Son of the Sun

...Princess, I'll always be at your side.

Thank you, Nicholas. You are very brave for such a commitment.

You will be at mine?

Always.

Nick wasn't sure when he'd passed out.

But, he did remember waking up, considering the bump and rumble of his ride made getting some shut-eye rather impossible.

The guard who he rode acknowledged the child with a snort, signifying he didn't want to be a babysitter in the simplest terms to the colt.

Nick asked of him, "Noooo. Not her. Take me away from here?! Please?!"

A chuckle was all he was delivered as a reply, making Nick slump down in defeat.

...

It was morning now.

Celestia had expected some level of competence from her new Kindle. But, he didn't show anything. No push. No drive. Weak.

She'd age him up, but not for his sake. He hadn't earned it. He didn't earn anything...aside her anger. He just sat there in a puddle of tears before falling asleep. The very thought of his collapse had made her head shake in absolute disappointment.

What is wrong with him? What am I doing wrong? How has he survived this long? You'd think she'd have had the foresight to teach him anything?! Or, did she just expect him to become some sort of powerhouse once he grew up?

As she rolled her eyes at the guard bringing in her sad excuse for a 'son', Celestia declared with a wave of her hoof, "Bring him up."

The guard muttered something under his breathe before he marched up the stairs.

Nick was then lifted into Celestia's hooves, his whimpering and shaking evident as her hooves contained his small form easily.

Or, she relied on a different approach. We have opposite ideals, so...she'd have done different lessons than I.

An idea roaring to life in her mind, Celestia aged up the child up by two years, instead of the one year that'd been planned for. As his body and mind grew within an instant, the princess of the sun whispered to her child, "What is it you want to be when you're older?"

Nick's body was up to bat, but his mental age had some time that needed a restart.

I'm...ten. Brother...gone. Lost. Made a friend as well. Stayed in town. Mom was still upset every year...on a certain day. I as well.

Brain bringing Nick back to the forfront of his predicament, he heard Princess Celestia wonder of him again, "Hello?!"

Nick's head tilted at her, asking, "Yes...Mommy?"

"Answer me, colt."

"For what?"

"What. Do. You. Want. To. Do. Later. In. Life?!"

"Oh...be a hero."

Celestia jabbed a hoof at the guard who watched the two converse and argue.

He suddenly realized he should've most likely excuse himself long before their dialogue began.

Celestia's new smirk of fury extended at the sight of the wide-eyed stallion backing away, telling her charge, "Did I ever tell you where I get my guards from?"

Nick rubbed his hooves gently, trying to comprehend how his hooves healed so well. Though...they were still cracked, and streaming with burnt bottoms.

"No idea," he confessed before inspecting them even more.

She dipped her head down to his ear, slipping out, "The local dungeons."

Nick's eyes lit up at this bit of news, dribbling out his shock, "R-really?"

Celestia pet his head, adding in, "Yes. Murders, rapists, propagandists, so on and so forth. They all get a chance to serve me, instead of serving their sentence."

Nick's eyebrows narrowed as he thought through this planting of facts in his head, "But...how is that a punishment, then?"

Celestia raised her head towards the ceiling, playing as if she was rolling the idea around, "Hm. I guess it isn't."

So, he can't be forced. Maybe he takes suggestions better?

She hugged the littler pony into a snuggle as she suggested, "Well, what would you do if you were given the power of punishing bad, bad criminals who are guilty of horrible things?"

Nick stared down at his hooves, the pain long gone yet the itching remained.

Celestia saw his eyes not drift off from his ruined hooves, declaring, "Maybe burn him? He'll still live, but he'll know what he's done. And, he'll never be able to forget it. The scars will make sure of that."

Nick looked up at the guard, who struck up a nervous smile at the child.

He asked to know what the warrior had done, to which the reply was quite gruesome.

Nick wanted to know before giving an answer, "But, why make me do it?"

"You're a hero, are you not? You fight bad ponies, yes? Well, he is bad. And...I think you're starting to change how I do things. Tell you what, if you bring upon this coward some form of consequence, I'll take that and run with it. That'll be how I hoofle these horrible guards from now on."

"He...he won't die, right?"

"All up to you."

"I don't want him to...die."

"So, be it, my Sun," Celestia announced as the guard had been trying to flee the throne room, but found the exits locked by some force.

As he turned back to beg for mercy, a brilliant golden light crashed through the ceiling, showering him in its pure heat and intensity of power. His screams were cut off as the very blast discharged more sound than his voice could muster.

As he fell unconscious from the overhead beam, his skin had been roasted, scarred, and irreversible wounded.

Celestia said as she kissed the child on the back of his head for such a successful transition to power, "He deserved more than that, but you did a righteous act, Kindle. Lesson learned. For all of us today."