"Do not be a fool. Yield to my power, and we could rule all of Equestria together!"

Shield panted as he stared down the other stallion and the scores of shadows at his command, his armor shattered and broken, his body covered in cuts and lacerations, yet still, he stood in defiance, refusing to yield to the villain, “So long...as I draw breath...I will not yield to you filth!” He spat, lighting his horn once again.

Sombra smirked as he stepped away, “Pity. Tear the flesh from his bones.” He commands his minions, who rush forward in a mob to do just that, eager to taste blood yet again.

Shield let out a war cry as his hooves were wreathed in holy magic, charging headlong into the shadows as his eyes burned with white light, “FOR THE LIGHT!!!!”

The stallion fought valiantly, tearing the shadows apart with his bare hooves, but eventually, he was overwhelmed by their sheer numbers. As they pinned him down and tore into his flesh he screamed in rage and pain, his entire being rippling with power as he gathered every drop of mana he could before his body exploded in a gigantic blast of holy magic that burned away the shadows and threw a shocked Sombra through the oak doors behind him, splinters digging deep into his skin.

Shield laid still, seemingly dead. Only to take in a shuddering breath as his eyes snapped open, the orbs still glowing with holy light. His sacrificial spell had changed him, turning the stallion into a conduit for the holy magic he had trained his entire life to wield.

His eyes fell on the dark crystal pony that was staring at him with rage etched into his face, “Impossible!!” Sombra spat as he extricated himself from the rubble, “You should be dead!!!”

“YES. I SHOULD BE.” Shield spoke in a booming voice unfitting for his body as he started to levitate upwards, feathery wings made of holy light growing out of his back, “BUT FAUST HAS SMILED UPON ME THIS DAY. FOR SHE HAS GIVEN ME THE POWER TO DESTROY A DARK STAIN UPON THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF PEACE. YOU.”

“No! You are nothing to me!” Sombra shouted in anger, gathering the shadows and blasting them at the stallion.

Shield watched passively as the blast neared him, lifting his hoof as a divine halberd materialized and split the blast, “PRINCE SOMBRA. YOU ARE FOUND GUILTY OF HIGH TREASON AGAINST EQUESTRIA. HOW DO YOU PLEAD?”

“SHUT UP AND DIE WORM!!!”The tyrant yelled, his entire being exuding darkness as he intensified the blast for naught.

“DEFIANCE NOTED. THE PUNISHMENT FOR YOUR CRIMES….IS DEATH.” The paladin proclaims, releasing a blast of holy magic that burned away the shadows and impacted the stallion, cleansing the willing host of the parasitic dark magic living within him.

The fallen prince screams in unimaginable pain as he is executed, his body eventually burning away, leaving no trace of his existence.

Shield hovered passively, “SUCH IS THE FATE FOR ALL WHO WILLINGLY CONSORT WITH THE FORCES OF DARKNESS. DEATH WILL COME TO THEM ALL.”

"The end," Cadence says, closing the book detailing these heavily censored events, the legend mostly forgotten by even those who most revered him, and now a popular children's book series. She looked down at Twilight with a smile, "Did you like it?”

"I loved it!" Twilight said as she clapped her hooves.

“What do you want me to read next?” Cadence asks, sliding the book back into the shelf.

“This one!” Twilight holds up another in the series, depicting The Burning Light’s battle against an evil Zebrican Shaman.

“Alright,” Cadence smiles, opening up the book, “But this is the last one for tonight, okay?”

The filly nodded eagerly, settling in for the story.

Meanwhile, in the castle, Celestia was reminiscing about the legendary Paladin, wishing she knew where he was. She was staring at an innocuous-looking hand mirror on her desk, her only way to contact him.

She levitated it over, staring into its perfectly shined surface as she considered whether or not to use it, “......Why did you leave Shield? I’m so lonely without you and Luna….so lonely….”

Tears slid slowly down her cheeks as her mind wandered once again to her lonely fate. She was quite possibly the only immortal left in Equestria, all of the others were either banished, exiled, or dead.

“...please come back to me Shield…..please….” She whispered as she fell asleep, the mirror clutched in her hooves.

Deep in the frozen wastes, in a hidden sanctuary, the legend slumbers, waiting to be called upon. A small tribe of Yaks are the only ones who know of its existence. They make monthly offerings to the Lightbringer as they call him, for the light and warmth he exudes in his slumber creates an oasis of sorts for them. Allowing vegetation to grow and giving them a bastion from the biting cold that surrounds them.

Young males make the journey to the sanctuary alone as a right of passage, leaving their family's emblem at the door of the sanctuary. A single Yak each generation is chosen to be the caretaker, living within the sanctuary for most of their lives. Many of them go on to live longer than average life spans, perhaps from being bathed in the holy light of the Lightbringer.

One such caretaker stumbles out of bed, awakened by the pounding at the door. She grasps her hammer as she approaches the door, "Who wishes to enter?!" She shouts.

"Rockhoof son of Stonehoof!! I wish to see the Lightbringer!!"

"The Lightbringer is to be left alone! None are allowed to see him beside the caretaker except by order of the Chieftan himself!"

"Please Yuni!" He begs, "I've wished all my life to serve him, but you were chosen to be the caretaker! Please allow me to see him just once!"

".....do you swear by your ancestors you will never speak of what you see?"

"I will take the Lightbringer's secrets to my grave."

After a few moments, the stone door is dragged inwards, "Follow me."

Rockhoof eagerly slips inside, helping her push the door closed.

"Touch nothing," Yuni instructs him, leading him deep within the sanctuary. The deeper they went the brighter it got, to the point it was almost hard to look straight ahead, "The Lightbringer punishes those who look upon him for too long. You will need these. They will protect you for a short time."

She hands him what resembles a pair of welding goggles, slipping on a pair herself, ".....do you gaze upon him often?" Rockhoof asks as they approach the heart of the sanctuary.

"I leave The Lightbringer in peace. I only disturb his slumber when the Mirror calls for him." Yuni answers sternly, leading him into the chamber. Inside was a pool of calm, clear water. At the bottom was a sapphire blue stallion, golden wings folded against his back as his jet black mane flowed around him, his cutie mark indiscernible.

"Behold, the Lightbringer." The caretaker pronounces reverently, bowing her head in respect.

Rockhoof gaped at the stallion's form, absorbing every detail he could lay his eyes upon, committing them to memory,".....the legends do him no justice..."

Yuni allows this to go on for a few minutes, "...come, we have disturbed him long enough." She says, leading him away gently. The Yak doesn't resist, still dumbfounded by what he'd seen.

"..........I will never forget your face Lightbringer..." Rockhoof promises both himself and the stallion.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading! Any and all feedback you can give will be appreciated!