I can keep fighting him inside the castle grounds." Solaris yelped as he suddenly felt a chain wrap around one of his hid legs, looking down to find Lucifer holding onto it with his aura.

"Running away!? Get back here and fight like a stallion!" The chain pulled Solaris back to him swiftly as he prepared to run the alicorn through with an ethereal lance.

Using this added momentum, he caught Lucifer off guard as he aimed his nabbed hind hoof at the unicorn's face. He set it on fire, but this time, he began to focus on using his hidden power, the flames burning from green to bright white. The dark unicorn stared at the sudden change of the alicorn's flaming hooves, too slow to react as his face was met with his hoof, the same sound of shattering glass echoing around them as Lucifer's dark barrier was broken yet again.

The unicorn tumbled back down the hall, rolling to a halt as his mane was singed from the white flames. "I told you I wasn't going to flee again, Lucifer!" Solaris got in his stance, watching Lucifer slowly get up, his face slightly burnt from his fire of Light energy as he struck him. The tyrant leered at the teen, noticing the white flames in his pupils burning as brightly as his hooves. "No matter what you'll try, you will not beat me this time! You're in the presence of a living embodiment the Elements of Harmony stand for; light! I am the Element of Light, your dark magic's greatest weakness!"

Slowly, Lucifer touched the burn mark on his cheek, feeling it sting from the light contact. Solaris expected him to back away in fear, but grew confused as he began to hear the tyrant begin to laugh. Green mist began to seep out from Lucifer's eyes, his laughter growing a bit louder, almost as if he had lost his mind.

"'Element of Light', eh? A living Element of Harmony?" He lowered his hoof, his laughter slowly dying down. "I know the difference between clashing elements of nature, the one duo always fighting for domination being light and darkness...One can't live without the other, being on both sides of the same bit. All that matters is how strong the one side is compared to the other." Lucifer's horn glowed, summoning thousands of different ethereal weapons around him. Sneering at the alicorn, he reared up on his hind legs. "But I know my power is far stronger than your measly light!"

He slammed his hooves down to the floor, sending out several spires of dark crystals from the ground, heading straight for Solaris as he flung every single blade-like aura weapon as well. The teen stood his ground as the inescapable spires and swords approached him. He took in a deep breath and breathed out white flames, surrounding him right as the dark crystals and blades struck him.

Lucifer was about to laugh in triumph, but as the flames disappeared, he saw no sign of the alicorn. Solaris used his fire to transport himself instead of risking burning the dark aura blades and crystals to nothingness. He appeared behind the shocked unicorn, kicking him hard in the side of the head, sending him flying back into the throne room. Solaris shot out white flames as he punched in the stumbling tyrant's direction, sending him bouncing around the room as they exploded on or around him.

Using a move he had seen Nova do to him earlier back in the changeling hive, the teen formed a massive fireball in his hooves. Punching through the fireball, it separated into several smaller ones, moving them by his will as they surrounded Lucifer. Recovering from being tossed around like a rag doll from the explosive blasts, his eyes widened when he was surrounded by fireballs filled with light magic, bracing himself as they flew into him at blinding speed. The blast knocked the tyrant into his throne, smashing through the metal seat, tearing it to pieces.

"Even if a light may be overcome by the darkness around it, it still has the chance to brighten and scare off the shadows." Solaris watched as Lucifer crawled out of the wreckage of his seat of power, his body covered in burns and bruises. The alicorn focused the strength of his fire in one hoof, burning brightly as it began to shift into a dragon's head. "I'm going to end this. Right here. Right now!"

Leaping up into the air, Solaris shot out a burst of air from his hind hooves, sending him speeding toward the defeated stallion. As he got closer, Lucifer smirked, his horn glowing as a dark void appeared in front of him. Solaris increased his speed to avoid getting hit by whatever Lucifer had planned, only to gasp in shock as the arcane wielding stallion pulled Shining Armor out of the void, quickly stopping himself as Lucifer held an ethereal blade to the older stallion's neck.

Solaris could only stare in horror at the state his uncle was in, Lucifer grinning as he had kept his leverage alive to turn this battle around in his favor. Shining Armor was forced to stand on his hind legs as the sword was pressed against his neck. His forehooves were in casts, his horn was coated in dark crystals, he was disheveled, and malnourished. He was held prisoner by the evil tyrant and was now being used as a shield to stop the alicorn from killing Lucifer.

Lucifer chuckled maniacally, relishing in the alicorn's distress. "Oh how the mighty falls when the hero is dealt with a hostage situation. Especially when the hostage is a member of your family."

"H-How...?" Lucifer laughed louder, the teen's self-confidence faltering, his flaming hooves extinguished from the fear of losing his uncle.

"Why don't you ask your idiot of an uncle? He had a cute little picture of the whole family on him, and to my surprise, you are also the son of Princess Twilight Sparkle." Lucifer summoned the family photo he had slashed when he destroyed Shining's disguise and pieced it back together. Shining Armor looked away, ashamed and regretted his decision to keep that picture, destroying Equestria's one and only chance to free them from the maniacal unicorn. "This just made my day when I found out Prince Shining Armor of the Crystal Empire had been impersonating as a mercenary, just to get to me. He just couldn't let his baby sister's death go and stayed safe with his wife in that protective little barrier of theirs."

"This is between you and me," Solaris said, almost wanting to resort to begging to free his uncle. "Let him go."

"I don't think so." The tyrant pressed the blade tighter against Shining's neck, forcing his head back up to avoid the sharp edge from slitting his throat. "This isn't a game, Solaris. There's no need for negotiations when I have you right where I want you."

"F-Forget about me," Shining said, his voice hoarse and very weak. "Defeat...him..."

"As if your nephew will want to risk losing more of his family!" Lucifer cackled, none of them noticing something crawl above them as it entered from one of the windows that had been shattered open. "A child who has been sheltered all his life with no experience living in the harsh realities of the outside world wouldn't want to risk losing a relative they had only met once in their lifetime!...But I do applaud your attempt to nobly sacrifice yourself, which I will gladly do the honor of granting your wish." He pulled the blade away from the captive stallion, rearing it back to thrust it through his back. "When you see your little sister, tell her her foal will join you soon!"

As he was about to lunge the ethereal sword through Shining Armor, the stallions heard something spit from above them. Lucifer looked up, only to be blinded by green webbing, which had actually gotten into his eyes. He screamed in pain, flailing his hooves around as he lost his concentration, letting go of Shining as he fell to the ground and his ethereal weapon disappearing.

"W-What?" Solaris stared in shock, his eye twitching and his anger slowly rising, knowing exactly who was able to do such a thing.

"HIYAH!" Dropping down from the ceiling, Trill dive kicked Lucifer in the face, sending the agonizing unicorn sailing across the room, slamming head first into the wall. "Nopony's going to cheat their way out of killing my coltfriend, you prick!" Solaris slowly approached the brainless changeling princess, who began posing heroically as if she had beaten Lucifer. "See, Solly? I can fight. That's what I call a sneak attack."

"What. Are you. DOING HERE!?" he yelled.

"I came to help," she replied. "Glad I did too. How dare he use a hostage to hold you back like that? I helped save the day!"

Before she could celebrate, Solaris grabbed her cheeks, forcing her to look at his infuriated glare. "You are so stupid! I told you to stay back in the forest, and you broke the Pinkie Promise you made to me! What is wrong with you!?"

Trill managed to pull her head out of Solaris's tight grip, rubbing her sore cheeks. "Well, a thank you would have been nice."

"Is your brain the size of a grain of sand!? Do you even realize how dangerous this could even go!?" Trill stared at him, making the alicorn groan in annoyance. "I swear, if I didn't love you, I would kill you myself."

"But you needed my help anyway. You couldn't have saved your uncle while he was held hostage." She ignored his frustrated gaze and approached the weakened ex-royal guard. "You ok, Shining Armor?"

"Y-Yeah," the stallion said, thankfully having fallen on his side to avoid landing on his broken forelegs. "But Solaris was right...You shouldn't have come to help."

"I couldn't let him fight by himself! I don't care if he can do this on his own! He still needs some backup!" She looked back at Solaris, still receiving a disappointed glare from him. "You're welcome."

"Princess!" The changeling soldiers sent to retrieve Trill flew into the throne room, landing before the princess, glad to see her unharmed. Though Lucifer was knocked unconscious, he was still alive, which worried them. "Your highness, your mother is very cross with you for your blatant disregard to your own safety by staying behind! We are taking you back before Lucifer regains consciousness and attacks!"

"I'm pretty cross too," Solaris said, controlling his anger before he lashed out at Trill. As much as he wanted to knock her upside the head, he didn't want to hurt her too hard. He was about to rebuke his marefriend further, only to grow silent as he felt a very powerful darkness begin to rise from where Lucifer laid. Looking in the unicorn's direction, his pupils shrunk as his body was shrouded in darkness, his blood-red horn glowing ominously as he began to stand up. "Oh no..."

The others turned their heads to where Lucifer was, all of them seeing the dark aura emanate from his body, immediately terrified at his power steadily rising. As he was back on his hooves, the green web firmly sticking to his face was torn off his eyes, burnt away in his hoof by the growing aura around him. He turned his head, his eyes glowing red as the mist flowing out grew out of control.

"You..." The changeling soldiers stood their ground as they protected Trill, Shining, and Solaris, even though they have no chance of survival against Lucifer. "You've really gotten under my skin for the last time..." The tyrant's horn sparked dangerously, glaring at the princess who had ruined his leverage over his mortal foe. "Now, do me the pleasure of DYING!"

Aiming his horn at the group, Lucifer fired a massive beam of dark magic at them. Solaris quickly leapt up into the air and let out a massive plume of white flames around the changelings and his uncle, transporting them far away from the castle, getting them out just in time as he himself avoided the dangerous beam by mere inches. It blasted through the wall of the throne room, creating a massive hole as the dark beam disappeared in the distance.

"This...is...bad..." Solaris could only stare at the massive hole in shock and awe, turning back to the infuriated stallion.

"I have had enough with all of these delays," Lucifer growled, sounding more demonic with each breath he took. "It seems I'll have to use all of my power just to finally get rid of you. If I unleash every ounce of magic in me for too long, I'll lose my sanity...All I'll need is twenty minutes. No more. No less." The aura around him intensified, his horn's aura slowly turning black, the maniacal stallion cackling as he began to unleash all of the darkness he had been holding back. "You're very lucky, foal. You will be the first of many to see what happens when one fully submits himself to the dangerous of arcane arts! I won't need long to release my wrath to kill you, alicorn!"

A powerful pulse of dark magic shot out from Lucifer's horn as he roared, nearly shoving Solaris back into the wall from the force. The unicorn's roar began to turn feral and demonic, his body slowly being absorbed by the black aura as it molded him into something else. Solaris could only watch as he struggled to keep himself standing from the never-ending pulsations threatening to fling him out through the hole the tyrant made just a few moments ago. His eyes widened at the transformation process: Lucifer's horn split into two on his head, curved and dangerously sharp, his teeth turning into fangs, his body growing three times his normal height, his mane and tail waving furiously in an intangible windstorm, and claws formed on his hooves with the aura radiating his now pure black body, the only sign of color being his gleaming white fangs and piercing red eyes.

Storm clouds began to form on their own, being controlled by the overflowing dark magic coming from Lucifer, casting the city in a blanket of darkness. The sun was able to shine through the clouds, bringing a little light to the now ominous landscape of Canterlot. Solaris stared in horror at the demonically transformed unicorn, Lucifer's mind replaced by that of a carnivorous monster. He almost looked like a visual interpretation of what a pony devil that dwells in the gates of Tarterus looks like, though they were only in fictional lore as nopony dared to enter the gates to the underworld with Cerberus keeping anything from entering and exiting. The teen was facing something that not even his own light could possibly take down.

"I'm so dead," he uttered, flinching as Demon Lucifer quickly lunged at him with an outstretched claw, hoping his gauntlets would protect him enough from the large beast's strike.

"Lord Blueblood, you have to evacuate with the rest of the city! This is an emergency!" The veteran captain of the royal guard, along with another subordinate stood before the arrogant, and immature, nephew of Princess Celestia in front of his manor.

"And why should I believe peasants like you?" Blueblood scoffed. "Ever since that ungrateful unicorn came and killed my auntie, he's been causing nothing but trouble, along with those brats who think Canterlot is their own personal playground! At least he's been generous enough to leave me be, since I don't really have blood ties with Aunt Celestia, but I have to listen to you two?"

"Lord Blueblood, at this moment, our future, more benevolent, ruler is fighting Lucifer as we speak," the captain said, trying to remain calm as the spoiled stallion began to get on his nerves. "Their fight might reach out further than the castle, and you could end up killed in the crossfire. This is for everypony's safety, including yours."

"I will do no such thing," the stubborn unicorn noble said, sticking his nose up in the air. "Take your pathetic excuses and bring them up to those rude Shadow Knight hooligans. They'll surely throw you in the dungeon for your drunken rants and stupors."

The two soldiers looked at each other, both of them ready to drag the spoiled prince to the station to help him escape, even though he didn't deserve it with how ignorant he can be. As Blueblood walked back to his manor, he froze when all of the city heard a massive blast come from the castle, looking up in time to see a massive magical beam of dark mana shoot out above them. It grazed the roof of Blueblood's manor, the darkness slowly burning away his home. The noble let out a feminine scream as he ran to the station as if his life depended on it, which it did.

"...Well, beats having to drag his spoiled plot to the train," the subordinate commented.

"He's only a few years younger than us, and he still behaves like a colt. Glad he doesn't have any foals. One Blueblood is bad enough as it is." The two quickly hurried after the fleeing unicorn, being the last of the ponies they needed to evacuate.

As the nobles and lower class citizens were filing into the train, the cars were already filling up really fast, even though many of the posh millionaires complained about the cramped spaces in the commoner cars. With the train's cars completely filled, the soldiers from both sides had to stop allowing passengers on as the locomotive signaled its departure and set its route to the closest town, Ponyville. Before leaving, the conductors told Chrysalis, after a moment of panic when they realized she wasn't here to do any harm, that it may take them a few hours to reach the station, release the passengers, turn the train around, and make it back to Canterlot.

The queen watched as the train left, looking back to see several more non-pegasi waiting to be saved. Even with her soldiers able to help fly them to safety, she had no idea if any of them would trust them to carry them through the air or if any had a fear of flying.

"We don't have a few hours...I can only hope that Solaris ends that psychopath's life soon." She tapped her hoof impatiently, both in wait and in fear of her daughter getting caught in the middle of Solaris's fight. She didn't notice a unicorn colt walking up to the queen, staring curiously through the holes in her legs. He tried to see if he could stick his hoof through one of the holes, catching Chrysalis's attention. "...What are you doing?"

"You have lots of holes in your legs," the colt said.

"Yes. Thank you for stating the obvious," Chrysalis said sarcastically stated. "Why are you trying to look through them like binoculars?"

"...They're cool!" Chrysalis blanched at the odd compliment given to her. "How do you stand with that many holes in them!? Do they hurt?"

She had no idea if she should be flattered or disturbed, but she did have one question she needed to ask. "What is wrong with this generation's youth!? You are the second pony I have ever met who actually complimented me, and it is driving me insane! Why do you colts find me interesting!?"

"...Cause you're a big bug, and bugs are cool!" The colt smiled as he looked up at the changeling queen, though his adoration didn't seem to do much to reach out to her.

"Chance! What are you doing!?" A worried mare ran up to the two, using her magic to drag the colt away from Chrysalis. "You can't run off on your own like that when we're in a dangerous situation with the changelings!"

"But mom, she looks cool!" the colt whined. "They only hurt those dumb knight ponies!"

"I'm not taking any chances!" the mother said, only angering Chrysalis with the noble sounding unicorn's ignorance.

"We are doing absolutely nothing to harm you! In fact, we're here trying to save you all before Lucifer decides to take his fight with Solaris outside of the castle!" As she shouted at the rich mare, she was immediately silenced when everypony heard a powerful blast come from the castle. Everypony gasped as they saw a large beam of dark magic being shot out from the throne room, sailing over Canterlot as it ripped a hole in the wall of the castle and disappeared in the distance. A moment later, white flames suddenly combusted in front of the station, ponies backing away in fright as a few changelings and a gravely weak unicorn stallion appeared from the flames. "...Well, this has just gotten a lot worse."

"Gah! I thought we were burned alive!" one of Chrysalis's soldiers exclaimed as they tried to recover from the sudden transportation through magical fire.

"Trill!" Chrysalis flew over to the rescued group, only to stop as she saw Shining Armor. "Shining?...What in Equestria happened to you?"

"Chrysalis?" The injured stallion looked up, actually seeing worried concern on the face of the mare that tricked him by impersonating his future wife during their wedding planning. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"N-Nothing," she said as she looked away. "I'm just...surprised to see you here...Wait, why are you here?"

"Long story." Shining winced as he was helped up, sitting on his haunches while keeping less weight off his forelegs as best as possible. "And I should be asking why you and your army is here."

"Ask your nephew." It was all the answer Shining needed.

Soon, the skies began to grow dim as dark clouds began to form out of thin air, circling around the city and blocking out the sun. Everypony began to panic, having no clue what was happening. A demonic roar was heard in the castle's direction, watching in pure terror as a large black beast lunged out of the hole, slamming through the wall protecting the palace. Trill had noticed a small gleam of light that was trapped in its claws, which came from Solaris's armor being reflected from the white flames that came from his hooves.

"Oh no..." Trill feared for Solaris's safety, everypony's only hope could be extinguished under Lucifer's newly transformed body. Her senses were focused only on the demonic behemoth out in the distance, oblivious to the frightened Blueblood sprinting past her as he screamed like a filly, barging through others to get to the station. "Solly...Please...Please be ok..."

Solaris was grabbed by Demon Lucifer as they fell out of the castle, heading straight for the guard walls surrounding the castle. It was too late for him to try to teleport away via dragonfire, being slammed hard into the solid barricade, shattering it to pieces. His crystal skin had activated, but it took too much abuse, shattering his secondary armor, including the ring from the overwhelming force inflicted upon him. Still held in the beast's clutches, the alicorn winced as his horn stung from his destroyed ring.

He was soon flung into the city, smashing through several buildings until he was stopped, hitting a wall of another building. Solaris got up as he heard Lucifer smashing through buildings to find him, running through the streets to keep from getting caught.

"I can't believe my ring was destroyed. How?" he questioned. "I couldn't destroy it, and I got smashed by minotaur with ten times the strength of an average minotaur and it didn't break."

While lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice a large piece of a building being tossed right on top of him. He looked up just in time as he saw the shadow underneath him, smashing it apart with his hooves. Lucifer leapt in the air, ready to smash the teen into the ground. Solaris quickly used his chaotic magic, the pendant glowing as he made time stop all around him. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to affect the demonic stallion, still moving along with him.

Demon Lucifer's hoof slammed into his chest hard, shattering the Discord pendant to pieces, along with bending his cuirass, making it difficult for Solaris to breath. Before being crushed again, the alicorn used up remaining oxygen he had in his lungs, transporting himself away from the heavy claws before they dug into his body. He appeared in a safer area, hearing Lucifer roar out his frustrations as he began smashing buildings to find him. Before his lungs could collapse and cause him to pass out, Solaris used his flames to burn the leather straps keeping the breast and back plates together, letting out a big gasp as he finally got it off.

"I thought all of this was indestructible." He looked at the dented chest piece, spotting claw marks carved deep in the golden armor. "How am I supposed to beat him if my enchanted armor keeps getting destroyed?" He flinched as he heard the building he was hiding behind getting lifted up behind him, hearing Lucifer's growls as he held it above him with his claws. "Oh come on. Give me a break."

Demon Lucifer slammed the building down on top of Solaris. He smashed his way through the walls, having had enough running away. Solaris flew up into the beast's face, shoving a white fireball in his eye, making Lucifer screech out in pain, temporarily blinded in one eye. He kept firing fireballs at the demon, but it didn't seem to do much against Lucifer in this form. Further agitating the transformed stallion, he didn't notice his claw smacking him up in the air, throwing him off balance as his helmet was flung off his head.

Spotting the headpiece, Lucifer opened his maw as his horns began glowing, shooting out a massive energy ball filled with dark magic at it, blowing the golden helm to pieces. Solaris watched in horror as his armor that would help unleash his full potential was destroyed, catching sight of his enhanced cutie mark on the back of the helmet burned away. His only chance of releasing his full potential was gone, no possible chance for him to finally end Lucifer once and for all.

As the teen fell back to the earth, too lost in the despair of losing his strength enhanced gear, he was struck hard by another energy ball aimed directly at him. As it made contact, Solaris was sent flying across the city at breakneck speeds, slamming through buildings and bouncing off the streets. He finally came to a rumbling stop at the southern district of Canterlot, where everypony shouted in surprise when they saw the alicorn come to a painful halt a few yards away from them.

"No!" Trill yelled, trying to run up and help him, only to be held back by her hive's soldiers as they saw Lucifer stomping through the city, smashing anything in his way.

Demon Lucifer snarled as he walked down the road, stopping for a moment and roared into the dark clouds above them. He began turning back to normal, the dark aura around him fading away as he breathed heavily. Though he was back to his dangerous tyrannical self, his left eye was closed tightly after getting shot in the eye earlier. He was slightly weakened after reverting back, but he didn't pay it no mind as he saw the battered alicorn teenager laying unconscious, chuckling maliciously.

"Twenty minutes...on the dot." Looking up, he saw the terrified looks of the remaining citizens of the city still around and the changelings. "And an audience to watch as I kill you...My luck's finally come around." Lucifer heard Solaris groan, watching him struggling to stand up on his hooves, noticing the damage he had caused in his last ditch effort to end the alicorn. His body was covered in bruises and cuts, blood seeping out of his wounds, and he looked like he was about to keel over. "You should just stay down and accept your death."

The ponies watching were surprised to see another alicorn was among them and had actually injured the tyrant they all suffered under. Though with the state he was in, it seemed that he wouldn't last any longer. Solaris shakily stood on his hind legs, though the flames he set on his hooves were as weak as he was physically.

"Why...are you...so desperate...to prove that...alicorns are weak?" the teen asked as the two stallions began to circle around their new battlefield, Solaris stumbling to stay up.

"Desperate? Don't make me laugh." Lucifer summoned his ethereal katana, slowly pulling it out of its magic sheath. "For many years, I had actually believed that Celestia was really powerful. A goddess...I was wrong. A god is considered all-powerful, one who doesn't bat an eye to a foe who wishes to destroy them. One who actually controls the world and molds it into what they wish for it, its creatures, and its worshipers. And I was able to prove that that was not the case." He held the blade out to the teen. "Why do you wish to know? Because of your mother, Twilight Sparkle?"

"Princess Celestia told me." Lucifer froze, growing confused. "She told me why you became the way you are...and showed me what happened..." Solaris couldn't stand on his legs any further, dropping back down to all fours. "I don't think any of us claimed we were gods...Maybe we were considered deities...was because ponies only saw alicorns as such by our appearance...A mix of all three pony races in one, holding greater power than any single pony of one tribe."

"Exactly. Everypony 'perceived' that, and never truly knew they could be mortal. And also powerless to defeat their foes." Lucifer growled, sliding his ethereal blade across the cobblestone road. "Celestia never won fairly against the likes of Sombra, Discord, or even her own sister when she turned into Nightmare Moon! Even I had her on her knees after honing the power I wield now after years of studies and practice! But in the end, the Elements of Harmony were in constant use, and she kept delaying the inevitable for each known villain for a millennium!

"If you want me to prove it even further, why don't all of you ask the queen of the changelings herself, standing right before all you ignorant foals!" Lucifer looked over his shoulder, pointing his blade in Chrysalis's direction. Many of the adults knew or heard about what had happened at the royal wedding twenty years ago, and they all heard how Celestia was bested by the queen. "She was the only one, besides myself, who actually bested Celestia with their own strength, and there were witnesses during the wedding process who saw it with their own eyes! Defeated by an insect who can impersonate anything, and grows stronger with the love they consume! HER! OWN! POWER!

"With the Elements of Harmony unable to be used any further, Equestria's trump card is no longer available to save you all from whatever wants to destroy your precious home! That includes me." Green mist flowed out of the unicorn tyrant's eyes, growing intense the more he ranted. "They stood no chance against me. Celestia, her sister, Luna, and your own mother cowered under my power. I am the most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria! Nothing can stand a chance against my magic, and the world will know that I, Lucifer, King of Equestria, will fear my name as I easily conquer their kingdoms and shatter their defenses! I am the epitome of a demigod! I AM INVINCIBLE!"

The area was silent, aside from Lucifer's heavy breathing, the mist seeping out of his eyes flowing dangerously. Everypony who heard his reasoning why he killed the princesses were struck with the realization that they weren't as great as they imagined, but they also didn't want to believe him. Even Chrysalis believed him, especially when she was as shocked as the other witnesses at the royal wedding when she actually beat Celestia in a magical duel.

Solaris broke the nerve-wracking silence, though to Lucifer's confusion and the others' shock, he began to laugh. Though it was weak, since he was badly injured and on the verge of collapsing, it was enough to greatly irritate Lucifer. It brought back the infuriating memory of Twilight mocking him as she had told him he lost when she stood no chance against him, making his one open eye twitch.

"Why are you laughing!?" he shouted. "What is it that is so funny that you have to laugh before you face your doom!? Just like your bucking mother; cowardice and complete insanity before death!"

Solaris slowed his laughing, catching his breath more from the pain he was in as he looked directly at Lucifer. "So...what you're saying is...you killed the princesses, one of them being my mother...to not only prove they aren't strong enough to defeat you, and without using the Elements of Harmony to cheat their way to besting their mortal enemies, including you?"

"That's exactly my point! They have no power! And neither do you, not even with your worthless light!" Lucifer slammed his weapon down into the ground, shattering the stone underneath it.

"...That's funny," Solaris said, wincing as he felt a slight wave of pain wrack his body. "...You're a hypocrite." Lucifer snarled, practically insulted, while the audience watching them stared at the alicorn like he had gone mad. "Beating them with your own power? Last I saw, you never knew about black magic until you were a colt. That kind of magic is forbidden to use, only those dumb enough to seek power from it being truly weak to accomplish their conquests...You fall under that category, Lucifer."

"How DARE you!?" Lucifer's eyes began to flow mist out even faster as his anger grew. "I am no hypocrite!"

"Deny it all you want, but it's true," Solaris said, sitting down as he looked down at his gauntlets, seeing the gems and platinum plate gleam slightly. "If you never discovered dark magic, you probably wouldn't stand a chance against Celestia...Instead of practicing unleashing your inner potential, you sought power through forbidden arts, which is exactly what you wanted to prove against alicorns. You couldn't let your grudge against her resentment toward you go, and sold your heart to the darkness you rely on.

"Princess Celestia, my mother and her friends, my aunts, used the Elements of Harmony to keep Equestria free from chaos and those who wish to create disharmony. The mystical gems you claimed are nothing but tools are far better than that; they keep the whole world safe, not just this kingdom. The reason why they're used is to stop threats like you from destroying everything until the planet is empty and barren of any life. Not as a last resort to use as a power. Not objects to use to cheat their way to gaining victory over those who wish to destroy everything.

"We know that we'll lose against those with more power than us, but it doesn't mean we're weak." The gems and heart half plates began to glow brighter, strengthening Solaris's flames as they grew brighter. "Everypony relies on something they look up to as a symbol of guidance and protection. Alicorns are three pony tribes in one; earth, pegasus, and unicorn. They look up to us as we represent the unity between the three tribes. There is not one book I've read that told me I was some kind of god. I know I'm not, not after what I've been through.

"So, Lucifer, don't think your victory is going to be easy against me just because you've got me down to my last bit of strength." Solaris stood back up on his hind legs, spreading his wings out as he got himself in a battle stance, ready for one last bout. "I'm far stronger than you think you are, because even if I'm fighting you by myself, I'm not alone! Everypony despises you for what you've done, all across the world! I'll prove to you that what your philosophy on alicorns is nothing but lies, and bring peace back to Equestria!"

Lucifer growled, his eyes glowing red as he prepared his blade, ready to slice through the teen. "A compelling little speech. Your words will die along with your life!"

The unicorn shot off at blinding speed toward Solaris, the alicorn pressing his forelegs together to block his attack, the platinum heart pieces coming together and began to glow brightly. As Lucifer flew past him, everypony heard several slashes striking the air, the dark stallion sliding a few yards away from Solaris as he stood frozen. Smirking, Lucifer slowly sheathed his ethereal katana back in it's magical home, but as it was fully sheathed, his weapon exploded in a blinding white light, sending him flying further away from the alicorn.

Everypony gasped in awe as Lucifer got back up, feeling his left side burn from the sudden implosion of his favorite aura weapon. Growling, he tried to call it back to him, but it didn't appear. He strained his magic to bring his katana back to no avail, like it had actually been destroyed from his own mana link. He turned around to leer at the alicorn, only for his jaw to drop as his uninjured eye widened at what he saw in front of the teen.

Feeling no injuries, Solaris peeked out between his forehooves, staring in utter silence at what stood before him. Ethereal spirits of his family were leering at Lucifer, each of them glowing as brightly as the gems on his gauntlets. They looked down at him, his mother and aunts smiling at him, all of them nodding their heads simultaneously, wanting him to end this fight once and for all.

"...It's ironic, Lucifer," he said, slowly turning around as he held out his gauntlets, showing off the gems beaming brightly. "You really thought you felt safe without the Elements of Harmony back in the Tree of Harmony. But, all this time, I have been holding small pieces of the Elements on me ever since I got them. I was kind of surprised to know that."

"I-Impossible...How!?" Lucifer yelled in disbelief. "The bearers are all dead! You even confirmed the others traveling with you all died!"

"Yes...but that didn't mean they were really gone. Their spirits still live on, in the Elements of Harmony, and in my heart. You may be able to destroy lives, but you can never separate others from friends and family! And they're right here with me, in my heart, always and forever!" Solaris connected his gauntlets, forming the heart shape from his plate halves, making it glow brightly.

The light grew and formed a sphere of white light around the alicorn, the spirits of the Elements turning into orbs. They flew into the sphere, turning it into a spiraling rainbow as Lucifer shielded his eye from the intensely colorful display. Inside, Solaris's body began to change slightly: his mane and tail growing highlights in his hair, each strip between his natural golden color the same as the Element's gem color, his hair also turning ethereal and flowed gently in an invisible wind, his wingspan grew in size as the tip of his primary feathers were tinged with different colors, each one matching his mother's and aunts' coat colors, his gauntlets shimmered a multitude of colors like an aurora, and as he opened his eyes, his pupils burned brightly with a rainbow fire.

The sphere blew apart as he punched through it, revealing his transformed self to Lucifer and the ponies and changelings watching the spectacle. Lucifer felt the light within Solaris was a lot more powerful than his own magic, but he didn't want to show his fear. The alicorn pressed his forehooves together, rubbing them together as a spark began to form. With a quick flick, his hooves erupted into a myriad of colors in his fire, the flames growing intense to him, but warm for the audience as they could feel the heat from where they all stood.

"...Y-You think this will deter me!? A little flashy light show and a transformation!?" Forgetting about his beloved aura weapon, Lucifer decided to use his massive ethereal hammer. "You're still just a foal compared to my might!"

He ran at Solaris again, leaping up into the air as he slammed his weapon down on top of the alicorn. Solaris didn't flinch as it got closer, quickly lifting up his left forehoof and stopping the flat head of the mallet inches from his horn. Lucifer tried to pull it away, but the teen's grip was far stronger. He pulled his other hoof back, punching the dark aura weapon and making it implode in a bright light.

Lucifer was knocked back from the blast, quickly flipping back to his hooves as he used his other bevy of ethereal weapons to slice, stab, or hack Solaris. But like his katana and hammer, they were instantly destroyed, and like before, he couldn't summon them back again.

"Anything else you want to use aside from weapons?" Solaris asked, not even exhausted despite his injuries still present on his body.

Lucifer growled, unable to hold back his rage. "THAT'S IT! I don't care if I lose my sanity anymore! As long as I kill you, I DON'T CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO EVERYTHING ELSE!"

The unicorn roared as he transformed back into Demon Lucifer, intending to end this at the cost of his mind and body. He fired a massive ball of dark energy at the alicorn, along with the crowd standing a good distance behind him. As it got closer, Solaris smacked the energy ball up into the air, exploding high into the sky where almost every city in Equestria could see it. He snarled in fury as he opened up his maw, building up dark magic in his mouth as his horns glowed intensely.

While the crowd exclaimed in fear as they would get hit by whatever Demon Lucifer had in store, but Solaris stood his ground. Widening his stance, he brought his forehooves together at his side, his flames forming into a sphere between his hooves. The fire soon turned into something brighter and more hot in temperature, retaining its rainbow hue. It was like holding a miniature sun, a small orb of plasma infused with the Elements of Harmony, including the Element of Light.

After charging his attack, Demon Lucifer fired a very powerful beam of darkness, far more powerful than his previous one that tore a hole through the castle, disintegrating nearby buildings and the ground itself. The attack got closer as everypony braced themselves for their inevitable demise, but Solaris wasn't going to allow that to happen. He shot his hooves forward, shooting out a powerful beam of harmonious light that overpowered the beast's own beam, the rainbow streams spiraling around it homing itself on the threat before the alicorn.

Unable to escape, Demon Lucifer was struck by the beam of light and plasma, screeching demonically as it was flung off its hooves and straight for the castle. Inside the beam, the darkness around Lucifer began to disappear as he turned back to normal, the unicorn slamming through buildings in the attack until it stopped him in the southern room he spotted the changelings' arrival earlier. Along with sending the tyrant flying, the light shredded the dark clouds above Canterlot, bringing the bright clear sky back and the shining sun. Solaris ceased his magical beam, staring intensely at the castle.

"It's not over yet..." Taking in a deep breath, he blew out rainbow flames and shrouded himself in them, transporting himself to the castle to finally end this conflict.

As he left, every pony and changeling stared in awed silence. A moment later, they all began to cheer, praising their new hero, and savior, as he bested Lucifer after they doubted he would survive against their hated tyrant. Chrysalis was still stunned, snapping out of her stupor when Shining nudged her side.

"I knew he could do it," he said. "You doubted him, didn't you?"

"...I had. Now I truly believe he could..." She looked over the stallion, wincing at the horrible state he was in. She subconsciously brushed some of his disheveled mane down to what it formerly was to no avail, earning an odd look from him. "How about you explain why you look like Lucifer turned into that demon, chewed you up, and spat you into a pit of dirt?"

"...Uhh, why did you-?" Chrysalis immediately shoved her hoof in Shining's mouth, ending his question before it was even asked.

"Just tell me before I have to find out myself!" she shouted, failing to hide the slight tinge of red on her cheeks.

While the two were lost in the crowd of celebrating ponies and changelings, none of them minding that they're dancing with joy with supposed enemies, nopony noticed Trill flying off toward the castle, having heard him say that it wasn't truly over.

Solaris appeared at the castle, standing at the southern balcony where he saw Lucifer fly off after getting struck by his harmonious beam. He spotted the unicorn, still alive, his body slightly singed from the heat of his magical plasma beam, struggling to get back up. Lucifer lifted his head, growling at the sight of the alicorn.

"You've lost, Lucifer. It's over." Solaris slowly approached the weakened tyrant, Lucifer's horn glowing as he still had some fight remaining.

"It's not over until one of us dies!" He shot a weak beam of dark magic, only for it to sail past Solaris's neck as he leaned his head out of the way.

Roaring in anger, he ran at the teen, forced to use his own hooves to try and strike him, only for the alicorn to easily block his hoof, punching him hard in the chest and slamming him down to the ground. Before Lucifer could get up, Solaris kept a firm hoof down on his chest, rearing his other forehoof back as it began to glow brightly in his rainbow fire.

"I said it's over," Solaris said, his hoof shaking slightly as he prepared himself to end Lucifer's life.

The unicorn saw the hesitation, chuckling at the alicorn's wavering pause. "Go ahead...Kill me. Do it. Kill somepony to claim your victory." Solaris began to have second thoughts, not wanting to resort to killing him, even though he deserved it. Lucifer killed his mother, his aunts Rarity and Applejack, and he was going to kill his uncle right before his eyes in a pitiful attempt to win against his losing battle. He wanted revenge, but he didn't want to kill to get back at the evil unicorn, knowing it won't bring his family back to life. "Come on, Solaris. Be a stallion! Don't be such a-!"

Solaris quickly shoved his hoof holding Lucifer down against his neck, keeping his head still as he glared at the stallion, silencing his mockery toward him. He made his decision and slammed his flaming hoof down hard to the ground, the room echoing loudly. Nothing but silence as Solaris moved his hoof. He didn't strike Lucifer's head, at least not his face, instead aiming for the most dangerous part of the stallion; his blood red, curved horn.

It was nothing but broken shards as they disappeared in the colorful flames, purified and disintegrating into nothingness. A minute later, Lucifer screamed at the top of his lungs in dire pain, Solaris backing away from the hornless unicorn as he watched him writhe in agony as he clutched his forehead, blood seeping out of the de-horned wound. The alicorn reverted out of his new form, a bright white sphere shrouding him for a few seconds and disappearing as quickly as it came.

"M-My horn!" Lucifer shouted, growling in pain as he clutched a hoof to his wound. "You little bastard! You broke my horn!"

"Exactly," Solaris said. "Since you relied too much on your magic, the only way to really end your tyranny was to get rid of the source of your power. Now, you're no longer a danger to anypony else. Including yourself."

"Y-You...You should have just killed me!" He glared at the alicorn, spiteful of the results of his loss and still alive to be humiliated further.

"...I did want to kill you...but I would end up being like you; a killer." Solaris lifted one of his hooves, staring at his gauntlets as he recalled Celestia's tale of how Lucifer came to be the monster he used to be. "Not everypony is born evil. They turn evil by unfortunate circumstances, discrimination, horrible lifestyles...I fell under the unfortunate circumstances group, and I even confronted my own darkness, which was a lot more terrifying than fighting you. I was lucky to have a family who loves me...when you had nopony to turn to after Celestia mistakenly abandoned you."

"Mistake?" Lucifer asked, struck with disbelief as blood slowly dripped down his face.

"She was afraid of you being in contact with that book you showed her when you were younger, thinking it would corrupt you if you looked at it anymore than you had. She didn't want to lose you to darkness like it did to her sister, Luna." Solaris sat down, looking back up and pitying the stallion for his horrible youth. "It's understandable if you were angry with her for abandoning you like that. I was upset too when I never knew my mom had been dead for fifteen years, praying that she would come and see me on my birthdays before I found out the truth. I felt like I wasn't wanted around her, but I was wrong.

"And on my journey across Equestria, I've suffered a lot, losing my aunts one by one...I even wanted to quit and let you continue your reign after losing Aunt Rainbow Dash, but I was glad my marefriend found me and brought me back to my senses." His hoof trembled as he recalled that moment, though he kept his composure around his beaten opponent. "I kept going, even after going through so much emotional and psychological pain...And now, it brought us here, where my mother's prophecy had come true; you're defeated and powerless, no longer a threat to anypony.

"You should consider this a second chance, Lucifer. Celestia did that for you when she used the Elements of Harmony on you, watching you begin to die as they began to destroy your heart, completely shrouded in anger and hatred from the dark magic inside you. Now I'm giving you my own second chance. You can either turn yourself in and spend the rest of your life rotting in a dungeon cell, or leave right now and live peacefully, living out the rest of your days as a hornless hermit." Solaris turned to the closed doors and headed for them to open them. "It's your choice."

Lucifer lowered his hoof, his wound's bleeding slowing down, but he had no intentions of leaving or surrendering peacefully. "...You're a fool..." He grabbed a large shard of glass from one of the broken windows in the room with his teeth, his eye glaring in disdain and extreme hatred. "You're as pitiful as Celestia with that kindheartedness! It'll be your downfall!"

He ran at Solaris, aiming the jagged shard at the alicorn's neck. Hearing him approach, the teen avoided the back attack, throwing his hoof forward and shoving it back hard with the help of a compressed blast of air, elbowing Lucifer hard in the stomach. The hornless unicorn dropped the shard, gasping heavily for air as the teen turned his head to face him, his eyes leering furiously at him as his pupils lit up with white flames.

"You just blew your only chance," he growled.

Solaris elbowed Lucifer hard in the chin, knocking him back as he began to beat the stallion down, throwing flurry after flurry of powerful punches and kicks. Lucifer was completely defenseless without his magic, getting smacked around the room while being pulled back by the alicorn's magic only to get struck even harder. After one final blow to the face, Solaris sent him flying across the room, sending him tumbling out to the balcony and through the stone railing, sending the stallion plummeting to the ground as he screamed. Snapped out of his anger, Solaris quickly flew to the edge and watched just in time as Lucifer hit the ground, wincing as he heard his body made contact with the cobblestone walkway down below.

He didn't intend to knock him that hard across the room and off the balcony, but it couldn't be helped now. Solaris slowly hovered down from the balcony to where Lucifer's body lay, a pool of blood slowly growing around his head. He was definitely dead, suffering from serious brain trauma from the impact of the fall, his opened eye staring at the sky, completely lifeless though filled with fear before he died. Though Lucifer was his enemy, he showed some respect toward the troubled stallion turned evil, brushing his hoof over his eye and closing it.

"If only this never happened, you could have lived a better life a thousand years ago," he said to Lucifer. "Rest in peace, Lucifer..."

"Solly!" Solaris looked up, spotting Trill flying toward the castle. She froze when she saw Lucifer's body, completely immobile, surprised to know the alicorn actually killed him. "Yeesh...I didn't think you actually would have done it, but you did...He is dead, right?"

"Yes...He is. But I didn't mean to..." Trill rammed into him and pulled him into a death grip of a hug, which he weakly returned, feeling his adrenaline escaping his highly exhausted and injured body.

"You did it though. Everypony's safe, all thanks to you.......Solly?" Trill heard him breath slowly, gently pulling away to see he had passed out. She gently lowered him down to the ground after dragging him far enough away from the dead stallion corpse, kissing his cheek as he rested. "You can relax now. It's finally over."

Chapter 7: Dessert of Lies

The sun had begun to set across the landscape, the train chugging along it's route, blowing its whistle occasionally. There were a couple stops that were made, but it was still scheduled to make it all the way to Saddle Arabia, which would still take a couple of days to arrive at the desert region.

In the dining car, where some of the other passengers entered to get themselves dinner, many of the ponies stared in bewilderment as Solaris, wearing a white sweatshirt Pinkie pulled out of her bags to hide his wings, scarfing down several plates of the different courses served this evening. Even Applejack, Fluttershy, Trill, and Rainbow were amazed at his appetite.

"Mmmm!" Solaris belched after finishing up his third hayburger, not excusing himself for his poor table manners. At least he knew not to make too much of a mess. "I didn't realize how starved I was! Going almost two days without eating was not a good idea, and this food is sooooo good!"

The hungry alicorn grabbed a bowl of pasta next, diving his head into the bowl and munched on his next course. There were at least six separate plates that once held food, all Solaris's, and they were licked clean. Pinkie was the only one who wasn't fazed, almost encouraging him to keep on scarfing down.

"Solaris, for Celestia's sake, calm down before you choke," Applejack chided, her words falling on deaf ears. He finished up his last dish, licking his face clean of the marinara sauce that stained his muzzle. He let out a loud burp, surprising the other dinner guests around their table. "You're also gaining a lot of attention from the other passengers. We're supposed to make sure you DON'T get caught, remember?"

"...Heh...Sorry, Aunt Applejack," Solaris said, a little embarrassed that he went a little too far with his hunger.

"Hope you saved some room for dessert!" Pinkie said, diving under the table they were sitting at and popping back up, a tray of cupcakes, somehow freshly baked, and ready to be eaten. "I can't believe this train service didn't even have anything sweet for after dinner. They need to fire the caterer who thought it was a good idea to have no dessert for a long train ride!"

Solaris began salivating, always loving Pinkie's baked goods, no matter what she makes, or even how she made the ones sitting on the table right now. He swiped one with his magic, ready to scarf the delicious pastry whole, only to freeze as he saw the look Applejack gave him. He decided to tone down his binge eating, taking small bites of his dessert.

After the scene the alicorn caused died down and the others resumed eating their meals, Trill didn't even touch the small portion of pasta she grabbed. Even though changelings could eat food, they preferred to eat the love energy from the lovers of the pony they impersonate. She didn't really get that kind of meal, but she still ate something, despite the emotions she ate from Solaris were all depressing when he had his panic attack. Fluttershy noticed the disguised changeling was just poking her food, seeming a bit worried about the young mare.

"Evergreen, aren't you hungry?" she asked.

"Hmm?" Trill looked down at her food, not really feeling like eating anything. "Uhh, I'm not really hungry. Kinda lost my appetite with your little cavepony's food frenzy over here."

Solaris glared at Trill at his pet name given to him by the changeling princess. "I can't help it if I was hungry! I had no idea what was considered edible in the Everfree Forest! I did have some food Uncle Spike left for me, but somepony had to eat it all!"

"I had that disgusting taste in my mouth! I needed to wash it out with something!" Trill exclaimed. "It was still terrible, anyway. It was like some kind of weird apple chip or something."

"Ah made them rations, and they can last for at least twenty years before they expire," Applejack said, feeling insulted that her family's prized apples tasted bad to Trill. "Ah'm guessin' ya'll aren't very fond of apples, or apple products..."

"I hate apples." Applejack's eye twitched, though she kept control of her anger, not wanting to cause another kind of scene in front of the other passengers. "Even my mom doesn't like apples all that much. I remember one time she tried some apple fritter at a wedding, and they were just disgusting. She threw them away when the chef wasn't looking, not wanting to insult her."

"...Ya don't say..." Applejack somehow found this all too familiar. Back at the royal wedding she and her friends attended, while also attacked by the changeling invasion, the queen of the changelings, Chrysallis, was disguised as the bride. While fooled by her illusion and the ploy of a stressed out bride wanting her wedding to be perfect, she recalled Twilight telling her that she had tossed a bag of fritters she gave the faker in the trash. Applejack had her suspicions, but she didn't have any proof yet. "...Very interestin'..."

"Yeah. But I do like chocolate, though," Trill said, licking her lips. "Doesn't matter what kind. I'll eat it even if it's rolled around on the ground!" She looked at the tray of cupcakes laid out in the center, spotting a dark chocolate one layered with chocolate frosting, drooling at the sight and smell of the delectable pastry. "MY CUPCAKE!"

Trill nearly pounced on the table, snatching the only chocolate cupcake and took Solaris's table manners, chomping it whole as her lips were covered in frosting and crumbs. Applejack found it odd that the mare wasn't hungry, yet she just ate the cupcake like she was starving. She even thought she saw a fang in that maw of hers before she bit down on it.

"I thought you said you weren't hungry," Rainbow said, a little confused.

Trill's pupils shrunk when she realized her mistake. Thinking quickly, she wiped her mouth of the cupcake she devoured, grabbing her bowl of pasta and began eating it. It was a horrible combination, her stomach wanting to instantly vomit her delicious treat and the horrible noodles and garlicky sauce, but she held it back. "Mmm! Now I'm hungry! Guess I needed a few minutes!"

Trill burped, feeling her stomach churning. The others watched her until she was finally done, her face turning more green than her coat.

"Evergreen? You alright?" Solaris asked, feeling a bit worried.

"I-I'm fine." Her stomach growled loudly, though it wasn't from hunger. "Ooh goodness. Uhh, I need to use the bathroom. Now!"

Trill sped off to the nearest restroom on the train to expel her dinner, leaving the others to wonder if she'll be ok. Applejack was really convinced that the young mare wasn't at all who she claims to be.

"Huh. That was weird." Pinkie grabbed one of the cupcakes, munching down on it while deep in thought. "Did anypony put any poison in this food!? Who would be dumb enough to ruin a perfectly good meal by upchucking it all over the place!"

Pinkie's random logic caused the other passengers who heard her to panic, fearing they'll end up having the same reaction as Trill. Solaris facehooved, questioning why she would even think somepony wanted to poison them. He ate seven different plates of food, and he was fine.

"Aunt Pinkie?" he asked.

"Yes, Solly?" Pinkie asked, licking off all the frosting on her cupcake.

"Should we find some kind of enchanted muzzle that keeps you from spouting random stuff like that?" Solaris asked, pondering if he really should figure out how Pinkie thinks.

"They make those? I thought they only used those for doggies who bite other ponies for no reason." Solaris slammed his head on the table, blowing the insult he gave her over her head.

"Ugh. Never mind." The alicorn gave up, forever leaving Pinkie Pie's antics as her own normal way of being normal.

The moon had begun its rise into the sky, casting a blanket of darkness across the land. The stars were there, though not as bright as how Luna would have wanted them to be. It was like the celestial beings know of their losses, dim and barely noticeable, but still able to be seen if one looks closely.

As wonderful as the evening was, one of them was not having the time of her life. Trill was keeled over a toilet in one of the bathrooms on the train, her head hovering over the bowl as she released the contents of her "dinner". She groaned in agony, finally getting rid of the spaghetti noodles and marinara sauce she had to eat to keep up her disguise, along with the most delicious chocolate cupcake she had ever eaten.

"Ugh...Why did I do that?" Trill burped, feeling another wave of nausea threaten to make her vomit again, but she kept it down. "Stupid delicious, chocolaty goodness. Why must that be the only enjoyable treat we are able to eat? And why did it have to give me food poisoning after eating those stupid noodles!? Who puts that much garlic in sauce!?"

After her stomach finally settled down, she washed her mouth out in the sink, wishing these bathrooms had some mouthwash. Trill was upset, losing her yummy cupcake faster than her failure to attack Solaris, but it was a price to pay for her negligence and weakness for chocolate. As she exited the bathroom, she bumped into Applejack, falling on her rump.

"Feelin' ok, Evergreen?" Applejack asked, though with no hint of concern.

"Oh! Applejack! Yeah, I'm good!" Trill said, trying to stay in character. "I kinda got a bit of a stomach virus, I guess. By the way, I wouldn't go in there for a while...Kinda messy."

"Uh huh..." Applejack was able to see through her Trill's deceit now, leering at the teenage changeling in disguise. "Kinda odd how ya want for one of Pinkie's cupcakes when ya said ya weren't feelin' hungry, and the fact it's rude to have dessert until after eatin' your meal."

"Uhh, bad table manners?" Trill lied, feeling sweat slowly trickle down her forehead. "Solly and I are kinda alike if you think about it."

"And another thing, about you," Applejack pressed, moving closer while Trill tried to back away. The changeling bumped into the wall of the train car's corridor, no chance of escape even if she tried. "First, your name. 'Evergreen Forrest'? That sounded like somethin' ya named up on the spot. Second, you bein' really close to Solaris."

"W-We're friends." Trill stammered, trying to figure out how to get out of this, her bluffs being seen through like a glass window. "I-I want to get to know him a bit more! Yeah!"

"Not even close!" Applejack pressed Trill hard against the wall. "Ya'll are takin' advantage of him! He has no social interaction outside of where he was raised aside from us and Spike! Because he's an alicorn, ya either want to flirt with him to try and become royalty, or..." The farm mare smacked Trill's horn hard, causing her disguise to drop, harmless green flames enveloping her and turning her back to her original form. "You're tryin' to kill him."

Trill gulped, feeling the strong earth pony's grip against her neck. She struggled to break free, but Applejack was far too strong. As she felt her sight fading, she was thankfully saved before she blacked out.

"Aunt Applejack, stop!" Solaris rammed into his aunt, knowing he'll regret doing this. Trill breathed in a huge gulp of air, clutching her neck as she got oxygen back in her lungs. "You alright, Trill?"

"Y-Yeah," Trill said. "I messed up."

Applejack got back up, confused as she saw Solaris was protecting the changeling. Trill was lucky there was no one else in the same car, otherwise she would have gotten in some real trouble.

"Solaris!? What are ya doin'!?" Applejack stomped her hooves, ready to barge through her nephew just to get to the impersonating creature. "Get outta the way!"

"Aunt Applejack, Trill isn't-" Applejack reared up to shove the alicorn aside, but he stopped her, far more powerful than the farm pony, even without his newly acquired gauntlets. Solaris shoved his aunt down, pinning her to the floor, keeping her from getting back up. "She's not evil!"

"'Not evil'!?" Applejack tried to buck Solaris off her, but he kept her hind legs pinned under his, barely able to budge him off. "Solaris, do ya have any idea what that thing is!?"

"A changeling, I know. But she's not bad!" Solaris said, causing Applejack to stop struggling and look up at the teen in confusion.

"You know!?" She asked. "Since when!?"

"When I met her in the Everfree Forest." Solaris looked away from his aunt, feeling a bit hurt. "Apparently, I had no idea what a changeling was until she described what she was. Trill even told me about how you, my mother, and the others were in an invasion during a big wedding many years ago in Canterlot. You all told me about this wedding, but not what a changeling was. Another little secret you wanted to hide from me, like my mom?"

Applejack's anger melted away, mentally berating herself for hurting the alicorn by hiding stuff from him again. She and the others hoped he would never have to see them when he takes back the throne from Lucifer, but it seemed like it couldn't be helped. At least he didn't know who the bride and groom were that were targeted by Chrysalis and her army, that she wanted to keep as a surprise.

Solaris felt Applejack's tension die down, slowly getting off of her, though still wary as he protected Trill from his aunt's wrath. She got up, feeling guilty as she looked at her alicorn nephew.

"...We all hoped the changelin's wouldn't show up again. We didn't want you to know." Applejack lowered her stetson, holding it against her chest as she apologized. "Ah know we promised not to leave you out of anymore secrets, sugarcube, but changelin's ain't exactly the friendliest of ponies you'll meet in Equestria. They wanted to take over the entire kingdom."

"Actually, my mom only wanted to take over Canterlot because of the wedding. Weddings have that source of love we all need." Solaris facehooved, Trill's chances of getting out of this without getting beaten to a pulp thrown out of the window as she tried to be honest for once.

"Your ma? You mean to tell me your ma is the queen!?" Applejack was about to jump at the changeling princess, who cowered behind Solaris when she realized her mistake. The farm pony thankfully didn't, knowing Solaris could easily trounce her again without trying.

"We were starving! It was my mom's only chance to gather food for the hive, and she took drastic measures!" Trill exclaimed, still hiding behind Solaris. "If you ponies didn't find us as horrible monsters, then maybe we wouldn't have been forced into exile, struggling to survive while using our magic to take the love from others while in disguise! The only way we could feed is through espionage, but we're so afraid of being caught now after the wedding that it's hard for us to even venture into Equestria to find food."

"Then explain what ya'll were gonna do to mah nephew!?" Applejack said.

"I was gonna absorb the love he had...but..." Trill froze, feeling embarrassed of her first hunt ending in failure.

"...But what...?" Applejack asked.

"She tried to pounce me, but she tripped on a rock and fell on her face," Solaris explained, making the changeling's face flush with embarrassment. "She tried again, and failed again...then again...and again-"

"Ok, she gets the point!" Trill shouted. "My first hunt ended up with me losing to Solly! Can we please move on before I have to tell her we cuddled in the tent when we woke up in the Everfree Forest!?"

Solaris flinched, quickly shoving his hoof in Trill's mouth. "Do you never learn to stop talking!? This is how you got in this predicament in the first place!"

Applejack just stared at the two teens, piecing together what Trill had meant until it finally dawned on her. The whole day they were in the forest when they met, spending the entire night there, and shared a tent together.

"...Ya'll did what now?" Applejack said, growing more cautious as to what they really did.

"We were sleeping and I subconsciously curled up next to her, nothing more!" Solaris explained, his face growing red as he recalled how close they were that morning.

"...Alright..." Applejack's protective side was going to kick in, especially when the mare Solaris had slept in the same tent with was a love-sucking bug pony.

"Aunt Applejack, please don't tell the others about Trill. I know Aunt Rainbow would try to kill her," Solaris pleaded.

"Solaris, she's a changelin'! Ah'm gonna have to tell them!" Applejack said, truly intending on getting rid of Trill before she complicated her nephew's journey even further. "Why should Ah trust her!?"

"Because she helped me back in the forest." This caused Applejack to raise her brow, unable to believe something as heartless as a changeling to even be helpful. "When I was alone after Uncle Spike teleported me away with his fire breath, I was falling into a deep depression. I felt like it was my fault he was killed, and I still feel guilty for not listening to him.

"I was so lost and alone, I didn't know what to do. Everything you all told me about what I'm supposed to do began to weigh me down heavily, and I got stressed and panicked. Then, Trill tried to attack me, but she stopped after the third attempt." The changeling gave Solaris the stink-eye, reminding her of her embarrassing moment in her life. "I wanted to be alone, tried to calm down, but everything began to get dizzy and my head hurt. I had an anxiety attack, Aunt Applejack."

Applejack was shocked to hear what Solaris had gone through. If only they were more concerned with him more than Rarity when she broke down, they could have helped him the day he was discovered by Lucifer. Now she was the one who felt guilty, letting Twilight down and leaving her son alone, in the middle of the Everfree Forest, alone and suffering from a panic attack that could have caused him to run out of the safety of the castle ruins and in the splintery jaws of timber wolves.

"But Trill helped me, even after I yelled at her out of my depression." Solaris looked back at Trill, knowing how badly he was suffering that day. "She absorbed my negative and stressful emotions with her own changeling magic, calming me down, but the memories still remain in my consciousness. She told me she and the rest of her hive could feed on other emotions, but love is more edible to them while others taste bad." He wrapped his hoof around the changeling, pulling her closer to him. "She's my friend."

Applejack's jaw dropped, as well as Trill's. The former was shocked at how the daughter of the bug pony who tried to invade Equestria actually helped Solaris, and the alicorn was being genuinely honest, while the latter was just stunned silent. Applejack was speechless, unable to utter a word to argue with his decision.

"Aunt Applejack, please don't tell the others about her. I would have been lost without her, and I don't want her to just leave because of what she is. Isn't giving those a chance important when making friends?" Solaris begged.

Applejack stood there for a moment, a mental war in her mind trying to decide whether Trill should stay and her identity a secret or make Solaris more upset by kicking the changeling off the train and avoid any possible traps she had in store. Sighing in defeat, she finally made her decision. "...Alright, sugarcube...She can stay."

She was instantly wrapped in the hooves of the excited alicorn, his wings twitching under his sweater, which he was still wearing. "Oh thank you, Aunt Applejack!"

"Now hold on there, sugar," Applejack said, managing to pry his hooves off of him, keeping a stern gaze. "Ah'll promise to keep her a secret, but if she's found out by the others, then she has to go. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. None of us can trust changelin's after what they did to Canterlot, so don't expect your words can help save her all the time. Understand?"

"Yes ma'am," Solaris said.

"Good." Applejack pulled Solaris into a comforting embrace, still feeling bad about leaving him alone in the Everfree when he had his panic attack. "We won't let anythin' else happen to ya, sugarcube. Ah promise we won't leave ya alone ever again." She pulled away, going through the motions of Pinkie's patented promise: crossing her heart with her hoof, flapping both forehooves like they were wings, and pressed her hoof against her eye. "Pinkie Promise."

Solaris knew no one should ever break a Pinkie Promise. He didn't dare intend to break a promise he couldn't keep, hearing how crazy Pinkie was when Applejack had made a promise, but sort of didn't break it through a loophole she made. Even though Applejack was a farm pony, she was pretty smart. After giving Trill a warning look not to harm her nephew, she headed off to their private car. As Solaris turned to face the changeling, she was giving him a teasing smirk.

"...What's with that look?" he asked.

"You and I are friends, eh?" Trill gave him a toothy grin, showing off her fangs. "I knew it. You actually do like me! Finally, you're free of that cavepony way of life and are a caring, though still naive, gentlecolt!"

Trill pulled Solaris into a tight embrace, nuzzling his cheek, though the affection irritated him, regretting his choice of words. He pushed the mare away, giving her a stern glare despite the slight blush on his cheeks. "You're lucky I didn't tell Aunt Applejack what you did to me that got me more upset back there. She would have killed you on the spot if I told her you tried to manipulate me with your seduction."

"It was just a joke," Trill defended.

"You spat green webbing in my face and made me feel like an idiot!" Solaris shouted.

"Just take it as a sign of affection." Trill changed back into Evergreen Forrest. "Don't deny that you felt all fuzzy when you called me your friend." Solaris growled, now regretting ever meeting Trill in the first place. "Oh come on. Friends are supposed to make fun of each other. It's all in good fun."

"But I have no time for fun, Trill," Solaris said. "Your luck is gonna run out at some point. I told Applejack the truth about everything, so you're in the clear with her. If I made anything up, she would instantly know, and you would have been crushed to pieces."

"Aha! You just admitted it! She could find out your fibs, and you were honest when you called me your friend!" Solaris's pupils shrunk, realizing he did tell Applejack the whole truth. She would have spotted the lie if he said Trill was his friend, but she knew he was being honest with her. He turned away, not wanting to give Trill the satisfaction of proving him wrong. "But, even though you hate my personality and my little jokes, I'm glad you came to my rescue. Thank you."

Trill gave Solaris a small peck on the cheek, his face turning red while trying to avert his gaze from the changeling. While she had kissed him, her horn seemed to spark a little, which had surprised Trill as she felt something strange. Solaris didn't even see the shocked expression on her face.

"U-Uhh, I'm gonna go to bed! Night!" Solaris ran off to the private car, unable to find an excuse or retort on his first kiss that didn't come from his family.

Trill stood where she was, still surprised at the strange reaction she had. A moment later, she licked her lips, tasting that familiar emotion changelings are meant to consume. "Huh...That was...strange."

Ignoring the strange reaction she had experienced, she made her way to their car, the others already settled in their bunks and fast asleep. Trill noticed Solaris shifting around under his sheets, not exactly asleep but trying to pretend to, still pretty bashful at her little gift of heroism. Her bunk was on top of his, ironically, climbing up and getting comfortable on the mattress. She needed to make sure she was careful this time, otherwise she would face the wrath of all four of the Elements of Harmony still around.