Dark Sun Celestia

It was busy in the bank that day. Lots of people. And it was hot. That little boy was with his parents. They were going to open a bank account for him. So they could get him to learn and understand the value of saving.

The little boy was an earth pony, as were his parents. The mother was pink with a cerulean mane laced with a bit of gray. His father was black, black as coal, and he had a red mane. The boy himself was white as snow with blue hair.

They were in the middle of the line. It was slow. The boy felt the heat, even inside the bank with it's cooling systems. He asks his mother if they are there yet. His mother smiles at him and reminds him that patience is a virtue. He scowls and looks down on the floor, as if the act would make time go faster. He wanted nothing more than to be anywhere but here, a place where he had no friends, and no toys. His father puts an assuring hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. This'll be worth it in the end."

2 more minutes pass and the line moves ever so slightly. The boy starts humming a tune, one he imagines would go great in a superhero movie. One that would go great with the Mysterious Mare-do-well, he thinks.

Several more minutes pass and they finally get to the till. The father begins to talk to the pony in the till when the clock makes an audible sound. It strikes 4:00.
As if on cue the ponies directly behind the family of three are armed with guns in their mouths, the likes of which haven't been seen since Princess Celestia banned them centuries ago. They open fire.

The boy's parents collapse, blood oozing from the exposed heads. The boy is too shocked to speak when the gunponies point at him but they stop short of shooting him when a loud clopping of hooves is heard in the bank entrance.

"Do not kill the boy. We do not kill the innocent." it says. The boy looks up to see the guns move away from his face. He sees two masked ponies, both black in coat color. He sees the voice in the back, a man wearing a terrifying mask covering his mouth but not his eyes. Eyes of complete evil. Soulless. He approaches the boy.

"I will tell you now a lesson I learned growing up." He stands right in front of the boy looking at his dead parents, and then back. "Hatred is a wonderful feeling. But don't fault me for this. Blame your parents. Now run."

The boy does not need to be told twice as he runs as fast as his little legs can take him. He runs until he can no longer run and he collapses on a grassy field. He cries and he cries until someone picks him up. He tries to protest but he finds himself without the strength.

He wakes up at the police station. The man in front of him is bespectacled. He notices the boy stirring and wraps a coat over him. He starts to ask him about the robbery but the boy does not respond to any of his questions. The policeman stops talking and puts a hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry. We couldn't catch up to them."

The boy looks up at him and wraps his hands around his neck, crying again as he does. He cannot keep the emotion at bay. It is far too much for him to handle.

"Spike. Can you come over here for a minute?" Twilight shouts inside her labratory. A recent addition to the library the laboratory is equipped with the latest magical and scientific apparatus. There were several tables filled with countless papers filled with notes about complex equations. There was a mobile white board near the table, which was filled the words, NUCLEAR ENERGY IS THE KEY. Twilight stands in front of this whiteboard, thinking again about those two words. Nuclear energy.

The door opens and a baby dragon enters. "What is it Twilight?" Spike says. He is still short, but is now visibly taller than he was when he arrived in Ponyville.

Twilight turns around and sees her assistant. "Take a letter Spike." Spike smirks and grabs a nearby piece of parchment, getting the quill he keeps with him all the time. "Just like old times huh?" Twilight smiles back and goes over to her notes. "Just like it. Except it's not about friendship anymore." She makes a passing glance to a photo on the far end of the table. That of her and her friends on the eve of her second winter wrap up in Ponyville. She smiles. That seems so long ago. She harbours no delusion about the time that has passed since then. It had only been 4 years since she arrived in Ponyville but she had chosen to stay here, with her close friends, rather than go back to Canterlot. This was her life now. And her life's work was nuclear energy.

"Dear Princess Celestia My experiments with the volatile rock Zebranium has taken a positive turn. It is highly radioactive but I have taken appropriate steps to contain this. I determine that Zebranium is the fuel for the future, and will be the energy source of the future as a new millennia begins and we get closer to the setting of the sun. Your sun. I remember that talk we had a few months ago. I thought you were joking, as you so often do, but deep down I should have seen your intentions. You feel that the time has passed for the ponies of Equestria to have an all-powerful princess and I understand. That is why I continuing my experiments. There has been some support here in Ponyville, although Fluttershy is scared of what it'll do to the wildlife. There's no risk. I've taken every precaution. Your faithful student Twilight Sparkle."

"That's a mouthful." Spike murmurs as he sends the letter off. "What'll happen when the princess leaves for the Eternal day?"

Twilight looks at her assistant thoughtfully before looking back at her notes. "I really don't know. But I do know one thing. Somebody's going to have to continue her legacy, and I'll do my part to make sure that happens"

Spike turns to leave "Ok, if you need me I'll be by Rarity's".

Twilight remembers something about how dragons were fireproof and she asks him one last thing. "Say Spike do you think dragons are immune to radiation?"

Spikes turns back to look at her "You're not thinking of using me as a guinea pig are you?"

"No of course not. I was just thinking of those scales did more than they already did."

"Find another dragon to help you with that."

With that he leaves and Twilight is left in the room with some tough questions. No real answers.

The boy goes through foster family after foster family. He does not fit in any. They say he is too sullen, too withdrawn. Most attempts to make him open up failed. Most households tired of him after a few weeks. So he stayed in the orphanage where he met a zebra named Xorn. Xorn had been there when the boy first arrived. He was a few years older than he and was an outcast among the ponies. The boy felt an attachment to Xorn, from the first time they sat together during lunch. A group of bullies had threatened Xorn and, as if by instinct, the boy had moved quickly to fight them. One by one the bullies had gone down to the boy's furious hooves and they would've gotten worse if Cynthia, the orphanage administrator, hadn't stepped in at the last minute. For this the two were forbidden to go outside for 1 week but after that incident the two had been inseparable.

For the next five years they indulged in their favourite past time: get rich quick schemes, most of them involving petty theft. One would distract shopkeepers while the other would steal. This would go on until inevitably they got caught by the local guards. Shame would fill them as Cynthia would reprimand and punish them but they would go at it again and again. And throughout this Xorn kept telling stories about the Canterlot fortune, the legendary royal bullion, and a diamond that rendered one immortal. On one particular night while reading a book on the history of Equestria Xorn begun to lay down his plans for the future.

"Just think. In the royal castle. Hidden deep underground, precious gems, diamonds, gold. That'll make us! We won't have to stay in the orphanage anymore. We can live in the swankiest mansions, and live by our rules! Imagine"

"Where did you hear these stories?"

"My father was an agent for the land of the zebras. He infiltrated the royal castle this one time but... he got caught. The last time I saw him he told me about a crystal he dug deep in our old backyard. A crystal that opens portals to different dimensions."

"Different dimensions? What?"

"The castle is impenetrable. My father got in using the crystal, phasing through time to pass through as a ghost would. We'll have to find that crystal to get to those fortunes."

And so the two friends to hone their thieving skills, always mindful of their goal.

"Immortality isn't a one-way street. Living forever... does not feel as good as it seems. Existing... beyond your friends. Lovers. The unnaturalness of it all. I have learned to forget it. I live in the now, the present. Even when Luna was banished to the moon I did not spend my time thinking about how I was the only immortal being in Equestria. I tried to stay to my royal duty, as a benevolent deity. As the designated ruler. As father would have wanted. But ... I wavered. I had rule for hundreds of years and knew I didn't want to rule for hundreds more. So I took you in. I made you my personal student. You demonstrated immense magical power. And I knew. I knew you could take my mantle. "